`The Secret` by Rhonda Byrne

New Age Confidential : Rhonda Byrne 's The Secret

The first secret revealed in The Secret is author ' Rhonda Byrne is a woman of few written words , and those few will likely not end up on anyone 's short list of world-changing philosophy ( I want to let you in on a secret to The Secret . The shortcut to anything you want in your life is to BE and FEEL happy now (100 . The second secret is that she has not written anything new instead she has patched together the tips anecdotes and thumbnail philosophies

of twenty-four amazing teachers (xi . The best kept secret is the amazing teachers ' themselves unless the reader frequents the New Age or Self Help or Personal Growth sections of the local bookstore , or had the experience of attending a B-List ' motivational seminar (there is no A-list ' Zig Ziglar Barbara Bush or Colin Powell found here ) most will be unknown . What is painfully obvious is with very few exceptions , have any mainstream academic credentials or positions and all are tireless self-promoters of their specific flavor of self-improvement (186-198 . Byrne 's book is simply the latest in a long and diverse line of self-help books , fads and programs that could be considered laughable except for what it represents : the acceptance of new mythology and pseudo-science the loss of personal responsibility and goal-directed work ethic and the pervasive search for easy personal wealth

Byrne has a simple and noble reason for divulging the Secret

(to ) bring joy to billions around the world . The Secret team is experiencing the realization of that intention every day , as we receive thousands upon thousands of letters from people across the world , of all ages , all races , and all nationalities .expressing gratitude for the joy of The Secret .there isn 't a single thing that you cannot do with this knowledge .The Secret can give you whatever you want (xi

The patient reader will apparently need to catch the next printing or perhaps The Son of Secret ' for a nation-by-nation tally of Secret Success Stories ' from Rwanda , Afghanistan , Iraq , or the Golan Heights In the interim they will have to accept the word of Bob Proctor author of the international bestseller , You Were Born Rich (194 ) as he explains The Secret is the law of attraction ! You can go right back to the ancient Babylonians . They 've always known this .and their great prosperity has been well documented by scholars (5 . Mike Dooley author of the internationally acclaimed audio program Infinite Possibilities : The Art of Living Your Dreams (198 ) fleshes out this profound doctrine : Thoughts become things (9 ) If the reader finds they are out of their depth in deciphering The Secret , Dr . Fred Wolf , a quantum physicist Newsweek refers to as on the fringe of mainstream science (Adler , 1 ) simplifies it for easier digestion

I 'm not talking to you from the point of view of wishful thinking or imaginary craziness . I 'm talking to you from a deeper , basic understanding . Quantum physics really begins to point to this discovery It says that you can 't have a Universe without mind entering into it and that the mind is actually shaping the very thing that is being perceived (21

Once Dr . Fred 's clarification has set in , it 's time to follow on to The Secret Made Simple . Here Bob Doyle , creator and facilitator of the Wealth Beyond Reason program (190 ) starts to add some real know-how to the program : It 's really so simple . `What am I attracting right now ' Well , how do you feel ? `I feel good ' Well good , keep doing that (32 . And with that , you 're on the road ! With perseverance and according to Michael Bernard Smith , who serves on international panels with spiritual luminaries (186 ) soon you can begin to feel prosperous . You can begin to feel the love that 's surrounding you , even if it 's not there (35 . Well , that 's simple enough for anyone to understand

Byrne gives the reader The Secret in a simple three-step program . First is Ask as Dr . Homeless Joe ' Vitale , homeless twenty years ago who now holds a doctorate degree in Metaphysical Science (196 states

This is really fun . It 's like having the Universe as your catalogue . You flip through it and say I 'd like to have this experience and I 'd like to have that product and I 'd like to have a person like that ' It is You placing your with the Universe . It 's really that easy (48

Step two is Believe . Faith is always a big issue for a lot of folks but Dr . Homeless Joe is there with you : the Universe will start to rearrange itself to make it happen for you . You don 't need to know how it 's going to come about . You don 't need to know how the Universe will rearrange itself (51 . Step three is Receive . Lisa Nichols , a powerful advocate of personal empowerment (194 ) explains this is the final step begin to feel wonderful about it . Feel the way you will feel once it arrives . Feel it now (52 . If anyone is left wondering how this can work when you can 't even get your burger your way at the drive-through , Beckwith explains this is a feeling Universe . If you just intellectually believe something , but you have no corresponding feeling underneath that , you don 't necessarily have enough power to manifest what you want in your life . You have to feel it (53 . The lesson learned : feel the need for the double cheeseburger , no onions extra pickle

