Thanks for all the replies.
I'm not familiar with this forum and I think I've done a poor job framing my request for discussion. I feel a little "written off" before we've even had a chance to get going.
I know about "The Power of Positive Thinking" and "The Secret" and I find myself deeply skeptical of those works. It may also surprise you to know that I don't think the Book of Mormon is historical. My background is in science and engineering, so it's been clear to me for a long time that I need to take a broader view than the carefully packaged religion I got in my youth.
That said, I also notice the complete failure of logic and science to describe fundamentals of existence, such as consciousness or even existence itself. I can use critical thinking to make a decision about what car to buy, but when it comes the thinking about the meaning of life, we all have to make bets. Pascal's wager, of course, touches on this idea but it's illogical to conclude a bet on Christianity. The furthest one can get in the wager's line of logic is to bet that there is productive path that is knowable, but only through irrational means, such as feelings. It's not my purpose to discuss that in this thread - just wanted to give a little background.
Regarding Law of Attraction:
Fence Sitter wrote: All one has to do is think positively about anything and it becomes true.
Yeah, that's not Law of Attraction. That's what a lot of people sell to get money and it's bogus. The real thing is much subtler. At the heart of the real LOA is a Zen practice of acceptance and allowance. The art of receiving what is wanted is not a struggle or a thing to be won by force of will, but rather an alignment and appreciation for what is. Interestingly, this idea is reflected in D&C 121:46
"thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever".
So there, is still this basic idea of desire shaping reality. A Book of Mormon example of that is found in Alma 29:5:
"... to him it is given according to his desires, whether he desireth good or evil, life or death, joy or remorse of conscience."Now, my purpose in pointing this out is not to prove something about the Book of Mormon. I've studied the Book of Mormon to the point that I hold very unconventional views about it to the point that it doesn't matter to me who authored it. It could (and may) have been Sidney Rigdon for all I care. As a spiritual seeker, what I notice about the book is that I
like it. When I started to study LOA, I found that I liked that too, and it had a practical positive impact on me. When I noticed the similarities between LOA and what I like about the Book of Mormon, I decided I wanted to see if any other Mormons also saw the connection.
So, my purpose in launching this thread is to find other spiritual seekers like myself. I'm not looked for some packaged Mormon belief, but for others with similar experiences who'd like to share and discuss what they are finding that is productive and meaningful in their spiritual quest.
Does that make sense?