Do you believe in "The Secret"?

Question

Have you had any experiences that prove it's true?

Answer 1

Yes and No...

Yes... The ideas are based on very ancient ideas/theories/laws of the universe.

No... The way they are marketing "The Secret" and other such material is too simplistic, and is more about the acquiring of welath and materialistic things. These ideas run MUCH MUCH deeper than the material world, and are MUCH more complex than they explain.

If you start to do a LOT more research on the ideas of Law of Attraction, Law of Detachment, etc etc etc... You will be led back to the ancient beliefs/ideas/theories held by many of the old world religions (Early Christianity, Buddhism, etc..)

In short, there is MUCH more to it than what they reveal in the movie/book "The Secret". BUT, the movie/book is a good starting point.

Keep digging.


EDIT::---
Oh, and yes I have had numerous experiences that prove these universal laws true. But, as I said above, it is much more complex than merely the LoA (Law of Attraction) and how they explain it in the movie/book "The Secret."

With LoA, you become focused and attached to an outcome (your desire/goal). But when we are focused on a desire/goal, our mind is actually thinking about 2 things (and bring both about in our reality).

The first is of what we want (our desire/goal).
The second is of not having it already.

Most people do not realize that these two thoughts highly conflict with each other. (i.e. On one hand, we want such-n-such, and LoA says that it will come to us by thinking about wanting it. But, on the other hand, our mind is also thinking, "Gosh, i don't have such-n-such right now which is why I want it." Thus, LoA brings that reality to us also, creating conflicting realities and slow changes around us.)

This is why an individual needs to become versed in much more than just these basic concepts that are taught in materials like The Secret.

I think you will find that using the concepts of the LoA and the concepts of LoD (Law of Detachment) together bring about much better results.

LoD (Law of Detachment) is about detaching ourselves from the NEED to have that desired goal that we want; in other words, being happy with what we have right now while still keeping an eye on our desire and goal.

For example::
We'll use money as the thing we want (since its what they do talk about in The Secret)... Lets say I want more money. If I only believe in the LoA I will think, "I really want more money, because I need to pay bills and it would be really nice to have extra cash to spend." This would be the conscious thought, while the subconscious is thinking, "Gosh, I don't have the amount of money right now that I wish I had, and it really sucks not to have that extra money."

As you can see, LoA doesn't just work with your conscious thoughts, but both. So, this is where LoD comes in. Keeping both in mind, the thought would be this... "You know, it would be really nice to have some extra money, and I am going to look out for opportunities the universe will give me to take action and attain that money, BUT if that money doesn't come like I think/want it to come I am not going to beat myself up over it, because I am going to be happy with what I do have and make it work if necessary. I will leave it to the universe (to God) and just go with the flow; whatever happens happens."

Some might say, "But that's just normal thinking, everyone always does that." But, I think you will find that more people will still hold a negative outlook on things and focus their attention more on the negative than the possitive. LoA by itself can tend to do this to a person. There MUST be a healthy balance, but it is ALWAYS much better to stay happy and have a great positive outlook on things. Things tend to happen more in your favor when you do.

Hope this helps. Please look these terms up. And look deeper and deeper into some of the ancient concepts...where these ideas came from. You're on the right track! =D

Answer 2

No. Nobody has.

"I wasn’t going to bother with this, but numerous people have emailed me to ask when I’m going to review The Secret, and as it seems to be everywhere I decided I should give it a look.

I’m not going to watch the entire movie, though. As I wrote here, I’ve seen enough to get an idea if something is worth bothering with before I even start. And I don’t have to read every book or watch every film someone tells me about if I don’t think the book or film’s premise makes sense. However, I found the first 20 minutes online for free (I’m definitely not paying to see this film), and I’m basing this review on that initial 20 minute segment. If you think I’ve missed some crucial part of the film by only seeing 20 minutes, you can tell me what I missed, in the comments.

So, what is the big Secret?

The Secret is what they call the Law Of Attraction – the idea that you become or attract what you think about the most. Or as one person expressed it:

“Thoughts become things.”

