There is no secret: The myth of the Law of Attraction
This review was written several weeks ago, but I shelved it for fear of making anyone cranky. Things have changed. The Law of Attraction cultists are out in force, and they’re gunking up my site with comment spam. Now I’m having my say — I’m fighting back.
The Secret is a best-selling motivational book (and DVD) published last fall. 
What is the “Secret” of The Secret?
The “secret” is the Law of Attraction, which is not actually a law of anything. The Law of Attraction states that your life is a result of the things you think about. From a psychological perspective, this notion has some merit, and if the book explored the existing literature and research on the subject, I might not be writing this review.
But the book does nothing of the sort. The Secret offers no evidence of any kind: no scientific discussion, no experimentation, but only scattered cherry-picked anecdotes. It’s the worst kind of pseudo-scientific baloney. Die-hard believers, such as Rhonda Byrne, the book’s author, have elevated the Law of Attraction to a whole new metaphysical realm. They’ve stretched valid psychological ideas to cover everything in life, and it just doesn’t make sense.
Here’s how Byrne claims the Law of Attraction works:
Thoughts are magnetic, and thoughts have a frequency. As you think, those thoughts are sent out into the Universe, and they magnetically attract all like things that are on the same frequency. Everything sent out returns to its source. And that source is You.
[…]Asking the Universe for what you want is your opportunity to get clear about what you want. As you get clear in your mind, you have asked.
Believing involves acting, speaking, and thinking as though you have already received what you’ve asked for. When you emit the frequency of having received it, the law of attraction moves people, events, and circumstances for you to receive.
Receiving involves feeling the way you will feel once your desire has manifested. Feeling good now puts you on the frequency of what you want.
To lose weight, don’t focus on “losing weight”. Instead, focus on your perfect weight. Feel the feelings of your perfect weight, and you will summon it to you.
It takes no time for the Universe to manifest what you want. It is as easy to manifest one dollar as it is to manifest one million dollars.
Don’t worry if that didn’t make sense. It doesn’t make any more sense in book form.
The Secret to Money
In each chapter, Byrne and her team of “experts” offer advice on how to apply the secret to some aspect of life. For example, in “The Secret to Health”, we learn that germ theory is bunk:
You cannot “catch” anything unless you think you can, and thinking you can is inviting it to you with your thought. You are also inviting illness if you are listening to people talk about their illnesses.
Don’t worry about the avian flu. If you don’t think it can affect you, you’re safe! I’m sure medical researchers are taking notes. Since this is a personal finance blog, let’s look at the book’s advice about money:
- To attract money, focus on wealth. It is impossible to bring more money into your life when you focus on the lack of it.
- It is helpful to use your imagination and make-believe you already have the money you want. Play games of having wealth and you will feel better about money; as you feel better about it, more will flow into your life.
- Feeling happy now is the fastest way to bring money into your life.
- Make it your intention to look at everything you like and say to yourself, “I can afford that. I can buy that.” You will shift your thinking and begin to feel better about money.
- Give money in order to bring more of it into your life. When you are generous with money and feel good about sharing it, you are saying, “I have plenty.”
- Visualize checks in the mail.
- Tip the balance of your thoughts to wealth. Think wealth.
There you have it. Those are the secrets to money. You do not have to avoid debt. You do not have to spend less than you earn. You do not have to be frugal, or obtain a college degree, or start a Roth IRA. All you have to do is “think wealth”.
The only reason any person does not have enough money is because they are blocking money from coming to them with their thoughts. Every negative thought, feeling, or emotion is blocking your good from coming to you, and that includes money. It is not that the money is being kept from you by the Universe, because all the money you require exists right now in the invisible.
This kind of crap is dangerous. It’s get-rich-quick drivel of the worst sort. It doesn’t help people address their money issues. It puts them into a pattern of wishful thinking.
Just as the “Think Method” could not turn Harold Hill’s music students into virtuosos, this advice will not help you achieve prosperity. These may be useful exercises to change your mindset about money, but they’re not going to make you rich.
It can be comforting to embrace ideas like these. I know. When I was at financial rock-bottom a decade ago, books like this brought me solace. But they also led me to more debt. Wealth requires more than just thought — it requires action. And not the sort advocated by David Schirmer in The Secret:
I thought, “What if I just visualized checks coming in the mail?” So I just visualized a bunch of checks coming in the mail. Within just one month, things started to change. It is amazing; today I just get checks in the mail. I get a few bills, but I get more checks than bills.
Visualizing checks in the mail will not make them magically appear. When I say “money is more about mind than it is about math“, this is not what I mean. I’m talking about mental toughness, about self-discipline, about changing beliefs and thought patterns. I’m not talking about “manifesting” checks in your mailbox.
You Are What You Think
The Secret is a motivational book. It can inspire you to set goals, and to visualize the life you’d like to lead. A lot of its techniques are time-tested psychological tricks to help keep you motivated. I like this.
The book loses me, though, when it claims that the Law of Attraction is a “universal law” such as the law of gravity. The Secret attempts to combine Christianity (Jesus followed the Law of Attraction, don’t you know?), quantum physics, and more in an effort to convince readers that our minds are some sort of universal force governed by frequencies and wavelengths and so on. This is bullshit of the highest order, and it makes me angry. To quote Han Solo, “There’s no mystical energy field that controls my destiny.”
What’s more, its proponents want you to believe that everything that happens on the Earth (and in the rest of the universe) is a result of the Law of Attraction. This sort of absolutism is absurd. Everything that happens to us is a result of our thinking? Do tell. Six million Jews? Tsunami victims? What, they’re all collectively wishing the ocean would wash them away? Here’s how Byrne rationalizes tragedy:
Often [people] recall events in history where masses of lives were lost, and they find it incomprehensible that so many people could have attracted themselves to the event. By the law of attraction, they had to be on the same frequency as the event. It doesn’t necessarily mean they thought of that exact event, but the frequency of their thoughts matched the frequency of the event. If people believe they can be in the wrong place at the wrong time, and they have no control over outside circumstances, those thoughts of fear, separation, and powerlessness, if persistent, can attract them to being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
If you can buy into a philosophy that says six million Jews were killed because on some level they willed it, The Secret may be for you. If you are attracted to a mindset that says thousands of people can summon a tsunami to destroy themseleves, The Secret may be for you. If you think that 32 people at Virginia Tech somehow willed their deaths with thought vibrations, then The Secret may be for you.
The Secret is not for me.
The Law of Attraction in action?
Other Complaints
Byrne doesn’t offer a single piece of evidence to support her claims. She and her experts provide anecdotal accounts of The Law of Attraction at work, but these accounts are meaningless. Some can be explained by coincidence. Others are a result of the real psychological effects of believing in yourself and maintaining a ready mind. None of them have anything to do with your thoughts “manifesting” themselves to the Universe.
It also bugs me when Byrne tries to imply that great thinkers throughout history were believers in The Law of Attraction. (She cites Einstein over and over in an attempt to bolster her credibility through association.) These thinkers may indeed have believed in the importance of goals, positive thinking, and mental toughness, but most of them — especially the scientists — would probably disapprove of being associated with this pseudo-scientific nonsense.
Don’t get me wrong: the psychological ideas at the heart of The Secret are excellent. There is true power in positive thinking. Believing in yourself is a great way to to develop confidence. But The Secret promises too much; it goes too far in declaring that the Universe will grant all of your desires if you simply wish hard enough. Haven’t we outgrown that?
Go ahead and follow Byrne’s general advice. But back up your goals and your visualizations with action and hard work. Make your dreams come true — don’t just dream them.
Additional Resources
If you find the ideas presented in The Secret intriguing, and want to learn more about the psychological ideas without being subjected to the metaphysical stuff, you might enjoy these books:
- Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl is a classic. In the first part, Frankl describes how he survived a Nazi concentration camp by clinging to his values and beliefs; in the second part, he attempts to create a philosophy of life derived from this experience.
- Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy by David D. Burns, M.D. describes how to deal with negative thinking through cognitive behavioral therapy. This is an example of using your thoughts to create your reality, but in a way that works. This is an excellent book. It really helped me when I was struggling with depression.
- How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie does a marvelous job of describing how the law of attraction can help you build stronger relationships. (My review.) Of course, Carnegie never actually mentions the law of attraction, but that’s the idea he’s espousing.
- Secrets of the Millionaire Mind by T. Harv Eker is a solid introduction to changing your psychological approach to money, success, and happiness. (My review.)
Here are some other articles critical of The Secret and the Law of Attraction.
- Village Voice: Shopping with The Secret
- Skeptico: The Secret and Law of Attraction not working for Joe Vitale
- Skeptic: The secret behind The Secret
- The Huffington Post: The secret of mass delusion (by Barbara Ehrenreich)
- National Review: Who’s got a secret?
- Salon.com: Oprah’s ugly secret
- The Simple Dollar: There is no “secret”: Why “feel good” thinking isn’t enough to get ahead financially
- Wikipedia: Criticism of The Secret
- One-star reviews at Amazon.
The first twenty minutes of the film version of The Secret are available on YouTube. I would embed the video here, but the copyright holders have added some extra verbiage to their post. I don’t think this actually negates the YouTube terms of service, but I’m not going to take a chance. I do feel safe republishing the following “visualization tools”. The first one, “The Secret to You” is good. I like it. It’s filled with uplifting affirmations, and I think it would be an excellent thing to watch every day:
“The Secret to Riches” visualization tool, on the other hand, is plain silly:
I’d love to hear your comments if you read and enjoyed the The Secret. Convince me that I’m wrong. Convince me that there’s something to the Law of Attraction. Convince me that you can will checks to appear in your mailbox.
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There are 341 comments to "There is no secret: The myth of the Law of Attraction".
While I do not think this is as mystical as they come off (I think it is a good marketing schitck), I think the idea is sound.
I think it is similar to the idea that God helps those who help themselves.
I have a few friends who grew up in horrible circumstances who were able to get themselves out of it and are brilliant and successful people, while others around them, including siblings, were not able to do the same things, despite being in the same environment and have (basically) the same genes. I have wondered why they are so special. I think the idea in The Secret can help explain it.
If you think it, and act accordingly, meaning take steps to make your thoughts real, it can take you a long way to overcoming fear and self-doubt, as well as open doors for you.
An example of this is where if you really look for something, you will find it.
I have a friend whose “lucky” number is 14. He sees it everywhere and he says he follows it for inspiration. I think he is just finding what he is looking for, but it works for him, motivationally, so I think it is good and he is very successful.
Off the top of my head, in pop culture, I can think of something vaguely similar. In the movie “Boiler Room”, Ben Afflect’s character has a monologue that promotes a similar idea to the secret. He stated, “Act, ‘As if’, meaning think it, visualize it, and it will happen. (His monologue in Boiler Room, and a lot of the movie is vulgar, so if that sort of thing bothers you, I would skip it.)
I know that pop culture is not a suitable citation, but the point is that “The Secret” is not a new idea, it is a new branding of the idea, and I think it is successful in what it wants to accomplish.
Rob
Where exactly in the Bible does it say that God helps those who help themselves? I think you will find the answer to that question is NOWHERE. On the contrary, God helps those who believe and trust in Him.
Laura,
There are two places in the Bible where it says that “the laborer is worthy of his wages”. Another verse that says “if one does not work, neither should he eat”. I will let you work to find the references. I think these verses pretty will sum up the expression…God helps those who help themselves. I hope you find this helpful.
Laura is right, Jim is wrong. Ignorant people say “God helps those who help themselves.” If people are strong enough to help themselves, they don’t need God’s help, do they? On the face of it, the saying is nonsense. It reveals a lack of faith in God.
The Gospel (good news) says: We are all spiritually DEAD. We cannot help ourselves. But God loves us and sent Jesus to SAVE us. Stop trying to be good enough (help yourself) and accept my free gift. Therefore, God helps those who STOP trying to help themselves and let God do it for them. On a spiritual level anyway.
“God helps those who help themselves” is true to me. Another way to say it is “Faith without works is dead.” Christ saves us, true. But we still have to work.
I wrote my own law of attraction critique where I tried to integrate this ‘principle’ into higher-order thinking. Meaning, not reducing everything to the level of mind. I tried to be nice about it because I didn’t want to piss all the dogmatic believers out there, but just help them to think and move ‘beyond’ the idea of attraction being a rigid law. The Secret could have been powerful if it admitted it’s partial truth and not tried to turn it into science.
I have a half and half belief about the law of attraction. I do feel that our thoughts absolutely affect us, and those around us. I do believe that writing down goals makes them more likely to happen, and that by moving forward on positive goals, you do tend to attract situations and help. Now, is this because you are more aware and open to the chances available because you are thinking about it? Maybe, but there is something to be said for focusing on what you want to have happen, instead of focusing on the negative. The books you listed at the end are a great example of this.
The other half, like you I don’t belive in the “you caused this to happen to yourself” train of thought. It is an interesting way to look at events in your life, and you may even learn something from trying to figure out if you had some place in the outcome… but to make it all encompassing is ludicous. The examples you gave are perfect to show the flaw in this part of the thinking.
Rob: If you think it, and act accordingly, meaning take steps to make your thoughts real, it can take you a long way to overcoming fear and self-doubt, as well as open doors for you.
Yes, I agree with this completely. I believe that setting goals, taking action, and believing in oneself can lead to great things. More than 150 years ago, Thoreau wrote: “I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success in uncommon hours.” This is the sort of lower-case, non-cultlike law of attraction that I think holds a lot of power. But it’s not powerful because of thought energy and some mystical reciprocity of the Universe. It’s powerful because it taps the human psyche.
Graham: The Secret could have been powerful if it admitted it’s partial truth and not tried to turn it into science.
Exactly!
positive thinking is one thing, but this crap is un-frickin-beievable.
Excellent review.
The self-help movement was just beginning in my late teens, and my mother latched on to it a few years before she died. I have to say, this was a *good* thing. It helped teach us, trapped and impoverished, that we could pull ourselves out of our situation.
Unfortunately, it looks like (and no, I won’t read it) “The Secret” takes it too far–slipping right into magical thinking; something those who feel trapped by their lives are very susceptible to.
Will positive thinking help you live a better life? You bet. Is every bad thing that happens to you your fault? Ha, very funny. Yes, there are certainly “disaster magnets” who bring a lot of sadness in to their lives, but bad things happen to good people every day. That’s life. It’s how we move on and deal with it that’s important.
Still, I have hope. Because I was able to take similar books and extract the gems from them, I imagine others like me will do the same. The ridiculous ideas will fade away, but a few people will take “The Secret” and grow as people, and learn to love themselves and experience the world.
Great review – thanks.
I particularly appreciate your being direct about just how offensive some of the implications of this book are. I completely agree.
r
So if I visualize having money, and then write a book/DVD that thousands of people foolishly think will allow them to succeed, then checks will start appearing on my doorstop.
Sounds like it’s working for the author.
I saw this trash a few weeks ago when I was out shopping. I was laughing out loud after reading the jacket on the back of the DVD. I can’t believe what some people will fall for.
LOA does work on a certain level. During the GFC, people who kept on thinking about Job losses, ended up without jobs—isnt it like wishing a disaster to happen?
As for LOA, how different is it from – As you sow so shall you reap. Or from – God helps those who help themselves.
In fact the book Secret, just points people towards thinking positively and creating self-belief, two thigs which are fundamental for success. Isnt it?
And yes, Rhonda Bryne, did manage to manifest cheques coming through her mail box by writing the book and making the film. It helped her rake in the money and I am sure the cheques more than make up for her bills.
Sounds like it works for few and not too many.. I’ve yet to manifest ANYTHING.. It’s all nonsense and hogwash.
AMEN! You called it – this is crap, pure and simple.
Sure, thinking positively is nice, because who can be effective if you’re sitting at home being depressed about life? But it’s a psychological thing – nothing to do with metaphysical mumbo jumbo. These ideas (the way presented in this book – as a religion / cult idea) are very dangerous.
It’s magical thinking.. Like we’ve had this past year!
Thank you for posting this. The Secret has been bouncing around for far too long, being pushed by far too many people who *know better*. I’m glad someone with a large readership took the time to address this.
I posted about how “The Secret” is ridiculous on my blog a while back, and a ridiculous amount of negative responses. It’s sad how so many people have latched onto this because they so desperately want an easy way out.
The Secret is a scam, and everyone who promotes it (and related trash) is a liar, plain and simple. It’s an absolute shame that so many people have been pushing this. All it does is encourage people to stay in the same holes they are already in (because it’s not about *work*, it’s about *thought*).
The Secret ain’t gonna find you any “Golden Tickets” to an easy life…
So do you mean that you can’t just see a necklace in the window and have a man buy it for you? You can’t dream of a new bike and have your grandfather (I’m hoping that’s who he is supposed to be) just show up with one?
This whole idea is pathetic – but the dreamers will never understand that hard work, spending less than you earn, saving, and investing are the only ways to do it.
That’s too much like work. Just “meditate” a big lottery win and, voila, $$$$$’s.. Sorry it doesn’t work that way.. Ya gotta earn it!
Oh, great, J.D. Just when I had my energies focused right and those checks pointing in my direction, you come along and cast all this doubt, man. What a buzzkill!
Your blog has cost me millions, just reading this post. I had The Secret, and now it’s lost.
I hope you’re happy.
Now I’m going to do something rash, like visualize you losing your hair or something.
If there is a connection between aspirations and actions then maybe, regardless of the ‘science’ acting in the belief of attraction might affect the way people are, and its that that creates a difference for them. I’m skeptical my partner isn’t, but she drives to the supermarket and tries the parking space trick and it works every time!!
Thank you for posting this. It’s truly refreshing to see a review of the Secret that doesn’t inflate its hype. While I do strongly believe in positive thinking, I think the bulk of this is crap.
A few theories on “unexpected checks”…
1. the author is a member of one of those chain letter pyramid scams (send a $1 check to these 16 people, and it will come back to you one thousandfold!)
2. the author gets the same unexpected checks I do, from credit card companies trying to sell me insurance (cashing this check signs you up for…)
It’s good to be aware of how our thoughts affect our circumstances, but this is way too new-agey and pop-mystical. And some of the points seem downright harmful:
“It is helpful to use your imagination and make-believe you already have the money you want. Play games of having wealth and you will feel better about money; as you feel better about it, more will flow into your life.”
And:
“Make it your intention to look at everything you like and say to yourself, “I can afford that. I can buy that.” You will shift your thinking and begin to feel better about money.”
Too many people are already doing these things, and with disastrous results.
Now, I have to get back to preparing dinner. If I think hard enough, maybe someone will leave some Veuve Cliquot champagne at my front door….
love the review, sums it all up!
Oh man. A friend bought the DVD and was watching it at my girlfriends a couple of weeks ago. I rolled my eyes as it got started. I especially like the one with the guy who was paralyzed and the doctors told him he would never walk and now he is walking just fine. Pure B.S.!
Wow… outstanding post. Balanced, but with some honest emotion behind it.
While I am one of those who *is* into the mystical stuff, I do agree that to simply sit around on your butt and wait for checks to come in the mail is ridiculous. I initially loved the movie, and as an introduction to the Law of Attraction, the original version is still the best I’ve seen. I haven’t seen the “extended” edition, or read the book (which I assume is based on the new version), so I can’t really comment on them.
I try stuff out, take what works, and dump the rest. As an initial inspiration, for me the original version was excellent. It may not be another’s cup of tea. And if a person tries to live their life just by what they learn in the movie, they will be disappointed.
Thank you.
Thank you for posting the truth about ‘the secret’. Unfortunately, the human mind is easily manipulated. We believe in all kinds of crap. This is no exception. Hard work breeds success. Smart investing makes money. There is no ‘Secret’.
What kind of hard work? 🙂 I have yet to meet a rich ditch digger.
I always find it interesting when someone says they can prove something is a scam or fraud. Heck, they killed Christ because they didn’t believe he was the Son of God. Anyone can prove of disprove anything and get enough lemmings to follow you and you have a cult, albeit religion, government or Law of Attraction. Lots of energy goes into disbelief – it is called fear. Fear is what killed Christ. Today, it is fear that kills learning, having an open mind, and finding out for yourself. I love comments that say things like I read the jacket or back cover and I know what I am talking about. If you didn’t actually take action and try it – you don’t know diddly. I have yet to read anyone posting actual researched proof. Opinion and $2.50 will get you a cup of coffee. Don’t be a lemming. Have a sparkling day and come back with more than opinion.
Thanks for that review, JD. I’ve only been hearing bits and pieces about this phenomenon, because I’m largely unplugged from mainstream media, too. This kind of thinking has been floating around in New Age circles for a long time and it’s kind of a surprise that it’s hit the mainstream. It drives me absolutely batty.
The cruelest thing about it is that when something happens that is truly terrible and outside a person’s control–a car accident, cancer, whatever–this philosophy essentially tells them it’s their fault. Blaming the victim in the worst possible way. Absolutely appalling.
Excellent post. It seems like the extremism represented here is the method for Byrne and company to make those visualized checks in the mail really come. If the book wasn’t so extreme, it wouldn’t have attracted nearly as much media attention. Maybe I should write a book that takes a tried and true principle and makes it so extreme that it turns heads and makes lots of money. “You think my ideas are crazy? Maybe they are, and maybe I am, but at least I’m filthy rich now!!!”**
**Disclaimer: My comment assumes the book and media attention are bringing in money. If that’s not the case, I’m not going to write my own book after all.
This is mental prozac, and masturbation at the same time. It allows people to believe that no matter what happens there is a certain level of locus of control. Ignore when something and it will go away, and only pay attention to the positive things in life. This way you can control what you perceive, and what happens is you become a very unrealistic person.
From another perspective, this book’s message (that people bring bad events onto themselves) is true, in a bitterly ironic sense. If you were the author of this book, what better answer to the critic’s question, “Poor people aren’t to blame for their poverty! There’s no REAL secret in your book!” than, “Hey critic, why then did 2 million poor people spend $30 each looking for it?”
As my friend put it, “The Secret seems to me one of the most terrifying manifestations of the inability of the common man to lead himself to any sort of prosperity.”
Ayup.
If you’re overweight, exercise for just 15 minutes a day, and stop eating burgers for lunch. Immediate results.
If you’re in debt, stop spending. Immediate results.
Now I’m not too prideful to admit that there are exceptions to my examples, where the odds are unfairly stacked against some people. BUT for the average internet consumer with the extra time to watch DVDs and read blogs, the simplest answers are probably the truest.
There will be times when you have no one but yourself to blame, but this book takes it too far. These are the sorts of dangerous ideas that snowball into generations of hate and genocide. If even seeing a fat person can hurt my chances of losing weight (as this book purports), then why not corral all the fat people into internment camps? They brought it on themselves, after all
Glad to hear someone else commenting on this, as I’ve been thinking about it ever since watching the movie for the first time. From a more scientific standpoint, I think there’s something to this because:
1) Visualizations change your sense of identity. To grow (financially or otherwise), you often have to redefine who you are. If you’re trying to become a millionaire but you’re still thinking like a minimum-wage earner, you’ll experience a lot of internal resistance and confusion, even if you know what actions to take. By visualizing yourself as a millionaire and asking yourself what a millionaire would do, you can give yourself a gigantic psychological push in the right direction.
2) Visualizations can cause you to notice more opportunities. Recently, I bought a silver minivan, and I started noticing how many silver cars there are. I never thought about it before, but now that I own one, I do. I think visualizations work the same way for recognizing opportunities. If you’ve trained your subconscious to think about your objectives, then I think it will pick up on more opportunities that will help you. It will appear as if opportunities are manifesting themselves, but in reality, I think you’re just noticing more of them.
3) Visualizations put you in a more productive state of mind for creative action. It’s hard to be creative and take action when you’re depressed, and depression is frequently the result of negative self talk. By changing your thoughts, you can lift your mood considerably, which will make it easier to move forward.
In any case, those are some more fact-based reasons. I’d like to offer you one suggestion though.
Ask the most successful people you know if they believe in the general principle of the law of attraction, that you create what you think about. I’ve casually done this over the last six months with about a dozen millionaires and two individuals with net worths over $500 million. All of them believed in the principle and all but one said they thought there was something mystical to it.
Of course, all of them also emphasized taking action.
My point is, sometimes the accuracy of a belief is less important than the results that the belief creates. If other successful people I know believe in something, then I’m willing to give it a shot, regardless of whether it makes sense. If it works, I’ll continue. If it doesn’t, I’ll reevaluate. In my opinion, modeling and experience are frequently a better teacher than analysis.
It’s the approach I’ve taken with The Law of Attraction, and while I’m not a fanatic, I do believe there’s something to it.
Jon
‘The Secret’ is nothing more than a feel good book. People read it (imo) to get motivated. The way I see it is, you read it, get the warm fuzzy feeling, start thinking about the positives in live, and by thinking about it, you motivate yourself to do something about it. It’s the readers who fail to do that last step from ‘just thinking’ to actually ‘doing’ that will suffer.
Personally, I prefer facts. Show me the steps. What are the conditions I need to fulfill to get what I want? What are the risks? What is a realistic balance of the likelihood of the risk, the fallout of the risk, etc?
It’d be nice to have a personal finance book in the style of “The Birth of Plenty” by William Bernstein. Creatively written and engaging, but still based on facts outlining all the various conditions that needed to be satisfied in order for us to see the sustained global growth and improvement of quality of life since the 18th century.
I couldn’t agree more with your assessment of The Secret, but did you really have to use that image in the post of a mass grave? It kind of shocked me on a nice lazy sunday afternoon to have to look at that and remember stuff like that really happened.
I wish I could pick stocks as well as the Bestseller List picks bad books. Really, there doesn’t seem to be a better list of books to avoid.
I never saw it, but this sounds the same as “What the do we know?” except that “The Secret” is being driven by profit instead of cult recruitment.
Hear hear, great comments JD. Most of those who will lap up “The Secret” would be much better off spending time reading blogs like yours that actually offer practical advice (for free!) about how to improve their financial lives.
post # 24 ” My point is, sometimes the accuracy of a belief is less important than the results that the belief creates. If other successful people I know believe in something, then I’m willing to give it a shot, regardless of whether it makes sense. If it works, I’ll continue. If it doesn’t, I’ll reevaluate. In my opinion, modeling and experience are frequently a better teacher than analysis.”
I really don’t like this because I don’t think as adults we should need to be talked to like children to motivate ourselves to make practical decisions. I’m not entirely sure that a false sense of motivation is very healthy in the long run anyway, because what if it doesn’t work? How is a person suppose to rationalize the situation when they were being lead by fantasy-like concepts in the first place? At least when you’re guided by truth, you can explore the shortcomings of your plan and revise a more practical solution without relying on mumbo jumbo that will only delude you until you go bashit insane at the next wrong turn.
All these comments can also be said about christianity, budhism, etc. I saw the DVD and realized what Henry Ford said; If you think you can do it or not, either way your right. The message being; If you think you can…you can. Then again I could be negative and dismiss the possibility just because there is no scientific backing. Thankfully, we live in a society that doesn’t push faith based mumbo jumbo like “Catholicism” or the like…oh..wait.
Kudo’s to J.D and Jon Morrow – great posts. The sum of them is -be realistic and positive. Does anyone remember the late Earl Nightingale? He wrote a best seller ‘The Strangest Secret’, where he expounded on ‘we become what we think about’ .. but he was also quite realistic in his approach. Look him up – he’s good.
Oh – J.D. – good Thoreau quote. He also said ‘If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where
they should be. Now put the foundations under them.’
“To attract money, focus on wealth. It is impossible to bring more money into your life when you focus on the lack of it.”
That statement is true to SOME extent. If you focus your time and energy on learning about money and how to make money and taking action, you’ll bring it back to you, if you focus on not having any money and not doing anything about that, you’ll never have any money.
when i was a kid, i used to think about winning the lottery all the fricking time. I would visualize all the cool things I was going to buy when I won. I would literally think about this for hours at a time, sometimes all summer long. Guess what? we never won the lottery. and we never had the money to buy the cool stuff I spent so much time visualizing. Oh well, I guess i was doing it wrong or something, because this idea is too good not to work.
What a great review. You’ve hit the nail on the head; positive thinking and defining goals is fine, but magnetic thought waves?
One might say that the only surprise is that The Secret is subject to this criticism, when many other forms of wishful thinking are accepted by a large portions of the population as writ.
Funny – I knew this was popular but I thought it was some sort of metaphysical “tween” novel for the Harry Potter set!
And I worked in books…
It’s the “if it sounds too good to be true it’s because IT IS too good to be true!!” Drivel & nonsense is what “The Secret” is, which isn’t any kind of secret…. Better off throwing your money away than waste it on this trash!
Thanks for the post–it’s always refreshing to see pseudoscience knocked down a peg. That sort of nonsense is so dangerous it’s unreal.
Homeopathic medicine gets me into a foaming rage, too, but I guess that’s a slightly different subject. 😀
I’m glad to see we live in a world we people have the motivation and ability not to be sucked in by a few positive words, propaganda, and “secret truth” that is about as secret as a poem written by Paul J. Meyer.
“Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe, and enthusiastically act upon… must inevitably come to pass!”
Isn’t that what “the secret” tells us? What one man said in a few words they made a comprehensive dvd of associations and sell it for $30?
Hey everyone here’s another “secret” God said in the bible “Ask and you shall receive, seek and ye shall find.” Isn’t that the secret again?
I think what it all says is that work hard, stay the course, and you will see results. That metaphysical nonsense in “the secret” is nothing more than a snake oil salesman come to take your money and make you feel good about it.
If Oprah hadn’t talked about this, no one would be the wiser… I blame Oprah.
The Secret is a big steaming pile of BS. It is a shame Oprah pimps this crap. Not that I’m a huge fan of Oprah, in particular.
Here’s a piece that does a good job explaining how The Secret stretches a good idea beyond all credibility: The law of attraction is real, the movie ‘The Secret’ is fake.
Thank you, JD! It’s so refreshing to see someone unafraid to throw a little light on this kind of metaphysical junk.
