I agree. I haven’t seen the secret but based on your summary of the thought behind the film, I know I won’t be watching it anytime soon. It’s so ridiculous that you can get anything you want just by thinking hard about it. It’s a 100% dud. Things don’t happen unless you set them in motion.

I feel exactly the same way just from reading few pages of it. Yuckish book, even if the pages were glossy and looked like some National Treasure journalistic fancy toilet-papers.

I suppose harboring positively is important, but to put all faith on the mere thoughts alone sounds hokey to me.

And this being the best selling book… what does it tell about the people of today?

Another criticism of “The Secret” worthy of read:
http://www.slate.com/id/2165746/pagenum/all/#page_start

uretz: true. but do watch the film, so you can get a better grip on how ridiculous the secret is.

kris: its popularity says that people are lazy.

If the “Secret” had any truth to it we wouldn’t have so much pain and suffering in this world; everything would be hunky-dory and we can all see that it isn’t.

true, true. but they argue that this world has so much misery because most people don’t know what the secret is. now we know it—well, let’s not hold our breaths for the magic.

Haven’t read the book, haven’t seen the movie, al I know about it is that the secret is not so secret to people who know their self-help books. Like attracts like; what you think is, is. In a way it’s true I guess.

uhm, i just feel the need to comment on this.

Have you ever heard of the biblical saying: “ask and you will receive”? The
principle behind this and the law of attraction thingy is basically the same. We can do whatever we want as long as we put our minds into it, by believing so or by praying, if i can say so. Now, you wouldn’t be able to deny that this does not happen because it definitely does, it’s just an obvious fact of life!

I understand your points for criticism but you oughta look at the down-side of your arguments more before posting them up. When you said “not everything you want is something i want” Did you even listen to what was being said? The whole philosophy is purely egocentric, that is a fact which you even stated, therefore it only applies to an individual. The universe will not make some things possible if there are contradictions between people. There’s something missing in the discussion of the whole philosophy in the film, or maybe even in the book, and that is the complicated interaction between people. It is just not as simple as that, as they portray in the film, it’s merely a catalyst for further thoughts. Did you not realise that? Or maybe you are too busy criticising how gullible people can be upon being exposed on such not so secret Secret.

I suggest you watch the film again and leave your criticisms after you fully understand the concept. Open-mindedness is the key, gullibility is stupidity, we all know that, but seeing things in only one perspective is worse.

“We can do whatever we want as long as we put our minds into it, by believing so or by praying, if i can say so. Now, you wouldn’t be able to deny that this does not happen because it definitely does, it’s just an obvious fact of life!”

believing and praying are not enough to get what you want—and they never will be enough. you have to couple belief or conviction with PHYSICAL EFFORT. if you really do believe this, why do you even bother to, say, go to work or school? if you really believe this, you should just pray for and believe in money or a degree and quit bothering.

that is the premise of the secret—want only, then sit down and wait for it. i think that’s bull. it is not an obvious fact of life. in between the phrases “ask” and “and you shall receive” are other nasty words like “sweat, bleed, cry”. “ask, sweat, bleed, cry, and you shall receive.” the secret overlooks these nasty words.

“The universe will not make some things possible if there are contradictions between people. There’s something missing in the discussion of the whole philosophy in the film, or maybe even in the book, and that is the complicated interaction between people. It is just not as simple as that, as they portray in the film, it’s merely a catalyst for further thoughts.”

whatever an individual does affects his/her environment as well as the people around him or her. so if one person wants one thing and gets it, this creates a change in the status quo. sometimes, the change is positive—the acquisition of a certain object of desire does good in other people’s lives. but in other cases, the change is not so pretty.

case in point about death. Hitler wanted all Jews dead. well, im sure Anne Frank didn’t want to die. but she died. so say hello to Mister Universe for me, since you know him so well.

true, it is a catalyst for further thoughts. and my thoughts are the product of this catalyst you speak of. you said it yourself, albeit not directly. the concept of the secret is imperfect. what i am saying is that this imperfection (that it doesn’t address human interaction) is one of the reasons why it’s FLAWED.

i think i understand the concept pretty well, Shaira. that’s why i am able to criticize it and to argue against it logically. let’s see who is gullible.

