The Secret
by Rhonda Byrne
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Book Reviews of The Secret
Book Review: OK... I'll Review The Book, But Whether You Love This Book or Hate It, This Is What Everyone Needs To Know...
Summary: 3 Stars
Before I go on any further, I want to say this: While I'm not going to (totally) bash The Secret like some of the reviewers on Amazon, I'm not a firm "flag waving" supporter of it either. That being said, it seems (at least with people I know) that there are alot of people who bash the Secret and the Law of Attraction in general without ever taking the time to read it. This, of course, is not just exclusive to The Secret, but other products as well. They just go by what little information they get from people they know (usually bias) and then they form their own opinions based on that bias. For me, personally: I did read actually read the book and the following review is based on my personal opinion and what I read:
Without going into the nitty gritty details (for that would be almost like writing another book in and of itself), I do want to say that alot of the things about the Secret, although they may be true and correct (if not common sense), are vague, difficult to understand and sometimes borders on mysticism/metaphysics. An example is when she talks about "inspired action" (see, told ya I actually read the book). I was like, "OK, well, taking action or `inspired action' makes perfect sense.". I wanted to know more about what inspired action is (although I had a clue based on my experience with self help and goal setting).
She then goes on to talk about how "inspired action" is about receiving and having fun. I was like, "OK... I still want to know what inspired action is.". No further explanation as to what exactly it is or how it works. Then again, according to the author, we don't need to know how it works. Just that it does work. OK (shrug shoulders). Moving on.
Alot of what the author mentions in the book I also got from reading other books about goal setting. For instance... she talks about writing your intentions and writing in the present tense (e.g.: I have a million dollars in the bank or I weigh 120ibs). This is something many goal setting books talk about. Not just hers. She just phrases it differently. I'm not sure whether the author got it from reading the same goal setting books I did, or the other authors got it from her or whether there's this huge conspiracy in the self-help industry to brainwash the entire world population into mindless puppets (or, in some cases, even MORE mindless than what they already are). OK... moving on.
There are some nice "surprises" in the book, though. For example: she doesn't (totally) belittle modern medicine and even mentions on page 126 how medicine can help. As a former full-time pharmacist, I can relate to that. Jump to page 128. Two pages later, she quotes someone saying how the power of right thinking can cure any disease. Really? ANY??? What about that talk about modern medicine two pages ago? Hmmm... Sounds contradictory to me. Either that, or the author is suffering from short-term memory loss and needs some... uh... medication (sorry... bad joke).
So, anyway, this book is quite general, filled with quotes from various people who contributed to this book. It also includes examples from her life and others that reinforce the teachings of this book. This isn't necessarily bad (like I said... some of these things actually make sense) and in in some of these cases, she's acting more like a cheerleader.
Here's the thing I want to say about the book and it's teachings: First off: I'm NOT going to take sides. Like I said, there are good things and there are... well... things I don't necessarily agree with. That's a personal opinion (or, more specifically, my personal opinion). Likewise, whether or not you like it, not like it, whether you give it five stars, one star, negative one star, blow it out of the stars, whether you believe in the Law of Attraction, the Law of Love (yes, it's the same as the Law of Attraction), Laws of Physics, Murphy's Law, Federal Law, Law and Order... whatever... this book has HELPED people. In some cases, this book has helped people IMMENSELY. Likewise, there are people who I'm sure has followed this book to the letter and it has proven to be a TOTAL WASTE of twenty-three bucks (or whatever they paid for it).
You DON'T need to read this book to achieve success. That's right. You could achieve just as much success and happiness WITHOUT reading a single darn thing in this book as the people who actually contributed (in some cases, you might actually achieve MORE). As a matter of fact, on page 179 of this book, a contributer mentions that if reading this book doesn't feel good to you, then LET IT GO. Find something that feels good, that resonates with your heart (I'm sorry... did I mention that I did read this book?). In other words: If you're NOT achieving success with this book, it DOES NOT (I repeat: does NOT) mean you'll never achieve success. Not agreeing (or liking) this book just means that your success story most likely won't be included should she decide to come out with... oh, I don't know... "The Secret II" or "The Secret Sequel" or whatever (it may have already come out by the time you read this review).
We all deserve success and happiness. It's something pretty much all of us want at some level and I'm sure most everyone will agree with me on this. You may find it in this book and you may not. If you find it in this book, great. If not, instead of complaining and hating those who did find it, go read another book or follow another self-help guru and find it there, or find it in God or... heck... come up with a method yourself. Believe it or not, most of the principles in self-help are not difficult to come up with.