I’m a big believer in affirmations. I like to start my day reminding myself to be “Healthy, wealthy, happy, wise”. Do I think that’ll make money appear in my mailbox? No way! However, it puts me in the right frame of mind every morning to make the kind of choices that make me healthier, wealthier, happier and wiser. I’m not drawing anything to me on some mystical frequency — I’m creating the right mindset to reach my goals. It encourages me to pack my lunch, exercise and pay attention to my values, but it didn’t stop me from cracking a tooth and needing a $1200 crown. Wouldn’t “the secret” have saved me from that wayward bone chip in my General Tso’s chicken?
Visualizing the life you want is an important step in making it happen — but it’s still up to you to do the work to get there. No mysticism, no frequencies, no BS. It’s just the 10% inspiration to be followed up with 90% perspiration.
Great review, JD!
I was afraid only us skeptics were seeing the BS in this fad. Glad to know others are getting it too.
In the book form, page 54 mentions that eating doesn’t make you fat, negative feelings do. Their ideas about health and medicine are just evil and stupid.
~Dawn Says, “If Oprah hadn’t talked about this, no one would be the wiser… I blame Oprah.”
Motion seconded. She’s a propagandist for all sorts of credulous ideas.
I’m glad you went this way in your opinion of this “method”. I would have lost respect if you had followed down the path of the believers. Although, I think your last line should have been worded like this:
“Convince me that you can will checks to appear in MY mailbox.”
That way, if there is something to this madness, maybe you’ll accidentally get hundreds of checks soon. I will be convinced if I start receiving dozens of checks soon.. instead of the bills that haunt my mailbox.
I can’t believe you were able to read this book twice. Now we don’t have to!
One note: In addition to the six million Jews killed during the holocaust, there were six million other people (gypsies, people with deformities, etc.). Twelve million people.
The only attraction going on here is the money from your wallet is moving to their wallet.
There are OUTSTANDING Law of Attraction books out there, stuff done 10, 30, 50 years ago. This is nothing new.
This is just marketing.
And the whole Cult Of Oprah, well that’s another rant altogether.
The worst thing about the secret is that people are using it to direct their faith. Instead of reading the Bible, many think there is a “secret” they need to learn to try to figure out how God wants them to be. You think “imagining checks in the mail” is bad, what could “imagine God is sending you checks in the mail” result in???
My wife brought it home, The Secret, but she didn’t open it. Turns out it was a gift from a “well-meaning” friend. I on the other hand, laughed out loud when Denny Crain used the Secret to bring a movie star or someone beautiful and famous to him and ended up with Phyllis Diller. You are what you pretend to be. And so it goes. Or not.
I’m on the email list, so I get each post as HTML email. I’m really glad you’re debunking this book, especially if it’s popular.
But I truly wish I hadn’t seen a pile of dead bodies from the holocaust in my inbox with no warning. I think of (used to think of!?) GRS as a fun read that will have either neutral pictures (like the talking heads from a video) or fun pictures (like your garden). It has never, to my knowledge, shown something so disturbing. I hope in the future you can reconsider if you’re planning on including a shocking image to make a point you already made well with your writing…
Excellent review – thanks.
Thanks for the apt Harold Hill reference. The analogy actually works on a deeper level because, despite the fact that the Think Method didn’t work on his students, the parents Believed in it to the point that they loved the cacophony their children produced, thus giving The Music Man its happy ending.
JD – good stuff. I often wondered if the writers of The Secret believed that all those people that went to work in the World Trade Center were willing planes to fly into their office buildings.
Does the Law of Attraction remind anyone of Lost?
I had a friend who had the audiobook version and swore by it, so I put it on my ipod. I gave it about an hour of my time before I finally succumbed to the intense desire to turn it off. I kept thinking to myself, “surely at some point this must get more interesting.” Sadly, it never did. And, to top it all off, I hate myself for wasting an hour of my life listening to it.
So not only am I a non-believer, I have a friend who is incredulous that I won’t believe it with him. I think you are spot-on about this one, J.D. and admire you for having the will to read the book twice.
The Law of Attraction, Lost, and the Da Vinci Code have one thing in common: people recognize that there is very little that is unexplained in the world, and they can’t go back to hippie/New Age stuff when they know it’s a load of bunk, so instead they seek out mysterious, tightly-kept secrets, hoping that the people who keep the secret know something we don’t.
Turns out they don’t, not even on Lost.
Amen! I can’t believe that humans would rather wish something than make it happen. I take great pride in the goals I set and achieve. I do not achieve them through thinking about them, but through action! I can’t imagine being as proud of wishing as I am of making it so!
I was introduced to law of attraction via watching the secret. My life has improved since then. So I say it works and thats most important. On the basis of religion, I do not want to comment since I am a free thinker. But I will say the secret is an introductory to positive thinking and I do explore more tools out there like using music to help me visualize better
I can’t be drawn to it because my friends that are all about it miss the points made.
Positive thinking is good. Thinking that just thinking will cause action on anyone else’s part is bad. The point it to motivate yourself into action.
If you can give, you probably *do* have enough. You may not be “independently wealthy,” but you probably could be a lot worse off.
It’s good advice wrapped in marketing shtick wrapped up in bad packaging. This is bad news for the gullible, great news for the makers of.
The Secret is a hollywood way of saying that thinking positive and positive visualization won’t hurt anybody. I enjoyed the film because we can never have too many reminders of this. I also think that this film will be the spark for many people who have not gone down the path yet of personal reflection and improvement. I’m sure that The Secret will inspire more films like it that are maybe less sensational.
WORD.
On one hand, I’m happy, as a bookseller, to work at a store devoted to providing as wide and varied a stock selection as possible. On the other, the pile of “The Secret” at the front desk makes me throw up a little, in my mouth. I try to talk people out of buying it. I’m not always successful. In the future I’ll point the sticklers to your review and hope it does the trick.
Ahhh….blistering. I like it. Its refreshing to hear someone say what they really think. Thanks for your honesty.
when i first opened this up in my inbox i saw “the secret” and i was hoping this was not in support of it and that if it was i would have to unsubscribe but i was wrong and boy was i glad. i watched the movie and read the book then i beat my head in with the book so i could forget the horrible stupid crap i just read. i can’t believe how stupid that movie and book was. keep up the good work
Entertainingly, Emily Yoffe, who writes the Human Guinea Pig column for Slate.com (doing things that other people are either too embarrassed or intelligent to do themselves), test drove The Secret, to try to get the universe to manifest a new kitchen floor, clear sinuses and a new desk. Here’s her column.
There was also a blog posting by someone who noted that a large-scale test of the universe manifesting desires took place in the late 1970s, with millions of young men around the country trying to, hmm, “manifest” to their posters of Farrah Fawcett in a swimsuit:
The Speculist: The Secret Tested.
I’m sorry J.D., I know you asked for someone to convince you there really is a “Secret” but I absolutely cannot disagree with you on this post. While at the root of this book/DVD is SOME good, solid conventional wisdom, (visualization, positive thinking, etc)they take it several steps too far in order to please the masses and tell people what they want to hear.The books you have mentioned are excellent sources of inspiration that do not promise anything except a better “you” if you follow the techniques. Thanks for reviewing this ludicrous piece of work.
I find it interesting that so many are willing to poo poo the idea of brainwaves being able to be read by the universe and all that other crazy stuff when there’s actually proof that we brainwaves can be read from outside the head (see here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3485918.stm ) while believing in a higher power when there is no proof of that.
Hmmm.
Personally, I think that the reason so many people initially have problems with money is the way that they “think” about money. Their conditioning as they grew up and the “whoa is me” type of thought patterns have a HUGE impact on their outlook abd decisions. Which is why many people have problems with money. Which is what your website addresses in a non-spirtual way. I’ve enjoyed reading you everyday for the practical side of things. But there is another side, in changing your core beliefs to believe that you are abundant and deserve to have what you have, which this book addresses.
You know Descartes – therefore, I think I am.
I am living proof that changing your beliefs about money makes a difference.. changing them at the CORE.. not just the mechanics of what percentage and how much where and when.
I went from pure poverty to being financially comfortable, (I can take 6 week vacations and still pay the bills) not by my investment or banking techniques but by my beliefs about myself in relation to money. I also have a wonderful marriage (my 3rd) after changing my belief system about relationships.
So really this book does many people a service by connecting to those whose need it. Not everyone can take things logically or analytically.
Heaven forbid if you did a review on the Bible!
I love Folded Spaces BTW…
Your blogs are my first read everyday..
Thanks for all your work.
I have a schizophrenic brother who believes the Secret theory! His thoughts have a magnetic frequency. The CIA has learned the frequency and can tune into his thoughts. The CIA can insert thoughts into his brain and take thoughts out (steal his ideas). I have disabled clients with schizophrenia who have similar ideas. I also have a number of supposedly normal friends who are crazy about The Secret, have read and watched it over and over. Is America adding a schizotypal trend to its paranoid flair. Or — is this folie a deux on a mass scale.
Oh.. I forgot to mention I have not read or seen “the secret”.
A couple/few years ago someone in a group told us about this wonderful video called The Secret that was available on google video in full length form. I watched it there and immediately was turned off. Now in the present, I am even more annoyed! The power of positive thinking is one thing, this movie and what they are selling are a whole other story. I read a blog post about how their affiliate program works, I’ll have to find it because it is laughable.
Hi everyone,
I take the other side here and be a devil’s advocate 🙂
I actually knew about visualization from Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich and Sandy McGregor’s Piece of Mind but I never believed and practiced it until I watch The Secret.
Be it Think and Grow Rich, Piece of Mind, Law of Vibration, or Law of Attraction, they all work!
The key here is visualization. You must visualize your visions, your goals, or your dreams clearly and in detail.
And the great news is, I’ve found out an audio that helps me visualizing easier 🙂
This audio is surely fantastic and it comes with 365-day money back guarantee. Plus you get a free report. You must give it a try at http://www.AudioGettingRichScience.com.
Oh before I forget.
I definitely agree with you that there’s no secret in The Secret. Everything has been known since history of mankind.
It’s even in the Bible. Matthew 7:8 “For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”
I only want to stress that whatever the term is, Law of Attraction works.
70 comments above me, most of it says The Secret is crap! In other words, NEGATIVE ENERGY, which promotes to The Secret, making it more powerful.. hmmm… Hey! It does work! heh heh heh heh..
I watched this film because a friend recommended it. I walked in without any bias because I truly did not know what the heck the “secret” was.
Half way through the movie I thought it was just unbelievable. Unbelievably stupid. I could not remember how many times I said out loud “You got to be kidding me.” It felt like a cheap commercial and sounded like a bad presentation.
If you research the psychology behind this film all they did was reword a bunch of psychological studies and known techniques.
With this film it is either love it or hate it, no in between.
I for one happen to love THE SECRET!
Check these out. I am not the only one.
2. Michael Losier explaining Law of Attraction (Audio)
1. A FREE interview report with Bob Proctor on Attraction Acceleration
I wanted to say thanks for the review. I have several friends who are into The Secret, and they see no problem with their philosophy. One friend is wishing her way to millions of dollars. Just like the book, she has taken psychological principles to the extreme to control her life. Because of this, she does not think negative thoughts. She believes there is no evil in the world, that there are no starving children in the world, that murder isn’t a negative event, and that if a woman gets raped it’s her own fault because she willed it upon herself. It’s a disturbing set of beliefs that have come from a book based on pseudoscience.
Wow James, your friend is so great! It’s all in our mind. I remember Yedda, he said similar think 🙂
Believe what you want, but the principles in The Secret work for me.
I was over $14,000 in debt 7 years ago. I wanted to become debt free, and I did it within 5 years. It wasn’t easy, but I did it.
I wanted a new car – for free – and I got it – A brand new 2004 Toyota Solara, and it didn’t cost me a dime. I didn’t win it, either. It’s amazing how things work around you when you make up your own mind to get something done.
I wanted a loving relationship, and 10 years later I still have it.
I wanted a home on the water, and as of last August, I have it.
I was sick and tired of living in lack. I made a decision to live in abundance.
If you are struggling for money, driving a used car or making payments on one, have troubling relationships, etc., etc., YOU MAKE YOUR OWN LIFE – YOU MAKE YOUR OWN CHOICES!
The ideas in The Secret aren’t new – they’ve been around for centuries. When you put your mind to something, you will get it done. That’s all there is to it!
Instead of everyone sitting here and criticizing something you haven’t tried, why don’t you get off your collective butts and use your energy to do something to make your lives better?
If you are living in lack, IT’S YOUR OWN CHOICE!
To make things simple.
The SECRET is
If you THINK can or you THINK you cant
both ways you are right.
The whole idea is to THINK YOU CAN and take ACTION towards what it is that you can
BE
DO
HAVE
The Law of Attraction is
If you can THINK it
If you can SEE it
If you can FEEL it
then
YOU can BE it
YOU can DO it
YOU can HAVE it
IF and only IF
let say it again
IF and only IF
You take ACTION on it
The DVD does not seem to focus much on the ACTION parts but rather the THINKing parts which is only one part of reaching a GOAL
Constructive Thinking, written by Seymour Epstein.
An agnostic, pure-science approach to the law of attraction concept, without using the term. He studied “successful” people (both happy AND making more than $200,000 a year) and cataloged their personality traits, including catagorical thinking, positive thinking, whether they were able to behaviorally cope with distress, whether they were emotionally able to cope with distress, etc.
As in The Secret, the movie, he has a section on cancer & healing. Small section. He’s an empiricist, but his wife, through meditation & some New Age approaches managed to reduce “terminal cancer” to null. The month she had to stop those alternative approaches (child’s wedding) they documented as no progress in healing the cancer. He documented her progress and went from skeptical to convinced, that certain forms of *constructive* thinking, not simply “everything is peachy” positive thinking, can manifest apparently miraculous results, in success both in $$ terms and in physical health.
So, basically an agnostic/atheist’s perspective of using constructive thinking to build success.
Not at all the easy, cheesy read of The Secret, the book. More like a spiritual “bran muffin,” if you can get through his statistics and theory.
A lot of people miss the point in the Secret where they say you also have to *do* stuff.
To say that The Secret is just wishful thinking is a straw man argument.
It’s not _just_ wishful thinking. The positive thinking and feeling makes you more inclined to act in ways that bring your goals to fruition, including noticing more opportunities than you otherwise would have done, and acting on them. It may _seem_ as if you attracted these things, but they were there all along.
some people explain this in ways that is helpful to them, and is nonsense to others (meta-physics) but it still works.
J.D, you’re completely right.
Positive thinking is good. Nobody argues that having self confidence can help you improve your life. But this book doesn’t advocate self-confidence. It advocates idiocy.
The idea that someone your “magnetic brain waves” can influence reality is the same belief that you are god (another thing I don’t believe in). “magnetic waves?” These people are just saying a bunch of words that sound scientific, counting on their readers not to know what they really mean. I love how they use the word “quantum” all the time, without ever really using it in the correct term.
The whole thing is ridiculous. No matter how much an amputee wishes that his or her arm grows back, it will not happen. The Universe doesn’t respond to the wishes of every human being. Our thoughts and wishes are nothing more than electrical impulses cascading along our nerves altering the sodium and potassium levels and channels in our cells. That’s it. Tell me, author of “the secret” how that can grant me a bajillion dollars? I for one, would like to know how your theory exactly works. Where’s your data, your mechanism? Oh, that’s right. You don’t have one!
To Gary.
Hardened, wise, learned, diciplined monks cannot obtain a free car, our of thin air, even BY winning it, through will alone.
And they have a far better understanding of what consitutues ‘Will’ and ‘Mind Over Matter’ than you.
Hi Marius,
Obviously you haven’t read the book nor seen the movie. I didn’t will the car out of thin air. Nobody can do that. I made up my mind that I wanted that car. Circumstances surrounding me came about to make that happen. There is no such thing as coincidence. Everything happens for a reason. When you see an opportunity handed to you, you run wth it.
In the example of getting my car, within 3 months of my wishing to get that car, my elderly mother decided to quit driving. She sold her car and told me to use the cash to get whatever car I wanted. She had no idea that I wanted a new car. I got the car without using my own money. All of these actions happened for a reason.
When I wanted a very expensive computer system, circumstances came about that a friend of mine eventually came to me to help him get his business off the ground. He said he would buy me any computer I wanted to help him get his business going; he was computer illiterate and I helped him to run a successful business with the computer I wanted. I was also able to quit my day job and become an entrepreneur with him. All of these actions happened for a reason.
There are many examples like these in my life that happen when you believe in abundance instead of lack. When you put your wish out to the Universe, circumstances happen to make those wishes come about. You are shown the actions to be taken to make those things come about. It’ s up to you whether you take those actions or sit on a couch and watch TV.
It’s not magic. It’s not religious (believe me, I am NOT religious). It’s just being open to opportunities that come your way. You can’t just sit on a couch and will things to happen.
You MAKE UP YOUR MIND what you really want, BELIEVE that you will really get it, and then BE OPEN to the circumstances and opportunities that come to you and TAKE ACTION on those.
It’s really very simple and it really works. I don’t understand why there are so many negative people out there who waste their energy to try to prove others wrong on topics they know nothing about, when they can be using that energy to make their own lives so much better.
Take Action! This is YOUR opportunity. Get the book or rent the movie to see how simple this really is. Negative, close-minded people never achieve much in their lives. Open yourself up to at least become educated in the topic before you go around criticizing others.
You CAN become debt-free – I did.
You CAN become healthy – I did
You CAN get the home of your dreams – I did.
You CAN quit your day job and become financially successful – I did.
You CAN find your perfect partner – I did.
None of these things happened when I lived in lack. They only came about when I changed my mind to make my life better and live in abundance.
I don’t understand why so many people choose to live in lack when it’s much easier, and a lot more fun, to live in abundance.
Just TRY it!
Geez. I’m so sorry about all the spam you’re getting. Terrific job on going after the so-called secret. clearly, you’re fighting mad!
As a psychologist, I find the Secret quite appalling, in a sad way.
Things are starting to unravel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icklckUsOGM
Excellent review. When I watched The Secret I had the same skepticism towards it but I didn’t have my skepticism articulated nearly as well as you do.
Rob you said “God helps those who help themselves” that’s an Islamic statement, isn’t it?
I saw ‘The Secret’ and really believe in Law of Attraction. I believe that it works best. Even unconciously we use it most of the times, but a little knowledge about the same can make us achieve anything we wish abt.
I’m watching ‘the law of attraction’ fall apart right at this current moment. My brother-in-law and sister are big fans of the ‘law of attraction’ and use it to guide their every waking moment.
Because they can will anything they want, they’ve decided to quit their jobs and write a book about how to be successful. The scary part is that they are anything but successful. They currently have a $3,000 mo mortgage payment, an Acura SUV car loan, 2 kids to feed, and several other expenses. How much do they bring in a month? About $600 from small, short jobs. I am watching them spiral into bankruptcy while they claim that everything is just fine and that their book will sell enough to get them out of any debts they have. I read their first chapter, and not only do they have no credibility, but the book is terrible! They asked for a critique of it, and when my mother gave suggestions, my sister stormed out proclaiming that there was ‘too much negative energy!’
I am watching their life spiral into utter failure while they keep telling themselves that they will be successful. This has to be one of the sickest, twisted philosophies out there. I sincerely hope that everyone who believes in the ‘law of attraction’ test it in their daily life and see the stupidity of it all.
That money video is honestly the stupidest fucking thing I have ever seen in my life. I would like to meet its brain dead maker and punch him in the face.
Good article, totally agree. There is some insane, religious people who may doesn’t believe in any kind of God but they believes in Money (despite the fact they have enough or don’t have enough). These poor people eat everything like this. It’s like scientology, but these books about money, success, etc. I’m curious, what do you think about the famous Napoleon Hill ‘think and grow rich’ books and about the super famous ‘poor dad, rich dad’ series… Did you see / know any people who used these lessons particulary and really get rich in these ways? Personally, if I have a choice, I believe in Nessie…. 😉 But we are different, we are lucky…
This is a good explanation:
http://vandemonianism.blogspot.com/2007/05/secret-part-two-wherein-author-reveals.html
And the list just keeps getting longer.
http://www.schirmerexposed.co.nr/
You guys all bash the “The Secret” but, like any theory, It needs to be tested. I’ve scoured the internet for actual laboratory like tests of the secret, including data, variables and statistics and could not find any. Whether these are guys are making money of this secret is beside the point. Surely some people honestly believe in this and would not advocate it if they didn’t. Therefore, it deserves to be tested. Everyone bashes the secret for not giving evidence of its claims. I agree with them. The DVD makes many claims that are just plain textbook marketing tactics. However, bashers never include evidence concerning why the “The Secret” is false either. Schrodingers wave equation in wave mechanics has no proof, but test show it definately describing something, the probability of finding an electron in a particular region. Einstein and friends bashed this statistical interpretation but could not prove it wrong. Thus, any theory that can be tested for its truth value, should. Bashing a theory for no proof does not prove it isn’t true.
If you ask me, SS, there’s been lots of “tests” already, like what Jake posted. They’re already seeing people trying out the Secret, but it fails. And the problems faced by James Earl Ray (involving sweat lodge murder), David Schirmer and others are sort of “tests” already. Not to mention Rhonda Byrne and Esther Hicks falling out. I mean, if the Secret is so good, why do the people “supporting” it fall out with each other?
Thank you for your very lucid review.
I’ve just re-read the laws of physics list, from aberration (the apparent change in position of a light-emitting object due to the constancy of the speed of light and the motion of the observer relative to the emitter) to Wien’s displacement law constant (the constant of the Wien displacement law. It has the value 2.897 756 x 10-3 m K), and found nothing on the law of attraction. Odd that I couldn’t find this law. I think the closest I could find is Coulomb’s Law (the repulsion and attraction of electromagnetic charges: equal charges repulse and different charges attract), which seems to fly in the face of the premise of this until-now-concealed law of attraction.
In the spirit of accuracy, they should consider renaming this principle. I’ve added a few suggestions to help the author(s) in their brainstorming:
– “the law of basic common sense”
– “the law of parting fools with their money”
– “the law of celebrities who suckle and grow rich at the teats of the middle-class by endorsing absolute tripe”.
To be fair, they could alter that last suggestion by replacing ‘law’ with ‘phenomena’ and it would still ring true.
I am quite shocked to discover, however, that positive thinking, abundance, happiness, self-sufficiency et al seem to be the exclusive domain of “The Secret” and “The Law of Attraction”. I’m almost positive there were people pursuing their dreams (like me) before this “Secret” was surreptitiously revealed through its mass marketing juggernaut. I’m also quite sure these people have paid no royalty fees to the authors for these positive experiences. I’m equally certain that Einstein (and other great thinkers whose names are invoked) is stirring up dust in his tomb right now knowing his name is being used in support of such nincompoopery.
You guys believe whatever you want, it doesn’t matter, because you are the one going to live a miserable life. And if you think the greatest philosophers, authors and scientists in these days are wrong, and you are smarter, go ahead, be my guest. To all other people that are interested in The Secret; There is a secret and it has been revealed!
Negativity breeds negativity. And I think that this review is just that. Did anyone feel positive after reading it? I didn’t.
I think the secret is a positive way to live life. Fanatics aside there are many people benefiting from its uplifting philosophies.
I’m a modest believer and it is working to make me a happier, better person.
And no lie, I just got a check in the mail. One that was for payment for a job that I did at the beginning of the year. It was lost in the mail after I moved and well, ya, I did work for it, but it could have easily been lost forever. Instead, I’m suddenly ahead financially again.
Werd.
As far as marketing goes The Secret is genius. As far as practical application goes it’s useless taking it on face value, they invoke far too much mysticism. To me if I look at what they are saying I see the Buddhist concept of karma being described, looking at it like that changes it a fair bit, I think it removes the mysticism and brings it in line with reality.
It is a favorite saying of the secret followers to call anything that remotely sounds like criticism of their belief that it is negative. It is criticism that causes us to check and valid what is critised to ensure that it does hold up under all circumstances.
As for only being positive and pretending that there can be no negative, well that tells you how deluded these followers truly are.
There cannnot have a positive without a negative….very simple. A world with one long summer and no winter would perish very quickly. We must have balance in our lives and that comes through experiencing, knowing and understanding that we will have both parts, positive and negative, in our life, and if we don’t, then we will be the most miserable people around.
The Law of Attraction is the most pathetic and childish attempt at philosophical thinking that I have ever seen, and it is so flawed in almost every way that it is doomed for failure and very quickly.
There is a magazine in Australia (BRW) that each year lists the wealthiest people in the country, so why wasn’t one of those people selected as the Australian to go into the Secret movie?? They have proven that they have the secret to wealth, which is what the movie claims to know, yet they have some very shifty person by the name of David Schirmer who no one has ever heard about, does not come up in any list of wealthy people, and then to top it off it seems that all his ‘wealth’ actually belongs to other people!!
Just that one person alone in the movie tells you that the whole idea of there being a law of attraction is utter and complete crap. If by following the principles outlined in the movie I can create for myself something similar to Schirmer then you can have it!! Schirmer is a wanted man in Australia and represents everything that is wrong with the human race.
So if you don’t want the negative stuff you cannot possibly have the positive. Simple.
I get cheques in the mail every two weeks. Does that make me a believer in the Secret? No. I just work for a living. I’m a happy, well-adjusted positive person, surrounded by other like-minded people, who lives a very fulfilling and contented life. Does that mean I practice the law of attraction? Absolutely not. I strongly disagree with its obscene narcissism.
My father always said that faith and doubt are the horns on the same bull. There must always be room for questions. Any belief so fragile that it has to re-define the term ‘negative’ to avoid healthy debate is nothing to believe in at all.
Thank heavens someone else agrees with me. I thought I was the only sane person left. There are a couple of people I know who are so swept away by this “Secret” mantra that they actually get angry if you suggest a different point of view. When did we stop thinking for ourselves? I watched the video and was completely dumb-founded that the flimsy content convinced so many people. All I can say is: Fantastic marketing.
As a believer in quantum physics the notion of thought affecting reality is well possible and the whole reality we think we exist in may well turn out to be a hologram. The secret in my view is a simplification of notions that quantum physicists are finding out. All realities exist in space and time. we are nothing more than a wave equation that collapses into our own reality governed by different laws of physics from the macro scale to the micro scale. Ancient people traditionally worshiped gods to explain certain unexplained miracles. Today quantum physics offeres an explanation to many of the so called miracles and may even surprise us all who believe we live in a very physical world. At the sub atomic level this does not exist. We are all based on wave equations that collapse into a single reality when observed but actually exist everywhere in time and space. The phyiscs proves this. Quantum physics essentially now states that thought can influence the world around us but like many things is bound by certain laws of physics somoney cannot manifest itself by miracle. Space can however make things go in certian ways given the fourth dimension of time. Humans do not have a time sense or sensory perception to see into the future or the past but these are possible in physics.
Best of luck to those who can use “The Secret”. However, for myself, there is no great epiphany here. How is it that in my 30 years of adult life and fantasizing about this and that, the only things I have achieved have been direct results of hard work and mental application?
Ah, but that would never sell. Hard work and mental application never do. It’s so much easier to sell sending out brainwaves to the universe and waiting for the checks to start magically appearing in the mailbox.
The truth is that “The Secret” is brain-candy for those looking for life guidance in the bookstore. And believe me, I’ve looked for guidance in the bookstore.
The real secret here is that there is NO secret to “The Secret”. Look, it is only common sense that if you focus on making money and being successful, you are more likely to achieve them – not really a hidden secret, huh. This is the same old positive thinking, positive results motivational stuff…, Now available in a new, slick metaphysical package with a dollop of “Quick and Easy” topping. Yummy…, people will eat this up!
Actually, this program would be a perfect gift for attractive gold-diggers looking for rich husbands or wives. But, then, those people are already “attractive” aren’t they, LOL.
The Secret is not a matter of money, it is a matter of changing your view on how the universe works. If you knew anything about quantum physics, you would know the philosophy behind what is taught here is accurate and demonstrated in the laboratory. A particle will respond to the intended outcome before the experiment is performed. In reality it will do what the experimenter expects it will do every time. You simply do not have the belief that changing your mindset really will gather wealth to you. You want to believe that you can only get money through your known working steps, not wanting to open you mind to the possibility that the universe will respond to you without having to conform to what you know.
As Yoda said. “Forget what you have learned.” Han Solo was cool, but I would take Yoda’s advice over his any day. Even with the grammatical errors.
“If you knew anything about quantum physics, you would know the philosophy behind what is taught here is accurate and demonstrated in the laboratory.”
Bwahahahaaha. JD, I wish you weren’t so professional. Posting some of these replies would really make for fun reading.
Having struggled through (but passing) a Quantum physics class in university, I don’t pretend to know much about it at all. However, my understanding of current quantum theory is that quantum-level particles are ‘affected’ by observation, but definitely NOT ‘controlled’. No scientific study anywhere has ever demonstrated that matter of any kind, including quantum particles, can be controlled. If you could successfully demonstrate this, get a patent, dude. Quickly. You would have the most important scientific discovery in the history of our universe on your hands.
This is the kind of misrepresentation and manipulation of facts behind the secret. It is neither accurate nor demonstrated in the laboratory.
Let me put on my Physics Hat (I do have a degree in physics, btw):
On the quantum level, things ARE affected by observation. Namely, that which is in an indeterminant state (a superposition of states) collapses to a a determinant state upon interaction with an outside system. ALL observation involves interaction with an outside system, so the collapse to a single determinant state results.
The wishes of the observer have NOTHING to do with which state you end up in.
Weird stuff happen when superposition of wave states meets quantum entanglement, but wish fulfillment isn’t one of them.
I’m so glad to see so many people who realise that The Secret is about as credible as Scientology. I mean come on, Xenu? What kinda name is that?
Anyway, I’m no astrophysicist but I am about to graduate with an honours degree in civil engineering and so I know a little bit about the nature of science and experimentation. What upsets me most about The Secret is, as has been mentioned here before, its pseudo-scientific justifications. When the authors and advocates of this rubbish start spewing out even moderately technical terms, the average person is so bewildered by them that they retreat into a somewhat childlike state, where they forget to question, reason, scrutinise. They mangle the true scientific meanings of words like ‘energy’, ‘frequency’, etc.
People, for something to be scientific, you have to have laws that can predict it and be able to reproduce it experimentally.
