The Secret: Uncovered and Exposed

Almost a year ago I wrote a cursory review on the film “The Secret.” In retrospect, that review didn’t reflect the true intentions of the film. After doing so meditating on the films overall message and watching it again, I now have a vastly different view of the film that I would love to share with you. I will walk you through various sections of the film and include my commentary, uncovering, and, what I believe, to be misleading, false, and questionable elements of the film, starting with the theme.

The (real) Theme: Money, Riches, Fame, Cars, Mansions, etc..

I’m not sure why they called this film “The Secret.” A more appropriate name would be “The Secret to Getting Rich by Thinking About Money All Day Long.”

Seriously, this film has one underlying hook and it’s “Money.” Take a look at how many scenes they have focused on that deal with how to attain money, expensive items such as cars, jewelry, suits, etc… I’d say that well over 50% of all the scenarios in the film dealt with acquiring financial and/or material wealth.

The film starts off by asking a series of questions:

• “What kind of house do you want to live in?”
• “Do you want to be a millionaire?”
• “Do you want success?”
• “What type of business do you want?”
• “1% of the population controls 96% of the wealth”

Leading into a shot of seemingly wealthy businessmen grinning and snickering around a table as if to say: “haha… suckers.. we have ‘the secret’ and we’re rich!!”

They show scenarios of people magically getting the things they want:

• A lady stares into a window looking at a gold diamond necklace, and it suddenly appears on her
• A man stands in front of a mirror and he is suddenly placed in the back of a limo with an expensive suit on

All of these scenarios, and a whole bunch more, deal solely with attaining wealth and material objects. That is the true theme of this film. But through cleverly interweaving a theme of self-awarness and the “Law of Attraction” the producers of the film bring us on this bogus ride of making us believe that we can have ANYTHING in this world just by thinking it — that’s all! All you have to do is think about it. Which leads to uncovering their “Law of Attraction.”

Law of Attraction

Indeed, there is a law of attraction in this universe — no doubt about that. But the way the film presents this law, I feel, is wrong. It’s going to bring more pain and stress than anything else. I feel that their logic is severely flawed and here’s why.

They tell us to “think” and “feel” about anything that you want and totally forget about and disregard anything that you don’t want. That’s all you have to do and you can have anything that you want in life.

They use the following scenarios to illustrate this:

1. A man sits in a chair in his living room, pretending that he is driving a sports car. He pretends to press on the gas and speed away. He even uses an imaginary clicker to set his alarm.
2. A boy who wants a new bike goes off and stares at the real bike in the window. He draws pictures of the bike and imagines himself with it. Then they show a scene of his grandfather actually giving him the bike of his dreams.

The speakers in the film tell us that in order to attract these things, just think about it. And make sure to “only” think about that. Okay, so based upon that, all one would need to do to become rich is to spend all day thinking about a bag of 100 dollar bills in their room and actually feel that it’s really in the room — then, one day, they will start to make a bunch of money.

I think that’s very far from the truth. Yes, it’s good to focus on what you want, but telling people to spend all day thinking about it takes them out of the present moment all together. The film’s message is to focus on “what you don’t have” when people should be focusing on “what they have.”

They are sending the wrong message to people — telling them to focus all day on these material objects, in an attempt to materialize them out of the sky. No way! We need to focus on the here and now — focusing on what you want, want, want is going to lead to more wanting, wanting, wanting, which leads to more pain, stress, and hardship.

The speakers of the film tell us not to focus on any problems that arise in our life, because if we do “then we’ll attract them.” Well that’s total nonsense. Self-actualization, self-mastery, and freeing your mind isn’t about blocking out pain, stress, and your daily problems in life; it’s about embracing them and learning to control them by not allowing them to take over your mind and thoughts.

Think about all the people in the world who spend time thinking about the suffering of others; the pain and struggles in the world; disease, poverty, war, crime, etc.. these are things that we should ALL be thinking about, because it’s the world that we live in. These are things that we should ALL try do relieve and find solutions for.

But “The Secret” tells us otherwise. They say, through the “Law of Attraction”… if you think about these things, then you’ll bring them into your life, rendering the entire concept of love and compassion absolutely moot. If that were the case, then that would make Buddhist monks the most miserable, unhealthy, and evil people in the world.

How can one care about the pains of others without thinking about pain? How can one truly care about the difficulties of their loved ones, without thinking about their hardships?