Hi Lizette! I just want to share with you my story:

Prior to learning of The Secret, I worked my ass off to reach for my dreams (since I was a kid, I tell you.). I also read tons of self-help books, applied them the best I know how, talked to a lot of people for help, etc. But still, something always hindered me from achieving my goals.

When I read, watched and applied The Secret, miracles just started to happen and I didn’t even have to exert any physical effort to get them. Blessings just started pouring into my life like they never did before. I just declared to God/universe that I want a carefree life then pretended with all my being that they are already here with me while at the same time going along with my daily boring routine. I guess the most physical exertion I did was to get up every morning, do my work, and just basically be me. Then, poof! One by one, things and circumstances that I asked for started coming to me. It’s just amazing! Just when I started NOT WORKING MY ASS OFF and just believed that God will provide everything I need and want, SPECIFIC opportunities I didn’t even ask for came. People I didn’t even know nor seek out came into my life. Circumstances that I never thought could happen to me in a million years did happen. I don’t know what that is. Probably, coincidence or destiny? But all these happened just very recently when I applied The Secret in my life. And it’s not very easy applying this particular law. It takes discipline and faith in God. (You see, knowing the concept and applying it is not the same thing).

Call me gullible or stupid but it works for me. I’m now living a more carefree life, I can honestly say that I am happy & blessed and I know deep in my being that great things are always coming to me.

The Secret, put in more simpler terms, is not the law of attraction per se. Mejo technical pa yun eh. May quantum physics pang kasama. And anybody can know the law of attraction. Like attracts like lang yan eh. But does everybody know how to apply it? It’s not enough that you know this law. The secret actually is very simple. It’s just FEELING GOOD. Yun lang. FEEL GOOD.

Once you feel good about yourself, then good things do come to you. Just try it.

Or not. It’s up to you.

P.S. Liz, you’re a smart lady and you can be pretty set in your ways and your outlook in life. But may I suggest that you finish the movie and the book even if you already know the concept. If you still feel the same way, it’s ok.

You wrote:
“Positive thinking is cool. It puts you in a favorable state of mind to achieve your goals. But when you take it to such ridiculous levels, it degenerates into moronic and dangerous babble.”

So does the opposite.

Hi again Liz!

I wanna share with you my latest post:

PINK LIFE… (by Gsykard)This is the theme song of my life today, tomorrow and for always.

“I’m searching for a day of simple life
I’m on the clouds, the sky is blue
Watch the stars falling around at night
My dream, your dream, dreams come true
Trying hard

Always follow what’s in your heart

Always listen to what’s inside

Always fly high & don’t come down

And don’t come (down)

Push yourself far over the limit

Push your mind ahead with your spirit

Push it to where you never thought you

could go right

And never come down

You run away from a very stressing life

And take some time to think of you

Try to change the color of your life

My dream, your dream

Dreams come true,

Trying hard

Always follow what’s in your heart

Always listen to what’s inside

Always fly high & don’t come down

And don’t come (down)

Push yourself far over the limit

Push your mind ahead with your spirit

Push it to where you never thought you

could go right

And never come down”

P.S. Because of this song, my little sister (who is now 25 years old), who resigned from her boring call center job almost two years ago, broke and depressed at that time, with only this song playing in her head over and over, earned P1.5 million in a period of three months!!! And she was only working her ass off for the first few weeks and the rest was spent playing PSP and what-not while her funds accumulated in the bank. That’s was her mantra — to be rich without working so much. It’s still is her mantra ’til now. And from nothing, out came her million pesoses! (No, she didn’t join the lottery in case you’re wondering.)

