Believers in the theory cite a famous quotation from the Buddha as proof that the law of attraction is factual. Gautama Buddha, "What you have become is the result of what you have thought", is an expression of the idea that thoughts introduced into reality can attract like energy.
In ancient Greece, as well, the pre-Socratic thinking of the Sophists stated partly that reality could be shaped by simple belief, that what we believe manifests itself as reality.
It is also often alleged that the same idea can be found in beliefs as ancient as Hinduism.
In the West, the idea of "positive thinking" became popular during the 19th century. One of the earliest known formulations of the ideas now known as the Law of Attraction is contained in the 1906 book Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction in the Thought World by William Walker Atkinson, editor of New Thought magazine. Dozens of books in the first half of the 20th century addressed the topic under various names of "positive thinking" and the "Law of Attraction."
In March 2006 a film named The Secret was developed around the "Law of Attraction", and was later developed into a book by the same name. The movie and book have been selling at a tremendous pace and have gained widespread attention across the media from Saturday Night Live to Oprah in the United States.
Proponents of the modern 'Law of Attraction' claim that it has roots in Quantum Physics. According to the 'law of attraction', thoughts have an energy that attracts like energy. In order to control this energy, proponents state that people must practice four things:
• Know what one desires and ask the universe for it. (The "universe" is mentioned broadly, stating that it can be anything from God to an unknown source of energy.)
• Focus one's thought upon the thing desired with great feeling such as enthusiasm or gratitude.
• Feel and behave as if the object of one's desire is already acquired.
• Be open to receiving it.
http://affirmyourself.blogspot.com/