These were my favorite passages from a book by Ryuu Shinohara called The Magic of Manifesting: 15 Advanced Techniques to attract your best life, even if you think it’s impossible now.

“Obstacles are major drains of energy and by giving them undue importance, we end up prioritizing them within our lives. One of the reasons unhealthy obsessions with obstacles leads to poor results is that it puts you squarely up against another fundamental truth of life. That everything is balanced. To realize the good, you need evil. To understand the masculine, you need the feminine. Polarity is nature’s way of letting us know that balance exists and reminds us of the need to stick to the middle. Buddhism refers to this as the middle path, avoiding the extremes.”

“In order to create anything in your life, a balanced intention towards that goal is required. If you’re excessively critical and harsh towards yourself, the balancing forces of the universe will give you more opportunities to stop these negative thinking patterns. But it is precisely these negative thoughts that prevent us from seeing these opportunities.”

“On an absolute level, oneness exists, and this cannot be quantified but only experienced. In order to describe it, it needs to be compared to something, and this implies duality. Absolute reality and pure consciousness are non-dual. Love is the ultimate expression of oneness. It implies the fusion of souls — when you love everything around you, it is impossible to cause harm, much less create negativity.”

“In order to break your shackles and rid yourself of the diseases of the mass mind, you need to recognize your ability to exercise your will and quite simply, your right to do so. Far too many of us go around wearing the right masks and saying the right things to just fit in. Instead, you need to connect with who you truly are and using your free will, express yourself fully as nature intended you to.

“Unconditional Love When we’re born, the large majority of us receive unconditional love. Babies of any life form elicit all forms of unconditional love and happiness in all of us, and this speaks to a fundamental human need: the need to receive unconditional love. Unfortunately, the memories we have as babies fade out and we grow up not knowing what unconditional love is. The sad truth is that there are a lot of people who have no idea of what this is and the level of imbalance it causes in our lives. We end up thinking that love is a conditional thing, to only be given when we receive something else. Conditional love is simply an example of a societal construct that gets imposed on us as we move through the world. Like most societal constructs, it is merely an illusion and is far removed from the truth. How does one begin shedding these constructs surrounding love? Well, the first step is recognizing that unconditional love exists and is something that you fully deserve. Next, in order to receive unconditional love, you need to start giving it.”

“Well, this is simply conveying an energy of acceptance towards a particular subject. Is your coworker bothering you incessantly? Well, close your eyes and accept them for who they are and wish them the best in their lives. Wish for them to achieve everything that they want and that they receive unconditional happiness. You’ll often find that by doing so, the quality of your life improves dramatically. Perhaps they no longer seem to irritate you (even if those qualities and habits still exist within them), because you have learned to accept them for who they are, flaws and all.”

“Release all expectations you have and simply give. Constraining your expression of love is simply trying to achieve a purpose that counteracts what you’re trying to do. This really doesn’t need any explanation. Initially, this might feel wrong if you’re accustomed to this, but with regular practice every day, it’ll become second nature to you.”

“Emotions are your key to happiness, even the negative ones. Remember that every emotion exists for a reason and indicates an imbalance or function as a warning sign.”

“Give your emotions the space to play out and express themselves, instead of denying them and seeking to compensate in some other manner. Awareness via meditation or mindfulness will help you accept your emotions. Remember that they are the connection to your soul and that your soul knows what is good for you since it has access to infinite information. Thus, any action you choose to pursue seeks confirmation from your soul prior to moving forward. Mindfulness will give you the markers you need to determine this.”

“Technique #5: Receptivity Open yourself up to the world and become more receptive to the energy that surrounds you. We’re surrounded by miracles, but we often fail to take any note of them. Think of all the things around you right now. There’s probably electricity, the internet, a computer, a smartphone. Consider how fantastic all of this would have been to someone who was born in the previous century. A lot of these miracles would have seemed like Star Trek to you when you were a kid!”

“Studies conducted with a mother holding her baby indicate that often, the mother’s brain waves synchronize with her baby’s heartbeat which makes her far more sensitive to her baby’s needs. Thus, synchronizing your heart and mind is crucial for a happy existence. Modern culture has marginalized and excluded the human heart from a holistic conversation in favor of rationality and pragmatism.”

“However, all this has done is weaken your ability to deal with the world. In fact, a vast majority of communication is nonverbal (think body language and facial expressions), and by marginalizing your heart, you’re depriving yourself of a powerful means of communicating with the world.”

“The heart has no business judging things. It accepts everything the way it is and only seeks to improve things out of deep love. The heart doesn’t need or want anything; it is happy only when you are living your best life and fulfilling your purpose. The heart also knows things that you’re not aware of. You see, the heart is simply the body’s connection to the soul and as such, is its primary communication device. Remember that the soul has access to infinite knowledge which is communicated to the heart. Your heart realizes that everything around you is simply a manifestation of the things you deeply believe in.”

“We’ll explore goal setting the Ikigai way in detail in the next section, but the key to figuring it out is to listen to your heart. It has a way of pushing your thoughts in a particular direction and getting you curious about things. Follow its lead and indulge your curiosity. You never know where they will lead you. A classic example of this is when Steve Jobs decided to attend a calligraphy class in college, purely out of curiosity. Later, the lessons he learned in this class were applied to the font on Apple’s computers, and this soon became one of the major selling points for their products.”

