Politics and Government

We live in a physical world often polarized by politics and religion. At best, we politely avoid these two topics. At worst, we start wars and spill blood. In this article, I will take a look at how the law of attraction affects these touchy subjects. Then I will suggest some strategies and tactics for “living in the world but not of it” as Jesus said.

The Law of Attraction

I am assuming that you, the reader, are familiar with the law of attraction. Remember that the law of attraction brings together objects and experiences of like vibrational level. Individuals and groups of people with a common tribal consciousness will attract experiences that are in sync with their vibrational levels. What you put out is what you get back.

Politics

The ideal of political leadership is service to the community as a whole. In reality, politics involves a heavy dose of self-interest as well as making endless compromises in order to make the machine called government work. Conflict and violent confrontation are part of the vibrational level that politics has typically occupied. This has been true across cultures throughout history.

It is not to say that the forms of government have not evolved to some degree along with our consciousness. The modern democracies that exist today avoid violent confrontation at least within their own structures. You don’t see bloody coups and civil wars occurring in most modern democracies. Most modern democracies still exist, however, at a vibrational level of violent conflict and confrontation. You can see this evidenced by the continual wars being fought by these entities.

If you want to measure the vibrational level of a government, you need only look at the overall vibrational level of the tribe that it governs. While there are clearly great variations in the vibrational level within the population, there is an overall set point for the group. This set point explains the failure inherent in trying to install a modern democracy by force in a culture that is not ready for it. You only need to look at the Middle East to see this situation.

Politics will continue to change to reflect the growth in consciousness levels. We will always have those evolved individuals that are light posts for change along the way. I am referring to those catalysts such as Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King Jr. Countless other unnamed evolved beings are working behind the scenes to make political evolution happen.

Religion

Looking at the dictionary, at the definition of religion, I see two possibilities. A more comprehensive definition is “a pursuit or interest to which someone ascribes supreme importance.” I would include for our purposes any philosophy or doctrine that someone seeks to have imposed on others because they believe that they are right, and others are wrong. This definition, then, includes atheism. You could even include some forms of politics although I keep politics and religion separated here.

With religion, the ideal is again service to the tribe, but the overall reality is often an attitude of self-interest and self-preservation. Usually, but not always, the prevailing religion practiced by a given tribe is a vibrational notch up from its government but not very far above it. For instance, you won’t have a tyrannical government co-existing well with a prevailing compassionate religious viewpoint. An example of this is the Dalai Lama being sent into exile.

Like politics, religion is evolving to keep pace with the gradual evolution of the tribal consciousness. There are new spiritual organizations that have sprung up over the last 150 years that support New Thought beliefs like the law of attraction. Existing religious organizations are evolving based on tribal consciousness evolution. Even the Vatican makes changes, as evidenced by the Second Vatican Council.

Acceptance and Appreciation

One small step for law of attraction student to take towards the subjects of politics and religion is the giant step of acceptance. You must accept that everyone is at their own stage in the spiritual journey. Their journey is not your journey. Their politics and religion don’t have to be your politics and religion. Acceptance doesn’t mean that that you agree with them or that they are right. Acceptance just means that you are not pushing against them in an angry or emotional way.

You can even learn to appreciate the products of politics. The roads your drive on and the schools that educated you are there because of the government. There are many people working hard behind the scenes to make sure your life runs smoothly. There are soldiers and civil service employees working around the clock. Learn to appreciate them and what they do for you even though you think they should do things differently.

Religion has brought us a tradition of wonderful teachers, even if they have been mistreated and misunderstood. Their underlying messages stand as a testament to the power of truth. Religion, including atheism, is also a ladder of spiritual progression for people at many different levels of spiritual growth. You wouldn’t want to knock the ladder out from beneath someone, would you?

Exposing Yourself to the Media

The section heading can be taken in different ways. What I mean is watching a lot of pre-programmed political or religious media that is trying to sell you on thinking in a certain direction. Even news programs or articles that appear to be unbiased are appealing to your built-in human bias to focus on the negative aspects of things. Popular fiction often has underlying political and moral themes. The serious law of attraction student avoids getting sucked into what the media wants them to believe. Be aware and always think for yourself.

