The movie “The Secret” is entirely fake

I recently saw the movie The Secret, a pseudo-documentary that explains The Law of Attraction. There are things in this movie that need a rebuttal and I haven’t found one elsewhere – so here’s mine.

The arguments and explanations put forward in The Secret are generally unscientific, mystical, nonsensical or just plain wrong.

But first, what is The Law of Attraction (TLoA)? Let’s say you’re poor and really want to be rich. Instead of always complaining about being poor and always focusing on what you don’t have, TLoA says that you should visualize yourself as rich. See yourself in this situation. Feel what you would feel if you were in that situation. Then, somehow, money will come to you.

Simply stated, it is the belief that what you focus on is what you get (or create for yourself), and there is some truth to that - but not for any of the mystical reasons claimed in this terrible movie.

These are my major beefs with the movie:

1: The movie claims that famous people knew “the secret”

The movie indicates that a number of famous people knew “the secret”, including Einstein, Plato, Newton and Edison. However, the movie offers no proof that any of these people knew of, agreed with or used the law of attraction.

2: The movie claims that TLoA is kept secret

The movie also claims that the people in power in society and business have long known of this law and worked to keep it from the rest of us. Scenes are shown of people being persecuted for trying to steal the secret and (I assume) bring it out to the rest of us.

No proof of this is offered and to the best of my knowledge, no conscious effort has ever been made to keep TLoA secret.

3: The movie talks about electromagnetic waves/vibrations as the explanation for TLoA

The movie claims that since thoughts are electromagnetic waves, every thought we have spreads to and affects our surroundings, and this is why our thinking affects the universe. The movie repeatedly shows people who, as they visualize their goals, generate a wave or signal that emanates from their heads. In some of the cases, this wave is seen to spread over the entire Earth.

There are many things wrong with this assertion, primarily the fact that while thoughts are, at least in part, electromagnetic waves, there is no scientific indication that our brain waves alter the world around us in any meaningful way.

4: The movie uses quantum flapdoodle. Badly.

The movie also offers explanations from quantum physics as evidence of why TLoA works. I happen to have studied a lot of quantum physics at university, and I can safely say that the explanations offered in the movie are a prime example of what Murray Gell-Mann called quantum flapdoodle, i.e. “hijacking the terminology of modern science without understanding the underlying concepts or employing any of the intellectual rigour intrinsic to scientific inquiry”.

5: The movie claims that the universe will provide

But my greatest beef with the movie is the claim that whatever you sit down and imagine in this way, the universe will provide. Almost as if the universe is a big vending machine: Insert sincere wish here, pull out cold coke (or shiny new Ferrari) here.

That seems to me to be a very mechanical, shallow, self-serving description of the universe.

The upshot

I believe that TLoA is sort of real.

But this is my point: Changing your thinking changes nothing out there, in the vast universe surrounding you. It changes something inside of you. Changing your perception, your focus, your emotions and your thinking from negative to positive (from what you lack to what you want) has an effect on your internal state – your motivation, energy and creativity and that’s why you may then be more efficient working towards your goals. It’s that simple.

No electromagnetic waves emanate from your head, magically transforming the universe. No mystical vibrations affect your surroundings. Changing your thinking does not change the quantum states of objects around you in any reliable, useful way. The universe doesn’t stand ready to grant your every wish.

Rather, you change yourself and THEN you change your circumstances. It works through a combination of entirely non-mystical, psychological and rational mechanisms, including confirmation bias and optimism.

The Secret offers precisely zero evidence that it could ever be otherwise, and instead proposes a number of mystical, unscientific and entirely unproved explanations. That’s why looking to this movie for explanations and insight will weaken your understanding of the TLoA and reduce your ability to successfully employ it.

So, while the law of attraction is real(ish), “The Secret”, quite simply, is fake!

PS.
And don’t get me started on What the Bleep do We Know – that one is even worse :o)

UPDATE:
I’ve disabled comments on this blog post because I kept getting personal attacks from fans of The Secret. If you’re a believer in The Secret and you disagree vehemently with this post, I suggest you simply sit down and visualize a world where this article doesn’t exist :)

Some interesting links:

224 thoughts on “The movie “The Secret” is entirely fake”

  1. For scientific data I recommend something like this:The Effort Effect
    The movie is entertaining enough and thought provoking… and because of that I believe a lot of people could benefit from it… in spite of all the mambo-jumbo magical quantum Aladdin lamp genie “woo ho ho I found a great big secret” kind of things in it…

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  3. Thanks for this thoughtful criticism. Most reviewers have been either incredibly positive or dismissed the ‘Secret’ as a scam. You’ve done a great job identifying the problems of the movie without ridiculing the Law of Attraction.

  4. As a Positive Psychologist I find Alexander’s comments very helpful and enlightening. It can be very scary for people to think that their thoughts are hitting the highways to the universe. In Judiasm, (I am Jewish) we are taught our personal thoughts can not hurt us or the world the way our actions can. Yes, it is more very good to achieve more and more internal postive thoughts and ideas, but this ultimately is to help you have peace of mind and to more positive actions, not to stop the brainwaves from coming out of your head.

    I read most of THE SECRET and found it very interesting. Again, as a Positive Psychologist I am concerned with how to motivate people to even begin to see themselves living out their real potential and dreams. I like the exercise that is suggested in the book where you attach your feelings to future positive visulazations of yourself, not just your thoughts as we do neet to cross between cognitive and affective realms to get enough energy released to start to move forward.

    I was interviewed for a Newsweek article on THE SECRET and here were two other points I made: 1. We need to get excited and motivated as a culture in positive ways. Our news media and our own internalized ways of thinkings are ingrained in negative thought patterns. For example, just look at the way the female body is viewed in our country-thin is good, young is good and for goodness sake, what about all the rest of us? Are we chopped meat?

    The second point I made was from a feminist perspective I was disappointed to see that of about 25 people interviewd for the book who spoke on and off in it, only about 4 were women. Why? The book would have sent a much better message to all of us if there were a fair split.

    However, here are two possible reasons: Women live more private lives and don’t end up ‘known’, therefore not picked for big time interviews. Secondly, women and men think differently, so the goal orientation of THE SECRET is not a style that women use, either by choice or nature. We are busy changing diapers, caring for our moms and multi-tasking.

    Thanks for a change to chat.

  5. Very good review,

    The secret does work, because our minds always try to find solutions. Connect things together. So when we think about something, subconsciouse pathways emerge. Some based more on reality than others. And where our mind goes, our emotions and actions often follow

    All the mystical explanations just get in the way of what’s quite a simple process to believe in

  6. Your post is interesting. I like The Secret movie and I’ve watched it beind discussed on CNN and the Oprah show as well. But the latest Larry King show really started to raise some red flags for me. For example, John Assarf made all these claims about “positive” and “negative” chemicals in the brain. Then he was asked where he got his research from, when a clinical psychologist called into the show. Then he made the claim that he spent 6 years in retirement, studying all these reports and research findings. But you would think, that if he had spent 6 years studying psychology and neuroscience research studies he would have been able to name a few of the authors and would have the scientific knowledge of someone with a PhD! It takes 5-7 years to get a scientific PhD, but he came across to me as someone who just dipped here and there, and then made stuff up.

    Where is all this scientific research they claim is true? I could see if the said there was no research yet, then I would have more respect for all this. But they specifically claim there is plenty of research to support this. Why don’t they put a bibliography in the back of The Secret book, so we can see where all this research is coming from. But some footnotes to add credibilty.

  7. Great summary/review and valid points:

    “5: The movie claims that the universe will provide”

    Yeah, this one rubbed me weird the first time watching the film. At some point I saw some of the folks form the film on a TV show (maybe Oprah?) and they actually did delve deeper into that and clarified – “Well you actually have to do something to try to make it happen”

    The universe is still very much self service – not delivery ;)

  8. Julie:

    That Salon article is a strange one… the author clearly didn’t delve much deeper into the history of the Secret past the day he/she caught it on Oprah. Judging from the meandering article they clearly have it in for Oprah (I’m not a big fan either)… but in this case she was very, very late to the Secret Party….

  9. Hi Alexander,

    Good stuff. I love theSecret and I’ve referred to many people. But you makes some good points.

    1. No proof that famous historical people knew the secret: I guess this depends on context. Many of the famous people eluded to on the site [thesecret.tv] are world class go-getters (especially in their prime). But did they know the “law of attraction” by that name… I doubt it.

    2. No proof that the Law of Attraction was kept secret (conspiracy): I kind of saw that bit as a dramatization put in the Secret.

    Although one might argue that the Holy Roman Church [et al] annihilated many sects that actively practiced the Law of Attraction (i.e. Rosicrucians.. if you look closely you will see this name flashed in the title sequence of the secret BTW.. The Rosicrucians -occult,societies, gnostics, heretics and others- that practiced the Law of Attraction a.k.a “magic, thought forms, visualization” or anything that did not conform was destroyed… this purification was done by Nazi Germany, the Holy Roman Empire, and other nationalistic empires that wanted complete control. Many churches go out of their way to discredit to this day.)

    3-5. The Secret is Pseudo Science: As I’ve said in a previous post, I won’t even pretend to understand what quantum physics has to do with mysticism, but I do have pretty strong oppinion about the dogmatic even religious steps that science seems to have taken.

    Apparently, the belief in pseudo science is on the rise in the U.S. http://www.livescience.com/humanbiology/070218_ap_us_science.html
    This includes UFOs, psi, astrology, mind over matter and many others.
    The scientific incrowd throw them ALL out wholesale. There is such a stigma in the “accepted” scientific community that even an honest open minded question into the POSSIBILITY of the above areas deemed pseudo science can be career ending. Personal experience and phenomenology are also thrown out so that one is supposed to question their own sanity prior to believing their own eyes.

    I often ask myself, who has a monopoly on reality? Science or Religion? Neither, of course. Both are simply measurements and guides on life and reality but somehow people have completely reversed this. Somehow, we have become the mere measurements of science and the puppets of religion with human perspective and life as a passing anomaly or a sin to be cleansed.

    So do I believe that the human mind can influence the physical reality? I believe that an awakend mind is the most power force in the world. Able to split atoms, influence others, attain deeper understanding of the environment and more importantly, able to make up its own damn mind.

  10. I have enjoyed reading the thoughtful comments on this new phenomena, “The Secret”. Although there was nothing in the book or movie that was new to those of us who have been studying and practicing these methods (just calling them another name) for many years. As a Positive Psychologist myself, I agree with Dr. Holstein about the value of a discussion about how to help people live more positive lives and have the level of happiness that we all deserve. I hope that everyone who reads about this new “genie in the bottle” as someone called it, will understand that that nothing replaces good ole hard work in learning to be happy, get rich, or be successful. Who was it who said that “Inspiration is 99%perspiration.) Maybe I’ve just had to work so hard myself to learn how to be happy since I came from a dysfunctional background that I have a little trouble believing that I could have just used visualization and all would have come to me. I don’t want to be simplistic or negative about the values of this movement. I just want to add a caveat that I still believe in learning the fundamentals of anything you want to have in your life.

    Great discussion!

  11. Thanks for all the great comments!!

    Peter: Thanks for the link, that’s a GREAT article!

    John: Thanks – I tried to be even-handed here.

    Barbara: “scary for people to think that their thoughts are hitting the highways to the universe”. That’s hilarious :o) I like your take on positive psychology and how it relates to TLoA, and if you ask me, THAT’S where the explanation lies. Not in quantum physics.

    Keith: Exactly! It IS simple, and trying to make it complicated only makes it harder to understand and use.

    Alex: Precisely. If the research is there let’s see it. If it’s not, simply state that this is a world view that we believe in from personal experience and from anecdotal evidence, that has yet to backed up by research.

    Julie: Thanks for the link to the Salon article. I found it entertaining – and a little vicious :o)

    Ryan: “The universe is self service – not delivery” – I like that!

    Rob: Thanks for a reasoned criticism of my criticism :o)

    You write that you “believe that an awakened mind is the most powerful force in the world. Able to split atoms.” To which my reply is of course: Split one for me, and I’ll believe it too :o)

    While we should always be open to new ideas (anything else is unscientific), we should also remember that having an open mind also means being open to the possibility that many of the things we’d LIKE to believe are NOT so.

    Ruth: I don’t think there is much of a genie there either. At some level I don’t even WANT there to be one, because it would turn the universe into a vending machine…

  12. I first came across this ‘secret’ in the context of Neuro-Linguistic Progamming, The idea is that you imagine things that you want with yourself as part of the image, with bright colours, pleasing sounds etc – all five senses engaged. You imagine things that you don’t want (the example always given is smoking) as an image on a TV (ie detached) in Black& White, with the sound turned down and in the distance.
    The reasoning is that you will more likely to notice things if they are on your mind in the first place. If you have picked out a new car that you want to buy you will suddenly see that model all over the place where you never saw it before. Nothing changed in the real world – you have just started noticing.

    BTW – in a similiar vien – I saw an research report several years ago. I wish I could remember where becuase I find I keep citing it to people all the time.
    The study was on what makes people lucky. There are some people which seem to alwasy fall on their feet and catch all the lucky breaks while others just can’t seem to get a chance.
    The main difference between the groups was that the lucky people were much more aware of what was going on around them. Simple observation was the key factor. Lucky people are more likely to notice what is happening and therefore anticipate problems and recognise opportunities.

    This ties to the TLoA fairly well. If you are paying attention to something specific you are more likely to notice when the chance arises. Again the change is in yourself, not in the world around you.

  13. Earl Nightingale used to say that there is no such thing as luck, luck is what happens when preparedness meets opportunity and opportunity is there all the time.
    Wanna get lucky? Get prepared!
    Wanna get prepared? Work!
    Wanna work? Be happy!
    Wanna be happy? Be positive! Share yourself! Give!

    Zig Ziglar philosophy of

  14. Sorry for the previous comment… I started replying and I end up talking to myself… :D

  15. Alex – first I’m glad to connect to you and your blog by way of Jodee Bock, and to hear of your fabulous calling on behalf of the work world.

    Re “The Secret,” I wrote a couple of posts about this, and like you, talked about what they left out. The big example I cited in one of the posts (“Keeping It Real”) had to do with Jack Canfield’s story on making his first million bucks. The film highlighted the beginning of his visualizing, and a couple examples of synchronicity, but failed to mention he was on the road over 300 days that year to promote the book the led to the bucks. Just a minor detail . . . that the public might need to be aware of!

  16. Hi Alex,

    great discussion! The comments I most resonate with are those of
    Rob. While I do recognise some limitations with The Secret, I think it’s a great starting point for those only now being introduced to the Law of Attraction. It’s got a mainstream, materialist appeal, but that’s a hook that gets people interested. Everybody’s gotta start somewhere, and from what I’ve observed with the LoA, once started, people delve more and more, and in time get to whatever is the real truth for them.

    As for what can be scientifically upheld, I’m not as concerned about that as I once was. Why limit ourselves to believing only in what has YET been proved? I believe in the power of belief and experience, so I ain’t putting my fate in the hands of science!

  17. Great discussion, however I’m really surprised that in the 21st century there are still so many folks hung up on scientific proof. They must have slept through all their history classes.

    Science had the sun revolving around the earth and the earth flat, and it took science a long time to catch up to leading edge reality. Good old Albert is hardly cold and already his insights have been surpassed, and some of his concepts are now being questioned and expanded in new directions.

    I guess the old adage still applies in 2007; “he who flies highest, sees farthest.”

    Love and light

  18. Peter: I agree that there is a large measure of NLP in why TLoA works.

    BTW: The luck research you mention is that of Richard Wiseman. I wrote about it here:
    https://positivesharing.com/2006/08/get-lucky-at-work-be-positive/

    And thanks for the amazingly kind words :o)

    Deb: Great point. So maybe it’s not:
    1: Visualize your goal
    2: Universe provides

    But:
    1: Visualize your goal
    2: This makes you more efficient working for your goal
    3: Work towards your goal
    4: Reach your goal

    Hilda: I too believe in the power of belief and experience. I believe in them so much that I’m trying to figure out how they work, rather than trust in the first explanation to be proposed.

    I believe that if we find out how they really work (and I’m fairly certain quantum physics ain’t it) we can use’em even better.

    Hugh:

  19. Man, what great dialogue! I am a fan of The Secret, because I am learning – thanks to Dick Richards – that my genius is “inviting dialogue.” I’m in hog heaven when I see so many people in dialogue, which I define as “suspending assumptions for the purpose of learning something.” I always learn so much from you and the people you attract, Alex. There’s something there about the LoA … I’m just not sure what!

    I love The Secret because it’s taking this dialogue to the entire world. Say what you will about the science, the hogwash, the doubts, the questions – we are all proving the law of attraction whichever way we think about it. Think it’s hooey? You’re right. Think it’s LAW? You’re right, too. We can always find what we’re looking for, as Peter said about NLP.

    So thanks, Alex once again for putting such a great question out there and allowing the dialogue. The ENTIRE WORLD is a better place because you’re here and because you attract all of us – law or hooey. That’s a fact to me!

  20. Jodee: Yes, we are all proving that TLoA works. My beef with The Secret is that the reasons they propose for WHY it works are wrong or unsubstantiated.

    Now I realize that to many people, this doesn’t matter, but I’m the kinda guy who likes to know HOW things work, not just THAT they work.

    And thanks for the kind words :o)

    Kenneth: I agree. Of course it’s possible to be thoroughly positive and die in a car crash – or thoroughly negative and win the lottery :o)

    To say that everything that ever happened to anyone is a result of TLoA is a VERY tall order.

  21. To all theSecret.tv haters:

    If you hate the Secret, what the Bleep, new age and other things that are not rational/critically thought out and within the realm of accepted scientific phenomenon, you will love this article:
    http://julianwalkeryoga.zaadz.com/blog/2006/12/the_secret_spiritual_cinema

    (didn’t realize that there was some sort of “philosophy Jihad” going on among those that deem themselves “spiritual”. whatever.)

    Ken Wilber and Julian Walker are in alignment with Alexander’s view.

