The Latest Craze: "The Secret"
Seems like "The Secret" has finally gone mainstreams. Seems like there are two teams going against each other: the one's who dogmatically oppose it and the ones who dogmatically support it. Here is what I notice, completely objectively. The people who oppose "The Secret" attack the philosophy because of Secrets word choices and props. The people who support "Secret" will make statements like "I didn't even read the criticism, I don't like critics so fuck them. They are negative." Labels: Commentary
Okay, I must state my point. I completely agree with the Secret philosophy! However I do not join either team because both have it wrong (in my opinion of course).
The critics have some very interesting arguments, mostly in how "The Secret" communicates its philosophy. "Secret" makes the watcher really think that all they have to do is focus on what they want and they will get it. Example: the young kid who wants the bike and all he has to do is focus on the bike real hard and it appears.
"The Secret" hid one very vital message. Actually, they didn't hide it, they just didn't emphasize it enough. In order to get, you must give. We must give our gift to the world and we will receive. If I give my gift, the world will balance out and give back what I focused on.
The above is the point The Secret didn't emphasize hard enough. Other than that, everything is all good.
Also, a warning to "Secret" followers, especially those who do not even read criticism. The only reason I found the "The Secret" was because I was critical of my current philosophies, something didn't fit. I wouldn't have even bothered to watch it. Also, many "Secret" followers do not read the criticism because they judge the articles by their titles. That is ludicrous, the critics are part of this world and we should have the compassion to not judge them especially if we don't read their point of view. At first I was rolling my eyes a bit at the critics thinking they have a shitty message but they had some great points to expand on "The Secret"
The critics I came across are:
Master Key Coaching
Dr. Paul's take (which isn't a bad criticism, just an expansion on points)
And a few others
Some criticism is a bit one sided, attacked "The Secret" down to their exact word choices and comma spacing, that was a bit ridiculous:
Skeptico: The Secret
All in all, "The Secret" is not perfect. In fact, when push comes to shove, I would say "Think and Grow Rich" (TGR) is much more solid than Secret at communicating this philosophy because:
"The Secret" is just ONE law of attraction. The book TGR goes over much more, but I am very grateful "The Secret" was made to emphasize one of the more important aspects of the Law of Attraction. It is a very entertaining and feel good movie. I agree with Stephane (ideagams) that this movie is incredible to show girls.
However, if you find yourself dogmatically opposing or supporting Secret, realize that Secret is NOT nearly a perfect representation of The Secret and the critics have some good points. YOU must be confident enough in your mind that you can read criticism and it won't infect your brain. Again, it made me sad seeing all the inflexibility some people have when it comes to "The Secret"
.
One of the best part of the teachings of the Law of Attraction as I have received it from the Abraham-Hicks material is the importance of the Art of Allowing, along with the idea that we are not here to fix a broken world.
This liberates me from trying to convince anyone else that I am right. I don't care so much what anyone else thinks.
Anyone who learns the principles behind LOA and really practices it, experiences the benefits.
Are these NEW principles? Of course not.
The power of creativity, kindness, gratitude, and dare I say it... PRAYER... these have all been around as long as man has been a sentient being :)
I am mildly amused at all the debate.
From my humble perspective, I am a bit on the side of not reading "the critics". Most of them are individuals who are threatened and have never opened their minds to the possibilities.
The bigger issue to me is that so many people and institutions seem to feel that they have "THE ANSWER" and feel it is their place to tell people how to live.
The LOA teachings seem radical to me simply in that it teaches us to honor our deep spiritual roots and decide for ourselves how we want to live.
The Secret is just a movie. If people want to treat it like more or less - that's their choice. The real gold is what the movie might lead you to next.
Posted by
Anonymous |
Sunday, March 25, 2007 6:40:00 AM
While I myself am a believer in The Secret, I must agree with BigSend when he said that the movie is not perfect. However the teachers of the Secret also teaches other valuable Laws of Success (6 or 7 more) in addition to the Law of Attraction. These other laws are thought in detail in SGR (Secrets of Getting Rich) seminars. All of the laws should encompass many other similar teachings of other experts including Napoleon Hill's Thing and Grow Rich.
I also agree with BigSend's point about criticisms. Without criticisms, we would not be able to know how to improve our philosophies, the results we wish to achieve and ultimately ourselves.
Posted by
ZZ |
Friday, March 30, 2007 12:02:00 AM
I've been thinking a lot about this. The Secret is almost identical (in methodology) to a tiny pamphlet that's been out for almost a century, called "It Works". I heard about that thru Zan's amazon list and bought it (it was like $3 or something). IN reading it, I too recognized the similiarities between 'manifestation' and 'prayer'. I completely agree with the commentor above who said "The power of creativity, kindness, gratitude, and dare I say it... PRAYER... these have all been around as long as man has been a sentient being :)" It's true, and they're all powerful techniques for achieving your goals.
Posted by
Anonymous |
Sunday, April 01, 2007 1:22:00 PM