Byrne digresses a bit to cover a couple of powerful processes ' just in case the reader somehow missed the wrong days in elementary school be grateful and visualize . Interestingly both concepts read more like something in Star Trek 's Ferengi Rules of Acquisition . Gratitude isn 't as simple as many are lead to believe . It is not simply the concept of appreciation for whatever assets and attributes you may have . According to Marci Shimoff , a Chicken Soup co-author and a transformational leader who speaks passionately about personal development and happiness (195-196 ) gratitude is absolutely the way to bring more into your life (74 . Visualization is apparently equally important to bring in the goodies . According to Dr . Homeless Joe this is such a holographic experience - so real in this moment - that you don 't even feel as if you need the car , because it feels like you have it already (83 . In a few select words Byrne proclaims Dr . Vitale 's words brilliantly sum up the place you want to get yourself to when visualizing . In that field , you have everything now . When you feel that , you will know it (83

So , now that all the steps and fundamentals are in place , it 's time for the payoff , and what a payoff is presented : the secrets to money relationships , health , the world , to You , and to life . of it is as difficult as it sounds

According to David Schirmer , who teaches people how to create unlimited wealth by developing a mindset that is conducive to wealth (195

When I first understood The Secret , every day I would get a bunch of bills in the mail . I thought how do I turn this around ' So I thought what if I just visualized checks coming in the mail ' Within just one month , things started to change . It is amazing today I just get checks in the mail . I get a few bills , but I get more checks than bills (104

According to Byrne .we have received hundreds and hundreds of letters from people who have said . they have received unexpected checks in the mail . And it happened because as they gave their focus and attention to David 's story , they brought checks into them (104 . For those readers more tuned to the Internet Economy , the book is silent on whether the technique works with PayPal

Developing the ideal relationship is not as simple as visualizing your perfect mate 's qualities and signaling your intent to the Universe Sometimes you must go beyond the three steps of Ask , Believe , and Receive . Sometimes , according to life adventurer ' Mike Dooley you have to act as if . He recounts the story of a woman for the right guy , but it just wasn 't happening . And then she realized she had not really internalized the reality . As soon as she made the significant changes in her life to accommodate a mate , such as parking on one side of the garage to make room for his car , and sleeping on one side of the bed to make room for him , and moving her clothes to make room in the wardrobe for his , well , as expected , he appeared . After taking these powerful actions .he arrived in her life and they are now happily married (116 . The lesson learned : woe be to the bed-hogs , for they shall not inherit a mate

The Secret to Health can be simple - you cannot `catch ' anything unless you think you can (132 ) or complex . For the complex we turn to Dr . John Hagelin , world renowned quantum physicist , educator , and public policy expert ' according to Byrne 's biography (192 . What is not mentioned is his position as Minister of Science and Technology of the Global Country of World Peace ' at Maharishi University of Management nor his receipt of the 1994 Ig Noble Award for Improbable Research (Hagelin 1 , Improbable 1 ) According to Dr . Hagelin

Happier thoughts lead to essentially a happier biochemistry . A happier healthy body . Negative thoughts and stress have been shown to seriously degrade the body and the functioning of the brain , because it 's our thoughts and emotions that are continuously reassembling , reorganizing re-creating our body (133

The lesson learned : don 't worry , be happy . It doesn 't seem so shallow when it comes from a world-renowned quantum physicist

Byrne 's Secret to the World seems just a bit conflicted . Lisa Nichols reminds us that it 's not your job to change the world , or the people around you . It 's your job to go with the flow inside of the Universe and to celebrate it inside the world that exists (146 . Fair enough go with the flow ' is an easy-enough mantra . And fortunately according to Michael Beckwith , the truth is there 's more than enough good to go around ' which is certainly a relief (147 . But before the reader can relax and absorb , Dr . Dennis Waitley , one of America 's most respected authors ' whose ' audio album The Psychology of Winning is the all-time bestselling program on self-mastery (196 ) admonishes most of the leaders in the past missed the great part of The Secret , which is to empower and share with others (152 . The lesson learned : change the world around you . Or not

The Secret to You relies once again on Ig Noble Award Winner Dr . John Hagelin . The universe is Energy . We are Energy . Quantum mechanics confirm it . Quantum cosmology confirms it . That the Universe essentially emerges from thought and all of this matter around us is just precipitated thought . Ultimately we are the source of the Universe Create anything (160 . If you don 't trust quantum mechanics , turn to God . James Ray , a student of the principles of true wealth and prosperity his entire life ' and developer of The Science of Success and Harmonic Wealth (195 ) instructs every tradition has told you that you were created in the image and likeness of the creative source That means that you have God potential and power to create the world are you are (164 . The lesson learned : we are the World , uh , Universe There is no separation between Church and Science

