"The Secret" --James Ray

[SeriousKidding.com]

I cannot wait to watch "The Secret!" I just purchased it here a few days ago. Steve, your interview with James Ray that I just read sent me through the roof!

This is mind-altering, life-changing potential at its best!

I can't thank you enough.

Gratefully, Grant "Brad" Gerver

[PMcDonald]

Out of all the people involved with "The Secret", I resonate with James Ray the most. There is just something about that guy that I dig and just seem to connect more with what he is saying and how he presents it.

[Amadeus]

This author is just rewriting ideas that have already been known for decades if not centuries. Napoleon Hill wrote a book on it called Think and Grow Rich. We become what we think about. This is not a new concept.

[RT Wolf]

Originally Posted by Amadeus

This author is just rewriting ideas that have already been known for decades if not centuries. Napoleon Hill wrote a book on it called Think and Grow Rich. We become what we think about. This is not a new concept.

Ok.

Also, is this the right forum for this thread?

[Chris_Stretten]

Originally Posted by Amadeus

This author is just rewriting ideas that have already been known for decades if not centuries. Napoleon Hill wrote a book on it called Think and Grow Rich. We become what we think about. This is not a new concept.

They may be principals which have been known for centuries... or not. This information is not common knowledge. I, nor anyone I've spoken to was never taught this stuff in school. I had never heard of the book by Napoleon Hill before a year ago. Nor of Wattles... or Haanel. When did you first learn about the Law of Attraction Amadeus? I assume you were not privy to it from birth...
People need to ask the question to find the answer... and if you don't know what question to ask, it becomes difficult. By providing "the Secret" movie and all of the hype around it, and books, and interviews... this offers people who would never even know what to ask, an opportunity to understand the principals of Law of Attraction and learn more about it.
James Ray and many other authors are indeed writing new books on the subject, each with their own interperetations and point of view. Napoleon Hill did not create these laws... nor did Andrew Carnegie or the hundreds of whom Napoleon wrote about. James Ray nor any of the other teachers of this information created it either. Buddah and Jesus taught the same principals... but they did not create them either.
It's fantastic that people are coming around to this understanding. That there is such a clamoring and fervor for information on the subject of LoA is a great indication that many people are seeking... answers.
Peace
Cheers!
Chris

[dor]

Originally Posted by Amadeus

This author is just rewriting ideas that have already been known for decades if not centuries. Napoleon Hill wrote a book on it called Think and Grow Rich. We become what we think about. This is not a new concept.

as a man thinketh.....

[dor]

The Peaceful Warriors Way
My Thoughts about “The Secret”
Thursday January 04th 2007, 1:58 pm
Filed under: Dan's Posts
Some weeks ago, a young man wrote to us, declaring, “In six months I’m going to have three million dollars, the woman of my dreams, and a beautiful house – because I’ve seen . . . The Secret!

The Secret, for those of you who haven’t yet heard, has become an internet phenomenon. It began as an Australian television production featuring a number of well-known authors and pundits, speaking about the “Law of Attraction.” This law says that we attract or manifest into our lives what we think about or focus on or earnestly desire.

As fate would have it, the producers, in a stroke of foresight, ended up delivering this 90-minute program via internet. One can go to the web site, watch a dramatic teaser, sign up, pay a mere $4.95, and download the program to watch to one’s heart’s content — to learn “The Secret.”

I’m not surprised by the popularity of this program. Magical thinking has huge appeal for many – especially when it intersects with ideas from quantum physics and metaphysical science.

In this respectful critique, I’m going to first express what I genuinely like about the program:

I find much of the program up-beat, good hearted, encouraging. It also has excellent production values, cinematography, effects, and sound. And the editing is excellent. I’m especially impressed by the cutting-edge method of delivery — internet streaming — ushering in a new era of movies on demand with the click of a mouse.

I also like the message that what we bring into our lives begins with a vision, a longed-for aspiration — a good reminder for those of us who haven’t yet stretched the wings of possibility and allowed ourselves to embrace higher possibilities. If The Secret opens the way to expanded dreams, it serves a useful purpose.

What concerns me, however, are the program’s primary suppositions. The message, repeated in different words by the various guests, is that if we simply intend and visualize and dream big enough, we can “manifest” all our dreams — effortlessly, magically, mystically.

