Edited by: BlueSky on Feb 9, 2007 9:47:09 AM

The Secret DVD is the 2007 version of the Shirley MacClaine books of the 80's. It is one of the Universal Principles that has never really been hidden. You just start digging, and there is no end or perhaps I should say beginning.

There are many old and available books on the Principles, my favorite being "The Kybalion - A study of the Hermetic Philosophy of Ancient Egypt and Greece," by Three Initiates first published in 1912. If you got through that very long title, this is a simple little book that doesn't talk about attracting money or romance as does The Secret. It does present all of the Principles in a way that is understandable.

While the Law Of Attraction (or magnetism), which is the Principle presented in The Secret, does work to bring in cars and necklaces, the Universality make it work for anything including inner traits.

We are all on the same path, and no-one is ahead of anybody else. It doesn't matter how or when you "got it." The Secret DVD can serve as a good reminder when one forgets that they "got it" yesterday on the Oprah Show or forty years ago.

I consider this book to be a complete and total sham.  

One of the first things that made me wonder about the content of this book was the actual title itself.  The title “The Secret” makes the book seem like it is something that we as readers are not really supposed to know and are being granted a big favor or privilege in being granted access to it.  Whenever someone says to me that they have something that no one else can have, but they will make an exception for me and share this rare information, my first thoughts are of weariness and caution as I may be entering into some sort of con-game or sham.  You can make something seem more valuable than it really is if you think that is or will become scarce.  The cost of oil in the world has increased over the last decade over fears that there is a finite supply.  It’s the law of supply and demand.  The book’s layout and coloration makes it seem mystical as if it is indeed a very ancient book that has just been unearthed and its contents revealed for the very first time in ages.  It’s more reminiscent of a book of spells from Harry Potter than of a modern publication.  The book would not appear to be as mystical or revolutionary if it was just printed on plain white paper and had a traditional binding to it rather than the appearance of faded parchment and wax seals.  Finally, after researching all of the contributing authors who lent quotations for this project, it was of no shock to learn that most of these individuals have at one time or another been “financial entrepreneurs” and have sold programs designed to create personal wealth with their strategies.   Does the name Loral Langemeier sound familiar?  If you drive around Columbia and listen to ESPN Radio on 93.1FM, you will probably hear her commercial on how you can make a lot of money through her real estate program(Langemeier).  She’s a contributor to this book, but is only listed as a “financial entrepreneur”.  In other words, most of these sold get-rich-quick schemes.  This fact is clearly omitted from the bibliographies of the contributors and changes the perspective of their work completely.  All so-called experts now have a credibility issue with regards to their credentials and true motivations for sharing their “secret” knowledge. 

One of the very first questionable points that the author and her cadre of commentators make is that the magical connection between you and to the Universe, called “intent”, is similar to like magnets by which your clear personal intentions and desires are automatically drawn to you.  If you want something, the Universe will respond to your request.  Notice the author used the term like magnets. This is a poor attempt to bring a well-known scientific principal into the discussion in order to give her theory credibility and believability.  But there’s a factual problem with this claim.  Physics tells us that in the Laws of Attraction, like things do not attract each other, rather it is opposites that attract.  It is positively charged protons in the nucleus of an atom that are attracted to the negatively charged electrons in the outer shell that form the covalent bonds.  Like forces repel one another.  They do not attract one another. The proof is when you push two like ends of a magnet together, no matter how much you try; they will ultimately push each other away in an act of repulsion.  High speed trains in Japan use magnetic levitation based on this principal.  There is so much repulsion that these extremely heavy trains can be raised up off of the ground with just the use the force of repulsion.  Therefore one of the book’s most basic principals for which most everything else is built upon is totally with flaw and entirely incorrect.  In order to downplay this glaring contradiction, the author brings up some of the newer theories of physics called Quantum Mechanics.  This allows the author to say that the old laws of physics are not that accurate as they are being re-written by the new laws.  But she never fully defines what Quantum Mechanics is nor does she explain some of the theories behind Quantum Mechanics.  She just refers to it as being the new physics that will challenge the theories of old.  But instead of clearly stating why this is, instead she drops the name of Einstein in her commentary basically saying if you disagree with her, you are disagreeing with one of the world’s most famous scientific thinkers.  Once again, this is not very accurate scientifically and a very coy slight of hand to make her point seem valid when in fact it is full of unanswered questions.  So to re-cap up to this point, the book’s main premises has a series of flaws in their facts and logic and those people who are touting the premise the most are known to sell get-rich-quick schemes.  Not a solid foundation for which to begin a life transformation program over with by any means.

 Another pattern that I discovered all through out this book was that fact that the author would take one phrase and have it repeated over and over again by different people and in some instances selectively choosing historical figures and quoting them some what out of context.  The author attributes the success of people ranging from Mozart to Einstein to Beethoven to Lincoln adherence of "The Secret," as if they had known about it all along and had just failed to tell anyone about it.  This is quite clever in her manufacturing the expert testimony and quotations her far fetched concepts need as no respectable researcher could or would ever prove that the power behind “The Secret” actually exists.  After all, if these and other great people in history have mastered "The Secret," who are you to question it?  It reminded me of the old saying that repeating something wrong hundreds of times, doesn’t make it any more right than not repeating it at all.  It just looks like it’s more correct than before.  This retelling of the same void concept over and over really make the book devoid of any substantive content as basically you get a lot of well-paid contributors saying “yeah, me too”. 

