The Secret (The Secret #1) eBook PDF

Bethany

Rating: really liked it
this website is too kind. one star means "didn't like it". I hate, hate, hate this book with absolute passion. sorry if you like oprah but she seriously did the world a disservice by recommending this book. apparently there is a dvd also that i don't even think i could stomach. so here's the concept behind "The Secret". You can attract good things to you through your good thoughts. Ok, I'm on board with that. It has worked for me. Ooh, I already knew the Secret! too bad I didn't use it to make millions like this chick! But no, it goes further. You attract bad things to you through your negative thoughts. Well, negative thoughts are pretty useless, so I can see benefit in trying to decrease or eliminate them. And one time (true story) I did get robbed while traveling after worrying about it for 3 weeks. BUT. There is no gray area with this one. According to the author, people who are raped, killed, maimed, tortured - they all bring it on themselves with their negative thoughts. The people in Darfur should be thinking "here comes the food, there go the guns". The book goes on to say that weight management is simply a matter of "thinking thin" and not looking at fat people (for real), that if you have a stack of bills to pay you should instead picture checks coming in, that you can have everything you want through visualization, such as your hands on the steering wheel of your car, and that you can cure your cancer watching funny movies. There is a weak chapter at the end about how you can use your Secret powers for the common good, like world peace, but why would you want to waste it when you can be driving your new Hummer? I would go so far as to say that this book is not only BAD but it is DANGEROUS. It promotes the self-absorbed, materialistic, shallow outlook of predominantly rich white people to the exclusion of the rest of the planet - while managing to blame them for their problems and justify those in possession of the Secret for not using their visualized wealth to promote social change. Aah, brilliant. genius. avoid this book. do not give money to this woman and her brilliant marketing pyramid!

Gabriel

Rating: really liked it
A horribly-written and assembled collection of tripe; it has no cohesive voice, no cohesive theme, and is completely facile in its analysis. I literally threw the book across the room when I read, 'Quantum Physicists will tell you the universe was created from thought!'. No, numbfucker, they won't. Not to mention the 'facts' they assert don't have citations to lend those assertions the slightest hint of credibility.

If you want me to believe that 'thinking positively will lead to success because your energy and focus will follow and, in turn, develop into what you hope for' then fine, I'll go down that road with you but this is just shit.

This is 'What the Bleep do We Know' blended with 'The Celestine Prophecy' blended with a steaming turd. My wish, universe, is that this book be banished to Cthulu's hell-mouth and regurgitated as Kevin Trudeau's doppelgänger. Make it so!

Varmint

Rating: really liked it
went to dinner with the boss lady the other night. she went on and on about this wonderful book. it was truly life changing. and she was already seeing the positive results of applying principles from it in her business and personal life.

she wasn't able to really articulate any ot those principles, so she just gave me a copy. went through it the next day.

holy crap. my employer, the person that i am financially dependent on, is a fruitloop. am updating my resume now.

Maggie

Rating: really liked it
I had a long review and I got too many responses to it. Comments and emails, and strangers connecting with me because of this review.
So I deleted it.

Here is what I will say now
I once gave this 5 stars. I have since changed it to 2 stars.
My focus is on something else now. This book is fine but I don't recommend it any more but other books instead...
If you are looking for control over yourself and future, Its in being as close to God as possible.
How to do that and what that looks like is a much longer explanation and individual for everyone.
Good luck on your journey!

RB

Rating: really liked it
Should this book be classified as FICTION or NON-FICTION? I have no idea, but what I'm inclined to do is classfying it as DELUSIONAL...

The Law of Attraction. Whatever you send out of positive thoughts to the Universe comes back to you, ten fold at least. It's a bit like "karma" and positive thinking with a twist: You want to money comming to you? Just visualise it and it will happen. You want to be thinner? Just visualise that food has 0 calories!

Quote from the book:
Food cannot cause you to put on weight, unless you think it can.

Well, I guess that's why this person is so insanely fat; she must believe that the food she eats has many calories and fat! Someone should have explained to her that it's 0 calories and good for her!

Yes, people ARE that stupid to believe in all the stupid claims that Rhonda Byrne writes.

By all means, I'm all pro positive thinking. I'll go as far as to say that: yes, negative thinking gets you nowhere and that positive thoughts healthier for you - the glass is half full and all that.... BUT..... Jeez Luise! This book is just up there next to Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist: worst self-help fantasy BS ever written.