Whatever you do, keep persisting until you find what you want, and I don't think there's a single self-help coach, life coach or Law of Attraction coach who would disagree with me here.
Book Review: A Veteran of New Thought Says This is SILLINESS AMOK
Summary: 1 Stars
I am 45 years old and grew up with a mom who had been part of the New Thought Movement since the late 1940s. Not only was she an adherent, she was a teacher and a lifelong student. Even she lost faith at the end of her life until I pointed out that she'd manifested exactly what she'd always wanted... someone waiting on her hand and foot, 24/7, paid for, with all her needs met. Granted, it turned out to be in a nursing home paid for by Medicaid and Medicare, but her care was excellent and it was truly a great facility.
And that's how it REALLY works. She spent her life dreaming these big "The Secret" style dreams... and putting her focus on the positive... and life dealt her some pretty crappy stuff anyway. She was so positive, in fact, I'd have to say she was in her own world most of the time. In the end, I was glad for that.
The Secret is a book of stolen ideas and compiled simplicities. New Thought, by itself, has some very valuable things to teach us about managing our minds and creating a sense of union with the Divine, however one defines it. What New Thought does NOT teach is that one should just sit around, thinking happy thoughts, and wait for the money (or whatever) to land in our laps. One can interpret it that way, but that's a very immature way to see it. What New Thought teaches is that by working to more closely align ourselves with the Divine, and allow ourselves to be an expression of that Divine, we will necessarily have a better life. Managing one's mind is the key, not wishing for things.
Like other reviewers, I am alarmed by the focus on "act like you're rich and you'll be rich". NO, you will be in debt up to your eyeballs and your friends and associates will view you as a snob with no grip on reality. The author would undoubtedly say that I just don't get it. Really? I was raised in New Thought... I did not find a book, or collect a group of "experts" that include Feng Shui (totally unrelated to New Thought) and money making seminar leaders.
This book illustrates the real danger in New Thought. It is very easy for a newcomer to take only the surface level idea of "improve your life" and turn it into something like "The Secret" - a shallow compendium of "get rich quick" thinking. The section on health is equally alarming. People get old. People get sick. People die. This is part of life. Does that mean we have to necessarily suffer greatly while doing these things? Not today -medical science has many options for making these realities easier for us to navigate. But the idea that aging is all in your head is patently absurd. Nature does what nature does. It is important to align oneself in a healthy way with what's real... some of what's real is the idea that yes, our thoughts have a profound effect on our lives (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, anyone?). But it is so much more complex than what this book asserts.
The author also does a tremendous disservice by never mentioning Ernest Holmes, the father of Science of Mind. Come to think of it, it's actually better... he probably would not want to see his work associated with such simplistic nonsense. She does, however, mention Charles Fillmore (who I met as a child at Unity Village, MO...) and Catherine Ponder (whose works my mother read a great deal... and which I have also read several times). Fillmore was a delightful man who walked in light and was a lovely poet... I am unconvinced he'd be happy about being mentioned in this book. Ditto Ponder, whose prosperity books talk a lot about God... not about wishes.
My point is this: Real New Thought is WORK. Doing it right is WORK. It is good work, and meaningful, helpful work to improve your PERSON-NESS. The problem with The Secret is the utterly silly way things are presented. Wish for it and it will be TRUE!!! Wonderful. I wish I was in Jamaica. I wish really hard... but here I sit in ice cold Colorado. I didn't want it badly enough? Of course... when it doesn't work, it's the fault of the wisher... when it does work, the author is a genius. Nonsense.
If you are actually interested in New Thought, start with The Science of Mind, by Ernest Holmes... the BIG book. Investigate Religious Science - preferably a group that is dedicated to old-school Holmes material. Read Mary Baker Eddy, though I don't recommend becoming a full blown Christian Scientist (though my grandmother was one and lived to her mid-90s quite healthy...). There are so many other options for getting at what the "secret" really is... that you are a child of Light, that you are manifest divinity... and the more often you awaken yourself to that reality, the better your life will become. It can't help itself...
In the end, my mom, after a lifetime of immersion in New Thought, was dismayed by the turn it took overall to embrace "New Age" silliness. She understood what was happening... and this book is a testament to the watering down and oversimplification of concepts she held dear and spent a lifetime studying. But in the end, she died well, in the manner she had wanted - cared for, peaceful, and surrounded by love. How dare this author contend that getting old is all in your head. It's very real, and if we are LUCKY, we will grow very old, surrounded by our families and loved ones. THAT is how you can tell a life was well-lived.