Hey,
Stop dissing the secret..it works. I use it all the time. Your mind and the way you think creates your reality. Jesus was no magic wand waver, he said simply, it is done unto you as you believe. Life and death are in the power of the tongue. By your words you are justified and by your words you are condemned. Don’t you people get it, you have the power, the power is in your true beliefs, not just lip service, but what you believe in your hearts. It’s not using words as vain repetitions. Try it, state something and then have the guts to believe what you have stated will come true, and choose a date that you will manifest what you desire. If you do not manifest by the date you choose, you have not truly believed. You can’t blame the law of attraction. It’s what keeps this world a spinning….turns lead to gold. JD, you are to negative. This planet is alive with vibrations and energy, stuff whizzez by you can’t even see. Have you seen a neutrino lately? They exist. How many atoms did you count today? No hocus pocus new age shit here, but this planet is a giant magnet, our minds our electrical and they send out currents of thought, they have to go somewhere. They go out and reap what they sow. This is not rocket science, okay, maybe it is. I get it, I use it, it’s made me quite rich. Rich feels good, because poverty is a true sin caused by low vibrational thinking. Keep the masses dumb so they can be controlled. No thanks.
to all you posters, you have not manifested what you need and desire because you do not have enough faith in yourself to believe in the power of your own words. Jesus the great wayshower, repeated it over and over, it is done unto you as you believe. So why not give some thought to what your own beliefs truly are, what you feel and believe, not what the mind race feels. After reading many of your posts, it’s clear that many of you are affected by the mind race. Like sheep you are.
What things soever ye desire, when ye pray (ask) believe that ye receive them and YOU SHALL HAVE THEM. No this sounds pretty easy, right? Well, this is where you find out what you really believe and how controlled you are by the masses, instead of stepping up to the plate and demanding what you need. The law works, negative or positive, it’s impartial. It will fullfill every thought for you, it’s doing it now. But are you content with where you are now? Step away from the mind race and give yourself a chance a true freedom. I did, and I’ll never turn back. Once you have it, you can never go back. Trust me, you wouldn’t want to. How many of you have the mental equilavent of what you desire? Think about this carefully, it is so key. Align your thoughts and let the magnetic power do the hard work, or else the majority of you will continue to bust your ass and gripe that the secret doesn’t work, and according to your belief it is done unto you. Simple!
As a psychotherapist, I have had serious concerns about the overwhelming popularity of this project, both in dvd and book form. I was concerned enough to create a website to register my objections. Anyone who is interested in reading “The Antidote” (to The Secret’s poison) can do so: http://www.thesecretantidote.com. The Secret will cost you a few bucks. The Antidote is free. Thom Rutledge
See, I have my doubts about this law of attraction thing. For the past 15 years I’ve been aligning my thoughts and believing with all my strength and to the very depths of my soul about a ménage à trois between my wife, her best friend and myself. I’ve even mentioned it repeatedly to my wife (I figure two magnetically aligned heads were better than one) to no avail. I’ve imagined the scenario in great, great detail, especially at times when I’ve been, um, alone. Usually it starts with the three of us drinking some wine and listening to music, although another delightful version is when we’re trapped in a hotel during a blizzard. Oh yes, that’s a good one. And then… you know… the Universe grants my wish. Several times. Unfortunately this has yet to play out in real life (the tryst part, not the snowstorm). Now, I haven’t registered a ‘date due by’ with the universe on this particular wish, and I expect that’s probably the loophole here. So the question is, then, how long does it reasonably take for such a seed to grow, universally/scientifically/metaphysically speaking? I’d say maybe a few weeks at most, the megapower of magnetism being what it is. But to be fair I’ll add a few weeks extra, just for anticipation’s sake. Please everyone, mark October 31st on your calendars, align your thoughts and think of me on Halloween night.
Lot’s of great posts and discussion here on both sides of the fence, both pro and con. It seems to me that the biggest problem with The Secret is in the way it was presented, packaged and sold.
I believe in the Law of Attraction but I can see the problems people have with the dvd.
It came across as wu wu and overly simplistic, which is not the case at all for most people.
They kind of glossed over it with slick video clips and in your clever sound bites. From what I’ve heard the actual interviews were much longer and in depth but clever editing reduced it to quick catchy sound bites.
I still think that if this dvd/book has opened the eyes to many about our true potential and the power we actually have over our own lives, then it more of a good thing than a bad one.
We can choose to look at the postive or negative side of things in all situations. Look for the good and you’ll probably find it…look for the bad and you’ll probably find that to.
It’s all a matter of perception and beliefs.
To all the naysayers you have to ask yourself if you believe that we create our own reality or not? Or are we all just victims of circumstance and life just happens to us?
If we you do create our own reality then it is probably shaped by our beliefs which are formed by our thoughts…both good and bad. Yes this sounds overly simplistic as well, but I don’t find it to much of a stretch to believe that our thoughts can attract situations, circumstances, events and people into our lives that are congruent with our thoughts and beliefs. There are a lot stranger things going on in the Universe than the Law of Attraction.
It’s been said that the Universe is not only stranger than you think…but stranger than you can think.
Be open to possibilities and all the wonders of the Universe and the World will become your osyter. Be closed minded, negative and limited in your thinking and the World will seem to drag you down. It’s your choice…choose wisely.
Eric: “Be open to possibilities and all the wonders of the universe and the world will become your oyster. Be closed minded, negative and limited in your thinking and the world will seem to drag you down.”
No one is disputing this at all, Eric. This is a fundamental choice we all face; it is part of the lovely curiosity of being human and what draws us so beautifully to each other. There is a mystery to all things. Yes. But this is not what we’re debating.
Thus far in this forum, Secreteers claim the following as truth (and I’m quoting):
– there is a “law of attraction” [there is no such law. It is merely a phrase coined by recent author(s) seeking profit and needing a well-packaged sound byte to sell it. Laws are the universal and invariable facts of the physical world based on empirical observations of physical behavior. Everything in the universe must comply with them. Step off a building and you discover very quickly the law of gravity. Touch a hot stove and Newton’s law of thermal energy transfer will be forever burned in your brain. Go for a swim and you immerse yourself in Archimedes’ principle of buoyancy. If there really was a ‘law of attraction’, then every week’s Lottery draw would have to have several million (or billion) winners, don’t you think?]
– the law of attraction is accurate and demonstrated in the laboratory [It has never been demonstrated at any place or at any time. Give names, dates, and locations to prove that it has, please].
– the greatest philosophers, authors and scientists of our time believed in the secret [They did not. Some probably felt it important to have a positive outlook on life. This in no way means they believed in a law of attraction or in any great secret. The book and the DVD quote our greatest thinkers to imply that they did. Unfortunately they are dead and can’t sue for misrepresentation. One wonders why they haven’t quoted Stephen Hawking.]
– our thoughts are electrical [actually, they’re chemical. This is why alcohol and pharmaceuticals alter our moods and change our perception of the world.]
– in electromagnetics, like attracts like [patently false. Laws of electromagnetics state precisely the opposite. Ever try to press two like poles of a magnet together as a child? Remember your delight when they flew apart? If an electrician wired your house based on this principle, it would burn to the ground very quickly.]
– if the secret doesn’t work for you, it’s because your belief is so flaccid [now you’re not talking about science anymore, you’re talking about faith. To ‘believe in’ something requires faith. Not that faith is bad — in fact I have my own faith, but I don’t misrepresent it as science. And the ‘it’s your fault’ view is the giant escape clause of all the world’s disproved metaphysical philosophies. Not only is it ridiculous to blame the victim, it’s profoundly immoral.]
– If you don’t believe in the secret you are negative, close-minded and will live a miserable life [Really? Please. Now who’s being close-minded?]
– I can help more people if I’m rich [what nonsense. How does it follow that your financial status has anything to do with your ability to help people? Does throwing money at the less fortunate really help them? How much money did Mother Teresa have?]
I could go on and on. No one disagrees with the importance of positive attitude and living life with an open heart. If that’s all the secret presented as its truth, then I’d be behind it 100%. But it presents itself as a proven science while going well beyond that, deep into the realm of metaphysical masturbation. If you changed the phrase ‘LAW of attraction’ to faith, philosophy, or belief of attraction, I don’t think we would be having this discussion. The real question is this: if a person realizes that some elements of the secret and the law of attraction are inaccurate, or perhaps false, then what kind of person would be willing to compromise their humanity and align themselves with a belief that is only ‘kinda sorta’ true?
DAVID SCHIRMER IS THE BIGGEST ARSE ON THE SECRET. HE HAS MADE A COMPLETE MOCKERY OF THE WHOLE PRODUCTION AND IS BEING INVESTIGATED FOR FRAUD. NOW TELL ME, HOW THE HELL IS THIS POSITIVE? FOR SOMEONE WHO HAS DONE NOTHING BUT HAD A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON THE SECRET AND EVERYONE INVOLVES WITH HIM THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE I SHOULD THINK THAT RHONDA BYRNES WOULD BE THINKING RIGHT ABOUT NOW THAT THE BASTARD SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN INCLUDED. Guess he won’t be if there ever is another one.
Question: “what kind of person would be willing to compromise their humanity and align themselves with a belief that is only ‘kinda sorta’ true?”
Answer: David Schirmer because he MUST have everything he wants NOW and at any expense. He’s worked bloody hard fleecing people to get to this point so everyone should be damn excited that he’s ….. oops heading to jail perhaps. Gosh didn’t expect the secret to end like that.
I bought and read The Secret BEFORE I come across this blog.
Had I known this earlier, damn! Would not have bought the bloody book.
Here is (shameless advertisement of my blog :)) *my* review of the book:
http://walkingquietly.blogspot.com/2007/09/secret.html
Sorry for posting again, but after reading all the above comments, I feel embarassed to have admitted that I actually bought the book BEFORE browsing the Internet for a review.
Please forgive me. It was a momentary lapse of reasoning.
I promise not to do it again.
Why would I want a Czech in the mail?
😉
I don’t know, Detroit. Is it a hot Czech?
In all seriousness, something just hit me.
Is it not negative to tell a child that she attracted her own molestation? Or her weeklong repeated rape in a dungeon, like that one girl recently?
I can’t see anything positive about that. And isn’t the Secret supposed to be anti-negative auras/thoughts/etc? So why would they make such implications?
Talk about blaming the victim…
Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou!
Blaming the victim is ALL that these people do, particularly David Schirmer. Note the comments that are coming out from people all over the web about this guy. He has deliberately damaged other peoples lives for his own personal gain. I have a very big problem with the emotional abuse that is going on as a result of the secret. It is being used as an excuse to do some very evil things indeed and I want to see this exposed. Bring on justice.
What frustrates me most about The Secret are the critics who get all up in your face only to tell you that you are taking it too literal and it’s just about having a positive attitude. Dear God, if the book WAS just about having a positive attitude, I could get behind it. The book does, very literally, say that if you picture money arriving at your door, it will happen.
Personally, I would have preferred that the book had been called “The Law Of Attraction,” it wasn’t a best-seller, there wasn’t a movie version, it made clear that hard work is almost always required (as opposed to just saying that action will sometimes be required), and it had gone into more detail about how thoughts led to manifestation of the desired things in the examples. But The Secret was meant to introduce the Law Of Attraction to the masses. It’s overly simplified, overly hyped, and overly marketed, but it’s essentially true.
J.D., regarding your invitation to convince you that you can will checks to appear in your mailbox, I’d like to give it a shot. Let’s say you hold the intention of making a million dollars. You hold this intention very clearly in your mind and you see it so vividly that you know it will happen. As a result of focusing on this intention, you decide to start a business, work very hard at it, and checks start appearing in your mailbox. On the other hand, if you didn’t really care if you made any money, you wouldn’t start a business, or you would give up, and checks wouldn’t appear.
Can we agree that intentions lead to action, and action creates results? If an intention doesn’t lead to action, it couldn’t have been a very strong intention. Just casually thinking about a goal for a few seconds doesn’t cut it. Your intention has to be strong enough to sustain your motivation through all the hard work that will be required (and again, I agree that The Secret seriously downplays the amount of effort involved). Most people fail before they even get started because they don’t take the first step of visualizing what they want.
I also don’t think it’s unreasonable to say that having a strong intention influences your subconscious to help manifest what you want. If you intend to make money, isn’t it possible that you’ll notice more opportunities that could lead to that?
What many people have a hard time swallowing is that there’s some kind of superconscious effect, like a genie granting your wish. I don’t know if this is true. I don’t even think we can know. But many people do believe in some kind of superconscious force (for example, everyone who believes in a religion). Whether it’s true or not though, I think believing it does help, for the placebo effect if nothing else.
If they called it “How To Slightly Improve Your Life With A Positive Attitude” and wrote it accordingly, I don’t think it would have had nearly as much commercial success. And considering what a lousy attitude most people have, I think some exaggeration is needed to shock people out of their current patterns.
Did YOU hit the nail on the head. These folks are goofy!
The ‘Law of Attraction’ goes back to Jerry & Esther Hicks. The Hicks read Jane Roberts’ Seth Books, which state that “you create your own reality.”
Ancient Lord of Lowlands (Northern) Egypt, Seth was represented by a red haired donkey or aardvark. He was later lord of the desert and sandstorms (hell).
In conclusion: these folks are DUMB.
“If they called it “How To Slightly Improve Your Life With A Positive Attitude” and wrote it accordingly, I don’t think it would have had nearly as much commercial success. [That’s because it would be a mere restating of basic common sense. Which is precisely what it is.]
“And considering what a lousy attitude most people have, I think some exaggeration is needed to shock people out of their current patterns.” [that’s called misrepresentation, and in many circles it’s considered a criminal offense and a reputation destroyer. Imagine an aircraft manufacturer exaggerating the capabilities of their plane to convince pilots to buy their product. The manufacturer would have a staggering law suit very quickly — and would probably be unable to sell any product as a result].
Again, and with respect, I’m sure there is strong agreement on the importance of goal visualization, and that positive attitude leads to more opportunities, and that there is a strong psychological link between intention and motivation. No kidding. The problem here is that both the secret and the law of attraction present themselves as a proven science, which is a completely false representation. If it were a “Law”, then all things MUST COMPLY, at ALL times. If six people step off a bridge, six people will fall to the water – so says the law of gravity and I’ve yet to see otherwise. In the same way, according to the law of attraction a race run by six athletes must then have six winners — an impossible result, unless someone has made it his or her goal to lose the race, or unless we’re blaming the victims again because they didn’t visualize as well as the other competitors and therefore couldn’t recruit the universe to help them win. And if we are being asked to “believe in some kind of superconscious force”, now we’ve moved into the realm of faith. It can no longer be called a law because faith does not require logical proof or material evidence.
Which again leads to the same question: why would an individual deliberately choose to follow a system they know to be exaggerated (at best), or completely inaccurate (at worst)? Have we fallen so far as a species that we will willingly absolve ourselves of our judicious human responsibilities? It’s disconcerting that there are those who say: “well, I found a grain of truth in the sand, so I’m buyin’ the whole beach.”
My B.A in Applied Behavioural Psychology allows me to honestly say, not as an opinion, but as psychological point of view, that the law of attraction is not worth your time. Actions have direct impacts on your environment, which create concequences. Covert actions such as “thinking” and “imagining” get nothing done. The have no concequence. Only actions do.
I completely believe that “religion is the opium of the masses”, and this is a fine example.
Until yesterday I didn’t know what is LOA. When I asked my nephew whether he has seen the film Zeitgeist, he answered me back asking me whether I have seen the Secreat. That’s how its all started. Thank you for your food of thoughts. All the best.Keeran
Thank you. I couldn’t read the book fully because I thought it was tripe!
Lisa Nichols: “You have two sets of feelings: good feelings and bad feelings. And you know the difference between the two because one makes you feel good, and the other makes you feel bad”
… I WANT MY MONEY BACK~!!!!
Have you ever tested this out before? The only way to truly know for yourself, is to test it. Love has no scientific grounds, yet it is the most powerful force in the world. I believe that God has placed specific laws in the world, such as: what we call “karma”, the law of attraction, the law of correspondence, and many more. If you don’t believe in God, or don’t believe that each and every human has a spirit, soul, or some everlasting quality about them., I can see why you wouldn’t believe it. Christians think that God heals people, but that is only half true. God has created laws that CAN cure people if they are in the right mind set.
I would like to say couple of things on Calvin Smith’s comments. Here we are not talking about Karma or God. Please do not associate Karma with law of attraction. There is no such law. It’s a marketing technique or motivational film that makes one to think positive. That’s all.
I dont understand how so many people can be so blind and buy into such a marketing technique?
There is no sectret, its common sense. Try to think positivly and you can, hopefully, bring out the best of your present situation. the universe is not going to “arrange itself around you.”
Excellent stuff – I’ve always suspected everybody talks rubbish all the time. Can I make that into a law ? The worst of the bunch of course are the positivists and the new cult of attractionists – so much hot air but it brings in the money for a few mostly from the many who buy their stuff in the hope that they will one day join the few. There’s only so much money to go around, for someone to make a million dollars – a million people have to got to lose a dollar. Just like the lottery really.
I will start by stating that I have not read the secret, but I am familiar with what it is talking about (and seemingly distorting).
To present this theory as scientific is completely false. This is a mixture of psychology and metaphysics. I believe in these things, but it seems from the commentary that the secret leaves out several important facets.
For the psychological portion, you must define your goals in the most convincing way possible and imprint them into your subconscious. Then you begin to WORK toward those goals keeping the positive image of their completion. Then you must believe that the completion of the goal is a forgone conclusion. If you just set your goals and work on them, then you will likely succeed. But the difference here is that you are programming your subconscious to reduce the possibility of self sabotage. This part is not magic or physics. Its psychology.
The next part is metaphysical and it seems that the secret tried to hide this. In order to believe in the Law of attraction, you must first believe in a mental universe. This is basically a religious belief. It is my belief, but to try to pretend it is anything else is dishonest. If the fundamental force of the universe (physics calls it the ‘strong force’) is mental, then it will respond to mental force. All of the previous steps of focusing the subconscious on the goal help exert this mental force and aid in achieving the goal. (These steps will not replace good reason and planning. Actually if you skip the steps of good reason and planning, then you are telling your subconscious that you are not serious about the goal)
The second part of the metaphysical belief that must be in place is that of reincarnation. It is the only way to reconcile the belief of mental attraction with life’s atrocities. The belief that every soul must experience every type of experience and thus placing themselves in the situation of misery. These spiritual beliefs are at the core of the system and should be plainly explained. Hiding them to gain a wider audience is inexcusable.
I have used these techniques and have found them to work very well. I am not rich, but I do very well and my situation is constantly improving. However, I believe the most important facet is creating the mental atmosphere of achievement, working hard staying focused on the goal, and believing that I will get there. If you believe in the mental part, then you are always on the lookout for opportunities coming your way. It seems that they begin to come in spades. I don’t know if this is an example of the mental universe reacting or if you are just more perceptive of the opportunities already there because you are expecting them.
To sum up, it seems that the secret is an attempt to take a technique that has been in the realm of psychology & metaphysics and repackage it as something else in order to sell more books. Its a shame that people are putting their financial futures at stake skipping the most important steps of success and thinking their deficiencies in planning and hard work will be remedied by believing more. Planning and action are the most potent way to solidify a goal into the subconscious (the entire goal if you believe in a mental universe).
If you like the psychological part, read Carl Jung. If you like the metaphysical part, read the Kybalion, but don’t read an author hiding the root of a theory in an attempt to make it more palatable.
“grasp the advantage of Mentalism, and learn to know, use and apply the laws resulting therefrom. But do not yield to the temptation which overcomes the half-wise and which causes them to be hypnotized by the apparent unreality of things, the consequence being that they wander about like dream-people dwelling in a world of dreams, ignoring the practical work and life of man, the end being that “they are broken against the rocks and torn asunder by the elements, by reason of their folly.”
I couldn’t read “The Secret”! In researching the topic I read an interview of the author who said she was inspired by the “The Science of Getting Rich” by Wallace D. Wattles. This book was great and led me to Napoleon Hill’s “The Master Key to Riches”. These men are all part of a fractured turn of the twentienth century group of “New Thought Movement” writers, thinkers, and orators.
Nonetheless, for all the muckraking and harsh critiques, visualization and positive thinking have a definite place in one’s reportoire of tools to develop into a better person and reach the goals one sets for themselves. Obviously none of which is attainable without Faith, Efficeint Action, a Definiteness of Purpose, and most importantly, Gratitude.
Napoleon Hill summed up “the secret” in saying,
“Remember it is profoundly significant that the only thing over which you have complete control is your own mental attitude!” Without a positive and optimistic mindset, what empetus would you have to put any plans for your dreams into action, overcome the obstacles and set backs, and maintain sustained perserverance; along with the self discipline needed to attain them?
I believe THE SECRET is a paradox of deluded greed and senseless emotional ruin. People like David Schirmer NEED and are desperate for recognition. They try to multiply their possessions but have absolutely no values. They have learned how to make a living, but don’t have a life. They add years to life not life to years. They have narrow viewpoints and do larger things but not better things. They think they are big men but have very small character. They talk more, but learn less. They plan more, but accomplish less. They rush, but not wait. They focus on steep profits and have shallow relationships. They seek fancier houses but have broken homes. They make quick trips, have throwaway morality, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything. They have much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom….
How postively TRUE!
The original article was GREAT! Very PROVOCATIVE. It really helps people think in a better and more effective way!
Law of Attraction? That is simply the new commercial name for the ancient Law of Belief.
Law of belief…. As in “whatever the mind
can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve” (Napoleon Hill), “It is done unto you as you believe” (attributed to a fellow named Jesus), “As within, so without”, “You get exactly what you deeply believe”.
“Your beliefs/values create your reality”.
It is hard for too many people to swallow that they are the only ones responsible for their ‘problems’. A lot easier to blame it to Karma. (YOU ALSO create your own karma!!!), to this or to that.
YOU are creating your own reality through your limited, myopic beliefs and values.
The Law of Attraction is simply the Universe acting as a giant MIRROR reflecting BACK to you exactly what you deeply believe at the subconscious level — even when you are NOT consciously aware of those beliefs/values.
Of course, the Law of Attraction — more accurately the Law of Belief — will NEVER work when you attempt to achieve new goals WITHOUT FIRST identifying and eliminating those useless, limiting beliefs/values you hold on to. And this is something the DVDs and the books on the Law of Attraction DO NOT TELL YOU!
As long as your subconscious still holds those old, limiting beliefs/values …. guess what…. the MIRROR is still reflecting BACK to you an EXACT match to those old limiting beliefs/values — and not the result of any sporadic visualization + affirmations.No wonder the “law” does NOT work for you!
Most people get NO results whatsoever because they attempt to get new results with the same old, limited mindset (old useless
beliefs and values).
And it is real FUNNY … the more these people criticize the so-called Law of Attraction, the LESS it works in their lives.
Why are SOOO MANY desperately trying to convince others that it is not a LAW, that Newton this, and Kepler that? …. Who cares what you call it….
The MAIN point is to start using it (law or no law) and see HOW you can take advantage of it to get better results in your lives.
TOO MANY of these replies focus on what is NOT working and keep complaining and whining. NO wonder the results they get MIRROR exactly that limited mindset.
I noticed something particularly FUNNY during my experience on this earthly experience. Those who whine and complain the MOST are the ones who have LESS of any good things and the ones who achieve LESS of their goals. Wonder why? They keep their FOCUS ON what is NOT working and they ATTRACT more of the same garbage. Can you see a CONNECTION here???
If you can’t, …… you are doomed!
Just take the so called LAW, see HOW you can apply it to your goals and get busy doing it. Watch for what works and make adjustments for what doesn’t seem to
produce the results you want.
Experiment with it until you can make it work for you! It sure beats whining, moaning and complaining. And the results may surprise you!
Stop being lazy!
EXPERIMENT WITH IT.
Stop expecting for someone to give you some miraculous method you can use to get fantastic results without YOU having to make some effort to change your pathetic Self-Images!
It is all about GETTING RESULTS — and not about moaning, complaining and criticizing.
Great post! Keep making the MASSES THINK!
Some good will come out of it.
Leo Foster
Wow, so what the movie is saying is that if I think I am God then my wavelengths will make me God. Well I want to be R-Kelly so I hope frequencies can change my skin color.
Sorry people we are all just animals on the same farm. If it wasnt higher brain function we would all be just like the turkeys we kill for thanksgiving.
More than 10 years back I was exposed to a couple of publications that covered the same exact subject matter as that which is now labled as the Law of Attraction.
I was excited to put these seemingly simple (and proven) methods to work for me. Over time I read and studied all of the varied ideas from all of the authors (in all of the books) on how to streamline these methods to best suit my needs. Thinking positively is great, but thinking about what you want or what you wish for constantly; soon becomes overwhelming! I soon found myself divorced from the present and drowning in my desires. In actuality, I was further distancing myself from a successful life at the time just because I wanted to believe this was real.
If this (proposed) law even lived up to a small portion of its proposed greatness; then Santa Clause would have been flying around on Christmas Eve for the last 100 years! The only people that are destined to really profit from the Law of Attraction “Farce” are the Authors, Speakers and Publishers. If you don’t believe me just read some of the comments listed on the bottom of some of the high dollar items listed on ebay, there are hundreds of people everday winning bids on these items with absolutely no idea how they are going to pay for them…but then again; there is the slighest chance that they may just be looking in the wrong mailbox…
Why, why, why do these Secreteer drones constantly assume that all non-believers are lazy, myopic moaners and complainers. How can you possibly make such a judgement? You come off sounding like religious zealots. Assume for a moment that they are positive, goal-oriented, happy, well-adjusted, financially secure folks who love, laugh and live fully, and who have no need of secrets or pseudo-laws of attraction.
For the record: precise language is very important. This is why people are saying there is no “Law” of attraction. Inaccurate language (as someone said here, “Who cares what you call it…”) is as influential as the plague. Those who so willingly accept faulty language also seem willing to accept deceitful philosophies.
Post 150 sounds like he/she IS God. It is very judgemental and assumes that anyone who does not believe in the secret is wrong and heading straight to hell. Well hello sunshine, I have been through the secret crap and can categorically state that my life was WAY better without it but then perhaps I was doing well anyway. For anyone who did not know that there is more out there and all you have to do is ask if you need an answer then perhaps it may have helped them a little but I have no doubt that the whole thing was established on greed and with the intention of making millions in a hurry. If not, then why haven’t we heard that Rhonda Byrne or any of her so called “teachers” have donated to a charity. Oh thats right we are taught that charities should not exist, those people brought it all on themselves. How positively callous and deluded is that?
“Stop expecting for someone to give you some miraculous method you can use to get fantastic results without YOU having to make some effort to change your pathetic Self-Images!” Sounds like the Aussie contributor in The Secret, isn’t that what he teaches. Take other peoples money and use it for yourself and then deny ever having taken it in the first place. Simple strategy, just not very lawful and now his delusion seems to have placed in the mud or should we say quicksand.
Very interesting. I’ll have to come back and read more when I don’t have the flu :0
Just a few simple points:
Faith without works is dead. Faith is a force- best definition of faith I’ve seen:
“… therefore if you have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.”
Alma 32:21
How do you know if they’re true, try it out, test whatever the thing is you’re not sure of, or observe the efforts of others. I’d don’t have to jump off a bridge to know gravity will work. I like Napoleon Hill, he studied out success and copied it well. I will be more financially well off buy not buying the secret. I watched a small portion of the movie and liked some of it. I don’t think I’d wait for faith to be cured of of cancer- I’d be headed to Mexico or where ever I could get the best treatments I could- not necessarily chemo.
I don’t believe in “religion as a whole” but I do believe in God, prophets, holy writ, and that Jesus is the Savior of mankind. I have problems with “Christians” who are not Christ-like in their actions, I think the biggest secret in the world is probably Jesus Christ and the true meaning of Christmas. Sorry to ramble. Like I said I’ve got the flu and thinkings not going to cure that 🙂 Hope you all have a blessed Christmas.
Vickie Smith
http://www.secretsofthebutcherswife.com
My sister made me watch the dvd and I can’t believe the crap that people believe. This book is on the best seller list??? WTF????
I asked her why there aren’t more millionaires if all you have to do is visualize it and believe it……her response is that maybe that’s not what everyone wants. Yeah right. OK, why are so many people sick? Maybe they don’t want to be well?
What really pisses me off is that stupid people breed more than intelligent people. So, our world is becoming more and more full of retards 🙁
I love the Secret! I don’t agree with all of it…I mean, I do believe there are some things beyond our control. But we always have 100% control over how we react and respond to any situation.
Because of The Secret, I am focusing on my goals and learning as much as I can about personal finance and investing, including coming to this site. I will never sit on my butt and expect to be a millionaire. But because of The Secret, I am able to see that I can educate myself and be the best I can be.
Several people I know are true believers, but I have yet to make it through the movie or the book due to extreme laughing fits. My only experience with anything similar to these beliefs is that when I identify a goal in detail (e.g., exactly what type of employment I want), then I start to notice opportunities that I might have overlooked before. I don’t think there is anything mystical about this, though, just common psychology.
I haven’t seen the movie or red any books about it – BUT – before you bash me on the head, this comment is not about the movie, or the review in itself (which, sorry I haven’t read), though it should be. This comment is about the whole prospect of The Law Of Attraction. If you truly believe you’re utterly invincible and immortal, will you never feel pain or die of old age? Of course not! Thinking can not give you what you want. If you are evicted from your house and forced into poverty, NO amount of thinking will get you back on your feet, or even guarantee you won’t die of hunger. If you get shot, it’s not because you thought about it, it’s because the damn person with the gun DECIDED to shoot you! Man, it’s just common sense I’m using. Most of us have that, right?
I was given a copy of “The Secret” for Christmas (never would have bought it myself) so felt somewhat compelled to read it.
Having come to the end of the book surprised not to have found a disclaimer, I found myself basking in the revelation of the truth behind The Secret…
We each live in our own universe where we are the sole consciousness that manifests our individual realities, obviously having the ability to conjure up anything we like if we believe it enough, because everything is a figment of our imagination.
Right?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Now back to some real work 🙂
Is there “nothing new under the sun?” Oh, I forgot… SOMEONE HAS SAID THAT ALREADY!
