The Secret - Spiritual Materialism

The latest buzz is all about the movie, The Secret.work, my business, or how I am in relationship.. what's
Many folks say it's HUGE. In case you're unaware, thereally at cause when it comes to a dearth of clients, or
movie's general theme is about creating what youclients I would like to have, or a painful breakup of a
want by accessing the Universal Law of Attraction,relationship, or... The pain and suffering are teachers
that is, attracting what you put your attention on. If youpointing to what we need to learn about "me" - about
focus your attention on positive things, well, positivewho I am and how I am in life. The pain forces one to
things result. Ditto the negative. But what intrigues me isgrow, to mature emotionally and spiritually, to face
the movie's seeming use of spirituality as a tool tofears and frustrations...the pain is a call to action, a call
manifest "stuff" and a naivety with which the narratorsto learn, an opportunity to grow...and since many folks
disregard the inner workings of the psyche which canrefuse to be self-responsible for working on their own
sabotage the positive thinking approach to "having it all.""stuff", well, now we have the latest quick-fix, The
The Secret is the Napoleon Hill, "Think and Grow Rich"Secret, that says, "OH, no biggie, just think positive and
of 2006-7. I've seen the Secret and view it as a primeall will be well." Hmmm.
example of "spiritual materialism" which is behavior thatJust be positive...hmmm...my take is there are many,
is purely ego-driven. Some thoughts:many silently angry, fearful, frustrated folks out
When there is a conflict between a positive thoughtthere...folks who have 20, 30, 40, 50 years of anger,
and a negative emotion, the emotion will always win.fear, frustration, etc. inhabiting their cells and have
So, when one decides to "think positive" but is doing sonever dealt with their emotional awareness or maturity.
because, emotionally, they are frustrated, angry,These are some of the 98% of the folks who will find
envious, jealous, or fearful, etc., there's a pretty goodit challenging, well-neigh impossible, to sustain positive
chance the thought will not manifest - which is oneattitudes, positive outlooks, positive reactions to the
reason why many folks' attempts at living the Secretvicissitudes of life...on whom the secret of The Secret
("positive thinking", visualizing positive manifesting, andwill be lost. "Waddya mean, I thought positive six times
prayer, for that matter) end up in not "getting what Iyesterday and nothing happened!?" Six times in the
want." Too, when the effort, and for many it ismidst of a day replete with negative judgments of
efforting (which goes against the Yin and Yang ofothers, bullying, gossiping, being sarcastic, angry,
Universal flow) comes from one's ego, there's a goodmean-spirited and disrespectful, not trusting anything or
chance that one will not get what one wants or oneanyone, lying, cheating.
will get what one doesn't want (i.e., the Soul's responseFor the 2% who really, really get it, the Secret is no
to the ego's demand). Trust is sorely lacking here.secret - living life from the inside out, trusting without
Too, in our Western culture, we are basically averse toneeding to control, experiencing life's pain as a teacher,
pain on every level. This week I saw an interview withsurrendering their ego, seeing that life is larger than
Jennifer Hudson, the young singer who was voted offgetting that parking space or Starbucks...that's it's not
of American Idol and stole the show in the movie,about spiritual materialism.
Dreamgirls. Jennifer was asked how she responded toThe Tibetan teacher, Chogyam Trungpa, suggests we
being eliminated from Idol when most people thoughtbe conscious about getting caught up in the lure of
she would win. She admitted that it was painful andspiritual materialism. When our ego is driving our spiritual
that she cried a lot, but that eventually she returned todevelopment, we're headed in the wrong direction -
her faith. "I chose to trust that God had a bigger planaccumulation of stuff and avoiding our emotions, not
for me than I could see at the time," she explained.spiritual maturation.
Trust...surrender...allow...probably not a lot ofPersonal growth and spiritual awareness and
hand-wringing, mental gymnastics, "mind control",maturation are not about ignoring our feelings of
positive thinking (better go see the Secret!!!).....justdeficiency, not about filling the holes of emptiness, the
allowing and trust.void of lack, going around the feelings we experience
The Secret, in my mind, is supposed to be the antidoteinside. The question is, "Am I a spiritual seeker and
to experiencing life's disappointments, or, for thatpractitioner so I can evolve emotionally, consciously
matter, eliminating life's disappointments. For me,and spiritually by exploring my emotions as a doorway
Jennifer's story is a powerful reminder of how life'sto spiritual growth, or am I using spirituality from an
disappointments may in fact be preparation foregoic place to move away from, to deny, and avoid
something even more significant in our lives. And, thismy fear, my anger, my frustration, etc., in an attempt to
belief has the best chance of coming true when one"quick-fix" myself through material gain?"
makes a demonstrated (read "conscious")When a pickpocket meets a Holy man, all he sees is
commitment to learn and grow from one's presentthe pockets. IMHO, The Secret, for many (over and
day circumstances NOT by evading, avoiding, denyingabove the 2%), is all about the pockets.
and "thinking" one's way away from them.(c) 2007, Peter G. Vajda, Ph.D. All rights in all media
So, for example, what am I learning about me, myreserved.