But what is even worse is that the "author" blames people for their own misfortune: you get AIDS: too bad, you were not thinking positive enough; you are a raped child: too bad, you were not thinking positively enough; you get hit by a bus: too bad, you were not thinking positively enough; your dying of starvation: too bad, you were not thinking positively enough. You ended up in the gas chamber in WWII: too bad, you were not thinking positively enough. You get the idea. Needless to say how incredibly condescending and trivializing this must appear to people who are enduring pain and distress in their lives (whether that be emotional, physical or professional is irrelevant). It's actually quite disgusting when you sit back and think about it! That ms. Byrne's getting away with it and earning millions on it at the same time is beyond me. She must be the most positive thinking person in the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usbNJM...

Katharine Grubb

Rating: really liked it
I wasn't interested in reading this book. I thought from the reviews of friends that it was pretty obvious stuff. However, I listened to the audio version. I sort of laughed at first and thought, "duh". I promised to listen to the whole book on CD, and as I listened, the connections between what the author is trying to communicate, and what many world religions try to communicate is huge. I am not a religious person. I found this book inspiring because I wasn't being told that God created the universe and that if I pray to Jesus that HE will take care of me. Finally, I was getting a confirmation that if I live a positive life, and if I really attempt to understand the connection between why I am here, and why the world is here, then I can live a better life. There are even segments of the book that answered all of my cynical questions such as, "then just focus all your thoughts on getting revenge to those you hate", "I didn't give myself this disease", and "I am a victim". Many folks think the whole book is bunk because it gives an air of personal responsibility, and I can see why they would hate that. It's so much easier to blame others. There are parts that I think are simplistic. But who says life has to be all that complicated? Why not try living this secret to life for a year and see what's possible?
I highly reccommend LISTENING to this book. I think I would have a hard time reading it.

Tharindu Dissanayake

Rating: really liked it
"What are you thinking now is creating your future life."

The Secret: This is completely different from what I was expecting. I had hoped this to be a regular self-help book or a philosophy book, but it never felt like belonging to either of the two. For me, it felt like a concoction of self-help, spirituality, psychology, philosophy and a little bit of business too. It was obvious from the very beginning, that this is not the kind of book that will get a lot of mid-range reviews. Most readers are going to go with either 1-star or 5-star ratings, which means you either love it or hate it, not in-between.

"Whatever you sow, you reap! Your thoughts are seeds, and the harvest you reap will depend on the seeds you plant."

Let's talk the good first. The content of the book is as simple as it could get. The author uses a perfectly simple style of writing, and nothing is complex. But what standout the most, is the enormous amount of quotes from other books and authors. It did take some getting used to, but I have no complaints about that. Everything attempts to shift one's attitude toward establishing a positive mindset, to practice the adaptation of The Secret. Byrne goes above and beyond to let the principles sink in by repeating the contents all over the book, but that is not that unusual in spirituality/ philosophy reads. If you had expected this to be a spiritual or positive thinking kind of book, you're most likely to love it. Importance of having the mind filled of positive, constructive thoughts is explained very elaborately, while delivering a meditative/ relaxing reading experience.

"Time is just an illusion. Einstein told us that."

However, the main concept: The Secret - it's where all the controversy would probably start. If you have read Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich, or Power of your subconscious mind by Murphy, or Peale's Power of Positive Thinking, and found them helpful, you'll feel right at home from the start. Byrne proceeds along the same set of principles - or a combination of them - but the emphasis on the 'unforeseeable force' is lot stronger. But if you have not read anything similar, or hated aforementioned books, this book is not for you in my opinion. The inherent limitation to The Secret is that, there's no way to logically explain the mechanism. Books like Think and Grow Rich, or Power of Your Subconscious Mind do attempt to shift the reader's pre-conceived opinions profoundly (which was the case with me) - either with logic or strong examples - but The Secret relies entirely on reader's acceptance of the principles without argument. This is going to be a deal-breaker for a lot of rational readers.

"You cannot harm another with your thoughts, you only harm you."