I’m visualizing that all those checks that those of you wished to receive… return to their ORIGINAL SOURCE! By the way… if God sends you a check(s), you had BETTER spend it on what HE wants you to spend it on or else!
And please just remember this paraphrase from (Luke 12:48)… “To whom much is given, much will be required”
It has been said that all secrets will be revealed eventually…
hehe, if Rhonda had deliberately filled such an age-old (but undoubtedly important) point with this much crap knowing that it would stir up criticisms which in turn lead it to mass public attention and purchase, she’s a genius
Have you not read Total Self Confidence? The Science of Getting Rich? The Bible?
All years ahead of The Secret. Same concept.
Actually I think The Secret is a rip off of Wallace Wattles TSOGR.
Secrets of the Millionaire Mind: Thoughts lead to feelings. Feelings lead to actions. Actions lead to results.
Hello.
(1)
I do not know whether it is a rip off from
W,Wattles’s work. I do know there is NO
such a law. The real name is the ancient Law of Belief, and it has been around since the universe began. “What you deeply believe is what you materialize in your reality”, “What you deeply believe attracts to you EXACTLY what will MATCH your currents beliefs/values.”.
Law of Attraction is a commercial name. You have to admit those who came up with this ‘scheme’ became very successful monetarily.
They wrote something they knew lots of people would buy. They were right! They fooled just about everyone — and made many trips to their banks and deposit lots of money in the process. Their bank accounts is a great testimony for that fact. Blame the people, not them. They only told people what people wanted to hear.
(2)
Secrets of Millionaire Mind: ERROR !!!!!. And its consequence is ENOUGH to make most people fail.
One does NOT think in the vacuum. One persistently and predominantly thinks all day long and predominantly focus on certain things because of the BELIEFS/VALUES we have stored deep in our Subconscious minds.
Once a belief/value is accepted, the thoughts are predominantly in the direction of those beliefs/values and tend to validate and reinforce them in a cycle that will only end when one changes/reprograms the specific belief/value responsible for that specific pattern of thinking and focusing.
Therefore, it is more ACCURATE to state:
BELIEF —> THOUGHT PATTERN — > emotional STATE (feelings) —> ATTITUDES and BEHAVIORS (ACTIONS).
When one IGNORES that BELIEF (and value) is the PRIMARY CAUSE, one tries to FEEL something by FORCING it. But, the moment one stops focusing conscious awareness to that FEELING, one goes back AUTOMATICALLY to feeling the same OLD way and experiencing the same LOUSY mental/emotional STATES.
WHY? Because the primary cause of the feelings, BELIEF, was NOT changed..
This is something those who try to use the so-called Law of Attraction (LOA) do NOT know. And most GURUS don’t even mention it — creating this FALSE belief that ALL one needs to do to be successful with the LOA is to visualize and feel a few times a day.
And what happens to the other 23 hours or so? One keeps radiating the same OLD lousy vibrations because the PRIMARY BELIEF causing those lousy vibrations was not changed.
And that is one of the MAIN reasons SO MANY PEOPLE fail to achieve their desired end-results when applying the so called LOA.
RULE:
One must FIRST identify and eliminate any limiting beliefs and conflicting values, and replace them with beliefs/values that will support the goal, not oppose it. Then, you
will automatically start radiating the right vibrations to attract what you desire (through the Law of Belief).
Hope this help to those who are having problems with the so-called LOA. It always work IF you understand this little known ‘secret’ explained above.
Leo F.
As much as you would like to ridicule the Law of Attraction, I have an entire folder full of clippings etc. of things that I have attracted into my life, in detail – including specific jobs in specific fields within specific company types, and even within a specific salary range; an apartment with 15 out of 16 features that I “just happened” to find when I went up a block I never drive on and saw a FOR RENT sign; and yes, even checks in the mail – unexpected bonuses from work, and THREE surprise, significantly large IRS checks – all within two months of each other – shortly after I had “put it out there” that I needed a large sum of money to pay for school. I had enough for it and THEN some. I can go on but this message would be three pages long. The proof is in the pudding, my friend. However the point that you do have is that people misuse it out of ignorance, such as “get rich quick” crap, or thinking that in 24 hours they are going to wake up and find a Mercedes parked in their driveway. That’s just their own ignorance of how it all works.
tssk tssk. look how readily people dismiss th positive that cvan make them happy for the negative that holds them back. there is nothing wrong with tryin to become a happier person and focusing on the things you want. after i first watched the movie i thought of all the good and bad that has happened to me and i could SEE that prior to those events there was a tremendous amount of thought or feeling that led up to it. i wanted my now fiance who was with someone else and after really feeling that we should be together and it was right, he left her and we started seeing each other. all that i had envisioned has happened and i believe there is something to this. and no one elses negative thoughts will effect that.
While I think your review is reasonably fair, I think that all the skeptics are focusing way to greatly on the specifics, like receiving checks in the mail. I think it also funny that eveyone seems to focus on the MONEY issue and not all the other things one could want from the universe (of which we are all a part), like happiness, love, purpose. I think we can all assume (or maybe I am able to think out side of the box and some can not) that our little planet and our little world is not all that exists in what we refer to as the Universe. That being said, while we don’t know what else exists (science can only go so far and we created that too) then why not think that passion (which is the emotion that these thoughts would come from) and being sincerly pationate about something can perhaps bring it to you in unexplainable ways? I have not tried this theory, but when I saw the CD (my boyfriend bought it)I not only felt better (self help material often give you a good feeling (in my opinion, but thought that in my entire life, the things that I truly wanted/needed/were pationate about always did, in fact, come my way. I think the concept is simply that when yo want something badly enough, you strive to make it happen and perhaps just positive thinking (and why not promote that???) and maybe, just maybe, energy….energy is a fabulous thing you know….it’s what we call (body language or chemistry in love, isn’t it? Think about it. You can all say it’s garbage, but is it. Personally, even if it’s technically/scientifically not true, it sure says more positive things than a great number of skeptics on this site. 🙂
To those defending the book as harmless:
It’s no different from the prayer donations solicited from the televangelists hawking their false cures. It preys on the desperate, and while it’s not as pernicious and doesn’t cost as much as some of the televangelists, it’s still disgusting to me that anyone would market such a load of horse manure.
Yes, positive thinking to the extent that it keeps you calm, sane, and functioning is great. Any claim that it has some mystical power beyond that is just going to set you up for disappointment. I live in DC, and parking is horrific. Does it help me to think I’m going to get through the situation when driving is bad? Yes, to the extent that it keeps me level-headed. Does it make bad traffic disappear and parking spaces appear? Not at all.
Also, to add on, it is really harmful to claim that people are somehow responsible for their own fates by attracting negative energy when the events are really beyond their control. The book basically claims that you attract your no-fault car accident, the hurricane, the holocaust even. It’s not a harmless, feel-good for a minute mantra. It’s a pernicious scam.
Positive thinking is just that POSITIVE. Doesn’t matter what package it comes in, if you are motivating someone in a positive direction, it’s all good. While I would have to say the evangilists on TV are not my cup of tea, if a person donating to this feels that it will, in fact, bring good, then it will, to them anyway. It’s the feeling one gets that is substantial here, not what EVERYONE thinks, but what YOU think. It has been proven that people given placebos feel better. That might be a crock too, but if the person taking the placebo feels better, it worked, didn’t it? However you are encouraged if it does good for you, then it is what it is and it does good. If someone were to ask you your honest opinion on how they looked and you thought they were overweight and had ugly hair, would you tell them so? If you didn’t, technically you’d be dishonest, but I don’t think honesty is ALWAYS the best policy. If everyone thought in your terms, there wouldn’t be religion either. Oh, and I am not particularly religious either, but if someone beleives in something and it helps them, crock or not, who cares, the result is still a positive. Hey Ellen, better be careful, your attracting negative engergy. (lol)
This just in from the trusted experts of the Cosmos.
Believe it or not:
– if you look for a red car, you will find a red car
– if you look for an apartment, you will find an apartment
– if you think positive, life will feel more positive.
Wow. What sheer, brilliant genius – and all for only $14.95!*
(* extra fees may be added for additional enlightenment, OAC)
Shockingly, I also hear scientists are now almost certain of a correlation between rain clouds and precipitation.
You know, there are many ways to reinvent the wheel. It’s been done in many different fashions, at many different times, with many different things, but each time, that “thing” is being brought to the foreground, which is the purpose. People forget about things and sometimes need reinforecement. Your mind is ABSOLUTELY in control of your body (hopefully) and therefore, your destiny. IT’S THE POSTITIVE MESSAGE THAT COUNTS HERE PEOPLE! If someone receives something postitve from something else, then that’s what it is….POSITIVE. Why read things into anything. The Secret is out there…I personally think there is a lot of truth to what is being said – Not in a mystical way (although I am not truly sure of that either and neither is anyone else), but in general. It, to me, was a positive message putting people in a positive state of mind -Creating positive energy. Getting people thinking and moving in the correct direction. So, what if you think its been said before and it’s obvious, cause here’s a newsflash, YOU’RE NOT THE ONLY PERSON ON THIS EARTH! Bully for all those people that are positive enough (agree or disagree) not to knock something down that might be good for someone else.
Oh, and by the way, one would think there is a correlation between rain clouds and precipitation, so when are the newscasters going to get it right??? (lol)
Stay positive everyone!!!!!
Then if the secret is fact, that aussie guy has attracted all the crap he is currently facing including the court case with bob proctor, so in reality he should not be surprised about ANYTHING that comes his way. Somehow I think he is and he certainly looks scared witless in some of his interviews and even on his recent youtube videos. My question is do these people REALLY believe in this stuff or are they USING it for their own gain only.
Paul,
While perhaps you don’t like the method by which this positive thought process is being distributed, I think you will agree that some people comit crimes, are prosecuted and go to jail; some do not. It could be said that some people are drawn to doing things that cause this situation and some do not…true? The issues the “Aussie” as you call him faces are, in fact, brought on by only him….correct??? His outcome will also be determined by HIS actions. Think about it.
As far as the individuals narrating The Secret, I really haven’t a clue if they REALLY believe it or are just doing it for profit, but again, if anyone gets a positive message from it, it is then POSITIVE…to them at least. I am sure that most people reading this site have received some type of monetary reward for doing something or saying something that they don’t REALLY believe. Think not? Well I don’t know about anyone else, but I am an administrator for a large midtown firm and there are plenty of things I don’t agree with that I process anyway, simply because it’s my job to do so. Nothing illegal, but against my personal thought process just the same. So, don’t be so quick to judge others…especially since you really don’t know if they believe it or not in the first place.
Always be objective and try to always be positive and you will see, the secret isn’t all that far fetched…in a sense. The people distributing this could be proven the biggest crooks of all time, but my opinion wouldn’t change about the general content of the message….POSITIVE!
Ciao…
Yes, CSM, you’re so very positive. One can tell by all the upper case spelling and multiple exclamation/question marks. Where would we be without your pretentious yet understated piety. I’ve spontaneously levitated just now.
RCH,
I am simply stating my thoughts. The caps emphasize the word – I am NOT yelling at anyone, if that was the implication. No matter what the subject may be, if someone sees it as positive, then it is. If someone sees it as negative, it is. It’s how YOU (get the emphasis thing?) view the world for yourself that matters, not how everyone else sees it. So, to that end RCH, I also am an amateur magician and while levitation isn’t my gig, perhaps you’ll let me saw you in half sometime. And you’re calling ME pretentious!!!??? (lol)
Amateur? Oh, don’t sell yourself short, my positive friend. Anyone with prestidigitation skills that allow them to type repeated and lengthy messages during billable working hours has professional-level magician skills.
I watched a 1/2 hour of the DVD and couldn’t handle anymore. It was a load of crap. I had to laugh at the lady looking at the necklace in the window. She thought really hard about wanting that necklace. Then, her boyfriend gives it to her. If only life were really that easy.
LAW OF ATTRACTION, THE HOLOCAUST AND 911
This is the topic that you can search on the internet and not find an answer that will satisfy you.
This is the topic that all those people who don’t believe in Law of Attraction use to try to prove their case. These non believers use the argument that says “if Law of Attraction is true and really worked, then are you telling me that 6,000,000 Jews manifested, chose, and attracted their own death in the holocaust?”
Then the non believers go on to mention 911, slavery, young children raped and killed, babies being murdered and any atrocity they can put forth. They assert the following as the base of their argument. “So if Law of Attraction were a real law of the universe, then I must accept the belief that all these atrocious death scenarios were chosen and attracted by the victims. Are you saying that the victims are to blame for their own deaths?
I must admit it sounds like a great argument and who could possibly explain this? I, also, admit I searched and searched all over the internet and could not find one LOA guru who could explain this argument properly from the side of the believers of Law of Attraction.
All the great Law of Attraction gurus don’t really like to deal with this argument and its corresponding set of questions. It is almost comical to watch them try to sweep this one under the rug. They know that any explanation that you offer to all these Jewish people is going to infuriate them and elicit rage and anger if you in any way try to tell them that these Jews “attracted” this fate with their vibration. The same, of course, holds true with the loved ones of those who died in the 911 holocaust or the descendents of slaves. I call 911 a holocaust very properly but for reasons that are really the subject of a whole other article or book.
Now also the parents and loved ones of murdered children and babies are not going to accept that these children and babies chose and attracted their gruesome deaths through their vibration. So this argument is the great debate and the great divide between those who believe in Law of Attraction and those who do not. Yet there really doesn’t seem to be any great debate going on because not one person has offered an adequate argument on the side of those who believe in Law of Attraction. And, their simplified answers or even no answers that “insinuate” that these individual’s vibrations have indeed attracted these ugly circumstance scenarios, even further infuriate those non believers and loved ones.
Now of course I choose not to offer some anonymous argument on the side of Law of Attraction but I must tell you that my name is Seth Manne and I’ am the author of a new book entitled “Manifesting The Ultimate: Perfect Health, Massive Wealth, True Love and Infinite Happiness. Why on earth would I tackle a subject like this which can stir the angst of so many people? It is almost like it is the anti-thesis of my own book. “This” would appear to be manifesting the worst, atrocious, ugly, inhumane of possible circumstances and scenarios…would it not? At this point in the article I can not imagine how long of an article this will be but yet I choose to see it through because I’ am so extremely disappointed in all of the so called experts out there who offer absolutely NO ANSWERS to these pointedly great questions.
Even my own favorite author who is a channel for a group of spirits has responded to this question at her seminars by saying to the questioner who asked about the Holocaust…”why do you choose to ask questions about such negative scenarios which in turn, keeps you focused on resistance in relation to your vibration?”. Now I am paraphrasing what she said but I have definitely caught the flavor of her response and it is the old psychologist trick of trying to answer a question with a question. It doesn’t sit well with the person asking the question and it is a diversion to direct the topic elsewhere or try to get the questioner to answer his own question. Regardless and either way IT IS NOT AN ANSWER. These gurus, authors and experts of Law of Attraction know that this one question is a no-no because it seems to be a no-win situation for proponents of this so called universal law. It creates bad press, convinces no one and threatens the validity of that which they teach and believe.
So now, here come I, to tackle this. First let me say, and this has been said by the gurus, that these mass victims did not create this wantingly or knowingly. I know that that statement has very little meaning to adversaries of Law of Attraction and it even irritates me because it is just more avoidance of the issue and a dancing around and groping to give some “sweep it under the rug” type of answer. So where to start to give even a glimpse of a proper answer. I must lay some foundational ground rule assumptions.
Understand that what I’ am about to say can be looked at as an “opinion emanating from my imagination”. I ‘am not saying that this is FACT or some written in stone answer. It could be looked at as just a figment of my imagination. But for me this figment can contain a “flavor of truth”. It can also be looked at as perspectives of “being’. However, I assure you it is not contrived. It is the true essence of truth, through imagination, from one person’s understanding of the human condition.
This explanation is probably to short to be a book and to long to be an article but here we go. Question number one is: do these adversaries of Law of Attraction believe that a human being is just a higher animal form destined to die into nothingness? Do they believe that the “being” that is encased in this physical human body has any special powers or is magical, mystical, omnipotent or omnipitent? In order to understand my explanation to what we will call the Holocaust question, one would have to first believe in this foundational assumption… that beings who are human ARE endowed with powers and qualities that are magical, mystical, omnipotent and omnipitent. Now that foundational belief is probably quite a stretch for those who argue against Law of Attraction, but you will have to, at least, pretend that you can go along with this first “imaginary assumption” of mine to continue to understand my explanation.
O.K. so now we have a very “Godlike” being existing in a physical body. We of course must assume that the “being” has NO LIMITATIONS while the physical encasement IS LIMITED to physical laws. The human can not breath underwater or flap its arms and fly in waking physical flesh life. We all know that in the dream state or in our own imagination there are absolutely no limitations.
The next question or assumption would be who among you believes in reincarnation? When a baby is born into physical existence, is not the being within the baby’s physical body already omnipitent and merely reacquainting itself with physical laws and physical life?
Now what type of “intended” physical life will it manifest? More questions…Do you believe that you, as a human “being”, can manifest any circumstances at all in your own life. Again, here if you don’t believe you can, than for the sake of this explanation you will have to pretend that you can manifest (create) at least certain circumstances in your own life.
Elsewhere, life has been explained as your “canvas”. How others view your life is what they are seeing and surmising from the canvas that you have created and are presenting. Your life and who you present yourself to be are your choices, decisions, experiences and your personality. Obviously your life is much more than just those four things but I am symbolically abbreviating for simplistic reasons.
Now we must entertain areas that become even more questionable to many and those are areas such as mass manifestations, the mass mind, the sub conscious, the super conscious and the choices that any “being” has access to. My imagination tells me that the choices a being has access to are infinite and unlimited. We have not even gotten to the answer to our question and the above mentioned areas and your beliefs about them are critical to your understanding or acceptance of the answer I will offer. So you can see that firstly a human “being” in my imagination is by no means a simple creature.
I see, and I keep qualifying this, that “in my imagination” a person’s life can be looked at as that individuals “demonstration” or as stated …his or her canvas. The final stroke upon that canvas is the individuals type of departure or death from the physical or I could say “death OF the physical”. Since, again, in my imagination there is no death for the “being”. I’ am getting tired of using the phrase “in my imagination”, so I will now ask you to understand that all that I have written above and all I will write below is what you could consider to be an “imaginary explanation” to this question and argument. However, since I hope you would at least agree that we all have free will, then I will say that “for me” this is not my imagination…this is my truth and my knowledge. I certainly am allowed to make that choice for myself and that is a choice, whether you like it or not, that I have made. Now don’t forget this inserted disclaimer of my imaginary answer for you…just try to use YOUR imagination to understand it.
We have expressions like “the good die young” to quell our sadness when we see young people die in a car accident or in battle or die in some atrocious way. We question the meaning of those deaths. Senseless murders, senseless illnesses, senseless disabilities or deformities that babies are born with and into in this physical life, come to mind also.
They are not senseless. They are demonstrations. Could “beings” choose those horrific demonstrations you ask. Others believe these conditions and “demonstrations” are put upon the individuals by fate, luck, destiny or God. To believe that is to believe that fate, luck, destiny or God can be pretty mean and nasty. It is to believe that your life is controlled by outside forces and it is to believe that the being within is not very great or powerful because it can be victimized by those outside forces. I would think that those beliefs would raise questions and arguments even more important than the one we are dealing with here. But that’s just my opinion.
So to understand what I am offering as an answer to this question you would have to believe in manifestation, mass manifestation, freewill, omnipitent power of a being that is human and have belief in the subconscious, super conscious, mystical magic of this powerful being’s choices of demonstration, even if those choices occur on a super subconscious level.
Again this sounds like quite a stretch for the average “human being”. Can your imagination make these “stretches?” If it can not than hopefully you can surmise your opinion of your own self worth and self knowledge. If you can not do that, then your connection and communication with your own self is limited and lacking at this present moment. Relax and remember this is all just some human beings imaginary “opinion”. We all have a right to our own opinion don’t we? The opinion of one’s own self can be high or low or anywhere in between. I, simply, choose …extremely high.
Now assuming that you are pretending to believe all of the above mentioned beliefs or knowledge, here is a further stretch for you. For some individual being to make the choice of that his personal demonstration will be one containing such horrific or atrocious “qualities” is unfathomable for most people. They “believe” that no individual being would choose such a seemingly nasty and ugly demonstration of departure or death. Let’s face it most people don’t even believe we choose our type of death or control the time of our death because they do not understand the “being”. They have no connection with their super consciousness and they look at life from quite different perspectives than those that are mentioned here. To them the answer they will receive here will not be understood because of their perspectives of how they view physical life and how they view physical beings.
But for those that are in states of understanding and those who are in states of pretending that they understand, I will continue and hopefully conclude shortly. Even if you are following the train of thought here and going along with it purely for the sake of your momentary entertainment, I realize your mind may be spinning and flooded with questions and counter arguments. You might ask and state simultaneously, “this is absurd, no one would choose such horrible demonstrations even if they could”. My response to that is…Who are you to say what the perspectives of an individual omnipitent being would be and what reasons that being might have for making choices that you as a “human” can not fathom.
Now we are coming to the point. You must pretend and imagine you can understand the difference between the physical human and the all knowing “being”. That understanding can take humans many lifetimes of physical experience to achieve. That understanding is contained by the being before and after its physical birth and death and is an awareness quest that the human embarks upon. It has been called enlightenment and has several other definitions and names.
As humans, first of all, many of us see death as this big bad tumultuous event. As beings we see death as no big deal. As beings we see death as being no more tumultuous than going to sleep at night and waking up in the morning. To the being it is not only some simple, matter of fact, transition, but it is a welcome transition because the being knows that it returns to what has been called source or the non physical. That place is adored by the being and feared by the human. I am speaking of most humans and all beings.
So now, with all this foundational belief information you have been either understanding or pretending to understand or have been infuriated by….I say these mass manifestations in situations like the Holocaust or 911 do not make the “victims” appear to be at fault or “responsible” for their suffering. Other evil players certainly played their part in creating and bringing these events to fruition. Some people with a distorted view of karmic retribution might say those evil cause players will reincarnate for millions of eternal lifetimes as a fly in stool. I am not going to get into explanations of karmic lifetimes but I will say that justice does prevail especially in the alternate realms. That justice has been described elsewhere as self inflicted…the most appropriate of all justice.
So if you can glimpse the power and magnificence of this great being that is you and me and everyone…then it will make it only a little easier to understand choices that seem to be unfathomable to you as a human. These are holy, dignified and superior choices. They are, many times, the choices that only the greatest true heroes can make and they often appear to be anything but what they truly are in the overall scheme of things. These demonstrations are a way of going to war against atrocity and teaching by example for generations to come. These demonstrations expose the perpetrators and defeat them in a way that no war or battle could ever do. And mostly these demonstrations are chosen on a super conscious level totally unbeknown to the human personality. However they become memories not only for us but for those who participated in the demonstration. Only the being knows the growth and expansion that it creates through these scenarios. Only the being knows why it chose to be the one to participate, possibly for reasons relating to its own character and journey.
I feel like I have gone out on a limb here to even attempt to present this information to those who will only be more enraged by what I have written here but I searched the internet and, in turn, the world for this answer and could not find anything as satisfying as this explanation…”to me”. I too sought out the great gurus and proponents of Law of Attraction and no one would provide an indepth answer. You come to realize that so many people choose the path of least resistance. They will not deal with situations or scenarios that they deem as negative or resistant to their flow of well being. The moment that you realize that you are your own best guru capable of providing your own best answers, is when you start on a magnificent journey of unfolding peace and security in regard to all that you really want to know. Look inside for your answers, feel the magnificence of your own “being”. Step outside the “human” box for a few seconds and sense your own omnipotence. At that moment you may sense the magnificence of other beings that have gone before you, are here now and are yet to come.
Any one who has gone into battle in war could have chosen not to do so. There are a multitude of ways and options available to not experience that. Any one who, as they say, fought the hard fight or took the higher road was definitely not taking the easy road or path of least resistance. These questions addressed here are a factor of perceptions. You must look deep to find answers that strictly relate to the “being” and not the human. When you look deep, you will be amazed at the deceptions that the human creates. You will be amazed at how the being operates in these seemingly mystical and omnipotent ways even while in a physical body.
I want to say to my favorite author and all of her following that you can not brush these historical incidents under the rug. You can not tell people “oh don’t ask that question and don’t think such negative and resistant thoughts”. You are not giving answers that way. You are just avoiding the question because you can’t seem to find the words to describe the answer. The words are inside and you know it, but at times you too prefer the path of least resistance. You worry sometimes that really speaking your mind will be bad press for you. I say practice what you mostly preach and I can not fault you for avoiding what is atrocious and not easily explained in a short seminar. However if you have enjoyed my imaginary explanation and answers…feel free to paraphrase them and use them yourself.
I would love feedback on this article and I can’t say if I will continually respond but as I mentioned earlier, I have written a book on these topics and it is available at The book will give you the real indepth story on these answers. There you will also find my email address in case you have a response to this, burning inside of you.
Compared to my book, this article is merely a teaser on these higher concepts of imagination/knowledge.
Law of attraction…I downloaded a documentary “The secret” and finished watching it after 10 min. I have an incredible good nose for people that try to sell crap. Law of attraction may exist and probably psychology has done some research on it, but im sure that it doesn’t work in such an extend as these guys are telling it in this documentary. Yea, bad thoughts give me bad feelings, but that is probably the only true thing they’ve stated.
I agree that there is no secret of any sort, but I do give credit where it’s due. The Secret packaged an existing concept that has been around for centuries and has had thousands of books written on it in the last 100 years… yet they managed to package it SO WELL it created a hype like no other!
It doesn’t even matter if there is a LoA or if there isn’t. What I think JD didn’t cover enough in the article above is ACTION!
NOTHING substitutes taking action, making decisions, getting out there and making things happen.
If you imagine cheques in the mail, I doubt they will turn up. I’ve been imagining cheques in the mail for a long long time and I get mostly bills! just like the rest of the living population!!! 🙂
But I do have amazing achievements too, I have 4 cars I have a great house, etc etc. I’ll tell you THE BIGGER SECRET – I had to take action to get them, not just imagine I had them already! 🙂
Well guys there has been a massive DIVORCE in the Secret between BOB PROCTOR and DAVID SCHIRMER. It seems that Proctor has sued Schirmer for misleading and deceptive conduct. Who would ever have thought that one of the teachers was “misleading and deceptive” come on now. Oh yes, the case is very public and David Schirmer was caught redhanded. The guy just can’t seem to help himself. He has screwed over almost everyone he has ever had anything to do with and now Bob Proctor. If there was ever a person worth of “The Secret Wanker Award” it would have to be David Schirmer. Looking forward to the rest of the exposes on youtube and the no doubt soon to be follow up expose on Schirmer by the media.
Here’s an idea: If you do a Google search on “David Schirmer”, his companies come up in the Google ads. Every time you click on his ad, it costs him money!
GRS,
Thanks for your reasonable and thoughtful comments. Of course “the Secret” has some good points. It is not new; its just marketing and branding taken to the nth degree. The LOA marketers seem a bit like snake-oil salesmen to me. Enough already with the e-books for 50.00. Here’s a free one that has similar ideas:
http://www.asamanthinketh.net/download.htm
(ATTENTION: I would LOVE J.D. or ANY posters bashing attraction theory to engage in this conversation with me)
I’m not a bad person, I’m not an idiot, I don’t believe in pyramid schemes (I’m series 7, 66 licensed), I don’t think that 6 million Jews simultaneously attracted a mass extermination. I don’t think that wishing for checks makes them show up in your mailbox. But I do believe that there’s some real truth in The Secret (beliefs I’ve held from a very young age). And for the majority of posters to immediately slippery slope the implications of “Attraction” to death – to type in “what a bunch of garbage, this is crap,” because some of the ideas conflict with your time-tested belief system – I see as kind of lazy and ignorant.
Amazingly, I actually read through all of Seth’s attempted response toward the biggest attraction counter-argument, and one that J.D. leaned heavily upon: “The Secret” relating to mass genocide/tragedy, etc. Obviously, Seth’s answer gets a little esoteric, but for good reason. This is a simple question that demands an incredibly complex, multi-faceted, all-encompassing answer; one that reaches down to the very roots of a person’s belief system.
So let’s start with a simple illustration of the counter argument as I see it. A young child gets terminal cancer. This child was not thinking about getting cancer, wishing it, or expecting it. He was not self-loathing, stressed, unhappy, angry, etc. For this physical being, a mind and body creature, as The Secret would relate, the law of attraction theory does not hold up.
To successfully counter these arguments through Attraction theory, you MUST add a third dimension to this person, a soul. Now, if your respective belief system does not accept the existence of a soul, or views it in much different terms than those described below, then this path of reasoning will lead you nowhere, which is completely fine, and well within your rights. But if you do believe in the existence of a third aspect of humans: a soul, then we can go on. Built on those terms, here are a few more (I think reasonable) assumptions that would have to be made if you’d like to follow my reasoning. If you can’t accept any of these, even for the purpose of objective argument, then my essay will unfortunately lead you nowhere. (I don’t think I’m “right,” I’m just saying that this is the belief system that has served me fairly well).
– The human body is a vessel for the soul.
– Each soul has lived many lives, and will live many (infinite?) more (reincarnation).
– As such, the soul views death in very different terms than our physical and mental selves do (IE: if you have one dollar, you’ll be much more careful where you spend it than if you have a thousand).
– The very basic purposes of the soul’s constant physical reincarnations on earth are, without getting further in depth (and believe me I could), growth/evolution, self-realization, and expression of love.
– Like Seth argued, the Soul views death as simply a transition, like sleeping or waking, while our minds, cultures, societies, etc, view death as an incredibly unwanted, terrible event.
– The soul’s time line is much different than a human’s. To a soul, each physical lifetime may be like a day is to us.
– As such, the soul sees a much grander picture of life, time, and the universe as a whole.
– Therefore, the desires of a soul can, and quite often do, differ greatly from the desires of the body, or the desires of the mind, and vice/versa.
So here are three examples, with some of those assumptions applied:
1. The child that dies from cancer at a young age. Applying “The Secret,” would imply that the child’s thoughts actively attracted a horribly painful, cancerous death. As most of you have already said, you can’t accept that explanation. Well, neither can I.