I am sorry to see that this book was so successful when it is little more than a get-rich-quick scheme for the author and her helpers. Great scheme... but bad medicine overall. Seek real New Thought, and you shall find it. As Richard Bach says, "You are never given a dream without also being given the power to make it come true. YOU MAY HAVE TO WORK FOR IT, HOWEVER..."
Book Review: New-age psychobably
Summary: 1 Stars
I think new-age philosophy will always be better than Christianity at reselling or redefining themselves into something that can be sold to the public at large. Trouble is, it's pseudo-Christian psycho-nonsense. Perhaps a new-age would think this being an attack, I like to think of this is as a revealing of what truth really is. At this site, you will find what the lie being sold in "The Secret" is.
The Secret is based on what is called the Laws of Attraction, which is this:
"The Law of Attraction is, "That which is likened to is drawn" or more simply put, "Like attracts like." It's all about where you put your attention. When you are focused on what you want, you are attracting what you do want. When you are focused on what you don't want, you are attracting what you do not want."
"2. The Law Of Deliberate Creation
According to the Law of Attraction, anything you focus on you create. The good news is that you can deliberately attract what you want. The Law of Deliberate Creation states, "That which you give thought to, believe, allow, or expect - is." The word "deliberate" emphasizes our intentions. Clarity is essential - clarity of what you do want/choose."
The book claims that it uses physicists in it's talks, but I am pretty certain there are some Laws, not theories in physics that this book is speaking of breaking. First off, the idea of actually creating something. Nothing can be created out of nothing. It's a law of science, I think, widely accepted. I also agree with the writer of Ecclesiastes 1:9 that there is "nothing new under the sun." Take websites. Aren't most of them a hybrid of newsletters, bulletin boards, and other forms of media already invented put in a digital space and streamlined for mass consumption? It talks about fulfilling desires through self-motivation, but faith gives us what we need.
I checked out the spiritual adviser on this book. I went to his website and got the overall idea of what it's about. My biggest problem with it is that it says they use the Bible and think of Jesus as a good spiritual and moral leader, but not God. As CS Lewis once pointed out, that is something impossible. They claim to use gnostic and Aramaic versions of the Bible, but even in the majority of those claim some sort of divinity to Him. It's philosophical idiocy to say a man claiming to be God is a good moral teacher if you do not accept His divinity. You can't have it both ways, either Jesus was God, He was nuts for saying so, or He was an agent of evil.
Which goes into my argument of identity being superior to positive thinking. Jesus didn't get His power from thinking happy thoughts like Peter Pan (which essentially is the argument "The Secret" creates.) He used the Holy Spirit to gain that strength because of who He was already before He had His first thought as a man.
My point is that it is faith, not positive thinking that gets me through the day. There's nothing wrong with having a positive attitude or thinking happy thoughts, but to say that is where our power comes from is ludicrous and gives human beings too much credit. The truth is we are a sinful creation who couldn't do a thing on our own if it were not for God.
I am reminded of the faith of the Centurion in Matthew Chapter 8. Here was a guy in power, who knew what Jesus could do. A follower of the Secret would say it was the Centurion's positive attitude that allowed his servant to be healed. That's a different thing than faith. If it were just a matter of positive thinking, why visit Jesus at all? No, it was faith. The man identified himself as a believer in the power of God manifested in Jesus. That doesn't mean he felt Jesus would heal the servant automatically. According to the Centurion, Jesus had to "say the word" and it would be done, but he didn't have to. The verse above emphasizes that healing isn't an automatic thing. Faith is a prerequisite and the power of God is the requirement.
I'm sure the authors of the book would think me narrow minded and simplistic for explaining such things, but there is a HUGE difference between faith and the power of positive thinking. Yes, it's good to get yourself into a good mindset before the big game, but what about when you're on the ropes? The major difference between faith and this new age psychobabble is that in faith, we are allowed to cry out to God, demand answers, yell, scream, and cry. We can weep at His feet with our sorrow without the knowledge of there being a brighter day. There is a time for everything under the sun, including dark times and bad thoughts. Faith allows us hope because, even if it gets worse, God is in control.
The biggest problem is what happens when that positive thought goes horribly wrong? We don't have God to blame or to help us with that, it's ours alone to own. We can't call it the will of God, but a lack of positivity on our part. The rug wasn't feng shui enough. Faith lets us put into account the idea that bad things will come into our lives as well as good. Positive thinking puts the blame on us when grandpa dies for thinking about how old he is too much instead of it might just being his time. Faith is not pretty, easy to package, and it isn't endorsed by Oprah either.
