Some say it’s silly, some call it dangerous, others proclaim it to be timeless wisdom that will transform your life. What about the secret?

The amazing popularity of the movie “The Secret” (DVD and best-selling book), featured on Oprah, Newsweek, Larry King, etc., has attracted an enormous number of fans and critics. Some claim that the film is nothing more than a new age container of century-old snake oil. Others say that it is an illusion that only benefits a handful of people who earn money from its sale. Other critics go so far as to say that the ideas the film promotes are downright dangerous if people actually believe them.

The controversy is not limited to the 2006 film produced by Australian Rhonda Byrn. Certain authorities in the fields of theology and psychology say that the Law of Attraction itself only offers false hope to the desperate and underprivileged.

What is the truth? Is the law of attraction real or exaggerated? How do you know if you are wasting time and money studying this supposed universal law? Here’s how to know the truth, once and for all.

panties in a twist

First, a quick review of the whirlwind of activity around this topic. The different arguments include:

• Some object to the Secret promoting the use of the Law of Attraction primarily for material wealth. They feel that this universal principle should be used for more spiritual endeavors, such as becoming a better person, creating world peace, and so on.
• There are others (including the contributors to the original version of The Secret) who say the movie wasn’t complete. Joe Vitale, James Ray, and even Esther Hicks are quoted as saying the movie didn’t tell the whole story about how deliberate creation works.
• Still other critics say that the whole concept of creating reality according to your thoughts is delusional, and that the people who sell these things are taking advantage of the desperation of others who want a quick and easy solution to life’s inevitable challenges.

A handful of Law of Attraction experts publicly responded to these arguments, which seem to fuel a bigger fire rather than extinguish it. Secret contributor, Michael Beckwith, says that “mediocrity attacks excellence,” which is why so many followers care about today’s hottest topic.

Although this may be a hot topic today, it’s certainly not new. These manifestation principles have been around for eons, dating back to approximately 300 B.C. C. on the mysterious Emerald Table. That in itself incites some factions that disagree with the movie producers who present the Law of Attraction as a “secret”.

This Path to Truth

Some individuals were adherents, practitioners, or simply intrigued in general by the principles of deliberate creation felt their wind blown away by the public controversies vented about the Secret. While they once felt optimism and excitement about the possibility of a deliberate manifestation, some found themselves muttering “I knew it was too good to be true” after reading the negative press about the film.

Regardless of how you previously felt or not on this subject, if you have not yet found your way to the truth, then here is some advice. It is not outside of you.

You won’t find the answer in a Larry King interview or on an online blog. Truth has nothing to do with her husband’s opinion, her neighbor’s experience, or her coach’s two-cent worth.

The only way we can know “what is so” is to check with ourselves. The truth is not “out there”; rather it is integrated. Each of us has an internal guidance system designed to ensure that we have ongoing access to what is right for each of us. Whether you call it your higher self, God self, intuition, or anything else, it is in all of us.

You can hear that truth when you listen to it. The beauty of this is that when you recognize that nothing outside of you knows what is best for you, you are no longer subject to the whims, fantasies, complaints, ramblings, and rantings of others.

Most of us, however, learned early on to ignore our inner guidance, in favor of being accepted, making amends, getting along, or simply surviving. We become experts at dismissing and even rejecting what our gut tells us, relying on looking outside ourselves for the facts.

Sometimes you will hear your authentic guidance through cues from your emotions; others feel it more strongly in physical body reactions, such as the “shiver of truth,” goosebumps, or a sinking stomach. Once you get practice listening to (or experiencing) your inner guidance, you’ll never again be left wondering what’s valid and what’s not.

Say who?

I can be wrong? Absolutely. Don’t take my word for it; try it yourself.

Our private truth is speaking to us all the time, pointing us “this way” or “that way.” All we have to do is listen and we have the best experts on board for life.

listen to it. He plays with it. He practices listening to it. See where it takes you. Don’t trust someone else to tell you what it is like. YOU know what it is like.

When other people give different answers, they have more power. It does not mean that you are wrong or that you should question yourself. Your truth does not change, no matter how many others have contrary opinions.

Sometimes external triggers are great opportunities for us to acknowledge or confirm what is true for us. For example, when a tarot card reader told me that my difficult marriage would stand the test of time, my stomach dropped and I knew at that moment that I wanted a divorce. But it was an external trigger that helped me hear that truth within myself.

The moment my real estate agent showed me a cute little brick house in Rose Park, my heart soared and my inner self screamed “Yes!” Even while my girlfriend was standing next to me saying, “I can’t believe we’re looking at this place.”

When my coach, who for three months tried to make me come to terms with my lucrative corporate job, finally threw her hands in the air and said, “You have to quit if you hate it that much,” my heart rang again, and all the arrows within that point to “YES!” It was the external trigger that helped me hear that internal signal loud and clear.

choose for yourself

As for the complaints that the Secret movie takes too materialistic an approach, everyone has a right to weigh in. Personally, I think the film hits a good point of access to the general population, who may very well apply the knowledge gained from The Secret to eventually achieve their higher purpose.

And indeed, the movie includes happy relationships as well as physical health, so it’s not just about bikes, jewelry, and sports cars.

As to whether the Law of Attraction works, I think sane skeptics would agree that thoughts do at least affect how we experience reality; That attitude makes the difference. However, my personal experience is that thoughts are much more powerful than that. Again, see for yourself.

As for those who argue that the demonstration doesn’t work, I think they themselves prove that it does. Because when we say “this doesn’t work”, we can state that that also seems true.

Bottom line: trust yourself to know the truth. You know more than you think.