The Secret, is it BS? (Law Of Attraction)

[DalTheJigsaw123]

yes it is bs

 

rami shapiro wrote a thing on this, i'm trying to find it...

 

 

Who is he? I can Google him right?

[Lozen]

He's a Rabbi who writes Spiritual Advice for the Wayside Traveler or some column like that. I keep trying to google it but all I can find is an article that makes reference to his article. Let me know if you find it!

[freeform]

The idea behind 'The Secret' (namely the Law of Attraction) - IMHO - is sound, it works and is real and is happening right now... 'The Secret' on the other hand is pretty much BS...

 

what no one tells you is this:

 

The Law of Attraction is Yang... it's about getting something...

 

but you need to start on a base of Yin... which in this case is having nothing...

 

Our minds are already full of stuff... imagine it as a room full of 1000 people all wanting different things. With whatever I want some agree, some disagree, some are indifferent. There is no congruence... If I think I want something, there are many parts of me that don't want it and many others that don't care...

 

empty your cup and you can fill it again...

 

better yet attract nothing and get everything.

[DalTheJigsaw123]

That is exactly how I am doing it. Attract nothing and you will attract all! That makes perfect sense and it seems to be working too. Thank you!

The idea behind 'The Secret' (namely the Law of Attraction) - IMHO - is sound, it works and is real and is happening right now... 'The Secret' on the other hand is pretty much BS...

 

what no one tells you is this:

 

The Law of Attraction is Yang... it's about getting something...

 

but you need to start on a base of Yin... which in this case is having nothing...

 

Our minds are already full of stuff... imagine it as a room full of 1000 people all wanting different things. With whatever I want some agree, some disagree, some are indifferent. There is no congruence... If I think I want something, there are many parts of me that don't want it and many others that don't care...

 

empty your cup and you can fill it again...

 

better yet attract nothing and get everything.

Edited June 8, 2009 by LeonBasin

[evZENy]

To clarify some of the posts:

 

I believe the question was about "The Secret" - the book/movie/merchandise...

It is BS.

 

The concept they tried to explain - different question!

[11:33]

empty your cup and you can fill it again...

 

better yet attract nothing and get everything.

 

It's not that you don't create with thought, but that you don't need to create with thought. We're already thinking, all the time. The cycle of rebirth is on autopilot. Once you can see that life IS responding to you personally (God knows every hair on your head...) then you can release. And you will need to release, in my opinion, because to become enlightened you will need to release even the concept of self.

 

So I like the yin/yang concept being brought into this

 

...

 

If you want to learn about the Law of Attraction read: Ask and It Is Given. It is much better than The Secret. I worn you, it is NOT Taoist, hehe. It's about as New Age as you can get, but there is valuable stuff in it. Just don't forget that you will have to let go of your self to understand true wisdom.

 

Peace.

Edited June 11, 2009 by 11:33

[living mountain]

The Secret- not all false, not all true.

like has been said above, the PREMISE is on target- will directs action;

however, I felt that they were definately selling me snake oil, because of the cheesy marketing style infomercial approach- this raises my intuitive shields- (read BS-radar)

 

You can't sit in an armchair "shifting in to higher gear" to materialise your craving for a sweet vehicle, any more than you materialise any other object of desire. however, you CAN consciously acknowledge that desire, and after filtering whether it is worth pursuing or not, take action to acquire said object.

 

so, in my opinion, both propaganda and truth.

a perfect example of the Tao, methinks.

[11:33]

My 2 cents:

 

There is absolutely 100% definitely a magical force in the universe that tends to respond to your thoughts, visualisations and preferences. It is not something that can just be explained by the normal physics model of the universe. There's more going on than that.

[goldisheavy]

It's not BS at all. It's ancient wisdom marketed well to seem like a .. you got it.. "secret". And she made tons of money off it.

What do you mean, goldisheavy? You can use the 'secret' for material goods if you want.. it's just based on "as ye sow so shall ye reap", and positive visualization. If you want to be the boss of your own company just because you love money, you can use it equally towards that goal. The same can be said if you want to use it to attain enlightenment.

