| | "THE SECRET" "The Secret" (A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing)
copyright Jo Davidson
Zentertainment Talk Radio
www.zentertainment.org
If the law states that like attracts like and it's always that simple, then how does one explain batteries?
As long as human beings have lived, we have been trying to explain suffering. We strive to give meaning to it, interpret it, get rid of it by all means, and then when it doesn't seem to go away, we cast blame. Who do we blame?
Ourselves. Others. Circumstances beyond our control.
Some say that everything is in our control. In a nutshell, this is the message of the movie THE SECRET.
This longing to rid ourselves of suffering has been going on forever. We all want to feel good. Why do so many magazines sell over and over again when they are basically recycling the same articles? It is because the headlines start with "The Secret"….to weight loss, to great sex, to sleeping better, to being happy, to a more fulfilling career, to making more time for ourselves, and the list goes on. We rarely learn anything we don't already know, yet we keep buying magazines. The real problem is that we don't do what we already know how to do. Do you want to lose weight? As a wise 92 year old friend of mine recently announced, "Eat less and exercise everyday!"
A few years ago, I picked up a copy of a book by Esther and Jerry Hicks called "Ask and It Is Given." I became fascinated by their ideas of using emotions to heal. At first, I loved the book. In "Ask and It is Given," they claim that negative emotions always attract negative experiences, and higher ones which are positive, always attract positive experiences. There is some truth to this! If a woman is always complaining about how she wants to be with a man but they are all horrible, she probably doesn't have a very good chance of finding one. (She also won't be attracting friends like me who happen to love men, and would gladly hook her up on dates).
If somebody believes that something is impossible for them, then it most likely will be. If someone believes something is possible, then they have a shot at it! And when we feel happy, we feel more confident, more alive, and more able to draw happy experiences into our lives. We also attract others into our lives who bring us joy as we do them.
On the other side of the coin, sometimes we mistake charisma for character. Not only that, it is easy to mistake true suffering as a failure. For example, this "I can do anything, achieve anything, move any mountain sort of girl" somehow ended up facing two very challenging and devastating illnesses for 13 years. Social life? Gone. Career? Put on hold. Daily activities? Almost zero. Hope? Hanging by a thread. My life became about surviving each day while I desperately searched for a cure. Right in the middle of the years when I had hoped to be building a career and starting a family, I was going through something I had never imagined, never thought into existence, never daydreamed about or wanted.
Sometimes I would enter out into the world, usually looking quite normal, only to crash afterwards for days, weeks and months, entering into hell where all I could do was keep breathing and tell myself "this too shall pass." Doubts began to creep in. Without being able to do, I was forced to be. But this was not a rest and relaxation state of being. It was like descending down into the darkest depths, where the sinking fatigue went on and on. I wasn't swimming. The wave was too big to fight. The best way to get through it was to float. Keep breathing.
Along the way I faced huge amounts of judgements, ignorance and endured harsh comments from people I knew to total strangers. But the longer this went on and the more I tried to cure my condition without success, the more I began to wonder; just what if this thing called illness- this thing that is supposedly some great failure of thinking, is actually a path that only the bravest, strongest souls take on? What if it is the people judging who are the ones who are weak?
I remember one day a few years ago when I was in an especially grueling few months of insomnia. I also had very severe symptoms of extreme debilitating fatigue levels, brain fog, body pain, numbness and tingling, vertigo, strange headaches, blurry vision, shortness of breath, memory loss, and I was totally unable to even shower and blow dry my hair without landing in bed. Somehow my interest in sex never left which is bizarre. I actually felt hypersexual at times (another lyme symptom or who knows, maybe it's just me). Not sleeping and having all these symptoms made feeling happy very difficult as anyone can imagine. I was doing my best. But the truth is, I felt like I was dying, and I think I was. I had several experiences of feeling like I was passing....but I wanted with everything in me to live! To truly live! I just knew it wasn't my time to go.
It was during this time that I had gathered every ounce of will power within me to stay afloat, when one day a "psychic" told me that I needed "the secret" more than anyone she knew. I felt like I had been slapped and kicked in the gut. Instead of applauding my courage, my strength, and encouraging me, this person chose to judge an experience that she herself had never experienced.
You can always tell the true healers from the wanna be amateur healers, by their level of compassion and understanding. There are few sheep, but many wolves dressed in sheep's clothing.
In the world of the so called law of attraction, illness is thought to be a massive failure. It is not a failure. There is a gift in illness. It is that it develops in the one suffering, a new capacity for compassion. Long term, kick in the ass, devastating illness cures arrogance, spiritual or otherwise. It keeps us humble. I am actually very grateful for some of the lessons illness has given me, even as I have long been ready to be healed. I would never say to others many of the things that have been said to me. It makes me very happy that my heart and soul have been softened and molded in such a way that now I can help others more. I wish I would have come to this understanding through another path!
I have a million questions for myself. Truthfully, there could be partial truths buried in all my questions, and yet not one contains the whole truth or explains this thing. I could spend years analyzing myself and still come up short. I learn what I can and then leave some things in the realm of mystery. I have judged myself enough. If anyone can cure this it's me. But maybe cures are not always about the will, the ego, the right thoughts or feelings. Maybe we have to let go of our upside down world and its stories of what it means to be a hero.
In our culture we honor the hero as being the one who overcomes, cures, forges onwards, gets up when the going gets tough, keeps working, lets nothing get in her way or stop her.
But I wonder if maybe the hero is also the one who lives with a difficult reality with grace and still manages to love, have faith, hope and belief in her heart in something bigger, even with incredible limitations. This path might be the hardest one of all to walk.
Can we leave room for both experiences to be considered successes? Can I?
"Ask & It is Given" makes judgements. Good. Bad. Right. Wrong. Positive. Negative. Up. Down. Enlightened. Unaware. Dark. Light.
As I read this book (which was the basis for "The Secret") I began to strive to feel only my "higher" emotions. I began to think that anger, grief, fear, or despair were negative emotions that had little value in the life of someone who was happy, healthy and "evolved." I spent many nights before bed transcribing paragraphs from the book so that they would sink in. I felt uplifted and inspired. Most of all, I had that wonderful sense that I could be in control. Who wouldn't want that?
