I was blown away the other day by the honesty and integrity of Joe Vitale in his book Zero Limits (which he wrote with Dr. Hew Len). Here is the passage that really grabbed my attention:
“One thing bothered me about my work with Dr. Hew Len. As I kept growing and having insights, I worried that all my previous books were wrong and were going to mislead people. In The Attractor Factor, for example, I praised the power of intention. Now, years after writing that book, I knew intention is a fool’s game, an ego’s toy, and that the real source of power is inspiration. I also now know that agreeing to life is the great secret to happiness, not controlling life. Too many people, myself included, were visualizing and affirming in order to manipulate the world. I now know that isn’t necessary. You’re better off going with the flow while constantly cleaning whatever comes up.”
He went on to speculate on how Neville Goddard must have felt (his early books were about creating your own reality by turning “feeling into fact”). Vitale summed up Goddard’s early work like this: “Tell the Divine or God what you want, and it will be delivered.” He summed up his later works like this: “after 1959, he had awakened to a greater power: that of letting go and letting the Divine operate through you.”
That is inspiration. And in the light of that inspiration, Vitale was feeling desolation. He wanted to recall his earlier books. He felt he was misleading people, that he was doing a disservice to the world. That sounds almost like Tolstoy denouncing War and Peace after discovering the inspiration of his inner life.
Anyway, Vitale narrated all this to Dr. Len who consoled him by saying “Your books are like stepping-stones. People are at various steps along the path. Your books speak to them where they are. As they use that book to grow, they become ready for the next book. You don’t need to recall any books at all. They are all perfect.”
That is quite a recanting from one of the leaders in the power of intention movement. Not only the author of the best-selling book, The Attractor Factor, but one of the stars of the movie, The Secret. I wonder what effect that will have on other people who are so invested in principles like the law of attraction and the power of intention? Will they just dismiss Vitale as temporally deluded or will they take his words to heart?
What about you? Are you still intending to manifest millions and live in your dream house, like John Assaraf? (Another star of The Secret.) Or are you going to give some thought to what Joe Vitale is now declaring? Here is another statement from Zero Limits:
Intention is a toy of the mind; inspiration is a directive from the Divine. At some point you’ll surrender and start listening, rather than begging and waiting. Intention is trying to control life based on the limited view of the ego; inspiration is receiving a message from the Divine and then acting on it. Intention works and brings results; inspiration works and brings miracles. Which do you prefer?
It sounds like a very sane appraisal to me. Why settle for seashells when we can be diving for pearls?
Let me know what you think?
