When it comes to our futures, goal setting, and focus, we often hear the word “manifestation” thrown around. But what does manifestation actually mean, and how can you practice it in your own life? This article will guide you through the concept of manifestation — what it means, where it came from, and how you can implement it into your everyday life.
What is Manifestation?
Manifestation is the practice of welcoming the outcomes you want to bring into your life in an attempt to encourage their realization. Using the power of aspirational thinking, visualization, and regular activities like scripting, the goal of manifestation is to improve your life by creating an elevated mindset and improving the odds of having positive experiences simply by being open to the best outcomes.
It’s all about your mindset — the idea is that by being open to, and positive about, the things you want in your life, you encourage them into existence. Conversely, a negative mindset serves as a roadblock to your goals and aspirations.
While formal qualifications like online masters degree programs in counseling psychology can equip you with all the research and information on changing your mindset, mindfulness is just one strategy you can implement relatively simply, easily, and almost instantly.
Origins
Manifestation is a very general term for a wide variety of practices and traditions. While often associated with Buddhism in western cultures, manifestation has its roots in traditions dating all the way back to ancient Eastern religions. More recent ideologies, including Buddhism and Taoism, have practices that resemble modern conceptions of manifestation, but Hinduism, a religion with origins that can be traced as far back as 2300 BCE, really takes the cake here, with its concept of karma having a clear and obvious influence on our more modern variants.
Similarly, the ideas in the Law of Attraction, a widely practiced New Thought take on manifestation, were derived from a combination of concepts drawn from Hermeticism, New England transcendentalism, the Christian bible, and Hinduism.
As you can see, there are a wide variety of different schools of thought in manifestation, and some practitioners take the habit of manifestation every bit as seriously as a religion. In fact, for some, it is indeed their religion. The Hindu belief in karma entails that the ethical implications of both our thoughts and our actions have an indirect, cumulative impact on the trajectory of one’s life, and, indeed, one’s fate in subsequent lives. While the earliest beliefs of karma in the Hindu tradition focused more on ritual and sacrificial actions aimed at pleasing various deities, that belief has evolved, and most modern sects of Hinduism believe that our personal ethics and the thoughts and actions we take have a direct impact on our fate.
Ironically, while the practice of manifestation is often associated with Buddhism, this practice actually runs contrary to many Buddhist beliefs. While manifestation places an emphasis on visualizing things as we want them to be, the core tenet of Buddhism is indeed to release oneself from earthly attachments and desires: Buddhists firmly believe in learning to understand and accept the world as it is and to be at peace with the present. This is, of course, a topic of some controversy, as some people believe that there is either no conflict between ideas like the Law of Attraction and Buddhism, while others yet believe that the teachings of the Buddha align with the idea, given his teaching that we continue to be born again in accordance with our need for further experience, and that we only ascend to nirvana when we no longer have such needs.
In Practice
With all that said, many believe that, at its core, manifestation isn’t necessarily a complex, religious process. After all, all you really have to do to engage in manifestation is to imagine the outcome you want from any given situation, with the hope of improving your odds of experiencing it. Regardless of what you believe, there is a large body of scientific evidence that goal-setting and belief in one’s ability to attain a goal correlates positively with achievement of one’s goals. It almost seems obvious, doesn’t it? It’s always easier to get things done when they don’t feel hopeless. Believing in yourself is important for mental health, and better health will always help us function better.
Some people take things a bit further without quite going all the way to full-on religious belief. Many practitioners of manifestation choose to embrace the origins of manifestation as rooted in these religions, and adopt some of their rituals and practices in an attempt to improve the odds of manifesting a positive outcome. For example, the 3-6-9 method of manifestation is a practice derived from Hinduism, with some cultural influence from inventor Nikola Tesla, whose resurgence in popular culture has led to a corresponding interest in his habits, and Karin Yee, a Law of Attraction practitioner. While there are multiple variations on this practice, it is centered around the supposed sacredness of the numbers 3, 6, and 9, and the most popular variant simply requires that one repeat what one desires three times in the morning, six times at midday, and nine times in the evening.
Some methods are newer and totally secular in origin. For example, many manifesters choose to create vision boards. A vision board is simply a collection of things - normally images - that you associate with your goal or whatever it is you would like to manifest. Some people choose to create physical boards or collections of things that they keep in a highly visible, prominent location in their home or working space in order to benefit from its presence. Others use digital collaging tools like Pinterest or Figma instead, perhaps to collect images of things that they might not have physical proxies for, or to ensure that their vision board is always accessible no matter where they go.
Many practitioners use different styles of journaling. Indeed, some methods of the 3-6-9 technique involve writing down whatever it is one wishes to manifest 3, 6, and 9 times throughout the day rather than chanting or meditating on them. Many manifesters also practice scripting, a process of writing from the perspective of one’s future self, as though one has already attained or achieved whatever is desired.
There are so many ways to practice manifestation. None of them are necessarily right or wrong, but people tend to gravitate towards one style or another, and it’s important to listen to your instincts - after all, as with any habit, the most important thing is to make sure it’s something you can practice consistently.
Whichever methods, beliefs, or techniques you choose, we hope that you find success!