 As a child who was growing up in the 1980’s and 1990’s, I clearly remember the rise and fall of the Televangelism and all of the scandals that exposed the made-for-TV sermons as being nothing more than a con.  Perhaps this is why I was most alarmed when I read several passages from this author about faith and total devotion.  My cult alarms were really going off after reading this.  I was surprised that the author had not quotes such famous people who espoused the same idea, such people as Charles Manson, David Koresh and Rev. Jim Jones.  But megalomaniacal serial killers tend not to sell many books outside of their own biographies.  Whenever someone claims that total devotion is necessary to have any success, I become very leery about what is being professed and hide my wallet.  The author claims that in order for “The Secret” to work as she claims that there must be devotion and faith that it will work.  If your wish hasn’t happened as quickly or as strongly as she claims, then you must not have enough faith or you have too much negativity around you.”  There’s the whole problem with her claim of the power of intent.  If there is an ill-effect to her theory or if you prove her theory to be false as nothing magical has happened to you, then YOU must be doing something wrong or be lacking in a certain quality as it is certainly not her theory that is deficient.  I wonder how many graduate students were laughed out of school with this type of attitude.

 This idea is nothing more than a rehashing of the old TV Evangelist saying “if you haven’t been cured, then you must not have wanted it enough or given the church enough money.”  This is a totally deplorable thing to say to someone who is relying on hope to make it through a difficult passage in life, whether it is debt, relationships or illness.  Try telling a victim of an assault that the reason they were hurt as badly as they were was because they did not want the attack to end soon enough and see what kind of reaction you will receive by those around you.  If you’re fat, it’s not because you eat too much or exercise too little; you have only the image of the fat body in your mind to blame.  If you have cancer, then you must have done something to attract this disease. You are the cause of all of your unhappiness and if “The Secret” does not change your outcome, then you must have had too much doubt or are too flawed to attract the power that every other normal person can enjoy.  You are not good enough for the all loving Universe to help with.  To the authors I say have you no decency and for shame!  You can guarantee that the author has follow-up books and movies ready to be sold for those who believe but can not achieve, hoping to capitalize on the hopes and fear of failures by t
...truncated for length

Edited by: scqigong on Sep 5, 2007 11:22:16 AM

The Secret is More a Hype in the West than the East

I saw the movie Secret much before it even got its acclaim. Did it affect me enough to go and tell people “This is Fabulous, you got to see it!!!”
No, it did not.
My contribution to this Pod is here:-
” Just as the Power of Attraction or the Law of attraction is at play all along in our destiny making or breaking, there are two more Powers or laws simultaneously and interconnected–working as well. Law of Repulsion–which is the Natural opposite of the Attraction aspect– and the second is “Natural or Cosmic Flow” This one–the latter– is at play at almost every moment even when we are not 'Consciously thinking”
Even while we sleep, Dream, Fantasize, Hallucinate or 'Pray an Outside God” there is a Cosmic or Natural Flow going on, which we are either partially or completely oblivious of. Once a person gets a feel of this and is in ABSOLUTE Sync with this, then the 'Personal Will of any individual or a group of Individuals” becomes completely encompassed by the Cosmic Will.

Just as Scientists are not able to discern completely what “Global Warming is?” many people can't see this “Cosmic Flow” without their Spirits being in alignment with the Spirit of the universe or the cosmos.
I have talked with Nanotechnologists, Genetic Engineering specialists who have told me quite frankly ” All the clones made by the scientific community thus far–namey Dolly's , Polly's and molly's– were all FAILURES in the sense that each of them came out with some “Birth defects” Why were they not able to 'Exactly replicate a human or an animal being?”
Because “The Scientific community has yet to recognize the existence of something called Spirit” So, for them to replicate that, they would first have to get what is a Spirit.
Same way–all these “Hypers" about the movies 'What the Bleep and Secret' must realize, the Spirit is “Completely impervious to Results or Outcomes”
Every Positive or Negative is based on our attachment to RESULTS. If we are not attached to outcomes, then there is no need for Worry, nor for Attraction or repulsion.
There certainly is a higher dimension of reality called 'The unified Realm of consciousness–where we feel Oneness with all that is”
How do we get there? not by Attraction or repulsion. Love can take you there.
Nobody talks about LOVE like before…maybe in the late sixties and before. The more we are going away from Love, the more deluded we shall get.
This was the highest quality in someone like Jesus Christ, who was an epitome of Love and he lived by example, neither was he Attracted to anything or by anything nor repulsed.
I am not even born a Catholic nor do I believe in the Bible and such, but I feel Jesus's main message is far more than all this Secret Hype—“Love each other equally and just Love unconditionally”
Much love n Light
Jagan Ramamoorthy
http://fiddlemaestro.com
(Some Great music in there)

Edited by: Joy Jackson, Life & Wellness Coach on Apr 30, 2008 10:17:55 PM

The secret was a good intro for a lot of people and a good reminder for others.

To call it a hoax or con is very interesting.  It exist and is to be interpreted by the viewer.

I have notice some of the teachers have definitely used this to reach a larger audience.  However this does not lessen the message that some people needed to hear or hear again.

Is is a magic pill?  Well no, nothing is.

Overall, I enjoyed both the book and movie.

-Lisa :)

Thank you for reminding me of the book, The Biology of Belief.  It's sitting on the shelf among myriad other yet-to-be-read books.  You may be interested in a couple of books that just came to mind: The Presence of the Past by Rupert Sheldrake and The Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot.  I too am a reluctant Texan.

Edited by: chinchillables on Sep 13, 2008 11:26:32 AM