As I began to believe what I was reading, I also began to wrap myself up in a tidy if somewhat judgmental blanket of "I create everything that is in my reality." I was determined to take the driver's seat, and change my reality. This felt pretty darn good! I can make anything happen! Yes!
There was however, a blaring red flag. Not only did Esther Hicks claim to be channeling "Abraham," but as I absorbed this book's message, I sensed myself disowning the "darker" aspects of myself and my contradictions, or feelings that might embarrass me. I also couldn't help but note that I began to judge others who were suffering even as I myself still was in the throws of an illness! I began to feel that somehow I was becoming more enlightened than others. I was going to come through and conquer all, through the power of my thinking! Oh the pride of it all! I saw myself becoming so spiritually evolved.
Just as feeling inferior and feeling superior both stem from a fragile ego determined to claim its importance, so spiritual pride is just as false an illusion as having no belief at all.
What does it actually mean to become enlightened? What does spirituality look like without pride? Is it even spirituality once pride is a part of it?
I began to realize that this whole notion of telling ourselves that some emotions are bad while others are good is false. Even Jesus felt anger and grief! ALL of our emotions are a part of our healing. They all have a place and a purpose for us. Imagine all of the wonderful art and music that would not exist if artists only created when they felt happy! There might be very little art in the world today!
Without fear there would be no such thing as courage. Many times anger has helped me create boundaries. Expressing grief helps me to heal and even tears actually release toxins. There are no negative emotions. There are only stuck emotions. Anger, fear and sadness are not a problem unless those are the predominant emotions that fuel our lives.
I decided to take the few good things I learned from this book by Esther and Jerry Hicks and throw out all the rest.
A few months after working with the book "Ask & It Is Given," I picked up a copy of a movie called "The Secret." This was a few years ago, long before the media circus began to swirl around it. This movie was circulating underground among the new age thought and metaphysical circles.
After shelling out over $30 for a DVD, I was expecting a fast paced movie dripping with "Da Vinci Code like scenes" such as the ones the movie's trailer suggested. I had no idea that the movie would basically be a collection of interviews touting the exact same principles I had read in "Ask & It is Given." In one of the first scenes, there was a huge "genie in the sky" saying "YOUR WISH IS MY COMMAND."
Bob Proctor said, "We can dictate exactly what we want to come into our life. And with absolute certainty, it will come into our life."
Wow. Everything in me knew that this was total BS. But I wish it was true. My ego loves stuff like this. It makes me think I can be totally in control of everything and never have a bad day, a negative experience or a challenge that feels too hard to handle. Bring on the easy life! But the truth is that I am not God. There are things I can control and things I can't. I don't make the sun set and rise, the stars shine, the ocean tides go in and out. I am not the one that makes the flowers grow and bloom, the lightening strike, the rain fall. I am powerful, but I am not the ultimate one in power.
I decided to take a closer look at "we can dictate exactly what we want to come into our life. And with absolute certainty, it will come into our life." Personally, I am grateful that not every single thing I have dictated has come into my life. Think of what chaos it would be if everything thing we each "dictated" happened! How would that work exactly if two opposing baseball teams each dictated that they were going to win the game? What would it be like if 1000 songwriters each dictated that they wanted to win the grand prize in a songwriting contest? What if two people entered a parking lot and each one dictated that they wanted the one close parking spot available? Who gets it? The one with a stronger vibration for channeling God's, I mean, the genie's magic wand?
In the secret, I heard Joe Vitale selling the theory that "everything that's in your life, including the things you're complaining about, you've attracted." This is a lie. The truthful statement would be that MANY things in your life including the things you're complaining about, you've attracted.
We can change alot by what we focus or don't focus on. But we must be very discerning when it comes to where we get our inspiration and guidance from. Personally, I do not want to get my spirituality and my purpose from a man who has gone from being homeless to bragging about owning 300 luxury cars. I once spent a week in the slums of Haiti, and what passes off as enlightenment in America is often nothing more than gross materialism.
If we believe that we can command a genie in the sky to do our wishes, then how can we explain the Holocaust? I am sure many people prayed and believed the war would end sooner rather than later. So many wonderful faith filled people suffered unspeakable things. Surely the creators of the secret don't believe that everyone who suffered including the children, somehow suffered because they didn't have enough faith or think the right thoughts? This line of thinking is what makes the movie's message cruel and inhumane.
Can we say that a person who was killed in Rwanda and raped in Darfur attracted it? That each little girl or boy who has been molested has attracted it? Every child who has cancer has attracted it? Every baby with autism attracted the side effects of mercury from vaccines?
There are some truths that one doesn't hear in this move or read in this book.
We can attract material things into our lives without being particularly spiritual.
Miracles and healings happen to people who deserve them as well as those who don't.
I use vision Maps regularly. They mention them in THE SECRET as well as other books. This is one of the best things I learned from these teachings on the law of attraction. I collect random words and images that I am drawn to, and glue them onto poster boards and place them where I see them everyday. It has made me very aware of the power of advertising! Just seeing these images on a poster board keeps them in the front of my mind and somehow creates in me a strong desire, a current, a flow towards manifesting these things so that they show up in my life. Vision maps are very powerful tools!
I use to put the images in notebooks, but I have found they are even more powerful when placed on a large poster board. Many things have come true in my life from what I have put onto these maps. Beach scenes not only preceded my week long vacation to a Caribbean island, but a move to a waterfront property CT for a year. Now I have left CT and I have two more beach vacations this summer, a new beach house apartment in NJ and a NYC apartment with water views! So it has been water water everywhere, and I love it.
However, what I did NOT ask for was to get lyme disease (again) in the oh so beautiful CT location that I spent last year in.
Sometime we control what happens to us, and sometimes we can only do our best to figure out how to respond to what happens to us.
I would like to propose a whole new way of doing vision maps. Instead of making vision maps full of mansions and jewelry and fancy cars and boats, how about making vision maps that show us how we might connect to others and be of service? This is what ultimately gives our lives meaning. When we invest in treasure that the world cannot destroy, then we are truly rich.
As a child in church, I remember hearing that one of the best ways to pray was to start by thanking God for our blessings before making our requests. That gratitude brings a balance to our hearts and minds and bodies. Gratitude is something we can do even through trials and life challenges. Through anger and grief, confusion and tears, through joy and clarity, laughter and smiles, gratitude is what opens up a space for blessings and joy to flow in. Notice I used the word THROUGH. I believe that gratitude is like a raft, a life boat in a stormy sea. It might not make the storm go away (the "negative" emotion or experience) but it might keep you alive until the waters get calm again.
