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Rhonda Byrne, the Australian producer-turned spiritual entrepreneur behind the bestselling sensation, The Secret, certainly understands the secret of marketing. She has turned a simple idea into a New Age film and book that have catapulted into the glorified stratosphere of #1 ranking on Amazon and the New York Times Best Seller list.
With hundreds of "Secret" support groups sprung up round the world and the imprimatur of not one but two Oprah specials dedicated to discussing its "breakthrough" concept, we surely have to wonder if this is indeed the dawn of an unparalleled spiritual awakening.
Byrne claims what she preaches was inspired by the Bible. Her former partner, Esther Hicks, who argues that she is the one who first popularized the concept, gives seminars in which she summons the other-worldly spirit of Abraham to speak through her and counsel her rapt, capacity-filled audiences with the teachings of The Secret.
The secret in a nut shell: People can get all the things they want simply by thinking positively about them.
If you're one of the few who haven't yet spent your money to help Rhonda Byrne fulfill her financial fantasies, allow me to present, for free, the secret in a nut shell: People can get all the things they want simply by thinking positively about them. You see, as she profoundly explains, "When you think about something, you become a magnet for what you want." This is "the law of attraction."
The idea, she contends, is at least 3,500 years old and the key to most major religions. Think of it, she says, as "spiritual truth" and "the wisdom of the ages." And apply it to everything. Need a parking spot? Concentrate hard and really believe it will be there for you. Didn't happen? Oops... guess you didn't really believe it enough. Well then give it more time. Practice till you get it right. Start small.
As Byrne, at her best, writes: "Everyone has to have their own experience to believe it. People should start with little things, like deciding that a cup of coffee will come to you or that you will see a feather." When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are -- and in the Byrne version you don't even need the star!
I can't help but admire the marketing genius that has repackaged the old "think and get rich" philosophy which was the staple of self-help advisors for centuries in a way that makes us believe it offers insights never previously published. I'm also highly impressed by the chutzpah that isn't embarrassed to utter modern psycho-babble promising greater gifts than a mythical genie as reward for nothing more than unconditional wishes.
What troubles me, though, is what this incredible hoopla over a publishing craze tells us about contemporary spiritual naivete. Are people really that gullible -- or simply that ignorant?
Let's make clear at the outset that The Secret could never have found the slightest acceptance if it weren't based on a measure of truth. A lie needs at least a little legitimacy to gain credibility. But, as George Christoph Lichtenberg so powerfully put it, "The most dangerous untruths are truths moderately distorted."
Thinking positively is always the first step to success. Should we ardently wish for things that we want? Of course! Hope fills us with conviction that our dreams are attainable. Desire serves as spur to our initiative. If it is not a magnet, it is at the least a supreme motivator. We should believe in the possibility of acquiring our heart's desires. But that's far from saying that there is a universal and unequivocal law that turns every one of our wishes into God's command.
Judaism always understood that the answer to some of our most profound desires may still be "No." Not every wish deserves to be granted. And even more to the point, not every wish ought to be fulfilled. George Bernard Shaw understood it when he pointed out that "There are two great tragedies in life. One is not having your prayers answered; the other very often is the reverse." Jewish prayer asks of God, "And fulfill the requests of our heart for good" -- only if what we ask for is truly in our best interest from the Divine perspective.
The Byrne "Secret" says, "We teach you to keep saying it the way you want it to be and if you keep saying it the way you want it to be the universe will line up and give you exactly what you've said you wanted." And the Jewish not-so-secret secret reminds us, wouldn't that be truly tragic?
Should every person's dream for millions really come true? Is the "law of attraction" so automatic -- in Byrne's words as irrefutable as the law of gravity -- that any one who truly desires wealth, fame or power must have the universe grant these to them no matter what the consequences?
Our tradition teaches us that God is kinder than to unquestioningly saddle us with all the penalties that we cannot possibly anticipate accruing from the realization of all of our daydreams. How sad if every teenager's fantasy to lead the life of Paris Hilton would have to become reality because of the magnetic power of undisciplined desire.
Thankfully, the Divine plan allows for rejection of ignoble thoughts; the world doesn't respond to our greed as much as it does to our need.
The Secret simply doesn't work -- and for very good reason. God wasn't foolish enough to create a world blindly responsive to human cravings. Our wishes and our best interest are very often far apart, and God is much more concerned with taking care of the latter than responding to the former.
The danger of Byrne's philosophy goes far beyond offering people a false panacea.
So The Secret is a failure first as a practical matter. But the danger of Byrne's philosophy goes far beyond offering people a false panacea. We ought to worry not so much for those who find out that "the law of attraction" doesn't really attract but for those who end up being held responsible for misfortunes for which they were totally blameless.
Since with positive thought you can create your perfect reality, those who suffer must be guilty of "negative thinking" that allows bad things to happen to them. That means those who experience widespread calamity, tsunamis, hurricanes, earthquakes, famine, and even diseases like AIDS, experience them because they are, in Byrne's words, "vibrating in exact alignment with these disasters, such as thinking they could be in the wrong place at the wrong time."
Which of course makes them at least partially guilty themselves for the fate that befell them. How far is this incredible theology taken? Byrne strongly implies that the 3,000 people who died in the 9/11 attacks were victims of their own dark thoughts!
