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The Secret #1
The Secret
Alternate cover edition of ISBN 9781582701707.
The worldwide bestselling phenomenon that has helped millions tap the power of the law that governs all our lives to create—intentionally and effortlessly—a joyful life.
In 2006, a groundbreaking feature-length film revealed the great mystery of the universe—The Secret—and, later that year, Rhonda Byrne followed with a book that became a worldwide bestseller.
Fragments of a Great Secret have been found in the oral traditions, in literature, in religions, and philosophies throughout the centuries. For the first time, all the pieces of The Secret come together in an incredible revelation that will be life-transforming for all who experience it.
In this book, you’ll learn how to use The Secret in every aspect of your life—money, health, relationships, happiness, and in every interaction you have in the world. You’ll begin to understand the hidden, untapped power that’s within you, and this revelation can bring joy to every aspect of your life.
The Secret contains wisdom from modern-day teachers—men and women who have used it to achieve health, wealth, and happiness. By applying the knowledge of The Secret, they bring to light compelling stories of eradicating disease, acquiring massive wealth, overcoming obstacles, and achieving what many would regard as impossible.
The worldwide bestselling phenomenon that has helped millions tap the power of the law that governs all our lives to create—intentionally and effortlessly—a joyful life.
In 2006, a groundbreaking feature-length film revealed the great mystery of the universe—The Secret—and, later that year, Rhonda Byrne followed with a book that became a worldwide bestseller.
Fragments of a Great Secret have been found in the oral traditions, in literature, in religions, and philosophies throughout the centuries. For the first time, all the pieces of The Secret come together in an incredible revelation that will be life-transforming for all who experience it.
In this book, you’ll learn how to use The Secret in every aspect of your life—money, health, relationships, happiness, and in every interaction you have in the world. You’ll begin to understand the hidden, untapped power that’s within you, and this revelation can bring joy to every aspect of your life.
The Secret contains wisdom from modern-day teachers—men and women who have used it to achieve health, wealth, and happiness. By applying the knowledge of The Secret, they bring to light compelling stories of eradicating disease, acquiring massive wealth, overcoming obstacles, and achieving what many would regard as impossible.
199 pages, Hardcover
First published November 28, 2006
About the author
Rhonda Byrne
43 books5,143 followersRhonda Byrne is an Australian television writer and producer, best known for her New Thought works, The Secret—a book and a film by the same name. By the Spring of 2007 the book had sold almost 4 million copies, and the DVD had sold more than 2 million copies. She has also been a producer for Sensing Murder. According to an article published by Australia's Herald Sun, Byrne has also worked on the Australian TV series World's Greatest Commercials and Marry Me. In 2007, Byrne was listed among Time Magazine's list of 100 people who shape the world.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 16,069 reviews
July 18, 2007
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!
September 21, 2018
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!
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!
February 6, 2009
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.
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.
October 21, 2017
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!
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!
September 29, 2014
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...
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...
October 30, 2011
بصراحة ما دفعني لقراءة هذا الكتاب والبحث فيه هو حجم الترويج والحديث الكثير عنه، وحجم الجدل الذي دار حوله سواء في عالمنا العربي او في العالم الغربي نفسه.
قمت بقراءة النسخة العربية منه واطلعت على النسخة الانكليزية ووجدت أن فيه بعض الاشياء الجميلة والايجابية التي تدعوا للتفاؤل في الحياة، لكن فيه منطق وأفكار غريبة وخطيرة تتنافى مع سنة الكون والفطرة التي خلقنا الله عليها.
تتلخص فكرة الكتاب في الآتي:
- أن هناك شيئاً اسمه قانون الجذب، بمعنى أنك إذا أردت الحصول على شيء ما فما عليك سوى التفكير فيه، واترك الباقي على "الكون" - كما في النسخة الانكليزية - أو على "الخالق" - كما في النسخة العربية - ليقوم بتلبيته لك.
- ترسيخ مبدأ التواكل في حياة الإنسان من منطلق انك اذا اردت شيئا في الكون فما عليك سوى التفكير فيه فقط ولست بحاجة لمضاعفة عملك، او ايجاد خطة للوصول اليه.
- فكرة أن الشبيه يأتي بشبيهه سواء من خير أو شر وأن كل ما يقع لنا هو نتيجة لأفكارنا، فمثلاً الاعاصير والزلازل التي تأتينا وتقوم بتدمير المدن تأتي نتيجة لأفكارنا السلبية "منطق غريب جداً"
- ترسيخ مفهوم الأنانية، من منطلق أن لا تفكر سوى بنفسك، وأن مبدأ التضحية مبدأ فاسد
- هناك فرق وتحريف واضح بين النسختين الانكليزية والعربية، بمعنى أن الترجمة العربية فيها نوع من الأسلمة، لأن الكتاب ال��صلي فيه الكثير من الإلحاد والأفكار التي لا يستطيع الشخص المسلم تقبلها، وباعتقادي أن هناك عدم أمانة في الترجمة للعربية.
ربما يخرج أحدهم ويقول ان فكرة الكتاب بسيطة وتأتي تجسيدا لحديث النبي "تفاءلوا بالخير تجدوه"، وهذا برأيي غير صحيح لأن النية مقترنة بالعمل في الحياة، وكما قيل "ليس الإيمان بالتحلي ولا بالتمني، ولكنه ما وقر في القلب وصدقه العمل"
أو كما قال شوقي:
وما نيل المطالب بالتمني * * * ولكن تؤخذ الدنيا غلابا
قمت بقراءة النسخة العربية منه واطلعت على النسخة الانكليزية ووجدت أن فيه بعض الاشياء الجميلة والايجابية التي تدعوا للتفاؤل في الحياة، لكن فيه منطق وأفكار غريبة وخطيرة تتنافى مع سنة الكون والفطرة التي خلقنا الله عليها.
تتلخص فكرة الكتاب في الآتي:
- أن هناك شيئاً اسمه قانون الجذب، بمعنى أنك إذا أردت الحصول على شيء ما فما عليك سوى التفكير فيه، واترك الباقي على "الكون" - كما في النسخة الانكليزية - أو على "الخالق" - كما في النسخة العربية - ليقوم بتلبيته لك.
- ترسيخ مبدأ التواكل في حياة الإنسان من منطلق انك اذا اردت شيئا في الكون فما عليك سوى التفكير فيه فقط ولست بحاجة لمضاعفة عملك، او ايجاد خطة للوصول اليه.
- فكرة أن الشبيه يأتي بشبيهه سواء من خير أو شر وأن كل ما يقع لنا هو نتيجة لأفكارنا، فمثلاً الاعاصير والزلازل التي تأتينا وتقوم بتدمير المدن تأتي نتيجة لأفكارنا السلبية "منطق غريب جداً"
- ترسيخ مفهوم الأنانية، من منطلق أن لا تفكر سوى بنفسك، وأن مبدأ التضحية مبدأ فاسد
- هناك فرق وتحريف واضح بين النسختين الانكليزية والعربية، بمعنى أن الترجمة العربية فيها نوع من الأسلمة، لأن الكتاب ال��صلي فيه الكثير من الإلحاد والأفكار التي لا يستطيع الشخص المسلم تقبلها، وباعتقادي أن هناك عدم أمانة في الترجمة للعربية.
ربما يخرج أحدهم ويقول ان فكرة الكتاب بسيطة وتأتي تجسيدا لحديث النبي "تفاءلوا بالخير تجدوه"، وهذا برأيي غير صحيح لأن النية مقترنة بالعمل في الحياة، وكما قيل "ليس الإيمان بالتحلي ولا بالتمني، ولكنه ما وقر في القلب وصدقه العمل"
أو كما قال شوقي:
وما نيل المطالب بالتمني * * * ولكن تؤخذ الدنيا غلابا
August 22, 2007
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.
I highly reccommend LISTENING to this book. I think I would have a hard time reading it.
April 15, 2021
"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.
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."
May 12, 2008
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.
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.
March 27, 2023
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? “
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? “
March 29, 2017
فكرة الكتاب بسيطة جدا وقد قال النبي صلي الله عليه وسلم (أنا عند ظن عبدى بى فليظن بى ماشاء إن خير
فخير وإن شر فشر
فخير وإن شر فشر
October 18, 2015
(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.
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.
July 27, 2017
"You are the masterpiece
of your own life.
You are the Michelangelo
of your own life."
I believe!
Thank you!
of your own life.
You are the Michelangelo
of your own life."
I believe!
Thank you!
November 26, 2007
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.
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.
Read
December 8, 2019In 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 . 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 . Dressed in the language of Quantum physics there is an appeal to magical thinking. In The Secret God may or may not be dead, however the universe is benevolent, but stupid , 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 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 .
The general idea is that you wish for something, visualise it. Then the frequency you emit at the quantum level 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 expressed it through their music. Artists such as Leonardo da Vinci depicted it in their paintings . 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 . 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 , 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 . 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.
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 . 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.
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 .
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 ? 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 . 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:
Still my favourite part of this book is a fine example of how irrational the rational world of business can be.
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.
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 . 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 . Dressed in the language of Quantum physics there is an appeal to magical thinking. In The Secret God may or may not be dead, however the universe is benevolent, but stupid , 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 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 .
The general idea is that you wish for something, visualise it. Then the frequency you emit at the quantum level 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 expressed it through their music. Artists such as Leonardo da Vinci depicted it in their paintings . 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 . 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 , 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 . 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 . 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 . 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.
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 .
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 ? 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 . 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 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.
June 27, 2007
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!
August 10, 2007
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!
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!
September 19, 2023
ما هو السر؟
السر هو قانون الجذب, والذي بمقتضاه تحصل على أي شيء تفكر فيه وتركز عقلك عليه. وهو فعل مستلهم لا يحتاج لبذل الجهد كما العمل العادي.
وأستطيع أن أرى خطأ هذا القانون من واقع الحياة, فليس كل ما يريده المرء يدركه, وبلفظ الشاعر أحمد شوقي: وما نيل المطالب بالتمني
وإذا كان الأمر كما تدّعي الكاتبة, فلماذا مازال الناس يموتون جوعاً كل يوم بمعدل 100000 شخص يومياً, إما بشكل مباشر أو غير مباشر؟
إذا كان قانون الجذب صحيحاً فلماذا لم يحصلوا على الطعام؟! أليس ذلك هو أكثر ما يتمنونه ويركزون تفكيرهم عليه؟!
وهناك وجه أخر لهذه المغالطة, جلبها لنا من الغرب شيوخ التنمية البشرية, وأخص بالذكر منهم "مصطفى حسني", الذي أحل الله محل الذبذبات الكونية في قانون الجذب, وروّج لها,
ويمكننا الرد عليها بنفس الحجة الأولى, لماذا هناك من يموتون من الجوع كل يوم؟!
في الأغلب يكون الرد, أن هذه هي حكمة الله. ولاحظ هنا أنه بهذا الرد قد تخلّى عن قانون الجذب.
فإذا كانت حكمه الله أن يموت من الجوع وهي عكس ما يريده ذلك البائس من طعام وماء تحت ثقل غرائزه وآلامه,
فلماذا لا تكون نهايتك أنت أيضا عكس ما كنت تتمناه بقانون الجذب, فتقضي حكمة الله بخسرانك لحبيبك, وظيفتك, أموالك, صحتك, أو حتى أن تموت حرقاً على الخازوق؟.
ولا أظن أن مروج قانون الجذب سيكتفي بهذا القدر من الجدال, وغالباً ما سيقوم بصياغة حجته التالية هكذا:
ربما أن هؤلاء الموتى, لم يفكروا في الطعام بالقدر الكافي, وإنما كانوا يفكرون في الجوع, وفي الموت الذي ينتظرهم, فهم ضحايا تفكيرهم السلبي.
ولكن هناك أمثلة أخرى جانب التفكير السلبي فيها غير مؤثر إطلاقاً, كالأمثلة التي أوردها فرانسيس جالتون, وهي كالتالي: إذا كان ما تتمنونه يتحقق, وهناك عشرات الملايين حول العالم يتمنون بشغاف قلبهم أن يحفظ الله ملوك بريطانيا, فلماذا لم يخلدوا أو على الأقل عاشوا بعض آلاف من السنين؟! لماذا لم يستطيعوا أن يعيشوا من الزمن سوى كباقي الطبقة الأرستقراطية؟, ولماذا كان بعضهم يمرض ويموت في سن صغيرة؟!
لقد تمنى الناس أن يعيش "ماو تسي تونج" عشرة آلاف عام, وكان كل فرد -تقريباً- في مصر القديمة يحض الآلهة على أن تجعل الفرعون "يعيش إلى الأبد", ولكن كل ذلك فشل!!.
قد يرد مروج الجذب, بأن خلودهم هو ضد قوانين الطبيعة, الذي يعد قانون الجذب أحداها, ولكن ماذا عن شفاء الملوك من الأمراض؟!
وإذا كان قانون الجذب يستطيع أن يعطي كل منا سيارة فارهة كما في أحد أمثلة الكتاب, ألن يكون ذلك ضد قوانين الطبيعة أيضا؟! فمن سيصنع لنا كل هذه السيارات الفارهة في هذا العمر القصير؟ فتلك السيارات تستهلك الكثير من الموارد والوقت والجهد لصنعها أكثر مما تحتمله الطبيعة وموارد البشرية.
وقد يستمر الجدال كثيرا إذا سرنا على هذا المنوال, فلن يعجزوا عن إيجاد ثغرات في هذه الأمثلة البسيطة. ولكن لحسن حظنا, فنحن نستطيع تعيين تجربة معيارية محكمة يمكن لكل شخص تجربتها.