Of course we always want to be on the mountain top of life, but as Arthur Caliandro once told me, "It is in the valleys where we grow." It's hard to be grateful when the valleys are low and go on for years, but those are probably the times when I know I need to practice gratitude the most.
There are times when our intentions and our vision maps might manifest but not be for the greater good. On the far end of the scale, I am sure Hitler intended to massacre millions of Jews. I am sure that Osama Bin Laden intended to fly planes into the twin towers. I witnessed that act of intention with my own eyes from my window in NYC. Just because someone sets an intention and makes it come true does not mean that they are "enlightened." So we should be careful of following teachers just because they have been able to manifest their wishes onto the world. This does not prove that they are leaders worth following.
Not every single thing from my maps have come true. This teaches me that I do not know everything. (As if I needed a reminder).
This also shows me that if I become too attached to the things I want, I am not living fully now with what I already have. I have become aware that there is no end to my wish list. The funny thing about desire is that it usually creates more desire. Have you ever noticed that a newspaper is much more interesting when someone else is reading it next to you? Sometimes I get the things I wished for and find out they aren't all I thought they would be! (You can just look through my clothes closet to realize that truth)!
Can we feel complete in this moment right here and now? Complete with all the messiness and imperfections of life?
It is much easier to chase after something else that we think will give us the high we need to feel good. The entire advertising business is based upon the concept that we will be happier and more complete if only we buy whatever product is being advertised.
A wise friend of mine who is a world reknowned doctor referred to the teachings from the secret as "psychological malpractice."
The makers of "the secret" actually claim that the secret has been discovered, coveted, suppressed, hidden, lost and recovered. According to them, the secret has been hunted down, stolen and bought for vast sums of money. They say that for the first time in history these ideas are are presented in one place. (I guess the Bible didn't quite make the grade.)
We are told that this so called secret to success was practiced by some of the greatest people who ever lived such as Plato, Einstein, Beethoven, Lincoln, Newton and others. But these men, just like me, just like you, had a mixed bag of human emotions to deal with.
"I am now the most miserable man living. If what I feel were equally distributed to the whole human family, there would not be one cheerful face on the earth. Whether I shall ever be better I can not tell; I awfully forebode I shall not. To remain as I am is impossible; I must die or be better, it appears to me.: -Abraham Lincoln, Jan 23 1841 in a letter to John T Stuart, his first law partner
In 1802 Beethoven suffered severely from depression brought on by the realization that he was losing his hearing. "As for me," Beethoven wrote, "I am in despair so often and would like to end my life."
From one website, I learned that Newton often wrote for 18-19 hours a day, even ignoring meals and sleep. From another I learned that:
" At the age of 50, he had a nervous breakdown brought on by depression and paranoia."
And what about Einstein? Albert Einstein married a brilliant mathematician named Mileva Maric. In a time when women were not given choices and opportunities in education, she participated in her husbands' scientific work and is now deemed co-creator of his theory of relativity. Einstein worked obsessively, and sometime later began an affair with his cousin Elsa. He eventually divorced his first wife Mileva, leaving her with their two sons. She had a nervous breakdown. One winter Einstein got very sick and thought he had cancer then a gall bladder problem. He was on his back for months. He moved into an apartment across from Elsa and her daughters. Then he temporarily decided he wanted to marry one of Elsa's daughters, named Ilse. (Can anyone say Woody Allen?) Ilse was not attracted to him and saw him as a father. In the end, he married his cousin Elsa in 1919 and he had many affairs during their marriage. She died in 1936. When Mileva died, at the age of 73, she was penniless, and her grave was unmarked.
"I can love humanity, but when it comes to close relationships, I'm a horse for single harness. I failed twice, rather disgracefully." As for marriage: "An unsuccessful attempt to make something lasting out of an incident. All marriages are dangerous."
-Albert Einstein---
I find it unbelievable that the movie touts these people as having lived the secret and at the same time condemns the type of thinking and behaviour that they all struggled with from time to time. Does this seem a little off? Why is nobody calling Rhonda Burns on this? She wrote the book, how could she get this so wrong? Yes these people were brilliant. But they lived very real and very messy lives, like we all do if we are honest.
I wonder if Jesus would have thought that spiritual people should never feel despair when while in a garden, he plunged into agonizing sorrow and prayed "This sorrow is crushing my life out." I wonder if Buddha would have thought that through his low energy field vibrations he had attracted the food poisoning that killed him.
If every single prophet and saint to ever live (operating on the highest levels of consciousness) has died of something eventually, then why would we assume we are immortal? Why do we think that we can ever attain perfection in our lives if only we think the right thoughts or feel the right things? And what exactly IS perfection? If this is the only goal we have, then we, all of us, fall short. How about appreciating life's perfect moments in all their beauty, rather than thinking that every moment must be one in which we are filled with ecstasy and bliss?
Is this moment, now, ever enough?
Perhaps the secret to surviving any life challenge is in focusing on what we are grateful for even amidst the thorns. It is also letting ourselves cry when they cut us. If I block out my tears, I also block out my joy.
The real source of our strength, happiness and our true purpose cannot be found in ourselves alone or even in manifesting every desire we have. And it is certainly not found in shutting down half of our emotions in order to only feel some of them.
Our true happiness is found in our connection to the Divine whether we are in the shadows and valleys or standing on top of the mountain. Sometimes we just have to hang on for the ride and remember that this too shall pass. Whatever it is, it always does eventually.
I was deeply disappointed when Oprah did a show promoting this movie which brought it into the mainstream. One of the speakers said that when asked how we are, we should always answer "FANTASTIC!" But what if we don't feel fantastic? Is it ever permissible to just reply, "Ok?" After-all, if we are always pretending to be on 10, we don't have anywhere to go when we really DO feel fantastic. I can hardly imagine Jesus dying on the cross with nails in his hands and feet saying "I feel fantastic!"
I have learned alot from the Secret and also from Ask & It is Given. What I learned is that when we think we control every single thing, we become addicted to being in control. When we let go and honor the mysteries of life, we have space for compassion and kindness and for embracing our imperfections as part of our beautiful selves. We also find it easier to accept other people's weaknesses once we are aware of our own.