This is presented as a literal truth – a law just like the laws of gravitation. And it is stated that this:

“Always works every time”

Note: always. And every time. No exceptions. It’s a Law, you see.

Examples are given. A man is shown worrying about being late, and so he gets stuck in a traffic jam. Another man is shown locking up his bicycle, presumably because he is worried about it being stolen; he returns later to find it has been stolen. The absurdity of these examples should be obvious. Are we supposed to believe the traffic jam wouldn’t have happened if it were not for this one guy worrying about being late? And what about the other people in the traffic jam? Were they all thinking negative thoughts about being late? Were there no positive-minded people in the area, thinking about being on time? And if there were, doesn’t that debunk the “always works every time” mantra? And what about the guy getting his bike stolen? Are we to assume that if another guy had left an identical unlocked bike at the same location, the bike thief would still have stolen the locked bike of the person worried about theft? Has anyone done a controlled study on this? (Hey, these were the examples used in the film – don’t blame me if they make no sense.)

As with What The Bleep, it is implied that there is science behind these revelations. For example, there was this from the self-proclaimed "visionary" Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith:

"It has been proven scientifically now that an affirmative thought is hundreds of times more powerful than a negative thought."

Really? Proven by which scientists? And written up where? Because I couldn’t find it.

Not a Law

Of course, the basic flaw in all this is that the Law Of Attraction is not a Law like the Law Of Gravitation that they compare it to. Newton’s Law’s can be demonstrated by anyone – drop an object and its acceleration will be exactly as the Law predicts. And this really does “always work every time” – that’s why it’s a Law. The “Law Of Attraction” as they call it just doesn’t work that way. Although having a positive attitude, being confident, believing in your own success etc is a definite advantage, and should be encouraged, having positive thoughts will not send out magic brainwave frequencies that change reality around you. This brainwave “magnetic signature” as one person called it, never goes out, any time. Not in the real world.

Equivocation

As with What the Bleep, you should watch out for equivocation. Expect believers to point out that being positive, confident etc will make people react more positively towards you, will tend to make you more successful etc. And it will. But they are equivocating about a lesser version of The Secret – a lesser version that does not support the “thoughts become things” and “it always works every time” woo version.

The film featured some of the same luminaries as in What the Bleep. I noticed John Hagelin and Fred Alan Wolf. And the “you literally create your day with your thoughts” nonsense is pretty much the same as What The Bleep was trying to sell. It wasn’t in the first 20 minutes, but I’m sure that before the end, quantum mechanics would have been evoked to justify all the mystical conclusions. Unfortunately, Quantum Mechanics, and even the Copenhagen Interpretation, does not say this is the way the universe works.

And that’s no secret.

Answer 3

Well science says positive creates positive and negative creates negative. If you do not believe this, try your own experiment--Go into a family and start an argument and watch everyone become negative--or go into a family gathering of some sort and be positive and see what happens! It will amaze you.

I am not familiar with "The Secret" --however, God does say--"As a man thinketh, so is he" in the Bible (KJV)--

I do believe that positive thoughts can help you throughout your day--it's about energy--ever notice how folks get when spring is in the air and the sun comes out? More positive!

Answer 4

This is probably not what you wanted to hear, but it is a copy of portion of a letter that I sent to a friend who asked me the same question after I watched the move version of "The Secret" on DVD.

You asked for my opinion, and here it is.

The I watched the movie "The Secret", and the general gist of it is that you should become more spiritual simply because becoming more spiritual is the best way to get all of the (material) stuff that you desire – money, cars, bigger house, good health, etc. You must realize that what the author is saying is the exact opposite of the core teaching of practically every religion in the world. Most religions teach that if you become more spiritual, then you won’t actually desire material stuff anymore – because that is what it means to be “spiritual” in the first place (as opposed to being “material”).