She’s now living independently in Cebu, with a couple of small businesses and a Pajero of her own. That’s the power of knowing how to apply The Secret! Kudos to my sis! Abba, you’re my ultimate super idol!!! Woohoo!!! I want to be a carefree millionaire too! I’m claiming it! I’m a carefree millionaire!”

~~~oOo~~~
And you can be/you can have what you want (FOR YOURSELF) too. Whatever that may be. The Secret doesn’t work if you’re asking something for someone else. It’s individualistic.

Anyway, I hope you finished the book and movie.

hello jen! thanks for the really insightful comment. i finished the film tonight, and i still feel the same way about it.

i’m glad to hear that the secret works for you and your sister. i don’t doubt that in any way, but i am skeptical about its purpose and application for other people. hence this post.

well, it just depends on one’s interpretation. When you, Liz, said that it needs physical effort, I can not agree more. And I thought that was plain obvious. Of course we do need to do something, physically, to get whatever we want! The whole idea was just to picture the thing we definitely want, our goal, and by doing that we will, consciously or unconsciously, do the necessary steps to get it. And since we, humans, are not all pure and clean and good, we are fully capable of doing this in whatever way we want, be it good or downright evil.

However, the central idea which actually drew my attention to this film was its focus on optimism and positive change of attitude. Yeah, this is just a not so secret Secret but I thought it does require a provocative film like this for us people to fully recognise the idea.

And yeah, I do apologise if I sounded a bit hostile on my first comment. I wasn’t at all hostile. I promise!

Cheers!

IAM NOT A FAN OF THE MOVIE THE SECRET BECAUSE IT IS A COMMERCIALIZATION OF THE LAMEST TYPE REGARDING LOA…LOA IS TERM THAT WAS COINED BY AN AUTHOR ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO TO DESCRIBE A UNIVERSAL LAW OR PRINCIPLE…IT HAS LATELY ENJOYED A REBIRTH IN POPULARITY DUE TO ONE CURRENT AUTHOR AND PROBABLY THIS LAME MOVIE….REGARDING MASS ATROCITIES AND THEIR CONNECTION TO LOA CONSIDER THE EXPLANATION OFFERED IN THIS ARTICLE…I HAVE NEVER FOUND A MORE INDEPTH EXPLANATION ON THIS SUBJECT ANYWHERE ELSE

LAW OF ATTRACTION, THE HOLOCAUST AND 911
This is the topic that you can search on the internet and not find an answer that will satisfy you.
This is the topic that all those people who don’t believe in Law of Attraction use to try to prove their case. These non believers use the argument that says “if Law of Attraction is true and really worked, then are you telling me that 6,000,000 Jews manifested, chose, and attracted their own death in the holocaust?”
Then the non believers go on to mention 911, slavery, young children raped and killed, babies being murdered and any atrocity they can put forth. They assert the following as the base of their argument. “So if Law of Attraction were a real law of the universe, then I must accept the belief that all these atrocious death scenarios were chosen and attracted by the victims. Are you saying that the victims are to blame for their own deaths?
I must admit it sounds like a great argument and who could possibly explain this? I, also, admit I searched and searched all over the internet and could not find one LOA guru who could explain this argument properly from the side of the believers of Law of Attraction.
All the great Law of Attraction gurus don’t really like to deal with this argument and its corresponding set of questions. It is almost comical to watch them try to sweep this one under the rug. They know that any explanation that you offer to all these Jewish people is going to infuriate them and elicit rage and anger if you in any way try to tell them that these Jews “attracted” this fate with their vibration. The same, of course, holds true with the loved ones of those who died in the 911 holocaust or the descendents of slaves. I call 911 a holocaust very properly but for reasons that are really the subject of a whole other article or book.
Now also the parents and loved ones of murdered children and babies are not going to accept that these children and babies chose and attracted their gruesome deaths through their vibration. So this argument is the great debate and the great divide between those who believe in Law of Attraction and those who do not. Yet there really doesn’t seem to be any great debate going on because not one person has offered an adequate argument on the side of those who believe in Law of Attraction. And, their simplified answers or even no answers that “insinuate” that these individual’s vibrations have indeed attracted these ugly circumstance scenarios, even further infuriate those non believers and loved ones.
Now of course I choose not to offer some anonymous argument on the side of Law of Attraction but I must tell you that my name is Seth Manne and I’ am the author of a new book entitled “Manifesting The Ultimate: Perfect Health, Massive Wealth, True Love and Infinite Happiness. Why on earth would I tackle a subject like this which can stir the angst of so many people? It is almost like it is the anti-thesis of my own book. “This” would appear to be manifesting the worst, atrocious, ugly, inhumane of possible circumstances and scenarios…would it not? At this point in the article I can not imagine how long of an article this will be but yet I choose to see it through because I’ am so extremely disappointed in all of the so called experts out there who offer absolutely NO ANSWERS to these pointedly great questions.