The world is full of people spouting off their programs and formulas. Frankly, I have had it with these people. They might look spiritual and sound spiritual. They might look like they have it together, but if they are promoting this movie or book as the big answer to how to live a happy life, beware! We are all thirsty, and many people will buy into whatever they think will fill their emptiness. This is the drink of the moment.
But there is another root where the true water comes from!
The Secret is full of imperfections just like all of us. We all seem to get some things right, and some things wrong. So we keep learning. True spirituality goes beyond the grasping of the ego, and I heard a lot of ego in this movie. There is a place and a space inside all of us where we can be free right here and now, even in this strange paradox of embracing suffering and happiness at times, simultaneously.
There is no perfection, just perfect moments and the journey. The goal is not that we never become discouraged. The goal is that we take those times of feeling discouraged and utterly broken by life, and in them, allow our courage and strengths to shine through.
What we focus on does indeed expand. On the flip side, sometimes things show up when we were not thinking about them at all. And there have also been many fleeting thoughts and daydreams I have had in my life that have NEVER become reality! Thank God there is a bigger plan beyond me and my thoughts, beyond my ego thinking mind.We are not failures or somehow less enlightened when we suffer as we face challenges that test us beyond what we ever imagined we could bear.We are strong when we respond with courage rather than blame, and openness to learning rather than arrogance in having all the answers.
Those who go through major challenges and illnesses are sometimes meant to go through these things in order to emerge as great healers. To say that these initiation periods are failures, is to dishonor the soul journey of individuals who are bravely forgiving paths through a wilderness that most others might never survive. The kingdom of God might be within me, but it is also bigger than me and outside of me, in the same way that the songs I write are a part of my life force and energy and yet are not all of me. I am not God. I was created by God. This is my belief.
We are here to love ourselves and love others. It is in appreciating all of our emotions, (contradictions and all), staying connected to gratitude, and embracing rather than trying to solve this great thing called mystery that we develop maturity. Perhaps suffering is not always meant to be understood. Perhaps it is the journey itself of seeking to understand, that is this beautiful thing called life.
Now we see in part, but there will come a time when we see in full.
I reserve the right to change my mind about any of this because I don't know, and this too shall pass.
copyright Jo Davidson
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Great review..love it……..I see so many historic constellations and conditionings f.e. in Europe and globally…we all are located in certain coordinates of time and space. Finding out our vocation and deepest calling.is the REAL SECRET……the real mystery and enigma……Thanks for your profound reflections..
Albert
wow, jo, i am so relieved to be reading your words of wisdom, your radical honesty is healing and very welcomed.
i am developing a group that i am calling Beyond the Secret , to offer in my community because the secret leaves such a hollow ring and i feel drawn to facilitate further adn deeper explorations on the law of attraction (and other laws)..
this post is worthy of a return trip but because it is so long, i dont have the focus right now to read the whole thing (my stomach growls) so i shall return!
mary
Hey Jo…. just wanted to say
“yes, exactly”
and also “thank you”
A wonderful and balanced review! I also started with the “Ask and it is Given” book and felt like if I did not think “perfectly” I would invite disaster into my life. I read the book “The Secret” and felt that it (too) offered only a part of what we experience in this life.
I definately strive to have higher vibrational thoughts, but no longer fear the “anger” thought about a co-worker will draw hate into my life. Instead, as you say, I take it for what it is - a human emotion that is telling a boundary was crossed.
I am taking what i feel empowers me and going with that. But isn't that what we're supposed to do? Use some discernment in our choices!
Thank you for a wonderful review and very inspired thoughts.
karen
My Dear Jo,
Thank you so much for sharing this powerful message. You are such a beautiful soul. We must be connecting through the same energy because…I've began reading “Ask and It Is Given” this morning and have been highlighting every single point I find memorable (pretty much everything I've read so far). :-)
Since watching “The Secret” I've felt the empowerment of the spiritual beings which reside with me contiuously, and by keeping in the positive moments of this lifetime will lead us to the bliss we so rightfully deserve.
Love and Light to you my dear friend, and thank you once again for your luminous Energy…
Mikaila
Thanks Jo, for bringing some balance to the hype. So-called 'spirituality' without God is just gross materialism dressed up with fine words. The 'abundance theology' school ignores the clear instruction: “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.” Why? “The Kingdom of God is within you.” And if you're spending your days managing your business empire and polishing your Ferraris, you are not looking within!
love,
Baba
My thoughts mirrored, experience and trials that we go through good and bad are there to serve as lessons. Our perception and finding the underlying truth of those lessons are key. Our perception whether we rise or fall from those moments determine our path. Finding the truth of the moment determines the universal pieces that we carry with us on our journey.
My personal journey began having been served a message from his Holiness the D.L., “If something is wrong what are You going to do to change it?” shortly there after I awoke one morning with the knowing of its time to leave its time to leave now, something wants me there, and it has to do with healing. I found out what that was that wanted me there, it did have to do with healing the deepest healing one can go through in life. The journey within. I held what HHDL had said as a mantra and it then transpired to “it is bigger than me, it's greater than me, but it begins with me” 'IT' is the healing of the world for all. What remained after my rape was my heart, my belief in the good of people, my desire to share love with all that I encounter, my strength was tested, the dark night of my soul was tested, my intuitions tested, and my faith was tested. My ego destroyed.
Through the years following I payed close attention what it is that I needed to heal, often challenged by my own pressures and desires to be finished healing. Then I encountered a guide that helped and told me to focus on what hurt and that is where I put my attention to heal. It relieved the pressures and systematically I went through and sat with all of my emotions one by one instead of each fighting for their own attention. I began to understand what each emotion served and by the end loved that they existed. And that each emotion serves our bodies to understand our interactions with the world.
Emotions are guides, and serve a purpose a very fundamental purpose and lessons learned or all perpetuates depending on how our perception responds.
Where I stand now is that the truth of healing is LOVE, loving yourself and intently listening to what your needs are to heal - NOT the materialistic needs, NOT your ego's fear based needs, NOT selfish irresponsible needs. LOVING all around us…our family, our friends, strangers, even the strangers that appear with unsavory motives (for those somone didn't show them truth of love and seems to be the fundamental base of so much violence, trauma and destruction that occurs), LOVE for the nature, LOVE for humanity, LOVE for all in this universe. LOVE is the only thing that changes anything, heals anything, unites everything. Every moment serves us on our journey inward. Learn well. Embrace the light embrace the dark. It is all part of you. Love yourself, and in loving yourself you begin to understand what it is to love another soul, what that other soul may need to find their own love within.
