'Secret' spreads around world

Thinking-will-make-it-so philosophy catches on through film

Wealth. Love. Happiness. Health. Peace. It's absolutely possible for everyone to have these things and more -- at least that's what the teachers say in "The Secret." Centering on the universal law of attraction, the 92-minute film cannot be seen in theaters; it's only available on DVD or at the "The Secret" Web site. Last week, the film was the No. 5 top-selling DVD at amazon.com.

Nevertheless, it has been seen around the world through word of mouth since its March 2006 release. While some are skeptical of the film's message, more than 700,000 copies of "The Secret" have been sold in the United States.

In the film, viewers learn to ask for what they want. And, if they believe it, they will receive it.

It sounds simple enough, but here's the catch: If you're cynical, sad, depressed and resigned that nothing will change, nothing will. Thoughts are so powerful, the teachers insist, that you attract what you think about, even if you don't want it. Get it?

"Whatever you hold in your mind, consciously and subconsciously, is what you are attracting to your experience," says "Secret" teacher Hale Dwoskin, author of the "Sedona Method" (Sedona Press, $17). "If you want to know what you are holding in your mind, look around you."

The teachers -- who include ministers, philosophers and writers, such as Jack Canfield ("Chicken Soup for the Soul") and John Gray ("Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus") -- say to receive what you desire, you must act and feel it's already done.

"We have a magnificent inner calling, vision, mission, power inside us that we are not honoring and harnessing," says philosopher and "Secret" teacher John Demartini in a recent telephone interview. "This movie brings it to the forefront that we can [harness that power]."

An ancient thought

In November, after CNN's Larry King had two shows on the movie, interviewing several "Secret" teachers, he called it the most profound information he has run across in 40 years. The movie also has been featured on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" and in Time magazine and the Wall Street Journal.

On Wednesday, producers of the movie will be in Chicago taping an appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

Alicia Nails of Southfield, Mich., watched the movie two weeks ago and says applying the law of attraction really works. Just Monday, she learned a $500 monthly fixed payment had been reduced to $72, and she didn't negotiate the change.

"It has been a kick-start keeping my thought patterns on the things I do want, not the things I do not want," she says.

The movie was conceived in 2004 after Australian-born screenwriter and producer Rhonda Byrne suffered a number of setbacks -- she was broke, her father suddenly died and all of her relationships were in turmoil. Her life changed when she read a book about the law of attraction, "The Science of Getting Rich," written by Wallace Wattles in 1910.

While researching the law of attraction for six months, she discovered noted figures in history -- Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, William Shakespeare, Abraham Lincoln and many others -- understood the philosophy. She found the information dated as far back as 3500 B.C., and learned the law of attraction is a part of every religion, including Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism, but most people were unaware of its very existence.

It's the distribution

Following her research, Byrne says she was left with a burning desire to make the film, and in 2005, she moved to Los Angeles with a mission of producing it. However, she had no idea how she would accomplish the goal.