وتقضي التجربة بإحضار 6 أحجار نرد (زهرة), ويمكنك حينها أن ترينا الفرق بين احتمالات أن يكون ناتج رميهم الرقم ستة للست أحجار عندما تستخدم قانون الجذب لتتمنى أن يكون الناتج هكذا, وبين نسبة الاحتمال عندما تتمنى بأن يكون الرقم الناتج هو خمسة للست أحجار
عندها لن يصمد قانون الجذب أمام قوة برهان قوانين الاحتمالات.
**
يبدأ الكتاب بتشويقنا للسر الذي سيغير حياتنا والذي طالما عرفه عظماء التاريخ وطبقوه, بل وكتبوا عنه في رواياتهم
ومن هؤلاء العظماء ذكرت المؤلفة: أفلاطون, شكسبير, نيوتن, فيكتور هيوجو, بيتهوفن, لينكولن, إيمرسون, إديسون, أينشتاين..
والشيء الوحيد المشترك بين هذه الأسماء كلها, هو أنهم غير موجودون الآن في عالمنا ليردوا على ما تنسبه إليهم من إدعاءات!.
ولقد قامت بتحوير كل شيء ليتناسب مع نظريتها, فمثلاً يقول اللوح الزمرد حوالي عام 3000 قبل الميلاد:
وبدلاً من أن تكون حكمة تدعوا لعدم الكذب, حولتها لاكتشاف الأقدمين للسر, وأنك إذا ما فكرت في داخلك في شيء وركزت عليه, فسيتقدم إليك, ويصبح جزء من مظهرك. يا للهول!!.
كما أنها تورد اقتباسات علمية, لا علاقة لها بالموضوع أصلا, كدليل على صحة نظريتها. فهي مثلاً اقتبست اقتباس عن أن ميكانيكا الكم جعلتنا نعرف أن عقلنا هو مصدر تفكيرنا أي أن التفكير مادي
وما كان منها إلا أن ذكرت بعدها أن العلم يقر بأن عقلنا يرسل ويستقبل ذبذبات كونية عالية التردد تماماً كمحطة البث التليفزيوني, وعندما تفكر بإيجابية يرسل عقلك ذبذبات إيجابية, يستقبلها الكون ويرد عليك بمثلها بذبذبات إيجابية ويحقق لك ما تريد!!
وإدّعائها هذا, مثله مثل الكثير من الإدعاءات الأخرى التي يلزمها أن تدلل عليها, فالبشر حتى الآن لا يستقبلون من الذبذبات سوى مقدار بسيط يقع ضمن ما نسميه الطيف المرئي, عن طريق العين, وعند زيادة تردد الذبذبات عن هذا النطاق المرئي فهو يؤذي البشر, فمثلاً الأشعة الفوق بنفسجية والتي تحمينا منها طبقة الأوزون, والتي تعد أكثر قليلاً في التردد عن أشعة الطيف المرئي تصيب البشر بالسرطان, وإذا كانت الترددات التي تدّعي أننا نستقبلها أعلى من النطاقات التي نستطيع تتبعها بالمراصد, فهذا جهل بالطبيعة التي تدعون أنها تمنحنا قانون الجذب, فالترددات العالية بتلك الطريقة تمتلك طاقة كبيرة يمكنها أن تبخّر البشر في لحظات عندما تقترب منّا, تماماً كما الأثر الذي يحدثه مدفع الليزر في أفلام الخيال العلمي, أو "الكا مي ها مي ها" في أنيمي دراجون بول.
ثم تقتبس, من زملاؤها في مجال -ولا مؤاخذة- التنمية البشرية
والجدير بالذكر أن أحدهم وهو متخصص في علم "ما وراء الطبيعة" يدّعي أن قانون الجذب هو قانون حقيقي مثل قانون الجاذبية. ولكن إذا كان مثل الجاذبية فيجب أن يعطينا نفس النتائج دائماً إذا قمنا بنفس المدخلات, فهل يستطيع قانون الجذب تحقيق هذا الشرط في التجربة التي ذكرتها سابقا؟ لا أظن ذلك.
وتتابع الكاتبة بالكثير من تحوير الحجج, يستطيع أي ناقد جيد أن يتبين فسادها بسهولة.
هذا بجانب الكثير والكثير من المغالطات العلمية الأخرى عن مجالات بسيطة درسها الجميع تقريباً في كل أنحاء الكوكب في المراحل الأساسية من تعليمهم, وهذا يوضح مستوى ثقافة الكُتَّاب, وقراءهم, فمثلاً:
- الغرائز عندهم أجهزة استقبال كونية بدلاً من كونها بقايا تطورية,
- وبالأفكار يمكنك زيادة أو نقصان نشاط هرمونات الغدة الدرقية, والتحكم في التمثيل الغذائي.
- الطعام ليس مسئولاً عن زيادة الوزن.
- الزمن مجرد وهم زي ما قال اينشتاين, فلا تسألني متى سيحقق السر أحلامك.
ولن يكتمل الكتاب طبعا دون أن تروي لنا عبر الفصول المختلفة الكثير من القصص والمعجزات التي حققها السر, والتي لا تزيد في مصداقيتها بالنسبة لي, عن قصة الرجل الذي شل لسانه عندما هم ليدعي على السيسي كما روى أحد الشيوخ المصريين من على منبر أحد الجوامع مؤخراً.
وهذا ملخص قصص تم سردها كحوادث حقيقية حصلت لأناس طبقوا السر:
- السر هيساعدك تلاقي مكان لركن سيارتك, بنسبة 95% يكون المكان فارغ, و 5% يكون هناك من يفسح المكان للذهاب.
- أي حجر مرمي في الشارع, لو دعيت له هيشفي ابنك اللي بيحتضر من مرض نادر.
- السر هيخليك تقابل الناس اللي مستحيل تقدر تقابلهم في الظروف العادية.
- السر سيعطيك نسخة من اسطوانة فيلم السر هدية.
- السر يقدر أن يرفع راتبك السنوي من 8000 دولار لـ100000 حتى لو انت مبتعرفش تشتغل أي حاجة.
***
وأخيرا لماذا يصدق الناس الخرافات بهذه الطريقة؟؟ لقد بدأ المحتوى كفيلم سينمائي, ثم بيع كشريط, ثم ككتاب, وفي كل المراحل باع ملايين النسخ!!.
ربما لأنهم لم يتعلموا التفكير النقدي والذي يستطيع أن ينغص عليهم إيمانهم بتلك الترهات
وقد نكون قد وضعنا العربة قبل الحصان في العلّة السابقة, فلربما أن الناس يبتعدون عن المنطق ويحتقرونه, حتى يستطيعوا أن يصدقوا مطمئنين الكذبات المريحة. ولهذا فالشرط الثاني من شروط تطبيق السر ليعمل, هو أن تؤمن بالسر تماماً,
وبلفظ كارل ساجان:
هناك الكثير من الدجلنة التي لا يسعنا المقام هنا لمناقشتها كلها, ولكني سأحيلكم لكتاب عالم تسكنه الشياطين الذي اقتبست منه العبارة السابقة, وهو يعالج فيها الدجلنة بتفاصيل أكثر.أظنه سيساعدكم على تبين الدجل في المرة القادمة التي تتعرضون له فيها
ودا لينك لريفيو رغم إنه طويل, لكنه يلخص الكثير من محتويات الكتاب:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
***
لقد كنت أعتقد بأني لا أهتم بأحوال البشر, ولكني عندما قرأت الكتاب تأذيت نفسياً ��بشدة. ولقد أرعبني الجهل والدجل المنتشر, ولم أستطع سوى أن أكمل نصف الكتاب فقط!!.
***
تحديث:
الحلقة الـ2 من الجزء الـ21 من مسلسل عائلة سيمبسون سفّت على الكتاب, لو حد فاضي عنده ثلث ساعة يضحك فيهم شوية.
السر هو قانون الجذب, والذي بمقتضاه تحصل على أي شيء تفكر فيه وتركز عقلك عليه. وهو فعل مستلهم لا يحتاج لبذل الجهد كما العمل العادي.
وأستطيع أن أرى خطأ هذا القانون من واقع الحياة, فليس كل ما يريده المرء يدركه, وبلفظ الشاعر أحمد شوقي: وما نيل المطالب بالتمني
وإذا كان الأمر كما تدّعي الكاتبة, فلماذا مازال الناس يموتون جوعاً كل يوم بمعدل 100000 شخص يومياً, إما بشكل مباشر أو غير مباشر؟
إذا كان قانون الجذب صحيحاً فلماذا لم يحصلوا على الطعام؟! أليس ذلك هو أكثر ما يتمنونه ويركزون تفكيرهم عليه؟!
وهناك وجه أخر لهذه المغالطة, جلبها لنا من الغرب شيوخ التنمية البشرية, وأخص بالذكر منهم "مصطفى حسني", الذي أحل الله محل الذبذبات الكونية في قانون الجذب, وروّج لها,
ويمكننا الرد عليها بنفس الحجة الأولى, لماذا هناك من يموتون من الجوع كل يوم؟!
في الأغلب يكون الرد, أن هذه هي حكمة الله. ولاحظ هنا أنه بهذا الرد قد تخلّى عن قانون الجذب.
فإذا كانت حكمه الله أن يموت من الجوع وهي عكس ما يريده ذلك البائس من طعام وماء تحت ثقل غرائزه وآلامه,
فلماذا لا تكون نهايتك أنت أيضا عكس ما كنت تتمناه بقانون الجذب, فتقضي حكمة الله بخسرانك لحبيبك, وظيفتك, أموالك, صحتك, أو حتى أن تموت حرقاً على الخازوق؟.
ولا أظن أن مروج قانون الجذب سيكتفي بهذا القدر من الجدال, وغالباً ما سيقوم بصياغة حجته التالية هكذا:
ربما أن هؤلاء الموتى, لم يفكروا في الطعام بالقدر الكافي, وإنما كانوا يفكرون في الجوع, وفي الموت الذي ينتظرهم, فهم ضحايا تفكيرهم السلبي.
ولكن هناك أمثلة أخرى جانب التفكير السلبي فيها غير مؤثر إطلاقاً, كالأمثلة التي أوردها فرانسيس جالتون, وهي كالتالي: إذا كان ما تتمنونه يتحقق, وهناك عشرات الملايين حول العالم يتمنون بشغاف قلبهم أن يحفظ الله ملوك بريطانيا, فلماذا لم يخلدوا أو على الأقل عاشوا بعض آلاف من السنين؟! لماذا لم يستطيعوا أن يعيشوا من الزمن سوى كباقي الطبقة الأرستقراطية؟, ولماذا كان بعضهم يمرض ويموت في سن صغيرة؟!
لقد تمنى الناس أن يعيش "ماو تسي تونج" عشرة آلاف عام, وكان كل فرد -تقريباً- في مصر القديمة يحض الآلهة على أن تجعل الفرعون "يعيش إلى الأبد", ولكن كل ذلك فشل!!.
قد يرد مروج الجذب, بأن خلودهم هو ضد قوانين الطبيعة, الذي يعد قانون الجذب أحداها, ولكن ماذا عن شفاء الملوك من الأمراض؟!
وإذا كان قانون الجذب يستطيع أن يعطي كل منا سيارة فارهة كما في أحد أمثلة الكتاب, ألن يكون ذلك ضد قوانين الطبيعة أيضا؟! فمن سيصنع لنا كل هذه السيارات الفارهة في هذا العمر القصير؟ فتلك السيارات تستهلك الكثير من الموارد والوقت والجهد لصنعها أكثر مما تحتمله الطبيعة وموارد البشرية.
وقد يستمر الجدال كثيرا إذا سرنا على هذا المنوال, فلن يعجزوا عن إيجاد ثغرات في هذه الأمثلة البسيطة. ولكن لحسن حظنا, فنحن نستطيع تعيين تجربة معيارية محكمة يمكن لكل شخص تجربتها.
وتقضي التجربة بإحضار 6 أحجار نرد (زهرة), ويمكنك حينها أن ترينا الفرق بين احتمالات أن يكون ناتج رميهم الرقم ستة للست أحجار عندما تستخدم قانون الجذب لتتمنى أن يكون الناتج هكذا, وبين نسبة الاحتمال عندما تتمنى بأن يكون الرقم الناتج هو خمسة للست أحجار
عندها لن يصمد قانون الجذب أمام قوة برهان قوانين الاحتمالات.
**
يبدأ الكتاب بتشويقنا للسر الذي سيغير حياتنا والذي طالما عرفه عظماء التاريخ وطبقوه, بل وكتبوا عنه في رواياتهم
ومن هؤلاء العظماء ذكرت المؤلفة: أفلاطون, شكسبير, نيوتن, فيكتور هيوجو, بيتهوفن, لينكولن, إيمرسون, إديسون, أينشتاين..
والشيء الوحيد المشترك بين هذه الأسماء كلها, هو أنهم غير موجودون الآن في عالمنا ليردوا على ما تنسبه إليهم من إدعاءات!.
ولقد قامت بتحوير كل شيء ليتناسب مع نظريتها, فمثلاً يقول اللوح الزمرد حوالي عام 3000 قبل الميلاد:
ليكن المظهر كالجوهر.
وليكن الظاهر كالباطن.
وبدلاً من أن تكون حكمة تدعوا لعدم الكذب, حولتها لاكتشاف الأقدمين للسر, وأنك إذا ما فكرت في داخلك في شيء وركزت عليه, فسيتقدم إليك, ويصبح جزء من مظهرك. يا للهول!!.