Finally the reader reaches the final payoff , The Secret to Life . Here the reader gleans the wisdom of Neale Donald Walsch , modern day spiritual messenger ' and author of the Conversations with God series (197 ) who after speaking with God proclaims if you experience joy eating a salami sandwich , then do that (178 . He doesn 't mention whether God gets it his way ' at the burger drive through , but one can assume . Quantum physics is in happy now . Feel good now . That 's the only thing you have to do . If that 's the only thing you get from reading this book , then you have received the greatest part of The Secret (179 . A bargain indeed at 23 .95 US 28 .99 Canada . The lesson learned : visualize a refund check in the mail

Given the popularity of the film and book , and given the dubious value of what it contains , the question arises if there is any harm in buying into the concepts , and if so , is it real ' science or pseudo-science . As stated above , there is hardly anything new in The Secret and much can be traced to nineteenth century New Thought authors such as Prentice Mulford and Wallace Wattles , whom Byrne acknowledges (193 , 197 . Early twentieth-century work by Norman Vincent Peale , author of The Power of Positive Thinking , and Dale Carnegie author of How to Win Friends and Influence People follow the vein Virtually the entire contemporary self-help ' genre is dominated by Wayne Dyer and Deepak Chopra . All of them focus on the facet of human biology that is least understood : the brain and mental processes . Others take a more spiritual approach , and perhaps the most notable is A Course in Miracles , allegedly the word of Jesus Christ which automatically came to Dr . Helen Schucman of a period of seven years beginning in 1965 (Miracles , vii . Regardless of approach it is the fascination with the power of the mind which fuels the field . The power of thought is evidenced on both anecdotal and empirical levels . Few would discount the ability of attitude to be a self-fulfilling prophecy , with a positive attitude certainly preferable . Recent studies indicate the quest to determine and measure the power of the mind through investigation of thought and prayer affecting healing . Few will argue with the concept that virtually everything real ' first existed in thought . Science is still searching for the answers to the relationship of mental powers and reality

The fallacy with The Secret is in what is left out , where empirical science becomes unquestioningly absent . There are no testimonials from successful ' - however measured , but for argument 's sake materially - people testifying to the validity of it all . Bill Gates , Malcolm Forbes and Donald Trump are not on record stating all they did was ask believe , and receive . They may state that they did in fact take thought to prosperous reality , but likely as asked if I could do it believed in myself , worked my butt off , and received the fruit of my labor ' What Byrne and others cannot do is offer anything resembling empirical evidence up to independent scrutiny . Instead they use a round-robin approach of referring to each others ' expert status ' and authority ' in an endless self-validating cycle . A belief in scientific method is suspended there is not a single study references by Byrne or anyone else along the lines of we gave 500 people this method and compared them after one year to 500 people who did not have the method and here are the results ' When they do attempt to construct a scientific model , the result as Dr . Hagelin discovered in 1994 attempting to show the use of Transcendental Meditation decreased the crime rate in Washington , D .C , is to fail not just miserably , but well enough to earn the Ig Noble Award (Improbable 1

Then how is it seemingly normal , rational people are willing to spend a fair amount of money to buy or see The Secret and accept its tenets at face value ? The answer begs another question - why not ? Author and skeptic Michael Shermer quoted a very illustrative 1990 Gallop poll in his classic Why People Believe Weird Things . According to the poll 67 of respondents believed they had psychic experiences , 41 believed man and dinosaurs lived at the same time , 46 believed in ESP , 52 believed in astrology , 22 believed aliens existed on earth , and 33 believed in the existence of Atlantis (Shermer , 26 . He goes on to state the reason people believe weird things is because they want to . It makes them feel good (275 . Byrne is certainly not the first nor will she be the last to attempt to make a great deal of money knowing , as Shermer points out , for most people , hope springs eternal that if this is not the best of all possible worlds , it soon will be . This hope is the wellspring of religious myths , superstitions , and New Age beliefs (256 . There is a sense among some people that if enough people say it is so , then it must be true . Here is the strength of The Secret Byrne doesn 't try to write the book as a personal revelation or condensation of other 's work . Instead , she lines up her twenty-four amazing teachers ' to give the lessons after all , if they all say it is so well then it must be so

