Has Anyone watched the Secret?

[cschin4]

Re: Has Anyone watched the Secret?

I find it amazing that people so willingly to buy into the "You are the Master of the Universe" philosophy. And, those who are doing well are obviously much more "masterful" and therefore deserving.

[cschin4]

Re: Has Anyone watched the Secret?

If this is information that will help mankind, why do they need to call it the "Secret" and charge people for it. It is just another "positive thinking" scam.

[david909]

Re: Has Anyone watched the Secret?

The law of attraction works, and it is no "secret" for me. I've been living this principle in practice about 15 years now, and I don't have a shadow of a doubt that positive circumstances in my life were brought about because of my conscious intentions to make them appear. The more energy, resolve and decisiveness you put into your intentions, the faster they materialize.

[genmed]

Re: Has Anyone watched the Secret?

Just my two cents if you're interested. Feel free to retain your own opinions! (I'm not trying to change them here)

I just saw this. I can agree with the idea that how you think and look at the world affects how you experience life. If you are so tuned in/focused on one thing (i.e. saving money!) you'll start finding opportunities that can make that happen.

I can't buy into the "it cured my cancer" and other such. Yes, I'll agree, as a medical professional, stress and thinking do impact health.. greatly at times. So the whole focus on/positive thinking/prayer or whatever aspect you look at this yes can make a difference, but it still takes either medicine (health), work/opportunities (wealth), etc. and even then it doesn't guarantee anything and many times does not work. Cornflakedisease I understand and agree with lots of what you are saying. I can't understand how, as mentioned in the show you can be responsible for every bad thing that happens to you because you "thought" the negatives into your life. Sure if all you can think about is anger, you are more likely to see anger and violence. It's your view on the world. But thinking about anger doesn't mean you are now responsible because someone broke into your home, or because someone killed your son/daughter. And yes if you have no hope, it's going to be harder for you to get out of poverty; but all the hope and "right thinking" in the world isn't going to guarantee it's going to happen either.

[StressLess]

Re: Has Anyone watched the Secret?

I think we might be getting the book in at work, since someone requested it, and I'll be taking a look. But--

I grew up reading "positive thinking" authors like Norman Vincent Peale and Margery Wilson because my mother had their books around the house. Then I graduated to various titles by Shakti Gawain, Catherine Ponder, "Money Is My Friend" by Phil Laut and "The Seven Laws of Money" by Mike Philips.

You can see I was immersed in this kind of stuff for years. I still ended up in debt at age 48, and had to come here and start blogging in order to dig out!

There is something about believing things will work out that can make you take risks you might'nt ought. Since everything's going to turn out in the end, why not charge whatever you want? You get psyched to pursue some dream your parents wouldn't have dared to, because they had more sense, and end up loaded with student loan debt. Maybe you spend time writing affirmations and don't bother to do a budget.

Worst of all, you buy into the assumption that happiness is the result of more degrees, more money and more stuff. After all, why bother trying to attract "more" if your happiness doesn't depend on it?

I think this stuff has a place--but you still have to learn the nuts and bolts of money management, and do the hard work. Otherwise you can just end up feeling enlightened, but broke.

[MarianneJ]

Re: Has Anyone watched the Secret?

I hadn't even heard about this "secret" until I started reading this thread, and only read the first 5 or 6 posts so I really am not sure if I have the right idea of what it is, but this sounds like a book I read back in the early 90's called "You'll See It When You Believe It" by Wayne Dyer. I loved that book and along with other books I read at the time, really took the ideas to heart. We are what we allow ourselves to be. If you think you can never have something, guess what, you'll never have it. Etcetera.

I recommend the Dyer book if you liked this way of thinking. I also recommend "Illusions" by Richard Bach.

[markio26]

Re: Has Anyone watched the Secret?

interesting thoughts in the comments... thanks to all and to the poster of this... i don't know that much about it...i can relate to some of this... a thought is a thing sometimes... i will think of someone and they call or drop by... and i tell them i was just thinking about them.. that kind of thing....esp???????

[jeffrey]

An interesting article that takes Oprah to task for the Secret:

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2007/03/05/the_secret/

[boefixepa]

A friend mentioned this to me and after the research I have done....I have no desire to see this movie, nor read the book. They are warped a good message into a wordly, materialstic form. You could really hurt yourself with this message if you are not careful.

[PrincessPerky]

"anti-intellectualism, because that's at the root of the other two. Here's "The Secret" on reading and, um, electricity: "When I discovered 'The Secret' I made a decision that I would not watch the news or read newspapers anymore, because it did not make me feel good," and, "How does it work? Nobody knows. Just like nobody knows how electricity works. I don't, do you?" And worst of all is the craven consumerist worldview at the heart of "The Secret," because it's why the book exists: "[The Secret] is like having the Universe as your catalogue. You flip through it and say, 'I'd like to have this experience and I'd like to have that product and I'd like to have a person like that.' It is you placing your order with the Universe. It's really that easy." That's from Dr. Joe Vitale, former Amway executive and contributor to "The Secret," on Oprah.com.

from that link Jeffrey posted...I love that one of the dudes is 'former Amway exec'....seems fitting an old MLM hawker is now proposing we buy the secret.....

newsweek had an article on it:
decoding 'the secret'

[Fern]

There is no law of attraction. It's a feel good philosophy that has no validity. It's very much like 'economic religion" which is proving very common today. If things work out it is because this mindset was right. If they don't, you weren't trying hard enough. Its like a psychological pyrimid scheme.

Altho cornflakes is speaking rather harshly, i have to agree with her/him. I always try to maintain a positive outlook and think positively, simply because i would rather be happy than not, and i think one's outlook affects one's mental frame of mind. But I wouldn't claim that obsessively focusing on something specific is going to attract it to you like a magnet.

That's like saying that if you have cancer, it's your own fault, because you 'attracted' the illness somehow with negative thoughts.

This is a good example of taking a generally good idea and twisting it into something magical. All of us here think about money quite a bit, but some of us have it, and some of us don't. If we have money, it's because we worked to save it or earn it or perhaps by sheer random coincidence, found a quarter on the ground. We are all in charge of our own destiny here; 'fate' is not going to deliver us the goods magically.

[Fern]

There's a certain seductive quality running through the whole Secret concept, one that appeals to people who maybe don't feel in control of their lives, who are overwhelmed by lfie's demands or who fantasize about having all their problems solved in a heartbeat.

The people this will appeal to are also the kind who play the lottery or believe in ghosts.