كما أنها تورد اقتباسات علمية, لا علاقة لها بالموضوع أصلا, كدليل على صحة نظريتها. فهي مثلاً اقتبست اقتباس عن أن ميكانيكا الكم جعلتنا نعرف أن عقلنا هو مصدر تفكيرنا أي أن التفكير مادي
وما كان منها إلا أن ذكرت بعدها أن العلم يقر بأن عقلنا يرسل ويستقبل ذبذبات كونية عالية التردد تماماً كمحطة البث التليفزيوني, وعندما تفكر بإيجابية يرسل عقلك ذبذبات إيجابية, يستقبلها الكون ويرد عليك بمثلها بذبذبات إيجابية ويحقق لك ما تريد!!
وإدّعائها هذا, مثله مثل الكثير من الإدعاءات الأخرى التي يلزمها أن تدلل عليها, فالبشر حتى الآن لا يستقبلون من الذبذبات سوى مقدار بسيط يقع ضمن ما نسميه الطيف المرئي, عن طريق العين, وعند زيادة تردد الذبذبات عن هذا النطاق المرئي فهو يؤذي البشر, فمثلاً الأشعة الفوق بنفسجية والتي تحمينا منها طبقة الأوزون, والتي تعد أكثر قليلاً في التردد عن أشعة الطيف المرئي تصيب البشر بالسرطان, وإذا كانت الترددات التي تدّعي أننا نستقبلها أعلى من النطاقات التي نستطيع تتبعها بالمراصد, فهذا جهل بالطبيعة التي تدعون أنها تمنحنا قانون الجذب, فالترددات العالية بتلك الطريقة تمتلك طاقة كبيرة يمكنها أن تبخّر البشر في لحظات عندما تقترب منّا, تماماً كما الأثر الذي يحدثه مدفع الليزر في أفلام الخيال العلمي, أو "الكا مي ها مي ها" في أنيمي دراجون بول.
ثم تقتبس, من زملاؤها في مجال -ولا مؤاخذة- التنمية البشرية
والجدير بالذكر أن أحدهم وهو متخصص في علم "ما وراء الطبيعة" يدّعي أن قانون الجذب هو قانون حقيقي مثل قانون الجاذبية. ولكن إذا كان مثل الجاذبية فيجب أن يعطينا نفس النتائج دائماً إذا قمنا بنفس المدخلات, فهل يستطيع قانون الجذب تحقيق هذا الشرط في التجربة التي ذكرتها سابقا؟ لا أظن ذلك.
وتتابع الكاتبة بالكثير من تحوير الحجج, يستطيع أي ناقد جيد أن يتبين فسادها بسهولة.
هذا بجانب الكثير والكثير من المغالطات العلمية الأخرى عن مجالات بسيطة درسها الجميع تقريباً في كل أنحاء الكوكب في المراحل الأساسية من تعليمهم, وهذا يوضح مستوى ثقافة الكُتَّاب, وقراءهم, فمثلاً:
- الغرائز عندهم أجهزة استقبال كونية بدلاً من كونها بقايا تطورية,
- وبالأفكار يمكنك زيادة أو نقصان نشاط هرمونات الغدة الدرقية, والتحكم في التمثيل الغذائي.
- الطعام ليس مسئولاً عن زيادة الوزن.
- الزمن مجرد وهم زي ما قال اينشتاين, فلا تسألني متى سيحقق السر أحلامك.
ولن يكتمل الكتاب طبعا دون أن تروي لنا عبر الفصول المختلفة الكثير من القصص والمعجزات التي حققها السر, والتي لا تزيد في مصداقيتها بالنسبة لي, عن قصة الرجل الذي شل لسانه عندما هم ليدعي على السيسي كما روى أحد الشيوخ المصريين من على منبر أحد الجوامع مؤخراً.
وهذا ملخص قصص تم سردها كحوادث حقيقية حصلت لأناس طبقوا السر:
- السر هيساعدك تلاقي مكان لركن سيارتك, بنسبة 95% يكون المكان فارغ, و 5% يكون هناك من يفسح المكان للذهاب.
- أي حجر مرمي في الشارع, لو دعيت له هيشفي ابنك اللي بيحتضر من مرض نادر.
- السر هيخليك تقابل الناس اللي مستحيل تقدر تقابلهم في الظروف العادية.
- السر سيعطيك نسخة من اسطوانة فيلم السر هدية.
- السر يقدر أن يرفع راتبك السنوي من 8000 دولار لـ100000 حتى لو انت مبتعرفش تشتغل أي حاجة.
***
وأخيرا لماذا يصدق الناس الخرافات بهذه الطريقة؟؟ لقد بدأ المحتوى كفيلم سينمائي, ثم بيع كشريط, ثم ككتاب, وفي كل المراحل باع ملايين النسخ!!.
ربما لأنهم لم يتعلموا التفكير النقدي والذي يستطيع أن ينغص عليهم إيمانهم بتلك الترهات
وقد نكون قد وضعنا العربة قبل الحصان في العلّة السابقة, فلربما أن الناس يبتعدون عن المنطق ويحتقرونه, حتى يستطيعوا أن يصدقوا مطمئنين الكذبات المريحة. ولهذا فالشرط الثاني من شروط تطبيق السر ليعمل, هو أن تؤمن بالسر تماماً,
"إيماناً لا يتزحزح, آمن بالغيب."
وبلفظ كارل ساجان:
"فالدجلنة تخاطب الحاجات العاطفية القوية التي غالباً ما يدعها العلم دون إشباع,
وفي صميم بعض أنماط الدجلنة تكمن فكرة أن تمنى الشيء يحققه, فكم يكون مقدار ما يمكن أن نشعر به من الرضى, إذا حققنا الرغبات التي نتمناها من صميم فؤادنا بمجرد التمني, يا لها من فكرة تغوي النفوس, خاصة إذا ما قورنت بالعمل الشاق وحسن الحظ الذي نحتاج إليه عادة كي نحقق آمالنا."
هناك الكثير من الدجلنة التي لا يسعنا المقام هنا لمناقشتها كلها, ولكني سأحيلكم لكتاب عالم تسكنه الشياطين الذي اقتبست منه العبارة السابقة, وهو يعالج فيها الدجلنة بتفاصيل أكثر.أظنه سيساعدكم على تبين الدجل في المرة القادمة التي تتعرضون له فيها
ودا لينك لريفيو رغم إنه طويل, لكنه يلخص الكثير من محتويات الكتاب:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
***
لقد كنت أعتقد بأني لا أهتم بأحوال البشر, ولكني عندما قرأت الكتاب تأذيت نفسياً ��بشدة. ولقد أرعبني الجهل والدجل المنتشر, ولم أستطع سوى أن أكمل نصف الكتاب فقط!!.
***
تحديث:
الحلقة الـ2 من الجزء الـ21 من مسلسل عائلة سيمبسون سفّت على الكتاب, لو حد فاضي عنده ثلث ساعة يضحك فيهم شوية.
September 28, 2009
السرّ The Secret روندا برايان
الحقيقة أنّني حين بدأت بقراءته أحببته .. لم أجد فيه الكثير ممّا أضاف لي معلومة
إنّما هو أسلوب حياة و طريقة تفكير جديدة يعلّمها هذا السّر
لفتني الكتاب بـ طريقة إخراجه و فخامة طباعته و أسلوب كتابته
على غير عادة في الكتب المترجمة التي أتململ من قراءتها سريعًا إلا ما ندر
الجميل أنّك تطّلع منذ بداية الكتاب على سرّ الأسرار العظيم كما يقولون
السرّ الذي يغير طريقة حياتك و الكون من حولك ، يجلب لك الصحة التي تريدها
و المال و البيت و الشريك الذي تحلم به ، أيّ شء تريده ، و ركّزوا على تريده " الإرادة "
فهي أهمّ ما في السرّ
ما هو السر ؟ ببساطة عميقة ! " قانون الجذب Law of Attraction "
لفتتني الفكرة بل و أعجبتني ، و لـ ألخّصها في ثلاث جمل باختصار
حياتك هي نتاج أفكارك ، أفكارك تحدّدها مشاعرك ، مشاعرك تتحكمّ بها أنت !
إذن أنتَ سيّد أفكارك ، و مشاعرك .. و حياتك
هذا هي فكرة السرّ ، و ما يدور حوله الفيلم و الكتاب
فـ كلّ ما تريده أنت ، بغضّ النظر هل هو جيد أم ممتاز أم سيء
فـ بتركيزك عليه و تفكيرك الدائم به تجتذبه إليك ليحدث لك !
كيف أفادني السرّ ؟ ،
لاحظتُ أنّها في تقديمها للسر و فريق العمل يردّدون عبارات أحفظها أنا كمسلمة عن ظهر قلب
هي جزء من ثقافتي و حضارتي الإسلامية ، التي أقرأها كلّ يوم .. و أعيش بها و معها و عليها
عرّفوها على أنّها سرّ ينكشف الآن !
و نحن من قبلهم نعرفها روحًا إسلامية حيّة
الحقيقة أنّني توقفت كثيرًا و أنا أقرأ .. فبعض الكلمات و العبارات كأنّها نُقلت نصًا من الإسلام !
وددت كثيرًا و أنا أقرأ أن أرسل لها و لفريق العمل معها مصحفًا مترجمًا
فـ السرّ كلّه يدور في فلك الإسلام ، و العبارات التي يردّدونها نحفظها نحن من قبلهم
هم قومٌ يسّر الله لهم الاهتداء إلى معنى حقّ لـ أنّهم جدّوا في طلبه و احترموه
و آمنوا به !
و هنا عدة مبادئ و معانٍ توفقت عندها لمّا شعرتُ بإسلاميتها أصلاً و مرجعًا :
* وهمية الزمن /
الزمن مجرد وهم ، هكذا أخبرنا أنيشتاين .. " صـ 62
حينما تفكّر و تركز على الخير الذي تريده فإن الأشياء الكبيرة - في نظرك- لن تأخذ وقتًا أطول
في التحقق من الأشياء الصغيرة ، فكلها موجودة أصلا .. و إنما إحساسك بها و تجليها لك هو المحكّ
إسلاميًا: يقول سبحانه و تعالى " إذا قضى أمرًا فإنما يقول له كن فيكون "
في تفسير الشعراوي يقول رحمه الله .. أن كلمة كن ليست إلا تقريبية لأذهاننا
أما الأشياء فهي موجودة أصلا و إلا كيف يقول الله عز و جل للشيء و يخاطبه بـ كُن ؟ !
فمعناه أنّه كائن من الأصل ولكنه غير ظاهر لنا ، فالقدرة الإلهية لا وقت و لا زمن لنفاد حكمها
* توقّع الخير و اشعر به /
لابد أن يكون شعورك طيبًا ، .. إن هؤلاء يتوقعون ذلك .. ابدأ بتوقع الأشياء الرائعة " صـ 65
الفكرة أن تركز مشاعرك على الخير و تلقيه ، فكر فيما تريده لا مالا تريد الوقوع فيه
لتجذبه إليك ، فالكون طاقة ، و للفكرة طاقة تجذب شبيهاتها
إسلاميًا: أليس هذا هو التفاؤل الذي يدعو إليه محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم و التشاؤم الذي ينبذه
حين يقول " تفاءلوا بالخير تجدوه " و أيضًا " لا تمارضوا فتمرضوا فتموتوا "
و كلاهما فكرة تسيطر على صاحبها .. المتفائل يجد خيرًا ، و المتظاهر بالشر المصدّق به يجده حقًا !
* طريقة عمل السر / اطلب ، آمن ، تلقّ
يتطلب الإيمان التصرف و التحدث و التفكير كما لو أنك قد تلقيت بالفعل .. " صـ 68
اطلب ما تريد ثم آمن أنك حصلت عيه و تصرف على هذا الأساس ثم تأكد أنك تتلقاه و اشعر بذلك
إسلاميًا: هذه ثلاثية يعلّمنا إياها مبدأ التوكل على الله
نحن نطلب بالدعاء ثم نؤمن و نوقن بالإجابة و نعمل على هذا الأساس
ثم ننتظر الفتح من الله سبحانه و تعالى
ألم يقل عزّ وجل في الحديث القدسي " انا عند ظنّ عبدي بي فـ ليظنّ بي ما شاء"
و " أنا عند ظن عبدي بي إن ظن خيرا فله وإن ظن شرا فله "
* مبدأ الإمتنان /
إن الامتنان هو الطريقة المثلى لجلب المزيد من الخير إلى حياتك .. في كل صباح
أنهض و أقول " الحمدلله " .. لا أخرج من الفراش حتى أكون قد شعرت بمشاعر الامتنان
لهذا اليوم الرائع و كل شيء يستحق الحمد و الثناء في حياتي .. " صـ 75
جزء كامل يتحدث عن أهمية الامتنان و كيف أنّه من العادات المهمةللقادة العظماء
للشعور بالرضا و جلب لمزيد من الخير خصوصًا عند الاستيقاظ من لنوم و بدأ اليوم
إسلاميًا : ألم يقل سبحانه "وَإِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمْ لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ " "وَإِن تَشْكُرُواْ يَرْضَهُ لَكُمْ "
"وَٱشْكُرُواْ للَّهِ إِن كُنتُمْ إِيَّاهُ تَعْبُدُونَ " " و سيجزي الله الشاكرين "
و كيف أنّ الحمد مرتبط بحياتنا منذ الإصباح " الحمدلله الذي أحيانا بعد ما أماتنا و إليه النشور "
و حتى النوم و ألسنتنا في كل حال لها بالله صلة ذاكرة شاكرة حامدة
* مبدأ العطاء /
امنح المال لتحصل على المزيد منه .. وإذ يعطون فإن الله يجعل الكون وفقًا لقانون الجذب
يتفتح و يتدفق بمبالغ هائلة من المال عائدة إليهم مضاعفة صـ 108
إسلاميًا : هذه العبارة بنصّها ، توقفت كثيرًا عندها ، بل ذُهلت .. المجتمع الغربي برأسماليته
و ماديّته يكتشف أخيرًا أن الزّكاة مورد اقتصادي عظيم يعود على العالم كلّه بالوفرة و الخير !
