The Real Secret in The Secret


When I was leading seminars and workshops at the beginning of my career in the mid ’70’s I would frequently ask participants to indicate by a show of hands how many were familiar with the notion that our thoughts are creative. Usually no one would raise their hands. And if there were hands raised, they were very few.

Fortunately, many more people have been exposed to that idea simply due to the proliferation of books, audio programs, seminars and workshops that teach that idea. The latest to come along and reach extremely wide exposure is the movie The Secret. Recently Oprah did two shows on the movie and had some of the "stars" of the movie on her show. I read that these two shows had the most viewers of any of her broadcasts.

What The Secret teaches is the very basic principle that our thoughts are creative. That is, what we think about, visualize and dwell upon will come to us through the Law of Attraction.

That’s the theory, anyway.

In practice it isn’t quite that simple. If it was many more of us would be healthy, beautiful, handsome, slim, loved and wealthy – and world peace would have long ago broken out! You see, there is some very crucial information missing from The Secret.

Before I tell you what that is, let me share a little of my background and why I have the authority to speak about this.

I was raised in the Deep South and grew up either poor or lower middle class, depending on my father’s business fortunes. And I use the term "fortunes" loosely. I learned little or nothing about success principles or prosperity or how to handle money, much less make any.

At one point when I lived in San Francisco, after having graduated from the San Francisco Art Institute, I was married with an infant son. And for awhile we were on welfare and Food Stamps. It was a very difficult time, to say the least. And what was worse, I had no idea how I got there or how to get out.

Fast forward a few years. I was divorced and on unemployment. I had a lot of time on my hands and I got involved in a spiritual/personal development/transformational community. There I learned a set of practices that radically changed my life and my fortunes and gave me the career that I have enjoyed for over 30 years.

I had known for some time that "thought is creative". I had been on a spiritual path for years and had studied the Seth Material which is all about creative thought. But I had not a clue about the practical application of that idea — until I came into the company of these people.

What I learned was that it was not my conscious thoughts that are creative. It was my subconscious beliefs, feelings and attitudes that had been creating my experience of myself, life and relationships. And until I learned what those are and, most importantly, learn tools and techniques for changing them at the subconscious level, nothing in my outer world would change one iota.

So, I got busy working with processes to surface my deep, subconscious beliefs and practicing techniques to change them at the subconscious level. And in due time, my experience of myself and my life began to change in very dramatic and powerful ways.

I learned that it is the content of our subconscious mind, the material below the threshold of conscious awareness, which generates a vibratory frequency that draws to us experiences that are in harmony with those vibrations.

Our deep subconscious beliefs, feelings and attitudes are formed in our infancy, early childhood and adolescence and then validated as real in our adult experience. The content of our subconscious minds is the real creative machinery of our lives and relationships.

Out of my intense desire for my life to be different and with the application of some very specific tools and techniques, I transformed myself and my life from poverty and hopelessness with very few prospects for success, to one of high self esteem, personal power, contribution and financial and relationship success.

There was nothing in my past or my deep inner mind that prepared me for who I have become and the life I have lived. I have since had the opportunity to travel around the world teaching and learning and having experiences for which my "old mind" was in no way prepared.

It’s a great thing that The Secret is introducing millions of people to a very important metaphysical theory and will hopefully lead them to learn more. There will inevitably be those who will meet with disappointment, discouragement and misunderstanding when things don’t turn out as they imagine they will based on what they learned in The Secret. And there will be those who will dismiss the book and its premise out of hand.

A friend and colleague of mine has written what I think is the best book on the subject and I highly recommend it. It is called Vibrational Harmony – Why We Don’t Get What We Want and How We Can, by Beverly Nadler. This wonderful book explains the workings of your amazing mind – conscious, subconscious and Superconscious – so that you can tune into your intuition, use your power of "free will" and overcome your mind’s resistance to change. Vibrational Harmony also teaches you the additional Universal and Mental Laws involved, that The Secret doesn’t tell you.

Inner transformation is both an art and a science. And I promise you that if you have the persistence, patience, fortitude and determination, stepping onto this path can change you forever — for the better!

What are your thoughts about the movie The Secret?


7 responses to “The Real Secret in The Secret”

  1. You Ask: What are my thoughts about the movie The Secret?

    When I first heard about it, it mildly disturbed me but I couldn’t put my finger on it. Now that I’ve had a chance to see it and hear discussion from a number of well respected people, I must agree with those who say it is dangerous; it is bunk.

