Manifestation: a Capitalistic, Culty Practice or a Lesson in Detachment?
Sage, affirmations, and pyrite galore—these are just a few of the symbols that have come to represent New Age spirituality. Concepts like the Law of Attraction, detachment, and scripting (what I’d like to call manifestation core) bleed through New Agers’ veins.
However, spirituality has had deep roots in Eastern cultures for many, many centuries now, and while manifestation core runs rampant across podcasts and social media, Eastern branches of spirituality focus on esoteric wisdom and the soul’s journey.
Quite the contrast from those viral reels.
So, where does the New Age practice of manifestation intersect with Eastern spirituality?
Get cozy ladies - we’re digging into these questions and then some. But first, let’s start with the most basic question:
What is Manifestation?
Before the word took on its New Age and somewhat woo-woo meaning, the word had a more simple and literal meaning; the Cambridge Dictionary defines it as follows:
Manifest (verb) /ˈmæn.ɪ.fest/ :
to show something clearly, through signs or actions.
The premise behind manifestation is apparent in the traditional sense of the world. New Age gurus explain that through visualization or scripting, you can materialize, or “show something clearly,” a place, person or situation out of thin air.
If you’ve manifested, or attracted, anything in your life, you understand that the very art of this practice is in letting go and surrendering after setting an intention.
Manifestation and Capitalism
Somewhere along the way, the world put its capitalistic lens on it. Manifestation became about control, and achieving the perfect external reality.
The narrative shifted into one of control masked under “higher vibrationality”, a lighter state of being that is thought to be aligned with the best version of you. It shifted to sound something like this:
You always have to think positively, expect the best, don’t give in to the possibility of negative consequences, and please don’t feel sad because that’s “low vibration” and if you do you’ll never get the thing you want.
The obsession with control this narrative requires is, quite frankly, exhausting.
It’s a sort of comfort to dissolve the scary unknown. A comfort for the uptight, A-type, managerial self that lives within many of us.
Then, there’s the other piece of the capitalistic lens—we mainly see manifestation being used for three entirely predictable reasons:
That perfect partner
The dream job
Money, money, money
Yes, there are some other reasons; these reasons too all revolve around the pillars of capitalistic, societal expectations: climb the corporate ladder, get rich, and have an enviable marriage leaving a trail of “I Don’t Know How She Does It” whispers in your wake.
Where does the New Age practice of manifestation intersect with Eastern spirituality?
Is Manifestation Part of Capitalism’s Agenda or Something Else Entirely?
This begs the question: are we that obsessed with control or is manifesting teaching us how to let go and truly surrender?
On the one hand, it is so human of us to want control, to see things from a linear, cause-and-effect lens that is guided by societal expectations of what success and happiness look like.
However, the reality is that life is inherently cyclical and full of unknowns, as if it is a great mystery unfolding right before our very eyes. We’d like to think we can avoid the difficult shit in our lives if we just hold onto this perfect image of higher vibrationality and visualize all the positivity.
But, humour me for a moment: what if part of staying in a higher vibration is accepting all that life has to offer—the good, the bad, and the ugly?
To be in a higher vibration requires us to detach from outcomes, people, and situations. It requires us to surrender, trust, and know there are forces beyond our control that we can’t physically see.
If that’s the case, then being in a higher vibration requires understanding that being human is a rainbow of experiences, both wonderful and disappointing.
This is where New Age intersects with Eastern branches of spirituality: Eastern spirituality teaches us to accept the present, to see the present as a gift, and to embrace the mystery of life. In doing so, we learn the art of detachment.
Similarly, manifestation tells us the magic of bringing blessings into your life is to detach and experience the present moment.
Because maybe the point isn’t getting that physical thing. Maybe it’s instead about finding the bliss in whatever the present has to offer us, knowing that doing so is attracting peace, bliss, happiness—the good stuff.
Maybe it’s also leaning into the wisdom that challenges—the bad and ugly stuff—can bring bliss too. Sometimes challenges are exactly what we need to *manifest* a certain outcome in our realities. It’s like that saying: you ask for more patience and get a line at Starbucks.
The Art of Surrender
So, what’s one to do?
Surrender. Soften. Surrendering does not mean giving up. Instead, lean into the present moment and live in that in-between space; a space of trust, where you believe that setting intentions and then coming back to the present moment (detaching) will help attract the right things into your life.
When you do that, you actually give yourself the space to experience peace in the here and now.
Thich Nhat Hanh put it best when he said, “Aimlessness does not mean doing nothing. It means not putting something in front of you to chase after. When we remove the objects of our craving and desires, we discover that happiness and freedom are available to us right here in the present moment.”
The next time you feel the need to grip on for dear life, try taking a deep breath and soften. Softening and surrender can look like deep rest and soaking up the sunshine. It can also look like expressing gratitude for the life that you’re given, trusting everything is unfolding in unknowable and exciting ways.
Tools for Surrender
While you don’t need anything to engage in the act of surrendering, many find things like guided meditations, books, or aromatherapy aid in their experience.
Top left - clockwise: The Art of Transforming Suffering, Vitruvi Spring Scents bundle, Obakki candle, Affirmation card deck, Bose headphones, Superhuman meditations, The Human Being Journal
Happy manifesting…
Yumna is a creative writer who loves storytelling and a strong cup of morning brew ☕