You’ve articulated what ancient wisdom teaches: peace isn’t found in manifested desires but in recognizing the completeness already present. The shift from future-oriented striving to present-moment awareness isn’t passive—it’s profoundly liberating.
Your insight about LOA’s hidden trap resonates deeply. Conditioning happiness on future outcomes creates chronic tension, even when practiced “correctly.” The Buddha nature, the treasure buried at home, the Rolls-Royce under dust—these aren’t metaphors for something we lack. They’re pointing to what’s always been here.
What touches me most about your article is how you honor both the struggle and the possibility. Many people hear “happiness is within” and feel it dismisses their real pain. If you’ve experienced trauma, chronic illness, or overwhelming stress, being told to “just feel good now” can feel impossible—even invalidating.
Here’s what I’ve learned: you don’t have to deny your suffering to access your wholeness. They can coexist.
Your practical techniques—smiling, moving, recalling good memories—aren’t about pretending everything’s fine. They’re about gently training your nervous system to recognize that even in difficulty, small moments of ease still exist. The warmth of sunlight. A kind word. The relief between pain waves.
This is the practice: notice you’re suffering and notice you’re still here, still breathing, still aware. That awareness—the part of you observing all of this—is already peaceful. It doesn’t need anything to manifest. It’s just… present.
For those who feel they can’t access this inner peace, here’s the paradox: the one noticing “I can’t feel it” is already that peaceful awareness. You’re not broken. You’re not doing it wrong. The witness is already there, patiently holding everything you’re experiencing.
Your reframing of LOA is crucial: we’re not creating future happiness through visualization. We’re uncovering the completeness that’s been here all along, waiting beneath the dust.
Thank you for writing this with such clarity and heart.
You share an interesting perspective- of how efforts to manifest a brighter future might leave people feeling dissatisfied in the present. I can now see how that might happen. I had never thought about it.
I have seen LOA play out miraculously in my life at times, and flop at other times like you said. In my view, the times it didn’t work out were the times where perhaps my beliefs were subconsciously sabotaging my own wishes, or I didn’t do the physical work enough to create conditions that would help my wishes materialize.
Another major factor in my experience is karma too- if I planted the right seeds or not. You sow what you wish to receive. So sort of increasing my entitlement to receive by giving out first. This is a whole different topic though!
While I consider myself to be someone who very much lives in the present while dreaming of a brighter future, your article helped me see where I could be slightly more intentional with my happiness. Thank you!
Karma is a tricky topic. I would say sometimes LOA doesn’t work because one’s karma doesn’t allow it. Although we can’t see exactly how karma works, it’s safe to say it didn’t work because karma didn’t allow it. This is a good enough reason to just let it go.
You’ve articulated what ancient wisdom teaches: peace isn’t found in manifested desires but in recognizing the completeness already present. The shift from future-oriented striving to present-moment awareness isn’t passive—it’s profoundly liberating.
Your insight about LOA’s hidden trap resonates deeply. Conditioning happiness on future outcomes creates chronic tension, even when practiced “correctly.” The Buddha nature, the treasure buried at home, the Rolls-Royce under dust—these aren’t metaphors for something we lack. They’re pointing to what’s always been here.
What touches me most about your article is how you honor both the struggle and the possibility. Many people hear “happiness is within” and feel it dismisses their real pain. If you’ve experienced trauma, chronic illness, or overwhelming stress, being told to “just feel good now” can feel impossible—even invalidating.
Here’s what I’ve learned: you don’t have to deny your suffering to access your wholeness. They can coexist.
Your practical techniques—smiling, moving, recalling good memories—aren’t about pretending everything’s fine. They’re about gently training your nervous system to recognize that even in difficulty, small moments of ease still exist. The warmth of sunlight. A kind word. The relief between pain waves.
This is the practice: notice you’re suffering and notice you’re still here, still breathing, still aware. That awareness—the part of you observing all of this—is already peaceful. It doesn’t need anything to manifest. It’s just… present.
For those who feel they can’t access this inner peace, here’s the paradox: the one noticing “I can’t feel it” is already that peaceful awareness. You’re not broken. You’re not doing it wrong. The witness is already there, patiently holding everything you’re experiencing.
Your reframing of LOA is crucial: we’re not creating future happiness through visualization. We’re uncovering the completeness that’s been here all along, waiting beneath the dust.
Thank you for writing this with such clarity and heart.
Thank you very much for this heartfelt reply! I think we are fully on the same page of understanding loa, life and spirituality
I agree with every sentence in this! Thank you Muso - very well written!
Thanks for reading it!
You share an interesting perspective- of how efforts to manifest a brighter future might leave people feeling dissatisfied in the present. I can now see how that might happen. I had never thought about it.
I have seen LOA play out miraculously in my life at times, and flop at other times like you said. In my view, the times it didn’t work out were the times where perhaps my beliefs were subconsciously sabotaging my own wishes, or I didn’t do the physical work enough to create conditions that would help my wishes materialize.
Another major factor in my experience is karma too- if I planted the right seeds or not. You sow what you wish to receive. So sort of increasing my entitlement to receive by giving out first. This is a whole different topic though!
While I consider myself to be someone who very much lives in the present while dreaming of a brighter future, your article helped me see where I could be slightly more intentional with my happiness. Thank you!
Karma is a tricky topic. I would say sometimes LOA doesn’t work because one’s karma doesn’t allow it. Although we can’t see exactly how karma works, it’s safe to say it didn’t work because karma didn’t allow it. This is a good enough reason to just let it go.
This is an awesome take! 🙌👏 thank you for sharing!
Glad you liked it!