|
"Ask,
and you will receive. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it
will be opened to you. For the one who asks, receives. The
one who seeks, finds. The one who knocks, enters."
- The Master Mind Jesus, The Holy
Bible, Matthew 7:7
Many people are
asking me, "what is the Secret?" ... and I know many people
have bought either the book or the DVD titled, "The Secret"
... and they are asking me what I think of it. My answer to this
question is that I think that it is a wonderful idea that has appeared
because there are so many people in our world who are searching within
their souls for greater evidence of God in their lives. And, for
many, religion is not attractive to them ... so they do not look to
religion. "The Secret" comes packaged in a unique and
attractive media ... a DVD. And for people in our current culture
this is a media that they are comfortable with. I believe that
"The Secret" maintains an inspirational tone throughout and I
believe this will appeal to many people. I was interested in it,
primarily, because Rev. Dr. Michael Beckwith was part of it and his
training and ordination is from Religious Science. But ...
"The Secret" doesn't give us the "how-to" and this
is the next step. The "how-to" can be found in the books
of several metaphysical teachers; Wallace D. Wattles, Ernest Holmes,
Joseph Murphy and Dr. Robert Bitzer. Each of these teachers have
written extensively about the Principle discussed in "The
Secret." And for those who are familiar with ancient wisdom,
the Bible and the Bagavadgita also contain writings that outline the
Principle. And in the teachings of the Master Mind Jesus, we can
find the same "how-to" throughout the parables He used, that
have survived the ages. "The Secret" team acknowledges
that the "secret" came from ancient wisdom ... but the
"how-to" is there as well. We just have to "seek
it" in order to find it.
Let's look at a couple of statements from
"The Secret":
1) "The
law of attraction is a law of nature. It is impersonal and it does not
see good things or bad things. It is receiving your thoughts and
reflecting back to you those thoughts as your life experience. The law
of attraction simply gives you whatever it is you are thinking
about." - From the book
The Law of Attraction, is a law of
Spirit. It is activated in our mind, and our mind is our
connection to Spirit. And most importantly, the power of our
thoughts is from our aligning our thoughts with Spirit, God.
Thoughts have power because repetitive, sustained thoughts, create our
beliefs. And it is our beliefs that create our experiences.
Spirit is impersonal and It does not see good or bad things ... It only
reflects back to us what we believe. In "The Science of
Getting Rich" ... Wallace D. Wattles instructs us to develop our
consciousness right where we are. Even if we are in a job that we
want to get out of, we must do everything that we are to do
"successfully" ... even the most minor things, because our
"belief" in success must be reinforced daily by
"successful accomplishment" in order for us to find the
greater success that we seek. If we are "thinking" of
how much we dislike the job we have and we look forward to the day that
we leave it ... then our mind is "stuck" and frustrated ...
and the Law can only reflect back to us this frustration ... It does not
make a determination of good or bad ... only what Is.
2) "This is
really fun. It's like having the Universe as your catalogue. You flip
through it and say, `I'd like to have this experience and I'd like to
have that product and I'd like to have a person like that.' It is You
placing your order with the Universe. It's really that easy."
- Dr. Joe Vitale
Dr. Joe Vitale is one of the
top five marketing specialists in the world, according to his website,
mrfire.com ... and he has numerous marketing sites that support his
work. I believe his statements above are not appropriate for a
spiritual audience or for a spiritual teaching. Metaphysics is simple ... but not easy. It is not easy
to look beyond the experience of cancer and see a healthy body. Or
to forget the experience of poverty while believing in prosperity.
Our mind just does not work that way. We want to "see it
before we believe it" ... but to activate the Law of Attraction, we
must "believe it before we see it." And it can become
great fun ... but first we must cease our attachment to the physical and
begin to "seek and find" that which we desire "in the
Spirit." It is in the realm of our mind that we must first
develop our consciousness of success, health, wealth, and loving
companionship. Thoughts do have power ... and we can have that
which we think about ... but only trained thought will manifest what we
want ... un-trained thought lacks specificity and definiteness ... and
both are necessary in order to use the Law effectively. And in
this, we find our work ... and according to Wallace D. Wattles, the
greatest effort we will ever make ... to train our thoughts toward that
which we want and away from that which we do not want.
New York Times
columnist Maureen Dowd wrote a "tongue-in-cheek" piece on the
Oprah show presentation of "The Secret" ... click
here for it ... and although it was amusing,
it was also evidence of the confusion that can be found when we don't
continue to "seek" beyond the material presented.
Spiritual Laws are precise but we must know the "how-to" for
them to be effective in our lives. "The Secret" like the
once Oprah touted, "Four Agreements" can inspire us to
"seek" ... but we won't find that which we are seeking if we
just rely on them. Another question people ask me is, "should
I buy "The Secret?" ... and my answer is, yes ... after you
buy "The Science of Mind."
AND SO IT IS!
Keep
the faith!
Rev. Hank
Bates
|
