Tuesday, October 02, 2007

the secret of "the secret"




i couldn't resist the temptation of buying this book.generally,i have a great weakness for books.when i see a book that appeals to me i immediately buy it knowing fully well that i might not have the time to read it fully soon.why do i do that? because either i will totally forget about this book if i don't buy it then and there or i might just not get the time. eitherway,my library is the winner. i often joke with my friends and family that if i were to retire from my job now and i totally stop buying books, i might still not be able to do full justice to all the books lying in my library . assuming that i live for another twenty years.

what is this book that struck me so much to fall for it? simple.it is a self-help book. about focus. on what you want and you will get it. this book has emerged as one of the most successful self-help books ever with record shattering sales.there is a video too.the book was a chart-buster.numero uno on the wall street journal's non-fiction best seller list in the first week of april and also on the new york times' list in the ending of the second week of april. the video for sale online is supposed to have been downloaded more than 2 million times.oprah has done two shows on the author and recently newsweek devoted six pages to the book and video.

the book reveals a secret puportedly known to great thinkers and philosophers from plato to einstein.so far it has been kept out of bounds from the masses. the book has been authored by rhonda byrne. she is the head of an australian film production company. imagine what you want with focus and it will come to you. there are 24 advice experts who dish out their take on how you could be what you want to be. instead of one guru,here is an ensemble reinforcing the main stream of thought running throughout the book.mind is the king.

in 2004,according to byrne her company was about to go bust. adding to her woes was the death of her father. at that time she was presented with a book by her 24 year-old daugther. wallace wattle's "the science of getting rich". published in 1910. an outstanding book in the self-help genre.

what are the secrets that are passed on? a) just 3 to 10 minutes of meditation a day will give you a good fix over your thoughts, b)your ideal body weight is weight that feels good for you, c)you will never become rich if you continue your job, d) autosuggest that you can get the objects that you want.that feeling will fulfill your desire and e) when you are not well don't worry about the symptoms of disease .just be positive and think of being well. automatically you will be healed.byrne says the secret is simple. ask,believe and receive.

do you call that the secret to byrne's success? biggest reprint in publishing business. over 2 million copies flying off the shelves in flat 3 months since publication.it overtook harry potter and the deatly hallows to no1 in amazon.com's top sellers book list. she has her fair share of criitcs though. she has been accused of plagiarism wholesale.some say this idea actually belonged to norman vincent peale who in 1952 did some original work on the power of positive thinking."thoughts are magnetic and thoughts have frequency" peale had said.

the 198 pages book is neatly divided into 10 chapters, titled the secret revealed, the secret made simple, how to use the secret, powerful processes, the secret to money, the secret to relationships, the secret to health, the secret to the world, the secret to you and the secret to life. rhonda byrne says that we are all human transmission towers.more powerful than any television tower created on earth. the last lines of the book are a quote from ralph waldo emerson "the secret is the answer to all that has been,all that is and all that will ever be"

the book's phenomenal runaway success is attributed to some very smart marketing. "the secret" got rhonda rich and the publishers simon and schuster are laughing all the way to the bank. will it do me any good? i think so. the book makes easy reading and is inspirational. will it do you any good? surely and why not? you will reach a point, says bob proctor-philosopher,author and personal coach, where you won't need to practice anymore,because you will be the power,you will be the perfection,you will be the wisdom,you will be the intelligence,you will be the love and you will be the joy . not far off from the vedantic mahavakyas."tat tvam asi"(thou art that) and "aham brahmaasmi"(i am brahma,the creator).what more can you ask for? after spending only 23.95 us$?

4 comments:

Lotus Reads said...

Hi, gs!

This book was all the rage when it first came out. Oprah had the author on her show and you know what happens what Oprah introduces someone on her show, the product flies off the shelves!

A few months ago anytime I visited our local bookstore I would see people browsing through "The Secret" so, ofcourse, my curiosity was piqued and I have spent quite a browsing sessions with the book.

I happen to agree with many of the author's metaphysical musings. I do believe that if you focus on something you do bring it into your life. The problem is, you don't know if it's good for you or not. We all want to win the lottery but we don't know if it's going to better our lives or make it worse. So when I focus on something I always make sure to let the "higher power" know that I will accept it only if it for my good.

Am I rambling? :)

Enjoyed your take on the book, gs, thanks for sharing!

gs said...

hi lr
i think the book was a phenomenal success because of the simple things that were said in a simple way.many people could connect with the author and build their own dreams.but dreams have to be followed up with hard work.here is where the failure takes place.focussing or concentration on an objective is fine.but then one must also keep in mind the rate of success or probability of achieving your desire.focussing on highly improbable things may take us nowhere.at the same time if one focusses on a very difficult goal with a reasonable chance of success,it helps.

Ren0 said...

Try searching for all the quotes used in the secret ..then u'll know the real secret behind the secret

*all* the quotes are fake.

youre right tho. positive thinking helps

gs said...

hello dragon:
difficult to believe that the quotes are fake. anyway,positive thinking is the winner.