However, what if we bring the idea of a soul, as outlined above, into the story? What if the boy’s soul chose, for reasons probably not understood by us, to have the “experience” of dying young? Who knows, maybe this experience will be necessary for the soul’s continued evolution. Now, combine the soul’s desire with the Law of Attraction, and suddenly this whole idea begins to make sense again. No, the boy on a conscious level was not attracting an early death, but you could argue that his soul was. Everything else aligns to make this experience happen, just like in The Secret.
2. Well, just as the Soul’s desires can conflict with the mind’s, so can the mind’s conflict with the soul. For this example, use Hitler. I believe Hitler’s soul came onto earth with a propensity for greatness, of either “good” or “bad.” For whatever reasons, his physical mind became incredibly warped and corrupted (Yes, his ideas were absolutely insane, but a whole nation agreed with him). And remember, there’s something to be said for a world that allowed Hitler to happen, as well as something to be said for a world that decided to stop it…
3. And here we come to the penultimate question. How could “The Secret” possibly apply to six million Jews dying? Well, for starters, take special heed to the last sentence of example #2. The Hitler experience was, on a world-level, a defining moment in our history. It defined not only the depths of how bad one human being could treat another, but also the limit to what the world would allow. In essence, the world’s collective reaction to Hitler was: “No, this will not be tolerated — we will not treat each other that way.”
So, in quoting J.D’s argument, did 6 million Jews have mass negative thoughts which in turn attracted a mass genocide? Of course not.
But, could 6 million souls, as described above (indifferent to death, seeing the bigger picture, constantly reincarnating, evolving, etc), either volunteer beforehand, or otherwise willfully attract the experience of being a Jew in WWII, knowing that by doing so it will either enrich them greatly, positively alter the course of earth’s history, or both?
For the sake of this argument, I’d say it’s entirely plausible. And so, in a way, we’ve come to a possible explanation of how Attraction Law could apply to the holocaust — If not “attracted” by the mind, the experiences were in line with what the soul wished to undergo. It would follow that: “There is no such thing as luck, chances, or accidents. Everything that has ever, and will ever happen to you, is a product of attraction, be it through your mind, body, or soul.”
That above sentence is the essence of Attraction. You may think it’s ignorant, foolish, cold-hearted, insane, etc, but at the end of the day, here’s what it accomplishes in my life: accountability.
I never feel like a victim, or indulge in the “why mes?” I never blame others for problems in my life, or seem to have incredibly long strings of “bad luck.” I’ve never been chronically sick, or been a participant in endless, pointless, energy-sucking human drama. I’m empowered in my life; I’ll never seek out pity either consciously, or unconsciously, and will never become a contributor to someone needing the same. And you know what? It feels great.
Josh,
That was well said and a nice alternate perspective to the law of attraction. Not to many people talk about the soul in relation to the law of attraction. Your reasoning is very plausible indeed.
I think people need to examine the law a little more thoroughly with intelligent thought rather than dismiss it as “crap” or as being bogus.
I agree that there is much to be said for the collective unconscious or the collective beliefs and the effects those have on cities, countries, and even nations.
OK – seriously. The Secret is a bunch of baloney. No one ever wanted to be put to death in the gas chamber – consciously or unconsciously.
Attitude does have some impact on what happens to people in life. However, CHANCE has much more to do with it.
Chance has more to do with it? What evidence do you cite? Attempt to prove that statement logically, in any sort of manner. Far as I’m concerned, you’re allowed to believe whatever you want to believe, but if you’re going to dismiss someone else’s beliefs, at least be prepared to backup your own with more than hitting the shift key.
I agree with you Josh. A person can beleive whatever they like, but to say something so rediculous without any substantiation whatsoever is pretty silly. Chance….boy, that’s a scary statement. So everything that exists is just BY CHANCE? Your statement was well thought out, many are not. Brownie points for you!
Sorry, forgot to include this disclaimer:
IMHO
Ha Ha
Well to end the week on a most brilliant note, this is how David Schirmer answered the question in the book he is trying to flog WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE in which by the way, he wrote a whole TWO PAGES!! of his apparent wisdom.
Who Do You Think You Are?
“I am one of the most successful stock and commodity traders in the world and one of the most brilliant minds on the Law of Attraction.”
Permit me to vomit, the guy is a deluded sociapath (http://www.mcafee.cc/Bin/sb.html) who is about to get his comeuppance for being such a royal ass. That shows the level of his serious delusion. When he can show any proof at all of his ability to even trade the market successfully then he will have a few ears. Until then he has successfully deluded himself to truly believe he is the best in the world.
Enjoy the laugh!
If anyone ever questioned if this guy is a fraud or not all they need to do is keep checking the Federal Court web site.
David Schirmer the so called investment guru and secret teacher is in the Federal court yet again to face intellectual property charges on 2 May 2008.
How this guy is permitted to continue operating is beyond us all. What are the authorities doing?
This guy is now marketing to his database to get them to join some MLM thing. As if we haven’t been marketed to enough with all the NO B.S. stupid marketing he does. Now he has to try to convince people that he can trade even though he has not provided any proof, he can live by the secret principles even though he thinks its ok to screw people over repetitively. What a jerk. I hope the public is wise enough to realise what he’s doing. To me this smacks of absolute desparation.
Well, that’s one book I don’t need to read.
I am visualizing Rhonda Byrne’s checks coming into my mailbox with my name on them instead…
for sure all the critical n negative comments,wont do u any good…spending time to think of the positive…thats “the secret” about!!
The ‘problem’ with these “I know the secret of the Universe and you don’t” ideas is two-fold, one scientific and one common-sense:
1. Science: you can’t measure a system from within it … in other words, to truly understand the universe, we have to actually ‘observe’ it from the outside … everything else is just theory.
2. Common sense: If you could ‘attract’ $1 million just by imagination/visualization, why not just imagine $1 Billion and be done with it … same amount of mental effort, right?
Better yet, go for the ‘holy trifecta’ of: peace on earth, end to hunger, and end to disease for all mankind … that would be worth beading the brow with sweat a little, wouldn’t it?
Since this is a money-blog, I have an alternative: educate yourelf and work for it!
In reply to 7 million 7 years, the first comment was actually very true. We are all just speculating since we really can’t view the universe from outside.
While you can’t just think about 1 million dollars today and get it…that’s the extreme, the concept is actually just a positive thinking concept. It you think negatively, your demeanor becomes negative and negative comes from negative, just as positive comes from positive. You don’t just obtain things by wanting them, we all know that, but actually, if you want something badly enough….REALLY want something, you will, in turn, set things in motion to achieve it, or at least head in a positive direction to obtain it. Why not ask for World Peace and get it…because it is not one person’s wish, that’s why….but, if World Peace is something that you’d like to see, there are certainly many positive steps we all can take to be part of that happening. Look at Mother Theresa….she devoted her life to helping others….she impacted the world in a very positive way and received her wish….did she not?
You can’t make something change when it involves a multitude of people, therefore, getting your wish would simply be being part of the solution instead of the problem.
Yes, the Secret is a huge money maker and I am not saying this is not the bottom line really, but the advice, while made perhaps a bit simplistic, is just a positive thinking message, which is a VERY GOOD message.
Peace…
I have read the book empowered for the new era which was apparently the book that inspired the secret and the author settled out of court over the plagiarism scandal. Now that IS a good read. If the secret is any sort of interpretation of that book then they got it horribly wrong. EFTNE is an amazingly good read and explains the whole concept very simply. I don’t know the author but I have read the book and can recommend it. The secret I would never recommend, I find it very dangerous when you really study what they are trying to tell people to do.
I have read “The Secret” and find it to be an over-exaggeration of a very simple principle of metaphysics (which have not been, and perhaps cannot be, proven by current scientific methods.) But, gee, the value of positive thinking and visualization…that’s been around for quite awhile! Action follows thought, so you have to think about things at least a little bit before you take action. So starting with focused, positive thoughts in your head are more likely to lead to similar action in life. This seems to be a pretty handy tip that all can apply to their life, but it is not the key to existence!
The previous posters have done a wonderful job at looking at some of the deeper metaphysical issues, such as soul growth, karma, etc., which are at play here, but I did want to add a thought that I feel most strongly about.
It is offensive, vulgar and ridiculous to crow and brag about one’s material wealth, as some of the movie’s participants do. It is especially offensive when joined with the sinister, nasty tone that implies all painful experiences are a direct result of negative thought processes, consciously or unconsciously. Some individuals have access to better sets of circumstances than others, obviously…education, family connections and environment, supportive government and economic systems, access to materials and capital, and simple personal affinity to the marketplace.
“The Secret,” while purporting to extol abundance and positivity, actually emphasizes selfishness, greed and superiority, while putting on a cheap “spiritual” costume. It saddens me to see the trends taking place in the New Age market…ugh. As a professional psychic, I have had several clients who are stuck in fairy-tale land, begging “The Universe” for money. They will do candle magic, affirmations, prayers to statues, angels, spirit guides…you name it. The only things they WON’T do are: get a job; stop spending more than they have; save and invest money or stop wishing for some Great Pumpkin to rescue them! They get very offended when I encourage them to see out career or financial counselors, go back to school, or take some other positive action towards financial responsibilty and autonomy. I won’t “give” them lotto numbers, either! (Maybe this explains why I also work as a high school principal to make ends meet…I’m not the psychic that will rip off her clients feeding them b.s., and therefore, I’m not that popular!)
You know, there are two kinds of positive changes that you can make it in your life. Changing your attitude so that you react better to adversity, and changing your actions so that you can have the things you want in life. The Secret sounds like it confounds the two unnecessarily. Yes, you need a positive attitude for positive action, but you still need the action.
The Law Of Attraction! I pull a face whenever someone tries to tell me about it. I`ve read all about it, watched the secret and what the bleep. I spent months meditating and making affirmations of what I wanted to be but by stating it in an I am frame of mind. I hung up self-made cheques in my bedroom and a whole hand written page about who I am. I even placed a cheque in my wallet.
All that happened is that I filled my head with this poppy cock, spent the little money I had saved on an idea which almost three years later has only cost me money and made me ZERO.
I do believe that if you wish hard and long enough for something it will come your way as this has happened to me several times in my life. The difference however is every time that thing comes around it has a lot of strings attached which is to say that if and when you take up the opportunity it is going to come back and hit you hard or else it isn`t half as attractive as you wished and in it`s present condition leaves you no option but to refuse it.
This has been for me my experience with the law of attraction, long before I even knew it existed. Now the world is full of people trying to make money by trying to sell this idea to others.
MJ,
The Secret is, it brings wealth to the Marketers selling the Secret.
You don’t have to believe the video, but it does make perfect sense. People who concentrate on making money will eventually make money. You can’t be thinking about checks coming in the mail and also not working to make it happen.
The middle class concentrates on paying off debt, which does according to the video give you more bill, unforeseen bills.
The rich concentrate on making more money; this does give them more money.
That is evident all around us, where would someone like Bill Gates be if he concentrated on paying down debt first? Maybe hoping he has enough to retire.
The video just explains that you can do anything you put your mind too, so why not aim high. If you dream of being average that is what you’ll get. If you dream of being great you will be
You are wrong.
The secret is nothing more than the power of visualization and positive thinking. Almost every pro athlete uses the power of visualization and that’s why they win. They see the shot/putt/action happen before it occurs.
If you think you are a failure and stupid and will never amount to anything, trust me you will achieve that. The reverse is also true. If you think about the things you want, this will make you take action. The more action you take the more likely you will get those things you want.
Don’t think that you just sit around thinking about something and poof it pops up. That is not what the secret is. You think about what you want which will help you take action. The universe will help you out a bit along the way. Don’t you think it is strange that all of the successful people had a little luck along the way to help them out? Those depressed poor people never get that do they?
I watched The Secret, then months later read The Law of Attraction. Yes some of the info in both are very inspiring and makes you want to follow all of what they tell you. But I started having my doubts after reading The Law of Attraction. I just couldn’t grasp the fact that All of those people that get hurt or even little children that are harmed or have an illness, get this because of theirs or someone else’s thinking. Like if someone’s child has cancer, it’s because the mom at sometime was hoping their child would not get it or thought about it. I just didn’t get that part at all. The Law of Attraction had some really great stuff in there, but if I knew when I bought it, that the ideas were coming from non-physical beings called Abraham, I might have researched it further before buying. I would say take all of it in, then follow what you think is practical advice, and let go of the not so practical, almost corny stuff.
Lisa M.
http://www.GoGreenAndProfit.com
I find it AMUSING that many of those who study and try to practice the so called Law of Attraction totally MISS the boat. i cannot really blame them because their GURUS are also missing the boat.
The Law of BELIEF is the Law of Life. It is more “commercially” known as the Law of Attraction.
Your beliefs are creating minute by minute everything that happens to you, your body, your finances, your relationships, your career..
The truth is that YOUR beliefs are the PRIMARY CAUSE of those good or bad vibrations.
Unless you identify and eliminate your limiting, useless beliefs and replace them with NEW beliefs that support your NEW goal(s) you will continue to AUTOMATICALLY send out the SAME, OLD vibrations and attract the SAME, OLD RESULTS.
Most Law of Attraction teachers are OBSESSED with raising your vibrations, watching your vibrations, and all that nonsense.
Watch Donald Trump, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett. They don’t go around moaning and whining about their vibrations, They KNOW the REAL SECRET that their BELIEFS are causing those vibrations. They also KNOW the mostly UNKNOWN SECRET that once they ZAP the limiting, useless beliefs from their Subconscious,and accept the correct, supportive beliefs, they will radiate AUTOMATICALLY the RIGHT vibrations to attract the results they want.
Once you program the RIGHT, supportive beliefs in your subconscious mind, the RIGHT vibrations are sent out AUTOMATICALLY and you do NOT have to become OBSESSED with them.
Most of these people also want to claim the GOOD stuff and totally IGNORE the fact that EACH one of us is responsible for EVERYTHING that happens to EACH one of us. NO one is to blame. WE are NOT victims.
We are CREATING OUR OWN REALITIES through the BELIEFS we hold in our Subconscious minds.
This is something is very hard for many to ‘swallow’! It is a lot easier to blame others, God, the universe, circumstances and so on.
Many of those beliefs were programmed into our Subconscious during this lifetime. Others come from previous re-incarnations.
Therefore, those children who develop cancer and die very young could be simply doing it as consequences of beliefs from PREVIOUS re-incarnations.And they need to live only for a SHORT time to learn some specific lesson, and then, they depart.;
It could also be consequence of the the constant worry of their parents who strongly imprint in their innocent, open, trusting minds those negative beliefs needed to develop diseases and misfortunes.
In other cases, these children made “spiritual’ agreements PRIOR to being born. in this current re-incarnation.
And as part of their agreement, they come here to help their parents evolve. These children may agree to become sick and die to HELP their parents LEARN some lessons. These children come here UNSELFISHLY to HELP the evolutionary process of their parents. In this specific case, they get sick NOT because they did something WRONG, but because through their illness they are helping their own parents learn some needed lesson in this re-incarnation.
The same could be said of rape ‘victims’,
murder ‘victims’ and on and on.
NO ONE is a victim. We attract everything that happens to us — the GOOD and the BAD!.
So, we have NO ONE ELSE to pass the buck to.
If you are going to use the Law of Attraction, you have to understand that YOU are 100% responsible for all the GOOD stuff and the BAD stuff that happens to you.No one else is to blame.
Of course, if you are one of those who have very rigid religious beliefs, then, what I am writing here has NO hope of even registering into your brain.
Unless YOU realize that ALL religions were invented to control you, make you their slave and the source of THEIR INCOME, then, what I wrote won’t make any sense to you.
But … the Law of Belief (L.O.A) will continue working against you, because in this case “ignorance of the Law is NO excuse”.
I hope this helps.
Sincerely,
Leo Foster.
While I do not care for the crackpot types that try to convince gullible people that they can sit on their laurels and get everything they want simply by “thinking about it,” the so-called “law of attraction” does carry a kernel of truth, whether we like it or not.
Sadly, your “attack” on the crackpots is itself trite, predictable, and not a little petty, which doesn’t particularly help your strange cause. I knew the moment you began talking about viruses what this entire post was going to be based on. Heck, even the thing about the Jews was painfully predictable. (“Ah, so now, if I disagree with his ‘attack’ on this law of attraction thing, I am not only a loon, but I’m an ‘anti-Semite,’ too!”)
If you were trying to make the “LoA” types seem ridiculous, you simultaneously succeeded in lumping yourself in with them.
For what it’s worth, the whole talk about laws and attractions and whatnot is an offshoot of a strain of American thought that dates back to the mid-19th century and, even before that, hails from the Puritan virtues of hard work, enterprise, and constant self-improvement. It is, you could say, quintessentially American.
But let us make an attempt at balance, shall we? The “law of attraction” is, in fact, partly real (your thoughts do indeed influence your experiences), even if the hokey New Age weirdos want to make a mini-empire out of it. In your “retraction,” by picking sides on a ludicrous debate, you’ve managed to occupy the other side of the looney-coin.
Next time, perhaps you could exercise another ageless Puritan value, and engage in some forethought before you begin to waste words.
Ah, and on the subject of Jews – which I briefly mentioned in my earlier comment – your argument was not only weak and petty but, I suspect, you already knew it was invalid. If you cannot handle the idea of total responsibility, that says something about you more than it does those who do accept it.
If you’d like to do some research before spouting off next time, you can start here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsibility_assumption
you can’t connect the dots looking forward…the law of attraction doesn’t work directly, if you think “Checks in the mail, checks in the mail, checks in the mail…” nothing is going to happen. there’s no belief behind it and you can’t plan for exact circumstances. but maybe, by some strange twist of fate your friend from high school will call you and tell you that he/she wants to start a business for you. if you tell him that you’re not interested because you’re expecting checks in the mail, you ARE BEING A MORON!!! the law of attraction is providing you with an opportunity, the twist of fate that you need to inspire ACTION. So to all of you that believe in the law of attraction blindly, you’re missing the point! it’s your destiny, so take it, the law of attraction is just there to help you, it is absurd to think that it would do it for you! and while i’m nailing the absolutists let’s just go to the other side of the spectrum. what the hell are you all afraid of? the earth was flat, now it’s round, but Friedmann is telling us that it’s flat again, and he’s right! things change so stop trying to tell yourself that you already have it all figured out. its a naiive attitude and one of someone that is too scared to let go of what he’s thought through one time. The law of attraction may just have the placebo effect and be a completely psychological thing, but maybe, just maybe, THE SCIENTISTS HAVEN’T FIGURED EVERYTHING OUT JUST YET…Open your minds.
Contempory minds are hungry for any answer and grasp at any carret. The secret is down right evil in the sense that it delays the inevitable. It panders the desire for material things. Most of all it encourges laziness for people looking for the easy way out. IN my view-take on things meta this and para that, it’s about energy appropriation that makes the clay take form. Iv’e seen reality take form through revalations and that’s why I’m carfull what I personaly ask for.
I just want to say; I love it when LoA people and for that matter, ALL neo-spiritual types get ANGRY when you question, deride or even outright insult their beliefs. Hmm–for all that they write, preach and nag about you’d think they’d follow what they talk about.
Hey-I get angry and offended, but I don’t preach that lovey-doveyness is the way ALL THE TIME!
so oliver, do u think the US should nuke the ENTIRE middle east too?
I tried reading the Secret… I couldn’t get past the middle of Chapter 1.
I have read other books discussing the Law of Attraction and the reason why the Secret got all this attention is this: Marketing.
The antique parchment book cover and multimedia formats did help brin the secret’s message to a wider audience.
So I finally “read” it through an audio book I borrowed in the library.
Well, there some points that I like (Positive thinking, attitude and actions) while most are skeptic fodder… I still can’t get the whole frequency and Universal thing… hehehe…
3 words of advice: Shopping Cart Method.
Take what you need (or what you can accept) and leave the others behind.
To 213. For the guy who wrote to the whole world that he whites his checks out and gets the checkes he wants in the mail it has turned out to be complete and utter bullshit. He is now being investigated by the authorities, has people chasing him from all over Australia for money, has had to move office several times in the last year, has had to sell his house, has staff leaving by the dozens in the front door, turn around back out the front door and word has it that he is in deep shit now. So the bullshit he put in the secret is just that. In other words he has been found out as a LIAR AND A CHEAT.
Thank you for coming out and saying this! There really is no “Secret”! I have been to numerous morale-boosting conferences over the years and it boils down to one ting: you get what you focus on. It is surprising to me how many ordinarily intelligent people are falling for this crap. If you are in your 40s and are just learning this message, you are well behind the curve and will never make the most out of what could have been in your life.
No one is saying that six million Jews willed the Holocaust on ourselves. However, being persecuted for generations, and focusing extensively on that persecution, for generations, maybe played a part in receiving further persecution.
I would like to know everyones thoughts on the follow up movie to The secret, The Opus. the OPus focuses more on the everyday things that you can actually do to create success. alot of the Secret teachers actually come back and clarify what they meant in The Secret. you’ll see from those explanations that alot of what people were taught in the first movie isn’t even what the Secret teacher meant to teach and it almost sounds like they change their minds. The Opus is a much better movie and it really demonastrates how the questions we are discussion make sense from a law of attraction point of view. Here’s the website http://www.TheOpusMovie.com
On a side noteJack canfield is recieving some flack in this movie from some Christian groups in regards to his comments on the Big Bang theory. I personally don’t think Jack is far off the truth about the universe. share your thoughts.
My dad made me watch “The Secret” a couple of years ago, and I thought it was absolutely ridiculous – especially the part where the checks start rolling in simply because the person is “thinking” about checks all day. I was thinking – you can think all day about whatever it is you want, but unless you do something about it, it’s never going to happen. Nowhere in “The Secret” DVD do they mention that you actually have to do something.
Then, a few months later, Oprah had all of “The Secret” people on her show, and she asked the same question that had been running through my head – don’t you have to DO something to make things happen in your life? “The Secret” people quickly and reluctantly mentioned that, yes, you do indeed have to get off your butt to make things happen in your life, and then they quickly went back to talking about how you can “think” your way rich, thin, etc. I think “The Secret” is a bunch of crap designed to appeal to the masses of lazy Americans who don’t want to take responsiblity for their actions and their lives. It figures it’s a best-seller.
The truth about’The Secret’ is nothing but teaching yourself new habits by breaking down goals or ‘baby steps’ to goals that are achievable and keeping you working. Visualising how you complete an achievable goal/s, and keeping optimistic is healthy, but that really is all there is to it. Why would babies die of starvation if there was? They had the wrong vibes?
I am a fan of the law of attraction, but I see that there are some problems with it–most noticably, it reminds me of the lady who won the Darwin award for going out on a crowded road to make sure her faith could protect her against death. She won the darwin award for removing herself from the genepool to not perpetuate this type of mental attitude.
I think too many people have a similar faith regarding the Law–that by believing the law, everything is going to be wonderful.
Ester and Jerry Hicks are other people who say that even one-celled organisms have vibrations–then bacteria have brought about penicillin and the dinosaurs were thinking about the 6-mile wide rock that wiped them out.
The saving grace is that believing that something reasonable will happen and then acting responsibly, thinking positively, and working toward it with purpose. There are a lot of positive affirmations, which make us feel good, and help us reach our goals–and, regarding money, it seems they’re examples of how the law of attraction works–and therefore, it must be true.
I understand there will ALWAYS be criticism from the blind – or puppets might I say. Blogger, the institution has your mind tangled. I pose this question: If you can dedicate your life to spoon-fed dogma from religious teachings, why is it too liberal for you to understand the essence of all human nature? You haven’t done your homework. There are two versions to The Secret. The marketed version you read is the watered-down edition that, the hierarchy put on our book shelves to continue their agenda of reshaping dumb America. Jerry and Esther Hicks were the orginial teachers of The Secret. Rhonda Byrne was just trying to keep her electricity and water on that month. The unexposed concept of The Secret lies far beyond its text. If interested, Google and do some comprehensive homework on the laws of the universe or quantum physics. I assure you, they exist. How about the discovery of the power of the mind dated all the way back to the Greeks in classical antiquity? There is too much evidence and resources to remain unenlightened. Wrap your mind around this, every SINGLE living creature on this earth is made of energy. I believe Einstein explained this concept in his equation: e=mc2. If Einstein made an error, I guess we are all fucked! Bottom line: YOU emit frequencies, whether you are conscious of this or not. Open your mind to all of the possibilities of creation – turn off the box, and feed your soul wisdom.
P.S. Do ALL of your homework before you shoot off at the keyboard.
BRAVO Creative Soul….well put.
Ignorance is only a short cut to concentration camps.
hi,
here’s my comment on the secret :
its only 1/3 of the truth.
since i am a Buddhist and an open minded person i will say that in Buddhism we create karma ( activities/creation/motions) through 3 modes via mind , speech and action ( body ).
Mind ( think positive/gratitude etc..)
Speech ( affirmation/communication with others)
Body ( action / neccesary work to manifest from the untangible to the tangible )
From the above we create infinite possibilities/realities. These realities is a refelction of what we had done via the 3 modes above. The rich , poor , weak , strong, intelligent , dull etc.. all are from our past karmas. Past can mean beginless past lives to yesterday.
The secret teach us to change our future cause future is what we do now. In chinese metaphysics, our destinies is under the 2 inseperable forces i.e. the constant and the variables ( remember yin/yang ?).
Constant-cant change e.g. the place u were born, the culture,the parents all those by birth including D.N.A.
Variables- changeables e.g after u were born and grow up u choose the people u associate , the place u moved, the career etc… all these are choices.
changing destinies would therefore only work on the variables.
Again, variables are through the 3 modes above ( body,speech and mind)
Summary; think positive(love/gratitude/compassion),talk positive( affirmation/kind words/real praise to people who deserve it etc…) and act according to moralities, ethics , nobles and helpful.
If the seed is planted the fruits will be inevitable.
i got lots of things to discuss and talk about .Please email [email protected]
conclusion :
REad Buddhist sutra e.g theravada and mahayana- just type buddhist karma sutra and u will find lots of info.
read- Psycho-Cybernetics, A New Way to Get More Living Out of Life by maxwell maltz.
Also- “The Power of Your Subconscious Mind” Joseph Murphy .
contemplate the logic of yin/yang and apply it to ” the secret “.
yin-the visualisation part and the affirmation part.
yang-the action part/write your goals/physical/tangibles.
Also if possbile check out a book called ” the 4 lessons of liao fan for changing destinies “.
thank you all.
It isn’t a myth. The problem stems from people’s “get rich quick” or “I want it now” mentality. The law of attraction is a fact, just like gravity is.
Every time I come back to see what’s happening to JD’s posts, I always find very interesting, useful and illuminating comments.
Napoleon Hill’s bestseller “Think and Grow Rich” is a great example of the Law of Attraction.
Hill doesn’t talk about vibrations, He talks about getting into that state of mind where there is NO doubt whatsoever you will achieve your goal., THAT will send the right vibrations without having to become obsessed with “raising your vibrations”.
Anthony Robbins in the Chapter “10 day Mental Challenge”, “Awaken the Giant within” speaks about the need to keep the mind totally clear of all un-resourceful thoughts and emotions. The reason is the same: In a resourceful, positive, UN-doubting state you will get answers to your questions a lor easier than when you find yourself in a negative, depressive state of doubts about achieving your goals. Again, the ‘right’ vibrations are automatically sent out without having to worry about it.
The GOAL should be to get to that state in your mind where there are NO doubts and you experience/feel an absolute certainty and total belief that you will get what you set as your goal. At that point, you will even begin to see with a lot more clarity the STEPS you need to take.
The point that seems to confuse many is the ACTION part. Some goals may require 10 steps, others may require more or less steps. Some goals may require that you do very little. Others that you do more. The HARDER you BELIEVE you have to work, the harder you will have to work because your BELIEF created that reality for you.. The EASIER you believe achieving your goal will be, the EASIER it will become because your BELIEF created that reality for you.
The REAL Law if “what you REALLY believe is what you get”.
On with the fun we are having!
Leo.
.
Well for one of the guys in The Secret movie there wasn’t too much brain cells being used. He has been sued by Bob Proctor, taken to court again, been on national TV for being con artist, has a magazine that produced a few editions and has now apparently gone under leaving thousands of people who paid for their subscriptions without anything. This is all by a guy who gets up on stage at his seminars and says hes the guru of wealth creation and hes mastered the mind. What sort of idiots are we to fall for this type of rubbish? The guy is nothing but a greedy con who has been sucked in by the want it all NOW mentality that is pandered to by MLM’s and the secret. It is a psychological game of attraction which he has fallen for hook line and sinker and now he’s in so deep there ain’t any way out. Thats what happens when you globally LIE.
Wheres the follow up on this?
I heard he was in court again November and lost his business to his investors. Does anyone know anything about that?
I mean what did the guy expect. It was plainly obvious to everyone who saw him on TV that he was guilty as all get out. I think those people who spoke out deserve an award for bravery because I bet he’s a nasty bastard when he’s cornered. All liars are!
there is one sentance in the movie:
“it’s really that easy!”
if the Secret was really true,then that would have been an endless power for the people.a great deal.and is there any chance that those who have known it would let it be published for everybody to read and see?
anyway,the review is great.the concept of the secret and the reality begin the same:
“you can be anything you want,you can have anything want” but it’s the end that is different.the secret’s goes “wish for it,attract it” and the real thing is “wish for it and work to get it”
but nobody would have bought the book/dvd if it had said earn your own money.
Thank you for this article. The Secret and The Course in Miracles which is also endorsed by Oprah have been driving me crazy lately. I have a close friend who no longer seems to be able to have any kind of a normal conversation without offering an “insight” from one of these books in response to any topic.
My own take on it is a lot of people in the West have been experiencing a moral/spiritual void with the decline in organised religion. People with no solid grounding in any tradition and without an education in the history of philisophical thought and analysis are simply grabbing at and believing anything.
I can understand how someone who feels powerless would feel comforted and empowered temporarly by the messages in these books.If you can create reality you can maybe improve your life and its all up to you. The downside is when you have put in all the positive thinking and your cancer does not go away, the money dosent arrive the lover leaves. The books dont allow for any doubt in them any questioning of their absolute truth the message then is that you didnt understand correctly, you didnt apply yourself well enough, you not the theory has failed.
