Evaluating "The Secret": cosmic candy store or is it for real?
Evaluating "The Secret": cosmic candy store or is it for real?
by Martin Euser
July, 2009
With all the hype around "The Secret" going on, it is opportune to say a few things about this whole thing; the more so, since I have written about the use of the powers of the mind since 1994 in my various articles as can be found in my ebook (especially the article "The psychological key to man", sections 3 and 4 contain very valuable information).
So, is there anything to this "secret"?
First of all, the idea that the mind is a kind of magnet, that attracts certain powers from the universe, is nothing new. Many people have written about this, among which Ralph Waldo Trine, and other proponents of New Thought like Wallace D. Wattles, but ages before that the Hindus knew about the various energies or shaktis that work in our cosmos, among which is counted kriya shakti - the power to form and objectify images.
If the knowledge about this used in an impersonal way, that is, one forms an image of what one wants to be, an ideal image that resonates deeply within oneself, including the idea of serving others, following your passion, learning to give and receive, than this is a safe way to proceed. All other use is bound to recoil on the dabbler with astral forces.
After all, if you only want to get stuff for personal gain, without any consideration for others, the whole affair degenerates quickly into a competition for resources and plain phantasies about endless happiness, wealth, and the like.
This is not how the cosmos works. It is not a candy store where you can walk in and take what you want or buy your health, wealth and happiness cheaply. It requires a certain prolonged effort and a certain mentality.
There is one conscious substance that penetrates all and we need to operate from a deeper level than mere phantasy. True imagination is something else. It is a force that operates from the level of one's true Self. It is a creative power that is very strong. It can only be used properly when a certain level of moral maturity has been reached.
Know yourself to be a part of a great stream of life and love that encompasses all, and work from that understanding and feeling. Then it will work out fine, sooner or later. Learn to truely give and to receive.
Wattles says: "A man's highest happiness is found in the bestowal of benefits on those he loves; love finds its most natural and spontaneous expression in giving". Very true, and this constitutes a healthy outlook on life in my opinion.
There are of course extreme ideas in the whole "The Secret" movement, like sometimes is demonstrated in workshops where it is sometimes said to people who suffer from ill health that they don't truely wish their own well-being, that they don't imagine their being healthy strong enough. This is clearly nonsense. Nature does not work that fast. If one has a serious health-problem it may require a life-time (or more!) of work on yourself to balance the disturbed energy-equilibrium.
The wisdom-teachings are clear on this and a good observation of natural processes will confirm this statement. There is a certain inertia in all the processes of nature and it is there for a reason. Without resistance there can be no acceleration. Try to move on a total resistance free surface and you will lose your balance.
To conclude this short essay: there is something to this "secret", but it might be a little different than many think it is.
If one learns to develop a vision of where one wants to be, how one wants to be, and if one is prepared to let the forces of cosmos flow naturally through one's mind, and cooperate with the creative flow, that is all fine and it will work out fine, especially when your motive is impersonal, having the well-being of all others in mind.
One may encounter setbacks, resistance, etc., but these things belong to life too.
One cannot expect perpetual happiness as that would not only be boring but an impediment to spiritual evolution. There always will be the working of two poles, or pairs of opposites, happiness and sadness, success and failure, but these are relative things. One learns to take these states as they come and go, while ever progressing to and expressing deeper levels in understanding, creativity and love.
by Martin Euser
July, 2009
With all the hype around "The Secret" going on, it is opportune to say a few things about this whole thing; the more so, since I have written about the use of the powers of the mind since 1994 in my various articles as can be found in my ebook (especially the article "The psychological key to man", sections 3 and 4 contain very valuable information).
So, is there anything to this "secret"?
First of all, the idea that the mind is a kind of magnet, that attracts certain powers from the universe, is nothing new. Many people have written about this, among which Ralph Waldo Trine, and other proponents of New Thought like Wallace D. Wattles, but ages before that the Hindus knew about the various energies or shaktis that work in our cosmos, among which is counted kriya shakti - the power to form and objectify images.
