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secret manifestation intention co-creation reality
June 2009 
"The Secret" Isn't Secret But is a Form of Spiritual Malpractice
Posted on Jun 30th, 2007
by 
onemind
onemind
In June, I co-taught a four-week course on the blockbuster best-selling book & DVD, "The Secret." Since then, some of my friends -- most recently Teiwaz Abdur-Raheem, who is a fellow Zaadster -- asked me what I thought of the phenomenon, particularly in view of the harsh criticism leveled against it (see, e.g., this recent AP wire story).
So is "The Secret" really a long-lost ancient wisdom teaching that holds the absolute and only key to fabulous wealth and perpetual health? Or is it a con job that has potentially damaging consequences where it creates a "blame-the-victim" mentality?
The truth, as is so often the case, lies somewhere between, though in this case it lies somewhat closer to the "ancient truth" end of the scale than the "dangerous con job" end.
I could write a book on this topic, so pardon me if I run a little longer than usual and be grateful I'm not burdening you here with all of my thoughts. Or, of course, simply stop reading at any time!
First, let me say that there's nothing secret about "The Secret." This is very ancient teaching. In the modern era, New Thought has been talking about this for over 100 years. Abraham-Hicks, a channeled spiritual being, has been talking about nothing but the Law of Attraction for the past 30 or more years.
This book/movie can best and most charitably be viewed, I think, as an attempt to popularize and make accessible a deep spiritual truth stated by Unity co-founder Charles Fillmore this way: Thoughts held in mind produce after their kind. Because it is an attempt to broaden the popularity of and exposure to an idea which is not necessarily simple (though it is easy), it necessarily dilutes and over-simplifies. In the process, it makes a number of mistakes. One of these is failing to discuss the natural flow of action that derives from a passionate drive to achieve something. Another mistake it makes is in substituting the thing for the feeling the thing brings.
Positive thinking -- using the power of intention -- is essential to accomplishing almost anything in life. But it is not in and of itself sufficient. Henry Ford is credited with saying, "If you think you can or if you think you can't, you're right." Negative thinking cannot be overcome by action and effort. At the same time, positive thinking evidences itself as fruitful action. Thought + emotion + action ==> manifestation, at least for all but the most enlightened of beings.
Furthermore, focusing on the thing you think you want will often have less positive an impact than you believe. Do you really want that person to love you or do you really want a working relationship? Or do you really want to feeling of knowing you are loved for who you are? In my spiritual coaching practice, I almost always find it is the last point that people really resonate with; everything else is a means to that end. So focus on the end result.
Positive thought about the feeling you want to achieve coupled with emotional energy will naturally lead to divine right action that will accomplished the desired outcome. THAT is the law of attraction. There are many ways of explaining and describing it, but that fundamental truth cannot be denied.
Oh, there's so much more I want to say. But I'll close with just one observation about the blame-the-victim outcome that many of the critics of "The Secret" are concerned with. The incorrect impression or message of "The Secret" is that one is entirely responsible for all of the events and circumstances of one's life. This ignores the very real issue of group consciousness (aka race consciousness) which is also creating in the same time-space continuum as you. And that's just the simplistic answer. In Truth, one does not create one's own reality. Rather, one creates one's own experience of reality. You may not see how you can change the circumstances of your life (though you can, given sufficient intentional energy, emotion and motivated action) but you can always change how you experience that reality, how it affects you.
Namste
Dan
So is "The Secret" really a long-lost ancient wisdom teaching that holds the absolute and only key to fabulous wealth and perpetual health? Or is it a con job that has potentially damaging consequences where it creates a "blame-the-victim" mentality?
The truth, as is so often the case, lies somewhere between, though in this case it lies somewhat closer to the "ancient truth" end of the scale than the "dangerous con job" end.
I could write a book on this topic, so pardon me if I run a little longer than usual and be grateful I'm not burdening you here with all of my thoughts. Or, of course, simply stop reading at any time!
First, let me say that there's nothing secret about "The Secret." This is very ancient teaching. In the modern era, New Thought has been talking about this for over 100 years. Abraham-Hicks, a channeled spiritual being, has been talking about nothing but the Law of Attraction for the past 30 or more years.