Many of the things you have said are right on. I agree. Funny enough, I have no desire to see “The Secret” but I did pick up “The Law of Attraction; and “Ask and It is Given” yesterday. I speak straight from my own experience and my own encounters of truth in healing and love. Something that I've begun noticing is those energies that you too have attuned to as an empath, have begun to develop even through the internet, over the wire, travelling large distances. Think about it. Energy as we are is energy and can be transmitted great distances within our world. :)
I'm trying to fit so much in to encompass the fact that you've got it right sister. BRAVO your voice is astounding!!!!! Keep Singing.
Love to you.
Genevieve
thank you for connecting me with your words and i thank the universe for connecting me with your words…it is truly amazing how the universe guides you when you believe it will. or even in those times of sandness and despair when your belief may falter. i needed to hear your words at this very moment. my shadows are challanging me. i feel tired, ill, overwhelmed. i want to close my eyes. and sleep. but i know that this is part of my journey. i will be angry. i will cry. i will say things to myself that may appear to sound negative. but i am learning. i am living. and these feelings. these so called negative feelings and events are really not. but instead are meant to be embraced and accepted and felt. and through them the light can shine bright. i am being challanged. very much so in these moments. and it is difficult. but i am present. and when i am not will become aware that i am not. i am learning to accept my shadows. i have been trying to hide them. not wanting to admit them to others. afraid they would think of me differently. but no. i am learning. they are a part of me and i know. deep down that we all have shadows. that if someone judges me it is ego, theirs and my own for creating this thought that they are judging me. and that bringing this into my awareness has become intwined into this great journey. this is all part of the journey…
love and peace in all you do.
carrie
Jo, I got half way threw your blog and realized there is so much more than “THE SECRET”. It is just a tip of the ice burg. And the only thing about that is for people who haven't studied or no nothing except what religion has taught them. You could question it all and even the Bible, Time magazine, National Geographic, Popular Mechanics, Etc. Actually there is no good or bad, its how we take it. And we made an agreement to what we would learn before we even became human beings. There is so much more than ” THE SECRET”. Its just an aspect of a different way to look at things for beginners and if anyone see it the only way and nothing else, well did they ever have a mind in the first place? I saw it in April of 2006 and was glad to see someone was putting out a view of different thinking. No, matter who is ill or well , its already planed and we accept it the way we decide to. That's Life.The mind and feelings are a powerful energy to have fun with. Now I have finished your blog I see you bring up religion . “The Secret” has nothing to do with that. You must and had a great opinion but I think your reading way to much into this…………Belief will happen if you believe in something. Love, Christine
Jo great summary thanks.. I watched the Secret. Thought, word, deed creates our life? thus … we are in conrol? That is great as long as I can control my next thought? hmmm lets try…. nope… it cant be done. So how can I create my life if I cant control my next thought.???
I am… life unfolding into itself. ……That is the Secret that no one dare talk about.
The Secret is sust another marketing device of smoke and mirrors. And we all buy it hoping to find happiness through the mind. Instead of being thoughts aware of peace within…. you are Peace! aware of thoughts. There is no you that it an illusion too.
Real happiness is not in the future with items or visions. Real happiness can only be here as you.
There will be many more Secrets and Paths and Teachers to Happiness. Once everyone ends up chasing them and burns out… then they will realize the most important Secret
What you seek….you are
Until then … the world is still this Secret (the One) just pretending not to be the One.
So enjoy the dance…. her steps are perfect!!
Mike
hi jo,
thanks for your offering. no, i haven't seen 'The Secret' not really sure i want to. several freinds highly recommend it…and from what i've heard about it…..i am rather perplexed how to handle the issue. it really sounds a lot like a marketing campaign…. “get everything you've always wanted, here's how!” like others have noted.
i studied and lived in buddhist communities for 5 yrs. and i have a pretty good handle on the 'buddhist psychology' doctrine but moreso on the real, practical level of living this body-mind co-dependently fabricated experience of life. ; )
funny, or maybe sad for that matter, how Buddhist teachings get taken as pop-psychology, ie. how you can get everything you want spirtually, happily, without the drawbacks so long as you can maintain 'detachment' –by whatever those writers mean when they use those terms. this isn't really Buddhist. and then there's the mistaken view that Buddhist teachings are a philosophy… of how to lead a decent upright life, lead a life on non-conflict, and not have to really invest yourself in anything….and somehow make yourself belive that your everyday life is enlightened living as it is. this isn't quite right either.
i think most people, eclectic spiritual seekers, and even contemporary Buddhist groups, just don't have the proper root connection. so much just gets lost without the human…dare-i-say, cultural connection, from which the teachings are lived. i think all spiritual practicioners are sincere and have a a good heart…. but there's just so much they're missing. ie. not getting. it's hard to put it into words. but when you've lived in community with authentic Buddhist teachers, and you gain a 'corporal sense' of how the path is practiced…. imagine what that might mean..??…. the path isn't about ideas, or agreeing to a world view, or learning how to master/manifest your reality.
what i've learned is that these teachings are strategies, guidelines, they have a direction –it's necessarily dynamic, and when you gain insight along the path…. you see how the teachings come together…. and you see how they fall away… like they've had their place, and now with new understanding/a new paradigm in place…. there's more latitude to practice with because you see what the essence of the practice is.
i was taught and have practiced meditations on death, the foulness of the body, the body's susceptibility to illness…. things which most spiritual practitioners these days think is entirely morbid…and who would rather laud the magnificence of the human form…. i think that the neg. reaction to these practices comes from not really understanding them. as if they are really, only morbid… as if they promote anti-social, poorly adjusted members of human society. these teachings are actually invaluable. they practice creates a very serene state of mind.. that's not at all morbid. it's a techinque that allows the mind to get perspective on what having a body is about… and the mind gains detachment and freedom through that understanding. much of the advanced practices in this tradition, again, are not easily understood unless practiced and without an authentic spiritual guide…and not for the the faint-hearted either.
but all meditations are only one part of the practice. perhaps, the core of the practice, but the foundation for such is cultivating the heart through generosity, giving time and energy, ie. compassionate service, commitment (!), diligence and perserverence, —which are absolutley necessary to any progress. it's really making the most of what you have and what you can build to support yourself and your practice…. this is often balked at because pseudo-Buddhist understanding would have one believe that all such fabrications should be abandoned, all ties cut, and all things are only going to break apart and cause one suffering…. that is totally missing the boat!
the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold path are not beginning level teachings. in fact, they're realizations of the path. what that really mean: is felt, is experienced, it can't be put into words.