“Indulge your inner child and always be curious. Never stop exploring or take the world for granted.”

“One of the best ways to short circuit the ego is by reducing your own importance. This is not to say that you should treat yourself poorly. Instead, notice how you are a part of the world, of nature, and not somehow above it or below it. Notice how nature nurtures everything within it and how you are a part of this circle. People who tend to struggle in their lives with unhappiness suffer from problems of the ego.”

“Thinking about doing something ultimately costs you more energy than actually doing the thing. There are many reasons as to why people refuse to do and are content with sitting there dreaming up different ideas and to do lists.”

“Positive intention also will work wonders for your interpersonal relationships. This much is true. We tend to see the world as a reflection of ourselves. By assuming a positive viewpoint of things in your life, you’ll project the same attitude onto someone else. By simply assuming positive intent from your team member, your spouse or partner, your family, and so on, you’ll eliminate a lot of conflicts.”

“Think of it this way: Have you ever met a person and immediately got a feeling about them? It could be a positive or negative one, but there’s no doubt we do sense something about the people we meet. We sometimes take an instant dislike to them or on the flip side, we instantly hit it off with them, forming lifetime friendships and more, and sometimes we even fall in love with each other at just a glance. The power of energy is undeniable. The best public speakers often talk about feeling a room. The changes in energy within a group of people are very apparent and the ability to change energy, either increase or decrease it, is a hallmark of being able to wield influence in our world. Thus, while the law of attraction is a universal law, the reality is that there is another law that sits beneath it and governs every aspect of our existence. This is the law of vibrational frequency.”

“The more universal energy you have, the more proactive you will be toward your life since you will fully assume your position as a creator and as someone who can choose the life they wish to lead. Always monitor the level of your relaxation since this is a good indicator of how much you’re currently allowing universal energy within you.”

“This law applies to money as well. Beyond a certain income level, which is usually pegged at 70,000-80,000 USD per year, additional income simply doesn’t give you happiness. It does give you pleasure though. This is the first obstacle you need to sort out. A lot of people mistake pleasure for happiness, but they are two completely different things.”

“This is exactly how people live their lives, largely speaking. They believe that the world is one large pie and there isn’t enough for everyone to go around. If someone takes a larger piece, it means that the rest of us have to be content with smaller pieces. Thus, everyone is an adversary and win-win situations simply don’t exist. In order for you to win, someone must lose. Pretty soon, instead of focusing on how you can win, you focus on defeating someone else. Success that is achieved in this manner, if it ever does come, is a slog and grind. There is no purpose to it and it doesn’t get you out of bed in the morning.”

“Contrast this with an abundant mindset that sees the world as it truly is. In an abundant mindset, the metaphor of the world being one large pie is a fallacy in itself. The rationale behind this is that if we are co-creators of our world and can design our life to be whatever we envision it to be, then how can there ever be a limited supply of anything? Only those who believe that resources are finite will ever believe in such nonsense. In order to live larger lives, you need to simply create it. Believing in your ability to create this is the basis of the abundant mindset.”

“Next, study and learn from others’ mistakes and successes. The whole world is at your disposal and it functions as a sounding board for your ideas. If you wish to do something, explore whether others have done it and see how it worked out for them. Once our ancestors discovered fire and invented the wheel, there was no need for us to do the same every single time. We simply applied and refined their processes. Similarly, there have been generations of brilliant women and men who have come before you who have experienced life in much the same manner as you. Seek to learn from them and absorb their learning from the mistakes they made. This way, you can dramatically improve your life since you will be tapping into a higher level of consciousness than just your own when it comes to learning.”

“Generosity Buddhist practice always emphasizes the importance of giving. Look around society and you’ll often find that the happiest people are those who give back to the community.”

“The fact of the matter is that human civilization is currently at its peak. In the west, we’ve never lived longer, had more comfortable lives or technology to aid us. However, we’re more miserable than ever. This is solely due to a lack of focus on gratitude. We have it better than large parts of the world, but all we ever focus on is the lack of things or settling political scores.”

“Ultimately, it all boils down to what you want in your life. Put out positive energy and gratitude, you will receive it back tenfold thanks to the principle of resonance. Always take the time to relax and count your blessings. By blessings, I mean focusing on the positive things in your life despite the multitude of things that may not always be on point.”

“While most people are visually dominant, for some, the other senses might be more impactful. Then, there are certain scenarios that provoke an equal sensory response, other than just that of sight.”

“The rate of change that is currently occurring in our society on a global level requires us to adopt an attitude of faith. Faith is the willingness to accept whatever comes, no matter what the truth will be. Faith is believing in an abundant universe and in the justification for everything to exist. This is what enables us to live life to the fullest and interact with our environments successfully.”

“Opening yourself up to your purpose is simply bringing yourself closer to divine energy — an energy we cannot comprehend. You have been placed in the scheme of things with a mission. A mission in which you distribute your gift to the world. Your gift is simply the realization of your purpose. Thus, you owe it to yourself and to the world to pursue it.”

 

books Gratitude Mindfulness Law of Attraction Manifesting