This book/movie can best and most charitably be viewed, I think, as an attempt to popularize and make accessible a deep spiritual truth stated by Unity co-founder Charles Fillmore this way: Thoughts held in mind produce after their kind. Because it is an attempt to broaden the popularity of and exposure to an idea which is not necessarily simple (though it is easy), it necessarily dilutes and over-simplifies. In the process, it makes a number of mistakes. One of these is failing to discuss the natural flow of action that derives from a passionate drive to achieve something. Another mistake it makes is in substituting the thing for the feeling the thing brings.
Positive thinking -- using the power of intention -- is essential to accomplishing almost anything in life. But it is not in and of itself sufficient. Henry Ford is credited with saying, "If you think you can or if you think you can't, you're right." Negative thinking cannot be overcome by action and effort. At the same time, positive thinking evidences itself as fruitful action. Thought + emotion + action ==> manifestation, at least for all but the most enlightened of beings.
Furthermore, focusing on the thing you think you want will often have less positive an impact than you believe. Do you really want that person to love you or do you really want a working relationship? Or do you really want to feeling of knowing you are loved for who you are? In my spiritual coaching practice, I almost always find it is the last point that people really resonate with; everything else is a means to that end. So focus on the end result.
Positive thought about the feeling you want to achieve coupled with emotional energy will naturally lead to divine right action that will accomplished the desired outcome. THAT is the law of attraction. There are many ways of explaining and describing it, but that fundamental truth cannot be denied.
Oh, there's so much more I want to say. But I'll close with just one observation about the blame-the-victim outcome that many of the critics of "The Secret" are concerned with. The incorrect impression or message of "The Secret" is that one is entirely responsible for all of the events and circumstances of one's life. This ignores the very real issue of group consciousness (aka race consciousness) which is also creating in the same time-space continuum as you. And that's just the simplistic answer. In Truth, one does not create one's own reality. Rather, one creates one's own experience of reality. You may not see how you can change the circumstances of your life (though you can, given sufficient intentional energy, emotion and motivated action) but you can always change how you experience that reality, how it affects you.
Namste
Dan
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Thank you, Dan!
If you'd like to keep writing and sharing, i would be most appreciative…
Would you please define “emotional energy”? Is that like channeling our emotions toward the positive end of the spectrum, instead of being taken in by our emotional rollercoaster rides?
I LOVE the fact that “one creates one's own experience of reality” – so true, and so powerful.
Teiwaz
“Emotional energy,” as I use it in this context at least, is the sense of power you place on or behind your thoughts. A thought, in and of itself, has no power; it just is. It is an idea, which is, of course, the true fundamental building block of all there is.
An idea turns into action as a result of emotional energy we put behind it. The more emotional energy an idea has for us, the more we focus upon it, the more we send up what Abraham-Hicks calls “rockets of desire” around it. You may at one and the same time want a new job and a new relationship and an ice cream cone. But you will put different emotional energy charges behind those desires at different times. As you do, you cause the desire or thought with more emotional energy to be stronger in your vibrational field. Stronger energy leads to more powerful thoughts which in turn tend to attract more resources more quickly toward their fulfillment.
So there is a degree to which emotional energy needs to be channeled, which will have the salutary side effect of avoiding the rollercoaster ride, but the real purpose of emotional energy is to activate and actualize more well-being in our lives by putting emotional energy behind the things that are most important to us.
In fact, the amount of emotional energy we put behind a thought is an indicator of how important that thought is ot us.
Thank you for this ~ I love the movie The Secret and agree with most of its teachings but I had a hard time believing that we are responsible for all the events brought into our lives, for example, did the victims of 9/11 or Hurricaine Katrina bring those disasters upon themselves? I think not and I always had a hard time getting my mind around this but our perception of our own reality can be changed and again, it is correct that this is a very ancient teaching.
I was very interested in what you wrote. I enjoy The Secret but I always felt there was a part missing to their message so I just use the CD to rejuvenate myself when necessary. I think that just by getting out the message that people need to think more positively they are doing a good service. With so many people focused on the negative today….we need as much information as possible to turn the energy around. I do agree that they is more that they could add to The Secret…..but maybe we should look at it like a Kindergarten book…as opposed to a College Book?
Life is what we make it by how we interpret the events we experience.