 

Think what kind of person is most desperate for some material goods? That's the kind of person that LOA is least likely to work for. If you understand what's causing the intense desire, that very same thing is also what's blocking that desire from manifesting!

 

This is why it is said that the masters are wishless. They wish for nothing and yet they abide in a state of constant wish-fulfillment. It's not a paradox if you understand the nature of desires. Basically desires are caused by the fabrications of mind that block the natural flow of the mind and create a barrier between desire and receiving. A person without such barrier has two properties when compared to one who has the barrier: 1. this person has few wishes, and 2. it seems whatever they wish for is also what they have, and whatever they wish is also what seems to be happening... in other words, this person perceives their own will to be done in the world. Since their will is whole, and since nothing is apart from their will or outside of it, there is nothing they can wish for. Longing for things happens when you believe that certain states are outside the direct scope of your intent, and then you are left in using your intent in a structured manner to try to cajole the universe to dispense what you want, kind of like you cajole the vending machine by putting the coins in and pushing a button, interacting with it in this structured manner, and only in this manner will you get your soda. A wise person knows how to go beyond the structures and how to manifest intent directly, but this "how" is not described in terms of steps! The steps are what you use inside structures.

Edited June 8, 2009 by goldisheavy

[11:33]

GoldIsHeavy,

 

That sounds about right.

[living mountain]

GoldIsHeavy,

 

That sounds about right.

 

+2.

[WhiteTiger]

Think what kind of person is most desperate for some material goods? That's the kind of person that LOA is least likely to work for. If you understand what's causing the intense desire, that very same thing is also what's blocking that desire from manifesting!

 

This is why it is said that the masters are wishless. They wish for nothing and yet they abide in a state of constant wish-fulfillment. It's not a paradox if you understand the nature of desires. Basically desires are caused by the fabrications of mind that block the natural flow of the mind and create a barrier between desire and receiving. A person without such barrier has two properties when compared to one who has the barrier: 1. this person has few wishes, and 2. it seems whatever they wish for is also what they have, and whatever they wish is also what seems to be happening... in other words, this person perceives their own will to be done in the world. Since their will is whole, and since nothing is apart from their will or outside of it, there is nothing they can wish for. Longing for things happens when you believe that certain states are outside the direct scope of your intent, and then you are left in using your intent in a structured manner to try to cajole the universe to dispense what you want, kind of like you cajole the vending machine by putting the coins in and pushing a button, interacting with it in this structured manner, and only in this manner will you get your soda. A wise person knows how to go beyond the structures and how to manifest intent directly, but this "how" is not described in terms of steps! The steps are what you use inside structures.

 

Remarkably said...

Thank You for saying it!

[DalTheJigsaw123]

Remarkably said...

Thank You for saying it!

 

I double that!

[NoIdea]

I was a little disappointed with the simplistic, repetitive nature of "The Secret" (The first edition with Esther Hicks in it).

 

Brian Tracy mentions lots of "Laws" in his books (for instance: [ http://www.wealthhere.com/brian/universal.htm )

 

 

This Forum here raises some nice points about "The Secret".

http://search.rickross.com/search?cmd=Sear...2221&wm=wrd

Edited June 10, 2009 by NoIdea

[Lozen]

here it is:

 

http://www.spiritualityhealth.com/NMagazin...les.php?id=1760

[11:33]

From the above link:

 

This is pure baby-boomer narcissism: the universe is your personal concierge. "Make a command to the universe. Let the universe know what you want. The universe responds to your thoughts" (page 47). The thought that the universe is some kind of genie (the actual image used in the DVD version of The Secret) whose sole purpose is to fulfill the endless desires of human beings is terrifying.

 

The problem with this is that to a large degree he's wrong. There is a LOT of truth in The Secret. (There's many a flaw as well) Reality does tend to magically reflect our mind-states! I don't know HOW! Thats what makes life so crazy!

