I have stayed away from reading The Secret precisely because what I had heard about it portrayed a method for control... and the use of control to "get what you want." The 4 Noble Truths teach us that such "wanting" or desire is one of the causes of suffering.

hi Jeanne,
yes, The Seceret talks about "co-creating" your own reality. taking responsibility, if you will. it's also about the Law of Attraction and manifesting. when we reside in a state of lack vs abundance, always thinking that we never have enough, it's hard to get what we want because we hold the fundamental belief that we will never HAVE enough. but, if we open to the idea that we live in abundance and trust we are already getting what we need, then this sets the Law of Attraction in motion. if you like, you can read a little more on manifesting: http://ladyguru.blogspot.com/2007/04/manifesting.html
thanks!
karen

The problem with "The Secret" is that is glosses over many distinctions of awareness, that those who have engaged in consciousness development for years, will find annoying and inaccurate.

A larger issue is that the distinctions between mind, thought, emotions, being, awareness and consciousness have no clearly agreed upon, universally accepted, definitions to start with, and that the Secret is intended for the Beginner.

Therefore the distinction between mind, thought, reflex emotion and actions, and awareness has no precise meaning for many beginners...even as authors.

Perhaps anything that helps Beings begin the engagement in developing their awareness is to be honored and saluted as encouraging growth and finer awareness....and rather than criticizing the format, we should celebrate the genuine effort to advance all sentient Beings.

"Do Everything with so much Love, you would never want to do it another way."
Yogi Amrit Desai.

Love and Aloha, Virginia Beck, Kaua'i

I find it very surprising that this book was recommended to me by several people, especially my yoga teacher! This book is ridiculous. Especially the part where the author insists on the power of intention : if you have positive thoughts about money, cheques will start pouring into your mailbox! That's what happened to her, she says. Well, of course, the money came from all those people who bought her book. This book is a bad joke!

First, I think that people asked to comment should have access to a blip in favor of "The Secret" in addition to the brief argument against it. That said, The Secret is a lie. It says you can have what you want if you focus the right way on it. Happiness does not depend on getting what you want. Rather it relies on realizing what you have.

First, I think that people asked to comment should have access to a blip in favor of "The Secret" in addition to the brief argument against it. That said, The Secret is a lie. It says you can have what you want if you focus the right way on it. Happiness does not depend on getting what you want. Rather it relies on realizing what you have.

"the secret" seems anti-yoga to me.
in book 1 of the yoga sutras of patanjali,
he writes:

drsta anusravika visaya vitrsnasya vasikarasamjna vairagyam
The first state of vairagya, desirelessness -- cessation from self-indulgence in the thirst for sensuous pleasures, with conscious effort.

and later:

Isvara pranidhanat va
Success is also attained by those who surrender to god.

My understanding of "the secret" is that it is about how to get what i want, how to indulge my desires. i didn't see anything about surrender, it was all about the idea that, like a god, i can make all my dreams come true on my own.

it's hard to imagine this fitting in with the ideas of letting go of my desires and surrendering to god.

I think it is the most beautiful and yet the simplest thing ever discovered. I honestly have noticed my life is alot more pleasant, and things are going alot more smoothly since discovering it. I have the DVD and watch it as often as I can.

I read The Secret and found a lot of it pretty good, but disliked he idea of using the power of intention just to get the things you want (i.e new cars), that seemed to be a running theme. Yoga Sutras and Buddhism, as well as Christianity teach us not to focus on material results and gain. Giving instruction on how to use a spiritually wonderful tool for your own material gain seems wrong, and there is no talk of giving, equanimity or compassion. It was okay, but there are much better books out there on a similar subject that do not have the slight element of greed about them.

It amazes me how individuals interpret the same message in so many ways. For those with nothing but criticism for "the secret" don't get it anyway, too bad. It is a message for us to realize we are responsible for our own happiness and success in this life, attracting what is good for us can only make a better human.

The secret is a short video and book prepared to introduce a very complicated theory to the masses. I've had the opportunity to read tens of books and take entire weeks of workshops to study and strenghten my own practice. Most people haven't. I think it is a wonderful introduction and if it gets people sitting down for 10 minutes a day, maybe they will get interested and futher their own study. Oprah has done much for spirituality and I am thankful for her.