يحثّ على العطاء من القليل ليتضاعف .. صحيح أنّ نظرتهم للعطاء مادية في مقابلها لكنّ
الفكرة و السرّ واحد !
مبدأ البركة و الثناء /
و تعرّف بعض القواميس المباركة على أنها طلب الخير الإلهي و منح السلامة أو الرخاء ..
يذهبان بكل السلبية ، فأثن و بارك أعداءك فعندما تلعن ترتد اللعنة إليك ، و إذا ما أثنيت
عليهم و باركتهم سوف تتبدد كل السلبية و الخلاف .. صـ 152
إسلاميًا : نحن نطلب البركة من الله في كل أمور حياتنا بذكر اسمه عند كل شيء
و بسؤاله البركة و أذكار الصباح و المساء و الأكل و النوم و اللباس ، في كل هذا نسأله البركة
أمّا مباركة أعداءك !! ، "ادفع بالتي هي أحسن فإذا الذي بينك وبينه عداوة كأنه ولي حميم "
كلّ هذه المعاني الإسلامية الربّانية السامية التي نسيناها و خلّفناها
و ضعنا عن أنوراها و عظمتها .. يهتدي إليها الغرب اليوم على أنّها سر الأسرار
و أهمّ حقيقة عرفها العظماء على مرّ التاريخ ..
سبحان الله .. يؤتي مفاتيح التفكّر و الوصول لمن يشاء
و يهدي من يشاء بمن يشاء و ما يشاء
اللهم إني أشهدك أنك حق سبحانك ،
و الإسلام و القرآن حقّ ، و محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم حقّ
كتاب جميل و ممتع ، غيّر كثيرًا من طريقتي في الحياة و وضعني على التردد المثالي لتلقّي الخير
تردّد الإيمان و الحبّ و السلام و البهجة
الحقيقة أنّني حين بدأت بقراءته أحببته .. لم أجد فيه الكثير ممّا أضاف لي معلومة
إنّما هو أسلوب حياة و طريقة تفكير جديدة يعلّمها هذا السّر
لفتني الكتاب بـ طريقة إخراجه و فخامة طباعته و أسلوب كتابته
على غير عادة في الكتب المترجمة التي أتململ من قراءتها سريعًا إلا ما ندر
الجميل أنّك تطّلع منذ بداية الكتاب على سرّ الأسرار العظيم كما يقولون
السرّ الذي يغير طريقة حياتك و الكون من حولك ، يجلب لك الصحة التي تريدها
و المال و البيت و الشريك الذي تحلم به ، أيّ شء تريده ، و ركّزوا على تريده " الإرادة "
فهي أهمّ ما في السرّ
ما هو السر ؟ ببساطة عميقة ! " قانون الجذب Law of Attraction "
لفتتني الفكرة بل و أعجبتني ، و لـ ألخّصها في ثلاث جمل باختصار
حياتك هي نتاج أفكارك ، أفكارك تحدّدها مشاعرك ، مشاعرك تتحكمّ بها أنت !
إذن أنتَ سيّد أفكارك ، و مشاعرك .. و حياتك
هذا هي فكرة السرّ ، و ما يدور حوله الفيلم و الكتاب
فـ كلّ ما تريده أنت ، بغضّ النظر هل هو جيد أم ممتاز أم سيء
فـ بتركيزك عليه و تفكيرك الدائم به تجتذبه إليك ليحدث لك !
كيف أفادني السرّ ؟ ،
لاحظتُ أنّها في تقديمها للسر و فريق العمل يردّدون عبارات أحفظها أنا كمسلمة عن ظهر قلب
هي جزء من ثقافتي و حضارتي الإسلامية ، التي أقرأها كلّ يوم .. و أعيش بها و معها و عليها
عرّفوها على أنّها سرّ ينكشف الآن !
و نحن من قبلهم نعرفها روحًا إسلامية حيّة
الحقيقة أنّني توقفت كثيرًا و أنا أقرأ .. فبعض الكلمات و العبارات كأنّها نُقلت نصًا من الإسلام !
وددت كثيرًا و أنا أقرأ أن أرسل لها و لفريق العمل معها مصحفًا مترجمًا
فـ السرّ كلّه يدور في فلك الإسلام ، و العبارات التي يردّدونها نحفظها نحن من قبلهم
هم قومٌ يسّر الله لهم الاهتداء إلى معنى حقّ لـ أنّهم جدّوا في طلبه و احترموه
و آمنوا به !
و هنا عدة مبادئ و معانٍ توفقت عندها لمّا شعرتُ بإسلاميتها أصلاً و مرجعًا :
* وهمية الزمن /
الزمن مجرد وهم ، هكذا أخبرنا أنيشتاين .. " صـ 62
حينما تفكّر و تركز على الخير الذي تريده فإن الأشياء الكبيرة - في نظرك- لن تأخذ وقتًا أطول
في التحقق من الأشياء الصغيرة ، فكلها موجودة أصلا .. و إنما إحساسك بها و تجليها لك هو المحكّ
إسلاميًا: يقول سبحانه و تعالى " إذا قضى أمرًا فإنما يقول له كن فيكون "
في تفسير الشعراوي يقول رحمه الله .. أن كلمة كن ليست إلا تقريبية لأذهاننا
أما الأشياء فهي موجودة أصلا و إلا كيف يقول الله عز و جل للشيء و يخاطبه بـ كُن ؟ !
فمعناه أنّه كائن من الأصل ولكنه غير ظاهر لنا ، فالقدرة الإلهية لا وقت و لا زمن لنفاد حكمها
* توقّع الخير و اشعر به /
لابد أن يكون شعورك طيبًا ، .. إن هؤلاء يتوقعون ذلك .. ابدأ بتوقع الأشياء الرائعة " صـ 65
الفكرة أن تركز مشاعرك على الخير و تلقيه ، فكر فيما تريده لا مالا تريد الوقوع فيه
لتجذبه إليك ، فالكون طاقة ، و للفكرة طاقة تجذب شبيهاتها
إسلاميًا: أليس هذا هو التفاؤل الذي يدعو إليه محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم و التشاؤم الذي ينبذه
حين يقول " تفاءلوا بالخير تجدوه " و أيضًا " لا تمارضوا فتمرضوا فتموتوا "
و كلاهما فكرة تسيطر على صاحبها .. المتفائل يجد خيرًا ، و المتظاهر بالشر المصدّق به يجده حقًا !
* طريقة عمل السر / اطلب ، آمن ، تلقّ
يتطلب الإيمان التصرف و التحدث و التفكير كما لو أنك قد تلقيت بالفعل .. " صـ 68
اطلب ما تريد ثم آمن أنك حصلت عيه و تصرف على هذا الأساس ثم تأكد أنك تتلقاه و اشعر بذلك
إسلاميًا: هذه ثلاثية يعلّمنا إياها مبدأ التوكل على الله
نحن نطلب بالدعاء ثم نؤمن و نوقن بالإجابة و نعمل على هذا الأساس
ثم ننتظر الفتح من الله سبحانه و تعالى
ألم يقل عزّ وجل في الحديث القدسي " انا عند ظنّ عبدي بي فـ ليظنّ بي ما شاء"
و " أنا عند ظن عبدي بي إن ظن خيرا فله وإن ظن شرا فله "
* مبدأ الإمتنان /
إن الامتنان هو الطريقة المثلى لجلب المزيد من الخير إلى حياتك .. في كل صباح
أنهض و أقول " الحمدلله " .. لا أخرج من الفراش حتى أكون قد شعرت بمشاعر الامتنان
لهذا اليوم الرائع و كل شيء يستحق الحمد و الثناء في حياتي .. " صـ 75
جزء كامل يتحدث عن أهمية الامتنان و كيف أنّه من العادات المهمةللقادة العظماء
للشعور بالرضا و جلب لمزيد من الخير خصوصًا عند الاستيقاظ من لنوم و بدأ اليوم
إسلاميًا : ألم يقل سبحانه "وَإِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمْ لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ " "وَإِن تَشْكُرُواْ يَرْضَهُ لَكُمْ "
"وَٱشْكُرُواْ للَّهِ إِن كُنتُمْ إِيَّاهُ تَعْبُدُونَ " " و سيجزي الله الشاكرين "
و كيف أنّ الحمد مرتبط بحياتنا منذ الإصباح " الحمدلله الذي أحيانا بعد ما أماتنا و إليه النشور "
و حتى النوم و ألسنتنا في كل حال لها بالله صلة ذاكرة شاكرة حامدة
* مبدأ العطاء /
امنح المال لتحصل على المزيد منه .. وإذ يعطون فإن الله يجعل الكون وفقًا لقانون الجذب
يتفتح و يتدفق بمبالغ هائلة من المال عائدة إليهم مضاعفة صـ 108
إسلاميًا : هذه العبارة بنصّها ، توقفت كثيرًا عندها ، بل ذُهلت .. المجتمع الغربي برأسماليته
و ماديّته يكتشف أخيرًا أن الزّكاة مورد اقتصادي عظيم يعود على العالم كلّه بالوفرة و الخير !
يحثّ على العطاء من القليل ليتضاعف .. صحيح أنّ نظرتهم للعطاء مادية في مقابلها لكنّ
الفكرة و السرّ واحد !
مبدأ البركة و الثناء /
و تعرّف بعض القواميس المباركة على أنها طلب الخير الإلهي و منح السلامة أو الرخاء ..
يذهبان بكل السلبية ، فأثن و بارك أعداءك فعندما تلعن ترتد اللعنة إليك ، و إذا ما أثنيت
عليهم و باركتهم سوف تتبدد كل السلبية و الخلاف .. صـ 152
إسلاميًا : نحن نطلب البركة من الله في كل أمور حياتنا بذكر اسمه عند كل شيء
و بسؤاله البركة و أذكار الصباح و المساء و الأكل و النوم و اللباس ، في كل هذا نسأله البركة
أمّا مباركة أعداءك !! ، "ادفع بالتي هي أحسن فإذا الذي بينك وبينه عداوة كأنه ولي حميم "
كلّ هذه المعاني الإسلامية الربّانية السامية التي نسيناها و خلّفناها
و ضعنا عن أنوراها و عظمتها .. يهتدي إليها الغرب اليوم على أنّها سر الأسرار
و أهمّ حقيقة عرفها العظماء على مرّ التاريخ ..
سبحان الله .. يؤتي مفاتيح التفكّر و الوصول لمن يشاء
و يهدي من يشاء بمن يشاء و ما يشاء
اللهم إني أشهدك أنك حق سبحانك ،
و الإسلام و القرآن حقّ ، و محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم حقّ
كتاب جميل و ممتع ، غيّر كثيرًا من طريقتي في الحياة و وضعني على التردد المثالي لتلقّي الخير
تردّد الإيمان و الحبّ و السلام و البهجة
October 31, 2020
The Secret, Rhonda Byrne
Byrne highlights the importance of gratitude and visualization in achieving one's desires, along with alleged examples. Later chapters describe how to improve one's prosperity, relationships, and health, with more general thoughts about the universe.
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: اول اکتبر سال 2007میلادی
عنوان: راز؛ نویسنده: روندا (راندا) برن (روندا بایرن)؛
انگار بیش از آن انتشار یافته است که بتوان در اینجا در باره اش نگاشته هایی کاشت، تنها با عنوان «راز» از همین نویسنده: «روندا (راندا) برن (روندا بایرن)»؛ بیش از یکصد و پنجاه مورد متفاوت یافتم؛ خواستم نخستین نسخه، و نخستین مترجم، و نخستین انتشاراتی را بیابم، همه به سال 1386هجری خورشیدی برمیگشتند، یعنی همان سال 2007میلادی مشهور، که همه جا به ناروا، در جایگاه تاریخ انتشار کتابها خودنمایی میکند، اما این فراموشکار یادم است، که در سال 1375هجری خورشیدی نیز، در کتابفروشی آن روزگار «پدرام»، در بازارچه ی فاز نخست شهرک «اکباتان»، که اینروزها تغییر کاربری داده، کتاب را دیده بودم؛ با همین شکل و شمایل، که در تصویر جلد کتاب هست؛ «ویکیپدیا» نخستین برگرداننده کتاب را جناب آقای «مهدی قراچه داغی» دانسته؛ و در یافته های این فراموشکار؛ کتاب با عنوان: «راز پنهان» با ترجمه ی سرکار خانم «نگار مختاری»؛ در انتشاراتی رسا؛ در سال 1386هجری خورشیدی، و در 281ص، چاپ و منتشر شده است؛ کتاب براساس فیلمی به همین نام نوشته شده؛ و گویا مبتنی بر قانون جذب است و مدعی؛ که تفکر مثبت، میتواند نتایجی همانند افزایش ثروت، سلامتی و شادمانی، به همراه بیاورد، و زندگی را تغییر دهد؛ دیگر نمیدانم چه بنویسم
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 09/08/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
Byrne highlights the importance of gratitude and visualization in achieving one's desires, along with alleged examples. Later chapters describe how to improve one's prosperity, relationships, and health, with more general thoughts about the universe.