Along the path one definitely becomes adept. certain higher mental faculties are/can be cultivated, one sees how the mind creates it's reality, and one does gain confidence in the law of karma that they can effect change in their lives. I think the concept gets tainted though, by people who take this change to mean change on a gross level. (that is how i can gain worldy happiness) and also many people don't understand what the 'basis for action' and the 'karma that ends karma' is really about. and also misapply the teachings of karma using it as a view to justify injustice. it's actually a very intimate teaching. that one gains a more and more refined view and skill with.
well, well, so many words already.
thanks for sharing yourself.
peace and wellbeing always,
; )
Wonderful review! Thanks for posting it. For me, The Secret was a nice reminder to always be grateful, use positive visualization, and remember the power of intention. However, there is mystery in the universe! And that is a beautiful thing. Thanks for reminding me of that.
Cheers,
cole
good insights and observations jo! i feel like the tide is actually turning as we have a chance to sit with the ideas of this very problematic film.
i have done a few blog posts on this movie too and will be on integral naked in in a few days discussing the film with ken wilber - check it out!
absolutely beautiful. i salute you, and thank you for making my day! i was moved and thrilled to read your review. here's to a more whole, inclusive Humanity. thank you for the clarity and openness. gasho,
stuart
I bought and viewed “The Secret” about this time a year ago. Like with all other self-help stuffs I personally got involved with, I had the expectation that my negative life can change instantaneously just by changing my inner thoughts into thoughts that I desire to happen in my life.
It's been a struggle and frustration for me because it has never been instant. The “instant manifestation” that I expected probably is the reason why I'm still living the vicious cycle of a failing life. If I can get over this, I can probably get myself off the hook.
By getting over this “instant manifestation” expectation, I mean that on top of changing my thoughts, I have to realize that there is a process I have to undergo and endure before I can live the life I want to live. There is a path from here to there that I need to walk through. The path can be clear or hazy, smooth or rough, short or long depending on the overall current situation I'm in.
My walk through this path had never been part of my plan. Hence, my journey had always been abandoned. And, I've been wandering around finding shortcuts, never been lucky enough to get there instantly.
“The Secret” and all the other self-help instructions around should probably have to emphasize more on how to endure the actual physical journey along the path instead of just aggrandizing the end results.
The path is strickenly debilitating. If we don't have that resilience, the pain will bring us to our graves.
But, who really has all the time to build in us that resilience…
Who else but the bottom line of all the secrets to better our lives:
GOD.
Outstanding, Jo!
Here's a thought: We know that over 75% of the adult population has been on ainti-depressants; that over 25% of the population lives in poverty; I'm sure that someone somewhere has figures on other devistating “negatives”; you pointed out that people keep buying books and magazines on how to improve their lives…have you ever considered why? There is something missing in our culture that would support our acceptance of “prosperity.” We have also become a society of instant gratification and when that doesn't occur, we immediately abondon what ever we were doing and go seeking something else. I think you were right in your comment about “desiring breeds more desire.” And people are afraid of their inner selves - religion has told them that authority outside of themselves knows what is best for them. And we such an accommodating species! We give people authority over our lives all the time! from what to think, to feel and to buy. We have been taught not to think for ourselves.
The Secret has many flaws, but it makes us think about life and our place in it. I think that it is a way of opening up the door to discuss and hopefully resolve the problems we face. It makes us aware of our own power - that each of us is who we have been waiting for to save us. The Secret is a place to start. It is now up to each of us to go the next step.
Your post is worthy of reflection and re-reading - thank you for sharing your trip through the maze of thoughts and questions this topic creates.
I like to think the Secret is akin to the Tao and is ultimately very simple - maybe too simple for our monkey minds to get at first blush. It’s not about the financial gains or physical perfection; it’s about getting into the river with the kind of attitude and self-awareness that opens us to opportunities that come our way. Most especially, the opportunity to activate our highest potential and fall head over heals in love with our life.
I was watching Scorsese’s “Kundun” the other day and found myself tangling in thoughts about the Dalai Lama’s story and how he certainly could not have attracted his own exile from the land he so deeply loved. He couldn’t have been attracting that! Not with his spirit, his vibe.
But then I thought: maybe it wasn’t so much about what HE was attracting, but about what was attracting him … something on the grander scale. It was a time when the world was getting smaller very fast (radio, television, air travel, etc.) and also rushing like a rabid dog toward self-destruction (world wars I + II, nuclear proliferation, etc.). Maybe we needed him to come out of Tibet and into our consciousness, into our collective psyches. Maybe if he had been safe and secure in Tibet all this time the world would be a different place. So maybe it was the greater call among so many people in the world for a compassionate guide and role model that the “ocean of wisdom” / the living “buddha of compassion” was attracted into exile, and our backyard.
THEN I thought (see, I get how this maze turns on the rambling!!): well, the observer is always the center of the universe (I’m dipping into cosmology here - literal physics - because the universe is expanding from every point equally, the observer is unavoidably the center, no matter the vantage point). So, the universe that was calling for the Dalai Lama to be a larger, more accessible presence in our world was ultimately within the heart of the Dalai Lama himself. Which means he attracted his own exile…. As a young man, he was always curious to know more about the rest of the world, to study geography, follow the international news, connect with other world leaders. Somehow he knew he was more than just a leader in Tibet. And his destiny was to bring awareness to the vast community beyond its borders.
Sigh.
I’ve chased my tail in your blog living room. Thank you for sharing this inspiring space!
beautiful…
your review, and personal connections are so full of compassion. should we think positively? yes, and embrace positive feelings when we feel them, just as we should embrace lessons learned from suffereing when they arise. few situations in life work out exactly as we plan, think or hope they will, but if we are willing, all situations will lead to the best possible outcome, and we will be wiser for such growth.