    IMHO, even though Julian’s raises amazingly cutting arguments, I walked away with a positive vibe from theSecret (this puts me in the ‘not too bright category according to ken & julian… I’ve been called MUCH worse). I don’t think there is anything wrong with thinking positively. Although Ken and Julian are calling it narcissistic, infantile and dangerously naive.

    As far as the Law of Attraction, Ken (over at Integral Naked) brings up the “Auschwitz” argument. The Auschwitz argument goes a little something like this: If positive thinking and LOA is all a person needs, then what about the people in Auschwitz. Nothing like positive thinking or LOA saved them. Did the victims of Auschwitz create THAT reality? Furthermore, the secret implies that all those currently suffering in the world (i.e. children with AIDS) “thought” the dilemma upon themselves. How can the Law of Attraction exist in a universe of Holocausts and AIDS babies?

    He drives what seems like a “death blow” to the Law of Attraction. But I think there is still room for the LOA.

    Here is a lame attempt at critical thought:
    LOA is saying that the world is completely subjective. Perhaps that is a liiiittle to simplistic. More science minded folks are saying this is an objective universe and NO ONE can go around blinking objects in and out of existence (see law of conservation of energy). But I feel that the universe is neither completely objective or completely subjective. Its both. The nature of our objective situations (what ever they maybe) are colored by our interpretation of that situation. So positive thought does matter. Subject thought alone won’t be enough to undo the Holocaust the history, but its the first step to recovery.

    The audacity of optimism is what keeps us clinging to hope even in the darkest times and having faith when all hope is lost. I guess that is why Hope can be our greatest strength and our greatest tragedy.

    As for Human suffering it self (why does it exist if there is an LOA) that is something I will not downplay by attempting to rationalize or frame in some sort of dogma.

    As far as the LOA goes, I guess I can only speak for my self when I say, some strange shit has happened to me that science can not yet explain. It maybe as Ken Wilber says, people are just bending “spirituality” into their own narcissistic self centered whims, but I doubt this is the driving force of all of us dumb asses who believe in theSecret. I suspect the Secret and similar material are so popular because both mainstream science and main stream religion have shut the door on attempting to explain or even acknowledge the existence of strange phenomenon that happens to everyday people like me short of calling us insane, stupid or being full of sin.

    ***********************************

  22. Alex,

    Love the blog and your critique is right on target. I have been living by the LofA (or whatever you want to call it…positive thinking, visualization)most of my life…and I don’t understand what’s so “SECRET” about it. (Is there a secret handshake? Do people who know the secret immediately recognize each other passing on the street and smugly nod and wink at each other?)

    Whether or not there is proof – of brainwaves, of powerful historical figures knowing “the secret” – doesn’t really matter to me. What bothers me is when, as you point out, people take something that is a common sense, powerful idea and try to make it into something new and revolutionary…and make unsupported claims about it.

    It seems to me that the author found a “hook” (a really good one) and is selling a repackaged idea (albeit a good one) by making it sound very mysterious and elusive (calling it a “secret”).

    That said, I agree strongly with Deb Call’s comment about Jack Canfield. Positive thinking, visioning and sending “good vibes” into the world doesn’t do a thing if you don’t take the right action steps and work hard. Good execution is just as important as having a positive vision.

    (To lighten this deep discussion) Saturday Night Live had a hilarious spoof of Oprah doing a segment on The Secret. She had a female “guest” who was trying to “will” her boyfriend to stay in a relationship with her. He had a restraining order out against her, but she was living by The Secret and refused to accept negative thoughts about the relationship. It was funny…but such a good point. You just can’t impact everything with your thoughts, and you can’t control others.

  23. What a great statement you made! I was unsure what to
    think of the Secret. I agree that it was very well produced,
    but, it was very hard to get whether it was made with
    integrity, or simply for profit.

    The other day, I got my answer. The producers of the
    Secret are about to outdo themselves. They are
    creating an affiliate program called the Secret SGR.
    (Science of Getting Rich). They offer tons of audio/vido/
    and printed material that they package along with a
    website for you at the low, low price of $2,000!

    Once you buy it for yourself, you offer it to others and get
    a commission of $500 for tier one sales and $250 for
    tier 2 sales. If this isn’t a scam, I don’t know what is!

  24. rob: I agree. Even if TLoA is real (and I believe it is) that doesn’t mean it explains everything that ever happened to anybody. To say that it does is quite a claim :o)

    Gravity is real and always, but gravity doesn’t explain every single physical phenomenon. In some cases, there are stronger forces at work, and gravity can be safely ignored.

    And thanks for the link to Julian Walker’s article. He is a bit pointed, but very well-spoken and funny!

    Phyllis: That’s a great point – I think this has also been bugging me at an unconscious level.

    BTW: You can see the SNL Oprah skit here.

    Ricky: Oh man! So the REAL secret turns out to be not TLoA… but multi-level-marketing. Any respect I may have had is now officially gone.

  25. Thank you for the link to the SNL Oprah sketch. I tried to find it on You Tube yesterday and couldn’t. I work at NBC and actually had to get it from work, but now that I know it is indeed online, I can hopefully link to my site!

  26. I don’t see any reason to hold a firm belief on anything.You’ll see it when you believe it. ;)

  27. Im aware about the “laws of attraction” and the related subjects. I know they works pretty well. I often been surprised about the results i have in my life.

    But, im not here to praise this film, The Secret.

    You should ask you a few question before listening to this movie and any movie/book if this kind…

    The first question should be : Do they give information for free or are they doing that for the cash ? Truely, if i were the guy who discovered this “secret”, by respect for every humans beings, and for the good of everything, i would give this information for free and i would write books, create movies to have an income.

    Just go on their website, they just sell books and movies. Listen to the trailer… is there something wrong ?? I smell cash !

    The second question should be : Do they give good values (like respect, joy, intelligence, etc) ? Check some book’s tips :

    “Capitalizing on basic human feelings such as greed can bring you vast wealth” Greed ?? Do you really want to base your life on greed ? Do you really want to be selfish ? To take from others, to keep everything for you ?

    “Try not to use any critical-thinking skills or logic when pondering concept of The Secret” This is exactly the way religions works. Follow and do not ask questions. They are selling millions copies of “the bible” that way.

    “The Secret does not work if you are attempting to learn it from stolen, bootlegged, or borrowed products from Prime Time Productions” That’s cool, they now have a copyright on the universe. Hello Mr. ABC, send this letter to 10 friends before midnight or else you will die in one week.

  28. I think all your comments are intersting and it helps to clarify questions I had. But even if the Secret is mumbo jumbo like some have pointed out, or if the TLoA is real, we have to look at one thing. People who are maybe not PHD’s like some and maybe not even college educated are now searching and their wheels are turning.
    This may be shaddy for some, but a lot of times all someone needs to change their life around is hope. And no matter what you say, if you thank the universe daily for things that you thought no importance in your life, you will begin to fall in love with what you got. You will notice things about yourself that others might think is unique but you see it everday or take it for just being so.

    We are all debating if this is valid scientifically and if metaphysically this is crap. Maybe both points are valid, but we are missing the bigger point. Positive thinking brings positive results. If you believe you can do something, you will find a way.
    And debate me if I am wrong but we could all use some positive hope in our world, with all the war and wrong doings by nations, governments, sects, and people in general. People are slowly believing Bigbrother is in control and we are all just pawns so what does it matter.

    But what if, just “what if” we as people controlled our own destiny.
    That is main thing from quantum physics, the secret, the bleep, huna and whatever else you want see nowadays is stating.

    It’s just a thought, but what a beautiful thought it could be for a world.

  29. I admire your courage for attacking a very popular video and book, however, I feel that maybe you need to watch it a few more times and get the real meaning out of it. It’s purpose, I beleive is to get everyone thinking about their life as it stands now, and what they need to do to change it. Does it really matter if all the facts are true? Whats more important, is to feel good, and spread that feeling. We often get into a rut, but wallowing away in self pity instead of giving ourselves a good kick in the ass and get on with things.
    Don’t banish the hopes of others, read or watch the video again and again, and start to feel the good in it, not the negative.

  30. I think the motivation behind any project is important. For some of us, their motivation is so crystal clear that it completely negates any good that would otherwise have been gleaned from it. The Secret is about one thing

  31. I highly doubt most comments in adamant rebuttal of The Secret were left by those who are living lives of their dreams. I even saw one comment that admitted a dysfunctional childhood. It is easy to pick apart a documentary like The Secret because it forces one to truly self-examine. People are comfortable in thier misery when they believe the cause of the misery is due to some outside external force or plain ole rotten luck. The Secret tells you that you are responsible for every situation you attract into your life. That your life, is your fault! That in and of itself is a hard pill for most to swallow. I’m no PhD, nor am I expert of quatum physics. But I do know that there is an enormous amount of research on it that supports the claims there are brains do not distinguish between physical reality and simple thought. I won’t elaborate further, rather, I admonish all to research it for yourself. I have. People will pick apart CNN interviews, attempt to debunk talk show appearances, and explain away each and every work uttered in public by those in support of The Secret’s message. It is hard for one to realize the YOU created all the crap in your life. There is what happens to us, and what we decide it means. Each person from the scientific community knows that it is a fact that nothing on this planet is anything other than energy. Energy is the base of all things broken down to it’s basic most pure level. I would be good money that the pioneer of this rant has less than the life they want to live. So, dismissal of the idea that the Universe is a vending machine is easy. Not to mention, The Secret never implied that was the concept. Did anyone here watch The Secret, really? Or is taking ownership of your life just too hard to swallow? I almost find it too exhausting to go on because so many comments are so far off base and exaggerated. My suggestion is to go watch The Secret for yourself before you fall prey to the mindless yammerings of an psuedo-movie reviewers. Bottom, it could change your life.

  32. Hmmm…. there are plenty of wise sages that will tell you that happiness is not about “what you can get from the universe” but letting go of the cravings for “things” in the first place.

    I find the self centeredness ME ME ME of this whole concept of “The Secret” repugnent. What about helping others first!

    I am going to ask the universe for something now… Dear universe can we have some world peace please? Can we also try and help the people who want to be “rich” help share with the starving of this world..

  33. Allen,

    I completely agree! I read in one of the books that I distribute, “How to be happy and have fun changing the world”, that one of the most important keys to happiness is HELPING OTHERS!

    I headed the advice and added a helping others page to my website where people can donate to great causes with just the click of their mouse… doesn’t cost them a cent. I am still amazed that it hasn’t caught on yet.

    When we help others, we take the focus off ourselves. The minutes we start focusing on ourselves and what we “want”, I think we are going backwards!

  34. Tori, sorry, but “The Secret” is NOT a documentary. It’s an infomercial. It wasn’t made by a neutral outside party, it was made by the company that publishes the book- hardly unbiased.

    And if everyone “created all the crap in (their) life”, how does that account for bad things happening to children? Yep, that’s a simplistic criticism, but it’s a good basic one. If the authors of “The Secret” can answer that one, then perhaps they do have something to say.

    Allen, amen!

  35. I have read the comments about the Secret with great delight.

    The first thing I would like to add is I am delighted with the debate.

    Now I would like to add or rebut some of Alexander

  36. Thanks for the great review. I first read about the Law of Attraction a few years ago in Think and Grow Rich. I’ve now read the book several times, but I bought The Secret, enjoyed it and have recommended it to others. Many people I know wouldn’t bother to read the whole book, and my kids are too young to enjoy it, but they all seemed to like the DVD, and grasp what it was about.

    The DVD was very simplistic, and of course, it doesn’t go into the detail the book does. Some of you have mentioned that it is all very much me me me, and all about gaining money. Admittedly it does come across that way, but the book is not the same, and it explains that the law of attraction can be used for many purposes other than to gain money for oneself.

    What I don’t like about The Secret is the $2000 briefcase on offer. I’ve not actually seen the briefcase but I’ve read the description, and to me it sounds like a real rip off. The main thing on offer in there seems to be membership to an affiliate program, and you shouldn’t have to pay to sell other people’s things for them.

    Anyone who did enjoy the secret and would like to read further should check out Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.

  37. Catherine – careful, don’t confuse Bob Proctor’s new scam “The Secret to Getting Rich” with “The Secret” proper.

    That whole SGR/Briefcase thing is a total MLM scam and doesn’t really have much to do with “The Secret” except for guys like Proctor.

  38. Hi, I’m curious about your comment “That whole SGR/Briefcase thing is a total MLM scam”.

    Did you have a bad experience?

  39. Speaking from experience, I have been in so many mlm companies, I have lost count. My intention was NEVER to get rich quick. Getting rich slowly was just fine. In fact, in one company (that has been around for over 100 years), In just a few short months, I won an award for 12th place consultant in North America. I went to the National Business conference, walked accross the stage, shook hands with the owner, received my plaque, and just months later, I quit because none of it meant anything in tems of actual dollars.

    The model behind the mlm concept is great, but unfortunately, in the long run, it works for probably less than 1% of the people. And, I have to say, most of that 1%, is operating on a level where they know exactly what becomes of most people yet continue to suck them in.

    When I saw that Proctor had stooped to that level, I fell out of my chair. I spoke with someone else very prominant in the self help industry who was also shocked.

    The interesting thing is that I just began reading the actual, original book, “the Science of Getting Rich”, and am finding it very interesting. Only about 1/4 of the way through, but I am sure there is no mention of mlm anywhere in it!

    Hope this helps!
    Ricky

  40. Hey wow

    All i could say is that its really nice to share all this points of view here with you guys i just first want to say that the more i visualize my self with my ferrari and my beutifull house and everything else i feel happy but there is no inspiration to go out there and work hard to do the things that need to be done to make my dreams true i just feel lazy a tired and just want to spend time home and relax so how can thinking you have something already make you want to go out there and make those dreams come true something i have done is think of how hard life will get to me if i dont work hard and save and think of a smart idea to grow in every area of my life somethings are true in the movie and in most of all the books but we just have to take the best of them and make our own conclusions not to long ago i went to Anthony Robbins seminar and i could tell you that i did some amazing things and cryed and re programed my mind and when I got out of there i felt like i could save the world i felt like i could really do everything i put my mind to!!! but after 6 months im trying to feel the same way and i dont want to pay $700 dollars again beacuse it wouldnt be a smart investment until i could know that i could find those fealings on my own but i dont regret going even though at first it felt a bit expensive so now i wounder is the science of getting rich that powerfull like the seminar i dont think so REASON # WHY NOT BECAUSE BOB PROCTOR EVEN THOUGH HE HAS STUDY THE SUBJECT FOR 30 YEARS I NEVER HEARD OF HIM UNTIL NOW CAUSE OF THE MOVIE BUT OF ANTHONY ROBBINS I HAD SO THATS WHY THIS TIME I WILL NOT SPEND THE $ 2000 ON WHAT THEY ARE TRYING TO SELL I AGREE IT SOUNDS LIKE A SCAM BUT IM SURE IT HAS VERY INTERESTING INFORMATION BUT NOT WORTH $2000 WORTH WHAT ARE THEY SMOKING ????? HAHAHA but can someone tell me if the book is any good the science of getting reapt off ?? im serius anyone ???

  41. I have not seen the film The Secret but I did see the interview about the book on Oprah.

    My first interest was to find out what her 4 or 5 successful collaborators had done to get out of their “hopeless and terrible” situations (I have to say I am being somewhat sarcastic because I don’t think their backgrounds were that hopeless. I think their are many people in this world who experience adversity and come out to be successful in many ways with knowing the secret.) Getting back to my point. I watched and listened waiting to hear what all of the guests on Oprah had achieved and how they had achieved their success. All of them had created success through being a “motivational speaker” of one kind or another. They have created their success through selling “invisible clothes” to the masses. More people should have been read the King with no Clothes when they were children. Additionally, isn’t this all old hat. Didn’t Anthony Robbins do all this.

    The Secret reminds me of the many pyramid scheme out there. I bought into it, you buy into it and we will all get rich. So much of this is also like the new religion. It is also very closely related to the psychology of prosperity gospel. So shallow and so much about acquiring financial gain. What about the poverty in so many third world countries. Are you telling me that all those people don’t wish for a better life, that they are never positive.

    Additionally, like the evangalits, people involved in the secret seem to make up what they are saying as they go along. Drawing conclusions and making interpretations to suit the point they are trying to make. Yet there is never any substance to what they say.

    The Secret is just another form of exploitation to line the pockets of a few from the desperate and gullible.

    You achieve what you have in life through great effort to overcome adversity and hard work. That is the only secret. Set goals and strive for those goals. Surround yourself with good people and share good spirit and compassion to those who need and deserve it and gratification will come from the experiences that come from this.

    Where is the child who calls out though the crowd “THE KING IS NAKED.”

  42. i have just finished watching the secret and it all just seems to good to be true! i was wondering if you could answser my question for me. My friend has cancer and was told he would live for 2 months i want to help him with my thoughts. If i picture him being healthy and think good things like him surviving will i be helping or can i only help my self i will show him the movie but would like to think i am also helping him with my thoughts. PLEASE REPLY ASAP. thank you

  43. its seems to good to be true so if anyone has had an experience with the secret they would like to share please do..

  44. Science or science fiction, who cares? I am working with the ideas put forth in The Secret. In fact I use ideas from many different sources, Christian, Pagan and those of Eastern traditions, I mix them all. I am absolutly in awe of what I am learning and seeing. Yes, this is anecdotal and I am not asking for more than that. My friends and I believe in the parking angels and have seen this work over and over. How to explain all of this, I do not know and I do not care. Physically, all matter is just a form of energy so who can say that other forms of energy have no effect on each other. The universe his teaching me to trust in it.