تاریخ نخستین خوانش: اول اکتبر سال 2007میلادی
عنوان: راز؛ نویسنده: روندا (راندا) برن (روندا بایرن)؛
انگار بیش از آن انتشار یافته است که بتوان در اینجا در باره اش نگاشته هایی کاشت، تنها با عنوان «راز» از همین نویسنده: «روندا (راندا) برن (روندا بایرن)»؛ بیش از یکصد و پنجاه مورد متفاوت یافتم؛ خواستم نخستین نسخه، و نخستین مترجم، و نخستین انتشاراتی را بیابم، همه به سال 1386هجری خورشیدی برمیگشتند، یعنی همان سال 2007میلادی مشهور، که همه جا به ناروا، در جایگاه تاریخ انتشار کتابها خودنمایی میکند، اما این فراموشکار یادم است، که در سال 1375هجری خورشیدی نیز، در کتابفروشی آن روزگار «پدرام»، در بازارچه ی فاز نخست شهرک «اکباتان»، که اینروزها تغییر کاربری داده، کتاب را دیده بودم؛ با همین شکل و شمایل، که در تصویر جلد کتاب هست؛ «ویکیپدیا» نخستین برگرداننده کتاب را جناب آقای «مهدی قراچه داغی» دانسته؛ و در یافته های این فراموشکار؛ کتاب با عنوان: «راز پنهان» با ترجمه ی سرکار خانم «نگار مختاری»؛ در انتشاراتی رسا؛ در سال 1386هجری خورشیدی، و در 281ص، چاپ و منتشر شده است؛ کتاب براساس فیلمی به همین نام نوشته شده؛ و گویا مبتنی بر قانون جذب است و مدعی؛ که تفکر مثبت، میتواند نتایجی همانند افزایش ثروت، سلامتی و شادمانی، به همراه بیاورد، و زندگی را تغییر دهد؛ دیگر نمیدانم چه بنویسم
تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 09/08/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
May 4, 2020
Oof, this book. The "secret" of The Secret is the so-called Law of Attraction: what you think becomes real. If you can just manage to focus on the positive, ask for the things you want, and believe you will have them, you will receive wealth, health, love and success beyond (or at least in proportion to) your wildest dreams. The problem? A) That's wrong. B) That's selfish. C) That makes you the focus of blame when things don't magically go your way.
The book is a tidy, pretty (and surprisingly heavy!) little package. It's made to look like old-time parchment, with titles scrawled in ink pen and everything sealed up with a wax stamp. The pages are permeated with inspiring little quotes to get you pumping positive energy and intention into the universe. Its ten chapters are broken into simple concepts, summarized neatly at the end. Each concept is reinforced ad nauseam with quotes pulled from a stable of featured speakers who are considered modern holders of "The Secret". Each speaker (29 are listed in the biography, not including author Rhonda Byrne) has a little icon of a mirror or key or light bulb that appears next to their quote, along with a ghosted copy of his or her signature.
All this slick presentation might be an attempt to distract from the glibness of the text. None of these ideas hold up to a moment's reflection. For example, why is this a secret? Presumably someone has conspired to keep this hidden from humanity, but we're never given an explanation of who that is, or what their motivation might be. The film version of The Secret dramatically depicts soldiers hunting down mages who keep the arcane scrolls hidden. And yet, the book teaches that the secret is written into every religious text, and is found in the works of Plato, Shakespeare, da Vinci, Newton, Emerson and Einstein (all, of course, co-opted as keepers of The Secret). We're also taught that it is not a zero-sum principle: there's enough prosperity to go around. Further, one of the effects of The Secret is wanting to share it with others. So, again... why is this even A Secret? The film and book came out in 2006, to much fanfare. Where are all the nouveau riche millionaires with their massive houses, three dates a week, great bodies, ageless beauty, BMWs and prime parking spaces? (Yes, those are all things we are taught to ask for.) Speaking of beauty, we learn that aging itself is only in the mind, and that you can choose to remain eternally youthful. A search for the people saying this reveals them to be as subject to the march of time as everyone else.
Science is appealed to frequently, with explanations given a gloss of energy, quantum physics, magnetism, frequency and vibration. The assumption is that no one reading this knows anything about these phenomena or their roles in the physical world. This sciency language is given the imprimatur of a selectively quoted Einstein, as well as a couple featured speakers who are credited as renowned physicists. Dr. John Hagelin did in fact receive a quality education in physics, but then he ran off to do his own metaphysical thing with the Transcendental Meditation movement. Fred Alan Wolf also has genuine bona fides as a physicist, but his fringe ideas on topics such as consciousness are in no way representative of the scientific community.
The other speakers are an eclectic mix of motivational figures, from Jack Canfield (of Chicken Soup for the Soul) to Michael Beckwith (Agape International) to John Gray (Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus). There's a "metaphysician" and a "feng shui expert". Most of these speakers have gotten their wealth from presentations about how to get wealth. An interesting racket, but hardly one that scales. Whatever their qualifications, it's a self-selected group, and we're not supposed to think about the much larger mass of people who have tried positive thinking and failed. Which is precisely the problem with the Law of Attraction. Many people, with all the best intentions and positive thinking, do not magically win the lotto, get famous, have their dream business take off, or receive healing from terminal illness. What does the Law of Attraction have to offer when reality inevitably comes crashing down? A command to be more positive, and an implication that you didn't think positively enough and brought the plight upon yourself. The Secret gets to take credit for all the successes while ignoring and re-categorizing failures.
If you manage to ignore all of these problems, it's an inspiring little book. There's a lot to be said for focusing on the positive, expressing gratitude, and visualizing your goals. Those are all great things to do, and hopefully you're in a position to practice them. But why add a layer of nonsense on top of that? It's unfortunate that this book (and the film, which came first and has all the exact same ideas and talking heads) has gotten so much traction. The Secret encourages detachment from reality, and inspires a lack of curiosity about how things actually work. Luck and randomness are always going to play a role in our lives, but having a firm grasp on reality puts us in the best position to influence the things we do have some control over. And that's... no secret.
The book is a tidy, pretty (and surprisingly heavy!) little package. It's made to look like old-time parchment, with titles scrawled in ink pen and everything sealed up with a wax stamp. The pages are permeated with inspiring little quotes to get you pumping positive energy and intention into the universe. Its ten chapters are broken into simple concepts, summarized neatly at the end. Each concept is reinforced ad nauseam with quotes pulled from a stable of featured speakers who are considered modern holders of "The Secret". Each speaker (29 are listed in the biography, not including author Rhonda Byrne) has a little icon of a mirror or key or light bulb that appears next to their quote, along with a ghosted copy of his or her signature.
All this slick presentation might be an attempt to distract from the glibness of the text. None of these ideas hold up to a moment's reflection. For example, why is this a secret? Presumably someone has conspired to keep this hidden from humanity, but we're never given an explanation of who that is, or what their motivation might be. The film version of The Secret dramatically depicts soldiers hunting down mages who keep the arcane scrolls hidden. And yet, the book teaches that the secret is written into every religious text, and is found in the works of Plato, Shakespeare, da Vinci, Newton, Emerson and Einstein (all, of course, co-opted as keepers of The Secret). We're also taught that it is not a zero-sum principle: there's enough prosperity to go around. Further, one of the effects of The Secret is wanting to share it with others. So, again... why is this even A Secret? The film and book came out in 2006, to much fanfare. Where are all the nouveau riche millionaires with their massive houses, three dates a week, great bodies, ageless beauty, BMWs and prime parking spaces? (Yes, those are all things we are taught to ask for.) Speaking of beauty, we learn that aging itself is only in the mind, and that you can choose to remain eternally youthful. A search for the people saying this reveals them to be as subject to the march of time as everyone else.
Science is appealed to frequently, with explanations given a gloss of energy, quantum physics, magnetism, frequency and vibration. The assumption is that no one reading this knows anything about these phenomena or their roles in the physical world. This sciency language is given the imprimatur of a selectively quoted Einstein, as well as a couple featured speakers who are credited as renowned physicists. Dr. John Hagelin did in fact receive a quality education in physics, but then he ran off to do his own metaphysical thing with the Transcendental Meditation movement. Fred Alan Wolf also has genuine bona fides as a physicist, but his fringe ideas on topics such as consciousness are in no way representative of the scientific community.
The other speakers are an eclectic mix of motivational figures, from Jack Canfield (of Chicken Soup for the Soul) to Michael Beckwith (Agape International) to John Gray (Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus). There's a "metaphysician" and a "feng shui expert". Most of these speakers have gotten their wealth from presentations about how to get wealth. An interesting racket, but hardly one that scales. Whatever their qualifications, it's a self-selected group, and we're not supposed to think about the much larger mass of people who have tried positive thinking and failed. Which is precisely the problem with the Law of Attraction. Many people, with all the best intentions and positive thinking, do not magically win the lotto, get famous, have their dream business take off, or receive healing from terminal illness. What does the Law of Attraction have to offer when reality inevitably comes crashing down? A command to be more positive, and an implication that you didn't think positively enough and brought the plight upon yourself. The Secret gets to take credit for all the successes while ignoring and re-categorizing failures.
If you manage to ignore all of these problems, it's an inspiring little book. There's a lot to be said for focusing on the positive, expressing gratitude, and visualizing your goals. Those are all great things to do, and hopefully you're in a position to practice them. But why add a layer of nonsense on top of that? It's unfortunate that this book (and the film, which came first and has all the exact same ideas and talking heads) has gotten so much traction. The Secret encourages detachment from reality, and inspires a lack of curiosity about how things actually work. Luck and randomness are always going to play a role in our lives, but having a firm grasp on reality puts us in the best position to influence the things we do have some control over. And that's... no secret.
October 3, 2020
The eternal silence of these infinite spaces terrifies me.
– Blaise Pascal, Pensées
Ask: I’m thinking positively, feeling grateful. I want to travel back in time.
Visualize: I see myself driving a DeLorean and going back in time; it's Saturday and I just decided I won't read this book, thus avoiding another Coelho experience due to being dangerously curious and irremediably naive when it comes to the 'don't judge before reading' issue.
Receive:
Receive:
Receive?
Hello?
*
Much has already been said about the content of this book so I'll just share some random thoughts after being absent for months on here since I've been busy with work, studies, life, pandemic...
Personally, I agree with the power of a positive thought and meditation which help with stress management and improve one's health, even though 'agree' may not be the right term since it's not a matter of belief.¹²³⁴
However, when I speak of a positive thought, I mean the normally transient positive thought, not the exhausting "Santa Claus on Prozac, at Disneyland, getting laid" kind of positivity used to satisfy one's materialistic desires - spiritual beings sure like mansions, expensive cars and other representations of opulence.
I also agree with the concept of gratitude, of course, and put it into practice on a daily basis. And, from time to time, I like the idea that everything's connected, which brings about some trepidation when one sees the other end to which one's supposedly connected and prefers to cut all red, green or uncolored strings in order to preserve one's mental health or even lives - ultimately, that would be one's fault, according to the law of attraction. In fact, one shouldn't even sympathize with other people's problems, that would bring chaos to the individualistic bubble.
In that sense, Byrne and Co. shouldn’t refer to the law of attraction as ‘the secret’ if they want everyone to know about it as claimed in the book. This law considers the universe stupid: it doesn’t distinguish good from bad. Following this logic, by calling it ‘the secret’ they bring more secrecy to it. They should call it ‘public knowledge’. (Conveniently enough, it does sound like a Seinfeld joke.)
Either way, I'm planning on leaving the country in the near future so I'll test this law and will report the results; perhaps wishful thinking does buy plane tickets. And will eat all the food available on that flight (and in life) since weight is no longer an issue: to lose weight, don't focus on "losing weight." Instead, focus on your perfect weight. Feel the feelings of your perfect weight, and you will summon it to you. Did you really think the solution was a healthy diet and exercise? Did you really think it couldn't get worse? If you see people who are overweight, do not observe them, but immediately switch your mind to the picture of you in your perfect body and feel it.
On another note, it's remarkable that, taking into account the subject Byrne is dealing with, she didn't even try to bring a speck of seriousness to the book. As a journalist, lawyer, reader and human being, I wasn't expecting reliable sources, references to the resources she consulted (otherwise, saying that someone said something in the 1800's might as well be fiction), well-developed theories nor the beauty of a somewhat Proustian language all at once, but there's not even an effort to make it look less absurd.
I'm aware of the fact that there's not much to work with, but it doesn't hurt to give your best to create a book and not a Tumblr post. The way the entire book is presented, the repetitive lectures interspersed with simplistic testimonies, the mediocre writing that made me feel like a native English speaker, the other sources the author mentions... or dead writers that can't state whether their quotes, those loose sentences she uses as evidence, prove they were actually using 'the secret' or not.
For instance, among the quotes, there's one by Einstein asking himself is this a friendly Universe? Naturally, the book speaks about the universe as an entity and the conclusion is Yes, the Universe is friendly... The Universe is conspiring for me in all things (where did I hear that before?). However, that quote is mostly known as is the Universe a friendly place? which could be about us and our attitudes, not the universe itself. Since they resorted to Einstein, it's important to remember he also wrote once a quiet and modest life brings more joy than a pursuit of success bound with constant unrest⁵.
I'm sure Byrne has been feeling good and reveling in positive thoughts, nevertheless, it wasn't enough. There's a number of factors that inevitably attracted another one-star rating.
The law of attraction is a law of nature. It is as impartial and impersonal as the law of gravity is. It is precise, and it is exact.
