Money and the Law of Attraction
Spiritual Implications of The Secret movie & Eker's Millionaire Mind
The Secret film became the focus of debate for its presentation of the Law of Attraction as a means to material gain and wellness. Do spirituality and materialism clash?
The quasi-spiritual film The Secret continues to make headlines in self-help workshops and personal development circles for its simple treatment of the Law of Attraction. Its challenge, however, has been finding balance between educating people who had never before picked up a book on spirituality, and satisfying those who are already pursuing spiritual purpose in their lives.
In this regard, the jury is still out on whether or not The Secret has been a success. Criticism has been leveled against the film for supporting “material” success over spiritual progress. Yet, in direct opposition with the principles of the Law of Attraction, most of this “spiritual” debate seems to derive from poverty consciousness or what T. Harv Eker, creator of the Millionaire Mind Intensive, would call “money monk” thinking.
Does The Secret misrepresent the Law of Attraction?
Despite its popularity in the press with Oprah and other celebrities, many people on a spiritual path are of the opinion that the film misrepresents the Law of Attraction. By leaning so heavily on the material and financial impact of the properties of the Law of Attraction, they feel that The Secret has used these principles in an empty, materialistic way to build more interest and sell the film. They seem to be saying that there is a loss of integrity in using spiritual principles commercially (at which one might wonder, because even if it’s nothing more than an idea, isn’t every spiritual speaker or author selling something?).
T. Harv Eker and the Law of Attraction
Creator of the Millionaire Mind and a series of other personal development and business courses, T. Harv Eker has built his success on teaching other people an approach to thinking and feeling about money that is said to guarantee success. His approach is based on the same principles as The Secret, and he comes up against the same attacks for “perverting” and “misusing” spiritual principles for material gain.
The real challenge in addressing these criticisms is that in this kind of debate, everything depends on how you look at it.
Is Money Bad?
Harv Eker directly addresses negative directives about money by looking at their derivation and how they have been altered over the years. “Money is the root of all evil,” for instance, comes from the Bible, which actually says: “The love of money is the root of all evil.”
Religious and spiritual teachings which say that we have to be poor to be holy are simply misreading things, Eker says. It is the love of money, or an undue obsession with wealth, that is a sin in his interpretation of the Bible.
He calls people who believe they are “too good for money,” or that they have to get rid of money and material possessions in order to be spiritual, “money monks.” It’s one approach to money (out of four described in the Millionaire Mind Intensive) that just don’t work. Eker is, above all, practical. If what they’re doing doesn’t work, he teaches people to find another way that does.
Is Money Good?
The approach to money taken by both The Secret and the Millionaire Mind is that money is a form of abundance. We don’t question that there is infinite air, love, water, and other necessities in our lives, so why should money be any different?
We each deserve to have abundance in our lives and to be happy – and we deserve and should have money, too, in balance and with a conscious awareness of the world. The kind of poverty that exists in many parts of the world can’t be ignored. If we have money we should do what we can to live generously and share with those less fortunate or less capable than us – but we should not cripple ourselves emotionally, spiritually, or financially just because others are emotionally, spiritually, or financially poor.
It conflicts with many religious and spiritual views. It seems likely that a more balanced treatment of the Law of Attraction in The Secret, including more spiritual and metaphysical concepts, might not have been enough for the spiritual naysayers. So much of the argument against using the Law to “attract” money seems to be coming from what the Millionaire Mind might call “money monk thinking” that it’s hard to imagine how the two sides of this discussion can meet.
The irony, of course, is that in “attracting” the people who had never heard of the Law of Attraction before this film, the makers of The Secret have alienated those who could have been its staunchest fans.
Related article: What is The Secret?
