The Secret Behind ‘The Secret’.
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The Secret was the book that catalyzed my spiritual awakening at the tender age of 18.
By the term spiritual awakening, I mean my entire worldview was broken open, and I experienced what was beyond me in ways I’m only just beginning to find the language to explain. Until this moment I had been a stoic atheist, and thought religion was around for the sole purpose of making its advocates look stupid.
I did not believe in anything beyond me. I prescribed to two realities: physical cause and physical effect.
The Secret woke me up not because of its content, but because the gaping potholes in its philosophy induced in me a psychic breakdown.
The Law of Attraction is one tiny facet of the limitless nature of existence. Capitalism gobbled up this magical knowledge, simplified it into consumerist chunks, and spat it back out to the public in the form of The Secret. I strongly believe that The Secret is so diluted and unusable, it is effectively a lie.
Firstly, if it were that easy to think differently and change your life, people would simply do it.
There wouldn’t even need to be a book about it. You could just switch the light back on: “I’m not poor, I’m rich,” and voila, there would be a gazillion dollars in your bank account. “Sugar is good for me,” and no one would be dying of cancer caused by long-term sugar overdosage.
The ultimate failing of The Secret is, it’s a book that is written on the fabric of denial. The Law of Attraction knows nothing about the power of darkness, the feminine, mystery or alchemy. Looking at what’s uncomfortable, and being with that part of your self, is what allows things to change.
One of the multitudinous secrets behind The Secret is that you cannot have what you think you want, unless you first know all the reasons you aren’t having it. The conscious mind cannot simply inform the subconscious mind to change its conditioning, which has been accumulating for generations before you were born.
In order to experience genuine change, changing daily behavior is the holy grail. Rather than thinking about Yoga, go to Yoga. Rather than wondering whether lying in bed listening to Enya is meditating, actually figure out what you are doing and commit to it, so you know without question when you’re going off-track.
You have to be firm with yourself. Wishy-washy mantra repetition does not change reality.
If you are concerned with effectivity, there is no way around looking at your fears, blockages, and shadow. It is much more effective to look at why you’re not having what you want, than stating: “I already own that villa in the South of France.” Who are you kidding?! Definitely not your oceanic subconscious.
If The Secret were a human, it would be an avoidant male workaholic, demanding that his problems solve themselves. He would get a bigger house, get a promotion at work and remarry, rather than humbling himself before the quiet pursuit of self-inquiry.
He would relocate across the country before opening towards the receptive part of himself.
The avoidant male workaholic is the problem. The fact that The Secret is real is the problem. People are using a messed-up society as a marking scheme which their hopes, dreams and desires are measured upon.
The Secret fails to inquire about the reasons behind surface-level desires. It focuses on changing immediate circumstances (money, fame, work schedule) again and again and again.
In many ways, it has been quite brilliant in hoodwinking the masses into falling headfirst down the rabbit hole towards something they think they want — only to discover that these things are as ephemeral as smoke. These prizes and rewards are mere side effects of the real Secret.
But back before my awakening, I knew nothing of that. Here I was, tumbling along in the throes of addiction, beginning to have experiences that I did not have words for. The veil of illusion was getting thinner and thinner. But I did not know it was a veil.
I had never heard of Aldous Huxley; the closest I’d got to magic was Harry Potter, which I took as pure fiction. Then my best friend, who was having similar experiences through various white powders, told me about The Secret.
The Secret was what put this realization into words for me, for the first time ever. Up until that point, and for a while after, it was my most powerful reference point of truth. Little did I know that my life was run by unconscious preferences that I mistook for fact.
I will be happy and fulfilled when I am rich, famous, successful is a belief based on an outmoded paradigm, that takes us further away from the elevated internal state that is the Secret.
The Law of Attraction is an immature teaching about the nature of reality. It makes no attempt to deconstruct the mind’s ideas to reveal the truth.
Why do you want that mega-yacht? Is it because you’re trying to impress the family that has deserted you? If so, it’s the family wounds that need healing, and cementing over that pain with a mega-yacht won’t relieve your suffering. In fact, having the mega-yacht will make it worse, as it distracts from the source of your pain.
The Secret never stops to inquire about the relentless pursuit of material gain. In essence, the Law of Attraction states the obvious, then profits from delusion about searching on the outside for what is within.
Just like antidepressants and fast food, it frequently promotes unsustainable short-circuiting, that leaves you much worse-off in the long run. The existing culture of Buy me, Pick me is what needs to be reversed. It definitely does not need to be fortified by magic.
Your thoughts create your reality, so change your thoughts and your reality will change is a simplistic set of verbiage with enormous steps missing. I took this for gospel… and the walls of my psyche begun to crumble. I thought I was completely in control — another massive flaw the Law of Attraction perpetuates.
I thought I could just shut my eyes and tell myself my lottery ticket would be chosen, and it would. And if it didn’t — what’s wrong with me? I could just tell myself that I was rich and famous enough times, and it would manifest right before my very eyes. And when it didn’t — why not?
These questions led me to realize that my deepest belief system was one of self-hatred.
The infinite grace referred to in The Secret goes far beyond anything that can be read and accounted for in a book. It cannot be purchased, quantified or forced through human will. It wants to be honored and celebrated.
Thank God the mysteries of the universe are not for idiots to discover or make use of. Thank God the Unknown is far beyond the reaches of my understanding, even now, after four years of study. Thank God that using the Law of Attraction to its fullest extent requires different forms of mindfulness, faith and practical surrender.
Conclusion: is the Law of Attraction real, in essence? Obviously. Is its massive simplification harmful to our society? Yes. Is the next step in looking not at what you want, but at what you’re already having? Absolutely.
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Jane West is a writer, recovering alcoholic, life-coach and philosopher. She studied female sexuality and communication for two years (and then for the rest of her life). She likes sadness as much as she likes happiness, and the truth above everything. She likes quotations and believes in past lives, astrology and magic. She grew up in London and recently moved to San Francisco. Find out about coaching with her at her website.
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