What is the Secret?

Film, Movies, Personal Development, The Secret | Sandra | February 21, 2007 at 16:24

You keep hearing about the movie, but The Secret is not a movie per se, as it has no plot, although it does tell stories. It is a DVD of interviews of thinkers and doers who reveal a law of energy dynamics giving the practitioner great power over the circumstances of his life. It utilizes dramatization, like Biblical parables, to show us the many faces of the human condition and how the application of a few simple rules can bring us what we most desire in life. You can order from the DVD from Amazon.com.

Let me take you back to the moment of my introduction to the Secret. I was skeptical; I thought it too glib, too reminiscent of the Discovery Channel, imbued with melodrama and hyperbole. But when I got past the packaging, I began to see a magical concept that was, in fact, not new to me, but which I had never formulated and consciously practiced.

The great Secret, which is really no secret at all, is that our lives are governed by a Universal Law known as the Law of Attraction. Our thoughts, in the mental universe, manifest events and objects in the physical, non-mental universe. Now what does THAT mean? Do we just visualize a new car, a new job, a new boyfriend and it magically appears? The film, in its edited version, comes dangerously close to giving that impression.

The hard work part, so essential in the process of manifestation, seems to have largely been left on the cutting room floor. Certainly the idea of "asking, believing and receiving" has mass appeal. The addition of working really hard on a plan to achieve makes it a little less magnetic. The mantra probably should be "ask, believe, achieve, receive."

Interviews with the contributors in the film underscore that all of them have worked very hard to get where they are today and are concerned that the message of the Secret might lead people astray. James Ray, Michael Beckwith, Lisa Nichols and Jack Canfield appeared on the Feb 8 Oprah Winfrey Show and expressed their unease. I attended a Breakthrough Experience Seminar with Dr. John Demartini, who was emphatic about the necessity of a Life Plan and disciplined, focused efforts to achieve goals.

But none of that really negates the core message. Each part of "ask, believe, achieve, receive" is essential to manifest what we desire in life. We must use our mental energy in a way that communicates or transmits to the greater energy field of the universe – creative thoughts which will attract what we want, not what we don’t want. The theory is like energy attracts like energy. If we are concentrated on what we don’t want, that is exactly what we will manifest!

It is a very simple concept, really, and one that has worked very well in my life in the past. It seems that, in the process of living an adult life, with all its responsibilities of children, family, work, I had lost touch with the magic that I had once lived by.

The Secret gives you certain practical tools to assist you in maintaining focus on what you want and to avoid obsessing on what you have that you do’t want or what you FEAR you will have. These tools include developing a sense of gratitude for the people, things and circumstances that bless your life. It is the state of gratitude that attracts more of those things you are grateful for. It is a habit that must be developed and cultivated.

You must learn to visualize your goals and dreams. Create "Vision Boards" which help you see exactly what it is you want and where you are going. I thoroughly enjoyed putting together my vision board, clipping photos from magazines, downloading images from the internet, collecting phrases that expressed my desires, such as "Wonders of the World,""Experience Freedom," "The Royal Treatment." I downloaded a photo of a male college graduate with fists raised in joyful "I did it!" I pasted the smiling face of my 21 year-old on the image so that I am constantly envisioning that glorious occasion to come.I glued my cutouts into a collage that hangs above my computer. I feel good every time I look at it. That, in itself, is worth gold.

Rhonda Byrne wrote the book, The Secret, in 2006. Can you imagine any book at any time becoming such an instant bestseller? It is simply mind-boggling. She herself was going through a terrible time her life when her daughter gave her a book published in 1910 called The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles. Looking further, Rhonda discovered Wattles had also written The Science of Being Well and The Science of Being Great. These three books literally changed her life and gave her a step-by-step system for success in all areas, not just financially.

You will certainly recognize the basic tenets of the Secret from Wattles and you will also note his emphasis on the working plan to help the Law of Attraction along. Now in the public domain, you can download The Science of Getting Rich FREE. From this start, Rhonda Byrne began her quest to trace the precepts of Wattles writings back through history.

Obviously, the Law of Attraction is not new. It must by definition have always existed. She provides quotes from powerful figures of the past, quotes which she says demonstrate that they understood the Secret and applied it to their lives to reach the heights of influence they achieved. The first quote of the book is from the fabled Emerald Tablet of Egypt, circa 3000 BC, which allegedly translates as "As above, so below. As within, so without." Certainly the ancient Greeks believed that the microcosm is a reflection of the macrocosm.

Rhonda Byrne then set out to bring her message to the world. The best means of communication today is film with distribution through the internet. It is the fastest, cheapest, most efficient way of reaching the most people. And reach people, the makers of The Secret have indeed.

According to Dr. John Demartini, one of the featured contributors to the DVD, more than 700 million people have viewed the film, with a viewership of one billion expected shortly. It is being translated into three languages, which will spike the numbers dramatically. She certainly has hit a goldmine, and I begrudge her nothing. It was an inspired idea that found its place and time in a world that was obviously starved for hope and motivation, unfulfilled by traditional religion, philosophy or spirituality.