On the Law of Assumption

My goal here is to address some of the harmful beliefs that may derive from the Law of Assumption and to open discussion about it. Thoughts and criticism would be very much welcome :slight_smile:

What is the Law of Assumption?

The Law of Assumption posits that reality is shaped by one’s beliefs and consciousness. According to this principle, assuming the feeling of the wish fulfilled would manifest desired outcomes into one’s reality. This has led to the development of various methods to apply this concept.

The power of belief

I didn’t think this had to be mentioned until I stumbled upon this article this article but there is absolutely nothing scientific about the Law of Assumption. Scientific evidence would require an objective means to observe one’s consciousness which is not possible for the time being. As for testimonials, they are based on subjective experiences and may be influenced by confirmation bias or magical thinking. I am not invalidating these experiences, only stating that they do not count as science. The Law of Assumption is a purely metaphysical theory.

However, the power of one’s beliefs on reality is undeniable. Beliefs shape behavior and actions, which in turn influence the world around us. For example, confidence in one’s ability to learn new skills can lead to faster development (provided there is an acknowledgment of the need for personal effort). Conversely, the belief that “talent” or a “gift” is required to succeed in a particular area will likely result in a failure if one does not put in the necessary work because of it.

The disturbing side of the Law of Assumption

While there is nothing wrong with the intrinsic concept of the Law of Assumption, some of its interpretations can be very harmful to both oneself and society. Here’s how:

Victim-blaming

Individuals are encouraged to harness the Law of Assumption by assuming the state of the wish fulfilled in order to manifest it into reality. Some go as far as stating that you can completely shape your reality by merely changing your beliefs, and even that it is simple to do so, which basically means that you are accountable for everything, good and bad, happening in the world. If you are sick, poor, disabled, oppressed, it is only because you assumed these conditions into existence. See where I’m coming from?

The Law of Assumption was popularized by the teachings of Neville Goddard who offered his own personal interpretation of religious texts to support his teachings. In The Pruning Shears of Revision, he writes:

Do you know someone that is evil? Stop knowing it by bringing him before your mind’s eye and carry on with him the most wonderful conversation in the world, with a tender spirit, a loving spirit, and believe in the reality of this communion, because if you really do it, you are entering the kingdom of heaven, for you enter heaven by a loving, knowing communion with a friend. So make him a friend, if he is a lovely one, no matter what he is, you can prune him and then as you prune him you are doing the work which you were sent to do for man–and you are that man–you are placed this day in the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. Don’t let it continue growing weeds in your world.

It seems completely delusional to me to assume that ignoring someone else’s ill intentions will make them a better person. Worse, Neville Goddard pursues:

You are absolutely responsible for every being you meet in this world; that’s your responsibility. Just like the teacher we told you of who took this little child that was just about to be expelled; no, the child is not expelled because she heard what you are hearing this morning. So she brought before her mind’s eye the child that the principal, the psychiatrist and all the faculty had agreed unanimously to expel her on her l6th birthday, for she was rude, she was crude, she was unethical; and she went home on a Sunday night and brought that child before her mind’s eye and communed with her and saw in her a tender child, a considerate child, a loving child. The next day, Monday, in class she expressed all the kindness of that revision of the night before, and ten days later when it was seen and witnessed by all the faculty, and the psychiatrist, another meeting was called and they repealed their verdict of ten days before and the child is not expelled.

Following this logic, every victim is responsible for their abuser’s behavior. Every oppressed person is responsible for the cruelty of their oppressor. And this could have been avoided through sheer love and compassion from their own part. Does this seem alright to you?

Ignoring the problem

In Feeling is the secret, our “Magician of the Beautiful” states:

Nations, as well as people, are only what you believe them to be. No matter what the problem is, no matter where it is, no matter whom it concerns, you have no one to change but yourself, and you have neither opponent nor helper in bringing about the change within yourself. You have nothing to do but convince yourself of the truth of that which you desire to see manifested.

So according to Goddard, you as an individual are responsible for wars and genocides and other large-scale issues because you manifested it. Such a viewpoint can lead to historical negationism (Holocaust denial), science denial (climate change denial), and the dismissal of systemic issues like racism. Believing that mere assumption can alter reality may discourage practical steps towards solving problems, potentially hindering personal and collective growth and achievement. This neglect of action-oriented behavior can be especially damaging if individuals refuse medical care, assuming faith alone will cure them.