I think in the West we have created a culture of individualism which lacks interconnectednes. God is dead, Ok! but replace that with Me, Mine and Quick
You will hear a denial that New Age spirituality is ungrounded and considers things like work and money to be earthly concepts at service to the mind and spirit. Yet so many spiritual types are either incapable or unwilling to actually commit to a full time job or long term relationship.
The money has to come from somewhere. I think its like pyramid selling, some people, those who write books and give courses make money out of these ideas. Some already worked at creating the basis in their lives for opportunities which they are open to taking and WORKING at when they come. Some simply divorce someone else who did the work and are provided but it isnt magically with posessions.
If the secret really is true then why is the world in such dire straights right now? Right when the secret was apparently “released” to the world. Such a crazy notion when you really “think” about it.
If you don’t really “know” anything, just put lots of “words” in quotations and you’ll still manage to “prove” a point.
It’s “True!”
If it doesn’t work, your just not trying hard enough…you’ve got to believe….
Makes me think of a constipated guy trying to crap….
Of course (rather conveniently) if it does work, congratulations! You tried hard enough. May not happen next time because your liable to not try hard enough again.
Whoever you are Gia, you’re plain stupid! It’s just like gravity, huh? Your just like a meatball.
Oh and about the get rich quick attitude, you might want to look at the name of the blog….
There are no secrets, “The Secret” is a scam targeted at more educated persons by the middle men and marketers who have sold their souls. “The Secret” is wrong, but visualization is right
Remember there are no secrets, anyone any time anywhere can gain and understand visualization.
Napoloen Hill and other gurus are broken, enough said.
my best friend and i were talking about the law of attraction for years before it even came out in australia, which when it first came out years ago was the only place you could buy it. we finally got ahold of the dvd when we found about it thru a friend and were amazed and thrilled that the exact same things we talked about were discussed in this dvd and now being made public. if you know nothing about it before watching, it’s not going to provide every answer. it would need to be 20 dvds in order to accomplish that, but for 1 dvd it does a great job.
the LOA is the way everyone creates their destiny. there is no such thing as luck or coincidence. it is a spiritual law, not a physical one, therefore there is no need to go into scientific details. science is about *physical* proof, not spiritual. also, people who are self-centered enough to only want to get rich, and have no passion for life or creativity probably wont get it. and if you dont get it, and dont believe, then you certainly make it impossible to create anything you want thru the emotional visualization that is needed to manifest what you desire. but what you dont realize is that everytime you do focus on something with itense emotion you draw attraction to that. so the more you get angry and worry, the more youre going to attract things that will make you more angry or worried, and vise-versa with the positive side.
intellectuals who want to analyze and never stop thinking to *feel* life and seek to quantify everything are not going to get this. to understand this you first have to be seeking, even slightly, spiritual growth/ self-awareness. this is about maximizing your human potential, people. people who have already or are seeking to maximize their potential as a human being live by this. the reason this works is b/c we are spirits, we are all God – all microcosms of God and all have a microcosm of that creative power within us to create far more than we realize we are capabale. this is how we create things on a spiritual level. this is done by truly living in the moment, and feeling. if you’re constantly thinking of the past or future, or worrying about if’s or what’s, then you’re not living in the moment and wont be creating what you want. this doesnt work like a genie granting you 1 wish, you say ‘i want it’ and it appears. this takes work, dedication, and intense emotional focus on the moment just we create things physically. you have to learn to let go of thought (which is the concept of meditation) and give yourself the chance to *feel* in the moment. by feeling i mean what many people are only able to acheive during sexual orgasm b/c it’s the only time they are able to fully let go of the analytical, ‘thinking’ mind.
Enzo, right on – totally agree. the main thing people need to realize about the LOA is that sitting on your ass, with no motivation is not what this is about. this is not for lazy, unpassionate people. creating thru the LOA is done thru deep emotion – intensely focused visualization but not just visual. you’re vision has to be accompanied by intense emotion or it doesnt simulate the feeling or manifestation, which is what is needed to create major things in your life.
If you haven’t tried it, read it, how on earth can you comment? Buddhism? What do you really know about it! Are you one? I grew up with it, although I have only embraced it for the last 9 years. Many of the concepts from The Secret are found in Buddhist texts. Monks? Are you one? Do know that some Buddhists’ schools do not accept monks? Did you known that there are different types of Buddhist teaching? I do not want to be harsh, but how can you talk without the knowledge? I am not merely reffering to accamedic knowledge i.e. read a book about it and you know it all. Read, study and apply it to your life for some time and then, tell us about your experience. Then we can have a constructive discussion about it. Again and again I read “how can you naterialise stuff simply by thinking about it”…. That is not what The Secret is about, that is what you want think it is about. For those of you who are intrested, you can watch “What the Bleep do we know” on U-Tube. It’s divided into 16 parts, watch them in order 1 to 16, it’s very intresting and enjoyble (http://uk.youtube.com/results?search_query=what+the+bleep+do+we+know+part+1&search_type=&aq=2&oq=what+the+bl)
Condor,
The mere fact that someone is investigated does not mean that he/she is guilty. If you report someone for a crime (that they haven’t committed), they would still get investigated. Is these kind of comments, like yours, that I find ludicrous, you read it somewhere on line and decided to believe that he’s guilty as charged. Funny that you can believe that without evidence but can even accept that maybe there is some truth in what they say (thoughts-intention)
Check this out
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2001/paralleluni.shtml
I have been half heartedly… sometimes intensely doing the law of attraction. For me it began to explain alot of how the world works. I saw a tiny picture of a beautiful mansion I liked and spent much time visuzlizing myself walking around the house and looking at it. Six months later I moved to a charming coach house in a new neighbourhood. the apartment I was living in got mice and became unliveable so I had to start looking for another place. I meditated on it and one day with only one week before I was to move out and had not found a place… I meditated and was compelled to go look at the newspaper… the add for the coach house was there.. the day I moved in I realized I was right next door to the huge mansion I had seen in the picture and my bedroom window looked over the same view from the picture… oh and I also kept visualizing a clawfoot tub that was almost out doors… and this coach house also had that… a huge skylight right over the tub. I began to have fears that my landlords daughter would want my coach house to live one day because the other coach house on the property had gone to the other daughter… a stupid set of circumstances about a series of cheques.. read backwards…led to me being evicted by the landlord… My fear thoughts came to be…
Whatever you have been taught in life by your family…. conscious and subconscious will come to pass. I suffered greatly the exact same kinds of scenarious I had grown up in untill I learned to stop those kinds of thoughts in their tracks. Sudden horrible violent things would happen to me. Out of the blue… and then I realized that this is what my childhook was like with an abusive father. I had to begin to explore what it would be like to live in a friendly safer world…. quuite frankly I wanted to be dead… because living in a world where even though I was a good person violent things could suddenly happen to me was a nightmare. Now I realize my beliefs attracted the violence to me. I don’t see the law of attraction as blaming the victim… the victim learned that horror and believed it could happen to them… ever wonder why against the odds people get struck by lightening more than once… or people often win the lottery more than once.. they believe it can happen.. and have been exposed to that belief ..
I explored once again living in a two story home with hardwood floors, french doors, fireplace.. with the ocean in front of me and a fresh water lake in the back… one year later.. I sold my condo in a hellish neighbourhood infested with drug addicts and prostites and… built this beautiful house as described above. Oh and the hellish condo… I “believed” that is all i could afford and I imagined living in a bad neighbourhood but making my condo nice inside… becasue I believed that is all I could afford… and it happened … then I decided to believe in the home as described above and I am typing this sitting in it. I am working at a diffcult job.. though.. because ” I beleive” that is the only work around here.. I know I have to change my belief around work and money… and it will come to pass…
Once my dog got into some turkey bones at a park. He was breathing funny and I took him to the vet. I don’t much believe in vets and true to my belief the vet missed the exray area where the bone was stuck. I came home with the dog still breathing funny… I meditated invisioned my self and my dog being circled by white light and surrounded by the infinite intelligence. I In my mind I could see through my dog and see the area where the bone was.. it was a red spot.. I used the white light to turn it to blue… that for me means good healthy energy… I fell asleep… When I woke up my dog came straight to me.. coughed and a small bone fell to the floor.. he was breathing fine and I took him for a walk…
For me I believe in the metaphysics… part.. I never understood the bending of the spoon stuff… then I realized they did not visualize bending the spoon… they just visualized the spoon in the bent position.
Of course you have to take action. While my father was violent at times with me. He also believed there was more to the world that we could see. I wish he could have been able to pick up a book like The Secret and start re-evaluating his beliefs and how they affected his world.
I believe and no that I now live in the friendly universe where wonderful surprises occur and kind and generous people surround me. Honestly where I now live… the people are incredibley friendly and kind.. I moved to the friendly universe…
I think in everyone’s life there are things that have happend to them that they can’t quite explain… that is a message for you… Dare to dream… dare to believe in a better world for yourself and others… I am not someone that wants a great deal of money… but I want to have enough that I don’t have to worry or fear.. I want to have abundance for myself and every one around me.. I like my smaller home.. it just suits me…
I have even manifested simple things… like a red umbrella.. or a free cup of coffee… they came to me within a day.
It wasn’t easy realizing that my belief system was causing my earlier life to be hellish. You need to know you can change it.
I am surprised by therapists who feel the secret blames the victim… the victim learned and believed that kind of violence from somewhere… in their past. Most if not all women who have been raped have a family member who has been raped.
Another thing about health… my Dad believed that my family did not get cancer and indeed none of our family members on either side have ever had cancer… where that belief started I don’t know but I am greatful for it. I never worry about it.
I have this blend of the spiritual and scientfic belief system. It converges quite harmoniously. A strange thing….as a child maybe four years old at the most.. I can remember back untill I was two.. I had a thought… I looked at the blankets during my afternoon nap and knew somehow that there were spaces inbetween the tiny particles of the blanket. Is this something that I knew in a past life? I have a very high IQ but at four where did this thought come from. My parents are simple working class people. I couldn’t even read then and we didn’t have a TV.
Anothing thing that resonates with me. There is nothing to fear but the fear itself. Now I know that the fear thoughts attract negative things. So I disolve them as quickly as possible. I have a very active imagineation and can easily visualize.. but I need to stay constant and dissolve fear thoughts..
I know for sure you have to believe. Oh and about the cheques coming in the mail. I did that and believed… cheques from the government for back taxes owed to me… insurance money… contract work. for a whole year I kept getting money in the form of a cheque.. and previously money was always deposited directly into my account. I have $200 cheque I have to go pick up right now.
I am going to work on a journal that describes my thoughts and actions as I work with the law of attractin etc. I particularly want to help people from violent childhoods… because I tried to kill myself several times and my father did committ suicide… I was taught a limiting and terrifying mindset and belief system.. but I figured out how to change it.. and I want to share that. Oh and I would never let shrinks and therapists etc. give me drugs… I knew that I must figure out how to change my thoughts on my own.. I read a book once about the lense we look at life with… and it really helped me. It helped me step out of my body and world for a bit and take a good look at what was going on and how I could begiin to change how I looked at things.
Random.. sharing… whatever you think you are right..
I encourage people to study their belief systems and start playing with the tools of the law of attraction.. and remember emotion in the visualization is powerful.. you must intensely feel it and see it..
Peace, Passion and Prosperity for All!
RT Scott
Hey RT Scott,
Thank so much for sharing your experience. I share many of your experience (please forget spelling mistakes and bad grammar, I am writing this in my second language). Please keep me posted on your forthcoming journal describing your thoughts and actions as you work with the law of attraction. I am a professional and live comfortably; however, I intend to dedicate my life (I am really careful here with my words) solemnly in understanding ‘consciousness’. I intend to attact LOTS of money so that I can pursue my interest in an easy and relaxed manner, in a healty and positive way.
Check out this e-book: –
http://www.dreammanifesto.com/manifest/manifesting.pdf
Thanks, for the highest good of all
I think that “the law of attraction” stuff makes good marketing and website content but I have some problems with it. Firstly it would make the Universe a very unfair place, someone who had an easy life would continue having an even better and better life, regardless of their behavior, just becasue they think that way (OK i’ll admit the world does seem to work this way to an extent, but there really are far better more sophisticated explanations for this). People who have a hard life can only continue to have a harder life. But there are many cases of people going down hill despite growing up with roses and flowers, usually for being chronically selfish and it catching up to them.. Also the people who make it form the bottom generally do it with lots of horrible stuff in their minds and they do it anyway, sometimes quite humbly. How do wars ever end? How do really good stages of your life end? There are elements of Transactional analysis in this, which is genius, and explains explicitly how people follow their life scripts and injunctions etc. But good marketing always says do this easy thing and your life will be great, drink coke and get well, good times and sex.
Also I think good deeds, selflessnes, humbleness eventually get rewarded, while selfishness and self grandification don’t. It just takes a loooonnggg loonngg time (the universe has more than all the time in the world to do watever it wants I spose)… Law of attraction seems to completely disregard this so thats a very bad thing.
Very eloquent and I couldnt’ agree more!
Thank you for writing this! You are very brave. I am *up to here* with people answering my posts on forums with “well, you are obviously not attracting positive stuff into your life because you’re so negative” – ugh!
dmar9 (post #248) – yes, well you are both right and wrong about the universe being unfair. to the human ego that has to rationalize existence, we see that life is indeed unfair. but looking at life thru our spirit and as spirits, fair and unfair, like any other opposites whose balance makes up yin and yang, only exist in the physical world b/c it exists solely for the sake of contrast and experience. this balance enables the physical world to exist, otherwise it would implode or explode – this balance of imploding and exploding is an example of the balance between these numerous opposites that allows the universe to actually exist. this is the reason why we even make the choice to come here and manifest into human beings in the physical world – to experience contrast. every notion in this world has an opposite. so if fair exists, then unfair must exist. because joy exists, pain also exists… same goes for light/heavy, long/short, wet/dry, cold/hot, light/dark, etc.
and you are also both correct and incorrect (b/c you are only looking at this aspect of life from one side of the fence) that most times someone who is born into a wealthy family does have an easier life and those born into poverty have harder lives. so people born wealthy are usually influenced as kids that money is what matters most in life and therefore follow this example, get rich, but never really have much happiness or gain life experience in the end. it’s a very bland, but easier path – one that takes less willpower and therefore most people in such a path never engage in things that involve their spirit – creativity, soul, emotional depth, being able to live in every moment and absorb every experience to the fullest. most people who come from poorer backgrounds more often than not learn what the basics of life are all about, and thru this process become spiritually grounded, learn to enjoy life’s simplicities to the fullest, whilst the rich ignore such things, take them for granted b/c they’ve always have them, or experience a much more watered-down version of it. so from this understanding, if you use the LOA you can have a much more fullfilling life in the end being one who has money and is able to have the spiritual experience. having money without being grounded spiritually is like living life asleep.
spiritual wealth is much more gratifying than material wealth b/c of the intense level of joy that you are able to experience from that deep connection, but one seeking only money would never see this b/c they are only looking at the surface of things. that’s the reason why he seeks only money. the ideal is to have both, and that’s what the people who created the Secret dvd are all about. dedicating their lives to help people create that for themselves b/c thru helping other people it makes them feel great and also is able to earn them a living. the difference in how to make money with the LOA is more about following your heart’s/spirit’s desires, doing what you love b/c you will be most passionate about that and do it better than you will with anything else, and then applying the LOA toward that. that’s how it works. most ‘business’ types seek, study, and intellectualize the business world, and then try to analyze a business plan that will hopefully be profitable based on the current market and society – what can i do that will make me money? instead of what can i do that i love most? the former method is not using the LOA b/c you are only using your mind. the LOA works from using your spirit and results can only be manifested thru strong emotional focus, and that can only come from your spirit. if you dont believe in spirit, it still works though b/c it’s the feeling you emit that creates and attracts, no matter what you’re mentally conscious of. just use the word ‘heart’ instead of spirit for all of this and that will make it a bit more understandable to the rationally seeking mind.
the first step should be trying to completely forget about money. detach, let go, forget completely that it exists and that you need it to survive. from this perspective, like a kid does naturally, think about what you love most, and if you are able to do it right now, do it and do it for a while – get lost in the moment of the experience and forget that time exists also. get used to the feeling of that – the joy. now if this thing that you love most may happen to be something like having sex, or eating, but you dont want to dedicate your life to being a porn star or engaging in eating competions (lol), or if it’s playing a sport but you dont want to dedicate your life to being a pro athlete, then think about the next thing, the next thing and so on. think about what it is that you love most that you would like to work on almost every day and that you would enjoy working on every day.
you are saying that the LOA would be a bad thing b/c people who do good deeds should be rewarded and people who are greedy should be punished. this is the viewpoint in basically every religion. religions were created to control and manipulate humans. enlightened people referred to as the source of the religion did not actually create the religion. followers & politicians created the religion (editing it over and over again thru time to suit their needs of control) and thought that wouldnt it be great if *everyone* could conform to this belief system? governments and religious structures have always forced them upon humans to try and control their actions, to instill fear in their minds so they will conform and obey. religion is always about at least some level of conformity and not about individuality. spirituality is about contrast and there is no way to control this natural balance of opposing forces. there is no external deity that inflicts punishment upon us for actions that are not worthy of his behavioral standards. there is no reward for good deeds and no punishment for greed. sometimes the greedy do fall and sometimes do learn, but without this experience they would not understand what selflessness is, and the non-greedy would have nothing to set them apart. selflessness cant exist without selfishness. we could not know one if the other didnt exist.
even if you rationalize this philosophically you can come to the same conclusion if you try an unravel it like a molecule in search of the smallest building block of matter. some of the ancient philosphers (such as Aristotle, Plato, & Socrates) devised philosophical models of life that were very spiritually aligned. some wisely said these single notions cannot exist alone just like 1 or 2 dimensions cant exist. even if you draw a dot on paper, that dot has a length and width, and also a depth of the indentation. it is 3 dimensional. no matter how small you draw that dot, a length, width, & depth can exist even if it is done with the smallest of microscopic devices. even the sub-atomic particle has a 3 dimensional measurement. so any notion/ideal in life can be measured with stronger or weaker / larger or smaller values. 1 dimension cant possibly exist. if only light existed, then when something was just slightly less light than the lightest place of all, you’d have an infinite degree of variations between that lightest and slightly less light place. variations always exist though, which is how we have opposing forces & notions. so for sake of concept, if you somehow could eliminate all people from the planet you thought were greedy, then the differences in generosity among these previously viewed selfless people would become more apparent. the gaps in generosity would become more noticeable and human natures’ ethical views of what is selfless and selfish would slowly change, adapt, and adjust. the less selfless ones would then appear to be greedy. this always happens very slowly thru time if you look at history. but if you take a time stamp every so often and compare all the mainstream, common views of that time and compare them to other times, you’ll see some drastic differences.
look at how different people’s views were on sex and race 50, 100, or 200 yrs ago. what is moral and correct has changed drastically over time. before 1972, native americans had less rights than pets, so according to human law, it was ok to kill a native and you wouldnt be arrested for it!! before that, it was ok to enslave black people. it was ok to beat them and to rape them. your neighbor most likely called you an upstanding citizen if you beat and raped your slaves. these people were Christians. they were religious, they went to church, and they were viewed as noble citizens of our country – good people! and when we first settled this country 10 mil natives were murdered. and this was also done by religious people. going back further into european times, it was ok to burn women at stakes b/c they were different and you didnt understand their differences so you feared them, and that which you fear must be evil and evil shall be rid from this earth in the name of God. throughout time, wars were fought and millions murdered in the name of God. still today, our views are so jaded when it comes to the regard of life. it is terrorism and evil when foreigners kill 2,000 innocent people in the US, but it is considered defending our freedom and a noble cause when the US military murders nearly 100,000 innocent civilians in Iraq. if you disagree with this view then you are considered by many as anti-american, or by some extremists even worthy of punishment or death for treason. everyone has a different view of what is right and wrong, good and bad – and that view is in constant flux. so is every notion and absolutely everything that exists in life – it’s always changing. good vs. evil is a religious view, not a spiritual one. the notions of good and bad only exist in the human rational mind. some more on how the definition of murder has changed over time: http://www.animalliberationfront.com/Philosophy/Morality/KillingWhalesisMurder.htm “Chimpanzees share 99% of similar DNA characteristics with humans. Is a one percent difference the only factor for not characterizing the killing of a chimp as murder?”
the only reason that good deeds, if continued thru life, may reep rewards beyond the obvious, direct, logical examples (like you treat your employee with respect and he will like you more and then perform better) are b/c when you do service & help others you are helping that extended part of yourself b/c all things are connected. doing this makes you feel good on a spiritual level, and this feeling good attracts that same energy to you. but if you continue to have a very low overall vibrational state (depression, low self-esteem, anger, bitterness) then you will attract those negative events into your life. that’s what creates the domino effect that can become a roller-coaster quite quickly. some of the most selfless people in the world may have the hardest lives of all, and viceversa.
if you want to learn more about the LOA, you have to look into it deeper and certainly understand spirituality deeper. this is not a cheesy marketing tactic. this is the real deal and sooner or later it will be a *norm* in our society. eventually this will known by a large % of the mainstream public. try joining their mailing list, going to the web site (http://www.the-secret-dvd.net/), seeing all the info, vids/seminars, mp3s they offer for free… ask questions, dont just assume. everything there is to know about the LOA and life itself and why everything in the world happens cant possibly fit on 1 dvd, so you cant expect the dvd to answer *everything*. also, check out http://www.mindmovies.com/ & http://www.themastersgathering.com/. try joining the mailing lists. check out http://www.powerfulintentions.org/ & ask questions – this is a community forum of people like yourself who are seeking to learn and help and share their experiences of how it worked for them. the LOA has been functioning thru your whole life, so if you’ve had 1 way of thinking for decades and suddenly you want to try to turn things around in an instant, it will probably just take a little bit more time and effort since you have decades worth of negative thoughts & rigid beliefs that you now have to replace. you create your world through thought *and* action, not just thought. thought without action doesnt add up to much desire or emotional intensity. you have to recreate the internal emotion of that intended result like you’re actually experiencing it now.
the LOA is basically the same way we create ourselves, as humans. this quote here explaisn it perfectly:
the dream in which we must all partake
yet it’s just a dream
from all dreams we must wake
the dreamer dreams until he becomes the dream
coming from the unseen, to the seen
– Theo Parrish
this is a quote i found from a post (from the book ‘A General Theory of Love’) which really explains how our early childhood has a profound effect on our life, beyond just psychology. this is the main reason why people end up stuck with problems they cant get rid of, b/c they are rooted at a deeper level, and end up in a state of mind that attracts negativity:
“It’s not the relationship with the parents, but the root of those relationships: the formation of the limbic system; which is about how the brain grows and thus the environment of thought is formed. That first two years plus prenatal is the time that the imprinting takes place, as the brain develops. The patterns that form in that time, this book (by neurologists) explains, are in a sense anatomical. After that time they become 1. Unconscious or a factor of the environment and 2. Difficult to change.”
Igor, you are correct. you must take action, but this is what they tell you. this is part of creating and attracting what you want.
quoted from one of their emails:
“The Law of Attraction brings everything to the
table… but only ACTION can clinch the deal.
Attraction gives you the opportunity… ACTION
makes it YOURS!
I’ve been in a transformation process for…
many years, and loving every minute of it… but if
there’s one thing I’ve found common to ALL of us
transormationalists, it’s this…
AMBITION and the DESIRE to succeed.
Yet…
I’ve also noticed… the ONLY ones who succeed…
are the ones who ACT!
Hoping, praying, crossing your fingers and
‘wishing’… they’re easy… and yes, sometimes
they do seem to bring opportunities your way…
but acting on them… that’s the key.
To make all this come together for you
you need to take ACTION!”
Yes you are right. ACTION is necessary to get what you want. However, visualizing and thinking positive gets you the opportunity.
I was working for a MNC, and I wished for a posting to one of the Asia Pacific country. I would visulaize about the job that I would be doing, the office that I would be working in, the place i would be staying in, and lo and behold circulstances did change. My boss changed, and the new boss wanted someone to be stationed out of the country that I visulaized about. And a couple of months later, my Boss gave me the offer to move to the particular country, in the job that I wanted.
And it was precisely at that point of time I developed cold feet and did not ACT on the opportunity, and chose to stay back in the country I was working in.
However, as i relate to what is written in the secret, i see that by visulaiing, i managed to create the opporunity in the outside world. However, when the opportunity came along i did not ACT.
So putting two and two together, I realized, people can manifest what they visualize, but to actually live the manifestation, they would need to ACT on the opportunity. For me the LOA works.
Just watched this movie a couple nights ago. Made me feel awful for ever worrying about paying my bills. Be sure to check out peoplepowergranny.blogspot.com and read about how I try to live one perfect positive day.
I meant it as a joke, but a number of my readers thought it was serious.
Yea and thats why most of you aren’t successful! I have met many people who have applied the Secret to their life and became millionaires. And no it doesn’t just say look at it and you get it. In today’s world there are opportunities. Quit smoking weed, thinking negative thoughts like posting this article and maybe something good will happen to you. Obviously you guys aren’t smart enough to apply it.
And you are smart enough to realise that “no reply is the best reply of all”.
You see people who think that the secret is the holy grail forget to acknowledge the bloody hard work and dedication is what actually got people to success in the first place. Hard work could mean many hours of physical work or it could mean a lot of valuable thought and dedication obviously means focusing on the outcome.
My question Jackie is ARE YOU SUCCESSFUL?????????
Well being smart is definitely a key factor. By the way you spelled realize wrong. Anyway, most people do think they have to work 50hrs a week to make it and have a 4.0 from Harvard. Me? I’ve never worked more than 30 hrs a week, dropped out of high school in the 9th grade and was smart enough to go straight to college and before obtaining my degree was able to fully maintain a business which at 21 yrs old I make $200,000 a year. Is that successful? In my eyes you’re not successful until your making at least a million a year, but whatever you tell me? Oh, and the Holy Grail? Well I am Jewish, so my views are little different. Life in my mind is easy, abundant, and hell that concept works like a charm for me.
You can’t be very smart if you’re so ignorant that you don’t realise that realise can be spelled like that (if you’re not American). Not to mention that the s key is so close to the z key on the keyboard that it may have been a simple typing mistake.
Making petty comments like that is peurile and just shows what sort of person you are, and maybe it was more “luck” than “smarts” that got you where you are today. The fact that you complained about people having “negative thoughts” and posting about them and then take a swipe at someone’s spelling only makes you look like a fool and a hypocrite.
Oh and by the way, you left out an “a” before “little”, you smart-arse (and no, that’s not a spelling mistake either 🙂 ).
No I didn’t spell “realise” wrong, that depends what part of the world you are from. I also think that your response is very arrogant but hey, you can say whatever you want really it matters little to me.
What I would like to know is does anyone really know what the message in the movie the secret is because several of the people featured in the secret are now coming out and saying they do not agree with what was said in it. And others are coming out with new laws which incredibly didn’t exist at the time the secret was done. Of course it was a marketing exercise, only fools would think otherwise.
I actualy do know much more about many in the secret but I’m not about to mention any of that here. I do speak from knowledge not just being smart about my comments. I think it it about time that this industry was regulated because anyone can claims to be a guru and is psychologically brainwashing people must one day answer for how they have influenced even one person. So be wise and don’t get too taken away with the airy fairy nonsense that surrounds it all. You sound a clever girl but don’t be too smart.
If you have napoleon hills book you have everything you could possibly need. The other stuff being produced in just nicely packaged napoleon hill at a very high price and even higher if you get caught up in it.
Oh yea petty comments like yours….hmmmm. Yea it could’ve been a mistake, but you should always check your work when you make an argument. Plus, realise is not in the dictionary. Though I did hear some British might spell it that way, but now we won’t know if that person is British because he/she doesn’t want to look stupid if not.
Oh and by the way, the whole negative article is petty, so what the hell are you talking about?
Okay Anon I see some of what you’re saying, but what is your input on quantum physics and all that was taught long ago? Forget about the Secret itself for I really just believe the Law of Attraction. The seven laws of the universe taught long ago obey by it, so what exactly are you not agreeing with?
I feel if you’re positive and think everything comes easily and frequently it will. I say that because of experience. People love being around me because I am so optimistic and do well because of it. Many people say I should write a book just because of how messed up my childhood was and was able to breeze through it like nothing. I really do feel optimistic, motivated, happy people attract more of that into their life. You can see it in Sales Reps and Entrepreneurs.
Yea George I didn’t want to put an “a” before little. It sounds fine to me, and I just put it in Microsoft Word which shows no fragments.
Also, I only made a comment about spelling because this person replied to my comment. Oh yea my comment is the only one saying this article is wrong. Try reading all of them.
About being a hyprocrite, the key is to feel positive in any discussion. Most of the people writing these comments have negative energy, but I don’t. I like to argue and feel damn good about it!
For everyone that feels these people are brainwashing you for money, well let me ask you this: What the hell are you spending money on??? I rented the movie for $4. Do you need to spend more? If so, then yea maybe those people are stupid. Plus you can Google everything.
Hey everyone….let’s be kind to each other. In the scheme of things….is all of this really that important. Live and let live. Everyone has their own thoughts on what is best for them. I personally think that if you are positive in your thoughts and actions, you attract that type of energy. Success is what you think it is. For me, lots of $ is not really in the mix. I feel that having what you need (not everything you want) and people surrounding you that love you and that you love and being able to enjoy those “little” things in life is what it’s really all about. So please don’t be rude…..there really isn’t a need. We’re all intelligent people here…
Peace and happiness to all…
I am apologizing for myself and for everyone else.
I agree with your review on “the Secret”.. I found that your link to “Man’s search for meaning” needs to be corrected. It is pointing to a different book.
This entire post is based on the notion that “The Secret” is selling the idea that if you just THINK about being wealthy, you will be, because the Law of Attraction says so.
Everything “The Secret” says about energy vibrations is true, and has been scientifically proven. What we focus on, expands. It’s called a self-fulfilling prophecy, only it is usually thought of in negative terms (as in, “dang it, that ALWAYS happens to me!”) The trick is to learn to use it for POSITIVE results, and that is what the movie “The Secret” attempts to promote.
