Here’s a good way to save yourself $23.95: Don’t buy The Secret. It’s not that I’m against secrets in general, it’s just that I want to spare you from wasting your money on a hot new book called “The Secret,” a book that has hit a new low in shallow, self-absorbed and insipid hype. There is almost nothing in this book worth reading, which is a pretty amazing thing to say about a a book that is featured prominently at Borders and other large bookstores. It’s has even become the number one best selling hardcover advice book according to the NYT [1]. And why wait to make it into a movie? Truly, why wait? [2]
I don’t know much about Rhonda Byrne, the author, or her gaggle of “great writers, leaders, philosophers, doctors, and scientists.” [3] Byrne presents an unlikely image of a sage. She attempts to strike a pensive blonde pose on that the inside flap, yet obliviously presents herself as strained, contorted and out of her element. Much like her book. Or am I too contaminated by the shallow, self-absorbed and insipid hype that one finds wrapped in that beautifully designed book jacket? Truly, the book jacket is gorgeous, though you would get equally helpful advice (perhaps more) by trying to “read” a Persian rug.
You’re impatient, though. You want the goods. Here they are: What can you say about a book based on the following premise: “Everything that’s coming into your life you are attracting into your life. And it’s attracted to you by virtue of the images you’re holding in your mind.” You’ll find this gem in a chapter decorated with quote by a fellow named W. Clement Stone: “Whatever the mind can conceive it can achieve.”
What?! Then, by golly, go conceive of the end of world hunger or the end of war, or even for a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. Is this nonsensical or is it elitist? Why choose, when you are told that superior minds create physical worlds. The poor? Well, their poorness is proof of their inferior thoughts.
Am I giving this best seller an unfair reading? You be the judge. Just go read this book for a few minutes (but don’t buy it) and you’ll see that I’m holding myself back. If I had this book in my hands right now, I would be tempted to flail it somewhere! I read several chunks of The Secret while lingering at a chain bookstore. In the end, my positive thoughts steered me away from buying The Secret (uh-oh . . . is that proof that the book works?).
The book is divided into chapters concerning such things as health, money and world affairs. I will be brief in describing the ideas, because it will make you mad to hear that this sort of book can be a best seller.
Let’s start with the chapter on money. The Secret assumes that the acquisition of money should be a major focus in one’s life. “To attract money you must focus on wealth… you must focus on the abundance of money to bring that to you.” With that assumpion squarely on the table, the focus turns to getting lots of money. We learn that the only reason any person does not have enough money “is because they are blocking money from coming to them with their thoughts.” Tell that to all of the people who are clamoring for justice at those newly designed less-kind and less-gentle bankruptcy courts, especially the many people who were driven to such desperate measures because of personal tragedies and major illness. Is the remedy really to tell those poor souls that they need to “focus on prosperity”?
Speaking of major illnesses, readers of The Secret learn that “our body is really the product of our thoughts.” In fact, “all stress begins with one negative thought.” (Page 125). The Secret presents the case study of a woman who was diagnosed with breast cancer. No problem. She cured herself by watching “very funny movies.” She learned “the secret” that laughing “releases the disease.” What else can such a secret heal? One fellow purportedly threw away his reading glasses simply by repeating the phrase “I can see clearly. I can see clearly!” As I read this passage, I was also thinking, “I can see clearly . . .”
I’m really not against positive thinking. Thinking positive thoughts is generally a good thing, but it can only take you so far. Eventually you run up against real things, like viruses, bullets and tanking economies. In my experience, there are real limitations to the power afforded by happy thoughts.
The Secret is the revenge of the New Agers. The Secret appears to be the newest manifesto of those eternally-self-centered New Agers. Perhaps this book is their attempt to knock those fundamentalists and their vicious Old Testament God off the stage, at least for awhile. Armed only with positive thoughts, The Secret informs us that we can defeat an external God because we can learn that we are Gods (at least those of us who read the book). Exploring our new-found omnipotence is all for a good cause, of course, because those fundamentalists are also very self-centered people who have it coming.
Here’s “the secret” about relationships: Focus on yourself. “Unless you fill yourself up first, you have nothing to give anybody… people are responsible for their own joy.” (Page 119). So how’s this for an opening line for a suitor who is wooing a lady: “I will love you forever by filling myself up first, because I am responsible for my own joy. Let us be self absorbed together forever, darling.”
The Secret also offers some wisdom about the oftentimes nasty and brutish world. We learn that one should not resist, because it is futile. In fact, it is worse than futile. “The antiwar movement creates more war.” And don’t ever forget the virtue of remaining ignorant: Don’t watch the news because it will make you feel bad. In fact, “the media is the effect of bad things and we are the cause. It’s just the law of attraction in action!”
For those times when things get really bad, we are reminded that quantum mechanics allows us to “create anything.” Consequently, “we are the source of the universe.” Let’s assume, for a moment, that there is a heaven, that you get there, and that there is a God waiting to chat with you. Remember to tell God, “Ultimately, I am the source of the universe.” An experiment could be run to settle this dueling Gods dispute. Each of you get ten days to see how many universes you can create. Ready? Set? . . .
How might I sum up this book? It a rambling, ambiguous, self-contradictory book advising me to be self-absorbed, ignorant, megalomaniacal, carefree and delusional. It’s actually the perfect manual for understanding the mind of our current Commander-in-Chief.
I was relieved to see that I am not the only person who has noticed this elephant in the room. [4] Even more amazing, the publisher touts that “The Secret is truly the most outstanding book to date that we have published.” [5] I wouldn’t go around bragging about things like this. Not with The Secret as Exhibit A.
Sometimes there’s a silver lining to bad books. The Secret is an opportunity for me to demonstrate that I am an equal-opportunity skeptic. When I see BS, I rapidly grow impatient, no matter who is doing the BS-ing. Christian, Atheist or whatever-the-hell The Secret’s “experts” actually are. It simply doesn’t matter. Whenever incoherent advice is being offered at $24 per pop, I’m ready to jump into action. I’m ready to fight the fight whenever I sense a rising tide of advice that disparages hard work, critical thinking or sensitivity to the legitimate needs of others.
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