"The Secret"?

Okay, so who's heard of, read, or seen "The Secret"? My church is about to do a whole series on it, and I've barely heard of it.

I know Oprah did a piece on it a while ago, but that's about all I know.

So, what's up wit dis?

 

all i know is that a lot of people are pitching it and they have the dvds for sale at my local whole foods.

a quick google of it confirms my suspicions about what it is. basically, it's a new age self-help deal.

the basic premise is that if you think positive and visualize what you want, it'll happen -- or at least, you'll increase the chance of it happening. i wonder if people can envision getting a refund.

 

the self fulfilling prophesy theory.

 

i posted about it in rant and rave -- search "secret" in the title.

it's hogwash. i've read a couple of great debunking articles.

my mom went all goofnuts over it -- bought all us kids the DVD.

i turned it off when they showed somone actually lifting elephant poop.

retarted. anyone who buys into this stuff is just a searcher -- they're constantly searching to improve their lives with some key, instead of actually doing it.

 

I read a really good review of this recently, but I can't find it,

What I gathered from it is this: It's a philosophy of sorts that gets "rediscovered" periodically throughout history. "Name it & claim it," "The power of thinking big," that sort of thing.

This is actually a central part of my own pagan philosophy, with some additional caveats. It is often twisted into a sort of "prosperity gospel."

My own personal take on it (just based on the review, not having read the book itself):

I believe that thoughts have a sort of energy, & that negative thoughts can draw negative results, & positive thoughts can draw positive results. I also believe that some stuff is just beyond our individual power to control. Shit happens.

Further, I believe that selfishness is a negative in & of itself. Even if you are able to generate enough "power" to, for example, "think yourself rich," if that is your primary or only goal, you suffer in non-material ways in proportion to your own selfishness--sooner or later.

I know you're looking for a specifically Christian perspective on this. Don't know if anything I've said will be of value, but FWIW . . .

I WISH I could find that particular review--it was good & very well balanced. I'll post here if I find it.

Larry, did you post a link with whatever you said in R&R? If so, I'm thinking it's likely that that's where I saw that review. Can't find it at the moment, tho.

 

A cynic might go a little further and say that someone has finally managed to actually squeeze the gospel part out of the prosperity gospel. I mean, from a religious standpoint, now you don't even need to accept Jesus to have a good life - you just need to visualize doing it now.

 

Actually, I wasn't. I was interested in any and all thoughts about it. And as always, your contribution is very valuable, and very much appreciated.

 

I've been listening to this John Piper guy this past week. He's a little bit too conservative for me, but has some challenging thoughts. Here's a clip where he's speaking to the more general self-focused, detached from traditional religion type of spirituality taking various forms today:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELRtXBxw2VE

 

I have a couple of problems with the whole pre-packaged franchise version of this brand-name philosophy, but I still recommend a skeptical reading or viewing of it, simply because the substance of its core principles need to be put out there.

My first problem with it is the obvious marketing angle. It will be dismissed and overlooked for that alone by some. It gives it a kind of trendy Da Vinci Code Oprah Flavor of the Month vibe that kind of disqualifies it for inclusion in any meaningful philosophy that will stand the test of time.

My second, and biggest problem with it, is that it's very, very incomplete. Visualization and confidence/belief in your visions is only a start when it comes to achieving goals and objectives. The importance of vision and confidence being combined with action is completely left out. And, true to the Oprah-esque school of New Age marketing, we are given childish warnings about how the "power of the Secret" can only be used for nice, helpful, white-light types of purposes. Which is bull. Tyrants throughout the centuries have known the power of bringing about change in the world in accordance with their own personal vision, their own will. The "Law of Attraction" is real, if not fully understood, and questions of morality and ethics affect it no more than they effect the law of gravity.

All this said, there are a few gems of wisdom and useful knowledge hiding under the feel-good fluff and self-help guru pitches, and I think the world still needs to comprehend them in a bad way. Probably the most important of them all is that it's you - you, the individual, and nobody else - who is responsible for what the content and experience of your life will be. And even to this day, the power and scope of the potential of the human will/vision/mind is still sorely underestimated. Every great deed, every great creation, philosophy, or world-changing achievement began as an inner vision.

This principle is responsible for the eternal myth of the magician, and is the foundation of basically any self-willed occult system you might care to name... "good," "evil," or otherwise. The principle of the Law of Attraction as presented in The Secret also explains the power of prayer in terms any person of traditional faith can comprehend and apply. How the individual might interpret these principles is just window dressing.

Good, vitally important principles, flawed and incomplete package. They left out the importance of action; I have no idea why. A starting point only. That's my take.

 

Thanks, ECILAM--you've made some excellent points!