However, one aspect of the LOA process is overlooked in the movie, and one of its featured gurus readily admits this. It IS true that action is required. The entire process is as follows:
1. know what you don’t want
2. know what you do want
3. focus on what you DO want (thoughts)
4. when visualizing, imagine how it will feel to have attained it (emotions)
5. clear out limiting beliefs and counter intentions that block you from receiving it
6. take action when you get a gut instinct or nudge to do so AND
7. take actions that are IN ALIGNMENT with the outcome you are seeking
The reason for clearing out limiting beliefs is because the subconscious mind sends out just as many thoughts as does the conscious mind, and the THOUGHTS are what cause us to take–or not take–action. If you want to be a star baseball player, but you secretly believe down deep that you are wasting your time, your actions and attitude will correspond to the deep down belief until you eliminate it.
So yes–using the LOA to attract wealth DOES work, BUT only if you also DO take the actions required. If you’re trying to attract a job, you must send out resumes and apply. Just thinking about a job probably won’t bring you one.
Although… I’ve had experiences where I’ve thought about something I needed to take care of, such as finding someone to fix the loose gutter, and within hours someone drove into my driveway about a loose gutter. But I hadn’t called anyone yet! They were responding to another call on my street, didn’t have the correct address, saw my gutter and assumed it was me. (They fixed it for me.)
Apparently, the LOA works for me. One day, I’ll attract that winning lottery ticket. I will. Just watch.
All this is a matter of believing.. ….if you believe you can you are right……..if you believe you cannot, you are also right…….so, if you believe you can have what you want in life, you will have what you want in life…………if you don´t, you won´t……….so, it´s not a matter of talking about the secret and whether it works or it doesn´t……..It will work for you all who believe it works…………….If you don´t believe in it, leave the book on a bench in a park. It may help someone else who believes………..
People, people, people….
To begin, go and read every religious book that you can get your hands on. You will realize that they all have one underlying thing in common….and it is the core of Law of Attraction. Everyone that cannot grasp this idea get upset and try to fight it. You try to fight it because it makes you personally responsible for everything in your life. And most of your lives are probably not that good so you get upset and try to fight. Go read some books of physics, meditate, go trip on mushrooms or acid…Your thoughts are your reality. It’s not hard to get a grip on. Be happy people, love life, find the joy within yourself…
Grant – yeah i agree w/ all that except the religion part – most, or perhaps all religions actually do not incorporate the LOA philosophy and a lot of them are against it b/c they teach that you have a determined fate, and that your destiny is controlled by an external deity. the LOA is the opposite of this.
I think you are misinterpreting the book. Nowhere in The Secret does it say to be a spendthrift or squander money or be in denial of debt. It’s merely telling a person they need to change their attitude about money and debt. Can you appreciate the difference? Actions matter, but actions stem from initial consistent thoughts. Example: if one says oh, i get too many debts to put away money in savings, or stuff like what good is putting aside $5 a week…and then they don’t save and their attitude becomes their reality…if a persons says I can’t afford to save for stuff and uses the $ to go buy booze or abuse ‘retail therapy’ and then gets jealous of those who do appear to have nice things and blame it on ‘the system.’ While, Those who DO put away a little bit of money with a goal regardless of their financial circumstances, while not wasting it on stuff they know isn’t good for them…they go into the thing with a right/positive attitude! They are the ones who take advantage of opportunities thereby ‘attracting’ those opportunities rather than shunning possibility or being suspicious or jealous of those who do seem to have abundance in their lives. THAT’s your ‘law of attraction’ for ya. It’s not about being a gazillionaire, or cursing life for what ya don’t have… it’s being grateful for what you DO have, and making the most of what you have even if you’re only making minimum wage! I’ve done this sort of thing my entire life even before reading “The Secret” so I know first hand it works! So I’d say that using The Secret with and making realistic goals with plain ole common sense is really best. Yes, pay your bills, save your money but stop grumbling about it and thinking the worst all the time and pooh poohing dreams. See what I mean?
What a great review! I have not been happy with the secret for some time but I found it hard to explain how or why… There is a difference between positive thinking, positive action and just wishing. I wish I won the lottery every week but I never do. But when I think positively about business ideas and then take action on some of those ideas I often do generate a bit of cash or at least gain some experience for my next attempt.
the secret is the best book of this century.
You did not read it carefulley or not hear exactly.
The people behind the secret want YOU to believe it is the best book of the century PERIOD, and it seems you’ve fallen for it.
How can visualising bloody carparks and writing fake checks by a guy who has been charged with misleading and deceptive conduct (David Schirmer) by one of his fellow secret teachers (Bob Proctor) possibly have anything good about it? That surely tells you that its just one big greedy crock. It was a scheme to make a few people rich as quickly as possible. What is she up to now anyways? Made her money and gone into hiding, some secret. And look at the dirt that is coming out on all the other wannabes to. We find out that after all these so called mentors are no better than the guy on the street so why should you take any advice from them? Don’t be a fool. The secret is not a new idea it is a new branding of an idea as Rob here has already said.
The Secret may heap responsibility for victimization on the victim, but this radical acceptance of responsibility for one’s life, thoughts, and choice is a pre-requisite for breaking out of the victim mentality. Some of this counterintuitive, ancient wisdom comes from India. If the world and time are an illusion and we are all really immortal souls that are manifestations of Divine Consciousness, then we share the same divine ability to manifest maya (illusion). Our eternal soul sees beyond the worlds of illusion and time. When we incarnate, we choose our life and all of it’s tough lessons. We may know this before and after death, but integrating this enlightened awareness into our LIFE is the real challenge.
“Nowhere in the history of the world has a monument ever been erected honoring a critic.”(My Grandfather)
Whether you believe in all the mystical aspects of this thing really doesn’t matter. It contains the nugget that you must truly believe in yourself to succeed at anything.
Although it was not a properly stressed point of the book/movie, it did properly reference THE KEY to success regarding anything in life:
For your life to change, you must change.
You must get off your duff and take consistent ACTION toward what you want.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Faith without works, is dead.
I agree with you this book definitely makes absurd promises and backs them up poorly- it is not very well written, it lacks organization and on the whole it is not a valid work of personal development. However if you have time to read it (its not very long) its worth it just because in some miniscule way it is helpful although i think Napoleon Hill does a better job with similar concepts and is not so farfetched. My friends father dropped out of college, read a bunch of these books and this was one of his favorites and he is a true believer, the reality is he now owns his own marketing company taking in at least a million per year. Was the secret responsible for this-no- but in combination with hard work and other books like Hills he was able to create the person he is today. The trick is probably to filter out the trash in the book and take away the positives like you said- definitely dont buy anything you like thats absurd but mental attraction is a useful tool and I guess by promising magic the books boosts peoples confidence in their dreams
I took the time to read some of the postings on here, but not all of them. I am a beleiver in a basic concept called a ‘self fulfilling prophecy”
“”The self-fulfilling prophecy is, in the beginning, a false definition of the situation evoking a new behaviour which makes the original false conception come ‘true’. This specious validity of the self-fulfilling prophecy perpetuates a reign of error. For the prophet will cite the actual course of events as proof that he was right from the very beginning.[1]
In other words, a prophecy declared as truth when it is actually false may sufficiently influence people, either through fear or logical confusion, so that their reactions ultimately fulfill the once-false prophecy.””
This should have been cited in the book. I beleive that when you beleive something that is not actually true it changes the way a person would act and react. For example: Barb and Ed are married. Barb thinks the marriage is falling apart, even though nothing has changed. It causes Barb to alter her personality and do things that she wouldnt normally do. This then causes a chain reaction from Ed. He sees Barb doing these things or acting ways that is out of chracter and over time Ed does not recognize who he married. Ed ends it.
Meh. I only believe in Jim Cunningham
FEAR _____________________ LOVE
🙂
Hey, JD – many seem to know/understand more than you about the Secret, but none of them produces actual proof… how come?
Preach on, my friend. To call the Law of Attraction specious would be a complete understatement. There is nothing law-like about this “law”. Verifiable evidence? Challenging experiments?
What you have here is a colossal scam, which has attracted vast sums of money to a few scheming pockets. A few assholes then went on to get the support of the empress of village idiots Oprah, and the rest is history. Objective reality be damned!
The truth is that environmental factors will always be beyond our control. Some poor assholes will die of prostate cancer, no matter how positively they think. That’s not to discredit the power of positive thinking. But to claim that the Universe will answer your prayers…in 2010…is just preposterous. 6,000 years of civilization, and we are still that stupid?
“The Secret could have been powerful if it admitted it’s partial truth and not tried to turn it into science.”
the secret could have made billionaires had it been partial truth and not being sold by a bunch of people trying to get rich quick on a scam. Where is the science and where are the ethics of the people involved in it. So far several of them have been exposed for what appears to be deliberately hiding their assets and selling that as the secret to success. That Aussie guy teaches people how to set themselves up in trusts so as not to be responsible for their debts. Look at his current record Trading Edge Pty Ltd gone into liquidation in 2004 and the debts written off his latest company gone into liquidation and no doubt he is attempting to write those debts off too. I am no expert but even I can see what is going on there. That guy cannot be trusted with anything and is a selfish bastard in my view. He will never do well in business because he cannot be trustworthy or honest, simple. And that explains why his contribution in the secret movie was just a bunch of pathetic crap.
If the “law of attraction” was based on fact instead of personal anecdote, it would be impossible to starve to death. World history and current events state otherwise.
So many people seem to be into this. I’ve seen people talking about using the Law of Attraction to restore their eyesight to 20/20, ferchrissake. Think like someone with perfect vision, huh? Right. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be over here getting LASIK.
Forget about Secret. That book is not even inspirational. Emotions are actually felt by the body not mind. Whenever you are experiencing strong emotions, observe your bodily sensations. You can manipulate these sensations using your mind. How many times you had the gut feeling of success or failure in spite of uncertainty. And how many times your gut feeling won over your thinking mind.
Law of attraction is all about manipulating this gut feeling to achieve success. The key here is “uncertainty”.
So far what I have visualized have come true. However, the biggest one never did and now that the time has passed it will not.
It doesn’t appear that this article was written by someone of monetary significance.
The author appears to be someone who has experienced frustration in the pursuit of wealth and hence, has negative thoughts on anyone who may go about obtaining success in methods that are altervative to thier own.
Ultimately this article has been written by someone who has egregiously misenterpreted the general idea behind the law of attraction. I say this based on examples used by you in your article including the tsunami and holocost etc. Your literal application of the law of attraction is absurdly ignorant. Nowhere in the secret to they claim such a literal interpretation (like if I think of being a lottery winner i should win the lottery) You’ve completely missed the point.
You’ve critisied the secret (like an insecure teenager) but you aren’t even close to being able to provide any evidence that its NOT true, after each of your complaint points you just kind of have a “yea thats dumb” kind of comment to make but you haven’t proved it wrong
In conclusion if you have any intelligence and your not just a small dicked finance coach, prove to me that subscribing to the secret will NOT make me rich, prove to me that that ideology will not direct me to do the things that you yourself advise people to do.
No it cannot be proven but more importantly it cannot be disproven, god knows you have come NOWHERE close in this article.
Keep your writing on finance and not reviewing literature i think its far out of your league
To the author of this article/website:
Have you ever noticed how unsuccessful your website is? ( I checked the stats ) The most traffic this site recieved…was after posting a review of “the secret”
perhaps if you were more enlightened your site would be more successful.
You give people advise along the lines of “avoid dept” and “spend less than you earn” like my mentally retarded nephew couldn’t give me that advise.
Hmmm if I don’t have money…don’t spend it what great advise, are you black>?
“This kind of crap is dangerous. It’s get-rich-quick drivel of the worst sort. It doesn’t help people address their money issues. It puts them into a pattern of wishful thinking.”
— Only if you’re a retard who doesn’t understand adult level literature, its not dangerous nor is it a get rich quick scheme, stop being so paranoid “get rich slow” you hate anyone that makes money fast huh
“Visualizing checks in the mail will not make them magically appear. ”
This is the type of shit that makes discredits you and makes you a horrible writer. Nobody claimed your ignorant literal application of this theory would work, Whats frustrating you is your lack of understanding of the basic principals setforth in the book
Great.. i write a bit of starling prose and for some reason it didnt come through..!
to paraphrase my last submission. The Secret is a very washed out version of NLP. Glass hal empty or glass half full. Your preception of reality shaps reality for you. Its up to you to choose how you want to react to external stimuli, but only up t a point. Mass genocide is something that a positive disposition isnt going to work to much against
hahahahahahhaha
Your article is sad!
Thankfully I live the Secret, and my life is exactly how I want it to be. I’m a brazilian young woman living in Los Angeles and everything that has happen for me it was because I put a lot of positive thinking, images of me having everything I wanted and hard work too. But mostly things always happen to me in the best way.
All those people that don’t believe it, either don’t understand it or are too stupid and are too further down in life to even try! Hopefully someday you all will understand that life will be however you make it of it. I wish I could know what’s the author of this piece is doing now, probably crying because he lost his wallet, or because his girlfriend cheated on him with his best friend, or maybe because suddenly he had to money in this bank account, only bills.
I wish you all the best! I hope some day you will understand and stop living a mediocre life! Everybody can succeed, as long as they believe.
Agatha Santos.
Brazilian woman, if you want to demonstrate that only sanctimonious, insulting trolls follow the Secret, congratulations, you succedeed!
I guess JD (the author) is doing fine even without using magical thinking, read the blog and you’ll know.
The Secret is trying to offer in an hour & a half what needs an entire book dedicated to the subject. All the information in the film actually was based on a book written 20 yrs ago (A New Beginning II): http://amzn.to/e1bn1q
Before you criticize with such cynicism something that is totally unfamiliar to you, read the book.
Lily – there’s nothing more “magical” about this than what you experience everyday. Life itself is the greatest example of magic there is yet most people sadly forget that. We all knew it as children.
Lily — there’s nothing more “magical” about this than what you experience everyday. Life itself is the greatest example of magic there is yet most people sadly forget that
Very poetic, but doesn’t prove anything. If I decide everything is “magic” (and we have to define magic) I can choose to believe in anything which sounds good to me.
Jason says:
10 June 2010 at 12:58 pm
It doesn’t appear that this article was written by someone of monetary significance.
The author appears to be someone who has experienced frustration in the pursuit of wealth and hence, has negative thoughts on anyone who may go about obtaining success in methods that are altervative to thier own.
LOL. When you can’t convince with strong arguments, resort to personal insults.
Lily: “Very poetic, but doesn’t prove anything. If I decide everything is “magic” (and we have to define magic) I can choose to believe in anything which sounds good to me.”
You can choose to believe in anything you want but what you personally believe will only affect your reality that you create for yourself. What you believe does create your future. If it does sound good to you, then try it. If it makes you *feel* good then certainly do it without question – that goes for anything. This is the main underlying point behind the film (and the book). The whole point of life is engaging your passions – that’s how you create real excitement, and it’s excitement that is the driving positive creative force of your future. Many people end up with negative life experiences b/c they simply deny the creative power of passion and rationalize why they can’t do what they want in life. The film is not guiding us to do something that we haven’t all already done before throughout our lives. Positive thought combined with emotion is no more or less magical than negative thought combined with emotion. Most people are just stuck in a loop of negative thought. The film is simply trying to break people free of this bondage they wrap themselves in.
“What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” – Napolean Hill
I think you are missing the whole point. Positive thinking will lead to feeling good. Good emotions will lead you to take action. Let’s say that I’m a rich guy giving a seminar on how this book helped me and you happened to be there. If you are a negative person, you might say it is bullshit and go home afterwards. But if you were a positive person, you might stay and even stick around and ask me some questions. Maybe we’re from the same town and maybe I invite you to a party where you meet someone that helps you out. If you go home, that isn’t possible. If you are negative, you won’t even allow that possibility in the first place.
People that are negative and have a bad attitude tend not to take any action at all. You don’t just wish for something and it appears. You visualize your success and live it and things will start to happen for you and you will see things that you didn’t see before. It basically opens your eyes. No boxer in history wins fights by thinking he is going to lose. No pro sports teams win by thinking they are going to lose. Sit around all day and say to yourself that you are a loser, an idiot and that you will never amount to anything and let’s see how far you get.
The secret is to think positively & envision your success, which will make you feel good which in turn, will naturally open your eyes and make you take action and things will come your way if you let them. Something as simple as “Hey, do you want to come to this party?” or “Hey, do you want to grab a drink?” or you joining some organization could be the key that opens all doors for you. If you are negative, that won’t happen because you won’t let it be a possibility. That is the secret.
Beautifully put, Enzo. That’s exactly it. 🙂
I’ll not try to convince you that you’re wrong and I’m right. However, throughout my life I’ve unknowingly been practicing the ‘secret’ as long as I can remember. I just read the book 2 years ago and was really intrigued. I can only tell you my experiences and you can think what you want. Coincidence?? Perhaps, but if it works, it works.
Just a few things….I’m not wealthy, by any stretch of the word. However, having been a penny pincher all my life, I’ve never stressed out about not having enough money. When married I did all the finances…saved, used coupons, etc. My goal was to have a pretty good nest egg. When I got divorced 18 yrs later, I had $10,000 to my name. That’s it! So for the first time in my life I had to work. I’ve spent and saved (my goal is saving so I can do whatever I want when I want to), but I’ve always said it doesn’t matter…if I spend it, I’ll get more. And one way or another, I always got it. I’ve NEVER borrowed a penny from a friend…nothing. I just never worried about it, so it always came to me.
As for health, I’ve always felt that my body would heal itself…and it does. I can count on one hand the number of times I went to a dr in my adult life (I’m 56 years old!) due to illness. If something’s wrong, it goes away. I’ve had lumps disappear, cancerous spots that others have said to see a dr for that went away in a month or so, etc. I’ve had asthma attacks that I’ve taken care of. If I feel that I can heal myself, it will happen and always does.
I’ve never been without my own home. I’ve never lived with anyone…they live with me. Since I’ve been working (1990), I’ve never been without a job unless I wanted to be. As soon as I wanted a job, I got one (I’m a bartender, manager, sales person, cake decorator, receptionist, assistant teacher, writer…I can do a lot, but usually stick to tending/managing).
4 years ago I said that I’d love to work at a particular place across the street from where I live…very convenient. I got that job 2 years ago. Then I said what I’d really like is to manage it. This past May, when new owners took over, they made me the manager! That was my short term goal. Not a huge thing, but as of yet, I don’t really think huge.
I knew before I got married when I was 17 that I’d stay in the marriage until my daughter was grown, then I’d be on my own. That happened exactly the way I’d planned.
I knew the ‘man of my dreams’ was out there somewhere and I’d rather be alone than be with the wrong person and unhappy. I waited til I was 52 and finally found him. Granted, I did go thru many many ‘wrong’ relationships, but they were short lived. I feel that there’s someone for everyone and they need to wait for that one that will make them eternally happy.
I could go on and on….and you may say it’s all coincidence. I believe. Everyone has their opinions…if I hadn’t experienced it all my life I’d be skeptical as well.
Yes, some of the ways that they describe things in the book and movie are a bit over the top, but the point is, if you love what you love, think of good things, put it all out there, you WILL eventually get it.
Don’t you know any negative people? Their whole life is full of negative, bad things. They always concentrate on the bad things and that’s all that comes to them…more bad.
Then, have you ever noticed that the same people always win things…contests, pools, raffles, etc. That’s why they win…they play all the time and win all the time. They KNOW they’re going to win!
Ok….I know I won’t change your mind about the secret but I just thought I’d fill you in on my experiences. Believe what you want…I’m not here to change your mind, just let you know what I’ve been through to make me believe.
Ask…believe…receive 🙂
I’m a big fan of The Secret books and DVD. There are so many teachings that share with us the Law of Attraction. I would recommend books by Ester and Jerry Hicks books, one of which is called: Ask and it is Given. Dr. Joe Vitale from The Secret has great teachings as well. I’m very excited to be attending one of his seminars coming soon. With the Law of Attraction I am able to attend at no cost, as it was by invitation only. This really works! I’m so excited to see what else comes my way. Feel free to email me as I love to discuss and here other peoples thoughts on The Law of Attraction. [email protected]
Hi…
I am a fan of the Secret, however, I must admit that this article has its merits.
For instance, in the book and video, all you had to do is visualize yourself driving the car of your dreams and presto you have it. Of course, I never got my dream car.
The problems is that IF the law of attraction granted me my dream car, that would mean that the person who gave up the car (dealer, private seller) would have given it up for nothing. Why would a dealer, private seller give up a $80,000 car for free? Well, he wouldn’t
So, I decided that instead of hoping a car would materialize, I would find ways to buy the car. Some ideas I came up with are
1) open a special savings account. The purpose of this special savings account would be to accumulate enough money for a big down payment or to pay for the car in “cash.” No financing.
2) Naturally, have a photo of your dream car in a place that will allow you to see it every day.
3) ask the Universe to help me find ways to make money to deposit into the special savings account, and
4) put a certain % of my weekly paycheck into that account
5) offer some service to the public to help me fund the saving account
Best wishes
wait, I thought the secret was a joke on the simpson’s, god that is really stupid….
Hiya there,
I am an immigrant in the Uk and I’ve read the Secret during a particular tough time of my life, occured two years ago. Since then I started to apply the law of attraction and I must say my life has improved. I carry on repeating myself that I have everything I need, and guess what? I DO have everythng I need and even more than what I actually need, whilst before to practice the secret I had no relationship, not many firends and no money depite working very hard. I must say, I believe in the law of attraction! (this is not spam bytheway!!) x
i think the the person who rote this book is pure genious. any hates stop doughtin ur selves go get fucked by you negitivity..
As someone trained in philosophy, critical thinking, metaphysics, even mysticism, I find the “Secret” a plague upon the suggestible. Worse yet, I know people stuck in perpetual victimhood because of it, and it’s incurable because they do not allow themselves to see beyond a fanatical “belief creates reality” paradigm.
If it were a drug, it would be criminalized. As a spiritual model, it’s pure hellish ignorance disguised as bliss.
Everything that exists in the physical world that is man made was first imagined then manifested. This goes for our life experiences as well. Plugging this concept responsibly into your belief systems; religion, political party, marriage, career and life “can” merit you the results you are looking for with determination, education & research, and a strong work ethic.
I can’t believe you’re trashing this! I LOVE The Secret and in fact the Law of Attraction as well. I can’t believe it changed my life so much. This is a genuine testimonial. I live in South Africa
Well, The Secret is not meant to work by itself. The only thing you have to get from this, is that you will get everything you dream if you follow the laws.
But what the book also said is that this is not for everyone, and if you do not get how it works, then that is fine too. As long as you do not complain.
But the rule is, you have to work a bit harder if you want to achieve anything in this life, or if you don’t want to, then just to be happy with what you have.
And if you think it is hard to make money, then let it be so.
The point is: the law of attraction works as well as the rest of the human laws about whatever subject. It is not just one or the other… however it is vital to understand them all.
You could say that I’m a skeptical person. Like everyone here, we’ve all has our shares of unfortunate events, from which I, personally, believe was brought upon myself through constant negative thought.
To the author of this website, I thank you for an honest, non-biased (more or less) review. I always try and see both the pros and cons, supports and criticsms, before taking a side, therefore this site was particularly helpful to me.
With that said, I am a believer and I live by it. I ask and question the skeptics for debate’s sake; here’s my question: have you TRIED it? Now, don’t jump the gun and tell me you don’t need to experience it to know it’s something to avoid (murder, rape, drug addiction – you name it – do you need to experience consequences to know these things are harmful to your physical/mental well-being.
I’m not preaching. I am not shoving a bible in your face and questioning your logic. I simply ask the said question with utmost respect.
Like all religions, there’s an issue with scientific support for its validity. While one may approach it in a skeptical, perhaps pessimistic way, in the end, it must be mentioned: does religion offer anything bad for you? When I delve into the thought, I conclude that religion is good. Granted, the Bible is not perfect. Mistranslation, fanaticism, and just plain old hatred all contributes to its corruption and resultant periods of chaos. Stoning a cheating woman, hating gays, whatever it may be, I do not agree. It’s crap, plain and simple.
Let’s tie this in. The Secret is not a religion. It is a BELIEF like respective reasons for being a vegetarian or taking a side in politics.
The review seems to have approached the book in a different light from mine. It kinda connotes that if I were to dream about being a millionaire or learning to fly by no technological means – for example – that it can be done. That’s absolutely ridiculous.
One’s dreams can be achieved IF and ONLY IF his or her dreams are realistic to the individual. (This sort of ties in with the placebo effect, but for brevity’s sake, it basically means that if it’s real to you, then it can and will happen if you believe. Notice that when the book tells you to believe, it doesn’t tell you to believe you can get “it,” whatever “it” is. The book tells you to believe you already have “it.” Just as if you were to truly, blindly believe that the injection from a doctor was an anesthetic, when in fact you merely received a dud anesthetic, it has been proved to be just as effective.)
Finalizing point? Reassess your realities. Do this carefully and relatively to your own interests and benefits.
“It was unrealistic for a giant chunk of metal to fly in the air, but the Wright brothers didn’t see it that way. It was unrealistic for a glass bulb to provide light, but Edison thought otherwise.” – Will Smith, interview.
YOU decide what is real to you. If you don’t see a bunch of checks in your mail as a reality – I don’t either, if I may add – it will not happen. Most of us have been raised to believe that money is something that is earned. It’s a superb attitude, but in truth, nothing but a belief to have been hardwired into our minds. Haven’t you ever said, “I wish I can be rich?” This is a wishful reaction to your current reality. We naturally think of such things as pleasant thoughts and desires you’d like to see fit in your life.
This is a friendly suggestion.
Start small. Forget attracting a coffee to you everyday, or anything for that matter. Before exercising this law, it has to be mastered, just as our sense of balance is developed through growth and works in hand with the laws of force and gravity everyday.
Wake up and just really soak in the things you have to be grateful for, things for which you’ve hardly considered giving much thought (again, think small. Crawl before you can walk, as I like to say.)
Next time you have a bad morning, just sit and think about happy things to expect, even in that moment. I can GUARANTEE that this is of nothing but goodness coming your way.
THEN begin your small ventures – THEN you can start to turn your desires to realities.
This is the way I live my life, and I don’t exaggerate when I say my days are going by much more smoothly. Most importantly, I find myself happy, content, and ambitious.
It’s healthy to keep your own little debate, cautious doubts if you will, in your thoughts. I question it to this day, which is why I read this review in the first place. Maybe it is basically a load of crap. Maybe there is no mystical force (I cringed when I read that…) or such laws.
But I am noticeably happier. Life makes more sense to me. Solutions appear before me when I am in times of struggle. What more can I ask for from anything or anyone?
Thanks for reading. These were my thoughts. I apologize for the tangents… it’s been a long night.
P.S.
These are my theories. They’re not to be taken in an offensive manner.
Holocaust – Your country’s dirt poor to a point where a wheelbarrow full of cash barely buys a loaf of bread. A woman was mugged of her briefcase full of money, but the thief leaves the money and takes the briefcase because it is of more value.
We’ve all heard these. The field of sociology suggests that in times of brokenness, turmoil, and/or poverty, it is likely that an individual or a small group with promises (false or not) be risen to power by societal approval.
Hitler promised Germany a prosperous future. He REASSESSED the realities for the people who are all so wanting this terrible chapter to be over. In all respect, knowingly or unknowingly, he basically did a few vital things for his “perfect world:”
1. put the blame on Jews, prime example of scapegoating, and beat them down through antagonizing them. i.e., military force.
2. incite a belief that Germans, or perhaps the Aryans, are the superior race.
3. promised a brighter future for their country and children.
4. target the majority of the people, the lower class, who seems to have taken the worst blows, and earn their favor.
So where did the Jews go wrong? They didn’t. THEORETICALLY, if this law of attraction holds true, it must’ve meant that Hitler, a passionately angry and bitter, debatably a favored leader, wanted his reality more than the Jews. After a short while, it wasn’t just him but a considerable majority of favor from the nation and his followers, both by choice and force.
The law says whatever we think most often and passionately about, it can come true, yes?
Also notice how child soldiers, anarchy, rape, etc., happens in countries that are abused by a group in power. This power is usually obtained in more or less the same way, both by force and free will. Rwanda and North Korea are some good examples I can think of.
Just some food for thought. The Jews did nothing wrong at all and Hitler by most standards was an evil man.
You can ALWAYS question something. Approach your pondering at all the angles you want. You’ll find just as many faults in people and things as you could find the benefits and goodness. Cliché has it that whether you think you can or cannot, you are right.
Your realities are a result of your desires.
Oh this was one great post for sure.
About five years ago, I fell under the delusive spell of the “Secret” given to my family and I by a friend and told us to watch it. At the time, we were going through really tough times in a emotional sense. Of course, I fell for it and the stupidity of that decision has shown.
At the time when I watched the ridiculous movie I had very limited knowledge on some basic core concepts like psychology and physics. So I didn’t catch the logical fallacies and washed-up, misconstrued, and flat-out wrong view on physics that they brought into it, ugh…I can’t stand it when they bring advanced, complicated concepts in physics into their total non-scientific, so-called documentary.
Firstly, I think that people (and I mean this with respect) that have no knowledge or very, very little and sporadic knowledge of psychology and physics get drawn into this stupid New Age garbage that does some avenues of science a major disservice because it has “unknown” or “rare” concepts in it, supposedly supported by science (something you can trust) and what these guru’s call their proof, which is nothing but a load of BS to the highest degree. I feel sorry for these folks because of their lack of knowledge in these areas that they now have very distorted views on. The individuals in the Secret are cash cows. And they certainly know how to “attract” their wealth now don’t they?
I especially HATE it when they bring quantum mechanics into this or anything of a similar type, because for some reason many people – again, those who are largely unscientific, find QM to be really bizarre from what they have been told from other deluded folks who get the real definition of it and so they decide to convince themselves that quantum mechanics must have some “link” to what is being taught. Here’s the first psychological trap that we all can unknowingly fall into.
They take a very difficult and misunderstood scientific field and blow up it up into something wild and fantasy-like to do exactly this: Capture the imagination, create sensation, and misguide people. The ones who are most susceptible to this are the unscientific, the gullible and mystical or magical-thinking types. Big mistake that these people unfortunately make and it only cuases them, in time, confusion, delusion and possibly other negative things that obviously don’t have an affirming effect on their lives.
