Over the past year, many people have approached me asking me about my perspective, and the perspective of acim, on the popular book and film The Secret. I was also recently asked to participate in an expert panel discussion on The Secret and the law of attraction at the Body Soul Spirit Expo in Calgary.
As I see it, The Secret offers a few powerful and necessary global messages worth appreciating.
The first message is that our thoughts have a powerful influence on our life. The next insight is that we are entitled to a wealthy life, although true wealth is much more than just cash and “toys.” Instead, it involves feeling fulfilled in all areas of life, including our relationships, career, and health. What we need to do is look within to discover if, in fact, we feel worthy of authentic wealth.
Another message that is subtly conveyed in The Secret acim, and one that I believe to be true, is that when we have a heartfelt desire and we say yes to doing our part to manifest the desire, synchronicities arise, and dormant forces come alive.
On the flip side, I feel the idea that more “toys” in the form of cars, houses, jet planes, and boats will make us happy and will be the demonstration of our capacity to manifest is potentially damaging and crippling for many people who are already “bankrupt” in the areas of self-love and self-appreciation. The problem with this picture is that the desire to have often comes from a feeling of lack rather than a feeling of completeness. And because of this, whatever we gain in hopes of feeling “full,” whole, happy, or accomplished, will inevitably not work, since we feel a void internally.
The truth is that we are not empty, but already full, and when we understand and feel this to be our new reality, then the outer world begins to “echo” our inner awareness.
A Course in Miracles reminds us that to the degree that we can accept and be truly grateful for our inheritance as being an unbounded, abundant, whole, and unlimited Self, we will attract to ourselves the perfect outward expressions of our claimed inner worth. This reclaiming of our authentic Self will then miraculously bring into manifestation any material items that will serve the greater good of both our life and of those around us, and yet we will feel no dependency upon them for our happiness.