I can also share from personal experience that I tried several times gaining employment over the past few weeks without any results while thinking, "Today's the day, I find a job," but it wasn't until I put God first by saying I was going back into ministry as well that any doors really opened up in a good way. Who I am in Christ is more important than any of my thoughts.
Book Review: An honest evaluation
Summary: 3 Stars
Let me start by saying that there is a law of attraction and it does work every single time. We are all connected energies. That may sound a little too New Age for some people, but it is true nonetheless. It is magnetic energy that holds us to this planet and keeps the law of centrifugal force from propelling us into outer space. It is vibrational frequencies that allow us to listen to music on the radio or even contact friends on our cell phones. We do not see these frequencies, but they are all around us at all times. It is our energy frequencies that also connect us to each other. If you could see into the world of vibrational wave frequencies, you would see your like frequencies connecting to like frequencies of others and also to all of the elements of the known universe. Understanding this concept is the foundation to understanding the law of attraction.
There is something powerful and beneficial to be learned from every one of the contributors to this book. I personally consider Lorel Langemeier, Bob Proctor, Denis Waitley, and Jack Canfield to be treasured mentors. What I have learned through their books, CD's, and seminars has brought me immeasurable success in my life. However, there are some philosophical and logical difficulties in The Secret that you need to be aware of.
The first difficulty is the concept that God is the Universe. God is not the Universe; He is the Creator of the Universe. What has happened here is that science has made discovery after discovery that seem to point to the fact that the elements have some sort of intelligence. Dr. Wallace Wattles, author of The Science of Getting Rich and the inspiration behind The Secret, taught that there is a consciously thinking substance from which and by which all things are created, and that all things are made from this same substance. This is absolutely true except for the belief that the substance is conscious of itself. Even the very cells of our body are little intelligent beings. However, none of them are conscious intelligences. They are reactionary intelligences that are designed to work in harmony with the many laws of creation. The great mistake that Wallace Wattles and many of the proponents of The Secret are making is that they are worshipping the creation instead of the Creator. God used these same processes to create this universe, and He designed it so that we could use the same processes to be creators just like Him.
For those who believe that God is the Universe, I highly suggest studying the works of Raymond Moody, Melvin Morse, and Elizabeth Kubler-Ross. I would also ask that they look further into the philosophies of the Bible. They have found in it the process of creation, why not use it also to discover the character and nature of the Creator? God loves us all very much. Doesn't He deserve to be recognized for whom He is?
Another difficulty is the claim that because of the law of attraction we are responsible for all things that have happened in our lives. This is extremely illogical. First of all, the law of attraction states that we attract the image that we consistently maintain in our minds. When a woman is raped and beaten, does this mean that she has consistently thought of this until it manifested? If this is the case, then why prosecute the rapist? Weren't he and the woman in cahoots? When the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, were all of those people thinking the same thing? How many of the little children were thinking consistently about death? The more you think about it, the more ridiculous it becomes. There are other laws of creation than simply the law of attraction. There are laws of association and laws of community. We live in a sea of wills and we are affected by what others are attracting even though we ourselves have not attracted the same.
This brings me to the problem of singling out the law of attraction, while virtually ignoring the many other laws of creation. There is also the Law of the Spoken Word, the Law of Sound, the Law of Emotion, the Law of Sowing and Reaping, the Law of Consumption and Elimination, The Law of Association, and several more. All of these laws must work in harmony with each other. When we learn to operate them properly, we will become truly limitless beings on this plane of existence.
There are great truths to be learned in the teachings of The Secret, but one should exercise caution in regard to some of its more extreme philosophies. Other than that, it is a very well written, entertaining, provocative, and enlightening piece of writing.
James Riddle is the author of The Complete Personalized Promise Bible series and the founder of Living Your P.A.T.H. LLC. To learn more about him go to www.promisebible.com or www.livingyourpathseminars.com.
The Complete Personalized Promise Bible: Every Promise in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, Written Just for You (Personalized Promise Bible) (Personalized ... Promise Bible) (Personalized Promise Bible)Complete Personalized Promise Bible on Financial Increase: Every Scripture Promise of Provision, from Genesis to Revelation, Personalized and Written As ... Promise Bible) (Personalized Promise Bible)The Complete Personalized Promise Bible on Health and Healing: Every Promise in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, Personalized and Written As a Prayer Just for You
Book Review: Finally Reviewing The Secret, after Four Years
Summary: 4 Stars
Believe it or not (ooh I think that phrase needs a copyright symbol?), it has taken me FOUR years to get around to write this review. Maybe from some kind of subconscious spin, parts of mine inner self purposefully delayed the review until I had the chance to reflect four years later and "check" if the ideas behind The Secret actually worked. Well, since I gave the book four stars, take a guess as to the outcome.