Even my own favorite author who is a channel for a group of spirits has responded to this question at her seminars by saying to the questioner who asked about the Holocaust…”why do you choose to ask questions about such negative scenarios which in turn, keeps you focused on resistance in relation to your vibration?”. Now I am paraphrasing what she said but I have definitely caught the flavor of her response and it is the old psychologist trick of trying to answer a question with a question. It doesn’t sit well with the person asking the question and it is a diversion to direct the topic elsewhere or try to get the questioner to answer his own question. Regardless and either way IT IS NOT AN ANSWER. These gurus, authors and experts of Law of Attraction know that this one question is a no-no because it seems to be a no-win situation for proponents of this so called universal law. It creates bad press, convinces no one and threatens the validity of that which they teach and believe.
So now, here come I, to tackle this. First let me say, and this has been said by the gurus, that these mass victims did not create this wantingly or knowingly. I know that that statement has very little meaning to adversaries of Law of Attraction and it even irritates me because it is just more avoidance of the issue and a dancing around and groping to give some “sweep it under the rug” type of answer. So where to start to give even a glimpse of a proper answer. I must lay some foundational ground rule assumptions.
Understand that what I’ am about to say can be looked at as an “opinion emanating from my imagination”. I ‘am not saying that this is FACT or some written in stone answer. It could be looked at as just a figment of my imagination. But for me this figment can contain a “flavor of truth”. It can also be looked at as perspectives of “being’. However, I assure you it is not contrived. It is the true essence of truth, through imagination, from one person’s understanding of the human condition.
This explanation is probably to short to be a book and to long to be an article but here we go. Question number one is: do these adversaries of Law of Attraction believe that a human being is just a higher animal form destined to die into nothingness? Do they believe that the “being” that is encased in this physical human body has any special powers or is magical, mystical, omnipotent or omnipitent? In order to understand my explanation to what we will call the Holocaust question, one would have to first believe in this foundational assumption… that beings who are human ARE endowed with powers and qualities that are magical, mystical, omnipotent and omnipitent. Now that foundational belief is probably quite a stretch for those who argue against Law of Attraction, but you will have to, at least, pretend that you can go along with this first “imaginary assumption” of mine to continue to understand my explanation.
O.K. so now we have a very “Godlike” being existing in a physical body. We of course must assume that the “being” has NO LIMITATIONS while the physical encasement IS LIMITED to physical laws. The human can not breath underwater or flap its arms and fly in waking physical flesh life. We all know that in the dream state or in our own imagination there are absolutely no limitations.
The next question or assumption would be who among you believes in reincarnation? When a baby is born into physical existence, is not the being within the baby’s physical body already omnipitent and merely reacquainting itself with physical laws and physical life?
Now what type of “intended” physical life will it manifest? More questions…Do you believe that you, as a human “being”, can manifest any circumstances at all in your own life. Again, here if you don’t believe you can, than for the sake of this explanation you will have to pretend that you can manifest (create) at least certain circumstances in your own life.
Elsewhere, life has been explained as your “canvas”. How others view your life is what they are seeing and surmising from the canvas that you have created and are presenting. Your life and who you present yourself to be are your choices, decisions, experiences and your personality. Obviously your life is much more than just those four things but I am symbolically abbreviating for simplistic reasons.
Now we must entertain areas that become even more questionable to many and those are areas such as mass manifestations, the mass mind, the sub conscious, the super conscious and the choices that any “being” has access to. My imagination tells me that the choices a being has access to are infinite and unlimited. We have not even gotten to the answer to our question and the above mentioned areas and your beliefs about them are critical to your understanding or acceptance of the answer I will offer. So you can see that firstly a human “being” in my imagination is by no means a simple creature.