  45. I don’t know if there are energy waves coming out of my head but I agree with another commenter that once you start even considering LOA exists some “weird shit” happens. I recently stated I wanted a recording of a obscure song mostly sung by choirs. Two days later a woman gave me some old sheet music…with THAT song. A couple weeks later at an activity I attend every week, someone gave a bunch of us a tape she had recorded a while back and did not sell. THAT song was there. Now I did not “pay more attention” to find it.. Or tell anyone I wanted it. Pretty weird for a conicidence. Maybe theres no scientific evidence YET, but it happened somehow. I am sure people thinking the earth being round were thought of as nut jobs also. Maybe we can sorta consider that somethings we have no way to measure..yet…come on..we all ahve had that dodododod thing.
    I think it is important however, that yes action..taking action from these “coincidences” or whatever they are is what counts.Then things unfold. And also LOA is only ONE law. The real problem I have with the “The Secret” is it sets people us for self-loathing. Well this (bad experience) came into my life. I didn’t do it right. Shit happens, maybe because only because we were around when someone took out their wrath or maybe for reasons we never know a little one becomes ill. There are lots of other factors in life. I know for me that it was “bad stuff” that inspired me to become more spiritual, to meditate, and so on, things that improved my life. But I do beleive we can tremendously improve our lives with LOA concepts.

    Oh! And if anyone discovers HOW I only have to THINK “cheques in the mail” and they come. EMAIL ME! :)

  46. Here is a secret, Don`t think that much, just FEEL GOOD.

    That’s the point of all this video. Fake or not it doesn’t matter. Just FEEL GOOD and don’t think so much. There is things that can’t be explained with words, just can be felt. it’s so simple.

  47. Well, since the whole idea behind this movie is based on emerald tablet, it can be said that it was kept secret during the course of history. You can see a scene where the green tablet is being copied at the start of the movie.
    The emerald tabled according to many sources did exist, and the biggest part of alchemy is based on what it teaches. It was belived to be written by Hermes Trismegistus.
    Plato stated in his works that the much of this ancient knowledge was kept in the temple of Neith at Sais. And it’s interesting sources Alexander the Great went to Sais to visit a “prophetic stone”, where he “achieved enlightment”. This was at the begining of his conquests, and we all know what he did after that.
    True origin of the tablet is lost in legends that go back over 10,000 years, and the wondrous artifact was translated into Greek by Alexandrian scholars and put on display in Egypt in 330 BC. Around the year 400 AD, it was reportedly buried somewhere on the Giza plateau to protect it from religious zealots who were burning libraries around the world at that time.
    One copy of the emerald tablet reappeared around 800 AD in a text called Kitab Sirr al-Asrar, but a question remains how much of it is actually authentic.
    Oh, and btw Isac Newton translated the emerald tablet, so yes, he did indeed hold this knowledge. About all the other people mentioned, I don’t really know, but it was kept secret throughout history.

  48. You’re exactly right. I too believe in the Law of Attraction, which is simply your mind working to create what it mostly thinks about. Other than that, I believe the movie is pure “Hollywood”. But still, I like it. It’s entertaining and the main message (what you think about, comes about) is interwoven throughout the film. And as long as it creates more positive people in this world, then the better off we all are. I, for one, wouldn’t mind being out of debt or ridding myself of this debt consciousness that I now believed has kept me there. So, though I agree with your assessment, I will follow Bob Proctor’s wisdom, and that is not to dismiss it just because I don’t understand all of it. One caveat, though, I do believe it’s easier for some than for others. I, for one, think I am one of the “others”, so I do have my work cut out for me.

  49. Sam, you’re falling right in the trap! I’ve been in the biggest and the most evil MLM too (see Ricky’s note) and one thing I learned to be true is there are people out there that will use this LOA to their greedy advantage. MLM’s are more organized and more devious, for sure, but still be careful how you spread your (lack of) money around. Stop in at B&N (or Borders) and pick up and read (but not necessarily buy) the book Attractor Factor. I appreciate Joe Vitale’s complete honesty how he wanted a car so he through together an on-line $1,500 e-course and got thirthy people to buy in. Yikes! Do you think these e-students got their $1,500 worth? That could have easily been a free e-course. Joe is amazingly open about other things too, which makes me totally believe he’s stating what he believes to be true. If only the MLM’s out there were more honest…

    Do yourself a favor, try the gratitude test each morning when you wake, where you are thankful for everything in your life during breakfast, showering, shaving, etc., and if you can keep that up for a week, then your heading in the right direction. However, if you can’t do this simply, free exercise for seven straight days, then don’t throw your money away. Prove to yourself first that you have the wherewithall to follow through on what they’re selling before you begin buying.

  50. I like that this review is not dismissing the Law of Attraction though you wouldn’t have criticized the movie so much if you understood the Law of Attraction or at least experience some real miracles with it. Everybody is asking for scientific evidence before they try anything because they don’t want to waste time or energy or something. The processes are extremly complex to be proven scientifically yet. The law of attraction is like a living organism that influences the whole cause effect graph of the universe on a subatomic level. It is energy and you can’t measure that with science(you can play with imaginary energies). Only the human mind can percieve that. The purpuse of the science is to let us know what is going on with particular phenomena. But only our mind can put these all wonderfull discoveries toghether to understand the universe better.

    All the famous people quoted in the movie knew about the law of attraction. Maybe they didn’t have a name for it, or maybe they did not even know what they were doing good but the law of attraction allways works even if you want to or not, if you realize or not.

    “That seems to me to be a very mechanical, shallow, self-serving description of the universe.” Don’t be imposible, this team had just 120 minutes to send the message and I think they did it very well. They could have described everything with energies but not so many people understand(I mean really understand) what these are. They didn’t have any other choice than to go vague on many things. They are giving some examples which I must say that are not very complex so one might have dificulties when tring to assimilate them with the whole ideea.

    There is no real world and inner world. It is the same world, the same universe. The way you percieve things its part of the universe. And if that changes than the whole universe is changing. There is a fizical phenomenon for each thought that we have. And fizically speaking, each cause has an effect and each effect is a cause. This is the way that the law of attraction works. At some point your thoughts will manifest fizically, first in your behaviour, and then even in your “real world”. The thing with the electromagnetic waves is just the proof that the thoughts are actually manifesting fizicaly so they must have an effect which at some point will manifest outside our head. You don’t have to take the special effects literally. That wave is actually the causes and the effects that one thought creates.

    You are beeing suggested in the movie to go find evidence for your self, to read about different faimous people, study. The movie wasn’t made to prove anything. It’s purpuse is to get on the right path the ones who are ready to do so and they tried to make the sceptics at least to shut the f up by beeing polite. It is not the case with these review but that didn’t happen completly.

    Analyze your dreams, make as many as possible. At some point you will get exhausted if you did not understand the law of attraction or whatever you might want to name it. Most people choose frustration when this happens in stead of understanding that there is something nonfizical making the world go round and that the universe is offering everything you need if you are on the right track to evoluate(that’s what happiness is). In other words, you are happy if you evoluate and you will be happier if you evoluate even more but you will fell bad if you stop… do not try to get along with the bad feelings!!! Be on your way to illumination

  51. Since nobody actually has the answers as to how the universe works at all, I am curious to know how you can say our thoughts don’t make things happen.
    Of course being a movie, I suppose they glamorised the Secret to get people interested, and it worked, Everyone on this site has watched it.
    The creators of the secret had riches in mind for their lives, I think they have made a few dollars out of this.
    All I can say is that we have thoughts for a reason and I do believe that thoughts combined with emotion can get you to your goal quickly.
    I bet all of the people woh don’t agree with the Secret, can not give scientific evidence to oppose what the Secret says!
    Thats because we don’t understand it, so our thoughts may very well lead to action.

  52. I agree that there is such a thing as Law of Attraction. The movie “The Secret” is very subjective and it is bases on someone else’s opinion or experiences. Well there are some things in the movie that I would agree with like ask, believe and recieve.

    There was a time when I needed to get a kimono badly for an event and my friend who was going to lend me one, sabotaged me at the last min. I was desperately thinking where can I find the kimono one day before the event, knowing that it was difficult to find an uncommon item in the shopping malls.

    So, the day before the event, I prayed and hope to find one before my lunch appointment. Just before I walk into the restaurant, I decided to turn into a corner shop to take a look. Lo and behold, just as I was turning around the corner, there stood a Japanese shop, all things Japanses. I manage to find what I wanted. So was it a coincidence or The Law Of Attraction at work?

  53. I liked the movie. It made me smile (literally) – actually – I couldn’t help it. Usually I watch movies with little or no expression (except for maybe squinting my eyes).

    I have used the law of attraction (did not know what it was called before now).

    One example that my husband loves to remind me about is when we were holding a family reunion at our house (in the country). The reunion was to be held on a Sunday. On the Friday evening prior – our direct neighbor began spraying liquid pig manure on his crops all through the night – truck after truck arrived spraying right up to our property line. Saturday moring the smell was so vile that it made you gag to just be outside for a couple minutes. It was COMPLETELY foul. Of course, I was furious because there was seemingly no way that smell would be gone before Sunday (the next day). But, instead of letting negative thoughts and anger take over – I told my husband that my good friend JC would help us out. Then I asked and thought over and over for the air to be fresh and clean smelling just long enough for our guests. I went to bed Saturday night still imaging and believing it would be so – I really believed it – I really believe JC would do this for me. My husband, the early riser, rushed in to wake me Sunday morning to tell me “you’re not going to believe this, but there is absolutely no smell foul outside”. He added it would likely come later when the wind changed. But I KNEW it wouldn’t – I felt it. I KNEW it was my answer, and allowed myself to be thankful for it – instead of allowing in any of my husbands seeds of doubt. For the ENTIRE day there was not so much as a hint of smell. I mean, the air – even with a light breeze (the weather was beautiful) carried absolutely no foul odor (I asked ‘the nose’ my mother – to be sure). The reunion was a huge success. Later – still needing another explaination – my husband was making comments about how the smell must have burned off on the Saturday – trying to make sense of it. But, I assured him it would be back on Monday – since I had been very specific about the timing. And, sure enough the stench was back FULL FORCE on Monday when he got up – and it lasted a full week there after.

    I’ve had MANY other similar such things happen in my life. But I didn’t not know or realize (before now) how it was not just luck – but can be a way of living. I usually have thought of it as being JC – so I have never been what might seem indulgent in my concious requests. JC – a govenor of sorts of my concious desires.

    I must admit now – that although I would love to try to put into practice such use for personal gain and indulgence – that my beliefs make me fearful of the consequences.

    Perhaps religion is really the suppressor of the law of attraction?

  54. hello to all who have contributed to this discussion so far,

    everyone has different opinions; i accept that as is. i have had experiences in my life which i could not explain by applying commonly acquired knowledge pertaining positive science. however, as any personal experience you might have encountered, they were real. well, what do you do when you can not explain something? you tend to forget about, accept it as it is, or just believe that what just happened, happened for a reason linked to a complex underlining sequences of events, which probably is beyond the reach of our positive understanding..

    law of attraction is a wide topic to discuss, and scientifically it must still be accepted as controversial, as it is not backed up by statistically plausible scientific data. for the time being, it must be dealt with within the context of personal belief systems. however i may say that, no matter what you want to call it, this thing in fact proved itself in my experiences.

    the movie, on the other hand, seems more likely to be a candidate of commercialization just because of the way it is presented. i am coming from eastern mediterranean background, and the film is evidently made with the average north-american in mind, as the target audience. its arguments are mostly focused on one’s self and the manifestation of their capitalistic intends. i think this is the main reason why so many people -though they seemed to like the concept- ends up with a suspicious attitude and a damaged feeling of credibility about the film. after all, the film overtly “teaches you” the way to acquire an expensive house, an italian sports car and wealth, and promises even more wealth, like those are our only concerns. well, guess what? in fact, as a person living in north america, i believe it is very much true that these mere material things occupy a lot of space on the minds of the people, who live in a sheer capitalistic society. i had no idea what the film was about, i happened to see it by chance. when the secret is revealed as the law of attraction, and was followed by a suite of “how to become a richer person, so you can better fit your dominating economical regime”, my unconscious defense mechanism popped up. it made me a bit nervous to think that i was in fact taking part in making some film producer richer. so i watched it again, this time letting my mind free from predominant ideas or prejudices, and personally concluded that if one can overcome the commercial presentation that is flowing throughout the movie, and can read in between the lines, the film may prove absolutely inspiring for a lot of people out there. i think one line that was used in the movie, should be underlined explicitly in more than one occasion: that money it self does not bring happiness.

    i found my soul mate, thanks to the deliberately concentrated thought of having that right person in my life, backed up by the experience of years of trial and error in relationships, and evidently learning what i actually wanted; and this film, in its simplicity, may be seen as a good intention to give this procedure a name and inspiration to people.

    one thing i can certainly accept as a universal truth, is that positive thinking is never a bad thing, you and people around you will always benefit from it. believing beyond that, is up to ones own personal preferences.
    regards
    s.

  55. The Secret really is no secret. Whether or not those famous people in the movie stood up and said “Hey, I know a secret”, is not the point”. The point is very simple. Focusing on the negative brings about negative, focusing on the positive brings positive. You don’t need science or math to prove that. It is called life. If we all believe in the TLoA then why the rebuttals, obviously “The Secret” worked for the people who made the movie, evident by the fact that we have all watched it. The movie doesn’t state that thinking different changes things, it states that thinking, feeling and acting different changes things. This is called setting goals. Simply thinking different only offers wishing, but if your thinking is motivated by determination that is what brings about change. Those who are successful applied TLoA not by saying I know a secret, but by living TLoA subconciously. In the movie “The Secret” they constantly made reference to lining yourself up with your desire and doing what leads to your desire. You don’t need a PhD or anything else to realise that you are the secret. You hold the key to your success. If things fall in place for you it is because you have aligned yourself on that path. I think the movie was excellent and it went alot deeper than the critics would like to give credit. I believe 100% in TLoA and to those who don’t understand it and don’t know of it, it is a secret, better yet it is a mystery.

  56. Well. You should read up more on the REAL FACTS of TLoA and then critizise the movie. You say you “believe” in it, do you then mean in the same way as you “believe” there is a computer screen right in front of you? Don’t you just “know” that? Because it is just as real as any facts. Personally, I don’t like the movie because it gives a new-agie feel. However, they don’t say anything that is fake. They explain things a bit too simplistic, but this to introduce people to TLoA that have never studied or heard of it before. Yes, it could scare some people away, but I do believe they managed to get a lot of people interested. You say that you have studied quantum physics, but you still don’t seem that convinced that everything is in fact energy and that there is scientific evidence that supports what they are saying; e v e r y t h i n g is energy and energy can move from point A to point B without passing space in between, (the butterfly effect), and if you’re dna is taken out of you and put in a different room than you’re in the energy in the dna in the other room will react the same way as the dna in you. So, what do you really base the “your thoughts only affect what’s inside of you”-part on? About the secret part, if I don’t know something I could consider it a secret, but that could also depend on my definition of ‘secret’. You should really read A Happy Pocket Full of Money. Or maybe some research.

  57. Heyhey,

    I really like to think “the secret” is real (which might be even true). But even when you could reach anything you want, if you have it, you will always want more. If you wish for money, you will get it eventually, but after you have the money, you realize you want love. After you got love you realize you want, well whatever, just make something of it world peace for example.
    I think its more important to learn what is important to you before you wish for something.

    “be careful what you wish for cause you just might get it all”

    Imagine you wish for a huge amount of money, then your child gets kidnapped, because you are rich. You will get freeloaders as friends and might lose your real friends.
    Making a wish is like a sheet of paper, it ALWAYS has 2 sides.
    Imagine you have everything you wished (and worked) for, then what?
    And on the other hand, isn’t wishing all the time rather selfish? Is the law of attraction meant to use for ourselves or to help others with? maybe both?
    I read all the time how to use it, how to gain profit from it, but can I use it to help another?
    If you can not use it to help another the whole “universe” story is most likely crap and then it is indeed positive thinking etc.
    How many people wish for others to be safe, and still something happens to them?
    Sorry i ask a lot of questions i don’t have an answer to. I’d like to hear someone else his opinion on these questions though.

    My opinion is that TLoA is a mindset and can be used to help another, but like everything you have to work for it. It’s not a matter bout right thinking and recieving, but you have to actually work for it. It’s positive thinking, and if you think positive/negative you can bring that to someone else. Take and asshole for example, i’m sure you know one. Is he an asshole and because of that he thinks in a negative way? or is it the other way around?
    I don’t think an answer can ever be given to this, but if you understand the question you don’t need an answer to change yourself or another.

    thnx for reading this =]

  58. The law of attraction is natural law. However, people’s approaches to it are entirely different, unique. The movie has a more mystical approach to the law, reflecting the author’s own mystical view of life. That is okay. Your approach is more rational and scientific. That’s okay, too, although it is not superior to other approaches. It is merely a reflection of yourself, as the movie is a reflection of the author’s self. If each one of us did a movie on the law of attraction, we would end up with an infinite variety of approaches and perpespectives on the law of attraction. Is that not the beauty of life? For surely there are an infinite number of paths to self-attainment.

  59. I partially agree with the writer.
    Yes, there isn’t such thing called miracle, our thoughts are just thoughts, they’ve got nothing to do with the universe. All The Secret is teaching us is that we should be positive, be grateful to everything around you, love your families and friends. That’s what we often heard about. The Secret is just a new label of this saying.

  60. I have just read ‘The Secret’. Whether the content of this book is real or not does not matter to me. I would, however, consider it to be a life changing read for me personally. It made me realise that I am one of the most negative people I know! I am not at all grateful for the privileges that I have in life, I do dwell on past events that went wrong far too much, I always presume the worst outcome for myself. One does not need to understand quantum physics to know that all these traits of mine are self destructive. This book has made me determined to make some drastic changes in my life. I will pass it on to many people.

  61. Diamond Said,
    August 8, 2007 @ 11:51 pm
    The law of attraction is natural law….

    Well said. I have always believed that TLoA is nothing more than Natural Law. Once you understand that you are the author of the outcome of your life (creator of your own universe, as the movie put it), it is very life changing.

  62. The Secret is an absolutely fantastic package designed, marketed and sold to “wake people up”.

    It is brilliant that people all over the world are now becoming more aware that abundance is everywhere -if you choose to believe it.

