The Law of Attraction... Does it Work?

The Law of Attraction is the new hit craze, thanks to the Secret. You can buy the book, watch the video, attend seminars of its teaching, or hear about it on Oprah. The main theme seems a bit vague at first - What you think, and how you act brings forth similar results into your life. With some research, you can see that this idea was around far before The Secret became a phenomenon. Can your life really be changed just by changing your outlook? Does the way you think bring your happiness and your sadness into your life?

This idea is very similar to the biblical phrase "you reap what you sow." Exactly what you put forth into life, is exactly what you will get back. If you put negativity into the world, why would it not return to you? Everything that happens to you, happens as a result of your own actions. To an extent, this is already commonly believed. If you do illegal activities, and you get arrested, you caused this. If you are always insulting and demeaning your friends, and then suddenly find yourself friendless, you caused this as well. But do you cause your own financial strife? Or your own health problems?

Is this karma? Karma is often explained with the phrase "you reap what you sow." The book of Hinduism defines karma by these rules, "Whatever you sow by your actions come back to you. If you make others happy through service, charity and kind acts, you sow happiness like a seed; and it will give you the fruit of happiness. If you make others unhappy through harsh words, insult, ill-treatment, cruel acts, oppression, etc., you sow unhappiness like a seed; and it will give you the fruit of pain, suffering, misery and unhappiness." This seems very similar to what the Law of Attraction says, right, but then but then why do bad things happen to you, if you are not doing bad things?