"The Secret"

[laura_seabrook]

Caught the tail end of an episode of Oprah just before house, where her guests talked about film called "The Secret". Oddly enough, I'd seen copies of the DVD of this for sale in Big-W earlier this week, for about $48 plus!

$48 for a DVD that isn't a TV series - what's going on, what's it about?

The rules as stated on Oprah were:

1. Ask - ask once and only once (apparently if you ask twice or more you have no faith and it won't work);
2. Believe (and according to the ex-drug dealer(!), you have to take daily action to bring you closer to the goal, and some other pundit, you have to be prepared to "serve"); and
3. Receive.

I've seen this idea before as an idea in Creative Visualization. The main thrust of that was essentially to give the desire to one's "higher power" (God(dess), the divine, the universe, etc) and then not worry about it. What the film is about, is something called "The Law of Attraction". Put simply, the idea is a method of obtaining things by doing the following (as per Wikipedia entry):

1. Know what you want and ask the universe for it.
2. Feel and behave as if the object of your desire is on its way.
3. Be open to receiving it.

Does it work? There is something to it, but either way $48 to me falls into the category of "New Age Marketing" - that is, shamelessly exploiting old (and generally in the public domain) ideas as something new. There's quite an industry on this. Check out The Secret Official Web Page; The Absolute Secret (an absolute rip-off of the idea?); The Masters of the Secret (free online course by Bill Harris); and Oprah's ugly secret (Salon.com critique of the Oprah episode).

When I spent some time with the Unity Church in the 90s I came across two similar ideas. One was "Mastermind", where people would organise in groups to pray for what the other person wanted, and a book called "It works" by RNJ. The principle in that was:

1. Read the list of what you want three times each day: morning, noon and night.
2. Think  of  what  you  want  as  often  as possible.
3. Do not talk  to  any  one about  your  plan except to the Great Power within you which will  unfold  to  your  Objective  Mind  the method of accomplishment.

Does it work? There's the thing. If you follow these steps, then you are certainly going to be focussed on the goal or objective. As such, you're more likely to take actions, and respond to opportunities that promote those goals and objectives. Then again, if it doesn't come true, and you haven't told anyone (as per step 3) then if it doesn't work, you haven't lost any "face".

I came across the following in an appendix in "The Dilbert
Future" by Scott Adams (who has some further things to say in Dilbert Newsletter #19 too).

HOW TO DO AFFIRMATIONS

1. Have a specific goal, one that you can visualize.
2. Write it down fifteen times in a row, once a day, using the form:
          "I, <NAME>, WILL GET/DO/ACCOMPLISH <GOAL>."
3. There's no set time to expect results, but if I did it for six months without any movement towards the objective, I'd assume it doesn't work and I'd stop.
4. I don't think it matters how many times you write it, if you have multiple goals, if you forget to write it for a week, or if you type it instead of write it. I don't have any reason to believe the method is so fragile that those things matter.
5. I don't think you need faith in the affirmations in order for the process to work, any more than you need faith to steer your car.

  I'm fairly certain you would get the same results if you
  wrote the affirmations while thinking the whole thing is a
  load of crap. Be as sceptical as you like.

AFFIRMATION PITFALLS

The only affirmation mistake I've seen is a lack of clarity in the goal. One person told me he was writing the following affirmation every day and having no success:

    "I, JOE BLOW, WANT TO BE A FAMOUS JAZZ MUSICIAN."

I told him that in fact , his affirmation had already worked exactly as he' wrote it -- he "wanted" to be a famous jazz musician. The better form would have been:

    "I, JOE BLOW, *WILL BE* A FAMOUS JAZZ MUSICIAN."

The second problem is that his name wasn't JOE BLOW, just in case you wondered.

I would also caution against affirmations that have specific deadlines, such as "I will get promoted by the end of the month." There are lots of ways to get your goal, so leave some wiggle room.

And I don't recommend affirmations on things that can only happen one way -- such as winning the lottery. That's asking a lot of your ability to steer. Better to set goals that have many ways of being realized. In the case of the lottery, your real goal was probably wealth. There are lots of ways to get wealthy. Don't constrain yourself.

Does it work? According to Scott Adams it does, and who am I to argue? I suspect the failing in this method is writing it 15 times in a row. As a self-esteem exercise, I once said (daily) "I am a wonderful person" to my mirror reflection 15 times for 3 days - by the end of that I just couldn't keep a straight face. Guess the bottom line is that if you can write it out 15 times a day, then you too are very focussed on the goal.

Whew - plenty of ways to think about things you want.

Comments

[johanna-hypatia.livejournal.com]

It looks like an update of an old Hindu concept - the world as kalpavrksha the 'wish-fulfilling tree' - if you fancy anything the tree bears it as a fruit for you. Metaphorically. Has this used any arboreal imagery?

Do any really new spiritual ideas ever come along, or just renewal of the old ones?

I have a habit of saying "hey there beautiful woman" when I look in the mirror. Just because it seems like the thing to say. Sometimes the mirror agrees, sometimes it argues back.

The Mirror

[laura-seabrook.livejournal.com]

Sometimes the mirror agrees, sometimes it argues back.

Same here, as per my card:

Re: The Mirror

[johanna-hypatia.livejournal.com]

Umm, I dinna see the card.