 

And better yet, I would say I really am happy The Secret was so successful because it put a concept like th eLaw of Attraction into the public eye. Of course it will cause people problems, they won't get everything they want, they will get what they want and still be unhappy, their egos may grow out of hand until one day they explode etc... But... but this is improtant, it changes the way people see the world. Most people actually think there is no spirituality. Most people think that we're just physical beings with nothing else attached.

 

In life, you'll never get anywhere if you don't think for yourself. And don't learn to see through the seemingly endless supply of people promoting things that aren't true. So sift through The Secret, sift through Abraham-Hicks, sift through Taoism

 

And find the truth, the real truth that can't be shaken.

Edited June 9, 2009 by 11:33

[goldisheavy]

In life, you'll never get anywhere if you don't think for yourself. And don't learn to see through the seemingly endless supply of people promoting things that aren't true. So sift through The Secret, sift through Abraham-Hicks, sift through Taoism

 

And find the truth, the real truth that can't be shaken.

 

Pure gold right here! Many bows to you.

[Seth Ananda]

The Law of Attraction works and is one of the 7 Hermetic universal 'Laws' as written in the Kyballion. The Kyballion was not the only book Rhonda sourced when she made the Secret but it is pretty much the source for all the other source material she used.

I think her understanding of it is a bit sque-wiff, and as an example she unfairly fired her Director when she realized that she was going to have to pay him a lot of money. She had hired him on a commission % of total profit which was a huge amount of money.

My last House mate Funded the Sueing of Rhonda as he is friends with the Director.

If she really believed in it she wouldnt have worried about paying up in fact it would have been a positive affirmation of wealth to the universe, to happily hand over many millions

 

Anyway If you get really clear about what you want, then go out and try and get it, and put in good energy it is amazing what happens...

[Trevcaru]

Jesus must not have gotten the secret right. He was considered perfect by many, but he sure attracted a lot of shit. What about Ghandi? Well, i guess he didnt know the secret either... The Dali Lama? Hmm that one could be debate-able, heh. Maybe if they would have focused on happiness more they would have had easier lives? i dont think so, the whole thing is just silly pandering to get your nut off on desire, the way i see it.

 

To put it simply, GIH said,

"If you understand what's causing the intense desire, that very same thing is also what's blocking that desire from manifesting!"

So, basically it annihilates itself. Anyone striving for attraction is repulsing that thing they are striving for, so why would you use this law of attraction if it was true in the first place? I know, i know... to get off on seeing reality magically reflecting your mind states. Throw some sparklers and some chocolate cake in there and woo hoo you got your self a party.

 

Hitler had it made... mansions, money, success and wheres his karma? Oh right, he will pay when he comes back as an ant, so he will have to collect more food than the other ants to fix his karma. How come he didnt have a shitty life, i mean, he had it made all the while with such hate in his heart. LOA, i dont buy it for a minute, its just another karmatic system people have invented to separate intention from action; the observer from the observed.

 

Now if your talking about sympathetic resonance, thats an entirely different phenomenon, and it is not law of attraction.

[11:33]

Kybalion Book For FREE

[DalTheJigsaw123]

Kybalion Book For FREE

 

I have read it and I must say, one of the best books I have read. It has the 7 main principles in how our world works. Thanks for the link though. All you should read the book! It will change your life.

 

Pure gold right here! Many bows to you.

 

 

The Law of Attraction works and is one of the 7 Hermetic universal 'Laws' as written in the Kyballion. The Kyballion was not the only book Rhonda sourced when she made the Secret but it is pretty much the source for all the other source material she used.

I think her understanding of it is a bit sque-wiff, and as an example she unfairly fired her Director when she realized that she was going to have to pay him a lot of money. She had hired him on a commission % of total profit which was a huge amount of money.

My last House mate Funded the Sueing of Rhonda as he is friends with the Director.

If she really believed in it she wouldnt have worried about paying up in fact it would have been a positive affirmation of wealth to the universe, to happily hand over many millions

 

Yes, agreed.

 

 

Anyway If you get really clear about what you want, then go out and try and get it, and put in good energy it is amazing what happens...

 

You are so right about that statement!

[freeform]

Once you begin to see yourself clearly you will know why it works when it works and why it doesn't when it doesn't.

