'The Secret,' a phenomenon, is no mystery to many
Many say the book and DVD contain the key to unlimited happiness, health, money, and relationships. Others call the message misleading.
from the March 28, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 4
Ms. Byrne's life had collapsed around her in 2004, she says, but has been transformed since her discovery. And since the DVD appeared on the Internet in 2006, she writes, thousands have responded with "stories of miracles," from healing of chronic pain to finding homes or transformed businesses. (The book is a companion to the DVD.)
The essence of Byrne's message: People create their own reality, and thoughts are things. The secret is "the law of attraction, which is always operating" – you attract what you think about most. If you think positive thoughts, you will attract positive experiences; if you think negatively, you will bring negatives into your life.
The presentation is highly materialistic at times. ("We can have whatever it is that we choose. I don't care how big it is," one teacher says on the DVD.)
One section in the book and DVD focuses on how to get as much money as you want. Jack Canfield, initial author and now CEO of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" enterprises, explains how, when he had only a small income, he visualized a $100,000-a-year lifestyle, and it came about.
Byrne had her initial awakening when her daughter gave her a 1910 book by Wallace Wattles called "The Science of Getting Rich." Wattles, a writer in the New Thought movement, believed that everyone could become wealthy because of the abundance of the universe.
Wattles's approach went deeper than the usual "get rich" tome, including his insistence that one couldn't achieve true wealth through competition. (See:www.websyte.com/unity/rich.htm)
Indeed, the teachings in "The Secret" "stand in a long tradition of American religious history since the mid- to late 19th century," says Sean McCloud, who teaches religion and modern culture at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. "It can be compared to the New Thought movements and to Norman Vincent Peale's 'The Power of Positive Thinking.' All share the idea that, in some sense, people create their own realities by their thoughts."
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