    There’s no way I can articulate it as well as Kevin Hogan does here: http://kevinhogan.com/the-real-secret.htm.

    This from a man who’s life work is studying success, why people do things, what it takes to have break-throughs, etc. He’s had his own success without using the false principles he calls a ‘bill of goods’ in The Secret; he completely dissembles The Secret and explains why it is dangerous.

    You should too.

  2. The Secret does not work for many people because they can not master their Emotional Guidance system.
    Emotional Intelligence or Emotional Literacy should be one of the first subjects introduced in schools and at home.
    Evaluating the current state of affairs that for the most part we were taught to ignore our feelings, deny them, supress them – anything except recognizing them, naming what we feel and manage the feeling appropriatly.
    In my opinion – before people can start manifesting – Emotional Revolution should be declared in the world.
    As an Emotional Intelligence Coach I hope and dream to make a difference .
    Bronya Zeitlin

  3. I absolutly agree, The audio book expands on the movie and creates a better understanding of the law of attraction.

  4. Paul – thank you for your post about the secret behind The Secret! How very true! I have watched The Secret many times, along with What the Bleep……..and I have known for years that the subconscious is what is the driving force behind our creations…….unfortunately while I knew that, I often ignored it or “played” with it in detrimental ways……..thus not really acknowledging my “knowing”.
    Finally, afer months of learning, personal growth, etc. I was able to unblock the subconscious barriers and open the door to a beautiful future!
    I’m bemused by the sudden “backlash” about The Secret that has occurred since Oprah’s two shows — all sorts of people belittling the lessons in the movie, positive thinking in general and so on… the loudest critics seems to be those who think this is a “new” idea — with no concept that the secret itself has been around for centuries and is now being openly taught and discussed rather than being ignored by the majority of people.
    Something the critics and many others seem to lack is the inspiration and motivation to change their subconscious thinking and take action to change their lives for the better.
    Again, thank you for your “secret behind the secret”!

  5. I have been watching “The Secret” since it came out. I also watch “What the Bleep” and “Down the Rabbit Hole” frequently. The training I have received with Paul and Layne has covered the gaps from my perspective, so I have enjoyed “The Secret”. It is so true, you have to change your entire thinking on the cellular level and energy level, in order to make those changes of intention for your life.

    If only my life simply changed by intention and desire. But my beliefs from childhood were in effect sabotaging them, no amount of thought would bring me success. It has to be a process of belief change to overcome that.

    However, when I have read some of the books by the actors in the movie “The Secret” it has helped to clarify the message better. The audio book by Rhonda Byrne is excellent and more expansive.

  6. Great article! I agree with you 110%!!!

    My consciousness has always been speaking to me all my life and it has been 100% correct, but I never knew exactly what it was and I couldn’t tell anyone because they’d say I’m a fruitloop and most probally emit me into a mental hospital.
    But after reading this book it confirmed it and I thought what a shame I was drawn away from it but it kept nagging me and so I finally thought I’d research into it and it led me to this wonderfull book. It helped me out so much and made me understand so much it was like all the missing pieces of this puzzle I’ve been trying to solve all my life finally came together.
    This wonderfull book I am talking about is:
    ‘Handbook to Higher Consciousness by Ken, Jr. Keyes which was written in the 70’s and over a million copies have been sold. Take a look at this link http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Higher-Consciousness-Ken-Keyes/dp/0960068880
    and scroll down to the section:
    Look Inside This Book
    Browse Sample Pages:
    Front Cover | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
    this book is a perfect marriage with the one you have suggested, I anticipate in reading that one too!
    Oh also I wanted to say that I thought the movie ‘What the Bleep Do We Know About’ is great and an eye opener.

  7. Hello Paul,

    I’m quite happy that you make that distinction clear, between subconscious and conscious thoughts/feelings. I wish we would hear more about it, because, personally, in my life anyways, years of positive thinking and visualization alone didn’t do that much; it is only when I started to uncover my negative unconscious beliefs and learned how release them that I began to be truly able to replace them with positive conscious ones. That’s also why I think EFT is so useful to work from the actual limiting state and to work your way to the desired one!

    Thank you very much for your work and passion!

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