The Law of Attractioon, Plain and Simple

I heard about the Law of Attraction recently.  I thought it sounded interesting, so I looked it up on the internet, and found a lot of skeptics.

I fancy myself as a critical thinker, so I wanted to find out for myself what this was all about.

LOA uses a lot of the techniques that the books by The Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu teach, namely forgiveness, letting go of the past, harnessing positive energy, etc.  In some respects, it's also very similar to Deepak Chopra's The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success.

However, the fundamental premise is getting all that you desire, rather than finding inner peace.

That general premise seems to be contradictory to me.  Finding inner peace implies being satisfied with what you have, but getting all that you desire almost suggests dissatisfaction with your current situation.

I believe in moving forward, and I do believe that the positive energy that LOA suggests is a great way to move forward.  I just think there's a fine line between moving forward and getting more and more.  The Dalai Lama teaches you to be happy with what you have and not to place your happiness on material things, on money, on the perfect spouse, because with the disappearance of those things, you will lose your happiness.  On the other hand, if you find peace and happiness, and can eliminate suffering through the compassion that you share with people, then you will always have inner peace.

I will take the message that this book presents with proper context.  But the whole premise is a bit counter intuitive to me, in terms of finding peace and happiness in your core.

I still feel like I can learn from anything.  And in this case, the LOA and the seeming lack of calm and inner peace associated with wanting more, reinforces the teachings of the Dalai Lama.