Religion and The Law of Return

I have touched on this in previous posts but I wanted to devote an entire post to this subject because I believe it's a very important one. As someone who greatly believes in the law of attraction, has great faith in her religious beliefs and enjoys studying other religious beliefs, this is a subject that has occured in study and conversation many times over.

The Wiccan Three Fold Law teaches that whatever we do returns to us thrice. Generally the rule is spoken of concerning magic. However it works as a good law to live ones life by. The idea is that when dealing with Magic one must be careful, for energy put out in anger or sadness will return to us three times or at three times the strength. By using this rule as a general rule for life we are going to promote positivity and do our best to keep negativity to a minimum in all things we do.

The Christian teaching found in Mathew about "Do unto others what you would have them do to you." Puts a purely outgoing spin on the idea. Where many other versions of this rule strive the positive return for positive actions, this idea is simply to be good to others in the hopes of a good return. However, the basic idea is the same. While the teaching of return isn't there in writing it's greatly implied that if we are good to others, they will return the favor.

Karma is a belief originating out of Ancient India that simply put, states that what we do returns. This concept has taken many forms through out the incarnations of many Middle Eastern, Indian and Oriental religious systems. While some teach that Karma will return to you in this life, others believe that our actions in this life affect our place in life in the next life or in an afterlife. In any form the idea that if we are generally good people we will benefit if a common thread. Whether we believe we are going to profit today, tomorrow or a lifetime away, the idea is that by being positive and focusing on positivity we will prosper.

The Law Of Attraction states that like attracts like. When we focus our energy on positivity it only sends more our way, but when we focus on the negative, that is what we get.

So, what is my take? Why do I feel it's so important to post this information? Because while I am a great believer in the Law Of Attraction, I have heard many people who simply can't accept it as a fact. They are, in many cases, very religious people, but they can't understand that the Law is a teaching that even their path teaches. Maybe it's not always called the Law of Attraction, but that doesn't mean it's not taught. In fact, the Law shows up in every form of religion in one form or another. We simply have to be willing to accept it.

For me I tend to take my beliefs a step further. Many people on my path, or similar paths have a great faith in the Three Fold Law. However, many of them think about this belief only when when applying it to magickal doings, and not to every day things. I believe that everything we do, everything we think even, comes back to us three times. Why three? Well, it's not simply because I read a book about Wicca or even because my beliefs closely resemble Wicca. It's because I firmly believe that each of our actions have three layers to them and that the Law of Attraction applies to each part or layer or our action.

Firstly, before we do anything, we think about it. And generally, if we do something that means that we have focused our energy on making it happen - otherwise it would have been no more than a passing thought and wouldn't happen. The energy put in to that initial thought and the focus to motivate us to actually get up and do it, go out in to the universe and start to work for (or against) us from the get go. So, if our intent is negative even at this most basic non-acting level it's sending out and will in turn bring back like energy.

Second, of course, it the action itself. We can all understand that if we do something harmful we are going to get hurt in the long run. We all understand the basic idea of "be nice or no one will be nice to you." Well, again, our actions create energy, which again, returns...

And Thirdly, the aftermath. We are not alone in this universe. There are other people, animals and even the earth and universe itself. When we put out negative energy, it returns to us. However, just like our energy affected others and the world around us, so does the energy and actions of others affect us. It would be naive to believe that we could act recklessly and cause harm to others without some type of backlash... Well, I believe this backlash is the third layer of the Law...

While I use negative actions in my example, it's actually more important to understand that the law works just as well for positive outcomes. When we do good or focus on the positive aspects of life, we again, will see the same in return. I generally use negativity as an example because it's easy for us as people to focus on the effects of negativity, they tend to make a more noticeable affect on our lives. This too, however, is all up to us. If we are willing to focus on the positive and learn to be grateful for even the little things in our lives, we will also see a great deal more coming our way.