Lisa Nichols, the most prominent speaker of the films tells us: “It’s not your job to change the world or the people around you.” Are you serious? Wow, such a statement really goes counter to EVERYTHING this film attempted to stand for. It really renders a lot of the good messages that were presented incredible and totally undermines their messages of “caring for others” and “treating people how you would like to be treated yourself.”

Like the scene of the wife and husband going thorough a bad time in their marriage. Well, based upon Lisa’s statement, the wife should just give up on her husband and not attempt to make things better. This presents a huge equivocation as Lisa’s message goes counter to the message of “caring for others… not giving up on them… and to keep on working on the relationship so things get better.”

The 3 Step Creative Process

The film offers 3 steps to get whatever you want in life:

1. Ask
2. Believe
3. Receive

And it goes like this: ask for whatever you want in life no matter what it is. Truly believe that you “already” have it all day long. Then, as time passes, you get whatever is it is that you want. It can take anywhere from it immediately appearing out of thin air to years — they aren’t sure. It has to do with “how well you are aligned with the universe.”

And, again, they use money-based examples such as:

• An investment banker who is constantly getting bills in the mail. Then by writing how much money he wants to receive on a bank statement, he starts getting checks in the mail all the time.
• An author wants to make $100,000 a year instead of the $8,000 he’s making now. And by writing it down on a dollar bill, within no time, he’s making $100,000 a year by selling his book.

This is a very dangerous way to think, because when you’re spending so much time thinking about future, all the while you are forgetting about the most important moment — the present. We need to live in the moment, not a superficial dreamy state of thinking.

The message should be to think about and be happy about what we have right now. Learning how to appreciate EVERYTHING instead of trying to ATTAIN everything. That’s the fundamental difference here and the producers of the film totally bypass that, more critical, message.

Disease and Sickness

A section of the film is dedicated to living with a disease. And the message is to totally forget that you have the disease — don’t think about it at all and it will go away.

If one is suffering from a disease, they shouldn’t ignore it, they should embrace it. Ignoring the disease isn’t going to make it disappear. However, if we can spend some time understanding, being aware, and learning how to channel the pains produced from the disease, then we can master it — we can shine through it. Ignoring ANYTHING in life is never the answer. It’s the fuel to prolonging it.

The body is truly magnificent and, yes, it can heal itself — of course. But the key isn’t to ignore, it’s to be “aware and mindful.” If we are mindful of the disease and acknowledge it’s presence as a part of us, then we can work on mastering it and aiding in transitioning it out of our life. Blind faith isn’t the proper message, but actively thinking about the disease — right now, in the present — will do much more good that pushing it into the background. Please don’t take the film’s “ignorance is bliss approch.”

Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith stated in the movie: “I’ve seen kidneys regenerate.” And it was presented as a miracle. This isn’t a miracle at all. These events such as people beating cancer and overcoming severe disease all lie within our infinite potential, they aren’t miracles. They are actualizations of our boundless, limitless potential.

This is a financial-based motivational film. It’s a get some “Bling…Bling…” Flick

Nothing more, nothing less. This film is great for people who want to be motivated to get rich and amass material wealth. This isn’t a film about self-discovery, introspection, freeing your mind, and mastering your mind — far from it.

Though the producers try to paint a rosy picture of how this film is meant to help ANYONE, it’s really, more than anything, an attempt to build a franchise of products — DVDs, CDs, Books, “starter kits,” gratitude rocks, soundtracks, etc.. — around the ignorance of others. I can not recommend this film in good conscience, to those seeking to ease their pains in life and improve their minds. BUT, as I stated, if you’re looking for something to get you pumped about making CASH, then it’s definitely worth the watch.

I just feel that many of the speakers in the movie are trying to throw a little bit of Buddhist philosophy, quantum physics, and positive thinking jargon at you to mask their true intentions. More than anything, I think that this film was a MONEY play, than a TRUE desire to help people overcome their obstacles and truly understand / master their minds. In that respect, “The Secret” fails miserably.

So What’s the “Secret” ?

Guess what? There is no secret at all. There is no special way of thinking that will fulfill all of your dreams. You ALREADY have all the answers you seek. You already have ALL the power in the world. You already have everything you seek. You only need to journey inward, not locate a secret way of thinking. If you believe that there’s a secret, then you’re lost. “The Secret” teaches you to only focus on the “outcome.” No. Focus on the “Now” and live every moment in the present — forget the past and forget the future.

What are your thoughts on The Secret?

Here’s a list of some REAL films that will open your mind:

• Peaceful Warrior
• Mystical India
• A Little Princess
• Waking Life

Have any films to add to this list?

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