Greetings--

That's fine, Vee.  Lots of topics have to get cross referenced like that.

Here's another related story, but it ends in alot of questions. I'd appreciate what anyone thinks---

Sometime around 1982 I stopped at a McDonald's and three men in suits were behind the counter. One said 'thank you' very formally and had his thumb on the receipt, almost not letting it go. So I looked down and a small square of red paper had a grey small image of a hamburger on it. I thought it was some sort of game piece to be collected and kept it in case I got some more.
All the way home I had a tightness in my chest and a whirring in my ears. I thought I was gettting ill and blamed the unappetizing greyness of the printed or stamped burger image. By the time I got home I sensed an argument going on in my head:  'Keep it." No. "Keep it." No!
So I threw it out and several weeks later saw that nationally McDonald's was giving away $1 million to whoever had one of five or so of these ugly red tickets with dim images of burgers on them, just like I'd had.

So my question is--
Was the message of 'no, don't keep it' from a higher place, or was I just afraid of that much money?
How ego-driven and prone to errors in judgement might some levels of 'Helpers' be?
Or if Helpers have a good over-all view of spiritual development, are all really large gifts suspect? ($1 million was alot more back then.)

Still wondering,
Bets

I talked my mom (who lives in another part of the country from me) in to watching Oprah. She's not into this stuff the way we all are, but she does have a smattering of curiosity. What she focused on was that the people on Oprah seemed to be selling something : "You have to buy somethign to get the whole thing." Now, I'm not at all sure that was the thrust of the show, but it must have been on there some time. I wonder if that is the commercialization that bothered Esther Hicks?

Well if it takes being commercialized for some people to be interested, well, maybe that's OK.Still Esther musy have had her reasons for withdrawing frm the project.

BTW, why is it called a secret? That to me implies something was kept secret on purpose.

Betson, I think the argument could be that you would have to be in a place where you could see the outcome of the alternative experience. Missing out on a million, especially after the guy sort of hinted to you that the piece was important, would probably turn me inside out. But you don't yet know how the story would have turned out had you kept the piece. Though you seem pretty level-headed; I can't imagine your having the problems some of the lottery winners are reported to have.

I had a real-time talk with my mom about the Oprah show and it was interesting.

She reiterated the commercial part; she really felt that she was being led to a website so she would purchase stuff.

Then I started mentioning some of the history of this "movement" and I got a little history lesson myself.

First she said that when my dad (now peeking in from the other side) went to work (for Pure Oil Company) in the late 40's or early 50's, Pure got people to go to these informational pep talks based on, she claimed, the Napolean Hill book. Her point was that big business early-on saw the value of using positive thinking and got their workers to listen to this stuff. I don't recall seeing the Hill book when I was growing up (and I am a compulsive reader ) but I do recall the Norman Vincent Peale book, among others.

Peale is a good example:
http://www.usdreams.com/Peale28.html
Peale inspired alot of people.

check out these quotes. Sound familiar?
http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Norman_Vincent_Peale/

When I asked her why, if they knew about this stuff, they didn't do better with it tha they had (including creating a disharmonious family life), she said she guessed that you just do the best you can at the time. I can't argue with that. The specualtion is, how worse would it have been without this stuff? But as has been pointed out, it is working with the material on the day-to-day stuff that is challenging.

Then my mom pointed out that HER father had gotten analagous messages from his corporate employer when she was a kid. I'm not sure exactly what books were used then, but apparently business has used the positive thinking stuff for its emplyees for...decades. It just resurrects from time to time.

So I think the film was probably called "the Secret" to create an atmosphere of allure about the ideas. Once you look at the Peale site, you realize there is nothing secret about this stuff. That's the marketing. I might admire Esther and Jerry Hicks for pulling out.

As far a business using this stuff for its own ends, I am reminded of the story of John D. Rockefeller driving along and encountering a group of boys. This would have been late 1800's I think. They recognized him and gathered round when he stopped. He threww a handfull of dimes for them to pick up (probably had more buying power then than now) and told them that the secert of success was hard work. That was bunk of course. The secret of HIS success was getting others to do the hard work for cheap (think Rich Dad, Poor Dad) and being able to cheat and strong-arm others. I think big business possibly wanted to use people the same way so it touted positive thinking. Hopefully at least a few people believed they were helping others. And it helped disseminate these ideas.

Hopefully there is a way to use these ideas for the individual.

