The Secret (Unabridged, 4-CD Set)

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Product Description

YOU HOLD IN YOUR HANDS A GREAT SECRET.

It has been passed down through the ages, highly coveted, hidden, lost, stolen, and bought for vast sums of money. Fragments of this Great Secret have been found in the oral traditions, in literature, in religions and philosophies throughout the centuries. It has been understood by some of the most prominent people in history: Plato, Galileo, Beethoven, Edison, Carnegie, and Einstein, along with other renowned inventors, theologians, scientists, and great thinkers.

For the first time, all the pieces of The Secret come together in an incredible revelation that will be life transforming for all who experience it.

In this audiobook you will discover The Secret . . . and you will learn how to have, do, or be anything you want. You will learn how to use The Secret in every single area of your life. You will hear from modern-day teachers -- men and women who have used The Secret to achieve health, prosperity, relationships and happiness. They share their incredible stories of using The Secret to eradicate disease, acquire massive wealth, overcome obstacles, and achieve what many would regard as impossible. Through them, you will begin to understand the hidden, untapped power that is within you, and the true magnificence that awaits you in life.

To experience the film version of The Secret visit www.thesecret.tv

Customer Reviews: Read 2281 more reviews...

4 out of 5 stars

Great DVD...Book gets a little mean spirited. December 11, 2006
771 out of 954 found this review helpful

I liked the DVD much better than the book. The DVD was totally positive, but like Ms. Boyer, I found some of the books comments made my energy take a dive. Here is why:

Ms. Byrne says that those of us who suffer weather disasters have created the disaster or adversity. Like the power of certain prayers, some things happen because of energies that have been invested far longer than the span of one life. When you move into a disaster prone area you encounter "risk energy" that may have existed for hundreds of years. If Ms Byrne thinks she is stronger than this energy and can stop future storms from entering New Orleans, let me be the first to invite her to live here....Keeping one author in a swank French Quarter apartment (untouched by flood waters) has to be cheaper than the millions we are spending to rebuild the levee system. Even though I don't agree with Ms Byrne I would sooner trust her to protect the city than the government engineers who sat clueless for two weeks while my apartment slowly dissolved under 11 feet of water.

I also share Ms Boyer's dislike of Ms. Byrne's comments about turning your back on "fat" people (or anyone else). The book assumes that everyone who wants to can access good feelings at a moments notice and encourages you to shun people who don't fit your physical or emotional ideal. For many people, especially those from emotionally or financially impoverished backgrounds, feelings of abundance and self-worth can be impossible to access. A few years ago I encountered a book by the social psychologist William Swann. His studies on the affect that self-esteem has on what you attract into your life make very interesting reading that is closely related to the topics discussed here. While forgetting the past is not that hard, creating a feeling that you didn't have while growing up is nearly impossible for most people. Yes, we do hear of rags to riches stories, but they almost always involve a pivotal personal encounter.

Perhaps there is a reason that this information has been kept a secret for so long. Maybe that reason is that too many people would have used the knowledge to abandon the sick, dying, and less fortunate and spend their time generating new toys and bigger and bigger houses. Religion has often existed to remind people that they should be grateful for not having adversity. If you can wish it away, why bother with those who can't? This whole scenario reminds me of the creation story told by the psychic, Edgar Cayce, many decades ago. He said that man was an angel who created matter as a plaything and became encased in it because he forgot his divinity. I see no spiritual problem with having it all, but that can and should include kindness and compassion toward everyone.

5 out of 5 stars

If you liked the movie - buy this CD! November 30, 2006
604 out of 909 found this review helpful

I have watched The Secret numerous times and wanted something to listen to at work and in the car. I considered buying the soundtrack from the film but then took a look at the book in a bookstore and realized that much of the information in the movie is actually expounded upon, so I opted for the book on CD. Well, it's perfect. You get Rhonda Byrne's sweet and loving voice taking you through all the points of the secret like a caring and compassionate friend, adding more detail as she goes. And of course all the teachers voices are there too. I'm so pleased with this unabridged CD, I think it's better than the movie because of all the additional content and I can take it with me wherever I go!
Thanks for all the hardwork that must have gone in to doing this - I can't recommend it enough.

1 out of 5 stars

Reaches Too Far, Oversells, Underdelivers January 1, 2007
399 out of 437 found this review helpful

I think a book like this, which makes some really big claims, should, roughly, do the following:

1)Present it's premise clearly
2)Since it's a self-help book explain clearly what you need to do
3)Provide compelling evidence that it's ideas work
4)Be credible.

