Letters to the Editor
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The Truth
I just have to write that I absolutely agree with your article on Oprah Winfrey and "The Secret." I feel like the article brings up a good point about the obliviousness of her own audience members, and that can lead to a very dangerous path of believing what can truly help people. I am only too glad I have never fallen into the Oprah cultur or philosophy. I think if I see myself doing so, I will remember this article and its valid and honest measure of such a figure as Oprah Winfrey. Also, the fears and concerns with the school that was opened in South Africa are very real; it will be interesting to see what will happen. Thank you for your voice and opinion.
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LOA 101 - slowly.........................................................
...one more time...SLOWLY...
LOA 101: The universe is vibrations. If you attune to a certain vibration, you will manifest what your thoughts are thinking conciously or unconciously as thoughts attune to those vibrations. You can manifest anything by tuning in. You will manifest disease, you will manifest an elephant in the living room. "Avatars" can manifest fast. The rest of us need to work at it but still need to keep our thoughts "clean" from negative pollution. Negative thoughts will manifest negative circumstances whether or not we work at it or not. There are no accidents. There is no chance, there is not randomness in the Universe. ALL THINGS ARE MANIFESTED THIS WAY including all war, disease, starving children, being poor, etc. All things in your reality are manifested by YOU. If you came into the world at a disadvantage, you did so directing yourself from the spiritual rhealm to be born that way (OR you are subject to Karma, you decide).
THAT IS THE SECRET. LIFE IS A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD.
What it is NOT.....
ACHIEVING DUE TO HARD WORK (one can do that even if they are "thought polluted" In the LOA world, negative thoughts will create vibrations which will manifest something other than the desired result of your hard work.)
NOT ACCEPTING BAD CIRCUMSTANCES (we all can "make do" whether we beleive this or not)
PULLING UP ONESELF BY ONE'S OWN BOOTSTRAPS (see above)
IF one does not beleive this it does NOT mean that:
1. one blames the world, feels victimed and pissed off,
2. one will not work hard
3. one is unspiritual
4. one does not want to take responsibility for one's life
5. one does not think that others should take responsibility for their own lives
What one that does not beleive in this MIGHT think is that not everything bad that happens in the world was "asked for" by an individual - and that life is not a level playing field.
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What if they're right?
You're never going to attract good things with that attitude!
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A brilliant summary
Thank you for summing up exactly what was swirling around in my head as I watched this charade. I thought Oprah had become really legit, but this season she has been getting back to her sensationalistic roots, and this show was the topper.
Especially trenchant is the author's description of the guests as a "symbiotic economy of New Age quacks that almost puts OPEC to shame". The effect was so cultish that I expected a mass wedding to come next.
I noticed that the letter writers attacking the critique invariably rely on paraphrasing of "Secret" tenets to make a point, much like Christian Fundamentalists premise everything on scripture. The main difference is that the Fundamentalists will dispense their dogma for free.
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Re: The abridged secret
I agree with Diamond, and would like to add a further description of the real secret:
If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride.
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Gullible 101 Slowlllyyyy.....
.... I couldn't stay away because I am actually a little sickened by this mindset. Let's see if I've got this straight ... starving children are starving because they chose to starve. It's not the socio-economic policies of that others created before they were born, or terrible drought, or the death of families--it's because they manifested it themselves. Like kids with cancer. They chose to have cancer. It's not the multi-million dollar company's fault for poisoning the water!
Right. Okay. So, this way, YOU don't have to be responsible for others at all! How refreshing! You can be a complete asshole, and if others in your life suffer, hey, they manifested you into their lives themselves. How can it be your fault? Plus, cool! You don't have to do anything to help. After all, each person in Darfur, who was killed, chose to be born into a time of genocide. And all those people killed in concentration camps ... sure ... that makes sense.
I joked about this stuff earlier because it is completely ridiculous. But, it is truly disgusting the way this 'enlightening' philosophy encourages self-centered, selfish, extraordinarily icky belief systems. Plus, it's got this 'elect' sort of Puritan strain running through it. By the reasoning of the 'Secret,' Paris Hilton was a wonderful being in her last life and apparently a being of great light and wonder, as she was born in a privileged position with money, etc.
Grow up. Life is tough. There is no magic wand of joy waiting to be waved over your privileged and/or underprivileged head. Sometimes, there is joy. Sometimes, it all sucks mightily. Enlightenment is actually hard work, with no easy solutions.
Above all, we ARE in fact responsible for each other. Not just ourselves. Not just our families. But everyone we know. That's why we have manners and laws and customs. To acknowledge that tie of responsibility to each other.
And .. oh hell ... what am I saying? None of these 'Secret' people are listening. They're all busy believing they are manifesting money and positivity and thinking it's a choice for a child to have cancer. Ignoring responsibility to others is tremendously hard work, too. It just isn't very enlightening. They're busy right now.
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101
You made all of that up. All of it.
None of it is proven. You could postulate such things, but in general, it's best to use the facts you do have in order to make a reasonable postulation.
Otherwise you're doing something called "fantasizing." I personally enjoy fantisizing. I'm fantisizing that I'm going to win the PowerBall tonight. Doesn't mean I'm going to start buying yachts online. Mature people recognize that fantasy has little, if any, bearing on reality.
Tuning into vibrations in the universe... where do you come up with this stuff? For fuck sake, take a science class. Anyone can make shit up. (And clearly they do.)
Ahhg.