Books : The Secret

Rating: - excellent if that's what you want
The reviews below show that there has been a lot of controversy about this book, but after reading it I can see that it's all a matter of how you approach life. The emphasis on this book is achieving your goals, whether they are material, physical or spiritual. It may place to much emphasis on desire, but you should really only see it as a manual to help you achieve goals. As some reviewers have said, it should be read in conjunction with other books to balance its message - I recommend the Power of Now for a more spiritual message, or Making Time for its emphasis on controlling and expanding time and living in the present.

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Rating: - IT'S OK
It's ok i guess but it's not very well writen and in all honesty there are too many other experts on here, but i have read alot worse. The DVD is better.

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Rating: - The Secret Refined
On Page 55 in The Secret, you will read about the difference between taking inspired action (which feels effortless), versus acting to "make something happen"(which feels like a struggle). Life is described here as a flowing river, and you can either go with the flow of the Universe . . . or against it. I love this metaphor, but it is not original with The Secret (or the author of this section, Bob Doyle). In 2004 I read an entire book on this very metaphor by Steven Lane Taylor. It's called "Row, Row, Row Your Boat: A Guide for Living Life in the Divine Flow." I think it greatly refines the concepts in The Secret, and I recommend it as a follow-up to this book. It is especially helpful if you want to know how "God" fits into the picture.

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Rating: - Tranformative and Self-empowering
To create change in your life you need to start with your own thoughts and that is the precise focus of "The Secret." It refrains from judgment and instead it empowers the individual to alter their focus from negative conditions to a focus on positive outcomes. The book calls this to focus on "what you want" not "what you don't want."

"The Secret" reminds us to consider our internal dialog as well as our spoken works, since "like attracts like" in energy vibrations. The ideas are consistent with metaphysical thought of the past and present focusing on prosperity and manifesting abundance. "The Secret" reminds us that positive thoughts are many times more powerful than negative thoughts. So if an odd negative thought arises in your mind we need not become anxious or obsessive about avoiding it. We need to only gently bring us attention back to our positive focus.

This book also shows the importance of feelings in achieving our goals. When we are excited about our desires then we send energetic vibrations into the universe and attract what we want into our life. This can be anything from health, wealth and even the right relationship. The approach of "The Secret" helps in personal transformation and self-empowerment.

I recommend "The Secret" along with "Nexus: A Neo Novel" which is a book about overcoming life obstacles through a personal journey of self-discovery and transformation.

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Rating: - excellent in some ways but...
I agree with the previous reviewers who mention that this book has many excellent aspects but is limited in some significant ways. In particular, I feel it is limited by putting much emphasis on achieveing your desires. Other books - like Tolle's The Power of Now or Steve Taylor's Making Time - would say that it's more important to try to live in the moment and accept life as it is. I was impressed with Making Time because of its emphasis on controlling and expanding time in our lives and how it shows that time is an illusion. If the Secret is all about acquiring wealth, that is all about acquiring time, which you could argue is much more important.