Byrne is a newcomer to the genre , and apparently that may be a reason she was unable to line up the two real heavyweights ' of the self-help world , Drs . Wayne Dyer and Deepak Chopra to add to her list of amazing teachers . For Chopra it must have been either laughable or more of the same he has published countless books including his own The Book of Secrets . Dyer takes the higher road , stating the reason I wasn 't in that movie--I was asked to be--is that I think too much of the emphasis is on manifesting stuff . Manifesting more things . Nothing wrong with stuff and things and so on (Reiss , 2 ) theless Byrne must be cutting into his sales as he defensively remarks I wrote a book about the secret long before The Secret . It 's called Manifest Your Destiny and it 's really much , much more about putting your focus on serving (2 ) Besides , he 's on the bigger and better things , and has embraced The Tao . His latest book on his newest revelation promises to provide all that The Secret did not (1

What is not secret is the market statistics for self-improvement books 693 million worth sold last year with a projected market growth of over eight percent (Marketdata 1 . It is highly likely tapping into this market was as much a motivation to Byrne as bringing joy to billions around the world ' More likely it was the joyous thought of receiving billions from around the world . If common sense were to prevail , the first thought would be if what these twenty-four wizards say is true why do they bother ? Each should be rich as Midas , living in an incredible fantasy-land of a world , and wouldn 't have a care about writing and sharing their profound wisdom . Or alternatively manage huge philanthropic foundations to really advocate personal empowerment The second thought would be why they all don 't come clean and admit their stroke of genius was in writing a New Age how-to book , convincing a non-skeptical public it 's a blueprint for whatever success can be imagined and then hitting the author and seminar tours

And who can blame them ? Certainly no one familiar with

.T . Barnum 's famous theory regarding the birthrate of the gullible . Today it is not just the gullible but the greedy and narcissists lining up for tickets to The Big Score . And who can blame them ? Why bother working for a living when it 's much easier to visualize checks in the mail and a new car in the garage . Part of society has devolved , so to speak , in devaluing work in favor of wishful thinking . The Secret and similar works are just the secular half of the current phenomena . Those with a religious streak find comfort in any number of prosperity gospel churches , most recently gaining unwelcome notoriety due to an emerging U .S . Senate investigation (CNA 1

It is difficult to assume whether the phenomenon will continue or abate Get rich quick scams are probably as old as the first commodity ever traded . Equally established are the concepts of accountability and personal responsibility . There will always be that part of society convinced the latest book , method , seminar or church will be the answer they are looking for , and maybe for them it is successful . Unfortunately there will be more and more who come to realize now matter how many books are purchased or how many dollars donated to Benny Hinn or Joyce Meyers they still have an increasingly untenable mortgage or still find more bills than checks in the mail . Whether they walk away disillusioned or fall prey to the next guru is anyone 's guess

Works Cited

Byrne , Rhonda . The Secret . New York : Atria Books , 2006

Adler , Jerry . The Secret : Does Self-Help Book Really Help ' Newsweek March 5 , 2007 . Accessed December 11 , 2007 at HYPERLINK "http /www .msnbc .msn .com /id site /newsweek /page /2 /print /1 /displaymode /1098 http /www .msnbc .msn .com /id site /newsweek /page /2 /print /1 /displaymode /1098

Hagelin , John , Ph .D . Accessed December 10 , 2007 at HYPERLINK "http /www .hagelin .org " http /www .hagelin .org

Improbable Research . Accessed December 10 , 2007 at HYPERLINK "http /improbable .com /ig /ig-pastwinners .html ig1994 http /improbable .com /ig /ig-pastwinners .html ig1994

A Course in Miracles . New York : Penguin Books , 1996

Shermer , Michael . Why People Believe Weird Things . New York : Freeman Company , 1997

Reiss , Valerie . Wayne Dyer Gets Down with the Tao ' BeliefNet Accessed December 11 , 2007 at HYPERLINK "http /www .beliefnet .com /story /223 /story_22301_1 .html http /www .beliefnet .com /story /223 /story_22301_1 .html

Marketdata Research , discussion thread at Google , accessed December 12 2007 at HYPERLINK "http /answers .google .com /answers /threadview ?id 786161 http /answers .google .com /answers /threadview ?id 786161

CNA . 'Prosperity gospel ' Preachers Under Investigation by the Senate ' November 8 , 2007 . Accessed December 12 , 2007 at HYPERLINK "http /www .catholicnewsagency .com /new .php ?n 10921 http /www .catholicnewsagency .com /new .php ?n 10921

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