As for me... I didn't hate it. Hadn't I gone through Hawking's simplified explanations of quantum mechanics, or the books I've mentioned before, I probably wouldn't have found the content believable at all. I mean, the book itself did not feel capable of shifting the reader's already accepted beliefs. But, after Hawking's Grand Design and Briefer History of time, where he explained how 'thoughts' do change past and future according to quantum mechanics in a very interesting way, I find myself unwilling to disregard these concept entirely. Also, Dr. Murphy's Power of Your Subconscious Mind - one of my favorite books - approached some of the principles outlined in The Secret much more scientifically, which had shifted some of my views previously. So, for me, this was a 3.5-star read. But the end of the day - even with all this being said - if and when you pick this book, I still think you're either going to hate it or love it - nothing in-between.

"What quantum physicists and Einstein tell us is that everything is happening simultaneously. If you can understand that there is no time, and accept that concept, then you will see that whatever you want in the future already exists."

Shannon

Rating: really liked it
God, I am so sick of The Secret. I just can't understand why everyone is so enthralled with it. That book is at the top of every bestseller list and it's total crap. You're not going to get what you want by thinking about how much you want it. I mean, yes to positive thinking and all that, but the part they left out was that you actually have to DO something to make things happen. Jack Canfield (whose involvement should turn you off automatically) didn't really sit around staring at the ceiling waiting for a million dollars to fall out of the sky. He sat around writing nauseating stories and then got rejected by a ton of publishers before someone who likes nauseating stories bought his book. I mean, Chicken Soup for the NASCAR Soul? Come on, guy. Now you're just making stuff up.
Don't get me wrong, The Secret has some valid points. You should envision your dreams. You should think about your goals constantly and imagine what you would do if you ever achieved them. But you should also think about and envision the steps you need to take to get there. Then you should act. Do something! The world is not just going to hand you what you want.

Just a quick edit: I forgot to mention the absolute worst part of The Secret. It's your fault that bad things happen to you. That's right, your negative thoughts bring negativity into your life and cause horrible things to occur. Your father died in a tragic accident? Your fault. Your baby mama took off with the kids and won't let you see 'em? Your fault. Laid off and can't find work? Your fault. If you could just think positively all the time, you'd live a charmed life and trouble would never darken your doorstep.
Ugh.

Matt Evans

Rating: really liked it
(Excerpted from an online essay I wrote): To be sure, the so-called Secret represents a financially viable means to wealth, obviously so, but let's be clear: only for Rhonda Byrnes, The Secret DVD's producer and book's author.

Thus, Byrnes would have you believe that the world's wealthy, distinguished and famous—every last luminous one of them—attained their high position by dint of simple adherence to a secret law: The Law of Attraction. She shits you not. Furthermore, they (the world's rich, celebrated, and leisured) have all conspired to keep knowledge of this law from the rest of us. Einstein, Plato, J.P. Morgan, Mozart, Sir Isaac Newton, Beethoven, and the Rockefellers, among others, are all given as examples of this mighty (and mightily secretive) Them.

There are problems with this theory. For starters, the Law of Attraction isn't really a secret. Self-help books with a metaphysical bent have preached this stuff for centuries. I mean, just walk into your nearest New Age bookshop and pick up the first book you see; it will undoubtedly mention something about the Law.

So is Byrnes lying to us? Not exactly. Harry Frankfurt, a Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Princeton, puts it this way in his little book On Bullshit, "[The Bullshitter:] does not care whether the things he says describe reality correctly. He just picks them out, or makes them up, to suit his purpose" (p. 56). A liar, you see, at least recognizes the truth enough to know that he's departing from it; a bullshitter couldn't care less—just show her the money.

The Law of Attraction, then, is the bullshitter's belief that one can change the objective world alone by the power of thought—forget action; in fact, eschew action. If your belief is strong enough, says the Law, your dreams and desires will come to you much as a steel screw hops across a tabletop and slaps into a powerful magnet. This is the "As you sow, so shall ye reap" philosophy minus any actual sowing, a fairy dust notion that we all at one point in our lives have espoused: it's called magical thinking. We're supposed to outgrow it.

When I was four years old I had an invisible friend named Kenny. His existence, such as it was, may or may not have originated in direct response to my sister Amanda's birth, an event which made me an oldest child instead of the only child in the family. Unlike my busy mother, Kenny always paid attention to me and let me have my way. I loved Kenny. My mom eventually forced me to go outside and play with real children. Predictably, Kenny soon disappeared. The Secret would explain the account thus: my early imagining of a perfect playmate eventually attracted other, more corporeal playmates into my reality. Which is true—at least to the degree that we forget about my mom forcing me to go outside.