If the knowledge about this used in an impersonal way, that is, one forms an image of what one wants to be, an ideal image that resonates deeply within oneself, including the idea of serving others, following your passion, learning to give and receive, than this is a safe way to proceed. All other use is bound to recoil on the dabbler with astral forces.
After all, if you only want to get stuff for personal gain, without any consideration for others, the whole affair degenerates quickly into a competition for resources and plain phantasies about endless happiness, wealth, and the like.
This is not how the cosmos works. It is not a candy store where you can walk in and take what you want or buy your health, wealth and happiness cheaply. It requires a certain prolonged effort and a certain mentality.
There is one conscious substance that penetrates all and we need to operate from a deeper level than mere phantasy. True imagination is something else. It is a force that operates from the level of one's true Self. It is a creative power that is very strong. It can only be used properly when a certain level of moral maturity has been reached.
Know yourself to be a part of a great stream of life and love that encompasses all, and work from that understanding and feeling. Then it will work out fine, sooner or later. Learn to truely give and to receive.
Wattles says: "A man's highest happiness is found in the bestowal of benefits on those he loves; love finds its most natural and spontaneous expression in giving". Very true, and this constitutes a healthy outlook on life in my opinion.
There are of course extreme ideas in the whole "The Secret" movement, like sometimes is demonstrated in workshops where it is sometimes said to people who suffer from ill health that they don't truely wish their own well-being, that they don't imagine their being healthy strong enough. This is clearly nonsense. Nature does not work that fast. If one has a serious health-problem it may require a life-time (or more!) of work on yourself to balance the disturbed energy-equilibrium.
The wisdom-teachings are clear on this and a good observation of natural processes will confirm this statement. There is a certain inertia in all the processes of nature and it is there for a reason. Without resistance there can be no acceleration. Try to move on a total resistance free surface and you will lose your balance.
To conclude this short essay: there is something to this "secret", but it might be a little different than many think it is.
If one learns to develop a vision of where one wants to be, how one wants to be, and if one is prepared to let the forces of cosmos flow naturally through one's mind, and cooperate with the creative flow, that is all fine and it will work out fine, especially when your motive is impersonal, having the well-being of all others in mind.
One may encounter setbacks, resistance, etc., but these things belong to life too.
One cannot expect perpetual happiness as that would not only be boring but an impediment to spiritual evolution. There always will be the working of two poles, or pairs of opposites, happiness and sadness, success and failure, but these are relative things. One learns to take these states as they come and go, while ever progressing to and expressing deeper levels in understanding, creativity and love.
Comment
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Comment by Charles Cosimano on July 22, 2009 at 10:35pm
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It's a metaphor Martin. It's a metaphor. But we do it all the time, whenever we accomplish anything that nature did not intend for us to accomplish, like surviving an illness that untreated would have been fatal.
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Comment by ornamentalmind on July 22, 2009 at 2:01pm
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From my limited experience at this website, I find Charles to be our local Harlequin…a necessary function.
As to ‘the Secret’, I had to Google it…shows my general ignorance. I guess that in context the movie is the message.
Martin, the main experience I have had in the realm of imagination here is the practice of theurgy. I will guess that you include this in your non-sweet tooth store. For me, on the surface, such a practice appeared to be at once shallow and a scam. Upon practice, results do arise.
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Comment by Martin Euser on July 14, 2009 at 6:03am
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Oh Universe,
Give us our daily Soup (Soma),
and deliver us from Candy (the Caries demon)
until the End.
Amen.
Seriously, Charles, can you give us one concrete example of "grabbing the universe by the throat and make it do what they want it to"?
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I like The Secret. It is one of my favorite feel good movies and I use it as a flu shot when I get depressed about the state of the world. Given the choice, I think it far better that people view the cosmos as a candy store than view it as a soup kitchen.
But then I am prejudiced after having written a few books teaching people how to grab the universe by the throat and make it do what they want it to.
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And take a look at the daily motivator. This guy is incredible!
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Joe: probably for a multitude of reasons: the idea that one can take one's destiny in one's own hand, the desire for wealth, health, happiness, and so on.
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Well, the universe has always been a cosmic candy store for me. That's what makes it so much fun to rob it.
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