I see, and I keep qualifying this, that “in my imagination” a person’s life can be looked at as that individuals “demonstration” or as stated …his or her canvas. The final stroke upon that canvas is the individuals type of departure or death from the physical or I could say “death OF the physical”. Since, again, in my imagination there is no death for the “being”. I’ am getting tired of using the phrase “in my imagination”, so I will now ask you to understand that all that I have written above and all I will write below is what you could consider to be an “imaginary explanation” to this question and argument. However, since I hope you would at least agree that we all have free will, then I will say that “for me” this is not my imagination…this is my truth and my knowledge. I certainly am allowed to make that choice for myself and that is a choice, whether you like it or not, that I have made. Now don’t forget this inserted disclaimer of my imaginary answer for you…just try to use YOUR imagination to understand it.
We have expressions like “the good die young” to quell our sadness when we see young people die in a car accident or in battle or die in some atrocious way. We question the meaning of those deaths. Senseless murders, senseless illnesses, senseless disabilities or deformities that babies are born with and into in this physical life, come to mind also.
They are not senseless. They are demonstrations. Could “beings” choose those horrific demonstrations you ask. Others believe these conditions and “demonstrations” are put upon the individuals by fate, luck, destiny or God. To believe that is to believe that fate, luck, destiny or God can be pretty mean and nasty. It is to believe that your life is controlled by outside forces and it is to believe that the being within is not very great or powerful because it can be victimized by those outside forces. I would think that those beliefs would raise questions and arguments even more important than the one we are dealing with here. But that’s just my opinion.
So to understand what I am offering as an answer to this question you would have to believe in manifestation, mass manifestation, freewill, omnipitent power of a being that is human and have belief in the subconscious, super conscious, mystical magic of this powerful being’s choices of demonstration, even if those choices occur on a super subconscious level.
Again this sounds like quite a stretch for the average “human being”. Can your imagination make these “stretches?” If it can not than hopefully you can surmise your opinion of your own self worth and self knowledge. If you can not do that, then your connection and communication with your own self is limited and lacking at this present moment. Relax and remember this is all just some human beings imaginary “opinion”. We all have a right to our own opinion don’t we? The opinion of one’s own self can be high or low or anywhere in between. I, simply, choose …extremely high.
Now assuming that you are pretending to believe all of the above mentioned beliefs or knowledge, here is a further stretch for you. For some individual being to make the choice of that his personal demonstration will be one containing such horrific or atrocious “qualities” is unfathomable for most people. They “believe” that no individual being would choose such a seemingly nasty and ugly demonstration of departure or death. Let’s face it most people don’t even believe we choose our type of death or control the time of our death because they do not understand the “being”. They have no connection with their super consciousness and they look at life from quite different perspectives than those that are mentioned here. To them the answer they will receive here will not be understood because of their perspectives of how they view physical life and how they view physical beings.
But for those that are in states of understanding and those who are in states of pretending that they understand, I will continue and hopefully conclude shortly. Even if you are following the train of thought here and going along with it purely for the sake of your momentary entertainment, I realize your mind may be spinning and flooded with questions and counter arguments. You might ask and state simultaneously, “this is absurd, no one would choose such horrible demonstrations even if they could”. My response to that is…Who are you to say what the perspectives of an individual omnipitent being would be and what reasons that being might have for making choices that you as a “human” can not fathom.
Now we are coming to the point. You must pretend and imagine you can understand the difference between the physical human and the all knowing “being”. That understanding can take humans many lifetimes of physical experience to achieve. That understanding is contained by the being before and after its physical birth and death and is an awareness quest that the human embarks upon. It has been called enlightenment and has several other definitions and names.