You never suggest to another the state which you desire to see him express; instead, you convince yourself that he is already that which you desire him to be. Realization of your wish is accomplished by assuming the feeling of the wish fulfilled.

Neville Goddard is basically discouraging communication. When you disagree with someone and want them to reassess their views instead of respectfully stating your opinion you should just “convince yourself of the truth that which you desire to see manifested”. If someone abuses you, on top of taking responsibility for it you should keep silent and convince yourself that this did not happen.

Solipsism

Stating that everything one believes on a personal level becomes reality automatically validates all hateful stereotypes about oppressed and exploited groups. Under this assumption, I could prove literally any belief including ones that contradict themself such as “everything is false” (inconsistency). I could legitimately spread any kind of BS claiming that I am right simply because I believe in it.

The Law of Assumption derives from the principle that “consciousness is your only reality” which is closely related to solipsism and the view that you and your ideas alone exist. Yes they do exist and are possibly the one thing able to resist radical doubt as per Descartes’ cogito. But extending this concept to deny the existence or significance of others as conscious entities is disrespectful and impractical.

Contradictions

So let’s assume for a second that other individuals are real, which looks pretty reasonable to me. What about their feelings and thoughts and beliefs? They must shape reality as well. This is incompatible with the idea that you can manifest anything on your own through the Law of Assumption.

This makes most manifestation methods much less reliable than they seem because they work only on you as an individual, that is to say one small part of a much vaster universe. And yes, you might argue that everything is connected and that you as a separate being have the ability to influence this vast universe. But this would mean that others can, too. So there would be many factors to take into account that would hinder your manifestation process.

In short, applying the Law of Assumption on an individual level would most likely not get you anywhere if you are trying to influence phenomena that operate on a bigger scale. It is not as simple as it may appear and certainly not a magical solve-all remedy, at least from my perspective.

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Hi @Marie. So this is your opinion on the Law of Assumption, right?

Hi @Rosechalice ,
This is my view not of the Law per se but of some of its interpretations.
I do believe that this wisdom can be empowering if used in a way that doesn’t harm oneself or others, which is why I thought sharing this might be helpful.

Hello Marie,

have you seen these threads?

TL:DR:

My personal opinion and experience is that LoA and Law of Assumtions work 100%, but what counts are the core beliefs and assumptions of your Subconscious Mind, not those of your Conscious Mind.

99% of the LoA content creators out there don’t get this.

Changing your core subconscious beliefs is very hard work, including shadow work and much more. Most people are neither willing nor ready to go down this path.

So instead, LoA content creators sell a simple narrative that the ego and the Conscious Mind like to hear.

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Hello,

I have looked at them, yes, and I was not trying to discuss whether LoA works.
I used to make audios with subliminal affirmations so I have worked with it myself, to clarify. I have spent a lot of time interacting with this community and read many writings on this subject.

Changing your core subconscious beliefs is very hard work, including shadow work and much more. Most people are neither willing nor ready to go down this path.

and I very much agree with your point of view.

LoA content creators sell a simple narrative that the ego and the Conscious Mind like to hear

As I said, I have nothing against LoA itself, but I am simply concerned by statements like this and the impact they may have.

Thank you for your reply! :grin:

Edit: reading my first post again, I noticed that I once wrote attraction instead of assumption, my bad.

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Thanks for the quotes on Neville Goddard. Some things I really needed to read, and be reminded of.

I agree that a lot of community beliefs on the law of assumption can be quite out there. And even Neville himself had to backtrack on ideas, and evolve others, which is evident if you read his books in order of publication. I wouldn’t say law of assumption is limited to Neville’s ideas, but there’s a lot of toxic stuff out there imo. Also the attempt to rationalize why manifesting works would turn people who possess critical thinking off to the idea. Because the psuedo-science is… definitely psuedo-science lol.

The idea is to cultivate fourth dimensional thinking, or faith beyond rationale. So attempting to rationalize it is limiting unless you’re very easily prone to believing things, and can ignore counter-evidence to your belief.