Some of the urging to buying stuff on the website begins to look like a pyramid scheme. You buy so THEY experience prosperity.

I'm glad Betson posted the list though. (for free). And I think some of the individuals featued on Oprah (as descibed on the website) had certainly used positive thinking in admirable ways...to overcome personal negativity.

So I guess the times aren't really a changin' unless this becomes powerful on a personal level.

[font=Courier][/font]Hey everyone into examining The Secret, this is another one of my long winded tomes, after this one I iINTEND to start writing only short notes, but this is just one more last time...I  am enjoying all these thoughts, something to ponder. The real thing is, that WE have the power all the time, since birth, to make our lives how we want, without harming anyone else, by using our, whatever it is, that silver cord connecting us to All That Is, to draw the protection/jobs/opportunities/weight loss/whatever we need, but there is something about being in the physical on Earth that causes everyone to feel anxious that they can't get enough resources and all this negativity starts up.

People who want to leave their marriage won't because they think they will never attract anyone nicer, and they will end up on the street. People who hate their jobs won't try to move on and out to something more satisfying because....they think they will never attract anything nicer and they will end up on the street. People who work as hookers or sex slaves often don't run away even when they can, because they think they can't get anything nicer and they will end up on the street. Politicians won't tell us the truth about our 44.5 trillion dollar debt (a lot of it owed to SE Asia, believe it or not) because if they did that honorable thing, they would end up out of office, couldn't get anything nicer and might end up on the street.

Can anyone blame us for not wanting to end up on the street? No, but I wish there was a way to break us all through to that place where we don't worry about rent (while we are still on this side where we need shelter) and we don't worry about groceries (while we are on this side and still need food) and we don't worry about clothing (while...etc.) and we dont' worry about making fools of ourselves (while we are on this side and live in a world where others can't yet read our thoughts and true intentions and comprehend our goodness).

I have a friend who has schizophrenia. She sees evil intent in the most innocent of conversations and institutions. It is heart breaking to be with her and hear and see the endless stream of paranoia. After I got to know her, I decided that no matter what, I would think the most positive thing I could about others, no matter how they treated me. Because otherwise, I would be thinking like she does!! And even if these others really do mean me harm, being upbeat, cheerful and positive puts me almost entirely beyond their reach anyhow.

Except of corse it is easier said than done. But I work at it. Mental health and the principles of The Secret are hand in hand, far as I can see. I used to think people who were always positive no matter what were just dumb and pollyanna, but now I realize they are powerful and transcendent in their day to day lives, in a way I cannot be while I am negative and....ok I'll say it...paranoid. Anyway, going off the path there a bit, but if The Secret has given the world anything, it has given a lot of HOPE where before there was none, and TOOLS to demand higher performance from ourselves in an organized, simple yet challenging way.
I see the teachers on the tape as not perfected souls yet but straining every nerve, so to speak, to leave behind as much good as they can. Falling into the trap of "I better get as RICH as I can while The Secret is still au fait" is just a mistake one or two of them made. And they are probably already stopping to think about that, as a result of the Hicks backing out. Vee

Having those "confidence wins" experiences while still young will imprint that attitude firmly for you and will serve you well all your life. That's what I notice about people born to wealth...even if they lose it all, they always land on their feet, because they don't know how to think any other way except to expect total abundance and their needs always met...they have never known anything else. It's amazing, I am always trying to learn to think like they do. Vee

Vee said:

"if The Secret has given the world anything, it has given a lot of HOPE where before there was none, and TOOLS to demand higher performance from ourselves in an organized, simple yet challenging way. 
I see the teachers on the tape as not perfected souls yet but straining every nerve, so to speak, to leave behind as much good as they can."

Thank you, Vee, that's great!
(I thought it deserved repeating.)

bets

Hi folks,
I haven't put anything on the board in some time but............ do feel that "the secret" info is something that spirit has been trying to get across to us for quite awhile. I saw the movie last October when it first came out and feel that all the people were terrific. I was thrilled to pieces when Oprah decided to bring it on her show because it helped to spread this info in so many ways.
Since we are down here for now in this lower vibration we might as well learn these laws of the universe and of course use them for the good!   Right!
It is sad to me that people will dismiss this info out-of-hand (or mind) without stopping to try or experiment with this very important concept because they think it is too hollywood or materialistic. Wish everyone would listen harder.          Lightnlove