However, this “Law of Attraction” does not, in my view, qualify as a law at all. In my book, The Laws of Spirit, I present twelve spiritual laws (including, to name a few, the laws of balance, choices, process, faith . . . action, surrender, and unity) — laws which apply consistently and universally to everyday life. This quality of consistency is essential to any law, and differentiates it from proverbs, principles, or aphorisms, which may or may not apply. In other words, a law works every time here on Earth, much like the law of gravity.

In any case, this “Law of Attraction,” as taught many decades ago by metaphysicians like Catherine Ponder and others, is certainly a positive and expansive idea. But dreams, desires and visions are only the beginning — they must be followed by focused effort over time – something barely mentioned in the “Secret” production.

Thomas Edison wrote, “We often miss opportunity because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” It has the ring of truth, doesn’t it? But suggesting that we need to work hard over time to achieve our goals doesn’t sell well. It isn’t sexy or fascinating, or sound much like a “Secret.” Common sense rarely does.

In “The Secret,” we personally witness a little boy who wishes and hopes for a bicycle—he thinks about it, visualizes a bike, cuts out pictures from a magazine. And lo and behold, one day he opens a door and there is his new bike! Personally, I would have been more drawn to see him walking a paper route, or doing chores to earn some money, or at least asking his parents directly for a special Christmas gift. Which reminds me of a story I relate in Living on Purpose:

Louie goes to church every Sunday and prays to God, “Dear Lord, I’ve been a good and devout man for many years, living according to your Laws, doing acts of charity, serving the poor, supporting my family. So please, please, let me win the lottery just once!” He repeats this plea every week for years, but his entreaties go unanswered. So Louie starts to pray to win the lottery every night and every day. Until one day, he hears a voice thunder down from the heavens: “Louie, will you at least go half-way with me and buy a ticket?”

That’s all I’m suggesting — a simple point ignored by “The Secret” — go to the effort to buy a ticket. Or as an Arabic sage once said, “Trust in God . . . but tie your camel.”

So if you wish to be successful, dream big, but start small — then connect the dots. In other words, start with a vision, then take baby steps. Neither dreaming nor wishing nor magical secrets get the laundry done.

The biggest issue I have with programs like The Secret (or other idealistic notions such as learning “positive thinking”) is that when their magical methods don’t work, we end up believing that it’s our fault, our lack, our fault. We believe that if we had truly deserved it, or really applied ourselves, or focused more intently, or visualized more clearly with a sincere heart, surely it would have worked.

The Secret, then, with its lovely and uplifting promise, is a foolproof supposition: If we don’t heal, manifest, get what we want, it’s due to our own lack of faith.

Or maybe it’s because we forgot the “taking action” part . . .

There are some successful people who claim to have mastered “The Secret” and who have manifested their dreams and desires. Few of them tell us about their years of struggle and labor and preparation.

By all means strive in the direction of your dreams! Visualize a grand life! Then get to work. While we cannot control the outcomes, we can control our efforts. And by making the effort, we increase the odds of creating a larger life.

I close with my warmest wishes, and with a reminder from Henry David Thoreau: “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost. Now put foundations under them.

[Elenny]

I agree with Chris. I don't think James Arthur Ray or any of the other panelists on "The Secret" are claiming that they discovered the Law of Attraction.

It is true that the movie has been greatly overhyped, but at least it's something that's doing good for some people, which in turn will make this world a better place.

Still I think a vast majority of the people who watch The Secret or read any LoA or self-help related book will be back to their old ways in a matter of weeks. But the important thing is that if a small percentage of people are changing for the positive, the hype is well worth it.

Some people on this forum seem very bothered because The Secret has become such a commercial success, which seems to contradict a lot of the universal laws they claim to believe in.

Other people are writing about it for the sake of writing, or perhaps to jump on the bandwagon for the purpose of sending more traffic to their blogs. And that's fine. Everyone is entitled to their opinion.

But one thing that has jumped at me is that most bloggers criticizing The Secret are using the little boy who wished for the red bike as an example of why they hated The Secret.

Frankly that part made a lot of sense to me. The bike did not fall out of the sky like even Time Magazine suggested. It was given to the boy by an elderly man, perhaps his father or grandfather. And it doesn't mention how long the boy had to wait for the bike. Maybe in the mind of the producer a year or two went by before the kid got the bike. I don't recall anybody claiming that things were going to manifest overnight.

