Hi Jeanne and Ingrid, I wonder what part of the Secret did you dislike? Is it the law of attraction material in general? Is it the $5 rental fee, or the $20 purchase price?
Just curious because it sounds to me that you are upset that people are charging $ for programs that in some way link spirituality to money issues. If everything is energy, then money is just another form of energy exchange. I really don't think money is the issue, though. It is about having a fullfilled life. More than that it is about feeling you are in control of your life, and can do the things you want. Maybe you want more time to meditate or money to help a cause you believe in - maybe you have a great idea and need the time to write a book - honestly, whatever it is, it is the freedom to follow your path.
But the law of attraction isn't all about money. Perhaps you choose to be a caretaker, and you need to attract your next housesit in a timely manner, it's about anything, material or not. There's a great chapter in "Autobiography of a Yogi," where a youthful Yogananda goes with a friend to a city with no money for food or return fare and just knows they will be taken care of - his positive expectation is unfailing. And they are magically taken care of at every turn. Those synchronicity's happen because of belief. Just as $ is the root of all evil is a belief. The great and terrible thing about beliefs is that they will always prove to you that they are true.
I think the Secret is not unlike What the Bleep - it has the potential to wake a lot of people up to how their thoughts and beliefs are creating their reality, or their response to reality, or however you care to look at it.
Now I do find that some programs out there seem either quite flimsy or just an attempt to make money, obviously. But that doesn't mean everyone is out to do this, and I don't find the Secret, or its presenter's, to be of this ilk. Sometimes you just find one thing in a book or course that is productive or leads to something else that's uncommonly worthwhile.
As well, if I can digress from the Secret for a moment, I really don't understand this railing against the ego arguement. I do think that the inner self concious ego (inner self) and the conscious ego are too divided for most of us. Seth explains (in Early Sessions Vol 1) that there in no other species of consciousness where the physical and non-physical have been so divorced as in our reality, which is not healthy. But that doesn't mean you should despise and try to rid yourself of the ego, how could you? I think by acknowledging the inner self, and attempting to connect with it consciously, either through meditation or a practice such as the 11th Element, you do receive direction and guidance from this greater portion of who you are. This strengthens both the ego and it's connection to source.
Anyway, I hope you are having a fullfiling life and wish you the best. Be easy on yourself and others, it's a long short ride.