    In summary I believe that the perceptions of individuals create their lives. Remember your beliefs are your reality.

    Live Large,

    Jules.

  63. Here’s my take on this…I believe in TLoA.It does work.We are creators of our own destinies.The people in the book “The Secret” are legitimate scam artists.They are all authors or motivational speakers.John Assaraf’s people recently called me because I signed up for this thing where he was only going to take a select few people under his wing and train them on this.Well,when they informed me it was $2700 I,of course, had to decline.Once I told them that they said they had to go.I mean c’mon…if this has helped you,teach others for free.Supposedly if you do good things,good things will return you ten fold right?Theyare just like these tele-evangelists that prey on the old and sick.They just prey on the poor and people ready to give up or believe any quack that comes along.They also credit the Emerald Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean.If you google this you will find it.I don’t know about anyone else,but I sure as heck didn’t get the same meaning as these guys did.It talks about traveling through space and devils and spaceships buried beneath the spinx and all kinds of crazy stuff.Never once did it say,”Think about a nice car,house and a crapload of money and the universe will serve it up for you!”The universe is God,God is the universe.If you pray for it and you are worthy of it maybe you will get it.On a positive note,I believe that positive thinking can change your life tremendously.If everyone in the world read the book and practiced it’s teachings then the world would be filled with happy positive thinking people.We might not all drive fancy cars or live in mansions,but we would be positive and happy.That’s called world peace……

  64. Thanks, Alexander! I have to say, your review says almost EVERYTHING I feel about “The Secret.” Well before “The Secret” came out, I knew about the Law of Attraction and found that using it in my life was very beneficial. I’m not some bitter naysayer (as someone above inferred that ‘Secret’ critics are) but am actually a pretty lucky person and DO get a lot of the things that I want! The reason, though, is exactly what you said: When you focus on the things you want, your mind changes over to a mode where you’re actually trying to solve the problem of how to get those things. This makes you analyze the situation better, take more action and recognize more opportunities.

    The reason I feel so dubious about “The Secret” is that I feel like it’s telling people that all they have to do is wish for things and “the universe” will give it to them. If it doesn’t, it’s your fault for not wishing hard enough? There is also the darker flip side to “The Secret:” That if our minds control EVERYTHING, then EVERYTHING is the fault of the individual. So every abused child and every person with cancer was asking for it? I just wrote the word “cancer” and thought about it. Does that mean I’m going to get cancer now?

    I’m all for positive thinking. I think that people who focus on the positive NOTICE the positive and are grateful for it. People who focus on the negative NOTICE the negative and are bitter about it. I think teaching people that all they have to do is WISH is unconstructive.

  65. As with anything in life , advice opinions . Take it with a grain of salt and consider the source. The movie isn’t fake , it’s a theatrical production designed to introduce a philosophy to a mass media audience that is used ideas and information being delivered in that way. Christians would call it bringing in the sheep. It missed a lot for instance the little green tablet that represented the “lost secret” was actually the writings of Wallace Wattles and his observations of successful people in industry , but that is a different story.

  66. Hello Alexander,

    I just came by this page when searching for google about The Secret, so this is the first time I visit your website. I’ve read your review, and I’ve got nothing to comment about it yet. I have seen the movie and it made me really excited about all these stuff about The Law of Attraction. I’m usually the kind of person who prefers to question everything and take his time, but this film and theory in particular I chose to believe blindly, and I don’t know why. So I bought the book and I’m currently reading it and haven’t finished it yet. I’ve come to a page where they advise us to start with something small, to experience the law of attraction and to be more able to believe in it. They gave an example about a man who chose after watching the film to simply try it his way, and this is what they say:

    “He created a picture of a feather in his mind, and he made sure this feather was unique. He created particular markings on the feather so he would know without any doubt that if he saw this feather, it had come to him through his interntional use of the law of attraction.

    Two days later, he was about to walk into a high-rise building on a street in New York City. He said he did not know why, but he just happened to look down. There at his feet, at the entrance to a high-rise building in New York City, was the feather! Not just any feather, but the exact feather he had imagined. It was identical to the picture he had created in his mind, with all of its unique markings. In that moment he knew, without a shred of doubt, that this was the law of attraction working in all its glory. He realized his amazing ability and power to attract something to himself through the power of his mind. With total faith, he has now moved onto creating much bigger things.”

    Although it’s an interesting story, I have no idea whether it’s true or not, but I hope it is, and truly want to believe in it. So my question is, what do you have to say about it, other than claiming that it’s just a fake and made-up story?

    Looking forward to your reply,
    Take care,
    Louie.

  67. The green tablets were not representing Wallace Wattle’s book…they were representing the Emerald Tablets f Thoth.

  68. it’s normally more convincing when someone explains mystical things in a “scientific” way than vice versa.

    Agree with Alex, however, the Secret is surely more arousing to certain people than a quantum physics lecture.

  69. Hmm, oh well

    There seems to be the “same” line of thought running through most people’s minds in this blog about The Secret and Law of Attraction. I am not an expert or anything on the Law of Attraction or the movie itself. I definitely agree with Alexander in “his” particular point of view about the Law of Attraction and would like to point out to him that this is but “one” way to look at the LoA. I would like to remind him that the “scientific explanation” or “scientifically proven” argument does have its limits in both proving or disproving a certain explanation to something at hand, ie. the views and opinions of those in The Secret about LoA. We still are not able to “scientifically explain/disprove” things such as psychics, spontaneous combustion, OBEs (out of body experiences), and the list goes on. If our minds and social background, combined with our knowledge on subjects of the “paranormal” field (religion, beliefs on god, anything else weird or not written down on stone) has only been limited to certain experiences in our current lives, ergo we would only be able to “explain” or “reason” such events under our own “particular” frame of mind. It is hard to tell someone who knows only numbers 1 and 2 that 3,4,5,6, etc exist.

    Two things to take with you about The Secret and LoA:

    1. When we hear the real, cosmic, ever standing, w/e you wanna call it Truth, WE KNOW IT IS TRUTH. I totally believe it doesnt matter who you are when you hear IT you know IT is.
    2. Esther Hicks

    And pls, dont start “@$*^” about “science” this or that. Science is nothing more but the child of Philosophy. Instead look within you (where it really matters) and ask yourself if you think you can fully know or explain away something so huge as the LoA.

  70. FUCK ALLEN, if you think all rich people are out to starve the world you should get in a corner and die. What about Bill Gates, he already gave billions to charity and when he dies billions more will go to charity. Yeah helping others is good and I’m not discouraging it but don’t say rich people or people wanting to get rich are trying to starve the world. If no one had to asparation to get rich then many inventions wouldn’t have been made (Automobile, so how would you get to work in 20 minutes dumbass). It’s simple if someone wants to get rich I respect that. I grew up in a middle class family and now I drive a 2006 Ferrari F430 Spyder and a Bentley Continental Flying Spur. I also donated $200,000 to charity last year so if I never had the desire to get rich I wouldn’t have had the money to go to charity. FUCK ALLEN

  71. I watched The Secret last night. As uplifting and positive as it may be, I did find it very superficial and materialistic. It’s over-simplification of things made it difficult for me to find any real reason to believe the film’s ideas.

    Being a needy and greedy race of creatures, I think many of us are initially tempted into believing in this idea anyway. That is, the idea of using our mere thoughts and feelings to “get what we want.” But again, the film presents this far too simplistically and I think this is its biggest failing. If the LoA works as well as the film suggests, they could have interviewed an abundance of real people with real stories instead of a small selection of authors and philosophers who want your money.

    Despite my being lost on what to really think of this, I most certainly agree that no one fully understands the universe, which in my eyes, renders this film’s big theory no less considerable than the next New Age idea.

  72. I red the whole discussion and found it very very fascinating because I have given LOTS of thought to this topic through the last two years.
    I was introduced to the Law of Attraction through a person who teaches it since 30 years and writes books as well as motnhly topics on the internet about it since 10 years.I found this person through the internet and basically spend he time since working with the techniques and discovering a lot about the way I am thinking and functioning.

    I definitely agree with Alexanders view on the Law as well as on the movie The Secret. I grew up in a very Scientistic family and was brought up in an atheistic way.BELIEF was something very negativ for me- sects,the catholic church,fundamentalism. So, to question everything was a basic tool I used on every new information I would get before considering it as true.

    The LofA is very simple but at the same time very very complicated to understand.For example:

    I dont believe the LofA would give me wealth.Because I see it like Alexander, as a tool to change your mind and make yourself a happy person but I dont see it as a wonderlamp.

    This claim implies a belief. The belief that this could NOT happen.
    Now, “The Secret” fans would state:

    This is impossible for you because you THINK it is impossible.

    And there we are stuck in a circle.At this point we shift to a methaphysical level because there is no were, wether scientific or not, to prove if they are right- or I,saying this would be right.

    THIS exactly is the problem with the LofA. I also belief that it works.I belief it with all my heart and practize it every day. My life has imroved very much,Im a happy,successfull,healthy person.But still,even though I know AND have understood ALL the principles,not just red them but overthought them a million times- no miracles have happened.

    So, I go with what Alexander says and thank you very much for that.

    Im not sure if I agree with those people who say “The Secret” and also the LofA is not dangerous at all.What about people who were abused badly,people who lost their leg in a car crash,people who were born blind,people who have an handycapped child,people who have lost somebody through murder.

    Are you REALLY going to tell them: You attracted the disease of your child trhough your thought,you attracted the murderer who raped and killed your wife through your thoughts,you lost your leg ten years ago because your thoughts were bad at this time.

    This is not dangerous? Think about it!

    And also to be viewed VERY critically is when in the movie they say:
    “You MUST feel GOOD,it is VERY important to FEEL as MUCH GOOD as you can!!

    This view is not right.Being aware of negativity and cutting it off is very good,then a natural feeling of happiness arises.But forcing yourself to feel GOOD even though you feel like sreeming in a moment of anger is nonsense.

    Think about it, fans of The Secret.

    Im not a critic who says the LofA is not working.I do belief in it on a scientific as well as on a spiritual level and I live with it every day- but I do believe that FEELING GOOD is not enough.Turning off thoughts and just FEELING GOOD is exactly the method of a sect. And NEVER turn of your critical mind if it isnt for love making ;)

    The last point I wont to state is very very important and nobody has really brought it to discussion so I will:

    Thinking of all the movements in literature,philosophy and science there was always a major thought on which the followers focused.This “power”, “asthetical value” etc. was always the ultimative truth,the right path. And then there was another movement arising through the first one which would consider the exact opposite as the “ultimate truth”.

    So,I think this could also be the case here.The makers of “The Secret” as well as many followers see the force of the human mind and its power as the one ultimate energy that is able to transform the world.

    As I said,yes,the mind is very very powerful. But who can be sure that there is no other huge power? A power that is responsible for how our world is structured? Who says that there is just one energy which “brings” everything we want? There could also be several different powers who are working..

    Sorry,dont want to bring anybody down. I will continue to work with the LofA. But I still dont wont to follow like a blind sheep.Thinking of fundamentalism that really really scares me.And if this movement becomes a “self-made” religion- but NOT everybody will get rich right away,then it is not just positive anymore but can become very very harmfull for certain individuals,who will start blaiming themselves..

  73. hey there,
    ive never jumped into any self help programes.i tried it out and wow, it is magic.i asked for 45 meters of drip hose for a laugh and my husband saked for bricks, next day someone in our neighbourhood gave us just that.so we tried again for singlets for my 5 year old, thinking maybe that was a stroke of luck, and yes we got given 10 new singlets from another parent at his school.still sceptical i decided to ask for a little garden at the back of our house and i wanted someone else to do it, now that i thought would never happen. the next week my mother turned up with cuttings and plants from her own garden and thought it might look nice if we made a garden out the back and she asked if i would’nt mind if she did it all, and no she did’nt know that was what i was doing as she would think i were mad.as for vibrations, who knows? i thought if this could be true then maybe i could ask to see an old friend from high school i have’nt seen for 18 years , and i did and we’re great friends now, we bumped into eachother which is weird seeing we live so far apart.
    ive never beleived in god never fallen for trends in spirituality not one to get carried away, but this is the real deal.i believe in magic and the universe is deffinatly listening.i have so many other things that i could mention but i think ive taken up enough space already.
    thank you xx

  74. thought id mention something else.ive read a few bits about creating desease for your child or something????? apparently you can not create for another person. if this world that we live is just a big play ground for us to learn , grow and expirence (no one really knows) is it so hard to believe that some may come here and choose to be blind for some far fetched lesson that you or i could never understand.could it be that living 90 odd years is’nt as long as we percieve it to be and a tragedy to us is merely a graized knee from where we’ve come.thats the part im unsure of.i think as far as poverty and illnes goes we’ve collectivly created this world.pain and suffering thats a tricky angle with LoA.
    and ina, you don’t have to follow anything blindly.i know for us we were stuggling before and now we don’t worry, we still have the sme jobs same house.but now everything just comes to us easily.sadly the secret focuss’s on money but i guess thats what some want most ………?perhaps i should’nt write that as i guess thats ok to want lots of money.
    i don’t have period pain anymore my asthma is gone.i guess what im trying to say is maybe overthinking something a million times is the problem.ive heard so many different versions of how, when, where.i think the idea is to ask, visualise (or not) then let it happen without questioning the who what when.sorry, im not being very clear, theres so much to write and i dont know where to begin.just want to be of some help.take care

  75. i just want to add that you cant create in anothers expirence except if you are co-creating.thats come up a lot and no one has seemed to get that.the mass’s are co-creating all the time but on a small scale, like the woman on oprah wanting to keep her boyfriend-the LoA can only be aplied on your self unless your vibrating at the same level.

  76. Hi everyone. My grad planning teacher showed our class “the secret” (which in my opinion is a very unconvincing documentary video). I am highly interested in your opinions and discussions and I believe all your information and facts are true to the very dept of the universe. I have strong beliefs that the Law of Attraction exists, that we are more attracted to what we want and what were specifically looking for. On the other hand, how would one define THIS secret? This secret that has made millions ( for the film company) that is so over rated because we don’t have the ability think and debate for ourselves as the documentary shoots out i existing or non-existing that we want and are willing to believe, why? Because everything sounds so easy, great and achievable. I want to write an essay to have my grad teacher and students thinking and debating for themselves.

    Um… I have to turn off the computer now because the bell is going to ring.
    Thanks for all your comments and I greatly appreciate if you give a reply thanks :D

  77. The “secret” is the universe is composed of thinking “stuff” (energy) and man can interact with this energy to create and mainifest whatever he or she desires. Quantum Physics describes this as what is between the gap of and connects the physical universe at the most basic level. The Idea was 1st put into print in 1910 by wallace wattles and described by Ralph Waldo Emerson and Hegel in the metaphysical arena however this is what all of the great sages in religious history have been relating to us the whole time.. Physicists began to discuss the theory with the copehagen accord which really put Einstein on his ear. The copenhagen accord basically states that reality is subjective and the very act of intention in a individuals observations can change the outcome of any experiment. (you see what you are looking for).
    If I was doing a report I would first check out wattles which is a easy read. Then either check out a teacher or two from the movie and then check out the movie “what the bleep do we know” and research the copenhagen accord.

  78. i have yet to read the book or see the movie, however, i beleive that we do change our reality. i beleive in electro magnetic waves, which can change not only perception, but reality (even if it’s only changed because of our new perception, but “what is reality” is an entire different argument). Dr. Timothy Leary once said “If you want to change the way people respond to you, change the way you respond to people.” I think this relates to how you mention the change in yourself, but in the way he and I argue it, it does change things outside of you. Another wise man claims “In the shaman’s world, all realities are considered to be dreamed realities. So we have the sleeping dream and the waking dream and we are creating both of them.” Just to show you that others besides myself also beleive we have the ability to not on change, but create the reality we live in. you’ll see my book on the shelves.. eventually ;)

    jiupgr*gmail*com if you wish to email me.. ofcourse put it in the correct format by changing the first astrix to an @ and the second one to a .

  79. The secret claims that if you visualize hard enough you can heal all injuries and physical disabilities. It also claims that famous people such as Beethoven knew about this secret. if i combine healing of injuries and physical disabilities with Beethoven knowing the secret would not fit together. Beethoven lost his ability to hear during his life, and he also died poor and alone. If he knew about the secret and he visualized his fame in the future, i personally am not a fan of being famous after i die alone and poor. So i don’t think most famous people knew about the secret.
    I ponder how much the speakers who described their success during the secret gets paid to act and persuade during the video. I bet that half of them are highly educated and religious, maybe even healing physical injuries during church? I don’t know and i would really like to see how much success they have provided other people.

  80. Thanks for this grounding and realistic view of the Universe. I completely agree. Mu husband and I watched it and was quite inspired by it to a certain point. But its not magic. The success of our business is due to hard work and not saying yes to the stuff we don’t want.

    Also in a personal email to me Fred Allan Wolf said he doesn’t personally endorse the teachings of the secret. He was called up to talk about Quantum Mechanics and believes in science. He told me that the producers of the show asked him to talk about his field of expertise and he didn’t realise to the full extent how his comments would be attached to something he didn’t endorse.

    He’s very open minded but believes the secret works differently to the ways its marketed. And ain’t it heavily marketed….

    The Australian guy, David Shirmer, recently embezzled thousands of dollars from people with his investment courses. He claimed to have peoples money “safe” but when the time came to pay people he was no where to be seen. http://whatsonthetube.net/2007/05/31/aca-back-on-the-tail-of-david-schirmer-my-100th-post/

    So really it comes down to yourself. There’s no magic, the universe works on mathematics and science, not magic.

  81. I think that there is a strong possibility that positive thinking, visualizing and faith can draw the things we need in our lives. I say this because everything negative that I have ever thought came to pass, so I know that if negative thinking can work, then positive thinking and visualizing can work as well.

    I would actually rather look at it as God is answering prayers and providing all of our needs according to his riches instead of giving the universe the credit for it. I believe that there is great significance to what The Secret is trying to protray.

