Book Review: The Secret

Author: Rhonda Byrne
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 198
Price: Rs 550

Eisha Sarkar
Posted on Times Wellness on  Sunday, October 03, 2010

When Australian author Rhonda Byrne's book The Secret first released in 2006, little did she know that it would have gone on to sell 20 million copies worldwide. In many ways the success of the book lies in the theory that it propagates - The Law of Attraction.

Thoughts can attract too!
Byrne writes, "The law of attraction is a law of nature. It is impersonal and it does not see good things or bad things... When you focus your thoughts on something you want, and you hold that focus, you are in that moment summoning what you want with the mightiest power in the Universe. The law of attraction doesn't compute 'don't' or 'not' or 'no', or any other words of negation. As you speak the words of negation, this is what the law of attraction is receiving:

'I don't want to spill something on this outfit.'
'I want to spill something on this outfit and I want to spill more things.'  

Have some faith
The book emphasizes the use of positive affirmation, visualization techniques, gratitude and faith to help focus your mental energy. The individual has to strongly in the process for the desired results, which could range from owning a sleek car to getting better grades in exams, becoming a millionaire to overcoming breast cancer.

One Cathy Goodman writes: "I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I truly believed in my heart, with my strong faith, that I was already healed. Each day I would say, 'Thank you for my healing.' On and on and on I went, "Thank you for my healing." I believed in my heart I was healed. I saw myself as if cancer was never in my body. One of the things I did to heal myself was to watch very funny movies. That's all we would do was just laugh, laugh and laugh. We couldn't afford to put any stress in my life, because we knew stress was one of the worst things you can do while you're trying to heal yourself. From the time I was diagnosed to the time I was healed was approximately three months. And that's without any radiation or chemotherapy." 

Think to a better future!
In the book brings together an assortment of philosophers, psychologists, Feng Shui masters, life coaches, motivational speakers, and business professionals who reveal their understanding of the Law of Attraction and how it affects reality. They advise you to keep negative thoughts at bay and concentrate only on positive ones for good results.

The verdict
The book holds together a string of anecdotes, quotes and experiences, which seem repetitive after a point. Though Byrne talks about the 'ancient' secret that has been understood by Plato, Beethoven, Edison, Carnegie and Einstein, she maintains the mystery around the source of that knowledge. The book is also heavily focused on wealth and creating abundance. However, it does coax you to try out positive affirmations.
Whether they deliver or not depends on how much faith you have in the process. If you read the book from cover to cover at one go, you're more likely to be confused than to comply. Instead, read it in small doses and you may actually be inspired to take control of your life.