Foe me, it's not a debate of whether "The Secret" works, but rather it is the discovery that the simple ideas and philosophies that anyone can learn within (and by watching the video) are indeed real, and they do work to improve one's life.
First, I'll quickly run through the goofiness that I didn't care for in the book, and then the rest of my review will turn positive. I didn't care for the fact that money was treated as something that should be "attracted." I wasn't too impressed by the prolonged discussions on wishing for objects and feeling like you already have them. This is a bit silly. I was also less than impressed with a general lack of empirical evidence to support this Law of Attraction, which indeed is a law but NOT a scientific law.
Those were my only major gripes with the presentation of "The Secret." But now to turn the tables, I praise what Rhonda Byrne has done. She has taken the most difficult complexities of life, especially those areas that seem impossible to understand, and simplified them in a fun and thought-provoking way. Perhaps she may have over-simplified the idea that like begets like (the Law of Attraction), and she was certainly not the first thinker that engaged us in the ol' power of attraction. But one thing is certain: Whether Byrne gets credit for it or not, this kind of thought process is POWERFUL.
Just for kicks, after I finished reading the book, I watched the video too. I will always fondly remember that huge ball of elephant dung in that dude's living room, for some reason. Because I was intrigued by everything I collected so far, I researched this type of New Thought for a long time. After months of refinement, I formed my own unique approach to the Law of Attraction, and the big and general analogy between Aladdin's Genie and the universe itself.
IT WORKED. I applied a fun and effortless pattern of positive thinking, about projecting a positive attitude, and about focusing on everything good. Another big theme of mine was constant gratitude. I made sure I was grateful for everything, including just to be alive (I should have died in my car accident 20 yrs ago, but was uninjured).
I placed an order with the universe to stick me into a job at a technology startup, and it happened. I placed an extra order to get us acquired by a larger company so I could grow in that manner. We got acquired by Intuit. For a while, it felt unreal. The more things that worked out in my favor, the more strongly this poofy puffy Law of Attraction was doing its job.
Then two years later, I got laid off. WTF, universe? Where's that genie, I'll kick his bubble-butt...
I was pissed. I did not order this. I also tripped and fell on the sidewalk later that day, got accosted by two homeless people that evening, and in a totally unrelated event, my damned tooth mysteriously broke and fell out! Maybe the universe finally ran out of good "stuff" for me and was now universally out-of-stock?
Within two days, I realized what had happened. No, the universe's clearinghouse didn't shut down. It was me! I had asked for all of this, and I got it. Here's how: Over the last year preceding my layoff, I became strongly socialist in my economic and political views. I also became extremely anti-corporate, which meant that I was pro-individual. Ta-daa, so in effect, I ordered a detachment from that damn corporation and didn't even know it, and I got what I ordered. That was good!
But remember that I was pissed off on the day I was laid off. I thought "WTF else will go wrong today?" Well, the ol' universe heard that too and rushed to fulfill the order. I think it did a same-day delivery, because I tripped and fell, lost a tooth, and later got accosted by slobbering thugs who came from the instant-delivery catalog of the universe itself. That original stream of my own piss-off made a 360-degree arc and sprayed me right in the face. :O
Once I realized that the layoff was a GOOD thing, I erased all of the other bad junk that happened to me that same day, which was simple and effortles. I switched to thinking very positive again, which was easy since I had already been doing it every day for the past few years. I haven't looked back since, because there has been no need.
Life. Is. GRAND. :)
So you see, it is not necessary to take every word in the book literally, and this book shouldn't develop a "following." There shouldn't be people walking around and saying "Oh hai, have you applied The Secret today?" If someone came up to me and asked that, I would laugh in their face, saying "You fool! You let the secret out!! NOOOOO! It's not much of a secret anymore, is it!"
Rather, you should accept the interesting concepts in this book as stepping stones, beyond which you will naturally open up more possibilities for yourself. Let the book inspire you to go out and do your own research on positive thinking, and the law of attraction. Do this, and trust me, your life will truly change in exactly the ways that Byrne and the other experts swear upon.