For those of you that are new to The Secret, the movie came out before the book and was patterned on the movie "What the Bleep do we know."

In the movie "What the Bleep" one of the main teachers is the channeled spiritual teacher, "Ramtha." In the original version of The Secret it was based upon the teachings of "Abraham" as channeled by Ester Hicks. Pick up the Book "Ask and it is given" to learn more about Abraham.

Sometime in 2006, before Oprah, the attorney's for The Secret told all of the people in the movie that they had to totally give up all control of their content or they would be removed from the movie. The Hick's decided that they would not do that so in the version of the movie that made it big, the second version the Abraham content is removed.

I have not seen the second version and maybe the movie has changed a great deal from the original version. But the essential theme of the movie is, "You bring into your life what you focus upon most!" Sounds pretty anti-yoga to me, NOT!

Everyone seems to be focusing upon the materialism of the movie, which didn't even phase me. "Maybe you only see what you focus upon, like materialism?"

Things The Secret said in addition to you can manifest wealth:

If you focus upon love, you will manifest love in your life;
If you focus upon peace, you will manifest peace in your life;
If you focus upon health, you will manifest health. In this vain, they have a man, the Miricle Man, that was paralized and told everyone in the Hospital, "I'll walk out of here in one year. And did!" Sounds anti-yoga to me, LoL.

A yogi learns a posture by "seeing" the guru do the posture, and then focusing mentally, physically and spiritually, trys to manifest the posture in their body. People come into yoga with some desire. Is not spirituality the result of a burning desire for one to connect with the ultimate, source, God?

Zen is quite adept and bringing out the irony of non attachment. To focus upon non attachment is to be "attached" to non attachment.

Poonja-Ji, the Successor to Sri Bagavan Ramana Maharshi told one of his students who had broken the pot, "Be a good business woman." I guess Poonja-Ji was anti-yoga. Because how can you be a good business woman without focusing upon profit?

It is a wonderfully abundant world that we live. The theme of The Secret is that the the life that you are living, the world that you are living in is your responsibility. If you focus upon pain, suffering, hate and greed. You will bring more of it into your life. If you focus upon joy, happiness, love and abundance, you will bring more of that into your life. Dr. David Hawkins, the author of Power Vs. Force says, "Karma is who you are today at this moment in these circumstances. What your future holds will depend upon what you focus on at this time."

I think that this movie has truly brought "spirituality" to the forfront of American though. And the fact that we are having this discussion is a miracle. We should celebrate the fact that The Secret will make more people look to Yoga, Zen and other spritual methods. Rather then argue whether every nuance of the movie is correct.

That is my two cents. To quote Poonja Ji

"Om Shanti Shanti Shanti"

Sam Naples

Max,

Yes, I should also included a positive "blip." The fact that it has sold more than 5 million copies seems like there are plenty of folks out there who are willing to endorse this book.

I personally liked The Secret, the first part states" start each day by being grateful for what you have"I think that is the key to Yoga and I didn't find any contridictions in getting what you want out of life with the Yoga sutras. If you live with a pure heart and compassion for others you will receive endless rewards.It has worked for me.

I think The Secret is a load of trash. How dare someone claim that I or someone I love has fallen gravely ill, etc. because I "attracted" it with my thoughts. I believe in positive thinking, but I think The Secret takes this idea to an unhealthy extreme.

Thanks Mel. You bring up a good point.

To Jocelyne Brault:
Dear Jocelyne, this soul read your comment on "the secret", and between the lines it sees a soul with lots of anger....I bet you get a lot of that from the world? Anger and rage!
Money seems to be a thing you are really angry about...
You are living proof of the law of attraction: you get exactly what you emit: anger and shortness of money.
Love Jerry

My well-meaning sister bought this for me at a time of extreme personal crisis. My opinion is that the ideas expressed promote a "grasping" of sorts that I understand to be contrary to yoga and Buddhism. It is well to meditate on appreciation for the abundance one already experiences, but let's not perpetuate the notion that if one does not posess an abundance of materials then perhaps you have not been spiritual enough...maybe something is wrong with your mind. Since grasping was a primary issue in my crisis, this book was not helpful.

The philosophy of The Secret is similiar to setting an intention for practice or linking to infinite intelligence. The teachings of Abraham-Hicks is more profound then reflected in the book.