What follows, then, is an arbitrary list of some of the "authorities" that appear on the DVD, the trained animals of the circus or the witch's evil monkeys, depending on the metaphor, waxing explanatory on the The Secret. But don't imagine the monkeys as evil; rather, picture streetwise capuchins earnestly working a cheap accordion with their tiny, hairy hands, glancing up now and then with a smile, anxious to see if you've put a coin yet in their dented tin cups:

Dr. John Demartini, D.C. (Doctor of Chiropractic).

Marie Diamond, internationally-known Feng Shui mistress. Diamond, a Caucasian, speaks with an inexplicably strong Asian accent, a la Seinfeld's Donna Chang.

John Assaraf, "a former street kid…who has dedicated the last twenty-five years to researching the human brain, quantum physics, and business strategies, as they relate to achieving success in business and life." In the film, John relates an account about the power of visualization whose denouement has him crumpled on the floor and weeping, the former street kid, because he found a picture of a house in a box.

Michael Bernard Beckwith, "a non-aligned trans-religious progressive"—your guess here is as good as mine. Beckwith also claims the title of doctor, although God alone knows where the title comes from. Beckwith, ever the walking conundrum, dresses in a sharp suit, speaks in patrician tones, and sports a wild head of dreadlocks.

And Ester Hicks, spokesperson for Abraham, a multifarious spiritual entity. She is the author of The Law of Attraction. (Byrnes, Rhonda, The Secret, [all presenter material from the book The Secret BIOGRAPHIES section, pp. 185-198:].)

Esther Hicks is no longer a featured presenter in The Secret "Enhanced" DVD. Why? It's hard to say. Esther's website quotes Abraham, the spiritual collective she channels, on the topic: "It is our desire that you be easy about all of this. There is nothing that has gone wrong here…." (Email communication between author and Hicks's company)

Esther is a pleasant-looking, middle-aged woman. She has a serene presence, almost comforting. She also has the most attractive voice I've ever heard—very earthy, very sexy. I find it difficult to reconcile that voice with anything close to its putative paranormal personae.

Even though the author's of The Secret (and anyone else swept into their rhetorical corner) probably aren't consciously lying to us about their great happiness at having discovered the Law, I have suspicions that somewhere deep in their hearts something like a moral question prickles and goads. For instance, how should one respond to a crisis of, say, Darfur proportions? Should the suffering of stranger Africans on a continent far, far away be of concern if, ultimately, all that matters is how I feel? Esther asked Abraham (the multifarious spiritual entity) for clarification on this very matter:

...I used to be extremely disturbed when a person's rights were violated by violence on a person, or by someone forcefully taking someone else's property....But then, after meeting you [Abraham:], I got to the point that I see all those things they're doing with others as "games" that they're playing—more or less "agreements" that they have between one another, spoken or unspoken. I've gotten somewhat better at not feeling their pain. But can I get to the point that I don’t feel anything negative when I see someone violating the rights of another? Can I just look at whatever they're doing to one another out there, and think, You're all doing to one another what you have somehow chosen to do? (Ibid, pg. 142)

That might, to some ears, sound a little cruel, this idea of blaming the victim for attracting the perpetrator. The upside, of course, is that such a belief absolves we standers-by from stepping in and offering help. Let's take as an example the recent shooting at Virginia Tech. Apparently, if the Law of Attraction holds true, those 32 men and women somehow attracted their crazy executioner to themselves. Mass homicide, in this light, is simply a game played between the shooter and his frightened victims.

Rhonda Byrnes attempted to defend this belief in a telephone conversation with Newsweek's Jerry Adler (cite link). They were speaking on the topic of Rwanda, which dwarfs Blacksburg in terms of scope but certainly not in terms of horror:

If we are in fear, if we're feeling in our lives that we're victims and feeling powerless, then we are on a frequency of attracting those things to us...totally unconsciously, totally innocently, totally all of those words that are so important.

Totally. Totally those words that are so important, whether thought or spoken consciously or not, let the victims enjoy their just deserts. It's true that any survivor of genocide or attempted homicide is responsible for picking up the various shattered pieces and attempting to make something of what's left of life. But to pretend that tragedy is nothing more than a game is to diminish its victims suffering in the cruelest possible way. The word "compassion," incidentally, comes from the Latin com + pati, to bear, suffer. If compassion would have us bear another's suffering, what then is its opposite? What is the word for ignoring or minimizing another's suffering for the primary purpose of easing the bystander's discomfort, and, as Law of Attraction espouses, the dubious secondary purpose of somehow inspiring the sufferer to quit wallowing in his own tragic juices?

