In the latest plunge into the pervasive pool of self-help (i.e., self-absorption), Americans, by the millions, are discovering a video, and companion book, called, "The Secret", only to discover that the only secret is that there is really no secret to living a happy and fulfilled life. According to a story by the AP from Yahoo News:
"The woman with long, dark hair looks yearningly at the gold necklace in the window of a jewelry store. She fixates on the bling. There's some kind of disruption in the atmosphere. And then, the necklace is draped around her neck.
The scenes unfold in "The Secret," a 90-minute-long DVD advocating the power of positive thinking that has sold 2 million copies. More than 5.2 million copies of the book of the same name are in print.
While "The Secret" has become a pop culture phenomenon, it also has drawn critics who are not quiet about labeling the movement a fad, embarrassingly materialistic or the latest example of an American propensity of wanting something for nothing."
I got a call from a good friend about a year ago, telling me about this movie that was the best thing since cream cheese, and maybe even better than butter (virtually impossible, in my world). Like you, perhaps, I've done a few laps in the self-help pool over the years. And yes, I have preached that some of the programs/cults were divinely inspired (better than butter), myself. Thank goodness, once I tasted some actual butter again, I returned to Earth.
Not one to keep a secret, the movie my friend was referring to was, in fact, "The Secret". He told me that is was very much in line with a film called, "What The Bleep" (which I really liked, and did a lot of bleeping about to others), but that the only way to watch it was on the internet. So, together with a friend and my daughter, we got "comfortable" in front of my computer screen, ready to receive the secrets, which, of course, were going to propel us into a state of Buddha-like enlightenment.
Well, I'm sorry to report that there was no satori, no opening of the heavens, no singing of the angels, unless you count Mick Jagger crooning "Sympathy for the Devil" on my iTunes. Pleased to meet you, too.
Friends of mine who have seen "The Secret" fall into two distinct categories: love it, or hate it. It's no secret that there seems to be no middle ground. Me? I hated it.
The first reaction to our viewing of the movie was from my American Idolized, tween daughter, who wondered aloud, "why is it all about getting stuff, and am I supposed to believe that by taping a million dollar bill to the ceiling above my bed and staring at it, I'll get a million dollars?"
I reacted to the guy who put a picture of a mansion on his bulletin board, only to find that he and his young son moved into that very same mansion a few years later. How's that for power? Hubba, hubba. What struck me about the guy's story was that it seemed like such over-the-top bullshit, how simple and literal his example of the power of attraction was (I'm pinning a picture of Samson to my wall now. I'll let you know when my hair grows back). The other thing that came up for me was that, from the movie's perspective, it was totally cool that one guy and his kid were occupying a structure that could house all the homeless people west of the Mississippi.
Don't get me wrong. I'm not intending to rain on your abundance parade. I know it's what "the universe" wants for you (but wants the homeless to sleep on a park bench, right?). I just question the trend in the self-help world to use money and materialism as a hook to hock their schlock. If you ask me, the best way to get rich in this country is to tell people how to get rich. Like there's some magic formula to bypass life's difficulties, and it's yours, if you just "do the weekend", for only $$$$$$. Know what I'm saying? Is it me, or is something wrong with this picture?
The Buddha left us with what he called, The Four Noble Truths. Here they are:
1. Suffering exists
2. Suffering arises from attachment to desires
3. Suffering ceases when attachment to desire ceases
4. Freedom from suffering is possible by practicing the Eightfold Path (look it up)
While I'm not a practicing Buddhist, I have learned a lot from Buddhist teachings. And, unless I missed something, I don't think there was a Fifth Noble Truth uncovered, called, "Buy this book to skip Truths 1-4".
My grandfather led a rather simple life, and had a simple philosophy for life. It went something like this:
1. Work hard
2. Keep your word
3. Do the right thing
One day, I'd like to be like him. And that's no secret.
-Craig Gordon
Listen, do you want to know a secret,
Do you promise not to tell, Whoa . . . . .
Closer, let me whisper in your ear,
Say the words you long to hear,
I’m in love with you, oo . . . . .
-John Lennon & Paul McCartney
As I'm fated for the material world
Get frustrated in the material world
Senses never gratified
Only swelling like a tide
That could drown me in the material world
-George Harrison