The book does a decent job of explaining its premise, which is that everything in your life is the result of the law of attraction. I quote, "the law of attraction says like attracts like, so when you think a thought, you are also attracting like thoughts to you." In other words, think good thoughts and good things will come to you and if you think bad thoughts then bad things come to you. I've simplified this a bit but not a whole lot as the concept isn't rocket science.

Now, does this book explain clearly what you need to do? Actually, for a self-help book it does a very poor job of this. How do you control your thoughts? What kinds of practices and thinking produce the best results? The author and contributors basically tell you a bunch of stories about how "so and so did something and you can too by changing your thinking".

And that's it for the "how to" part of the book. There isn't any.

Now, if I wanted to prove something worked from a scientific perspective it would seem to be easy to test this stuff out. You take two groups of people, teach one the secret, let the other go on with their lives and see what happens. In theory those that know the Secret would be happier and more successful than the control group. It might not be perfect but it'd be a whole lot better than what we get in this book. But, of course, you'd have to have an actual methodology to test.

Instead the authors cite numerous anecdotes of how the Secret worked. One person's cancer went away. Another individual walks after a brutal accident. Still another finds romance. That's all fine and perhaps it's evidence but it's not proof. Cancer can be misdiagnosed. How many people who were injured like the "Miracle Man" never walked again despite the best attitude and trying the approach perfectly? The problem with anecdotes is that it's easy to start with a result, work backward and assume the conclusion. It's also very easy with anecdotes to only present the ones that make your case and ignore those that don't (when someone dies of cancer while practicing the secret for instance). It's just not good enough to use anecdotes for large claims like those made in this book.

The following quote struck a nerve.

"People hold that for awhile, and they're really a champion at it. They say, `I'm fired up, I saw this program and I'm going to change my life.' And yet the results aren't showing. Beneath the surface it's just about ready to break through but the person will look just at the surface results and say, `This stuff doesn't work.' And you know what? The universe says, "your wish is my command,"

I thought it was interesting that the universe instantly manifest failure but isn't quite so fast with success. In fact, a cynical individual might conclude that what they are really saying is, "when this program works it's because the secret always works, but, on the off chance it doesn't work, well, that's your fault." An even more cynical person might think, "gosh, I wonder what would help a person who failed? Maybe, a seminar with Bob Proctor would be just the thing to get them over the top?"

Lastly, is the Secret credible? On the one hand, I think a lot can be said for the idea that if you change your thinking you'd change your life. In many ways that seems obvious to me.

On the other hand, if the secret actually was true, especially at the scope claimed by the book it would mean that everything that's happened is the result of your thinking. So, when a child dies of pneumonia, well, it's because they brought pneumonia into their lives. Michael J. Fox, not only did you bring Parkinson's into your life but change your thinking and it will go away. Obviously these things aren't true and they obliterate, in my opinion, any credibility in the book.

Not only does the book go too far but most (I'd argue nearly all) of the contributors aren't credible. On a topic of this scope: the ability to 100% change your life and the world in an incredible fashion, does anyone really think you couldn't find psychologists, top flight scientists, therapists and thousands of mainstream individuals to support it, if it worked? Wouldn't there be tons of research instead of anecdotes? Instead we get a Feng Shui Master, a chiropractor, motivational speakers (err trainers), a metaphysicist, etc. combined with a half dozen anecdotal stories. So the most powerful like changing idea ever and you get it from the crew in this book presented in this fashion? I don't think so!

If this idea really worked, at anything other than giving material to self-help speakers and generating repeat students, it just wouldn't be found here. The book wouldn't even have to be written because we'd all already know it and be practicing it. Remember, this is not a new idea, it's been around for a very long time, and it's been the topic of literally thousands of seminars and hundreds of books.

In conclusion, I'm not opposed to the idea on a small scale but this book just goes way too far and I'm left with the feeling that all that's really going on is a bunch of people trying to get their name out and get you to pay for their seminars.

1 out of 5 stars

a best-seller; folly of the masses June 25, 2007
328 out of 357 found this review helpful

This book was given to me as a gift on father's day. I started reading it the way I read any book but soon I started reading faster and faster, more like scanning, with speed-reading techniques, and finished it in 2 hours, while taking notes at the same time.

I have no interest in self-help books or concepts like power of positive thinking. This book combines the two, with the main thesis being that the "secret" to anything in life, wealth, health, success, love, romance, happiness is positive thinking, thinking positive thoughts. More specifically, imagining things that you want to have and really, truly believe that you already have them, and feel good about having them now!

For example, if you want to be rich, you should first imagine that you are already rich; second, you should really believe that you are already rich; and third you should feel yourself in a rich life style, feel happy about it. If you keep doing this for awhile, miraculously the doors of wealth will open to you, all the opportunities will line up at your door and you will be well into your way to becoming that rich person you are imagining. Similarly, if you want to loose weight, you should imagine yourself in your ideal weight, really focus on that, only allow yourself "thin thoughts" and avoid "fat thoughts", and you will get thin. I quote; "if someone is overweight, it came from thinking fat thoughts". Another one; "Food cannot cause you to put on weight, unless you think it can."