  82. While there is a great focus in the movie the Secret on people achieving their goals and dreams, a more fundamental problem is also growing and maturing and spiritualizing or whatever one might call it, so that one has high ideals and meaningful dreams.

    My goal is… well… one is to have the best goals possible!

    Look at all the movie stars and rock stars who have achieved the top of their field and their ‘dreams’ but end up strung out on drugs or whatever because it did not really fulfill them.

    The focus on material wealth, the big house etc, is not really productive in my opinion. Our goals and dreams will make us more happy if they are more spiritually and love oriented. To have good relationships with those around us, to be good examples, to grow as individuals… etc.

    Anyway, I am always in search of better goals…

  83. How come the auther hasn’t written a comment in ~ 3/4 of a year by now?

    I didn’t read that much of these posts, pretty much only the authers responses, but just to note: Energy can’t move from one point to another without crossing any barriers, since energy doesn’t move, energy has no direction and is a description of a state, not something that really is physical, but rather practical, since it’s constant in conservative space. (Which all space is in quantum mechanics). If something else was ment, energy to a specific state, let it be a particle at a given position, won’t get any transfered energy at any rate higher than the speed of light. Ah darn, I probably shouldn’t have commented on something out of context from a user who only posted once about a half year ago, well I’m just wasted anyway right now.

  84. Oh it seems like I’ve got a bit too much to drink. Even my labtop is starting to behave weird now, going away from me, I think I’ll better quit I guess I’m just spamming anywhere, not really sure what I wrote for anymore.

    Oh well, at least to on topic, sorry for the spam, I must still have a net connection, yes then I think it’s pretty self given that if you want to achieve something then you’ll have to believe in yourself to do it. Not imagine yourself having the succes, but imagine how you’ll get the succes, and then do it. It’ll probably fail the first couple of times, because we really aren’t clever enough to take account for every detail, well I’m not at least, but after enough tries, depending on your brain powder, then you’ll probably do what you’d imagined, and hey that gives you the resulst you imagined.

    Wait, maybe that was spam to, I’ll try again – I think it’s pretty clear that when you imagine yourself in the situation you want to be in, err no wait, was that correct?

    Anyway I think the law of attraction is pretty simple a question about changing what kind of emotions will get triggered given a certain experience takes place that you’ve never been used to before. By imagine yourself in that specific state already, you won’t get a negative feeling, and you won’t have to through all that about ehm – Can I let this feeling go? Do I want to let this feeling go? When do I want to let this feeling go. Because whatever it’s that is making those “bad emotions” to you, yeah remember emotions isn’t you, it’s just something you feel and can choose to behave upon – then it’ll be much more likely to give you a kind of good feel of emotions.

    Hey does anyone of you studied quantum mechanics? I’m doing it right now, and it’s just like so weird, but still kind of cool, the math part is quite easy, at least at the level I’m taking it, but all those intrapetations, it’s just like no waaay. Oh, and the way our brain works, and quantum mechanics that explains how small system acts, or to say, describes the hamiltonian of a given system, that’s not something I see being in common, that’s more like chemistry, after all the scale is way to large for any of our understandings to be valid I’d say, just by a got feeling of mine, hey what a bad way to end this. Oh anyway, just ignore the spam, I think I wrote something like 5 lines that was on topic.

  85. This was a fantastic essay. I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. Dave

  86. You as a physical manifestation of non physical cannot manifest anything. It is made to seem so in order for the law of attraction to be a more marketable product.

    On the non physical level you know exactly what you need to unfold as a physical manifestation and it always manifests.

    As a physical entity your desires born of thoughts are always born out of a sense of lack. Your focus is on the lack and you manifest your focus constantly.

    The law of attraction is so simple but is made complicated in order to make it more saleable.

  87. Have seen “The Secret” I thought that it was a great INTRODUCTION into the Law of Attraction. However, as most of you had stated, “The Secret” seemed to propose nothing more that wishful thinking. Only one of the speakers, I believe it was James Ray, had ever mentioned ANYTHING about taking action.
    I believe action is the most important part of the equation. Otherwise, it’s nothing more that wishful thinking!!!

  88. YOU ARE RIGHT ABOUT THIS!!

    My family started with this crap about how the book, the book, read the book- and they said: “But you have to watch the movie…OMG! ”

    yeah. what ever. I think the book gives a good lesson about self help to anyone who might need direction. Good advice, and a good sense of positive reinforcment. Im not a good speaker-or I cant be the best at commenting about this, but the movie stinks. I read the book . IT’ S BETTER!

  89. Thankyou for posting this great article. just wanted to add that the way you think and act CAN change the world around you. For instance, if you are positive and cheerful people around you will find themselves being more positive.

  90. Hi Alex,

    I don’t think they have tried to prove that there is a scientific / mystical way by which The Secret works. They have just tried to state some facts about electromagnetic waves and say that it may work this way. None of them knows how it works, they just know that it works. Bob Proctor said it very well in the movie that we don’t know how electricity works, but we do know that it can cook a man’s dinner and cook the man. So, as long as this works, we should be fine. The Secret is a well made movie, and it would help people in realizing that they can focus on what they want instead of focusing on what they don’t want. We should always focus on what we can do instead of cribbing about things over which we don’t have any control. That’s what Steven Covey also conveyed after reading a lot of wisdom literature.

  91. WHAT AN EYE OPENER FOR ME EVEN A BELEIVING CHRISTIAN I GUESS I GOT SUCKED IN .HU??
    GOD IS THE ONLY ONE WHO HAS CONTROL OF THE UNIVERSE HE IS AND WAS OUR CREATOR.
    HE AND ONLY HE HAS THE POWER TO HELP US IN HIS TIME . DO YOU THINK HE WOULD HELP YOU REALLY WIN A LOTTER?
    GIVE ME A BREAK — I DON’T THINK SO
    THIS IS NOT HIS WORK AS LOTTERIES ARE ACTUALLY MONEY GRABBERS TO HELP BIG CORPORATIONS ETC MAKE MONEY? ANSWER THIS YOUR SELF.
    GOD IS GREAT BUT LOTTERIES ARE NOT HIS THING .
    DON’T BE SO NIAEVE ?

  92. Without doubt The Law Of Attraction is real, but and its a big but, the individual has to change themsels first to match thier desire.

    Now this requires, work & effort often over a long time scale and thhis is where people often go wrong or give up.

    So the movie shoud have made this clear

  93. Erin – Excellent comment you made.

    What amazes me are the people who say they “USED” it several times. This is not clothes, shoes etc. It is a way of life. You either live in the positive or you live in the negative. You know there is a scripture that says be it done to you according to your faith. Some attract by TLoA on a large scale others only have a small amount of faith

    Erin Said,
    April 24, 2008 @ 4:08 am

    I think a lot of you missed the point of the movie. The whole subject is the

  94. It’s difficult to say what the intent of the producers of the film “The Secret” had in mind; or to be able to exactly describe their purpose of doing the film. That may however be left for posterity to determine, or for the participants at some point to describe in detail.

    The points that may not have been adequately explored and incorporated into the film are;
    The fact that LOA is at work all of the time for everyone. (24/7 no holidays)
    Everything and every situation is both positive and negative (duality, the heads and tails of coin)
    How any individual experiences any circumstance is a choice (positive/negative) and simply a matter of perspective.
    All events in life have infinite possibilities – the eventual outcome is governed by your thoughts and emotions. (Your choice) and we always get exactly what our inner self wants from the experience. Many are not consciously aware of the desires of their subtle self.
    Invariably the “why me?” syndrome is simply a failure of inner self communication, and or a failure of the conscious thought control. A simple experiment may demonstrate a great truth.

    Take a quart of raw milk and let it sit quietly for a period of time; the cream will rise to the top. To mix the cream back requires several agitations it is not instantaneous and another quiet period will allow the cream to rise again. A single commodity with two separate identities or aspects.

    In today’s hum drum society most folks are like the milk; so busy and in motion that the cream never has the opportunity to rise to the top. This is not fate or destiny it is simply at matter of conscious choice. Grant it cream may be separated from the mixture, however this requires a considerable amount of energy (work), or leave it alone quietly and let the universe do it for you.

    Your choice!

  95. Here’s a better on for you. The secret movie touches on this very briefly and uses a mystical force outside of ourselves. The fact is that our reality is simply our perception. We see things in our world through a filter of understanding based on our experiences.

    When ever we run into a circumstance we tend to play out events in our mind according to what we have experienced. Hence you are on autopilot living out your life with limits.

    The whole concept of visualization, uses the concept that our subconcious mind cannot tell the difference between what is real and what is imagined. When we use our imagination to visualize our lives as different it no longer consist of concepts outside our comfort zone.

    Gratitude is about shifting into appreciation and opening your perception to opportunity, instead of lack.

    You ask, believe and recieve gets you to a state of becoming. When you know without a shadow of doubt that something is possible for you, you attain it.

    It is all within you and does not consist of an outside force, it simply is a state of being. You become who you want to be in your mind now and you cannot help but have all the opportunities fall into place.

    Unfortunately the Secret gave the impression of sitting on the couch and waiting for a check to come. In the concepts of vibrations, that is what you have become – a person waiting for a check to come. It will not work.

    We also have underlying relationships with money that keep us from recieving more.

    This entire journey is actually about finding out what has been keeping you inside a comfort zone of limitations and not allowing yourself to get out there and become what ever it is you want to be.

  96. Very nice topic.

    I’m a gifted child and I’ve never known anything about the Secret (The Law of Attraction) but I noticed I was using it (not knowing how it calls that time) since I was 2 or 3 years old, that was 12 or 13 years ago.

    For me, I do not think the movie is fake, but rather have lack of information to prove what it is showing.

  97. This is an interesting rebuttal here, but it makes me wonder about your methods as well as the methods used in the Secret…

    In your article, you didn’t really explain how you, yourself, use TLOA…you just say you have. Also, you contradict yourself at one point:
    “There are many things wrong with this assertion, primarily the fact that while thoughts are, at least in part, electromagnetic waves, there is no scientific indication that our brain waves alter the world around us in any meaningful way.”

    And then follow up later with:
    “Rather, you change yourself and THEN you change your circumstances. It works through a combination of entirely non-mystical, psychological and rational mechanisms, including confirmation bias, positive thinking and optimism.”

    Isn’t that the same thing in that a person is making an effort to change his/her life? The Secret does say our thoughts affect the world, in a sense this may be true, but on an individual basis life truly is what you make it and you can’t make life without thinking about it first, right?

    There is one thing that I think was missed in your article and that is very important in getting what you want and using TLOA: emotion. We feel bad, we think bad thoughts…we feel good, we think good thoughts. There are countless drugs on the market that fight depression, and depression is based on the thoughts we think, but still there are chemicals in the brain that make us feel depressed…(insert question mark here…or not)

    Yes the Secret is dramatic and stylized for marketing purposes, and so was What the Bleep to an extent. But your effort to dispute natural Law that you have no proof *does* or *does not* work is just as questionable as these movies, books, etc.

    Is it that you want all of us reading this article to ignore other sources and only buy your book?

    Also, without getting into too much detail, just how much quantum physics did you study at university?

  98. I am heavily relieved from knowing that our thoughts don’t actually create our reality, for it they did, then I’d be in a lot worse shape than I am now… Now I can move on with my life. Thanks for sharing this review, for I can truly say it has effected me in a positive way.

  99. This is to Alex. First of all, in your third paragraph you are saying exactly what the movie is saying. Secondly you criticize that the movie doesn’t offer any proof that these great people new about the Secret. Well, you are not offering any proof in contrary. The quotes that these men have made, is more proof than you have to offer. These people in the movie are offering there knowledge and opinion, just like you are. Bottom line, if you cannot prove that these people are lying about the events that occurred in there lives, Then you are not in the position to criticize other people on there knowledge and opinions. The hole “Secret” theme is a metaphor or a vehicle, they are not literally suggesting that the secret was hidden from people. Through out history, usually the rich and influential try o keep others one step below them in one form or the other. They try to make it seem like they posses something you don’t!

  100. The secret isnt fake. Whats fake about the secret???? It just explained the law of attraction in a more theatrical way, thats all. The secret is a good way to start learning about the law of attraction. Dont listen to this crap people.

  101. The Secret isn’t fake. Just very very VERY over-theatrical. I love it and I use it all the time. I’ve found it to work although you do have to make some kind of effort, it’s not actually just going to fall into your lap. Good points made though. There really isn’t any supportive evidence of alot of their claims. xoxo

  102. It’s true what people say here, it’s over-theatrical. The law of attraction is not kept as a secret by the way.. The science of getting rich, think and grow rich, these books have been on the shelves for a long time, and Brian Tracy talks about law of attraction in almost all of his books.

    I just don’t believe in these vibration and energy stuff. But I do believe in subconcious mind and I know what it is capable of. I know that you can do whatever you want when you change the patterns of it.

  103. Thank you Alexander for your intelligent and down to earth assessment of the Law of Attraction. I only recently discovered it myself and am working on changing my mindset so that I can achieve my dreams. I am glad I didn’t see “The Secret”, sounds as if it might have put me off.

  104. Helen, I absolutely felt the same way afterwards.
    And to everyone, focus on good feelings, because great things are coming to you right now :)

  105. PEOPLE HAVE THE MISCONCEPTION THAT YOU USE THE LAW OF ATTRACTION SOMETIMES, LIKE YOU MIGHT HEAR SOMEONE SAY “YEAH I USED IT A COUPLE TIMES, AND IT WORKED”, LOL WOW, THE LAW OF ATTRACTION IS A LAW, A LLLLLAAAWWWWW!!!!!! ITS OPERATING EVERY TIME YOU ARE AWAKE!!!! EVERY TIME YOU ARE THINKING AND FEELING!!!!!! ITS NOT A MATTER OF USING IT WHENEVER YOU WANT IT, ITS A FREAKING LAW PEOPLE, ITS ALWAYS OPERATING WHETHER YOU ARE USING IT CONSCIOUSLY OR NOT!!!!!! THAT’S LIKE SAYING YOU USE THE LAW OF GRAVITY ONLY WHEN YOU WANNA STAY PHYSICALLY GROUNDED, BUT WHEN YOU WANNA FLY YOU’LL STOP USING THE LAW OF GRAVITY. LOL IT DOESN’T WORK THAT WAY. WHY? BECAUSE A UNIVERSAL LAW IS EXACTLY THAT A LAW, IT CANNOT BE CHANGED NOR CAN’T IT BE AVOIDED.

  106. look u guys are looking @ it from a scientific view. IF YOU REALLY WANT TO DO SOMETHING GET THE HELL OFF YOUR LAZY ASSES AND PURSUE YOUR DREAM. DO EVERYTHING WHAT IT TAKES TO GET THAT GOAL YOU WANT. YOU WANT TO GET AN 4.0 GPA STUDY YOUR ASS OFF. YOU WANT THAT DREAM HOUSE. WORK YOUR ASS OFF. STOP BEING SO SCIENTIFIC AND START TO KNOW WHAT YOU ARE CAPABLE OF

  107. But Mike,
    I like my ass…

    I think you are absolutely right in saying you have a dream go for it… We can sit there and analyze the Law of Attraction until we are blue in the face that’s not really going to serve us too well. Someone will agree, others will not, we caught up in the debate… I’m right, your wrong, blah blah blah, who cares, believe what you want, that’s all that matters anyway. The key here is get it done, if you have that sense of knowing you could achieve anything you dream of you wouldn’t stop yourself short in the middle of your trip, you would be excited the whole way… Just do it, trust yourself to know what you want and reach for it, even when everyone thinks your nuts… Chances are they’ll think that anyway. Most importantly, you guide your life in what ever direction you believe you are going. Whether you believe in the law of attraction or not is unimportant. Believe in yourself even when no one else does and you could move mountains.

  108. Interesting…YOU don’t have any proof that it doesn’t work. Have any of you conducted any experiments? Do you have any evidence that claims that this is, and I quote “quantum flapdoodle” or not?
    Well, honestly, I think that OPINIONS AND SCIENCE is the very thing that get a lot of people confused. I let my faith control my thought process.

    Bottomline, call it what it is. Don’t be afraid, or for that matter, ashamed. It’s not called The universe or Th Genie or The Secret or whatever other alias it has taken on. It’s called God.
    The bible clearly states that ‘If you have faith the size of a mustard seed you can move mountains” . Your secret, your universe… is God.

    ‘All things are possible through christ who strengthens me,’.
    Have Faith that God will deliver to you the things that you want and the things tht your heart desires.
    Faith…in God, manifests things.
    PRAY for it. BELIEVE it. RECIEVE it.
    PRAY…BELIEVE…RECIEVE. Piece of cake, piece of pie. Not logic –Not quantum physics or science.

    God Bless,
    KJ

  109. Agreed that ‘The Secret’ movie has made many false claims. But I think it is THE best documentary ever made. I intuitively knew about TLOA but this doc made it clearer to me how you can better utilize this law. Do you really believe that Mary was virgin or Krishna was Omnipotent or Mohammad was really the messenger of G-d? But these belief & faith really helps. same with the claims made in this movie. I just absolutely love this movie. It’s my Bible, the Gita, Kuran!

  110. Does the secret work? Hell yes. I must have given away over 100 copies already. I was already into personal development, and even worked for Anthony Robbins for a few years, but THE SECRET made everything clear to me. My wife, my car, my LIFE in progress I owe to the way I use my mind (and emotions).

    When I cannot physically give someone a copy of THE SECRET I give them this advice: BE THERE BEFORE YOU GET THERE.

    In other words create your day in your mind first thing in the morning. Live it in your mind and feel the emotions of having succeded in the day’s goal. Then go out and watch how it develops. The “coincidences will soon show you that you trully DO possess a power to create using just our thoughts.

    The key is: What you believe…..IS. So believe only in that which benefits you.