Am I overreacting here? I feel like my parents yelling at me for listening to Heavy Metal music. But the question, remember, was whether one could actually reach a state of consciousness where he isn't bothered in the slightest by another's pain or suffering. Heavy Metal music, on the other hand, was meant to be a (tongue-in-cheek) solace to teenagers suffering under their parents' heavy hands. There is a difference: the Heavy Metal promise is a lie, the other is bullshit, albeit scary bullshit.

Here's a secret: the Mother Theresas of the world will be remembered long after the Rhonda Byrneses have faded from collective memory for the same reason that generosity of spirit is appreciated so much more than selfishness. Magnanimity represents the apotheosis of human nature. Success, lasting success, takes place only when one figures out how to best serve a large number of people. Real people, real service first, the money will probably follow. Bullshit, on the other hand, bullshit sells well, for a time -- perhaps even for a long time -- but it's not exactly a worthwhile endeavor.

Evgnossia O'Hara

Rating: really liked it
"You are the masterpiece
of your own life.
You are the Michelangelo
of your own life."

I believe!
Thank you!

Ollie

Rating: really liked it
I'm sure this book only exists thanks to The Da Vinci Code. Sensing a public interest in ancient "secrets" passed down to modern times, the publishers of this awful piece of self-help decided they could market Rhonda Byrne's book and make a killing. They were not wrong. In Brasil, it's spreading like an Old World plague: the film tie-in is always rented out in videostores, and the book is in the top 10 bestseller list. Swept up by its popularity, my mom brought a copy home.

Much like George Bush Jr., this book is equal parts stupid and disturbing. The stupid part comes in its mind-boggling belief that anything you ask from the Universe will become true, that everyone deserves (and should) pursue their most selfish desires in order to be happy. Want big boobs? Ask the Universe and you will get it. Want a great parking space at the shopping mall? The Universe will help you like a genie in a bottle. Knowledge found in Eastern religions such as Buddhism (e.g. Karma) are simplified and described as a "secret" that only the elite are aware of.

The disturbing part comes in statements such as the one, early in the book, that says people killed in disasters or crimes brought it upon themselves. According to this book's reasoning, if you find yourself gassed to death with millions of other people it's because you were following negative thoughts and unable to see the Universe's path to your salvation. This is, at least, the conclusion I draw from the book's teachings. It shifts blame from other people, or life's chaos, onto yourself. Contracted cancer? Your fault. Robbed and shot in the head? Your fault. Became a millionaire? You are in tune with the Universe.

Much like The Da Vinci Code I couldn't make it past page 60. Be very wary of anyone that likes this book.

Jan-Maat

Rating: really liked it
In hindsight, I feel I was too kind with this book, it makes far more sense simply to describe it as evil.

It encourages victim blaming - since they only have themselves to blame for bringing their fates upon themselves for a lack of positiver thinking, and ultimately encourages the reader to blame themselves since when their wishes fail to become fishes there can only be one reason - the positive thinking wasn't quite positive enough, or didn't have quite the perfect tone of positivity to it. And in typical dreariness it discourages through its victim blaming an understanding of yourself or of the structural disadvantages that you may contribute towards in your society though acts of commission or omission that keep the less fortunate always on the back foot.

Perhaps the most worthwhile comment I can make about The Secret is that it is fascinating as a cultural document (view spoiler). It is a book that provides an insight to the preoccupations and fears of one of the wealthiest, healthiest and long-lived societies in human history. What it evidences is an obsession with gaining even more money, having even better health, and appearing eternally youthful (view spoiler). Dressed in the language of Quantum physics (view spoiler) there is an appeal to magical thinking. In The Secret God may or may not be dead, however the universe is benevolent, but stupid (view spoiler), and functions as an infinite catalogue for the pleasure and delight of all people who can order up whatever they want from existence by simply wishing for it. However there is a catch. You have to wish for things properly, by wishing only once and visualising (view spoiler) what you want precisely. If you haven't got anything back from the universe this is because you plainly haven't been wishing in the proper manner.