And still, the silence is terrifying.
Sep 27, 20
* Later on my blog.
** Notes:
1. TEDxSanIsidro
2. La Nación
3. Mayo Clinic
4. Hopkins Medicine
5. Einstein scribbled his theory of happiness
6. Credit: photo via egi.eu
March 10, 2008
The Secret is perhaps best summarized in an entirely separate work, the Strangest Secret, which is an audio presentation by Earl Nightingale where he demands “you must control your thoughts.” Rhonda Byrne then explains by controlling your thoughts and ensuring that they are of a positive nature, anything, in any aspect of life, is achievable. More specifically, The Secret explains that like things attract, so positive, can do thoughts create positive outcomes while negative thoughts would create that negative reality.
The secret is powerful and if one were to incorporate these ideas into everyday life it would indeed be an unstoppable force. The reality is obvious; if you’re feeling happy you are thinking happy thoughts. What is exciting is to realize that one can use one’s feelings to understand what one is thinking. Further, one can use ones more readily controllable thoughts to affect ones feelings.
The Secret teaches us to understand today, create tomorrow, but allow the universe to positively influence us as we project positive energy. My favorite line was likening life to a road trip, at night, from San Fran to New York City. You know where you’re going, but you can only see 200 ft in front of you. Life must be taken as it comes though we can provide it direction. You must stay on track, but deal, positively, with the bumps that come along the way. We must be thankful for all that is presented to us because it defines us.
The book goes on to apply the concept of positivity to health, relationships, abundance, thankfulness, and ultimately life. Indeed the point is to be happy now, feel good now.
Notes:
On Thoughts and Creation:
• Nothing can come into your experience unless you summon it thought persistent thoughts.
o What are you summoning?
• Careful, the thoughts of doubt are powerful too.
• Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions
• Use Vision boards as ways to visualize your goals
• Your power is in your thoughts, “Remember to Remember,” live in the present
On Feelings and their power:
• Our feelings let us know what we’re thinking
• Our feelings are feedback mechanisms to us about whether we’re on track or not, whether we’re on course or off course
• Bad feelings are a warning from the universe
• You’re getting exactly what you’re feeling about, not so much what you’re thinking about
• Make a list of Secret Shifters, things to employ when you’re not feeling good or the way you want to
How to live the secret:
• What do you want; take time to write that down, you must be clear about what you want.
1. Ask, once, than listen
2. Believe you’ll get it, know that – Most of us have never allowed ourselves to want what we truly want because we can’t see how it’s going to manifest
3. Receive
On moving towards a secret centric lifestyle:
Most profound reality about living life, knowing where you’re going, but unable to see exactly how it turns out:
Driving a car at night, life is SFO to NYC, but you can only really see 200 ft ahead, be ok with that.
“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“All that we are is a result of what we have thought” – Buddha
“Pruning shears of revision” –Neville Goddard, 1954—“Each night replay the events of the day; if they didn’t go the way you wanted replay them in a way that thrills you.” --- This cleans up the frequency
On Thankfulness and gratitude
• Know gratitude, be grateful
• Praise and bless the things around you
On Relationships:
For relationships to really work we need to focus on what we appreciate about the other person, not what we’re complaining about
On Health:
Laughter attracts joy, rejects negativity and leads to miraculous cures
On Positivity:
o “I will never attend an anti-war rally. If you have a peace rally, invite me” – Mother Terresa
o Use I AM. I am received every good thing, I am happy, I am abundant, I am healthy, I am love, I am always on time, I am eternal youth, I am filled with energy every single day.
On life:
Joy, love, freedom, happiness, laughter. That’s what it is.
Be Happy now, fell good now.
The secret is powerful and if one were to incorporate these ideas into everyday life it would indeed be an unstoppable force. The reality is obvious; if you’re feeling happy you are thinking happy thoughts. What is exciting is to realize that one can use one’s feelings to understand what one is thinking. Further, one can use ones more readily controllable thoughts to affect ones feelings.
The Secret teaches us to understand today, create tomorrow, but allow the universe to positively influence us as we project positive energy. My favorite line was likening life to a road trip, at night, from San Fran to New York City. You know where you’re going, but you can only see 200 ft in front of you. Life must be taken as it comes though we can provide it direction. You must stay on track, but deal, positively, with the bumps that come along the way. We must be thankful for all that is presented to us because it defines us.
The book goes on to apply the concept of positivity to health, relationships, abundance, thankfulness, and ultimately life. Indeed the point is to be happy now, feel good now.
Notes:
On Thoughts and Creation:
• Nothing can come into your experience unless you summon it thought persistent thoughts.
o What are you summoning?
• Careful, the thoughts of doubt are powerful too.
• Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions
• Use Vision boards as ways to visualize your goals
• Your power is in your thoughts, “Remember to Remember,” live in the present
On Feelings and their power:
• Our feelings let us know what we’re thinking
• Our feelings are feedback mechanisms to us about whether we’re on track or not, whether we’re on course or off course
• Bad feelings are a warning from the universe
• You’re getting exactly what you’re feeling about, not so much what you’re thinking about
• Make a list of Secret Shifters, things to employ when you’re not feeling good or the way you want to
How to live the secret:
• What do you want; take time to write that down, you must be clear about what you want.
1. Ask, once, than listen
2. Believe you’ll get it, know that – Most of us have never allowed ourselves to want what we truly want because we can’t see how it’s going to manifest
3. Receive
On moving towards a secret centric lifestyle:
Most profound reality about living life, knowing where you’re going, but unable to see exactly how it turns out:
Driving a car at night, life is SFO to NYC, but you can only really see 200 ft ahead, be ok with that.
“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“All that we are is a result of what we have thought” – Buddha
“Pruning shears of revision” –Neville Goddard, 1954—“Each night replay the events of the day; if they didn’t go the way you wanted replay them in a way that thrills you.” --- This cleans up the frequency
On Thankfulness and gratitude
• Know gratitude, be grateful
• Praise and bless the things around you
On Relationships:
For relationships to really work we need to focus on what we appreciate about the other person, not what we’re complaining about
On Health:
Laughter attracts joy, rejects negativity and leads to miraculous cures
On Positivity:
o “I will never attend an anti-war rally. If you have a peace rally, invite me” – Mother Terresa
o Use I AM. I am received every good thing, I am happy, I am abundant, I am healthy, I am love, I am always on time, I am eternal youth, I am filled with energy every single day.
On life:
Joy, love, freedom, happiness, laughter. That’s what it is.
Be Happy now, fell good now.
April 29, 2017
Someone in work made me read this and i hated it.
Shite.
Shite.
April 11, 2024
This book has changed the way I view the world. I like to re-read The Secret at least once a year. I own the book, audio book, and film. I will openly admit that there are some ideas, phrases and quotes that cause me to laugh out loud, but the overall message of the book is one of optimism, gratitude, love and power. The sequel, The Power is likewise amazing.
I believe thoughts are powerful and the general idea of The Law of Attraction - that we attract things to us whether positive or negative by what we are focusing on, just makes sense. We create our lives by thoughts and ideas put into action. I feel this book is worth reading - it might just change your outlook on life. The Secret would fall into Self-Help or Metaphysical categories.
After re-reading The Secret in Fall 2019, I decided to finally look into some source material by reading Money, and the Law of Attraction: Learning to Attract Wealth, Health, and Happiness. I really enjoyed the book, read the title twice in 2020 as well as all other Jerry and Esther Hicks books. Eventually I intend to read other related works such as: The Science of Getting Rich,Think and Grow Rich etc.
I read The Secret an unprecedented three times in 2020. During a global pandemic, I found myself stressed due to uncertainty. In 2021, I saw the connections to the newest installment: The Greatest Secret
I believe that every experience, interaction, film watched, book read affects our lives in some way, however seemingly insignificant. I also believe that an intelligent individual can take the ideas presented in The Secret, What the Bleep, The Law of Attraction etc. and with discernment decide which can benefit their unique life.
Favorite Quotes:
You are now receiving the knowledge that will enable you to create the most magnificent version of You. The possibility of that version of you already exists on the frequency of "the most magnificent version of You." Decide what you want to be, do, and have, think the thoughts of it, emit the frequency, and your vision will become your life.
-Rhonda Byrne
Your life is in your hands. No matter where you are now, no matter what has happened in your life, you can begin to consciously choose your thoughts, and you can change your life."
-Rhonda Byrne
Our job as humans is to hold on to the thoughts of what we want, make it absolutely clear in our minds what we want, and from that we start to invoke one of the greatest laws in the Universe, and that's the law of attraction. You become what you think about most, but you also attract what you think about most.
-John Assaraf
Your life right now is a reflection of your past thoughts. That includes all the great things, and all the things you consider not so great. Since you attract to you what you think about most, it is easy to see what your dominant thoughts have been on every subject of your life, because that is what you have experienced . . . Now you are learning The Secret, and with this knowledge, you can change everything.
-Rhonda Byrne
When you focus your thoughts on something you want, and you hold that focus, you are in that moment summoning what you want with the mightiest power in the Universe. The law of attraction doesn't compute "don't" or "not" or "no," or any other words of negation.
-Rhonda Byrne
Creation is always happening. Every time an individual has a thought, or a prolonged chronic way of thinking, they're in the creation process. Something is going to manifest out of those thoughts.
-Michael Bernard Beckwith
If you're feeling good, then you're creating a future that's on track with your desires. If you're feeling bad, you're creating a future that's off track with your desires. As you go about your day, the law of attraction is working in every second. Everything we think and feel is creating our future. If you're worried or in fear, then you're bringing more of that into your life throughout the day.
-Marci Shimoff
You create your own universe as you go along.
- Winston Churchill
There is no greater power in the Universe than the power of love. The feeling of love is the highest frequency you can emit. If you could wrap every thought in love, if you could love everything and everyone, your life would be transformed.
- Rhonda Byrne
That a man can change himself....and master his own destiny is the conclusion of every mind who is wide-awake to the power of right thought.
- Christian D. Larson
You want to become aware of your thoughts and choose your thoughts carefully and you want to have fun with this, because you are the masterpiece of your own life. You are the Michelangelo of your own life. The David you are sculpting is you.
-Dr. Joe Vitale
You get to choose what you want, but you must get clear about what you want. This is your work. If you're not clear, then the law of attraction cannot bring you what you want. You will be sending out a mixed frequency and you can only attract mixed results. For the first time in your life perhaps, work out what it is you really want. Now that you know you can have, be, or do anything, and there are no limits, what do you want?
-Rhonda Byrne
All that we are is a result of what we have thought.
- Buddha
If it is a new thought to you that gratitude brings your whole mind into closer harmony with the creative energies of the Universe, consider it well, and you will see that it is true.
-Wallace Wattles
The Universe will start to rearrange itself to make it happen for you.
-Dr. Joe Vitale
Most of us have never allowed ourselves to want what we truly want, because we can't see how it's going to manifest.
-Jack Canfield
We all possess more power and greater possibilities than we realize, and visualizing is one of the greatest of these powers.
-Genevieve Behrend
The only difference between people who live in this way, who live in the magic of life, and those who don't is that the people who live in the magic of life have habituated ways of being. They've made a habit of using the law of attraction, and magic happens with them wherever they go. Because they remember to use it. They use it all the time, not just as a one-time event.
-Marci Shimoff
Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions.
- Albert Einstein
The good news is that the moment you decide that what you know is more important that what you have been taught to believe, you will have shifted gears in your quest for abundance. Success comes from within, not from without.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Make a list of some Secret Shifters to have up your sleeve. By Secret Shifters, I mean things that can change your feelings in a snap. It might be beautiful memories, future events, funny moments, nature, a person you love, your favorite music. Then if you find yourself angry or frustrated or not feeling good, turn to your Secret Shifters list and focus on one of them. Different things will shift you at different times, so if one doesn't work, go to another. It only takes a minute or two of changing focus to shift yourself and shift your frequency.
- Rhonda Byrne
Time is just an illusion. Einstein told us that. If this is the first time you have heard it, you may find it a hard concept to get your head around, because you see everything happening - one thing after the other. 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. If everything is happening at the one time, then the parallel version of you with what you want already exists!
-Rhonda Byrne
It is the combination of thought and love which forms the irresistible force of the law of attraction.
-Charles Haanel
There is a truth deep down inside of you that has been waiting for you to discover it, and that Truth is this: you deserve all good things life has to offer. You know that inherently, because you feel awful when you are experiencing the lack of good things. All good things are your birthright! You are the creator of you, and the law of attraction is your magnificent tool to create whatever you want in your life. Welcome to the magic of life, and the magnificence of You!
-Rhonda Byrne
When you say to yourself, 'I am going to have a pleasant visit or a pleasant journey,' you are literally sending elements and forces ahead of your body that will arrange things to make your visit or journey pleasant. When before the visit or the journey or the shopping trip you are in a bad humor, or fearful or apprehensive of something unpleasant, you are sending unseen agencies ahead of you which will make some kind of unpleasantness. Our thoughts, or in other words, our state of mind, is ever at work 'fixing up' things good or bad in advance.
-Prentice Mulford
Think of a car driving through the night. The headlights only go a hundred or two hundred feet forward, and you can make it all the way from California to New York driving through the dark, because all you have to see is the next two hundred feet. And that's how life tends to unfold before us. If we just trust that the next two hundred feet will unfold after that, and the next two hundred feet will unfold after that, your life will keep unfolding. And it will eventually get you to the destination of whatever it is you truly want, because you want it.
-Jack Canfield
You must stop and move yourself off that frequency. Take a few moments and shift yourself . . .