Try to balance your life by continually exposing yourself to positive teachings from the masters. At very least, be aware of what you feed your mind. Peace and unconditional love to you.

I don’t see the difference between spirituality and politics.

We do not live in a totalitarian state. As members of a democratic society, we have a civic duty. Our government is held in check by “We the People.” In a democratic system of government, politics is just another aspect of daily living.

Spirituality is not an other-worldly affair. It is a principled worldview coupled with a system of practice that orients our whole being to the world in which we live.

Politics is not a distraction from spirituality, but one aspect of daily life with which spirituality is deeply concerned.

Saying that politics is a distraction from spirituality is like saying relationships or work are obstacles to spiritual practice. They aren’t obstacles, they are opportunities for our spirituality to be born into the world. Segregating politics and spirituality is an attempt to closet your spirituality-to shield it from things that push your buttons, rather than leaning into your struggles and learning to move beyond stress, fear, and anger.

We are not called to hide behind a vapid smile or to look the other way. Any spirituality that hides behind a distraction is not spirituality but a defense mechanism. It is spiritual bypassing, not spiritual practice. This is true regardless of whether our practice is rooted in Christianity, Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, or lacks religious affiliation altogether.

Gandhi once wrote: “Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is… Indeed, religion should pervade every one of our actions. Here religion does not mean sectarianism. It means a belief in ordered moral government of the universe. It is not less real because it is unseen. This religion transcends Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, etc. It does not supersede them. It harmonizes them and gives them reality.”

A living spirituality is politically conscious and engaged, but not obsessed. And this is the catch.

It is hard to be mindful and politically engaged at the same time. It is difficult to watch the news or read the papers without getting wrapped up in it, especially in this day-and-age with a 24-hour news cycle and a controversial president that dominates every minute of that cycle.

Mindfulness and activism often feel mutually exclusive. But uniting the two is our path. We have to root our politics in mindfulness and silence. If we fail to do this, we will either neglect our civic responsibility, or our politics will be tainted with fear and aggression.

You can be present and centered while protesting or voicing concern-Dorthy Day, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Thich Nhat Hanh, and the Dalai Lama are perfect examples.

While the basic outline of spirituality remains unchanged, the terrain that path must traverse changes with each generation. And it is no accident that these great icons of mindful activism have come before us, showing us the way. They have outlined the path before us. Their activism is rooted in prayer and meditation.

Venturing into the realm of politics without tethering the mind to reality is the way of madness.

Meditation anchors the mind in the present moment. But it is not enough to sit every morning. Mindful activism is meditation in action. We have to bring the principles of meditation-letting go and returning to the simplicity of the present moment-into our daily life. In the presence of injustice, we often feel fear, anger, and aggression. But we must disown the fear, anger, and aggression, not the awareness of injustice, which is grounded in reality.

Politics devoid of compassion is just another way to vent resentment. And our body politic is already saturated with resentment. Prayer connects the mind and the heart, melting away resentment. William James wrote in Varieties of Religious Experience, “Religion is nothing if it be not the vital act by which the entire mind seeks to save itself by clinging to the principle from which it draws its life. This act is prayer.”

And the heart is the principle from which the mind draws life. But once again, it is not enough to pray only in the morning. We have to see aggression as a reminder to pray throughout the day. When we are afraid or angry, we have to pray for those that arouse our bitterness. We have pray for those in need. Prayer gets us out of our head, out of our self-centered mind. It awakens the spirit of selflessness and sanity.

Spirituality reminds us that it is our responsibility to be a voice of sanity, a light unto the world. I say that not with a condescending tone, but with an awareness that I too must work harder to bring mindfulness, compassion, and sanity into my politics. Politics is a sticky subject. It is easy to get caught up in politics. But the spiritual path always cuts through our obstacles. It never goes around them.

This is the path we in the era of Trump must trudge, and we must do it together.