It would be strikingly ungenerous of me to say that there is nothing of value at all in The Secret, but making much of what value there may be would be rather like pulling out a cherry from a bowl full of cockroaches. It can be done, but you wouldn't want to eat the it even if you did. This is not then a book whose contents I endorse or advise any one to take personally (view spoiler).

The general idea is that you wish for something, visualise it. Then the frequency you emit at the quantum level (view spoiler) changes, the universe then responds to that frequency. If the frequency we emit is one of mega wealth, huge houses and soul mates then that's what we get from the universe. While if it is of sinking ships, world financial disasters or war then that is what we gets back.

Perhaps you feel doubtful about all this - but fear not for here come some celebrity endorsements! According to Byrne all these people taught the same message: poets such as William Shakespeare, Robert Browning, and William Blake delivered it in their poetry. Musicians such as Ludwig van Beethoven (view spoiler) expressed it through their music. Artists such as Leonardo da Vinci depicted it in their paintings (view spoiler) . Great thinkers including Socrates, Plato, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Pythagoras, Sir Francis Bacon, Sir Isaac Newton, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, and Victor Hugo shared it in their writings and teachings... (p4). There's nothing like a celebrity endorsement. Particularly when the celebrity is too dead to take issue with it.

Later on we are told that Andrew Carneige, Abraham Lincoln and Henry Ford also all knew and practised The Secret (view spoiler). But I find the mention of Goethe particularly interesting since his Faust and what Byrne is presenting is a similar kind of fairy tale. Except that in the folk tale tradition the three wishes, the genie out of the bottle, or the pact with the Devil, all come with a sting in the tale. For Byrne the sting is ignored and instead we get a pure dose of wish fulfilment. Midias and his golden touch would be seen as something positive and not as frightening, alienating and eventually potentially fatal as it was.

Still, there is a sting. Firstly you have to be perpetually positive (view spoiler), then you have to not listen to anybody who is still than positive for fear of your thoughts being infected by theirs and thus attracting some negative outcome to yourself (view spoiler). Finally if you accept that you are in control of your fate and the nature of your existence by means of being able to change the world through your wish power, then it follows that all other people can do the same and have only themselves to blame for every way that their lives are less than perfect, and ultimately if you have debt, only a bare hovel to live in, are sick, or even age, then you only have yourself to blame.

This is a belief that embraces the alienating effect of modern life as its centre piece. You are alone, you can't help others, you should not even listen to them. Instead you are to focus intently on your own desires. There is no room in The Secret for collective organisation and action. No families, no joint partnerships, no professional organisations or unions to deal with the problems and difficulties that we experience in our lives. Instead there is only the atomised individual. In place of the concrete joys of conviviality and relationships with actual people there is an abstract relationship with the universe which as mentioned above has a limited understanding of language and functions purely as an unlimited catalogue.

"Everything that surrounds you right now in your life, including the things you're complaining about, you've attracted"...

Often when people first hear this part of the Secret they 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 (view spoiler). 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

...You have a choice, and whatever you choose to think will become your life experience.

Nothing can come into your experience unless you summon it though persistent thoughts.
pp27-28

If you are complaining, the law of attraction will powerfully bring into your life more situations for you to complain about. If you are listening to some one else complain and focusing on that, sympathizing with them, agreeing with them, in that moment, you are attracting more situations to yourself to complain about p17

I find the mention of events in history where masses of lives were lost a fascinating example of victim blaming - particularly in the context of Australian and American history. In the nineteenth century commentators took the view that aboriginal peoples would die out because of their inherent inferiority and ability to cope with the modern world (view spoiler). Now when their populations have been much reduced we can blame that on their inability to think happy positive thoughts. This is a book that works to re-enforce the existing status quo. Those who are successful can only be so for their ability to think positive thought and attract good things to themselves, while those who are not successful are the victims of their own inability to properly visualise what they want as opposed to having face some structural disadvantage in the way that society is ordered.

One can see here how this approach makes life easy in a way. One doesn't have to understand or appreciate the world and the circumstances of other's lives. One can straight away be judgemental: they brought it on themselves, whether it is cancer, war, contagious disease, or bad architecture. (view spoiler)

Victim blaming fits well with The Secret's role as a cultural document. Although it does seem to refine the concept. The good news is that if I punch you it is your fault. I am innocent, you attracted that punch to yourself through your lack of positive thoughts. Indeed it I seize you, carry you off to a offshore enclave, hold you in captivity for over ten years, torture you from time to time, without any legal process this is also something you attracted to yourself through negative thoughts and quite rightly I will be well paid for doing so because I think only positive, nice, thoughts and therefore attract as a modern Midas glittering palaces, big cars and multiple soul mates to myself (view spoiler).