The Secreteers as some said (I like that!) then have to get serious and put some pseudoscience into their claims (I would say it is non-science) to get a more analytical type of person to jump on the bandwagon of bewliderment and bedazzlement. Up comes the very difficult and often misunderstood field of quantum mechanics – Oooh, quantum mechanics….
I think some like that term: Quantum. It has an interesting ring doesn’t it? Sounds kind of mysterious maybe, or certainly foreign. Well, its not at all. It just means “portion” or “share”. You could say “I have my quantum of pizza” and it means you have a portion of a pizza. That’s it. You can spot the obvious relation between quantity and quantum, right?
The word quantum is derived from the Greek word “quantus” meaning an amount of something. There other words that branch off of it like quantulum (meaning a very, very small amount of something) and quant which refers to a person who deos various statistical and analytical computations.
The vast majority of people don’t know a damn thing about QM, because it has no practical applications in every day activities, unless you build transistors or radio antennas. I had a very messed-up view on QM. The reason? It was the Secret, that when I first heard of the theory. I didn’t find out what QM was about until fairly recently when I bought a real book on the subject and researched it.
It deals only with subatomic particles and their interactions at the subatomic level. Everybody gets a fucked-up perspective on the wave-function collapse, thinking that the “obsever” which is terrible term to use acutally, casues the wave function to collapse. NOT true. The observer plays absolutely no role at all. None.
What causes the collape of the wave function is interaction, interaction needs to replace “observation” which creates confusion especially among those who do not understand it. All the subatomic particles are interacting together all the time. When a measurement is taken, yes there is a disturbance in the system but they (the subatomic particles) do go on interacting normally whether a person or machine or anything “observes” them or not. They just do what they naturally do. The interaction goes on with or without anyone there.
Quantum mechanics only applies at the subatomic level – when you reach the size of an atom, QM breaks down totally, it goes away and everything adheres to classical mechanics at that point. How small is an atom? Too small to describe.
Talking about the psychological element is the funnest part to this. The documentary or book simply makes you think differently about how things happen, not the way they truly do. For example, if you always are wondering why can’t I get ahead, you think “Oh! I’m not attracting things that propel me ahead”. Back up. The REAL, actual, literal reason why is because you’re thinking has merely inhibited certain actions that would help you make decisions that get you ahead. You don’t “attract” anything. You set a goal, you have a mentality towards that goal, you persevere towards it, and you make the right actions to obtain it. You don’t attract a darn thing. It is totally and truly psychological in nature – the Secret is a toxin that induces delusive thinking cycles which in turn, leads to delusive behaviour, that then leads to delusive interpretations of things, again more delusive thinking, and consequently delusive action follows. And where does it lead the person? Nowhere.
You can sit on your rear end in your house and “think wealth” and “think health”. But you are not going to attract anything from thought processes, it is an entirely imaginary component, a mental construct. All that thinking is going to do, is motivate you to learn how to make money, and to motivate you to become proactive about yourself and your health, which leads to the corresponding actions. See where the bullshit stems from?
You cannot control anything in the world, you have control over your own life and what you do – that’s it. So thinking about hitting green lights won’t do anything, but will make you think you are, since you are programming yourself to always notice green lights.But when someone who thinks like that hits a red one, they may think “Oh I was distracted, preventing me from getting a green light”. No, you simply realized the fallacy you base your thinking processes off of, and if you are still deluded, will not realize it.
Its as ridiculous as saying “gravity turned off for a minute”. It just is inane.
THANK. YOU. You got to the point of this thing and people’s reaction to it
‘You don’t “attract” anything. You set a goal, you have a mentality towards that goal, you persevere towards it, and you make the right actions to obtain it. You don’t attract a darn thing. It is totally and truly psychological in nature’
Even neuroscientists now reckon that “positivity” has a good impact on us, mentally and physically, but it’s not physics for sure (though The Secret actually sounds more like magic…)
Hey, thanks for your reply ma’am!
I think that too many also believe in black and white thinking, and when they hear about this amazing, newly “discovered” and “ancient” secret that the money-hungry writers of this sham book and movie wrote, they may assume that all that time in their lives, all those failures, difficult stages of finances, drawbacks or losses and discouragement was because they were thinking wrong. Oh dear, bad thoughts. So, they feel compelled to totally change their thinking fully, to the complete opposite as compared to before. They from black to white.
Bad thoughts cause bad things? No, they cause bad behaviour (if allowed to develop to that point) which implies bad choices which does what? Bad consequenses, and then comes the psychological part of it: “Did I attract all that bad stuff?” You have the Secret to thank for that.
Respectfully, get real and wake up. Please read a book on psychology and the psychology of behaviour, you will love it. It exposes everything this stupid faux pseudo-documentary talks about.
Oh and don’t forget the part about health: I have got to elaborate on this. I would honestly love to see a medical research study on a group of say, fifty people, a little overweight and less fit than the norm, and have them eat nothing but chocolate cake and pie and cookies for all three of their daily meals and not exercise, drink nothing but sodas all day, no water and take no vitamins or supplements either. Then, have them do cognitive tasks such as focused concetration, mental arithmetic, logic puzzles, and other intellectual tasks and see how well they do for a full month on nothing but shit foods and shit drinks. In addition, monitor their weight throughout the month and take weekly blood samples to check lipids and cholesterol, and glucose levels. Allow them NO exercise whatsoever, and see who’s full of energy each day.
After all, remember the Secret says you don’t need food, its just the thought of food that keeps us alive. Oh okay, have a person run two miles on a blistering hot day and give them no water before or after and see how well they do. No matter how much they think about water, they will still be dehydrated.
Take a starving kid and tell them to think about food, and they’ll be fine even though they are atrophied and suffering from nutrient deficiences and are famished? Are you shitting me? No one should take a course in nutrition from the Secret Queen Rhonda Byrne, they’ll end up in the ER from self-induced delusional starvation still thinking they are “attracting” food.
Thinking about food when you are REALLY hungry accomplishes one thing: It gets your attention off your growling stomach. Sometimes it can’t. Sometimes it makes it even worse. It does not feed you. Until you put food in your mouth, chew it, swallow it, and digest it are you truly fed. Don’t we all learn this when we’re two or three years old?
If a person wants good health, eat healthy and stick with it all your life. Don’t eat junk food, it is that simple. Again, all nothing but delusion, delusion from superior marketing and psychological susceptibility on the part of those who buy into it.
‘THE SECRET’ tells us that positive thoughts lead to positive results ,but there is one element missing i.e. positive actions .’The cheques’ do not appear out of the blue ,one needs to make considerable efforts to get a reward .Therefore, I think positive thoughts lead to positive actions which ultimately leads to positive results……
I have read The Secret and I’m in total agreement with your statements.
There is definitely no secret about The Secret. Neither there is any “magic” the book promises.
The “law of attraction” is a very inacurate use of notions, which belongs to the “superstious laws” category alongside “Murphy’s Law” and other adages or epigrams of the kind.
It does start making some sense when paraphrased into “an ambition cultivating principle”. Cultivating an ambition favours the will-generation proces, which is halfway (random number – not statistically verified :)) to success.
“Attracting misfortunnes” on the other hand is a more complicated phenomenon.
First of all, there is a certain type of people, who tend to enjoy and cherish the misery feeling. Misery makes you special. Misery makes you capable of attracting people’s attention. Whenever you are miserable you are attended to, sympathized with, loved.
Another type of people, the “victim” or “martyr” are those who labour under the self-made delusion that all their misfortunes are due to the “unlucky” status, a sort of a comfortable niche. It is so conveniennt to have at hand an excuse for being passive, unimaginative, lacking initiative, lazy, etc.
The third type is a “worrywart”, whose exessive and needless worrying “in advance” overwhelms them and preocupies their mind to such an extent that they are no longer capable of being rational, punctual, accurate, attentive, careful. Constant stress and frustration deprives them of common sense and ability to concentrate. As a result, we witness the “mysterious” bad luck magnetism.
In a word, The Secret is a positive motivational guide, which on the otherhand may be deceptive and misleading for an unsophisticated mind.
One of the paramount principles in science and logic is that correlation does not imply causation.
For instance, you play the lottery and think really positively about winning and then you actually win. This is no evidence that your positive thinking CAUSED you to win.
At best, your positive thinking might have caused you to play, which rather belongs to the realm hope and wishful thinking.
Many people start their own projects with good ideas, enthusiasm and lots of positive thinking but fail while others set mature or even conservative goals, considering pros and cons and succeed in the long run.
The reason most people buy the “Secret” is because they are insecure. They ae looking for a quick fix to their lives proplems. Unfortunaley these “gurus” know this. This LOA bull is so full cop-outs it is easily explained why it does not work for most peolpe who buy into it. There is always someone whom makes good after reading this kind of gobbeldygook and the promoters love to give them the spotlight and a cash stash so as to promote more selling of the dross. If you had a hundred people, 50 read the book (test group) and 50 were not allowed, do you really think there would be much difference in 10 years time between those whom had made a success of theselves and those who did not comparing numbers in each group? There will be successes and failures in each group. Clearly if these gurus only have to think money to attract it to themselves why are they writing books and doing presentation tours? Oh, this is their dream job which they attracked to themselve /S. In 10 years, having read the book, you will know the answer and if you are successful will you realy know or was that your desteny any how?
I agree with much of what you have written. While I agree that focusing on the positive and on the details of what we want can help us stay more motivated and be more persistent, driven and dedicated in our actions, I believe there is a huge piece missing – G-d! There is much beyond our understanding and saying that we can explain all the events that happen, both personally and on a larger scale, is something I firmly disagree with. We may have our perceptions and think we have some understanding of why things happen – but we don’t know all the details for sure. We can do our absolute best, think the most positively, visualize our success – and yes all these help – pray, etc. – This doesn’t guarantee the outcome. Sometimes what we think we want now isn’t for our ultimate benefit.
What does science tell about the Law of Attraction? It tells that LoA doesn’t work. Do you need a proof by scientific evidence? Read this:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/vanessa-van-edwards/law-of-attraction_b_2082921.html
http://www.heatherkappes.com/?page_id=68
But if you are a hard die believer in LoA, affected by cognitive bias, then please refuse to believe in science. For instance refuse to believe that your personal computer was built by using science knowledge, refuse to believe in Newton gravity law, refuse to believe in scientific evidence in general. Program your brain with positive thinking like a robot. Don’t accept your feelings as they are. Don’t love yourself as you are. Throw your life experience and your own judgment into the trash. Never desire to save your emotions.
“Quantum willingness” is not in our brain. It doesn’t depend on our observation. The universe matter is not distantly “interconnected”.“Spooky actions” is a term badly used by common people because entanglement has a different meaning for science. Instead, it is linked to the concept of correlation. Interactions among particles are out in the blue and ontic.
http://www.nature.com/news/quantum-theorem-shakes-foundations-1.9392
Epistemic theories shared by new agers seem wrong:
http://www.nature.com/news/a-boost-for-quantum-reality-1.10602
All those quantum mystic myths have been widely debunked, but real scientists have never had doubts about that. I’m sorry, but this seems the beginning of the end of the “age of aquarium”, even including LoA. Science looks more fancy than the speculation of many narcisistic new agers. The real “magic power” of mind is intelligence and imagination, which leaded us to the moon and made our dreams true. No “quantum vibrations” connected by the “infinite intelligence” coming from our brain.
http://www.edn.com/electronics-blogs/measure-of-things/4418902/Quantum-wave-functions-come-alive—May-the-Bohr-Model-rest-in-peace
LoA is good for people who want to satisfy their desire without using their intelligence.
http://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/06/23/confirmation-bias/
Let scientists make their own work. For the sake of the truth, for the evolution of our specie and our culture,please, don’t mix science with religion or mystical woo. Nevertheless science is falsifiable. Thus day by day New Age would be forced to falsify its statements too. That’s a nonsense for a religion.
Cheers!
Dear J.D. Roth,
Although I find your article quite well writen and humorous, I do believe like many skeptics and naysayers you are missing the point here. Nobody in the secret says that you do not have to take action, they are simply saying that you must align your thoughts and your feeling state with what you want. I believe that this really does help specially with things like subconcious sabotage. I think some things can be taken out of context like cheques in the mail thing – all that says to me you focus on something hard enough and inevitably you will create the situations and take the actions required for that to happen. Call it psychology or metaphysics it doesn’t matter what you call it those are just labels but in reality this is how it works. If people want to add a spiritual tinge to how they perceive things let them be cause I am sure you dont have all the answers and like everybody else on this planet have no REAL idea what is going to happen when you die, you just have a belief about it.
Peace
I think that’s the problem with the movie presentation of The Secret. It shows people getting things they want after just wishing them; no action was taken. Like that boy visualizing the bike and getting it, or the gay comedian wishing the bullies away. These cases certainly seem questionable. But another certainty is that real positive thinking requires action. But that’s no secret, that’s common sense.
I also see one reason why people like the Secret: they believe it’s against medicancy. But as I pointed out above, it doesn’t seem that way. Rather, it may encourage mendicancy, because you simply “wish” things to happen. Also, The Secret may be a favorite of “the poor are the cause of their own poorness” believers. Again, as I pointed out, it leads to judgmentality and uncalled for condemnation of other people. So if you believe in positive thinking and action, that’s good, but it’s not the Secret.
What made you write this article?
Was it because you jusy found youself writing an article like this Or because you THOUGHT that ‘the secret’ isn’t true.?. You have your own thoughts about the book and that thoughts made you believe that it isnt true. and it made you act and react like that. It is because you attract what you have thougjt.
You may want to watch the whole movie or the book
It’s rubbish to believe that thoughts can alter reality without action. No proof of it exists, and even supposed scientific proof had been exposed as fraud. Not only that: the notion that “You are God” is perhaps the core notion of the secret that is the greatest idiocy. It only encourages megalomania and causes people to lose touch with reality. Believe, there’s a reason why most people say, don’t lose touch with reality rather than try to control it would your thoughts.
Believe It, or don’t.
Which is better:
a) believe that the world controls you, or b) you control the world.
It doesn’t matter which one is true, all I know is that by knowing that I am in control, I am in charge of my life, and that opens my mind to seeing opportunity.
Whether I believe in the universal power or not, acting as if these laws are true benefits me more than being a sceptic.. And I have the cars, money, love and happiness to prove it.
Give it a try.
That’s why that line from Ken Watanabe in the recent Godzilla movie is one of my favorites: “The arrogance of man is thinking nature is in our control and not the other way around.” I’m sure rabid fans of The Secret would have a problem with it. 😉
The Secret takes advantage of human greed and the desire to have control over things that one never could really control of, including other people. That idea of human thought waves being able to affect reality is just a pandering to our vanity and hubris. That “thought wave” theory has never been proven and is sure poppycock.
The Law of Attraction and similar principles can actually be harmful, in the sense that they give false confidence and attribute powers to people that they don’t really have. As demonstrated in the case of Byrne’s comment about the tsunami victims having brought the tsunami upon themselves, it can also make people cruel towards others.
A tidbit to others: Byrne had a fallout with one of the guest speakers of the original DVD version over royalties or payment. This was Esther Hicks of some Abraham movement. They never settled, and Byrne thus had Hicks edited out of the succeeding versions of the movie.
Another thing I noticed is that The Secret is often taught in Multi-Level or Network Marketing, the kind of gimmmick where you recruit people to earn higher commissions. This is obviously used to give a false high to the would-be downline, and seed them with the thought that if it fails, it is their fault. This is unfortunately brainwashing, and this is used by uplines and companies to avoid accountability.
Positive thinking used in the right way would be embodied in Rom. 8:28 “Everything works for the good of believers in God.” As long as people have the mantra “my will be done,” which The Secret promotes, they will become gullible, selfish zombies with no thought of improving themselves and will only have unchecked, materialistic desire.
Tear for Fears sang, “Everybody wants to rule the world.” The Secret panders to this desire. But the truth is, they can’t. Perhaps people need to be reminded of the Serenity Prayer (look that up) and should accept that there are things they can’t control.
you obviously misunderstood the meaning of the law of attraction
which is why i can see it has not been working for you very well.
Why should it work if clearly hasn’t been proven to work? More evidence of it not working rather than working exists.
“The Universe is under no obligation to make sense to you” – Neil deGrasse Tyson.
It has worked for me. I have become a v v happy person. it’s true people. And if u say it’s all fake and rubbish, then that’s what the idea is. If it’s not true, fake it. And be thankful. U can try. Why criticise? U try it. For any small thing. And if u see there is nothing wrong in their preachings. No wastage of money no time n energy required. Just be happy, be thankful, be positive. I don’t think there’s anything wrong in this.
First of all, the secret is not a secret of ancient times, there isn’t any ancient philosophical or spiritual teachings of such law ever, it is a new concept from some spiritualists and it is a very bad one.
Negative thoughts are a necessity of critical thinking, you MUST have doubts and negative thinking for certain things. When you want something and it doesn’t happen for whatever reason, if you have some type of negative thinking it might lead you to take a new approach for something to succeed.
If I want to become a singer and I go out there to clubs and nobody takes me for work, I might have to reconsider my approach, so instead of pushing something that doesn’t work, I simply make you tube videos, people criticize me, I fix my mistakes and then from working my singing I get better and better to the point i go to X factor and win the damn thing. But that wouldn’t happen if I didn’t start having the negative thought that trying to work on clubs simply will never happen.
And if people weren’t negative for singing I would never simply fix it. Being negative and give negative criticism might make the other person to realize and FIX whats not good. If someone is weak and cannot fix their mistakes and take everything personally, I have some news flash for you, you will never become good in anything, keep waiting for the universe to give you love and attention while your lazy ass and huge ego cannot accept that you have to work it!
On the other hand, sometimes you have to push and insist for something until you get it done no matter how much it takes.
And sometimes you are simply delusional that you can sing well, nobody likes your voice and you will never become a professional singer even if you sell your soul to the devil while you dancing on pig’s blood and sacrificing a virgin.
My point is, there is no “secret” or any “law” that will guarantee to any human being out there that if they do this or that will be 100% success and fulfill their dreams. There isn’t any God or universe that will grand your wishes, you are by yourself to go out there and get it done.
Each person has their own uniqueness as to how will approach something, how they will succeed, their ups and downs.
While thinking positive increases ambition, drive, energy, it only creates higher chances to make your dream come true, it is NOT an absolute and never will be, unless you meditate to get cosmic energy and you have the power to stop hurricanes and hypnotize people to give you their money.
I really don;t think such absolute exists in any real philosophical idea out there. Only religion is absolute to their beliefs of such nature.
The only thing that exists in some ancient philosophies is that when the mind is focused can effect other people and somehow create circumstances for their own benefit. But such thing to an advanced level requires years of meditation and dedication and it is called Psychokinesis, in few words, the only people that might have succeed such thing was Jesus, Moses, Buddha and maybe few monks in Tibet….out of the billions of people out there who ever existed. Good luck!
Another very nasty thing this LOA has created is the blame the victim mentality. It took 10.000 years of civilization and 100 of years studying psychology to understand that there are victims out there and how to respect and punish the perpetrators, and this LOA basically takes us back to a primitive state of existence and hideous morality.
If you got bit up from the bully at school, you did NOT attract such person, we all are free to do what we choose to do, there is no underlying power that we attract any evil out there without even us to realize it.
It is kind of sick in 2014, New Agers to believe that and it is utter stupidity of the highest insult to take the Law of Vibration, written in Kybalion, to be understood in such twisted interpretation.
Read the first books of the laws and research about Law of Attraction, there are NOT ancient teachings, they are NOT old philosophical ideas as they try to sell it, be careful what you believe.
This stuff was very helpful and big thanks for sharing this one. I will certainly be looking in on your blog again soon.
That’s funny. I spend several hours a day meditating and could clearly see that my circumstance correspond directly although not exactly (: the specific form 🙂 to my personal “truths”. It’s interesting that the one thing that is ever present in all of this i.e. consciousness, is rarely given proportionate attention in it’s own right. I use it (: this Law of Focus – “attraction” is not a good word 🙂 all the time and, guess what, you use it too even if you despise it – it’s inescapable. It works 100% of the time.
I completely agree with this post and want to tell you about something really wrong. Two years ago I did an Android app entitled “The Secret Unofficial App” and published in some places, except on Google Play because copyright. My app was free, its functionality was very similar to “The secret Gadget for Windows”, showing the Secret Daily Messages except that I added an “Oracle mode”, so that a random message could be showed for you. “Someone??” reported me, not only my app, and my app was removed from the lists. I couldn’t believe, and I still can’t. I know they sell their apps, but I was very clear about the title “Unofficial app”. It was hard for me to take it at that time, I could not buy the app because I was unabled to get a credit card and I thought other peoples could be in my situation. Well, really, for me The Secret is a lie, they don’t do what they say. Oh, she wants to bring joy to billions, right? So, maybe Rhonda can re-think about colaboration and begin to act as the nature does. Maybe this way, she may be sucessfull. Rhonda Byrne, trying to sell joy to billions…
thank you for publishing this, now that I know somebody else has the same opinion, I can live in misery with other people. Read about the Buddha’s life, he used the law of attraction to find a day to die. Read about Dr. David R. Hawkins, who was enlightened and used the law of attraction in his book Letting Go: The Pathway of Surrender. don’t believe, you’re the only person missing out. 🙂
While I agree that the “mystical” part of the Law of Attraction is hard to swallow there is a lot about it that is useful for people. Focusing on goals is the only way to acheive things so the focus and action part is valid.
I found the article interesting in that those that believe in The Secret will always find a way to prove to themselves that it works. Those that attack The Secret will find ways to disprove the book and its contents. In other words each side attracts what they are looking for. I find this really very funny. Napoleon Hill was huge on the concepts taught in The Secret. Brian Tracy has said for years you can have, do and be anything you want. Wattles wrote the book that inspired The Secret over 100 years ago. I think The Secret is a very well marketed rehash of old material which has been fed to the masses as Think and Grow Rich, How to Make Friends and Influence People, and any other mass-marketed belief system known to man – religion, politics, Amway. Each one of you can find proof that God exists. And you can each find proof that God does not exist. FEAR is what determines what you are willing to look for. The law of attraction is really the law of aligning. When you can’t find your keys you are out of alignment with finding your keys. They don’t just pop into existence when you find them. They were there all the time. You just could not see them because you really were not looking for them – you were not aligned with finding them. I think the author of this article wanted to generate controversy in order to maintain readership. He attracted our responses using our innate desire to be right, to be significant, to be heard. There is no secret. We’ve been had. lol !!!! PEACE to ALL.
At first I was attracted to the Book The Secret . I tried doing the Law of attraction that did not work for me. In the Book The secret it mention Bible verses to back up the law of attraction. I now learn that the law of attraction is of Satan the devil. Satan uses the Bible verses to get people worship him. Satan offer Jesus the city if he does something for Satan. Yep this is one thing Satan is doing is pulling people away from worshipping God. Think about it. God provide the need for us. Faith in God will provide you of your needs. The law of attraction is delusional . Do not fall for it
I spent 8 years working on what makes the law of attraction work.
Primarily, the law of attraction is a motivational tool. Imagine not smoking. What image comes to mind? Is it a cigarette with a circle through it? Do the same thing with losing weight. “I don’t want to be fat?” What image do you get? Is it a picture of you fat with an x through it? Companies spend millions and billions on advertising to get consumers familiar with their product. Their advertisements don’t need to be logical. Axe body spray won’t make me more attractive to women, at least not on the level they demonstrate; however, by showing me the same picture, a guy smiling with women around him and Axe in hand, I am more comfortable with that as ‘normal’, or what I expect. If you want to quit smoking, it’s easier if you think of what you’re gaining, such as the ability to run, or the ability to hold your breath longer, or more fun with your kids than if you imagine a cigarette as it feels more “normal”. I could write two or three books on this topic alone and you might still not believe me. If you’re skeptical, try drawing a symbol for love, career, family, money, health, religion/spirituality, and rewards and recognition. Then when you want something such as losing weight, or not being single, or not being stuck in this dead end job, or being poor, think of your positive image instead. Take note of how you feel. If you feel better, then I’m right in that positivity helps motivation. If you feel worse, then I’m wrong, and thinking positive either does nothing or makes it worse. It doesn’t help you figure out what to do, but it focuses your attention on observing things around that positive idea such as people holding hands. “Why are they holding hands?” leads to research into the cause of hand-holding. “Why am I single?” leads to research into a list of things that are circumstantial such as I thought I was single because I was weird, but some girls like me because I’m different. The list of reasons why I’m single would help if I wanted to be single. Thinking positive and visualizing success as portrayed in the secret and law of attraction books is a motivational tool.
When a person first uses the law of attraction, they take action on things that help them. For example, a famous example is only 5% of people took a management course offered by Macy’s to move up. I think this example is “think and grow rich” by Napoleon hill. If I want to lose weight, I know I have to go to the gym, but if I feel bad or feel like I won’t lose weight even if I go to the gym, then I won’t go to the gym. Again, it comes back to what feels normal, not what is logical. If being fat is normal, it takes work to feel like I can be thin. If being poor is normal, then it takes work to feel like I’m rich. Imagine you have a dollar, and I steal it from you. Do you feel like you can get another one? How would you do it? Imagine that you watch three people around you get a job worth $100,000. These people are just like you. If you feel like you’re just as good as them, would you apply to the position or a similar one? Don’t you think you would know what they did to make $100,000 a year if you saw three people do it?
After taking action to learn things like taking a management class, changing habits like quitting smoking, and practicing to get better at something, people tend to develop confidence. This is why people experience “miraculous” coincidences. While telling people about amazing experiences, people often share this, and those who want to take advantage of that, who also have confidence, often take action as well. For example, I started talking to women about what I wanted in a woman, and the exact girl I was looking for came up to me and told me she was looking for me because I was looking for her. I also got a job I was looking for, and I found skills I wanted. Note that this level only happens with enough confidence and action.
on another level, I can’t rule out the possibility that our thoughts shape probability of events. For example the probability of getting sick increases as you feel stress. This is a well tested phenomena. I learned about it in my psychology class; however, it is possible that feeling really bad could change or interact with some metaphysics, but I don’t have evidence for this, and I’m content with just taking action, and telling people to get the word out.
The law of attraction is more psychological than metaphysical. The law of attraction helps people feel motivated. When people are motivated they take action. When they have confidence, they talk about it, and when they talk about it, others collaborate. I can’t say that there isn’t something mystical going on, but as I can’t observe it, I can’t comment on it.
In reply to Jo’s comment. I totally agree that any method that motivates people has some use. Getting caught up in the details is not as important as looking at the overall benefit.
Unfortunately, I have some friends who have been taken in by this. It baffles me how anyone could be. Of course, these scammers do employ some powerful mind control techniques. They tout a we can have everything and that WE are in absolute control. Then when a person is sucked in, they drop the hammer. If you have negative thoughts, you are blocking what you want and bringing in everything negative into your life, including disease, poverty, and maybe a trip on a modern day Titanic. So critical thinking just negates all the positive “magnetic” brainwaves. Powerful stuff if you are a believer, I suppose. You can’t afford to question, because it screws over your chances to have what you want. Wow, the potential to beat yourself up is endless. They want you to believe you can’t be sick if you have your mind in order. That just defies science, and at the same time makes it all your fault if you DO get sick etc. In fact, their theory can NEVER be disproved once you buy in. If things go your way, it was due to the law of attraction. If they don’t, well you did it wrong, so it’s all your fault. Never can it be that the stupid theory is wrong. Lol
all this secert is a lie…can our thoughts control destiny? in fact destiny shapes our thoughts….nothing is in our hands…we have to go through our karma and fill our debts in the past life by productive work in the present life.the authors of the secret have made this book for business.they have cheated people into buying that book.well…if the secret is really true..then why are they commercialising it..i saw a video in which everything was being explained about the secret…in the end of it the woman who was explaining about it told the viewers to buy their cd for so and so dollars..if they really knew the secret they wouldnt be begging people to buy it.If the secret is really true and was known through the centuries…then the world will be the best place..why isn’t it?..were it really true it would have been a global bible for everyone..but they don’t answer our questions because they have done their part of cheating people..now they must have made a lot of money with this book…it is a positive book…but a lot of rubbish is written..instead a book on positive thinking could be read by us..
I love how so many people enjoy putting down “the secret”. It just goes to show why so many people are miserable in life and aren’t going to go anywhere.(More success and money for me i guess right?).. Everything in the secret is general knowledge if your an intelligent human being. But the hard part is putting it into practice. Right off the bat, you can see that the writer of this article has so many negative thoughts going through their head. Its not just enough to want more, you need to believe its already happening. I used to believe that religious followers were poor misguided people. Now i know, that the positive beliefs they put into their religion is doing so much more than just praising a false identity.
I don’t understand why people dislike something that they don’t understand. This is NOT another new age theory this has been proven in many studies. This does work I use it in my life. I used to be a very negative person I seen this video and thought the same thing. Only difference is. It intrigued me to learn more, Why does it work, how? Can it work for me? I began reading about quantum physics. You should do some research for your self. Honestly, what do you have to lose? Negativity thinking? Feeling great? Knowing anything is possible? That doesn’t seem so bad. The law of attraction is all about vibrations within us and the universe if we are vibrating at the same vibration then we attract them. Doesn’t matter it they are good or bad. Bad things are going to happen nobody is going to live forever, there are still bad people in this world. The video the secret only skims the surface on the law of attraction. Read the book quantum physics do not fail, or the path to positive thing is through positive affirmations, I mean you can look in the kindle store for many free books on this topic. Don’t give up before you even try. Your only failing yourself.
This was movie was made to change people’s lives and help people understand on a simplified level for the average person. The concept of this movie gave me the knowledge to actually over come my 6year drug addiction. However if you really think watching one movie will change your life you are wrong. Life is about learning and we are never done learning. You need to do your own research. I’ve researched conscious and subconscious mind, quantum physics, dove deep into spirituality. You only understand life from your perspective and from how you were taught so coming after people for believing in this movie and you thinking its wrong is Called close mindedness. Let people believe in what they want to believe, you attract what you are not what you want.