Something just never felt right with The Secret. Stuart Davis, and now yourself, both give very good critiques of The Secret (www.stuartdavis.com/blog to all those interested) Would it be too paradoxical for me to admit that I think I used the Law of Attraction to attract myself a reason why this Law of Attraction stuff was really just a big crock of shit? lol
Maybe ;)
Your article was excellent. I have not read The Secret, but have heard and read enough about it –and the law of attraction–to get it.
It reminds me of a friend of mine who told me about a book by an author (Loiuse Hay?) who claimed all illness were a manifestation of a certain type of thinking/emotions in a person. I immediately thought what b.s. is that and refused to read the book.
In Harmonious Environment: Beautify, Detoxify & Energize Your Life, Your Home & Your Planet I describe how to manifest what you desire. There is no magic in this process; rather, a proactive approach to achieving one’s goals is suggested. I do feel that people often cast out vague “I wants” and the book describes writing down precisely what you want, feeling the emotions one would equate with that and so on.
I have had much success with manifesting in my life, but I see this as a process of co-creating ones life. Being proactive–KNOWING what you want–and achieving that goal.
Illness, sadness, grief are all a part of everyone's life, and for The Secret to suggest otherwise is insane!
I fully agree with you with what you wrote about gratitude. And about feeling satisfied with what one has accomplished. And just about everything else you wrote!
There are a few sections in Chapter One and Six on the rise of the Industrial Revolution that I think you will find interesting. The IR created the insatiable consumer…I feel that most Americans are simply voracious in their desires for more of everything (hence, the focus on monetary riches in The Secret or Oprah feeling she can accomplish everything she desires.)
Having goals and seeing them to fruition is pure joy! For example, my dream of publishing a book and then holding it in my hands the first time was indescribable! At the same token, learning gratitude—for one’s life in the present—may be the greatest secret of them all.
Jo,
You write very well. I must admit that the Secret looks like a pyramid selling scheme but i'm sure their intentions are good. I just find it hard to see people sucked into believing that suddenly they have the answer and can have everything they dreamt of.
There are some interesting pod discussions about the secret so maybe you should post your piece on there as well.
The world is at an amazing crossroads. We have everything we need but still billions go without. The environment is screaming “stop” and “slow down”. Our financial system is entering a pre-bubble phase aided by umlimited credit. We may need to reorganize they way we live…it is likely to a dematerialising process rather than the opposite.
What we all want is to be loved and cherished for who we are. We don't really want the ferrari (unless you're a complete car nut) or similar status symbol. We've made so many gains in the last 20 years but we seem to have lost our way in the desire for economic and material growth.
So maybe the Secret is just part of the conversation we need to have with ourselves and each other. Bringing the spiritual dimension together with the desire for financial wealth and material goods creates a wider debate which can only be a positive outcome.
Great stuff.
Blessings
Raf
Hi Jo,
It's funny that we travel the same road so often! I too picked up the “Ask and it is Given” book several months ago and received “The Secret” recently as a gift from a friend. My daughter Robyn said, “Mom, isn't this what you've been saying forever?” I guess I had to admit that it was. Except that I had just gleaned my belief from living and learning about things, and had always taught my kids that living with intent wasn't ever about sending wish lists out to the Santa of the Universe! It was more about right-mindedness and the realization that the rich abundance of living was available to everyone, always, and in all ways, without plea, deal, or proof of worthiness. I am not a Christian, but I have always loved what is known as the Lord's Prayer because to me, it says it all: “The Universe is perfect in its unfolding…I want for nothing. I have nothing to fear.” I also love what is known as Mehta: May we live together in peace. May our hearts remain open. May we awaken to the light of our own true Nature. May we be healed. May we be a source of healing for all beings.
When humans are able to wrap their heads around the fact that Love is all that matters, and that we are truly all ONE BEING, then everything else falls into place. We take care of each other, others take care of us. We do not accumulate stuff at the expense of our common good. We live every day nurturing life and fulfilling every requirement that allows life to continue. We need nothing, because we have everything in unending abundance.
Will we ever get there? Will we ever wake up? Act as if! Fake it til we make it!
Namaste.
Aloha Jo,
I'll try to simplify my comments….first, addressing the “huge success” of ” The secret ” — when I arrived in India I could ' feel' that I was arriving in a country with a “Spiritual Inheritance “. I don't think “The secret” is a huge success there. I think they were trying to sell a product too. You are right, in the movie, they did focus on acquiring/attracting material things to your reality and then after an hour or so they talked about health, relationships, world peace…To me that's the reason why it has been a success. It's a sign that most people are still looking for happiness in ' things '. If the movie had focused on how to attract Awareness, Balance and Health I don't think people would be so interested. It's sad, I know. I don't remember “What the bleep do we know ?” getting this kind of publicity….is that because they didn't teach us how to become millionaires ? Is that because most people felt intellectually challenged by it ? Eckhart Tolle's book “A new Earth” ? Certainly, Eckhart won't tell you how to ' find yourself ' in a BMW. The book “The secret” sold 4 times more copies than “A new Earth” & “The power of now ” combined.
I do not deny the Law of attraction and Energy,both are very real to me. I do believe that we are affecting our reality, things and people around us. I think the outside is a reflection of the inside, so first you find happiness within, then you manisfest the outside. And even if you do have 'things” you won't be looking for your sense of self in them in order to feel happy, because you know who you are inside.
What you questioned about children attracting poverty, violence and disease to themselves, I think that we could find many different explanations depending on your beliefs. What you choose to believe it's your Truth. Someone who believes in reencarnation ,for example , could say that the child born in South Africa did “attract ” those circunstances to herself because of what she did in a past life.
We can sit here and analise, question and try to understand…but my belief is that the most significant answers we are looking for are beyond the level of the mind and matter. At some point we'll have to stop thinking and go within, every day, every day…to connect with Spirit.