I felt like putting a smiley face right after the last sentence as I am smiling now, and was smiling throughout the book. All you have to do is just ask (oh, and believe, and feel) for the thing you want and lo and behold, thou shalt have it! I quote: "Make a command to the Universe. Let the Universe know what you want. The universe responds to your thoughts." Another one: "The Universe will start to rearrange itself to make it happen for you." Really? I didn't know the entire universe cared so much about me!

The method even works for some frivolous things. Like always finding a parking spot, never having to wait in lines, never being late etc. And a lot of people are, allegedly, already doing it: "We have received thousands of accounts of The Secret being used to bring about large sums of money and unexpected checks in the mail. People have used the secret to manifest their perfect homes, life partners, cars, jobs, and promotions, with many accounts of businesses being transformed within days of applying The Secret."

One look at the titles of the co-authors of the book says a lot: Metaphysician, moneymaking expert (ha?), healer, life coach, law of attraction specialist, feng shui consultant (sure)... How about gullibility specialist, swindling expert, or snake-oil salesman?

Actually I shouldn't be so hard. At least one person, the main author of the book made her wishes come true. In the foreword of the book, and elsewhere inside, she says that she was going through a very bad time, her company of 10 years was about to be history. In desperation she looked everywhere for answers and that's how she discovered "the secret". Judging from the success of the book and the film, it must have worked for her. I suppose she must have thought, believed, and felt something like this: "I want a large number of credulous people to buy what I am saying (and the book, and the dvd) so I can make a lot of money".

5 out of 5 stars

You Don't Need This Book... February 20, 2007
141 out of 167 found this review helpful

You don't need this book. You already know everything you need to know to be wise and prosperous. It's already inside of you. Everyone is looking for some magic formula which will allow them to be happy and successful. We all believe that there is some "secret of life" that we need to plug into, and then our fears and angst will disappear and we will glide effortlessly through the cosmos into blissful well-being.

Well, look no further. I am going to reveal to you the Ultimate Secret, and it is not going to cost you a penny! Are you ready? Here it is: The secret of life is... that THERE IS NO SECRET!

It sounds like pablum doesn't it? But only about 5% of the people who read this are going to understand it and believe it. I challenge you to embrace this thought and analyze it. Take it to its logical conclusion, and when you can truly accept this wisdom, you will be able to shed your fears and angst. You may not reach a point where you feel that you are gliding effortlessly through the cosmos, but you will be well on the path toward that utopia. And you will resonate with a happiness you never before thought possible.

I am a firm believer in the Law of Attraction. And I am a devout believer that we are all exactly where we are supposed to be. We truly do create our own destiny. We are always at a place which has been created by the sum total of our thoughts and actions to this point in time. I will take this dictum a step further: We are all exactly where we WANT to be!

You say, "But I want to be a medical doctor, and I am not there!" I answer, "You would be there if you had taken the appropriate actions and trained your thinking to be there. You would have studied what you needed in school to prepare yourself for college and then medical school -- if you truly wanted to be a doctor."

You say, "But I wanted to be a professional basketball player!" I answer, "If you truly wanted that, you would have spent all your waking hours practicing dribbling, passing, shooting, and studying court and team dynamics."

You see, its really that simple. There is no secret other than focusing on a goal and then doing what it takes to get there. Most of us, however, find it far too easy to be lazy and then believe the excuses that we provide for ourselves.

No, you don't need this book. It's philosophy can be summed up quite robustly in one, simple, Biblical phrase: "As ye sow, so shall ye reap." This is the Law of Attraction, and it truly works. It's not magic and it's not a secret. It is a universal, irrefutable, and immutable principle. If you bequeath peace and harmony to those around you, you will recieve peace and harmony. If you disseminate good will and love, you will be blessed with good will and love. If, however, you emanate ill-will and a cynical attitude, that is what you will receive from the world.

No, you don't need this book... but I highly recommend it. You see, as simple as it is to get what we want out of life, we have to overcome all of our past conditioning, all of our negativiy, and all of the bad habits we have spent a lifetime to form. It's very simple, but it is anything but easy! This book will help you to condition your toughts to break your inertia and get rid of bad habits of thought.

Start with this book as your point of departure into a new conciousness, a new awareness, and a new philosophy of life. Then read some of the other excellent books which other reviewers have recommended. You will find that it is easier to be a benfactor than a burden. Offer the best of yourself to the world, and then prepare yourself to receive in abundance!

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