It strikes me that The Secret will appeal to people who are intimidated by evidence of the world's complexity and feel out of control. The Secret says very firmly that you can, indeed should be, in control. However since sickness, old age and death exist wouldn't belief in this book give rise to anxiety (view spoiler)? Every time you have a cold or find a grey hair you are confronted with evidence of your own inability to think insufficiently positively!

You don't have to mad to live this life, but if you are...
In a newspaper article I read a journalist interviewed the psychologist who wrote the second report on Anders Brevik - the one which found him sane. In response to the journalist's question about how appropriate his finding was the psychologist responded that hundreds of people have written to Brevik in prison all praising him for his actions - are they all insane too, he asked rhetorically.

My response would be yes. But then perhaps to be sane in the world would be the most insane reaction one could have (view spoiler). We don't for the most part notice the amount of insanity around us because on the whole it doesn't cause that much friction. It's only in books like The Secret that the inner craziness of people's private lives gets laid out in public:

The law of attraction states that what you focus on you will get, so I got a bank statement, I whited out the total, and I put a new total in there. I put exactly how much I wanted to see in the bank (p104)

A game I created that help shift my feelings about my pile of bills was to pretend that the bills were actually checks. I would jump for joy as I opened them and say, "more money for me! Thank you. Thank you." I took each bill, imagined it was a check, and then I added a zero to it in my mind to make it even more. I got a notepad and wrote at the top of each page "I have received," and then I would list all the amounts of the bills with an added zero. Next to each amount I would write "Thank you," and feel the feelings of gratitude for receiving it - to the point where I had tears in my eyes. Then I would take each bill, which looked very small compared to what I had received, and I would pay it with gratitude! (p105)

Still my favourite part of this book is a fine example of how irrational the rational world of business can be.

The true story of a Belize oil team is an inspiring example of the power of the human mind to bring forth resources (view spoiler) The directors of Belize Natural Energy Limited were trained by the eminent Dr. Tony Quinn, who specialises in Humanistic Physiology training. With Dr. Quinn's mind power training, the directors were confident that their mental picture of Belize being a successful oil producing country would be achieved...and in one short year their dream and vision became a reality. Belize Natural Energy Limited discovered oil of the highest quality, in abundant flows...Belize has become an oil-producing country because an extraordinary team of people believed in the unlimited power of their mind.

Nothing is unlimited-not resources or anything else. It is only limited in the human mind... (pp148-9)

Oil production in Belize took off in late 2006, peaked in 2010 and remains in steady decline.

Probably not my final thoughts
If the idea of the universe as a complex place that requires understanding makes you uncomfortable, if the idea of bad things happening to good people is a problem for you, then books like The Secret hold the solution. It's offer is that life is simple. Everybody gets exactly what they are due to get, everything works fine just as it is, and you can be in control.

This could be a reassuring message for some, particularly since it relives you of the exhausting work of having to appreciate the world, all its interactions and how we are all implicated and bound up with one another - allowing you to get on with the business of being judgemental instead.

It doesn't work for me because it requires a pretty contorted view on existence as far as I can tell and its focus on material goods leaves me cold. It also doesn't just recommend ignoring a good chunk of the normal experience of human life but recommends vigorous self censorship to achieve a kind of cargo cult effect - only through the thorough imitation of the assumed thought habits of the rich and famous can one achieve the unlimited power to alter the geology of Belize.

I'm left with the odd feeling that the author read Foucault's Pendulum and thought that those guys were really on to something with "The Plan".

Is it is surprise that our society throws up a book like The Secret from time to time, and it is apt that it appeared on the eve of a financial crash, a clear and vigorous trumpet blast at odds with complex and shifting reality.

Jessi

Rating: really liked it
I love The Secret. I watch the DVD whenever I need a shot of happiness. It's basically pretty common sense, what you think about and talk about the most is what you get more of. Where the attention goes, the energy flows. If you constantly talk about being broke, or sick, or depressed, then that's what you will get. Even if you're bank account, health, or mental disposition is not currently where you'd like for it to be, you completely have the power to take one little step at a time in the right direction. No matter how adverse a sitation gets, surely there must be something that makes you happy, something that you are essentially grateful for -- Awesome friends and family, loving pets, a roof over your head, a kick ass music collection, etc. Maybe you can't control everything that others do or say, but you really truly can choose your reaction, you really truly can choose how you want to feel and even though we all face challenges, we can decide to do the best we can with what we've got at any given moment. The secret kind of distills a lot of really heavy but totally useful info compiled from esoteric spiritual and scientific texts into a simplified, easy to practice formula. You get what you think about!