Ultimately, reality is your experimentation sandbox when it comes to manifesting. Many people regurgitate ideas without enough personal experience (and critical analysis of it), so very toxic or extremely limiting ideas can become adopted pretty easily. Rather, personal experience will develop your own mental model based on it. People who don’t transition from thinking about the LoA to actually living it, are the ones susceptible to those ideas mostly, seemingly. Even Neville, who appeared had much personal experience, seemed susceptible to this to varying degrees. That’s where the “critical analysis” part comes in.

Buttt I would say that the solipsism interpretations and such are from people who either haven’t read Neville’s works, or don’t understand them. Consciousness is not your only reality. It’s the only reality in his worldview. All forms are legions of One Consciousness, expressing. Therefore the view of Consciousness to Neville, is far more akin to the non-duality view of Consciousness.

A practical, critical and yet openly fluidic mindset definitely solves most limiting beliefs issues though imo. Test manifestation. Experiment. Find out. Everything else is just people’s opinions, as you can’t validate the truth or falsehood of them until you put things to the test.

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Everyone wants “to LoA”, but barely anyone is willing to do the shadow work and the self-reprogramming.

It is the same as with other things in life.

Everyone wants “to earn”, but barely anyone wants to work.

Everyone wants “to be free”, but barely anyone wants to get rid of the stuff that imprisons them.

Etc.

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Mhm, definitely true. It takes discipline and work. Easier to talk about it than doing it sadly. But everyone has their own time of blossoming I suppose. Fingers crossed they don’t become armchair-tier though lol :crossed_fingers:

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Knowledge doesn’t need to be “scientific” to be valuable.
The only problem I see with pseudoscience is that it doesn’t seem to acknowledge that and tries to pass for science. It could be interesting theories regardless. Relying on critical thinking should not mean rejecting them. It’s just a safer approach so you don’t buy harmful narratives
We just need transparency about the methods we use.

I embarked on a “spiritual” journey in my early teenage years before developing basic critical thinking. You could call it pseudo-spiritual lol

I had this deep desire to merge spirituality with science, without understanding what either was. Growing up in a scientific milieu gave me the dangerous urge to explain everything through science. Luckily actually studying it has helped.

My real journey has begun the second I decided to truly investigate concepts by going to their roots while also considering criticism. Just documenting everything I can, from all points of view

Very much agreed, many if not all of the problems here stem from misinterpretation.

That’s definitely the best way to go.

However, I do think it is much more difficult to conclude anything from one’s direct experience with LoA. Because it is related to the subconscious mind. If you actually knew the subconscious it wouldn’t be called that way, right?

I do notice very strong coincidences. Almost miraculous sometimes.

But isn’t my mind just on the lookout when I try to manifest with LoA?

Am I not drawing hasty conclusions because of selective bias?

I experiment with witchcraft, rarely so, without much faith in what I do. But I have had very impressive results so far through sheer intention. Isn’t that just it?

But all of this questioning doesn’t really matter if you feel that this practice brings positive change into your life.

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Knowledge doesn’t need to be “scientific” to be valuable.
The only problem I see with pseudoscience is that it doesn’t seem to acknowledge that and tries to pass for science. It could be interesting theories regardless. Relying on critical thinking should not mean rejecting them. It’s just a safer approach so you don’t buy harmful narratives
We just need transparency about the methods we use.

Definitely agreed.

I embarked on a “spiritual” journey in my early teenage years before developing basic critical thinking. You could call it pseudo-spiritual lol

I had this deep desire to merge spirituality with science, without understanding what either was. Growing up in a scientific milieu gave me the dangerous urge to explain everything through science. Luckily actually studying it has helped.

Haha same, same. Good gateway drug I suppose :smirk:

My real journey has begun the second I decided to truly investigate concepts by going to their roots while also considering criticism. Just documenting everything I can, from all points of view

Mhm, that’s definitely an important part of the journey.

Very much agreed, many if not all of the problems here stem from misinterpretation.

