First off: LOL, guys. You're awesome.
Okay, someone poked the bear.
Don't say I didn't warn you.
Let me start off by declaring that I'm a book editor who has worked on new age books. Let me also declare that I haven't actually read
The Secret (though I have read several reviews, both favourable and negative). I don't think I really need to, as I think it can be summed up as follows: Ask. Believe. Receive. This is called the Law of Attraction, and is related to other ideas, such as: What you think about expands.
On the surface, this is fine. It can be interpreted as a positive way to influence your life. You can go ahead and ask something of yourself, believe in it, and be prepared to welcome it. In many ways, this is related to something I
am familiar with, which is Buddhism. But this core idea can apply to many other ideas as well--most notably: the power of positive thinking.
This is where I start to have a problem. I get the feeling that the Law of Attraction ignores a very basic (an unavoidable) law: the Law of Causation. This is where
The Secret and Buddhism part ways. Buddhism, despite being considered a religion to many, and mystical to others, is actually quite grounded in the idea of cause and effect. It understands that your actions have consequences, your words have an impact, your thoughts affect how you see things. This is not as apparent in
The Secret.
My understanding is that
The Secret is a way of using thoughts to directly affect your life and the things in it. If you think positive things, positive things will happen, and if you think negative things, negative things will happen. This is too simplistic and open to misinterpretation, which is dangerous. Does this mean that impoverished nations are only so because of negative thoughts? Do people die violent deaths because they were afraid of violence?
Those who think
The Secret really works should consider another thing that might be at play: coincidence. Or perhaps it is what Buddhists base their lives on: causation. Either way, you cannot get something from nothing. You cannot will things to happen with positive thoughts without taking action. You cannot get rich by thinking about money. There is no direct link there. It only works through coincidence and causation.
There. If I'm off base, I am open to your interpretation of
The Secret or your criticism of my view. I am willing to learn. My view of it is based on reviews and articles and the cursory glance I've had at the book. It is also based on what others have said about it.
And just for the record: I'd sooner read (or watch) the
Da Vinci Code than I would
The Secret. At least the
Code has some intrigue, whereas
The Secret appears to be a hasty (if not sloppy) re-hashing of new-agey ideas that don't really work.