THE SECRET
of the Cult of Narcissism
by Rhonda Byrne
"... the magician suggested to his sheep
that they were not sheep at all;
to some of them he suggested that they were lions,
to others that they were eagles,
to others that they were men,
and to others that they were magicians."
G. I. Gurdjieff, 1949
In Ouspensky, In Search of the Miraculous.
Review by Christopher P. Holmes, Ph.D.
The Secret is a newly published book by Rhonda Byrne, available also in a movie version on DVD. The author and individuals featured on the DVD have recently gained considerable exposure through the media--from Larry King Live on CNN, to Ellen DeGeneres, and most recently, on Oprah-twice.
If ever there was a book and movie to convince sheep that they are magicians, or can fly, this is it. Although there are some valuable insights and teachings within The Secret, this is another instance of what i would call "new think"-- pseudo-mystical, new-age pablum, propogated to illude and deceive people as to their true situation--and how they are about to be skinned. Although people imagine the Secret to be a 'spiritual teaching,' it is not. In fact,
it is a superficial attempt to 'spiritualize materialism,' and directly opposed to the paths of mystical attainment and higher magic.
In brief, the secret revealed in The Secret is the 'law of attraction,' and that 'like attracts like.' This supposed secret is supposed to have been known to a series of philosophers and magus through the eons of time, but hidden because of its mysterious power. Even Einstein's image flashes across the screen, to reinforce the secretiveness of this big secret.
Thus, if we think positive thoughts and imagine positive things for ourselves, then these things will magically appear in our lives. The big Secret is about how to actualize those things that most people want in life--varied forms of money, sex and power. To be successful and gain recognition, to have your dreams come true, a new romance, and even to get a new car, house or home improvement--even a parking spot--all of these are offered by the quantum magic of The Secret.
This is a secret for imaginary wish-fulfillment and actualizing your desires--just like a lottery ticket. The Secret is proposed as the key to unlocking the meaning of life--making you a real magician, instead of a sheep or a slug.
The basic idea of The Secret is actually
in conformity with Alistar Crowley's definition of magick as "making things happen in conformity with will." The Secret suggests that we can so envision what we want, and because of our entanglement with the universe, these things can manifest in reality.
Quantum magic for sheep.
Knowing the Secret is compared in the movie to having a Genie in an urn, but instead of having just three wishes, we can have as many as we want. Generally, the aims of those espousing the Secret are for material and financial gain, new possessions, romances and business successes, and personal confidence.
We want to "love ourselves" in a cult of narcissism, and to be satisfied and gorged to satiety, while atrocities are committed around the world and within our communities. Our nations are run by donkeys and idiots, cruel elites and deceivers, but we can have a new form of quantum wish-fulfillment based on ego self-centredness and self-love. Oh boy, big secret-- bound to be a big hit.
Firstly, in passing, like doesn't always attract like. In fact, in nature 'opposites attract' and like often repels like. Positive electrical charges and negative electrical charges attract, as do the south and north electromagnetic poles. Men and women are attracted to each other, as opposites, and even within gay couples, opposite types similarly attract. Like often repels like.
Of course, in other contexts, like attracts like. If you are cruel to other people, and terrorize them, then they may want to be cruel back towards you, and terrorize you. If you are loving and compassion, you may be loved back. If you have money, it is easier to make money. If you change your self defeating patterns of thinking and feeling, of scarcity and struggle, it may help you to move forward and actualize some of those things you have not yet attained. There are valuable lessons in this movie and teaching--in some regards. It is only if a person expands their horizons beyond themselves, maybe to other peoples of the world, that the self-centered focus of The Secret becomes apparent. The Secret is like a key to narcissism, a new religion for the baby boomers who have been gorged to satiety, as described by Gurdjieff.
I do not mean to be mean to the author or facilitators of the big secret, nor to Oprah and other hosts who feature their work. I am a big Oprah fan, and Ellen, the View, and of other popular shows, and there will be some things in this false teaching, which could help different people resolve issues at personal and ego levels--which can be valuable. It is only when I regard The Secret in the broader context of the psychopathology of modern humanity, the deceits of the media and Hollywood, and such, that the superficial and hypnotic nature of this big secret is apparent.
It teaches us about how to fulfill our ego and material needs, while ignoring the rampant criminal activity and terrorism within our own society--not as committed by imaginary Arabs and Muslims, Christians or Jews, but as perpetrated by the psychopaths and deviants who came to rule the human race.
The human race was not intended to become a rat race, controlled by a pseudo-master race, and to become a slave race. And yet, this is what has happened, and humankind faces a task like that of Arjuna, in the Gita, where the forces of light and love gather on a battlefield to face those forces of cruelty and deceit.
To understand the positions of human beings on planet earth, it is useful to quote this material from mystic G. I. Gurdjieff, about the hypnosis and delusions of humankind, the sheep being led unconsciously to slaughter --while buying into the Cult of Narcissism and "sacrificing care" to a great horny owl--in reference to the Satanic practices conducted at Bohemian Grove.
"First of all it must be realized that the sleep in which man exists is not normal but hypnotic sleep. Man is hypnotized and this hypnotic state is continually maintained and strengthened in him. One would think that there are forces for whom it is useful and profitable to keep man in a hypnotic state and prevent him from seeing the truth and understanding his position.
There is an Eastern tale which speaks about a very rich magician who had a great many sheep. But at the same time this magician was very mean. He did not want to hire shepherds, nor did he want to erect a fence about the pasture where his sheep were grazing. The sheep consequently ofen wandered into the forest, fell into ravines, and so on, and above all they ran away, for they knew that the magician wanted their flesh and skins and this they did not like.
"At last the magician found a remedy. He hypnotized his sheep and suggested to them first of all that they were immortal and that no harm was being done to them when they were skinned, that, on the contrary, it would be verg good for them and even pleasant; secondly he suggested that the magician was a good master who loved his flock so much that he was ready to do anything in the world for them; and in the third place he suggested to them that if anything at all were going to happen to them it was not going to happen just then, at any rate not that day, and therefore they had no need to think about it. Further the magician suggested to his sheep that they were not sheep at all; to some of them he suggested that they were lions, to others that they were eagles, to others that they were men, and to others that they were magicians.
"And after this all his cares and worries about the sheep came to an end. They never ran away again but quietly awaited the time when the magician would require their flesh and skins.
"This tale is a very good illustration of man's position.
- G. I. Gurdjieff -Quoted by P. D. Ouspensky In Search of the Miraculous, 1949. (p. 219)
