I'm such a grouchy cynic that I always find a reason not to read them. I guess I really need to work on that, especially the grouchy part. ;-) After reading some of the press on The Secret, I felt it wasn't a good fit with my philosophical beliefs, so I haven't sought it out. Perhaps I should.

Do you find The Secret and other books in that genre to contain useful ideas for everyday living or do you primarily enjoy the different approaches to the meaning of life and how to get the most out of it?

I haven't read The Secret but looked it up to see what it was all about. Sounds like karma from Hindu and Buddhism. Also it reminded me of an old, old book by Lloyd C. Douglas called Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal in which his good deeds gave him the power to succeed as long as they were kept secret. This idea came from the Bible. The theory has apparently been around for quite some time. Maybe more of us should try it.

I think most of the book is nonsense, but I did get some valuable ideas out of it. Basically, it restates the power of positive thinking in modern terms. When I find myself thinking negatively to no good end, I remind myself to focus on positive thoughts. For example, I travel frequently, and flights are often delayed. I don't allow myself to think, "The weather is bad. Today is going to be awful. I'm not going to get home on time." Instead, I tell myself, "Everything is going to be fine. Don't worry." And guess what? It usually does work out fine. And I spare myself a lot of angst. So, I don't know about all the hype, but I did get something out of the book although I often wanted to throw it across the room while I was reading it.

Siobhan-that, I find, is my usual objection to these books-they are restatements of old theories, and usually there is a lot of "cotton-candy" thinking and verbiage around a nugget of truth-I usually don't want to wade through the cotton candy.

I'm ashamed to admit I know this, but apparently The Secret is what Paris Hilton is reading in jail. 'Nuff said.

Ha!

ccr, thats exactly my objection - but theres one even more harmful - its the idea that if you follow this theory, and you do not heal, you do not get better, then you are a failure. I belive in the power of positive thinking, but I think there are issues that can't be dealt with by just wishing them well, or away.

I think most self help books have something that can help make life better, but most are just retreads of basic common sense. That being said, I have used a few that really have made a difference in how I think and how I handle life's experiences, but I think those are rare, and certainly dependent on the individual who reads them.

Thanks people! Yes, there have been many books written on the very premise of The Secret, and *better* written at that. But for some reason, this book, 'struck' me, and I didn't see the show that featured the author, or hear any hype since I don't watch a lot of 'regular' tv programs. It was a friend who casually mentioned it to me, so I decided to just buy the DVD rather than read the book.

My thinking has always been a bit unconventional anyway, and I dance to the beat of my own drum, so to read The Secret is not out of *my* norm. Now do I believe? You betcha! I've experienced it, big things and small things~afterall, how can the mind discern what is reality from what is just a thought? I know I use Splenda to sweeten my coffee, but it tastes like sugar~does my mind know the difference? It's sweet, that's ALL my mind knows. So if I tell myself I only want positive things to happen in my life, how will my mind even *know* what a negative thought IS? CAN it know the differnce, unless *I* give it one?

I'm a human being that has the 'expectation' that life is meant to experience whatever it is we desire, that IS life. But you must also not forget to be humble and have an 'attitude of gratitude'(I like that!). I usually say i'm blessed, so that's brobably just as good, but I believe you must always be thankful when 'gifts' come your way.

As for Ms. Paris reading the book, I don't find that surprising for a girl who has everything. We all have one thing in our lives that seems to remain elusive, no matter how bad we want it. I'll take a stab at it, and bet that hers is happiness. Can *she* create it without daddy's money? You bet she can! ;o)

patty_cakes

>So if I tell myself I only want positive things to happen in my life, how will my mind even *know* what a negative thought IS?

Rather than tell yourself that you only want positive things to happen - very unrealistic - tell yourself that you are strong enough to deal with not so positive things. This way you will not be blindsided by them.

BTW if we only have positive thoughts, and only 'see' positive sides to everything, then we become blind to the reality of poverty, war, hunger, abuse, all the horrors of the world, and then become indifferent in doing something about them. You can change your thoughts to make them more positive, but there are some things that you see that are not, and the only positive is the work you do to correct them.

>My thinking has always been a bit unconventional anyway, and I dance to the beat of my own drum, so to read The Secret is not out of *my* norm

Actually, I'd think that people who don't read this are dancing to their own drum beat. The hype on this book is amazing, and rather scary. But then, there is nothing new under the sun, and like EST it will fade away, leaving the basic gist of the idea - the power of positive thinking is real, not for making sure bad things don't happen, but for helping us deal with them when they do.

Amen, Cindy. My thoughts exactly, but eloquently put.

Cindy, I respect your point of view, but why would I want negativity in my life if I can avoid it? I haven't watched the evening news for years, but I read 'selectivly' on line. Besides, I see enough negativity by the way people treat each other these days~you read it often on these forums, from people who have never even met. If you drive on a freeway, you definitely get a good dose!

As for people who do not read books that are a little off the mainstream, I think of them as playing it safe, usually following the crowd, afraid of shaking things up a little. ;o)

patty_cakes

Self-help books tend to help the author more than anyone else....!! Perhaps the trick is to do a bit of self-help by writing one.

