The Secret is based on the earlier film of the same name
that was released in DVD format in March 2006.
The tenet of the film and book
is that the universe is governed by a natural law called the law of attraction
which is said to work by attracting into a person's life the experiences,
situations, events, and people that 'match the frequency' of the person's
thoughts and feelings.
Therefore, positive thinking and feeling positive are
claimed to create life-changing results such as increased
wealth, health, and
happiness.
The law of Attraction
The law of attraction is a pseudoscientific belief or
theory, that "like attracts like," and that by focusing on positive
or negative thoughts, one can bring about positive or negative results.
The Law of Attraction has been popularized in recent years
by books and films such as The Secret.
This film and the subsequent book use interviews with New
Thought authors and speakers to explain the principles of an alleged
metaphysical law that one can attract anything that one thinks about
consistently.
For example, writer Lisa Nichols suggests that if a subject
opens an envelope expecting to see a bill, the envelope will
"confirm" those thoughts and contain a bill when opened. A person who
decided to instead expect a check might find a check instead of a bill.
Thomas Troward, who was a strong influence in the New
Thought Movement, claimed that thought precedes physical form and that
"the action of Mind plants that nucleus which, if allowed to grow
undisturbed, will eventually attract to itself all the conditions necessary for
its manifestation in outward visible form."
In 1906, William Walker Atkinson (1862–1932) used the phrase
in his New Thought Movement book Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction in
the Thought World, stating that "like attracts like."
The following
year, Elizabeth Towne, the editor of The Nautilus Magazine, a Journal of New
Thought, published Bruce MacLelland's prosperity theology book Prosperity
Through Thought Force, in which he summarized the principle, stating: "You
are what you think, not what you think you are."
The book "The Science of Getting Rich" by Wallace
D. Wattles espouses similar principles — that truly believing in the object of
your desire and focusing onto it will lead to that object or goal being
realized on the material plane (Wattles indicates in the Preface and later
chapters of this book that his premise stems from the monistic Hindu view that
God pervades everything and can deliver that which we focus on).
In addition,
the book also indicates that negative thinking will manifest negative results.
Richard Weiss explains in his book The American Myth of
Success that during the New Thought movement, the "principle of
"non-resistance" was a popular concept taught in conjunction with the
law of attraction.
The phrase "law of attraction" appeared in the
writings of the Theosophical authors William Quan Judge in 1915, and Annie
Besant in 1919. Besant compared her version of the 'law of attraction' to
gravitation, and said that the law represented a form of karma.
Israel Regardie published many books with the theme of Law
of Attraction as one of the prevailing Universal Laws. His book The Art of True
Healing written in 1937 is fully titled "The Art of True Healing, A
Treatise on the Mechanism of Prayer and the Operation of the Law of Attraction
in Nature".
The book teaches a focused meditation technique to help the
mind to learn to heal itself on both a physical and spiritual level. Regardie
goes on to explain that The Law of Attraction is not only a valid method for
attracting good physical health but is applicable in the pursuit of any aspect
of life you would like to see changed.
Napoleon Hill published two books on this theme. The first
was The Law of Success in 16 Lessons (1928) which directly and repeatedly
referenced the law of attraction. Then in 1937, he published Think and Grow
Rich which went on to become one of the bestselling books of all time, selling
over 60 million copies. In this book, Hill discusses the importance of
controlling one's own thoughts in order to achieve success, as well as the
energy that thoughts have and their ability to attract other thoughts.
In the
beginning of the book, Hill mentions a "secret" to success, and
promises to indirectly describe it at least once in every chapter of the book.
It is never named directly for he says that discovering it on one's own is far
more beneficial.
Many people have argued over what the secret actually is, with
some arguing that it was the law of attraction. Hill states the
"secret" to which he refers is mentioned no fewer than a hundred
times, yet reference to "attract" is used less than 30 times in the
text. Most students of the book claim the secret is hidden in its title: THINK
(i.e., thoughts)
The Secret (2006) was a film based on the law of attraction.
It was then developed into a book of the same title in 2007. The movie and book
gained widespread attention in the media also from Saturday Night Live to The
Oprah Winfrey Show in the United States.
The success of the film and various books led to increased
media coverage. Oprah Winfrey devoted two episodes of her show to discuss the
film and the law of attraction.
Talk show host Larry King also discussed
it on his show with Bob Solis.
In August 2008, Esther and Jerry Hicks's book Money and the
Law of Attraction: Learning to Attract Health, Wealth & Happiness appeared
on the New York Times Best Seller list.
Download free pdf copy of THE SECRET book by following the link below.
Ask, Believe and Receive - that is all you need to do.
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