 

This requires a certain level of clarity, but try this:

 

whatever you want (let's say for example a yacht)... just say "I want a yacht"... and just pay attention to what happens inside.

 

notice for any 'but' reactions... these could be thoughts or physical sensations or even pictures or ideas...

 

 

For example when I, personally, say "I want a yacht" - I can immediately notice 10 to 20 parts of me strongly disagreeing... you see, much like most people I'm not a 'complete' person.. I have lots of fragmented "I" identities inside of me... each of those "I"s have a different level of influence on my actions... I have very primal "I"s - when I want to eat, the parts of me that don't want to eat are easily and quickly overridden... I have very shallow "I"s too...

 

So what people tend to do is pick a surface desire (by surface I mean that the desire comes from a part that is on the surface and has very little influence in the "I" community)... Then they try to give it some weight by bringing in 'good feelings' and energy... of course mobilising energy is hard enough for most people as it is, and trying to do this from such a shallow aspect of ourselves is even harder. It's a little like having a capricious teenager trying to motivate a huge army to fight for his cause (a yacht! )... On the other hand a mother sees her child in trouble and a deeper, more influential part of herself takes over and without effort she can lift a car to save her child...

 

So for me at least - it's important to first 'discreate' all the accumulated 'stuff' before even attempting to create more 'stuff'... So I'm attracting nothingness so it can wash away what is not needed... then, eventually, I may be able to develop enough insight to really bring about what IS needed in an effortless and efficient way. I suggest others take the responsibility to do the same.

[Lozen]

yeah, what freeform said!

[goldisheavy]

yeah, what freeform said!

 

I agree. That post by freeform is very helpful. I hope people are paying attention.

 

whatever you want (let's say for example a yacht)... just say "I want a yacht"... and just pay attention to what happens inside.

 

notice for any 'but' reactions... these could be thoughts or physical sensations or even pictures or ideas...

 

 

For example when I, personally, say "I want a yacht" - I can immediately notice 10 to 20 parts of me strongly disagreeing... you see, much like most people I'm not a 'complete' person.. I have lots of fragmented "I" identities inside of me... each of those "I"s have a different level of influence on my actions... I have very primal "I"s - when I want to eat, the parts of me that don't want to eat are easily and quickly overridden... I have very shallow "I"s too...

 

And in fact, that's the real purpose of visualization. It's to check for any reactions. Then one goes to consider those reactions and look for their roots. A person may discover that some or many of those reactions have roots that are much much deeper than the roots of the desire in question. So to accomplish one's desire one first has to perform a lot of difficult inner work to melt away the parts of you that object. For some desires, one has to melt away such deep beliefs, that it means to be insane from certain points of view. And how many people are willing to be insane to have their wishes fulfilled? Not many! Almost none! Everyone wants to be "normal" and to fit in, don't they? Thus you don't get to freely wish for what you want, because one of the implications of the wishing for anything and getting it is that reality has no firmness in it, no stability, that anything can become anything else instantly.... to most people on Earth that is pretty much the definition of insanity. It's one thing to discuss it and it's another thing to feel this on your skin. It can be the most terrifying sensation ever, to know that anything can become anything else instantly and that nothing is fixed in any way. We have learned to like a certain order and stability in the world, and it is this very same order and stability that we so enjoy that mandates that wishes not be fulfilled arbitrarily, but according to the structures of what we believe is real. Order and stability are perceived in the form of structures.

Edited June 11, 2009 by goldisheavy

[11:33]

I agree. That post by freeform is very helpful. I hope people are paying attention.

 

I agree with freeform too.

 

I would just like to add that for me at least I've found that even focusing on the surface desires, when done with umpf helps in time to lead you deeper into understanding yourself. You never do GET those surface desires, but you learn why you didn't actually want them, and you learn a whole lot of other stuff about yourself and life/the world/the universe/the tao.

 

You can only start in life from where you are at, and most people are firmly in a place where these surface desires are really important to them, and no amount of preaching from me or anyone will change that. Hehe...

 

Though maybe you all are smarter than I was