Seriously, I haven't even heard of The Secret but it looks like just another of these positive-thinking-type books. It's suggested on Amazon that it seems to imply that earthquakes and disasters are a result of negative thinking; if that is true, then the authors are talking out of their proverbials.

There are some good books out there. In the end, it's what works for you. I go back to 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey on a regular basis, personally. And I think The Luck Factor by Richard Wiseman is worth a read for anyone.

And finally - we on this forum read loads of books which are a little off the mainstream. We're starting a discussion on one this very weekend. With the amount of hype around it, it sounds to me like reading The Secret is, on the contrary, following the crowd.

I agree with Cindy-to avoid any negative feeling or information is to avoid half of life. It is much more important to have the attitude of positive strength-I CAN get through whatever life sends me, and maybe make a difference when negative things hit others.

>but why would I want negativity in my life if I can avoid it?

There is none so blind as he who will not see

I was standing in the bookstore scanning the best sellers and asked a woman thumbing through it what The Secret was about. It struck me then that this was a repackaging of The Celestine Prophecy which was in turn a repackaging of Shatki Gawain's Living in the Light. Which was probably a repackaging of something else. I propose that The Secret is a book that keeps being returned to the cemetery of forgotten books (see The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.) Every 10 or 15 years someone comes along and chooses it (or is chosen by it) and it gets published anew only to fade in a year or two back to the cemetery.

chris, you just reminded me that I thought the "Celestine Prophecy" was about the worst book I have ever read. I usually stay away from "self help" books, finding more help in reading the biographies of real folk, who endure real adversities and overcome them.

No argument from me.

Wasn't the Prayer of Jabez going to make us all rich? Well, somebody got rich-

Cindy said "theres one even more harmful - its the idea that if you follow this theory, and you do not heal, you do not get better, then you are a failure." - Too right! I've just abandoned another forum (a writers' hangout) because during a discussion on the 'laws of attraction' an alarming number of people there decided that the McCanns [recently in the news, a couple whose young daughter has been kidnapped] did not really want their child back, otherwise she would have been returned to them by now.

I like and practise the idea of positive thinking to some extent, but taken to excess it is used as an excuse for callousness and uncaring. The 'Cancer? You must be a bad person' kind of positive strikes me as a return to medieval superstitions, where every illness and loss was seen as divine punishment.

This thread has remainded me of a book I read years ago. Happiness by Will Ferguson ItÂs
about a young editor, Edwin de Valu, who has the task to writes polite refusals to the authors of self
help books, who ask to be published. But it happens that a monstrous book of more than one thousand
pages is published, and become in a short time a bestseller, and it works; with the conseqences that
the tobacco, alcohol and drugs market are busted up. So someone has to redress the things.
Just an ironic book about, sel-help books

grelobe

Thank you, Will Ferguson, for reminding is that it's perfectly fine to be unhappy, because the
alternative isn't all it's cracked up to be. (Summer 2002 Selection)

Paris Hilton can read? Who knew!?

Patty cakes -- Thanks for bringing this up. As you know, "The Secret" is a book (& DVD) that teaches the basics of metaphysics with several different teachers giving input.

The spiritual, transcendant aspects of most major religions figure into this, and, if anyone has read the beginning, they know that none of it is a "secret."

There are many other writings about these principles, but this is a new one and easy to read.

I have enjoyed learning metaphysical principles and practices (for the past 15 years or so) and one of my teachers is one of the co-authors. It makes sense to me.

Some people see things in a dualistic way (force of good vs. force of evil), which is fine for them -- just a different way of making sense of things.

People who have never studied metaphysics often have very mistaken ideas about it.

It's not something that can be clearly explained here in a few sentences, but rather a way of thinking that is incorporated into a person's life.

There is no blaming of people for misfortunes because they didn't "think positive" enough.

It's about understanding and strengthening the connection to our source, which is positive.

I think "The Secret" is readable and helpful to those who find the teaching to be a logical way of approaching spirituality (I do).

In my opinion it has a bit too much emphasis on material abundance, but otherwise I like it.

>> It's about understanding and strengthening the connection to our source, which is positive.

See, that one sentence convinces me that I have better things to do than read this book - or any other similar ones. What source? Why is it positive? Or do you mean that understanding and strengthening the connection to this "source" is a positive thing to do?

Please, don't bother to explain. As far as I'm concerned, I am who am I - I don't have a source to connect to. I'm sorry if I come over as a grumpy old cynic, but I'm going to get a lot more out of a book with a bit of sensible background than one which talks about new-age claptrap.

Positive thinking is all very fine, but it does need to be backed up with action. I find it interesting that there is also a DVD which you can get for people who are too lazy to read the book. You have to suspect that if they can't be bothered to put the effort into reading the book, it's not likely that they're going to bother to put the effort into changing their life.

Martin, I believe you are who you are, as you say. And that you are not separate from anything.

I also agree that positive thinking needs to be backed up with action. Expression of spiritual qualities (such as compassion, generosity and forgiveness) is key.

As far as the DVD, we are book lovers here, but not everyone learns best through the written word. It doesn't necessarily mean they are lazy.

As far as other books with a bit of "sensible background," I like Ernest Holmes and Joel Goldsmith, American metaphysical writers from the 1900s and also Emerson and Thoreau from the 1800s.