    Take care everyone! :)

  111. I recently took in the movie; “The Secret” and found it a wonder fill to many of the mysteries in the bible. I believe the Law of Attraction works along with the Law of our Words calling things into existence in our lives. But, more importantly, i believe it begins with what are the true desires of your heart that are placed their by the Creator who knows our full potential to manifest those desires for the benefit of the world in which we live. Once we acknowledge the desires within us; it becomes our responsibility to cast aside all doubt, all fear and put on the armour of courage and go forward as though the result is a foregone conclusion. Then will our actions seem to be “magically” directed to the end result we hope for. Is the Secret a bit dramatic in it’s approach? Absolutely. But, drama is the American theme song; and drama with just a touch of novelty makes great financial success. TLoA does work; combined with right words, the right actions and the belief that this is the right direction for me. “How will i know” you ask? You will…

  112. I always wondered what sour grapes taste like…you must know first hand since you appear to have quite a mouthful. You may have watched both films, but appear to understand neither. Too bad for you. The Secret does work and I can offer many examples in my own life, both great and small; all mostly accomplished long before The Secret ever was published. The same info is out there in many forms and called other things. All are valid, but not right for every person. You have to find the form best suited to the individual. Just because something doesn’t ring true to you, doesn’t mean it has no value.

  113. You are a very sad man. Just what the world needs; another Johnny-come-lately, self-proclaimed expert. I’m not certain what movie you saw but nowhere in The Secret does it say anything about changing the world, to name just one of your ridiculously inaccurate assertions.

    Your knowledge of physics, brain chemistry, and function, cognition and cognitive dissonance along with your infantile knowledge of how the LOA actually works is scary. The all too unfortunate part of your ridiculous criticisms is that people may actually consider your comments of value. You offer no value, solutions or insights into the history or or the actual use of the LOA.

    Your supposed insights are no more accurate than the portrayal of the so-called secret as a secret. The Law of Attraction has been taught for thousands of years by countless teachers. The Secret, like you, leaves so much truth and accuracy behind for self-serving purposes it’s tragic. The worst part is the disappointment that following the advice of people like you and Rhonda Byrnes marketing hype causes for people who are seeking true assistance and guidance is devastating.

    True educators, of compassion and expertise would never assault as you have. There is no talent required to tear something down; genius educators are inspired, love driven people; experts at uplifting, guiding, inspiring and are masters at positively affecting change.

    PLEASE see if you can get your old job back at McDonalds. You are much better suited to mindless work that requires no true critical thinking skills or understanding of, well, anything. At least there you’ll do something that serves people.

  114. I have to be honest, the film was entertaining and provocative. I can admit the production and music plays into a person’s emotions but I have always felt there was a pull over my life. Something leading to another. For instance, I used to believe in conincidences but have grown to believe in something greater. One day me and my ex was arguing about an Johnny Deep movie, we made a bet which movie he was in. Less than ten seconds later, while watching Family Guy, a skit came on (on Family Guy) pertaining to the movie we were trying to figure out Johnny Depp played in. I know this seems small but many things have manifested through my life simple through thought. Im not saying that Im a mystic or anything like that but TLOA is more than a scientic phenom. One should expound on this instead of disecting. So to sum it all up, I definitely believe in the message but could possibly doubt the messenger. God is…

  115. I’m glad you wrote this. Though the Secret inspired me, It’s just how I feel. I know how Tloa works, but the Secret puts it forth in such a silly way, that many people get turned off before getting the message. It could have been done much better. I suppose it will still be very helpful for people who believe easily in gods who demand and need worship. But for me, I had to weed out the lame idea that it’s some big Secret. They never should have done that (or tossing around ‘quantum’). It did lead me to What the Bleep Do We Know (with Marlee Matlin); and I’ve taken responsibility for my own perspective (which has led to major changes in areas I’ve struggled with forever). Looking back on science and inventions in history, science will eventually catch up to measuring/explaining more about energy, the brain, thought. For now, I think it’s just best to treat it like a personal experiment. Read, learn, practice. Once you got it, move on to the bigger picture. (Like smarter architecture for hurricane areas , better food and energy choices, economics, etc). Thanks again for posting.

  116. Smarter architecture would be domes, I meant to say, above (the load bearing with snow and wind is more logical).

  117. I came across this movie when I was browsing a friends collection. I thought it was just a movie and when I popped it in I came to find a “documentary” of sorts. I was watching late at night and was pretty tired at the time so I kinda got suckered at first when they started calling it the “law of attraction”. I thought to myself “I never heard of that law but if its a law it must have some science behind it” and to me that holds weight. However as the movie went on I noticed some unscientific things which I could not really get a hold of in my state of mind. The next day I watched it again so I could view this with a clear head. Now Im not one who claims to know that much but a lot of that seemed to point to a religion. (“Believe it will happen” that’s the same thing as faith. Faith is religion not science. They should have went with “The Belief of Attraction”.) So I went online to see what info there was on this “law” and no surprise to anyone found no science backing this thing up. All there was were plugs for products and ways spend cash. There was nothing scientific anywhere that was talking about this. The instant I found that lacking of proof I knew it was just another group taking advantage of the many people in this world who want the good life but at the same time do not want to work for it. People need to stop looking for answers elsewhere and start taking responsibility for their actions or lack of actions in some cases. We’ve become a society that is too damn lazy to work for a good life and way to eager to blame someone else for our problems. People need to stop asking for handouts and start living life. Jesus even the people who made “the secret” are doing something. They at least took information given out by other people and used that to the make money. Someone else does the work but you make the money. You don’t need to be genius to make some money you just need to be smarter than others. When you are you can use those smarts to take advantage of those under you who either get easily confused and go along with it or are really eager to have someone tell them what to do and will listen no matter the price. Not that I condone that. I personally do not believe in taking advantage of those less fortunate people. There is already enough doing that. Just put some actual effort towards something and you will eventually accomplish it. Its that simple. No magic needed. Hey I should market that. Its my easy 1 step program guaranteed to bring you what you desire. lol. Good talk people much more interesting than the norm that’s on the net.

  118. From what I have learned and experienced, in other words, the movie “The Secret” is pretty basic. Of course TLOA wasn’t hidden, but it also wasn’t taught. As society is today, we are taught how to get along, school, work etc. We are taught how to conduct ourselves properly, etc. We are not taught, however, how to control and change our emotions. We are taught to deal with them. Ever since I seen The secret, i understood a lot more then was given out. I have reached all my goals, in one way or another. I think you underestimate our universe when you say its not capable of granting all our wishes. I suggest we do refocus, and be careful what we wish for. We might not get things the way we imagine, and not exactly when we want them, but many can agree, things always work their selves out. And if you think of the things you truly desired, i bet in someway or another you have recieved too. Its all about communication. Whether its god, the universe, earth wind and fire, we are told to ask to recieve. So I am happy someone put together an interesting and positive way of being. I am inspired, and very happy. Big Smiles.

  119. By saying you can ask god or the universe or whatever for something you want and you will get it if you want it bad enough takes all the responsibility off the person. Now they can just blame god or whatever. People need to take responsibility and work towards their goals instead of sitting around and believe their wish will come true. If there is anyone who uses “the secret” more its kids. They always want stuff really badly and never forget about it. But do they get it? Most of the time no unless their parents are rich or are spoiled. The universe isn’t a conscious being that says “you want it? you got it”. Again, if people want something they should go out and get it not wait for it to come to them.

  120. Frankly, the movie did not give any inclination, that people can just sit around and wait for LIFE to fall into their laps.
    I believe that the producers of the documentary, left out that common sense factor, in hopes!–that people already having common sense before they watch the movie.

    Common sense tells us that in order to become a Doctor, you must go to medical school.
    At the same time, you are praying and asking God to make your dreams of becoming a doctor come true.
    And by doing that, you are just praying for energy to sit up all night to study for the tests and mid terms. Also, your praying for the strength to persevere, even when every one else around you is either, flunking out or quitting because it’s just too hard.

    I’m fresh out of analogies, but I’m sure you get the picture.
    Prayer/The Secret/LOA, or whatever you wanna call it, works ONLY with common sense. Period.

  121. Thats the problem the mass majority doesnt have common sense. Do you really think that we would have as many problems in the world as we do right now if people had common sense? The time spent praying could be time you put towards your goal. Instead of asking someone or something for the strength to do something just do it. It funny that all the self-help stuff out there says the exact same thing “don’t let doubt control you” but people keep buying things. If you read one book or talk to one person about it or whatever that enough. Usually that’s more than enough. Its also funny when you think about it. The whole idea behind self-help is that you can help yourself. But if you are going out and buying books and stuff to tell you how to do it it isn’t self-help at all anymore. I am amazed how many people get sucked in so deep. Im not talking about in particular im talking generally.

  122. Well, I can see (as with many who have reviewed the Secret) that there are a number of misunderstandings in your review. For one example (so as not to take up a large amount of space);
    in #3, the “waves” were only a visual aid, plain and simple. I to have studied Quantum Physics and can honestly say that I completely understand where it fits into the “Secret”.

    Realistically, I have not seen a really good review done on the Secret yet, because people have a problem believing what seems impossible to them and therefore, generally have little good to say about it.

    As the Universe says; your wish is my command!

  123. OK.. here’s something Micheal Shermer said in his article in scientific American:

    A pantheon of shiny happy people assures viewers that the secret is grounded in science: “It has been proven scientifically that a positive thought is hundreds of times more powerful than a negative thought.” No, it hasn’t. “Our physiology creates disease to give us feedback, to let us know we have an imbalanced perspective, and we’re not loving and we’re not grateful.” Those ungrateful cancer patients, “You’ve got enough power in your body to illuminate a whole city for nearly a week.” sure, if you convert your body’s hydrogen into energy through nuclear fission. “Thoughts are sending out that magnetic signal that is drawing the parallel back to you.” but in magnets, opposites attract- positive is attracted to negative. “Every though has a frequency…. If you are thinking that thought over and over a gain you are emitting frequency.”
    The brain does produce electrical activity from the ion currents flowing among neurons during synaptic transmission and in accordance with Maxwell’s equations any electric current produces a magnetic field. But as neuro-scientist Russel A. Poldrack explained to me, these fields are minuscule and can be measured only by using an extremely sensitive superconducting quantum interference device in a room heavily shielded against outside magnetic sources.
    ———-

    Yea… so I thought I’d share this interesting rebuttal to the secret

  124. I agree that the movie The Secret was not done well. When I first watched it I was already aware of the art of manifestation and did not feel the movie did a good job explaining anything. It came across as freaky mumbo jumbo. I believe that is why Esther and Jerry Hicks requested off the project. Esther is only in the original and you will find she is not in the later versions.

    The Law of Attraction is more powerful than only what is happening within ourselves, that is only the beginning. Like prayer, meditation, or manifestation… (really all the same thing) it’s simply focusing on what you want in your life that will attract opportunities that may not occur without that thought.

    Through first-hand experience I have worked with the Laws of Attraction to create opportunities in my life. Through focus, vision boards, and imagination – rare opportunities came to me that almost made no sense, except that I was asking for these changes. The LoA is definitely more than just positive thinking, you can also create a negative experience if you are not careful. Whether you believe in God or some other title of the Supreme Being, there is a force that you are pulling from in creating opportunities – my words are only based on personal experience.

  125. OK. Well, that’s all well and good if your the type of person to take in little scenes and story’s from the film that don’t suite you. Your like someone that watchs a film that’s set in the 1800’s and jumps out of his chair to yell “OMG look, they made a mistake there! That guy is wearing a rolax!” and then goes all over the internet to post that the film is a sham because a rolax was seen.
    OMG get a life! I love The Secret and even though no one necesserily gave evidence of their research in the film, at the end of the day “Who cares!” the film is interesting enough, and it explains the Law of Attraction well enough. If it makes you feel good, why focus on the bad points of the film.
    OMG (dose anyone think this guy is a total damper!?)

  126. I’m with Orla. Why must we always micro-analyze every detail of everything? The “beef” you have with this film needs to be put aside. We know wether the film did a good job or not of translating the informtation to people to debatable BUT does it matter? At the end of the day no. Personally, I beleiev there WAS a conspiracy to keep people uninformed and if you have ANY type of common sense, you can clearly figure out why and see it. The part some of us don’t “get” is that we don’t get to always see proof, or evidence.I’m so happy I am not a slave to science or need to be convinced of things with physical proof, to know something. This is where my faith comes in. Yes, we have a spiritual side that does not rely on natural senses. If only we knew how powerful and trustworthy that blessing is.

  127. People, people, all this resistance is because of the lies and conditionings throughout history. We cannot accept what is, because all of us have been brought up in a society that wants us to believe something else. The secret is the truth. For clarity on why you are having problems watch ZEITGEIST. This is a must see. It will make you aware, do not miss it. Go to google. Type zeitgeist and watch both movies for free………….

  128. Bigfoot,

    I actually just recently watched Zeitgeist and I am totally for the resource-based economy. I think that it has changed a lot of my life, just as the Secret has. And just like many of you are arguing, maybe it doesn’t have all the credibility or support you are looking for. We all question anything we are not familiar with, it’s our natural instinct. That’s where our faith comes in, our faith allows us to be guided and feel comfortable with certain ideas or theories. This is the part of Zeitgeist I cannot agree with- the documentary insists that all religions follow the idea of the Egyptian Sun God, and claims that Jesus is a false “story.” My suggestion to anyone willing to watch Zeitgeist, even the Secret, is to know who you are and where your faith lies first, because both are very persuasive and influential. At least by having solidity in yourself, you can take from them what will improve you, without causing you doubt or confusion.
    I hope my comment was helpful?
    Have a beautiful day, it’s going to be great :)

  129. PS. I didn’t mean to address that entire comment to you Bigfoot. I also didn’t mean to make it appear that I was attacking you.

  130. No offense taken. I agree with you to a certain extent. However, I must point out that faith is undeniably man made. The problem is that these religious entities are so powerful and rich that are doing a lot of damage to man kind. The movie the Secret flourishes on the topic that there is no need for anything bigger and stronger outside of you to invision and create your own life. No fear, no judgement, no punishment. Simply to believe that everything derives from within, no need for allah, buddha or Jesus. Faith in false religion has done a lot of damage to this universe.
    We are on a brink of an evolution. Man kind is becoming more intelligent and is no longer willing to bow to the boundries of religion. The movie the Secret barely scrathes the surface of human potential.

  131. I understand what you’re saying David. And I agree some.
    If I may ask, what do you personally believe happens to us after we die?
    I’ve just always wanted to know from a non-religious perspective.
    In watching the Secret, I honestly did feel a little confused how religion ties into it because the Secret felt like another form of religion on its own.
    Can anyone clarify this for me?

  132. Response to 7cevan7 and Carrie. I feel like we all have great ideas and the point is not to disagree with each other but to reach a conclusion( at least my point). The hole duality thing is confusing. You and I, good and bad, right and wrong, the universe and I, The baby and I…. See we are all the same. Particales of the same object. Faith in wrong religion is damaging, faith in yourself or something that is part of you is not damaging. Aliging yourslef with a with nature is your role to play for everything to be in accord. There is no you, me, them or it, we are all the same. I cannot answer your question regarding what happens after death. You have this question probably because of fear of death that has been preached in religion. Bottom line is that if you live life in accord to the laws of nature, then you should be fine when your body is no longer present. Lets suppose you are counciusness or awarness or a spirit. See, awarness never dies.

  133. Nancy – That is interesting about the baby. I believe a baby is the result of co-joining (for lack of a better word) spirits. What I mean by that is this – If you believe in the Adam and Eve story they were created meaning a body was given them but they did not receive life until the spirit of God entered them, he put his life energy into them to give them life and although the spirit or energy came from God they became a spirit of their own and were accountable for their own life. So too with babies the spirit or energies of the parents join together to create a new functioning spirit. Babies feel and sense the same thing adults feel, they suffer from not being about to fully and freely convey this.

    I believe that we are all the same in the sense they we are all spirit beings not that we are the same spirit.

  134. David – I believe we are all saying the same thing, maybe from different approaches but basically the same. I agree with you about death, live in your body according to wholeness and death is just a mere transition.

    The wonderful thing about life is that each day is a new beginning. Each day I become more aware, more enlightened and more powerful. Can you imagine if we unlock our full potential. We are all possibilities.

    I don’t believe in religion myself, I am not a religious person. Does that mean I believe people should stop following their faith based belief? Not at all. What ever works for you, let it work, so long as it does not violate the natural laws. I believe that we should understand before we accept.

    Life becomes more wonderful the more aware I become.

  135. 7cevan7 — To clarify, I don’t believe in Adam and Eve in the Biblical sense. I used the Garden of Eden name just to identify that the baby’s spirit was coming from a PERFECTLY comfortable existence.

    Wow, this is complicated to speak about. Co-joining is a good word, I think. The co-joined spirits are which? God and new individual?

    I guess that I had been thinking more of a little-part-of-god/creator/source spirit becoming each individual, rather than of a joining. James Arthur Ray tells a tale of taking a cup of water from the Pacific Ocean in a jar. He carries it to Lake Superior and dumps it in. Do those molecules or atoms of Pacific Ocean stop being part of the Pacific Ocean? Do they become Lake Superior molecules just because they are surrounded by Lake Superior molecules? He suggests that they were and will always be, Pacific Ocean molecules.

    In the same way, he says, we will always be part of God/Creator/Source. You suggest, I think if I follow you, that once the molecules are dumped in Lake Superior, they become Pacific Ocean-Lake Superior molecules or atoms and a brand new item.

    How do you explain reincarnation? Is the memory implanted from the parent or inserted by God?

    – Nancy

  136. Nancy – I agree with James Ray. Those Pacific Ocean molecules will always be of the Pacific Ocean. But I will add this – those molecules will not stay lumped together where 8 oz of Lake Superior is now the Pacific Ocean, but rather the properties will become joined where you will have a new compound. But you will still be able to seperate the two back to its original state. (compound mixtures)

    That is why babies/children have some characteristics of both parents and yet have their own personality. The new personality being the new spirit.

    Memory is not implanted from the parents as the child has no knowledge of the parents experiences, nor is the memory from God, as memory is the experiences of the spirit.