The only example I didn't resonate with was the painter who was dating the girls he painted. "I'm dating like three a week. They all want to date me" he said. That part seemed very shallow, but it is impossible to explain the power of the LoA in 80+ minutes, so using those clips as examples made the concept clearer to a lot of people.

The hype created by The Secret has been a positive thing for humanity any which way you look at it. People who are bothered by it perhaps should take a closer look at their own reality.

[dor]

Originally Posted by Elenny

Still I think a vast majority of the people who watch The Secret or read any LoA or self-help related book will be back to their old ways in a matter of weeks. But the important thing is that if a small percentage of people are changing for the positive, the hype is well worth it.

Some people on this forum seem very bothered because The Secret has become such a commercial success, which seems to contradict a lot of the universal laws they claim to believe in.
But one thing that has jumped at me is that most bloggers criticizing The Secret are using the little boy who wished for the red bike as an example of why they hated The Secret.


The only example I didn't resonate with was the painter who was dating the girls he painted. "I'm dating like three a week. They all want to date me" he said. That part seemed very shallow, but it is impossible to explain the power of the LoA in 80+ minutes, so using those clips as examples made the concept clearer to a lot of people.

The hype created by The Secret has been a positive thing for humanity any which way you look at it. People who are bothered by it perhaps should take a closer look at their own reality.

i agree with what you said, its funny about the painter...because i have similar images in my apartment..i have gotten rid of them I will let you know the results

I think it will shift some people's perspectives, but it takes sustained effort just like exercising for a sport or building your body - sporadic workouts may help a little if you really want to be charles atlas, you're going to have to excercise consistently

I have been making a 'real' effort at this for a year and i have noticed that i still find myself slipping out of the habit of visualizing and looking at my goals.

[Amadeus]

Well I read Think and Grow Rich and the "secret" discribed in Napoleon Hill's book 10 years ago. However, I read about "the secret" in the Holy Bible probably over a 1000 times in a thousand different ways by the time I was 10. You may have not have read or known about Think and Grow Rich before, but it has sold over 30 million copies. I guarantee you the majority of the people in the US will never have heard the book "the secret" in another couple of years. It's just a flashy catch phrase with colorful wording in order to sell books. Seems like a lot of fluff to me.

[Lauxa]

I think people will misunderstand "The Secret" to think it is about something that happens when you visualize and no action is required. That is what my husband thought when he watched it. For me, and others who understand the LoA, the LoA is still about taking action but realizing that (1) you take action based upon what you think about and (2) you attract actionable opportunities based on your thoughts. It is very hard to change thought patterns and to shift from a negative to positive mindset and most people who just visualize are not really changing all of their internal thought processes to become internally congruent with attracting success. "The Secret" did not say anything new about the LoA to me, and it did not resonate with my husband who thought it sounded too magical.

I have been working on changing my thought processes for about 6 months now and shifting my belief to embrace the LoA. All I have noticed so far is that I am generally happier and have less suicidal tendencies. For maybe a year or two I used to visualize shooting myself in the head each morning when I woke up, and my husband had recently begun collecting firearms. Well from the LoA standpoint, that could have been headed down a bad path!! From an objective viewpoint, my life was pretty good before and it is about the same now, but I feel like I am starting to build some internal momentum and am about to come BURSTING OUT of all my old limitations.

[Liara Covert]

It's clear 'The Secret' can mean many different things to different people. Some people choose to see it as being meaningful and other people consider it to be hogwash. Everyone who has heard of it seems to have an opinion.

Consider a comparison involving faith and spirituality. Some people choose to believe in things they can't initially perceive with the senses. These people evolve to see what they wish to see; they evolve to heal illness from within, to build inner strength, to shoulder burdens, and to deal with financial realities. They find ways to create or seize opportunities for the wealth they seek. People may attribute it to miracles, to God, to positive thinking or to a combination. In essence, you can choose to nurture faith or you can nurture scepticism.

Similarly, in terms of available ideas, history has been known to repeat. Yet, it is how information is packaged that determines how it affects its modern audience. Whether or not the audience is motivated or inspired also depends on whether individuals are ready to recognize the value of what info appears. Not everyone has heard of Napoleon Hill. Not everyone has heard of Rhonda Byrne. It doesn't matter. When someone's ideas trigger revelations in your heart, mind and soul that prompt you to open your senses and enrich yourself, it doesn't matter who they are. You become richer.