-Rhonda Byrne
A lot of people feel stuck or imprisoned or confined by their current circumstances. Whatever your circumstances right now, that is only your current reality, and current reality will begin to change as a result of beginning to use The Secret.
-Dr. Joe Vitale
"That man can change himself . . . and master his own destiny is the conclusion of every mind who is wide-awake to the power of right thought."
- Christian D. Larson
Be grateful for what you have now. As you begin to think about all the things in your life you are grateful for, you will be amazed at the never-ending thoughts that come back to you of more things to be grateful for. You have to make a start, and then the law of attraction will receive those grateful thoughts and give you more just like them. You will have locked into the frequency of gratitude and all good things will be yours.
-Rhonda Byrne
The daily practice of gratitude is one of the conduits by which your wealth will come to you.
-Wallace Wattles
You put yourself in the feeling place of really being in that car. Not "I wish I could get that car," or, "Some day I'll have that car," because that's a very definite feeling associated with that. It's not in the now, It's in the future. If you stay in that feeling, it will always be in the future.
-Bob Doyle
Now that feeling and that inner seeing will begin to be an open doorway through which the power of the Universe will begin to express.
-Michael Bernard Beckwith
Our job is not to figure out the how. The how will show up out of a commitment and belief in the what.
-Jack Canfield
The "hows" are the domain of the Universe. It always knows the shortest, quickest, fastest, most harmonious way between you and your dream.
-Mike Dooley
If you turn it over to the Universe, you will be surprised and dazzled by what is delivered to you. This is where magic and miracles happen.
-Dr. Joe Vitale
Any action we take must be preceded by a thought. Thoughts create the words we speak, the feelings we feel, and our actions. Actions are particularly powerful, because they are thoughts that have caused us to act.
-Rhonda Byrne
"Whatever the mind . . . can conceive it can achieve."
- W. Clement Stone
There is a big difference between giving and sacrifice. Giving from a heart that is overflowing feels so good. Sacrificing does not feel good. Don't confuse the two - they are diametrically opposed. One emits a signal of lack and the other emits a signal of more-than-enough. One feels good and one does not feel good. Sacrifice will eventually lead to resentment. Giving from a full heart is one of the most joyous things you can do, and the law of attraction will grab hold of that signal and flood even more into your life. You can feel the difference.
-Rhonda Byrne
Undoubtedly to some, the idea of giving so much love to self will seem very cold, hard and unmerciful. Still this matter may be seen in a different light, when we find that "looking out for Number One", as directed by the Infinite, is really looking out for Number Two and is indeed the only way to permanently benefit Number Two.
-Prentice Mulford
And you can break yourself free from your hereditary patterns, cultural codes, social beliefs, and prove once and for all that the power within you is greater than the power within the world.
-Michael Bernard Beckwith
I am whole, perfect, strong, powerful, loving, harmonious, and happy.
-Charles Haanel
Joy, love, freedom, happiness, laughter. That's what it is. And if just experience joy sitting there and meditating for an hour, by golly, do that. If you experience joy eating a salami sandwich, then do that!
-Neale Donald Walsch
When I pet my cat I'm in a state of joy. When I walk in nature I'm in a state of joy. So I want to constantly put myself in that state, and when I do, then all I have to do is have the intention of what I want, and what I want manifests.
-Jack Canfield
Enjoy life, because life is phenomenal! It's a magnificent trip!
-Bob Proctor
Most of the leaders in the past missed the great part of The Secret, which is to empower and share with others.
This is the best time to have ever been alive in history. It's the first time we've ever had the power to gain knowledge at our fingertips.
-Dr. Denis Waitley
With this knowledge you are becoming aware - of the truth of the world, and yourself. My greatest insights into The Secret on the subject of the world came form the teachings of Robert Collier, Prentice Mulford, Charles Haanel, and Michael Bernard Beckwith. With that understanding came total freedom. I truly hope that you can come to the place of the same freedom. If you can, then through your existence and the power of your thoughts, you will bring the greatest good to this world and to the future of all humankind.
-Rhonda Byrne
Divine Mind is the one and only reality
-Charles Fillmore
The real secret of power is consciousness of power.
-Charles Haanel
To love yourself fully, you must focus on a new dimension of You.
-Rhonda Byrne
So inner happiness actually is the fuel of success.
-Dr. John Hagelin
You will live in a different reality, a different life. And people will look at you and say, "What do you do different from me?" Well, the only thing that is different is that you work with The Secret.
-Marie Diamond
You are energy, and energy cannot be created or destroyed. Energy just changes form. And that means You! The true essence of You, the pure energy of You, has always been and always will be. You can never not be.
-Rhonda Byrne
I believe thoughts are powerful and the general idea of The Law of Attraction - that we attract things to us whether positive or negative by what we are focusing on, just makes sense. We create our lives by thoughts and ideas put into action. I feel this book is worth reading - it might just change your outlook on life. The Secret would fall into Self-Help or Metaphysical categories.
After re-reading The Secret in Fall 2019, I decided to finally look into some source material by reading Money, and the Law of Attraction: Learning to Attract Wealth, Health, and Happiness. I really enjoyed the book, read the title twice in 2020 as well as all other Jerry and Esther Hicks books. Eventually I intend to read other related works such as: The Science of Getting Rich,Think and Grow Rich etc.
I read The Secret an unprecedented three times in 2020. During a global pandemic, I found myself stressed due to uncertainty. In 2021, I saw the connections to the newest installment: The Greatest Secret
I believe that every experience, interaction, film watched, book read affects our lives in some way, however seemingly insignificant. I also believe that an intelligent individual can take the ideas presented in The Secret, What the Bleep, The Law of Attraction etc. and with discernment decide which can benefit their unique life.
Favorite Quotes:
You are now receiving the knowledge that will enable you to create the most magnificent version of You. The possibility of that version of you already exists on the frequency of "the most magnificent version of You." Decide what you want to be, do, and have, think the thoughts of it, emit the frequency, and your vision will become your life.
-Rhonda Byrne
Your life is in your hands. No matter where you are now, no matter what has happened in your life, you can begin to consciously choose your thoughts, and you can change your life."
-Rhonda Byrne
Our job as humans is to hold on to the thoughts of what we want, make it absolutely clear in our minds what we want, and from that we start to invoke one of the greatest laws in the Universe, and that's the law of attraction. You become what you think about most, but you also attract what you think about most.
-John Assaraf
Your life right now is a reflection of your past thoughts. That includes all the great things, and all the things you consider not so great. Since you attract to you what you think about most, it is easy to see what your dominant thoughts have been on every subject of your life, because that is what you have experienced . . . Now you are learning The Secret, and with this knowledge, you can change everything.
-Rhonda Byrne
When you focus your thoughts on something you want, and you hold that focus, you are in that moment summoning what you want with the mightiest power in the Universe. The law of attraction doesn't compute "don't" or "not" or "no," or any other words of negation.
-Rhonda Byrne
Creation is always happening. Every time an individual has a thought, or a prolonged chronic way of thinking, they're in the creation process. Something is going to manifest out of those thoughts.
-Michael Bernard Beckwith
If you're feeling good, then you're creating a future that's on track with your desires. If you're feeling bad, you're creating a future that's off track with your desires. As you go about your day, the law of attraction is working in every second. Everything we think and feel is creating our future. If you're worried or in fear, then you're bringing more of that into your life throughout the day.
-Marci Shimoff
You create your own universe as you go along.
- Winston Churchill
There is no greater power in the Universe than the power of love. The feeling of love is the highest frequency you can emit. If you could wrap every thought in love, if you could love everything and everyone, your life would be transformed.
- Rhonda Byrne
That a man can change himself....and master his own destiny is the conclusion of every mind who is wide-awake to the power of right thought.
- Christian D. Larson
You want to become aware of your thoughts and choose your thoughts carefully and you want to have fun with this, because you are the masterpiece of your own life. You are the Michelangelo of your own life. The David you are sculpting is you.
-Dr. Joe Vitale
You get to choose what you want, but you must get clear about what you want. This is your work. If you're not clear, then the law of attraction cannot bring you what you want. You will be sending out a mixed frequency and you can only attract mixed results. For the first time in your life perhaps, work out what it is you really want. Now that you know you can have, be, or do anything, and there are no limits, what do you want?
-Rhonda Byrne
All that we are is a result of what we have thought.
- Buddha
If it is a new thought to you that gratitude brings your whole mind into closer harmony with the creative energies of the Universe, consider it well, and you will see that it is true.
-Wallace Wattles
The Universe will start to rearrange itself to make it happen for you.
-Dr. Joe Vitale
Most of us have never allowed ourselves to want what we truly want, because we can't see how it's going to manifest.
-Jack Canfield
We all possess more power and greater possibilities than we realize, and visualizing is one of the greatest of these powers.
-Genevieve Behrend
The only difference between people who live in this way, who live in the magic of life, and those who don't is that the people who live in the magic of life have habituated ways of being. They've made a habit of using the law of attraction, and magic happens with them wherever they go. Because they remember to use it. They use it all the time, not just as a one-time event.
-Marci Shimoff
Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions.
- Albert Einstein
The good news is that the moment you decide that what you know is more important that what you have been taught to believe, you will have shifted gears in your quest for abundance. Success comes from within, not from without.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Make a list of some Secret Shifters to have up your sleeve. By Secret Shifters, I mean things that can change your feelings in a snap. It might be beautiful memories, future events, funny moments, nature, a person you love, your favorite music. Then if you find yourself angry or frustrated or not feeling good, turn to your Secret Shifters list and focus on one of them. Different things will shift you at different times, so if one doesn't work, go to another. It only takes a minute or two of changing focus to shift yourself and shift your frequency.
- Rhonda Byrne
Time is just an illusion. Einstein told us that. If this is the first time you have heard it, you may find it a hard concept to get your head around, because you see everything happening - one thing after the other. 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. If everything is happening at the one time, then the parallel version of you with what you want already exists!
-Rhonda Byrne
It is the combination of thought and love which forms the irresistible force of the law of attraction.
-Charles Haanel
There is a truth deep down inside of you that has been waiting for you to discover it, and that Truth is this: you deserve all good things life has to offer. You know that inherently, because you feel awful when you are experiencing the lack of good things. All good things are your birthright! You are the creator of you, and the law of attraction is your magnificent tool to create whatever you want in your life. Welcome to the magic of life, and the magnificence of You!
-Rhonda Byrne
When you say to yourself, 'I am going to have a pleasant visit or a pleasant journey,' you are literally sending elements and forces ahead of your body that will arrange things to make your visit or journey pleasant. When before the visit or the journey or the shopping trip you are in a bad humor, or fearful or apprehensive of something unpleasant, you are sending unseen agencies ahead of you which will make some kind of unpleasantness. Our thoughts, or in other words, our state of mind, is ever at work 'fixing up' things good or bad in advance.
-Prentice Mulford
Think of a car driving through the night. The headlights only go a hundred or two hundred feet forward, and you can make it all the way from California to New York driving through the dark, because all you have to see is the next two hundred feet. And that's how life tends to unfold before us. If we just trust that the next two hundred feet will unfold after that, and the next two hundred feet will unfold after that, your life will keep unfolding. And it will eventually get you to the destination of whatever it is you truly want, because you want it.
-Jack Canfield
You must stop and move yourself off that frequency. Take a few moments and shift yourself . . .
-Rhonda Byrne
A lot of people feel stuck or imprisoned or confined by their current circumstances. Whatever your circumstances right now, that is only your current reality, and current reality will begin to change as a result of beginning to use The Secret.
-Dr. Joe Vitale
"That man can change himself . . . and master his own destiny is the conclusion of every mind who is wide-awake to the power of right thought."
- Christian D. Larson
Be grateful for what you have now. As you begin to think about all the things in your life you are grateful for, you will be amazed at the never-ending thoughts that come back to you of more things to be grateful for. You have to make a start, and then the law of attraction will receive those grateful thoughts and give you more just like them. You will have locked into the frequency of gratitude and all good things will be yours.
-Rhonda Byrne
The daily practice of gratitude is one of the conduits by which your wealth will come to you.
-Wallace Wattles
You put yourself in the feeling place of really being in that car. Not "I wish I could get that car," or, "Some day I'll have that car," because that's a very definite feeling associated with that. It's not in the now, It's in the future. If you stay in that feeling, it will always be in the future.
-Bob Doyle
Now that feeling and that inner seeing will begin to be an open doorway through which the power of the Universe will begin to express.
-Michael Bernard Beckwith
Our job is not to figure out the how. The how will show up out of a commitment and belief in the what.
-Jack Canfield
The "hows" are the domain of the Universe. It always knows the shortest, quickest, fastest, most harmonious way between you and your dream.
-Mike Dooley
If you turn it over to the Universe, you will be surprised and dazzled by what is delivered to you. This is where magic and miracles happen.
-Dr. Joe Vitale
Any action we take must be preceded by a thought. Thoughts create the words we speak, the feelings we feel, and our actions. Actions are particularly powerful, because they are thoughts that have caused us to act.
-Rhonda Byrne
"Whatever the mind . . . can conceive it can achieve."
- W. Clement Stone
There is a big difference between giving and sacrifice. Giving from a heart that is overflowing feels so good. Sacrificing does not feel good. Don't confuse the two - they are diametrically opposed. One emits a signal of lack and the other emits a signal of more-than-enough. One feels good and one does not feel good. Sacrifice will eventually lead to resentment. Giving from a full heart is one of the most joyous things you can do, and the law of attraction will grab hold of that signal and flood even more into your life. You can feel the difference.