Yep. Although of course, avoiding misinterpretation is quite difficult. You see the world as you are. But you also interpret information as you are too. Definitely part of the reason why I stressed critical thinking. It’s an invaluable skill in life in general, but especially when we’re dealing with concepts and practices which can be a bit more difficult to validate in a tangible manner. They are able to validated in tangible manners of course. Such as the creation of fields. Those skillsets have very real manifestations, hence people are using the created fields with success. So there is a kind of “science” to the practical and successful application of various “metaphysical” techniques. “Science” here, to mean there’s frameworks which produce real world results. And there’s many frameworks which do not produce real world results. Relentless and critical experimentation can also be a way to weed out frameworks which don’t work.

However, I do think it is much more difficult to conclude anything from one’s direct experience with LoA. Because it is related to the subconscious mind. If you actually knew the subconscious it wouldn’t be called that way, right?

Well while subconscious content is below conscious awareness, the conscious mind can draw up those contents into conscious awareness. So I do agree in a sense. But one can explore their subconscious. I would also agree that it’s hard to conclude anything non-practical. I know doing X produces Y. That much I can conclude because doing X always leads to Y. But I might not be able to conclude why X leads to Y. It could be quantum physics. It could be neurological processing. It could be the collective consciousness. It can be the sheer spiritual power of the shroom dealer under the crackhead bridge. Don’t really know why X leads to Y. So agreed.

I do notice very strong coincidences. Almost miraculous sometimes.

But isn’t my mind just on the lookout when I try to manifest with LoA?

Am I not drawing hasty conclusions because of selective bias?

I experiment with witchcraft, rarely so, without much faith in what I do. But I have had very impressive results so far through sheer intention. Isn’t that just it?

But all of this questioning doesn’t really matter if you feel that this practice brings positive change into your life.

That’s pretty much the case, agreed. I think if someone experiments enough though, the question of whether it was coincidence or not becomes redundant. You could start off with ideas like, “well I’m priming my brain and my reticular activating system is honing on on the matching data”. Which is fair if you’re only working with intentions that can be explained by the operation of the RAS. “Today, I see a pink car.” Well yeah, honestly, it probably is your RAS. But many intentions can’t be explained away by the RAS functioning or other mundane phenomenon. I think solid faith is built in a large collection of built successes and experiences.

And for sure, as long as whatever someone’s doing is getting them the results they want, it’s perfectly valid imo.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences :ok_hand:

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The thing I always like to keep in mind with Neville Goddard/Manifestation/LOA is:

Reality gets a vote.

Using the law of assumption will sway things in your direction, and it’s good mental hygiene, but there are so many other forces at play than just your own mind.

IMO it should be supplement to your daily practices, not a main focus.

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Mhm, rather than avoiding interpretation in order to prevent misinterpretation (which would be completely unrealistic), considering multiple interpreations and exploring others’ is a great way to address this issue.

Right! The definition of science is not quite clear either and it encompasses various sets of methods for difference fields of interest. When I use this term I usually refer to the same framework as natural science (at least in this context) but it is much vaster! So it could be seen as a form of “science” too.

And even based on an unscientific theory (unscientific from the point of view of natural science) it’s still possible to apply science to experiment with it. Just like Dream using scientific knowledge to make fields that deliver results through those processes.

I wouldn’t consider Sheldrake’s work on morphic resonance science from the same point of view I used before, but using fields has been such a transformative experience that pretending that they haven’t worked on me would seem completely crazy. Dream’s work doesn’t need to be based on science for one to have immense respect, appreciation and gratefulness for it.

Just an example of how science isn’t everything, although it should never be ignored, for safety’s sake.

Yes, an inexhaustible source of growth :slight_smile:

Thank you too for your valuable insight! I loved reading it.

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In my Humble interpretations, Law of Assumption works on “State of being” rather than “one’s beliefs and consciousness”. The results are also highly dependent on the attuned vibration along with actions taken.

At this point, it’s purely on quantum level of probability.

Most the harmful stuff on Law of Assumption is misinterpretation…

and people being people make it more complicated than it is.

So first we must ask: “what is the purpose of assuming?” It is to get the state, the energy, or the feeling.

“Feeling is the secret.”

You assume during the imaginative process in order to feel the energy. Outside of that, you don’t ignore reality.

Here, we already did that with all the energetic programming audios. So we skipped the assuming part.