    Reincarnation I believe is very possible. I believe reincarnation is a spiritual possibility that few of us have experienced.

    Reincarnation in my mind is a discussion to have with possession.
    We would have to ask, if reincarnation is a possibility is possession a possibility? Is reincarnation a form of posession?

  137. Great comments everybody! But Nacy just to clarify, I am with you on the duality is wrong religious teaching. I must have not been clear on my point!?

  138. I disagree with some of your rebuttals.

    While the movie itself may have flaws, the “law of attraction” is merely based upon the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, which talks about the collapse of the wave function.

    By focusing our attention/thoughts, we collapse the wave function of possibilities, and increase the probability that what we are focusing on will “manifest.”

    Simple enough.

  139. TLoA cannot be based on Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle, the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle would have to be based on TLoA. TLoA is a constant that has always been. Anything after that is trying to explain it. Just like The Law of Gravity could not be based on Newton, neither can The Law of Attraction be based on anothers findings based on a natural fact.

  140. Hi David and 7cevan7,

    I wasn’t online last night. Sorry so slow to respond. Interesting ideas, 7cevan7. I think I like the idea of the parents adding some spirit to the child…. I will have to let it sit and simmer for a while. Recently, I have been thinking that spirits are intact and eternal, like the Buddhist idea that we keep coming back until we have figured it out. Someone close to me once committed suicide, and I liked the idea that he could come right back — “Do-over, do-over!” as kids say.

    There is one more idea, of the collective unconscious, or the morphogenetic field. Do you know this term? Once an idea is in this field in great enough numbers, all the species members have access to the information. There are some human groups who seem to have access to group memories, some good and some not so good. Many Native Americans, for example, have dreams about the atrocities their people suffered. This is quite common among the Cherokee.

    On the good side, a 3 year old I knew, who had never met a TV until she visited an elder friend. When she spotted it in the living room, she walked right up and pushed the correct “on” button. She watched for 30 seconds, and turned it off correctly and walked away. We were all stunned. I now write that off as an example of the morphogenetic field.

    — Anyway, if every spirit is new, perhaps the morphogenetic field explains the “memories” some people have of a past life. They could have just picked up those “memories” from the field, and not lived them at all.

    If each spirit is new, I don’t see how reincarnation could happen some of the time and not all the time. The system for imparting a spirit into a little body has to work every time, or some times there would be two spirits and sometimes there would be none, and sometimes there could be half a spirit and maybe another time the spirits would be incompatible and wouldn’t “co-join”…. Do you see what I mean? But may be this is explained by mental illnesses such as schizophrenia or birth anomalies such as still birth and identical twins…. As I said, I will let it simmer.

    Thanks for all the ideas,

    Nancy

  141. Nancy – It is always good to dialogue and learn from others. I really enjoy this blog you, David and the rest make good and interesting comments. They make me think, very hard and deeply.

    The mind is a terrifically complicated organ. Do you know that through our thoughts and our desires we can actually cause ourselves to dream. If a person feels very strongly about a situation and they truly believe in it. There feelings are/can be manifested through a dream. To them this dream is now considered a prophecy, a recollection, or a manisfestation of a past life. But in reality it is nothing more than your inner self manisfesting a subconscious desire or feeling.

    Have you ever had a dream where you were able to speak fluently another language? Have you ever been in a situation and thought, Hey this has happened before and then you attempt to figure out what is going to happen next before it happens?

    We know the mind can travel back in time (memory) but it cannot change the past. The mind can also travel forward in time and this it can change. We can’t change our past but we can change our present and future.

    I don’t believe in reincarnation in the sense that a person can come again as another life form such as an animal, plant, fish etc. I do believe that although not probable it is very possible for the spirit of one person to return in the person of another. Now will that new person although indwelled with the spirit of the former recall the past experiences of the former? Again, possible but not probable, once we pass from this physical existence the memory of this physical existence also passes.

    Can multiple spirits exist together in the same person? Absolutely. This explains quite a few so called mental illnesses.

    The mind and spirit are so complex and mysterious. Science and math cannot explain either. Science and math can explain the brain and body but these are not the mind and spirit.

  142. Misspoke in previous comment. The mind is not an organ. The brain is an organ. No one has figured out what the mind is.

  143. I started to read some of what you where saying about the secret. However you where so nagative i was not able to read any more.
    I think if any thing is wrong it your attidude. your a downer for man kind.

    RH

  144. Whether it is scientific or a cartoon does it really matter? Everone can take a movie and either break it apart and work out a problem or take the solution and make a problem.WHATEVER. The ONLY point is that everyone wants a better life, end of story, there are a million ways to find the way no way is right or wrong its is what is best for you. WHATEVER it is that motivates you personally is the solution it could be a freaking paragraph on a cereal box. Where is came from? How it got there how to get it? The is no only one way that will teach you and you must be able to relate and understand

  145. i think wat yur saying is true in a way
    but with the famous people it shows that they knew the law of attraction
    why do yu think they out the qoutes they said it wasnt for anything else but to prove it
    and yea maybe if yu dont believe it it wont want
    but think about it yu say that yu understand the law of attratction the why are yu over here writing negative stuff . Who cares if you think its fake or not cause you make it seem like what your saying is gonna help peopele well its not its jsut gonna make them feel sad, n plus having negative energy causes bad things.. maybe one day sum1 will call yu a fake who knoew..
    it matters on what you believve in and if it makes someone life better than it dont matter.

  146. Understanding the law of attraction is really a begining step in a spritual path. there has been alot of warranted criticism of the movie to leading people into magical thinking , and that can be harmful as wishing alone does’nt make things happen. However understanding this principle can lead to a more comprehensive understanding of our connection in this world .

  147. In regards to statement number 3 about how there is no scientific proof to show that our thoughts actually effect the outside world physically. There actually is proof check out the book The Hidden Messages of Water by Dr. Masaru Emoto.

  148. Law of attraction- I wish I could just direct my life with thoughts and have the desires of my heart just by a thought- but you see those millions of starving babies lying all over the ground – dying – kinda blow that whole theory out of the water. I mean so all of those millions of babies created the fear of starvation & drew that to themselves because they focused on no food? or is thr law of attraction only good in the U.S. ?

  149. The Hicks teachings on LoA seem much more plausible than The Secret. It focuses on aligning your beliefs with your desires, which is good practical advice. Abraham-Hicks is good mentorship on managing your emotions and smoothing out the path to getting what you want.

    On that note, I’m not quite sure to make of the Abraham concept.

  150. hi, i just wanted to say one thing that PRETTY MUCH shuts down alot of what YOU are saying my friend–i agree wtih you on a lot..the secret IS DEFINITELY NOT THE BEST WAY TO VIEW THE LAW..however..one thing that is really getting to me here is how you obviously dont get how what you feel or what ur visualizations make you feel–they dont nessesarily BRING THAT SPECIFIC OBJECT IN EVERY TIME–AND INFACT IN THE SECRET THEY EVEN DO MENTION THAT ONE TIME (lol)–i believe its the bald guy named david who says “it brings the PARALLEL back to you”…meaning it will bring simply MORE OF THAT FEELING to you–NOT specific objects or anything like that–HOWEVER IT IS A STRONG MECHANISM TO ATTRACT THOSE SITUATIONS INTO YOUR LIFE THAT WILL BRING THAT OBJECT! its all about feeling a certain way to ACHIEVE THAT FEELING MORE AND MORE in the future. and it just so happens that alot of times what will create those feelings for us can be that specific thing OR a lot of times it is just something that creates THE SAME FEELING YOU HAVE BEEN CONCENTRATING ON.

    im sorry but i cant believe you didnt get that.. i at least hope you did =)

    as far as the quantum physics is concerned–i didnt see much to dispute with but ill say this–once again the secret was just way too vague when it comes to the science…watch other quantum movies and metaphysical movies to get a deeper understanding of that. but–its not quantum mumbo jumbo–those studies really are showing how our INTENT really does shape the reality we are percieving. i believe it, the vedas state it, and i personally have come to realize how unbelievably true the vedas can be. thats just me…some random dude from new jersey =)

  151. okay one more thing–WAVES of information are what everything is. thoughts are also this wave “thing”…so when you think and feel, you are emitting waves that correspond to other waves of the same information—sometimes that information can be provided thru a material object and i do believe that the waves permeate thru everything all that is around us and ALL that is around, anywhere.

    so yea–im sorry its just my opinion–basically i do believe that there are waves of information emitted from our brains and minds and our individual conciousness and it permeates through all that is and draws that parrellel back to you because it is infact a form of information in a vibrational state—the vibrations cause things to form. or to exist in different states or forms. such as a thought, or a car…this is told throughout many cultures…why does feng shui work? why do people talk of “flowers of conciousness”? because the information that comes from our minds is from THE ONE field of existance…THE ONE source…and so do the flowers, the money, the everything. it all comes from one thing. and tahts why it does infact make sense to say that our thoughts can actually LITERALLY out of NO WHERE some how open up a door. LITERALLY JUST FROM THOUGHT. however its important to remember THAT U NEED TO RECOGNIZE WHEN THAT DOOR IS SHOWN TO YOU–UR HEART AND MIND WILL LET U KNOW AND U MUST ACT AND NOT HESITATE. thank you.

  152. cheryl–i am a proud socialist! i also agree that you can say those things you have said–but HOW ABOUT APPLYING THE LAW to your CAUSES! thats what i am doing now too. i want equality and JUSTICE throughout the world and im not jsut going to SIT AND THINK ABOUT IT.

    WHAT FEELS RIGHT TO DO IN ORDER TO CREATE THOSE CHANGES? THINK ABOUT IT–MAKE IT CRYSTAL CLEAR–AND GO OUT THERE AND DO IT–thats whatim talking about. action is the ONLY job we really have..the rest is just thinking about what we want and FOLLOWING UP WHEN WE GET OUR ANSWER (and inspirational idea or someone calling u up with an offer etc…)

    you want starvation gone in africa? what can you do to start helping that? WHEN U GET UR ANSWER DO IT—THATS THE POINT–MOST OF SOCIETY JUST TURNS AWAY WHEN THEY SEE THOSE KIND OF CHALLENGES AND THATS WHY THIS KIND OF MESSAGE OF THE LAW OF ATTRACTION OR WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL IT IS IMPORTANT! just like this guys blog said–that creation of positive emotion and faith and strength can HELP causes for justice and equality. thank you again im leaving now. lol

  153. I think the Secret is real, if you say there is nothing to justify it, then how about john assaraf – he is clearly living the life we all want. What about jack canfield, they are living proof that the Secret is real. I believe in the law of attraction and the other laws as well.

  154. Great discussion.. even though I have not see the movie Secret.. This whole article and all the posts have givne me more insight to ‘The Secret’ I will watch it now for more gain.
    You all people are superb.. My wholehearted thanks to all.
    cheers

  155. some guy from NJ- what I meant was- did all of those starving babies lying all over the ground starving n Africa ” draw & attract that ? Did all of those millions in Sudan living in plastic tents and starving draw that and create that? What about all of the children whose limbs were hacked off by machetes in a civil war- I dont think all of those children ” thought and attracted that to them”- sure outsiders can visualize a better civil government & we can do our aid part. There are some things in life that are raw & random & people are scared to death to realize that so much of life just is. You cant make people through your mind not betray you, you cant stop a tsumami, you cant control hurricane powers- look at Florida hit 5 times in one season- did Floridians create that? did they draw that to themselves? I really doubt this. What I am trying to say is not everything that happens is a result of our thinking it in- or calling it by name to come over. Look at children kidnapped & murdered. They are just innocent children playing outside.

  156. Im 22 yrs old and have been practicing THE SECRET for about a year now…let me tell ya it has worked for me so many times and in so many ways..with relationships( getting out of a 7year relationship)..seeing people who i thought i would never see again..money..health etc…i think about THE SECRET everyday and how the law of attraction works for me..its ashame if u cannot experience this whether its because u just cannot see how it can be real or u think negative constantly..TRY it give it a few months youll see!!!! And yes i think a lot of stuff is coincidental and im not one of those people who believe everything happens for a reason..but this is real in my life kinda freaky i dunno i cant describe it.. i am using the law of attraction on something right now in my life!!! keep ya updated

  157. hmm.. u sound reallie cute, nikki. i mean, not just physically cute but i mean appealing cute =)

    On Topic:
    Never seen the movie. I’m in my own world.

  158. You know, I have recently come to believe in the existence of the Law of Attraction. But keep in mind that I have PTSD, a pretty severe case of it, that was caused by abuse.

    Did I deserve abuse as a baby? No, and I’ll never admit it just so that someone else can feel comfortable with an incredibly shallow understanding of this Law. Did I attract it to myself later in life? Not knowingly. But that is the truth of my life. It happened. No amount of positive thinking or desiring made it better. It actually made it worse.

    Put it this way: Truth is good. Truth is ALWAYS good. It’s the truths we don’t admit to, or are afraid to feel, or don’t have the inner resources to bring ourselves to acknowledge, that are our downfall. This is where Truth and the Law of Attraction intersect.

    A basic truth is that there is both good and evil in this world, some of it profoundly so, to the point of being unimaginable. Another basic truth is that there is both good and evil in ME.

    If I sqeeze my eyes shut real tight and grunt and try to force my bad feelings or experiences or recognition of really bad truth out — so that I can achieve some superficial level of Brightly Positive Feeling — it not only will not work, but I will attract more of what I absolutely don’t want.

    It just so happens that in my life I have seen and experienced a level of evil that most people never do. Thank God for that — I hope they never do. But in addition to that, when coming to terms with all that has happened to me, I have also been faced with the reality of people’s inability to face their own fallibility, insecurity, or mortality. If you are suffering, and you can’t be faulted for it, that means that it could happen to them too… and most people can’t deal with that. Blaming the victim can be overt, and it can be incredibly subtle. Maybe that’s how you are. A good gauge is how you react to people less fortunate: do you recoil in any way? Do you find it hard to accept that these things happen? Do you feel a need to shut out the knowledge of that to feel comfortable? If you are, you’re stopping the Law from working for you. This Law, and personal comfort, are NOT synonymous.

    Deal with unpleasantness you must, if you really want this Law to work for you. The Law does not eliminate fear or doubt or other unpleasant feelings, nor does it guarantee a sunshiny day every day. What it requires is that YOU accept your own Truth — no matter how unpleasant that Truth may be — and then guarantees that you will attract those situations and people that are for your good.

    Frankly, if your desires are destructive (like you really wanna win the Lotto, but money is how you control others and build walls to keep out life) not only is it not a true inner desire born of who you uniquely are, it will most definitely be withheld until that which you desire is no longer destructive for you.

    My sole desire, the one that tops every other desire I have ever had and makes all of my pain meaningful, is that I be allowed to fulfill the purpose for which I was born. This desire is a source of great joy for me when I even just think about it, even though I am well aware that I may have to suffer or endure hardship in order to be who and where I need to be.

    My advice to you? Start here, with who you are. The money, good looks, beautiful significant other, great job, perfect relationships — set that aside for just a moment, and start with why you are here. You have a purpose. (You can’t attract anything to yourself if you are solely a cosmic placeholder.) No, you have a path and a purpose for which you are uniquely suited. You don’t have to know what it is (I don’t!) you only have to know it’s there, and you are a part of it. Let your desires arise naturally from that.

    The rest will come, and it will flow to you. You will know your own Truths, and find the inner resources to accept yourself and others just as you are. What is bad for you will explode or fade away, and what is perfect for you will flow in. THIS is abundance. THIS is joy. If something seems bad, no reason to get stuck. It may be bad in terms of how it looks and feels, but at the very least it’s good because it’s a pointer to the right direction *internally*, and more often it’s even better than that, because it is clearing out unhealthy stuff to get to the good stuff. Nothing to be scared of, and it doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong. What does your gut say about it? What does your heart say? You’ll get there. But start with why you are here.

    And then, if you still really just can’t get big knockers and tons of cash out of your head, go for that too. :)

  159. Dear alex , i’m only writing cause the fact that i finally found someone with enough insight to be able to see theese things the way i do . I compleetly agree with your statements , i got to the exact same conclusion myself and i’m happy that there are other people like me out there .

    sincerly , Edd.

  160. Excellent post, Alex. I just ran across it while doing some research. What really struck with me is – like yourself – I think the LOA is too well associated with science, when there really is not much scientific proof to support it. The real power of the LOA is quite simple: If you believe it, and get off your butt to seize the opportunities that life gives you, then your goal can be achieved without fail.

  161. To believe in the things you see and touch is no belief at all; but to believe in the unseen is the triumph and a blessing
    – Abraham Lincoln (a user of the secret)

  162. I’ve seen the secret, and I’ve read a little bit about quantum physics. I think it definitely leaves out some really important info. Yeah, obviously if you visualize and think positively something good is going to come out of it. All metaphysical stuff aside and quantum stuff (like probability waves that our brains actually do create), the Secret leaves out the quintessential piece of all this…effort! What you do about all the positive thoughts is the most important step. The Secret is like those underpants gnomes in South Park who say step 1=steal underpants, step 2=…, Step 3=profit! Haha, weird example, but it works. Like the Beatles say, “and in the end the love you take is equal to the love you make.” Visualization’s great but most of us can’t materialize stuff by visualizing it. You gotta DO stuff, and the more you give the more you get. I’m really lazy though so unfortunately I don’t do too much. Yeah the secret is just like any other cheap self help product that leaves out the effort part, that’s why people like it so much. It’s like how weight loss products take pounds off but people just gain em back because they don’t work out. Effort and stuff. Word. I gotta stop procrastinating and do some work. Take it easy internet.

    -Joe

  163. Can anyone recommend a book on the law of attraction that is not full of genies.

    Thanks

  164. Here is the question for you… Find out what is not you?? All else will be answered by it self. What you see and think is through you earthly learned phenomenon so called “opinion” -> Ego. let it go and begin a new set of query…

    1. Remember all that changes is not you,
    2. That which dies is not you

    Secret is ” just observe your awareness without your learned opion, see where it comes from.

