Wealth Attractor

‘Busting Loose From The Money Game’ by Bob Scheinfeld is a relatively new book that was published in 2006. Scheinfeld is the grandson of Manpower founder Aaron Scheinfeld, and claims to have based his approach to wealth creation based on advice given by his successful grandfather. While I did receive some value from this book, I strongly disagree with some of his fundamental premises.

This review is based on the one that I wrote for Amazon.

Summary

Scheinfeld’s basic premise is that our minds create our reality (including our financial reality). Our life experience is a illusory game created by what he calls our ‘Expanded Self’ - an omnipotent intelligence of which we are one small aspect. This game is called the ‘Human Game’, and consist of two phases: Phase 1, which most people are stuck in, and Phase 2, in which all illusions fall away, and money flows in. The attainment of Phase 2 is the goal of the processes given in this book.

Phase 1 is the everyday ‘normal’ world, in which life appears to be lived by a series of rigid rules. This Phase was purposely designed by our Expanded Self to convince us that we are limited and lacking in power. When we are ready, we enter Phase 2, in which our Expanded Self takes us through the process of reclaiming our personal power and then ‘busting loose’ of the game. After busting loose, our desires and goals (including money) will fall into place with little effort, and we might experience seemingly ‘impossible’ happenings, as we become aware of the illusory nature of reality, and life is no longer constricted by the usual rules.

What I liked about the book:

• I found it to be well written, and some parts are quite interesting and thought-provoking.
• The idea that our consciousness creates our reality is obvious to me, and I’m already familiar with the holographic model of reality creation that Scheinfeld discusses. This model is interesting and worth looking into, although he does not go into much depth on the topic here (for a more detailed discussion, I recommend ‘The Holographic Universe’ by Michael Talbot).
• Scheinfeld offers four techniques which we can use to enter and progress through Phase 2. These are appreciation; the use of a vocabulary of empowering words, and two techniques that he terms ‘The Process’ and ‘The Mini Process’. Even though I don’t accept his ideas about life’s premises and what Phase 2 should be like, I have found all of these techniques to be useful.
• I like his `no limit’ thinking - he proposes a vision of how life could be if it were unencumbered by all the rules and regulations that most people accept as normal or inevitable. I do agree that we possess unlimited potential as conscious creators of our own realities, and that so called `supernatural’ or ‘magical’ events could be commonplace if only we could allow them, and it’s good to see a writer who is unafraid to stick his neck out and make claims that probably sound preposterous to the average person (Star Trek’s Q as a role model? Why not?!)
• I also like his debunking of the traditional views on money (as being in short supply, needing to be worked hard for etc.), which I’ve always thought were rather unnecessary and limited.

What I didn’t like:

• While the holographic model in general makes sense to me, Scheinfeld claims that the other people (and animals etc) in my life are purely my creation, and I don’t accept this. I see them more as independent consciousnesses who are also creating their own holographic realities, some aspects of which intersect with my own (based on the law of attraction), thus contributing to our shared experiences. I do agree with his assertion that no-one else can create in my experience however, and tend to think that people’s behaviours will depend on what I attract from them, so in that sense we do have control over the type of interaction we attract with others.
• I don’t accept his notion of the ‘Human Game’, or agree that we’re just pawns created by our Expanded Self for its own amusement. On the contrary - I don’t really see any distinction between that Expanded Self (or what Abraham would call the ‘Inner Being’), and the `me’ that is here experiencing this life; its power is mine, and my experiences from this self-created ‘ego’ perspective are of value to it. We are on the leading edge, and we (the `expanded me’ plus the personality I know as ‘me’) are in control as a perfectly blended being.
• Scheinfeld claims that the `busting loose’ process is painful and traumatic, which I don’t accept. Nor do I agree with his belief that we have to just passively wait for our Expanded Self to pop unpleasant events into our experience for us to react to. The idea that we have to suffer in order to grow is a depressingly common one in spiritual/metaphysical circles, and it’s just flat-out wrong! It’s perfectly possible to reclaim our power and release inner resistance without all that unnecessary trauma and drama. The journey to complete freedom and personal power can be a totally fun, joyful, uplifting one.
• Scheinfeld says that what we experience doesn’t matter - it’s no better to be wealthy than to be poor, or to have good relationships rather than bad ones. I agree that it’s not a good idea to be inflexible and to become overly attached to specific outcomes. It’s also true that valuable insight can be derived from any event, but I can’t accept that our desires and preferences have no value. IMO we’re here to constantly formulate new preferences, and those preferences do matter. Because what would be the point of being a deliberate creator without a personally defined, constantly evolving purpose (or purposes) towards which we can direct our energies? Life may be an illusion, but some aspects of that illusion are undoubtedly more pleasant than others, so why not focus on attracting/creating those pleasant experiences that we are instinctively drawn to? Our positive and negative emotions are intended to form a guidance system, and it’s only natural that we should prefer to feel good. To discount that guidance is to ignore the most fundamental connection we have with out Inner Beings!

Not a financial advice book

I would also add - this is not a ‘mainstream’ financial advice book (which you’ve probably guessed from the above comments!) You won’t find guidance about what actions to take to make money, nor is it about the psychology of wealth in the usual sense (I like the ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ series for information on that aspect of wealth building). Instead, ‘Busting Loose’ presents a metaphysical approach that requires an open-minded willingness to suspend disbelief and the need for ‘proof’ in the conventional sense, so if you’re just looking for advice on how to get rich in the traditional ways, or are someone who isn’t willing to consider a new idea unless it has been scientifically validated, this isn’t the book for you (in fact this probably isn’t the site for you either! ; )

Take what works…

There is more in the book that didn’t appeal to me, but these are the main points. Scheinfeld is presenting his model of reality here, which is apparently working for him, and which seems to work well for many others too, but his model might not be the best approach for everyone. The material here is just one perspective on the purpose and mechanics of this physical life experience. To me, this perspective includes some pretty severe distortions, but the book has enjoyed lots of rave reviews, so there is obviously much here that many people find to be of great value. As with any book or other information source, the best approach is to take what resonates with you, and discard the rest.

I still prefer Abraham!

Personally, I like to forge my own path, but in terms of external teachings I strongly recommend the Abraham-Hicks material to anyone who is open-minded enough to accept that they are capable of creating an unlimited reality (including unlimited wealth), but who also prefers an easy-going, joyous path, in which they are fully in control and which is not fraught with trauma and unpleasant `learning’ experiences! In fact reading this book has just reinforced my conviction that the Abraham material, combined with my own inner guidance, provides all I need to create my perfect life, in a very clear pure form that is undistorted by limited human perspectives!