-Rhonda Byrne
Undoubtedly to some, the idea of giving so much love to self will seem very cold, hard and unmerciful. Still this matter may be seen in a different light, when we find that "looking out for Number One", as directed by the Infinite, is really looking out for Number Two and is indeed the only way to permanently benefit Number Two.
-Prentice Mulford
And you can break yourself free from your hereditary patterns, cultural codes, social beliefs, and prove once and for all that the power within you is greater than the power within the world.
-Michael Bernard Beckwith
I am whole, perfect, strong, powerful, loving, harmonious, and happy.
-Charles Haanel
Joy, love, freedom, happiness, laughter. That's what it is. And if just experience joy sitting there and meditating for an hour, by golly, do that. If you experience joy eating a salami sandwich, then do that!
-Neale Donald Walsch
When I pet my cat I'm in a state of joy. When I walk in nature I'm in a state of joy. So I want to constantly put myself in that state, and when I do, then all I have to do is have the intention of what I want, and what I want manifests.
-Jack Canfield
Enjoy life, because life is phenomenal! It's a magnificent trip!
-Bob Proctor
Most of the leaders in the past missed the great part of The Secret, which is to empower and share with others.
This is the best time to have ever been alive in history. It's the first time we've ever had the power to gain knowledge at our fingertips.
-Dr. Denis Waitley
With this knowledge you are becoming aware - of the truth of the world, and yourself. My greatest insights into The Secret on the subject of the world came form the teachings of Robert Collier, Prentice Mulford, Charles Haanel, and Michael Bernard Beckwith. With that understanding came total freedom. I truly hope that you can come to the place of the same freedom. If you can, then through your existence and the power of your thoughts, you will bring the greatest good to this world and to the future of all humankind.
-Rhonda Byrne
Divine Mind is the one and only reality
-Charles Fillmore
The real secret of power is consciousness of power.
-Charles Haanel
To love yourself fully, you must focus on a new dimension of You.
-Rhonda Byrne
So inner happiness actually is the fuel of success.
-Dr. John Hagelin
You will live in a different reality, a different life. And people will look at you and say, "What do you do different from me?" Well, the only thing that is different is that you work with The Secret.
-Marie Diamond
You are energy, and energy cannot be created or destroyed. Energy just changes form. And that means You! The true essence of You, the pure energy of You, has always been and always will be. You can never not be.
-Rhonda Byrne
January 23, 2008
In a weak moment I succumbed! It was on sale and I too wanted to know "the secret" Now I know-I just think about checks every day and voila-my mailman will bring them to me! C'mon people, positive thinking has been written about in dozens if not hundreds of books and they were much better written than this drivel!
Honestly, the idea that children with cancer bring it upon themselves because they did not envision themselves as healthy or that people who experience earthquakes, famine and flood bring it on themselves is just a bunch of hooey!
I guess that is about it. I have to go envision my dinner now cause I don't want to actually have to work on making some-YUK, throw this book in the fireplace so you can get something out of it!
Honestly, the idea that children with cancer bring it upon themselves because they did not envision themselves as healthy or that people who experience earthquakes, famine and flood bring it on themselves is just a bunch of hooey!
I guess that is about it. I have to go envision my dinner now cause I don't want to actually have to work on making some-YUK, throw this book in the fireplace so you can get something out of it!
July 31, 2007
Call me jaded, but these people have been drinking the kool aid. Don’t get me wrong- I embrace and appreciate the power of positive thinking and believe that an optimistic frame of mind can go a long way. But, The Secret is a bit extreme. The core of The Secret is the law of attraction, which basically says you attract what you think- think it and it will come. It says that you simply need to ask, believe, and receive whatever you want from the catalog of the universe. One part says, “It is as easy to manifest one dollar as it is to manifest one million dollars.” What?! I could find one dollar from the change that has fallen into my couch cushions. I am hard-pressed to believe that there is one million dollars floating around in there. The Secret would tell me that the million dollars is not in there because I don’t think it is possible for it to be there. My frame of mind is inhibiting me from finding that million dollars. Even the biggest optimist has to get real somewhere along the line.
The positive messages of the book really do hold some water. However, what I really didn’t like was that The Secret also says that the tragedies you suffer- a car accident or cancer or a genocide- are because you brought that energy into your life just by thinking about it. You summoned that into your life, the same way you ordered up that new house or that million dollars from the magic catalog of the universe.
It is a quick read and the positive messages from it- being grateful for each day, praising yourself & others, filling yourself with love- certainly can contribute to a better world. And that part is something I’ll support.
The positive messages of the book really do hold some water. However, what I really didn’t like was that The Secret also says that the tragedies you suffer- a car accident or cancer or a genocide- are because you brought that energy into your life just by thinking about it. You summoned that into your life, the same way you ordered up that new house or that million dollars from the magic catalog of the universe.
It is a quick read and the positive messages from it- being grateful for each day, praising yourself & others, filling yourself with love- certainly can contribute to a better world. And that part is something I’ll support.
Shelved as 'avoid-like-the-plague'
June 21, 2016Read this book, they said. It'll change your life, they said. No, I said. I don't want to change my life, I said. You're too cynical, they said. You need more optimism in your life, they said. Fuck you, I said. I wouldn't read this if you paid me to, I said.
And I sure as hell don't pay money for this tripe. I mean, come on, do we really need a book to tell us, "hey, guess what? If you do good stuff, good stuff will happen to you?" This woman is making millions off of selling things like this! And people are lapping it all up. There's a movie about this? And it spawned sequels? Three sequels? That people fucking bought? What? Wow! Really, humanity? You disappoint me more and more every day.
I hate the whole self-help gimmick that people have on going these days. There's the monk who sells his Ferrari. There's the shepherd who travels all the way across the word to realise his destiny was to be a fucking shepherd in the first place. I wanted to rip both those books off from end to end. And then there's this. Thanks, but no thanks. If I had my way, I would burn every single copy of this book in the world. Call me an asshole, call me a bitch, call me whatever the fuck you want, but some books make my blood boil, and this is one of them.
Self -help literature, it seems. *rolls eyes and drops mic*
And I sure as hell don't pay money for this tripe. I mean, come on, do we really need a book to tell us, "hey, guess what? If you do good stuff, good stuff will happen to you?" This woman is making millions off of selling things like this! And people are lapping it all up. There's a movie about this? And it spawned sequels? Three sequels? That people fucking bought? What? Wow! Really, humanity? You disappoint me more and more every day.
I hate the whole self-help gimmick that people have on going these days. There's the monk who sells his Ferrari. There's the shepherd who travels all the way across the word to realise his destiny was to be a fucking shepherd in the first place. I wanted to rip both those books off from end to end. And then there's this. Thanks, but no thanks. If I had my way, I would burn every single copy of this book in the world. Call me an asshole, call me a bitch, call me whatever the fuck you want, but some books make my blood boil, and this is one of them.
Self -help literature, it seems. *rolls eyes and drops mic*
November 26, 2013
قد ايه مؤسف انك تدخل صفحة كتاب زي ده على الجود ريدز تلاقي انه اكبر عدد من الناس قريته واديته ريت وريفيوهات
مؤسف ان كتاب زي ده يشتهر اصلا ويتقرا بل وينزل كتاب
مؤسف ان في مطابع تعبت نفسها وكلفت نفسها عشان تطلع طبعة انيقة لكتاب قيمته وكلامه اقل بكتيييييييييييييييييير من الورق اللي مكتوب عليه
ايه ياجدعان السر في كدة؟؟ هو ماحدش قال للحجة روندا ان السر اللي هي قالته احنا عارفينه؟
ايه الجديد في الكتاب ده؟ طريقة الشرح المختلفة لافكار اللي موجودة اصلا؟.
كل مافي الكتاب من جمل ليها لزمة او فايدة موجود اصلا في دينا بشكل اوقع واجمل واحسن مليار مرة
وباقي الكتاب قمة السخافة والسطحية ومالهاش اي وجود اصلا في الواقع
ايه العته ده؟
اول مرة اقرا كتاب بجد احس انه لا يستحق حتى يتنشر
February 13, 2020
This Review ✍️ Blog 📖 Twitter 🐦 Instagram 📷
I kind of knew I would not enjoy this book and would find it silly. More so because I finished it during the same readathon I did at the beginning of the year with a book written by Stephen Hawking. Ironically, I got to read one of the smartest authors in the world with another by one of the… less smart?… authors in this world!
I wanted to read this because I remember when it came out, everyone were talking about it and reading it. My older brother had a copy and my younger brother (Who is not a reader) borrowed it to read it too (I remember he DNF it though lol). My community has a tendency to stay away from reading or reading not so bright books when they do so. I don’t like self-help books, I don’t judge anyone who reads them but I stay away from them because they have the overly positive and happy tone and they are as far as possible from reality, this is just a personal opinion of course.
This author claims that she found the secret of life, happiness, health and wealth and she is very generous as to share it with us through this book! The book talks about the law of attraction and how our thoughts govern everything that we do! I am not against the law of attraction or metaphysics and if you believe in them, then I am totally cool with that. I am more of a scientific person and I know that science can not explain everything. I do believe in metaphysics and spiritual things sometimes too.
My problem was with the way this was written, first the format was very crappy; it is just quotes from experts on the law of attraction without good examples, without good explanations or good editing. The book gets redundant very fast because it has one idea only and it keeps running in circles around it! The authors claim that the law of attraction is like any scientific law and that is something I find impossible to believe. Scientific laws are easily interpreted and measured and have their equations and they can be quantified! I can improve their is gravity and show you good examples of it. If the best you can do is giving me stories about people, then that is not enough to convince me, I can write a book like this and come up with such examples from the top of my head very easily!
Things that are alike attract! That’s what the book says and that if our thoughts have the right frequency then they will attract the things we want and the authors try to say that is a scientific law. Well, magnets with the same charge repulse so STFU! The second thing that made me roll my eyes was when they gave us an example of weight! The book claims that there are no such thing as diet effect, it claims that there are “Fat thoughts” and that fat people keep attracting weight. That’s why there are some people who eat a lot and do not gain weight, they don’t have those fat thoughts!!! Wow, so what I have learned in medicine school about metabolism and different kinds of fat is all bullshit? Okay, okay, I will go with the flow. The book mentions that you can’t attract a thing to another person but yourself, how are there “Fat babies” with hypothyroidism for example! Did they attract these thoughts with their underdeveloped brain or did their mothers do so? Oh they can’t do that, sorry!!
Summary: I think this is definitely a book not for me! If you want to find more about the law of attraction then pick up any book but this one! I think this one was too preachy and filled with silly eye-rolling moments. I am giving the book 1 star and I won’t feel bad about it, I guess the author attracted it after all! Not to mention that there are 3 more books in this series and not enough content for half a book to start with!
You can get more books from Book Depository
“There is no such thing as a hopeless situation. Every single circumstances of your life can change!”
I kind of knew I would not enjoy this book and would find it silly. More so because I finished it during the same readathon I did at the beginning of the year with a book written by Stephen Hawking. Ironically, I got to read one of the smartest authors in the world with another by one of the… less smart?… authors in this world!
I wanted to read this because I remember when it came out, everyone were talking about it and reading it. My older brother had a copy and my younger brother (Who is not a reader) borrowed it to read it too (I remember he DNF it though lol). My community has a tendency to stay away from reading or reading not so bright books when they do so. I don’t like self-help books, I don’t judge anyone who reads them but I stay away from them because they have the overly positive and happy tone and they are as far as possible from reality, this is just a personal opinion of course.
This author claims that she found the secret of life, happiness, health and wealth and she is very generous as to share it with us through this book! The book talks about the law of attraction and how our thoughts govern everything that we do! I am not against the law of attraction or metaphysics and if you believe in them, then I am totally cool with that. I am more of a scientific person and I know that science can not explain everything. I do believe in metaphysics and spiritual things sometimes too.
My problem was with the way this was written, first the format was very crappy; it is just quotes from experts on the law of attraction without good examples, without good explanations or good editing. The book gets redundant very fast because it has one idea only and it keeps running in circles around it! The authors claim that the law of attraction is like any scientific law and that is something I find impossible to believe. Scientific laws are easily interpreted and measured and have their equations and they can be quantified! I can improve their is gravity and show you good examples of it. If the best you can do is giving me stories about people, then that is not enough to convince me, I can write a book like this and come up with such examples from the top of my head very easily!
Things that are alike attract! That’s what the book says and that if our thoughts have the right frequency then they will attract the things we want and the authors try to say that is a scientific law. Well, magnets with the same charge repulse so STFU! The second thing that made me roll my eyes was when they gave us an example of weight! The book claims that there are no such thing as diet effect, it claims that there are “Fat thoughts” and that fat people keep attracting weight. That’s why there are some people who eat a lot and do not gain weight, they don’t have those fat thoughts!!! Wow, so what I have learned in medicine school about metabolism and different kinds of fat is all bullshit? Okay, okay, I will go with the flow. The book mentions that you can’t attract a thing to another person but yourself, how are there “Fat babies” with hypothyroidism for example! Did they attract these thoughts with their underdeveloped brain or did their mothers do so? Oh they can’t do that, sorry!!
“Your power is in your thoughts, so stay awake. In other words, remember to remember.”
Summary: I think this is definitely a book not for me! If you want to find more about the law of attraction then pick up any book but this one! I think this one was too preachy and filled with silly eye-rolling moments. I am giving the book 1 star and I won’t feel bad about it, I guess the author attracted it after all! Not to mention that there are 3 more books in this series and not enough content for half a book to start with!
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