    Science can never answer this question, only individual will know the answer, and no matter how many words you use to explain it, it can never be explained. Einsten dicovered the energy equation not through the science learn from the school, but through that secret which was only revealed to him only. And even today the so the scientist struggling to get to the core his discovery but all in vain, end up just using his formula.. why????

    It is easy to be a critic, that is the most stupid thing one can do, instead of spending so much energy and time in writing some stupid stuff, rather divert your focus to the core of your being… all else shall be revealed….

    Even to the point I say, even the today’s so called religions cannot explain it,,, for the teacher are out there just to make living out of the scripture…..

    The only way to get to core is ” Ask what you are not” and finally you will reach to a destination ” who you really are” all else shall be revealed..

    The above comments I am giving without even watching the movie…
    But definately I will watch it for your sake

    With Loves and Peace to all

    Ferna

  165. If people can believe in the bible (talking snakes, coming back from the dead, virgins giving birth, and an all mighty being – god) then TLOA is not very farfetched. I always enjoy people picking and choosing what to be skeptical about but things that are ridiculous are accepted as facts.

  166. I agree totally with your article, however, you can’t deny it sends a powerful message. I have always called it “Hollywood” and don’t like the materialistic factor BUT – this is important – they have done a fabulous job marketing. In order to get this message to the masses it had to include all the elements it does….so in that regard I have to give it credit. Had it been pure and uncut it would have been considered “new age” “hippie” etc. I’m a scientist and I thought it was explained well, in a “MACRO” sense.

  167. mira yo creo que tu eres una persona muy negativa…
    la verdad yo he aplicado el secreto y me ha funcionado
    gracias al secreto, soy una persona feliz, y tengo lo que yo quiero.

  168. You are contridicting yourself. First you say you believe it and it does work and then you basically say it’s too extravagant and it doesn’t happen that way. If it works, then the world is a catalog. How does it work, but not really? Maybe it’s your doubt that is causing it not to work fully for you.

  169. What’s wrong with money? Hell, in this day and age, it’s on a lot of people’s minds. And most people who are just getting into LOA are going to be focused on money. Not for greed but for basic survival? Wanting to keep their houses, wanting to support their families. For many people, the wolves are at their doors and they are very scared, very naked little piggies, covered in A-1 sauce.

    I have no problem with the money focus of “The Secret”. I’m not ashamed to admit that I want OUTRAGEOUS amounts of money. Call it greed if you want but I’m pretty sure that guilt about having and wanting lots of money is one sure way to drive it away (even if it’s just by creating a mindset of self-sabotage).

    However, I do agree that “The Secret” has problems in presentation. I was actually turned off when I first watched it because it seemed so sensationalistic. And when I finally learned what the “secret” was I was surprised because… it’s not a secret and you can find this information *anywhere*. As a matter of fact, most of the having-the-life-you-want self help books I’ve seen are about LOA, whether they use that phrase or not. All the high drama also irritated me because I just wanted them to get to the point already. I’m *watching* the movie so that must mean that I’m interested, why gild the lily?

    However, I did walk away from the video with a renewed sense of hope, which I found valuable. I’m one of those who believes that you have to actually *feel* it. So, watching the video (on the second try) helped me to get there.

    I don’t think the universe is a giant vending machine. However I do believe that, by putting it out there, we do set the vibration for what comes back. It’s not so much that the Universe is this sentient being that hears our prayers and grants wishes, but that we set things in motion by what we put out.. The whole Butterfly wings – Hurricane effect.

  170. It is a good review and obviously written by someone who knows what he is talking about. The Secret is very vague I thought but what it does achieve is to create a new curiousity in 1000s of people who had perhaps given up seeking some sort of truth or explanation to the wonders of the Universe.

    On the other hand we have the Oxymoron effect of people perhaps becoming even more confused or dare I say ignortant after being exposed to The Secret. Why? Well just as they thought they had been given some sort of useful information out comes another 101 books claiming to know the Secret behind “The Secret”……….

    The Law Of Attraction certainly worked out for those many authors ;-)

  171. It was a thoughtful article. I thought the Secret was very dramatized. However the Law of Attraction does exist, seeing as i’ve experienced myself. I honestly think it’s easier to make people think that the Universe does most of the work rather than you. Although most smart people will agree that you have to achieve your goals and that you are responsible for your own future. I don’t think it’s fully correct to criticize The Secret so much because it can really be a motivation for people, and i’m speaking for this as well. After watching this movie and reading the book “Ask and it is given” by Esther Hicks, i’ve become more aware of the :Law of Attraction. And really, isn’t it about letting people know it exists? What a person decides to do with that knowledge is up to them, but in my point of view The Secret was a direct way to show that the Law of Attraction does exist. Don’t have such negative views!

  172. hey Alexander,
    I’m just somebody who recently has seen the secret and is now trying to pratice TloA.
    The thing i dont understand that your trying to say is that you said about the famous people not knowing about the secret. If anything, you are veryyyy wrong. Watch the movie again and read the quotes from a lot of them. It gives you proof that they very much so knew about TloA. This has worked many wonders for people. If you take the time to meditate and focus on what you truly want and believe its already yours it will show up without a doubt. It’s just the way your thoughts flow, focus on that one thing you really want and the universe will provide it

  173. We can all be shown the baby steps for righting our walk onto the path of life which leads to attraction. Truth is, each individual has to discover the way, the path, on their own. Once a person is on their way, this path, then we will have an assurance of worth and being loved. This assurance clothes us with an attractive attire the world is seeking. The order of these attractions are important in their progression yet if a change of order is required it becomes relative to a given situation. I myself am too new on the firm pathway to say but so far it seems the order of the attractions has an ability to rearrange itself within you as you allow it to flow and work through you.

    The first attraction is that of compassion. Compassion can come across in all of our communication mediums. There is no barrier in this world to compassion except anger. Sometimes passion has to just walk away with a truly broken heart and other times compassion needs to turn quickly to humility. The purpose of compassion is to have consideration for the other person and their needs.

    The second attraction is kindness. The word kindness can be found when using a thesaurus to look up compassion. Kindness is a result of compassion. The opposite of kindness is cruelty. To be kind is to not be cruel. Having this humanity, this kindness, causes the desire and act of service. It is not enough just to have empathy, we must go to the next level of discovering how we can help. Sometimes help is to do nothing but wait in silence.

    This lead to the third attraction which is that of humility, an unassuming nature. To often people assume there was some help or words of empathy required in responding to another’s words, actions, or feelings. To be unassuming in nature is the opposite of arrogance. Think about how quickly arrogance can come across then imagine how important it is to be filled with all humility. Having the attractions should never lead a feeling of superiority over others. In fact if filled with the attractions and you notice someone is walking an inferior pathway the empathy in your heart should be screaming out.

    This calmly leads to the forth attraction of gentleness. In quiet, soft, peaceful tones we paint our attractions for humanity. Humanity itself is an attraction but has gotten distracted and lost sight of its way. This gentle attraction is the peace that fills you heart at all times. Harshness is the disruptor to peace and if you take a look at this old world you do not have to search far to find harshness. Humanity is screaming out all around us the best thing we can do is direct ourselves toward this firm pathway so that others may be attracted and turn from the atrocities of mankind.

    Finally, patience attracts like nothing else can. True patience is so attractive it wares the inhumanness down more often then not but there are always exceptions to the rule. Not all of humanity is looking to be humane. Some of humanity is truly lost but it is not for us to decide who those people are. They will be counted in their own time but not by us. Any time we spend counting others draws us further away from the pathway that leads our lives and beings to these attractive forces that indwell those who have found their way.

    So bear with humanity and forgive the people who commit the atrocities. This is how the people change is by your example. We all know we can not change others but if we hate even those who hate then we are those who hate. We are called to love as difficult as that can be which is what leads to this patience. The greatest attraction of all is love. When Paul said “all we need is love”, he was close to being right but love is not all we need. We need compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience which is held together by love. This attractive package is the perfect unit. When we walk this path we walk with the perfect unit of attractive forces in our lives. That is all we need the rest will come as we continue on our journey.

  174. Actual recording of The Secret was 120 hours. They had to remove lots of portions and I believe they have no space to prove every claims they made or to go deeper to satisfy the audiences. The movie claimed that the Universe will provide, but it provides only if we work towards it. We still have to work and take action. Wanting is not enough. God helps those that helps themselves. By the way, you have cool blog with cool name and awesome layout. Keep sharing your wisdoms. :)

  175. All i can say is that they just wanted to give more emphasis about the secret.. and i can say that they put so much effort to the movie.. and i agree with some parts but they made the impact of getting it spread out to the world =)

    law of attraction is amazing and its up to us if we can attract what we want. =)

  176. This is a very interesting discussion.

    I can only say through my experience using the LOA is that intention is the word not being used here. I have a strong understanding that once you intend to do something, rather than just wanting to do something, then your actions will follow naturally. The prescribed notion that “Actions speak louder than words” is missleading. Hard work and actions alone will not produce your result. You have to be “Intentional” and not just “Wanting” in your life’s persuits.

  177. I have read the secret and yes some of it is rubbish and some of it is good. The best thing to do is to take from it what you think and good and work with that. Good Luck, be happy

  178. Okay… I have actually been using this technique, BEFORE I ever heard about ‘The Secret’. IT WORKS. Just HOW this phenomenon really works, though, I have no idea. I have literally ‘manifested’ things I wanted simply because I was so focused on it; and it wasn’t all through hardwork. Things really do seem to ‘orchestrate’ themselves and bring you to ‘just the thing you need or are looking for’.

    For example, I have been desiring to add two specific office chairs to my office, but wanted them for free (I like getting money or getting things for free). So, I ‘just happened’ to be riding along with my daughter, who wanted to stop at a garage sale because she saw something ‘cool’. Well, wouldn’t you know it? There were TWO, perfectly good office chairs (nearly EXACLY what I desired) there that they just ‘happened’ to be getting rid of because they were moving. They figured not too many people have a need or desire for something like that so they were offering them to anyone who wanted to take them off their hands!

    Now, it would take a great deal of space and time here to tell you all the details of the many other things I’ve obtained, but all I know, is that it really works. I just thought I would share with you something simple.

    As for that story about that guy who ‘found’ himself in his dream home 5 years later.. The same thing happened to my husband and I. Four years earlier before purchasing one of recent homes, we had been playing on a golf course and my husband saw a great house with a large, screened-in porch that intrigued him, and said ‘I would love that house’ (it wasn’t for sale). We talked several times over those four years about the ‘things’ we wanted in a house. It wasn’t until four years later that we happened to be playing on that same golf course AFTER we purchsed our new home that my husband stood on that same hill and looked up at our house. He said, ‘Hey! That’s the house I was admiring so much a few years ago! As for paying for a big house like that on a golf course, we had no idea that we would come into some money ‘by chance’ that would enable us to buy the house!

    After watching The Secret, I examined my life and realized that it’s TRUE. All the things in my life that I had felt, and EXPECTED to happen, did – good and bad!

    Sandy

  179. I watched the movie- I know that thoughts are energy,I am aware that my perception colors that experience- ie., what one person says ” oh how tragic” the other may say- ” cool that I get to experience this & learn” ……When I hear the movie state ” that our thoughts attract things and events- ALL I CAN do is think of the millions of starving babies laying on the ground in Africa & say NO way.did they attract this with their thoughts- but the movie states that they did- the law states that thoughts bring circumstances due to the energy of the thought- but what about 2 month old babies being sexually abused? the movies or law states that their thoughts bring & attract this- ??no way….. I SAY the ” LAW of Attraction— has some flaws- its not a law then. Im being realistic in my applying the ” law” to real circumstances in life & its not adding up here…great if things happened due to you changing your belief systems-that is great- but NOW I am speaking for the abused, the innocent ones that by NO means did they create such horrible events in their lives- some times things just are and things just happen- but some people hate that life is so random so they create the ” WHY” to explain it- but really, some things just are & that scares the hell out of most

  180. Oh yeah.. and if you haven’t figured it out, that house came up for sale just at the time we were looking! Coincidence? I don’t believe so because there were too many things with too many details that had to happen to make it all work.

    By the way, I believe there is a God (not a genie) who is at work for us. He has natural and spirtual laws at work that are built into the universe. The rain falls on the just and unjust alike, but there are also rewards and consequences built into His universe.

    Sandy

  181. I understand, Cheryl, about your feelings. I felt the same way too, but Free Will is what man was given, and unfortunately there is damage done to some by others. However, I’ve lived long enough now (48 years) to see that God is SO great and amazing, that He ‘can cause all things to work together for good to those that love Him..’ (Romans 8:28).. and does.

  182. P.S. For anyone else reading this blog, The Secret is in NO WAY completely right, nor a perfect explaination of GOD’s universe and exactly how His natural or spiritual laws work.

  183. Sandy I agree with you, but that does not make the law of attraction work for the poor innocent children of the world- their thought did not attract sexual abuse- nor did starving to death laying on the ground…They didnt have a fear that drew that to them. BUT the movie says that all things and events are caused by our thoughts- so I m just saying that this is not true at all- & sometimes GOD allows a hurricane- we didnt attract it – it just is- but people fear what is – people are so afraid of the random things that they cling for dear life whatever belief with explain it away…I have searched and prayed for a soul mate for 20 yrs.. I truly believed it would happen- plotting my whole life around building a family- not taking jobs or moving where it might interfere with this happening and just planning that it will happen- but it never did. Im 45 and now the thoughts of a big family are gone and so are my hopes- some things just are _I would meet great men but they didnt want what I wanted or vise versa.

  184. Hi Cheryl

    Life conspired to offer you a new job and/or move, and you refused it. Why would you not go with the flow?

    When you punch keywords into a search engine …

    Do you click on a top link?
    Or CLOSE your BROWSER?

    :-)

  185. I’m sorry to hear that you limited yourself like that because that’s not how the Law works. You’re supposed to ‘move’ about in your life in ways that make you happy all the while holding fast to your dreams – it’s not your job to figure it all out. Even now you’re limiting yourself because you think your dream has an ending period. I waited ten years for that perfect soul mate – he had 4 kids and I had three (BIG family) and I ended up moving. We’ve been married 12 years and I now have 4 beautiful grandchildren.

    As for those babies, I agree with the fact that they didn’t ‘think’ it into being because babies can’t ‘reason’, and man has a free will – (read above again).

    The Secret does not go on about certain ‘details’ because some of them ought to be just common sense to most (like the innocent babies). There are many different things that I could say about The Secret, but it’s about the idea behind the Law of Attraction – which is very real.

    The Law of Reciprocity is also very real too, which means that those people who do wicked things to the innocent, will reap consequences. We don’t fully understand the WHY’s of God and all things in His kingdom, but we are given Laws to work with. He is still in control too —

    “The unceasing activity of the Creator, whereby in overflowing bounty and goodwill, He upholds His creatures in ordered existence, guides and governs all events, circumstances, and free acts of angels and men, and directs everything to its appointed goal, for His own glory” ~ J.I Packer.

    You’re still growing spiritually and you’ve got to believe that. It is no conincidence that you and I have come to this place and you and I met. God loves you, and your life is not over. Do the things that make you happy and live a happy life ‘in spite’ of the things you THINK you might be missing or ‘don’t have’. My life is not perfect but I’m happy. Yes, seemingly ‘random’ things happen, but God IS in control even though awful things happen to babies and innocent children, and whether we want to believe that He even exists or not.

  186. Me thinks thou doth protest too much, Mr. CHO. This movie changed my life. You remind me of something my grandfather told me when I was very young. “It’s a sure sign of true insecurity when a man has to tear someone (something) else down, in order to make himself look better.” As much success as you may have had in your life, don’t tarnish it by tearing others down. It only makes you look and feel truly weak. Thank you for reinforcing my grandfather’s creedo.

  187. As for as the famous people they give you i think when they (the makers of the secret) told us they new the secret this was presented poorly because these people did not know the secret as the secret they knew it as reality and what they studied had such great significance to there argument they put them in the movie. Newton for instance is about gravity which big things attract smaller things such as the earth and the apple. Eisenstein was used for there energy argument as well as there energy perceived notion. Plato was kinda the same deal with Newton with his to object doping experiment in his latter years when he was under house arrest for having the testicular fortitude to say hey i think the sun is the center of the universe not the earth. Eidson probably just had some quotes that they delved into saying he was talking about “the secret” i think he said something along the lines of, “I know this world is ruled by infinite intelligence. Everything that surrounds us- everything that exists – proves that there are infinite laws behind it. There can be no denying this fact. It is mathematical in its precision.” i was actually surprised they didn’t use this one maybe it got cut out our something. As far as people keeping it a secret i would argue that the fact that we do not educate our children on the power there brain has to focus on something and the amazing things that can come from doing so could be an argument that the people in power did keep it a secret whether intentionally or not. If i was Rockefeller am i going to spend time out of my day explaining my way of thinking to people of course not. Not because he didn’t want to but because no one self anylized like that back then and if they did they would never tell anyone because if they did they would probably be thought of as a loon or even a little Kooky i mean Rockefeller came out and said “Hey I’m rich because i simply intended it my whole life and you poor people did not” He would have been ripped to shreds or at least thought of as a bit a prick. The whole thought wave thing cant really be argued because like you said there is no scientific evidence supporting it but that doesn’t mean its not true one could argue that our people actions ripple through space time but our actions were all thoughts first. So it seems to be a chicken and the egg thing happening here. I would also like to through out some love to BIll Hicks who said, “Life is just a dream and we can change it anytime we want. We have to make the chose right hear right now between fear,hate,greed,guns or love. There are some that say what about my expensive car, my house,my business, my family this has to be real but its not its just dream. There have been people through out history that have told us this and we… Kill them (crowd laughter) but it all doesn’t matter because this is just dream.” Who would have thought such a deep thought provoking statement would have come from an R rated at best comedian. Apparently Bill Hicks did so i ask you is Bills hicks action of tell this joke to his audience that has lived on past his death or his thought. I leave you with that.

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