Whatever comfort might come to those who buy into The Secret's promise of making all the world's gifts readily accessible may well be outweighed by the guilt placed upon all those made to feel that their suffering is really all their own fault.
People can die for many reasons. We may not understand the why, but as believers we accept it as Divine decree. From a Jewish perspective, death is God calling a soul home because it has ended its mission on earth. For Byrne, death is a criminal choice by those who could have used The Secret to prevent it.
Forgive me therefore if I seem harsh in my judgment of a book that would appear to come bearing only a positive message. If only that were its point -- that we ought to try a little harder and we might find our efforts blessed -- I would embrace it warmly. But when it suggests that God is a cosmic bellhop just waiting to grant every one of our wishes if we only believe strongly enough that He'll do it, that offends not only my intelligence but also my faith.
There are indeed secrets out there to discover. I don't know from where in the Bible Byrne draws her conclusions, but I do know what King David tells us as the final word on the subject in his incomparable Book of Psalms: "The secrets of God belong to those who revere Him." Happiness is the reward for those who choose to follow the ways of God.
Rabbi Benjamin Blech is the author of 12 highly acclaimed books, including Understanding Judaism: The basics of Deed and Creed. He is a professor of Talmud at Yeshiva University and the Rabbi Emeritus of Young Israel of Oceanside which he served for 37 years and from which he retired to pursue his interests in writing and lecturing around the globe. He is also the author of 
(105) Gabi Chammah , August 7, 2008
I find the words of the Rabbi to contain the truth. Yet I am troubled by a couple of sources which seem to also point to the direction of the way of The Secret. In that the verse in Job(chapter 3) states " I have feared a fear and it has come to me and that which i worried from has visited me". Further we are thought by our sages (Makkot 10b) In the way one chooses to go he is lead. This is for the good or the bad.
We see that there is a concept that a person is leed after the way he thinks.
Which we are brought to ask how are we to resolve this with the concept of beleif that everything is in the hands of Hashem?
It may be that this is to part of Hashem's plan.Meaning, that G-d has created in us this power of G-d as we are created in his image. He has told us that we should be careful to think only good, for one that thinks bad will bring bad upon himself. Yes, Hashem may step in to the picture as a result of merit or sin to alter the persons wishes, but on a whole it is a perosn destiny to belive in the good and pursue it.
Furthermore- it has been mediaclly proven that a sick person who is given hope and feels that he can be better has higher chances then one that has no hope. This is the power og G-dliness in us that we can control our fate. But we must always remember that the outcome is totally the will of Hahsem who allowed it to come to frution.
Ponder what has been said there is much truth.
(104) Brett , July 29, 2008
The Rabbi nailed it!
The summary says it all. Fools and their money are soon parted. I'm not even in the same ballpark as Jewish -- but truth is truth no matter who speaks it, and this fine rabbi knows the REAL secret.
(103) Anonymous , May 31, 2008
The Temple of ME
In my opinion, Oprah was planning to make this new age religion her own brand as she does with everything else. She had the Secret group on twice in a short span of time. Then the VA Tech shootings happened. A terrible tragedy. I believe that the ridiculous notion of The Secret could not have gone over at this particular time. Were the students that were murdered not putting out positive thoughts that day? Suddenly, what was going to be a weekly segment, a la Dr. Phil, Rachel Ray and Dr. Oz was shelved. There was a really good piece written in Salon dot com which reflected my feelings when I read it.
The other really insulting part was that Ms. Byrne just copied several other authors including Napolean Hill and passed it on as her own. Oprah insulted and humiliated James Frey for embellishing on his autobiography yet she honored this woman for blatant plagarism.
Faith and goodness is not always rewarded with riches. If the Almighty blesses us beyond our wildest dreams that''s a real plus. In my book you do the right thing ALWAYS and then count your blessings if and when they come. Large and small. One more point, there is one other danger with The Secret''s teachings. If one happens not to get something through positive thinking, they just may have an emotional breakdown. I think the teachings can range from the ridiculous to the downright dangerous. I even know of one young man who told me how angry he was that his parents did not impart "THE SECRET" on him and he blames them for failing him. I know of another successful professional whose wife left him because he wasn''t rich enough at the ripe old age of thirty five! She had just finished a month''s stint watching all of the tapes of Ms. Byrne.
And to you Rabbi, thank you for a well written article.
(102) Brian , April 7, 2008
I am critical of the concept mainly because I am not sure it's the "universe" that creates some of these realities.
I think our attitudes can change some things in our lives. Take the person who is disabled in an accident who wants to walk again versus the one who has given up on ever walking. That is an internal power in my opinion. It's a good attitude.
We can sense a difference between the happy man and the grump. I think people respond differently to these attitudes and in the end they end up with different results. I just don't think it's the universe providing these things.
At the same time, a good attitude can't just make cancer go away or prevent cancer. A good attitude can't change the world for the better. A good attitude can't make bad things go away and never happen again. A good attitude can't put food into the stomachs of the millions who are currently starving. So obviously there is a limit to a good attitude.
(101) Anonymous , March 30, 2008
Worked for me
I don't like everything about the secret HOWEVER I began to think much more positively about money and I was able to increase the income of my business significantly within weeks of buying the CD's