Put it another way: most people would agree that “spiritual” is the word that describes the intangible stuff of the universe. If you want more money (which is the subject of at least half of the DVD), a gold necklace (like a woman in another example given), or a bigger house (like the actor in another example) – then you obviously desire tangible, material things. Most religions would teach that if you become more spiritual, then you’ll become indifferent as to whether you have these material things or not -- because you will not desire this tangible stuff anymore. If you are truly spiritual, then it shouldn’t matter if you have a big house or a little house, as long as you have a roof over your head of some sort to stop the rain (and if you are really spiritual, then you don’t even care if you have that). If you are really spiritual, then you should be somewhat indifferent as to whether your material, physical body is sick or well -- you are going to be happy anyway, even if you have terminal cancer (your body is just a material thing anyway). I realize that this is an ideal, and that it may not be completely possible, but it is the goal of being “spiritual”, as opposed to being than “material”.

The book "The Secret" is teaching an oxymoron – a material form of spirituality.

This book does teach some half-truths. One of which is the general idea that if you focus on negative stuff, then you will make yourself unhappy, which means you will treat other people badly, which means that other people will dislike you and treat you badly back, which means that you will become more negative, which means that you will treat other people worse, and so on in a downward spiral. In that sense, you actually do attract problems into your life since negative, unhappy people annoy and anger the people around them (without you realizing it), and they in turn annoy you back in order to get even, which annoys you more and makes you more negative, which annoys them even more and makes them want to get even, and so on in a downward spiral. Happy, positive people tend to bring out the best in others, while unhappy, negative people tend to bring out the worst in others. And happy people do attract their own kind (and unhappy, whiny people attract their own kind). In that sense, you do create your own destiny, because you reap what you sow (as the apostle Paul said), but there is nothing magic about it – it is basic human physiology.

They are also correct about the idea that living a life of “gratitude” makes you happier, because you focus on, and appreciate, what you have -- instead of focusing on what you don’t have. This happiness also attracts other happy people. But I disagree with the idea that you should become appreciative simply because this prompts the universe (or God) to give you even more than what you now have. If you appreciate what you already have, then you don’t really desire anything more (think about it), so she is teaching another contradiction in terms, or at least a contradiction in concepts, again. By the way, I don’t think that being content with what you already have necessarily leads to a lack of ambition -- unless you are inherently lazy. But if you are so lazy that only greed can make you ambitious, then you probably have another problem (but I digress).

Last of all, of you are a Christian, is seems to be wrong to equate God to a genie who gives you whatever you ask for even if you didn’t earn it, deserve it, need it, or irregardless if you will benefit from it or not. The Christian God is a parent, not a genie slave. A parent has the right to veto your request if your parent thinks that you are asking for something that is no good for you, or for something that would otherwise spoil you & ruin your character. Your happiness comes from accepting whatever it is your fate to receive, because you assume that God knows what he is doing better than you do, and that he actually does desire the best for you -- even if what is good for you is something that you initially do not want or desire.

===edit===

If you are interested in the "Law of Attraction" and its history, try the wikipedia article at the link below:

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...Criticism of the Law of Attraction comes from many directions. In the main stream media, talk show hosts such as Larry King have pointed at the sufferings in the world. If the Universe manifests abundance at a mere thought why is there so much poverty, starvation and death? It has also been pointed out that most of the people discussed in recent books live in a culture that has paths to allow people to overcome adversity and that the same is not true for much of the world...

Answer 5

The Secret? No, because if anyone knows about it its not a secret anymore.

Answer 6

I consider "The Secret" to be quite repulsive - a self-oriented perversion of the otherwise helpful "power of positive thinking" outlook. It is stunning in its un-humble, self-divinizing outlook.

I see "The Secret" as quite similar in outlook to the Sith in Star Wars. Its proponents depersonalize God into something like "the force", and then seek to use it to gain wealth and power.

Answer 7

I believe in the secret, I just don't know what it is.

Answer 8

Yes of course, that is if "The Secret" is "The Secret"

Answer 9

I don't have health insurance, I'm gonna get fined out the *** for it too. Health insurance doesn't heal anyhow, not a good comparison.

Answer 10

There is a secret and I don't know about it?