The secret is the title of a best-selling book by author Rhonda Byrne and is also the title of a full-length movie that was released over the Internet and is based on the book. According to Wikipedia, the film was released in March 2006, although the Wikipedia entry seems a bit confusing today.
When I saw Rhonda Byrne interviewed, talking about her personal experience writing the book, it seems that she first got the idea when she read The science of getting rich by Wallace D Wattles, in 2004. After her father’s death, when she was at her lowest point emotionally, physically and financially, her daughter gave her the book to read and Rhonda commented that it gave her a first “glimpse of the secret.”
After that, he said he spent hundreds of hours reading books, listening to audio, slowly learning more about the secret and tracking it down in history. She became passionate about sharing the secret, appeared on Oprah’s show and, lo and behold, everything changed for her.
What is the secret?
Quite simply, the secret is in the Law of Attraction. If you’ve never heard of this before, the law of attraction states that like attracts like. The idea is that it is operating, all the time, whether you like it or not, to make your future a reality. If your thoughts are full of negativity, that is what shows up in your life; if you have happy thoughts, you get a different life. It just sounds too good to be true, right?
When I ask people if they are optimistic or pessimistic in my workshops, I usually get a minority who admit to being pessimistic. That’s because, I think, pessimists generally prefer the label ‘realistic’. They often see themselves not as pessimists, but as realists. It turns out that, in general, things are not going too well for them in life, so they are not being pessimistic, but realistic, they say. Isn’t that an interesting fact?
Similarly, when you question optimists, you find that they say they tend to be naturally lucky, that things often work out for them, and if they don’t, they can always deal with it. arise. The fact is that they seem to get lucky and things seem to go their way more often. Now regardless of how this ‘law’ works, here is a simple example (optimism/pessimism) that is very easy to test.
There have been many studies on the benefits of optimism. Both optimists and pessimists, according to advocates, are making use of the same Law of Attraction to create their own versions of reality. However, the optimists live in a much brighter world in which the universe seems favorable to their dreams and desires, while the pessimists continue to argue that life is not like that.
Where did the secret originate?
There are a number of known New thought books, now in the public domain, that uphold the same basic principle, including:
- As a man thinks by James Allen
- Charles Haanel’s master key system
- The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D Wattles
- Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Neither Wallace D Wattles nor James Allen directly refer to the principle as the Law of Attraction, however both books are based on the concept. Both Charles Haanel and Napoleon Hill refer directly to the beginning by name. The title of Allen’s book comes from the book of Proverbs and if you simply read the verse that the title is taken from, you can easily discern what was on the author’s mind.
“As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” – Proverbs 23:7
Of course, this brings up the fact that the principle appears in the Bible and not just in the book of Proverbs. Apparently it also appears in Hindu scriptures and I wouldn’t be surprised to find it elsewhere within religious texts because it’s essentially a correct principle.
Here is the principle, as I see it anyway, in the Buddhist scriptures:
“We are what we think. Everything that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world.” – The Dhammapada
It seems that a famous hadith of the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) may support the proposition that the principle is also found in Islam:
“Actions are by intention, so each man will have what he intended.”
Religious texts are always open to interpretation of course, so if you see things differently then that’s fine with me. I could certainly argue the above scriptures either way, but it seems to me that if the principle is correct then we should expect to find it within the writings of religions. Thoughts, after all, are a form of prayer.
Application of The Secret
Now this is the part where a lot of people get it wrong. Somehow, from popular books, it seems that a good number of people are under the impression that all you have to do is think about what you want and it will come to you without any effort on your part. None of the above writers say that this is the case.
Wattles says, at this very point, that people meet their ‘shipwreck’ when they fail to connect thought with action. James Allen says that people will only see the results and not the effort that went into producing them, Napoleon Hill is a strong advocate of having a plan and then putting it into action, and finally, Charles Haanel says that thinking is what we put into it. everyone’s reach. universe and thought is what is received.
All of the above writers fully agree that thinking is an important part of the process of achieving success, but none of them advocate thinking only as a means to get what you want in life. Without exception, they all advocate persistent, goal-focused action.
All you really need to know about the secret is that it essentially refers to the importance of building a vision for your life. When you have done that, you should focus on it regularly. If you are a religious person, then obviously you will come to your vision in prayer because your future is tied to what you believe God wants for your life. If you do this and come to a solid, detailed picture of what you believe your future to be, regardless of the mechanics involved, like so many people before you, you will begin to find your way.
You’ll receive insights that will light your way, and if you’re serious about achieving what you’ve envisioned, you’ll commit to ongoing action that will move you in the direction of your goal. If you do these things, nothing can stop you from achieving success.