McWriter

Rating: really liked it
Ick. This book was just. So. Not believable. At the beginning, the author writes about the law of attraction, specifically that if you believe in something, it can happen - like, if you believe you will one day fall in love, marry, and have a family or if you believe you will succeed in education and earn your PhD, than, doggonit, you can.

It's as the book continues and the words change from "can" to "will definitely" that the author lost me. For example, if you want a certain amount of money, say $100,000 for a down payment on a home, and if you think about it totally positively, and mentally stamp out any negative thoughts, like, "Who am I kidding? I'll never have that money," then you WILL DEFINITELY get that money. And in a timely fashion. With no strings attached. Like magic.

The author lost me mid-book and I never finished. I want my money back. Oprah, I love ya, but this was a BAD recommendation. Even the biggest optimist has to get REAL at some point. (Easy for one of the richest, most powerful women in the world to fall for!) Come on, I say - COME the HECK ON!

Paul Perry

Rating: really liked it
This book is so inspirational! It turns out that by just believing and wanting really hard you can get whatever you want out of life! And if that doesn't work you can write a vacuous self help book full of profound sounding but utterly meaningless tripe and there are enough stupid people in the world to make you rich! This book has also taught me that I don't need to care about other people; if they don't get what they want it isn't anything to with me or anything to do with society being fair or equal, it's because they didn't wish hard enough or learn to visualise what they want! I used to give a lot of money to various charities – cancer research, rape support groups, third world aid – but I've stopped that now because I realise that the problems people have are because they secretly, deep down, wish them upon themselves, and only they can make their lives better! It's sad if a child dies of leukaemia or lots of people are killed by a tsunami or a train crash but something in them brought it on themselves, and anyway they'll get another chance in the great circle of life and they should try harder next time. And by 'try harder', I don't mean actually work to achieve anything but just wish really hard, because it turns out that all sorts of brilliant people like Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Mozart, Beethoven, Plato and John D Rockefeller were successful not because they worked hard or were particularly smart or talented but JUST BECAUSE THEY KNEW THE SECRET!!!!!

NOTE: Just in case there is anyone who is especially slow on the uptake, this is sarcasm. I'm not that shocked that this book exists but that it has apparently sold somewhere in the region of 21 million copies really does make me worry for humanity. Does the author (and her contributors, the most qualified of whom are described as “a doctor of Chiropractic” and another “an internationally known feng-shui mistress”) actually believe this bollocks, or are just using it to milk the stupid. And if you believe in this book there's no sugaring the pill; you are a moron. A shallow, self centred, vacuous moron. I would happily spit in the face of Ms Byrne, any of her contributors or people who worked on the DVD. Yes, there is a lot to be said for the power of positive thought – because it can change your own attitude and behaviour! There's a whole field of psychology based on that idea called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. There is nothing mystical about it. You know the old saying, "the universe doesn't owe you a living"?

Some of my favourite quotes:

“Nothing can come into your experience unless you summon it thought persistent thoughts.” Damn, those Jews were pretty careless before WW2, weren't they?

“Quantum Physicists will tell you the universe was created from thought!” Really? Truly? Okay, NAME ONE. Seriously, just one published quantum physicist who is taken seriously by the scientific community.

“Our feelings let us know what we’re thinking.” What? What does that actually mean?

And the best, from Ester Hicks, conduit for a spirit called Abraham (seriously):
“...I used to be extremely disturbed when a person's rights were violated by violence on a person, or by someone forcefully taking someone else's property....But then, after meeting you [Abraham:], I got to the point that I see all those things they're doing with others as "games" that they're playing—more or less "agreements" that they have between one another, spoken or unspoken. I've gotten somewhat better at not feeling their pain. But can I get to the point that I don’t feel anything negative when I see someone violating the rights of another? Can I just look at whatever they're doing to one another out there, and think, You're all doing to one another what you have somehow chosen to do? “

Detail

The Secret (The Secret #1)

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