As humans, first of all, many of us see death as this big bad tumultuous event. As beings we see death as no big deal. As beings we see death as being no more tumultuous than going to sleep at night and waking up in the morning. To the being it is not only some simple, matter of fact, transition, but it is a welcome transition because the being knows that it returns to what has been called source or the non physical. That place is adored by the being and feared by the human. I am speaking of most humans and all beings.
So now, with all this foundational belief information you have been either understanding or pretending to understand or have been infuriated by….I say these mass manifestations in situations like the Holocaust or 911 do not make the “victims” appear to be at fault or “responsible” for their suffering. Other evil players certainly played their part in creating and bringing these events to fruition. Some people with a distorted view of karmic retribution might say those evil cause players will reincarnate for millions of eternal lifetimes as a fly in stool. I am not going to get into explanations of karmic lifetimes but I will say that justice does prevail especially in the alternate realms. That justice has been described elsewhere as self inflicted…the most appropriate of all justice.
So if you can glimpse the power and magnificence of this great being that is you and me and everyone…then it will make it only a little easier to understand choices that seem to be unfathomable to you as a human. These are holy, dignified and superior choices. They are, many times, the choices that only the greatest true heroes can make and they often appear to be anything but what they truly are in the overall scheme of things. These demonstrations are a way of going to war against atrocity and teaching by example for generations to come. These demonstrations expose the perpetrators and defeat them in a way that no war or battle could ever do. And mostly these demonstrations are chosen on a super conscious level totally unbeknown to the human personality. However they become memories not only for us but for those who participated in the demonstration. Only the being knows the growth and expansion that it creates through these scenarios. Only the being knows why it chose to be the one to participate, possibly for reasons relating to its own character and journey.
I feel like I have gone out on a limb here to even attempt to present this information to those who will only be more enraged by what I have written here but I searched the internet and, in turn, the world for this answer and could not find anything as satisfying as this explanation…”to me”. I too sought out the great gurus and proponents of Law of Attraction and no one would provide an indepth answer. You come to realize that so many people choose the path of least resistance. They will not deal with situations or scenarios that they deem as negative or resistant to their flow of well being. The moment that you realize that you are your own best guru capable of providing your own best answers, is when you start on a magnificent journey of unfolding peace and security in regard to all that you really want to know. Look inside for your answers, feel the magnificence of your own “being”. Step outside the “human” box for a few seconds and sense your own omnipotence. At that moment you may sense the magnificence of other beings that have gone before you, are here now and are yet to come.
Any one who has gone into battle in war could have chosen not to do so. There are a multitude of ways and options available to not experience that. Any one who, as they say, fought the hard fight or took the higher road was definitely not taking the easy road or path of least resistance. These questions addressed here are a factor of perceptions. You must look deep to find answers that strictly relate to the “being” and not the human. When you look deep, you will be amazed at the deceptions that the human creates. You will be amazed at how the being operates in these seemingly mystical and omnipotent ways even while in a physical body.
I want to say to my favorite author and all of her following that you can not brush these historical incidents under the rug. You can not tell people “oh don’t ask that question and don’t think such negative and resistant thoughts”. You are not giving answers that way. You are just avoiding the question because you can’t seem to find the words to describe the answer. The words are inside and you know it, but at times you too prefer the path of least resistance. You worry sometimes that really speaking your mind will be bad press for you. I say practice what you mostly preach and I can not fault you for avoiding what is atrocious and not easily explained in a short seminar. However if you have enjoyed my imaginary explanation and answers…feel free to paraphrase them and use them yourself.
I would love feedback on this article and I can’t say if I will continually respond but as I mentioned earlier, I have written a book on these topics and it is available at The book will give you the real indepth story on these answers. There you will also find my email address in case you have a response to this, burning inside of you.
Compared to my book, this article is merely a teaser on these higher concepts of imagination/knowledge.