Suffering exists….how you react to it is all that matters. How you label it. How you grow from it. Again, WHAT YOU BELIEVE IS YOUR TRUTH. IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO CHOOSE TO FEEL ' FANTASTIC ' WE NEED FIRST TO BECOME AWARE, TO LEARN NOT TO IDENTIFY WITH EVERY SINGLE EMOTION AND THOUGHT WE HAVE. IT'S A PROCESS. AFTER REALIZING MY DIVINITY , AFTER RELEASING MY PAST AND STARTING TO LIVE RIGHT NOW… BECOMING AWARE AND PRESENT,THEN I DO BELIEVE I HAVE THE POWER TO CHOOSE TO ELEVATE MYSELF EVERY DAY AND THE POWER TO CHOOSE TO FEEL POSITIVE AND AT PEACE EVERY DAY. It's the Journey.
Suffering also brings light, spiritual growth and awareness. I don't think 9/11 was an 'accident' . I think we need to wake up NOW. I think 9/11 was a wake up call. And how are ' we' reacting to it ?By killing more innocent people and creating more suffering. Spiritually we are starving. If we don't want to become aware by choice it will be through suffering. My mother would have never quit smoking and become a spiritual person if she hadn't had cancer. Cancer changed her forever. It forced her to grow spiritually. It took her out of denial and depression.
How many more Katrinas we need to start to do something about Global warming ? Things we can do in our own home and town, that most people are not doing.
It's wake up call, after wake up call…….and most people, right now, are ,at their homes, watching 'The secret ' ….visualising and feeling the feelings of having/driving their dream car (that runs on gasoline) and living in that mansion and having millions of dollars in their bank account.
I appreciate your e-mail letting me know about your blog. Thanks for sharing, Jo. I hope I hear from you.
Peace,
-Giselle
Excellent review, my dear.
Jo -
I have just read your thoughts about 'The Secret' in your blog (from beginning to end) and I agree with you in full. We just had Susan Wisehart as a guest speaker at HolEssence this past Friday evening. She shared her thoughts about the dangers of this type of 'preaching'. Her perspective is that when you manifest from 'ego' as opposed to manifesting from 'spirit/soul' you (and others) can end up in a very non-positive place.
Thank you for making your thoughts public, and for doing it a clear, concise, articulate, and candid way.
I appreciate your heart,
- Laurie
I saw The Peaceful Warrior over the weekend and in it there was a brief mention of “laws” and that instantly remineded me of the Law of Attraction. I will only speak as a common man and former police officer, and say that a law, is someting that can not be violated without consequence. If you violate the law of gravity, and jump off a building you become a spatter on the side walk. Does this mean that if I violate the law of attraction, I will be punished? Consider magnets, they attract each other and they repell each other and there is no grey area. It's one condition or the other. Positive or negative. Guess you could call it a Law of Magnatisim.
Did my dad violate the law of attraction when he died from a horrible battle with cancer? My next door neighbor is lying in her bed, with vicodin running through her viens, 24/7 waiting to die from cancer. Her husband has just learned he has prostate cancer. Did they accidently attract cancer into their lives by failing to attract health?
Read Jo's other blog titled CFS and Moving. She speaks of the problem we sometimes have with truth. The truth is I would love to have lots of money in the bank and be able to travel the world and buy nice things, but I don't and have not. It seems we place out trust and value a person's worth by the things they have or have done. The opinions of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs matter because one has more money than God and they other has redefined they way we buy and listen to music, and created a whole new way of animation (Pixar) and designs really cool looking computers. What about the opinion of the Mexican man or woman selling flowers or oranges next to the Freeway on ramp?
In The Peaceful Warrior, Dan was not sure if he should trust Soc and spend time with him, because Soc worked the night shif in a gas station. Dan automatically assumed that because Soc worked at a gas station, is worth and contribution could not really be all that important.
The Secret is not a Law. A physical law, like gravity works in downtown New York City and in the streets of Calcutta.
The Law of Attraction only works in the First World. What about the Third World where most of humanity lives?
If only I had / did / <fill in the blank here>, then I would be happy. Really? And then as soon as you get your new whatever, the newness will ware off and then you'll no longer be happy. That should be a Law of the Universe!
Hey, Jo.
I agree with much that you have shared. Today I got a link from a friend about the 105 Laws. The Law of Attraction is number 6 of the 105! Check it out. Maybe when we put them all together, we will have the whole picture. It is never just one thing!
Much Love to all!
Julia
As Albert has said a great review of profound reflections.
Just because a million people believe in some THING - doesn't mean that they have to be correct - the Hidden Persuaders confirmed that for me many moons ago - and yes the funny thing about desire is that it usually creates more desire.
Lest we individually be mis-led by whatever anyone else says - IS how we should THINK DO or BE - the moment by moment perfection of LIFE is LOVE and the only way we can come to that conclusion is ON OUR OWN
Hello Jo,
Please forgive me for not knowing who you are. It seems though that I know you very well. I feel you. Yep, I have those experieinces about feeling other's distresses too. Once I was a checker a a grocery store. At times I felt sick to my stomach or would get a pain out of nowhere as people passed by, so did these feelings. It got so I would look into their eyes right away to make contact, to mentally ask them how they REALLY are when I said “Hi how are you today??” I tried to work with it, to develop it even though it caused a lot of distress and was pretty draining. It was not a reliable thing. This gift seems to come and go with me. I try not to focus too much on it these days but certainly pay attention to it when it hits me hard. Someone around me needs help.
As for the Secret ~ haven't seen it. It seemed a bit disingenuous right off. Not that these folks don't believe it, but to explain the complexities of life in such simple terms kind of left me cold. As you say, what about those that obviously did not invidte tradgedy because they were children etc. I do believe that if you promote positivity in your life, you are much more likely to be met with same. I resond to smiles and gentle gestures more positively than to an erasable, mean spirited jerk pretty much consistently. How about you?
I think you are great stuff and will check in to learn more about your thoughts.
Have a great day lady,
Lynda
Dear Jo,
Your words express exactly how I feel about “THE SECRET” . There is so much greed energy coming from that DVD. As someone who has lived with chronic illness for over 20 years, I understand the importance of the positive thinking as well as the law of attraction. There is no balance to the Secret- Chris Rock makes a joke about “The Secret” He mentions a child starving in africa- “maybe he just did not visualize being able to eat enough”.
THis says it all. We do not know The answers to life's secrets…. We can say we do and put it on a DVD making quite a lot of money- Telling people ask and you will get it— look at a BMW enough and you will have it- the spirituality- the life lessons- the understanding that thank God God did not give me all that I asked for….who knows who I would be today.
Thank You again Jo for sharing your thoughts on this- All the best, Julia