Tag: the movie The Secret

Recently I got to meet Will Arntz, the director of the hit movie, “What the Bleep!?” He’s a swell guy, fun to hang with, and on to his next project with a movie called Ghetto Physics: Will the Real Pimps and Ho’s Please Stand Up?

He loaned me a private screening copy of the DVD. I watched it and it changed my life – but not in any way I expected.

The movie pushed some buttons in me. It says that in each moment there is a pimp and there is a “ho”. This dynamic is unconscious but can be found from the street to the boardroom.

As I watched Ghetto Physics, I felt defensive, alarmed, disgusted, and then on to entertained, educated, and finally enlightened.

I also made a life changing decision due to it.

I’ve been struggling with all the travel and all the speaking engagements I do. Russia. Poland. Peru. Canada. Bermuda. All over the states. All wanting repeat visits, too. Then there are all the new offers from China, Italy, and the Dominican Republic. The list goes on. It’s exhausting.

I confess public speaking has never been my cup of tea. Oh, I can do it, and get standing ovations for it. But it’s rarely been all fun. Truth is, I’d rather just stay home and write.

With that in mind, I wondered if I should stop speaking altogether.

After I watched Ghetto Physics, I wondered if I were a pimp or a ‘ho when it came to speaking gigs. I’m rarely driven by money alone, so most of the time my decision making is from passion.

What excites me? Do that. That’s been my motto.

But that’s not always the case.

With public speaking, I have too often done it for the money (except as a non-paid favor to a friend, as with every Un-Seminar Pat O’Bryan has ever done).

I decided I didn’t want to do anything just for the money. As I explain in my book, Attract Money Now, money shouldn’t be your motivator; love should be. Passion should be.

So I made the decision to not do any more speaking gigs, anywhere, at least for the rest of this year, and until I felt passionate about it.

I’ll of course stay open to new insights, opportunities and growth. I’m simply sharing with you how the movie Ghetto Physics got me to reflect on how I’m creating my reality, and how to refine it so I do more of what I consciously choose and love.

The enlightened view of the pimp-ho dynamic is this:  in every moment, you can be both.

Until then, though, you’re usually one or the other.

Maybe you can ask yourself this question: Are you doing what you love, or are you doing it for some other motive?

There’s nothing wrong with money, but you may not want it to be the love of your life.

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS – Here’s the movie trailer to Ghetto Physics:

A few weeks ago, while I was recording my new audio program for Nightingale-Conant (The Abundance Paradigm: Moving from the Law of Attraction to the Law of Creation), I was inspired to share five ways to shift into the abundance mindset. Here’s one of them:

Most of us are so caught up in our thinking and reacting, feeling and fearing, that we miss the miracle of the moment. While I’m sure you’ve heard that before, how do you actually escape the monkey mind and move into the Divine?

One of my favorite meditations is where I lead people through a questioning process that takes them behind the curtain of life to find the wizard behind it all.

Here’s how it works…

It begins with asking you to notice your thoughts….You have them but if you can notice them, who’s doing the noticing?

It then asks you to notice your feelings, your emotions…You have those, too, but if you can experience them, who’s doing the experiencing?

It then moves to asking you to notice your body…You have one, obviously, but if you can notice your body and feel like you’re “something” or “someone” inside your body, who or what are you? Who’s noticing your body?

This background awareness — the “noticer” or “witness” — is essential to making the shift into The Abundance Paradigm.

As long as you associate with mind, body and feelings, you will remain separate from life and tend to come from scarcity, lack, limitation and fear; but when you shift to being the observer, you experience non-duality and live abundance, faith, trust, magic and miracles.

Of course, I’ve already talked about this in my best-selling audio program, The Awakening Course. It’s the fourth stage of awakening. This advanced spiritual thinking goes beyond my book The Attractor Factor, and Zero Limits, and even ho’oponopono. It goes beyond thinking period and into the direct experience of living from or even as the Divine.

Said another way, “Enlightenment is not what you think.”

Meaning, enlightenment can’t be thought, as well as enlightenment is not whatever definition you think it is. It’s not what you think. It’s behind your thinking.

My new audio program will go into all of this in great depth. It’s the most spiritual and experiential program of my career. It comes out late October. Of course, I’ll be sure to tell you about it when it does. You might also watch the Nightingale website for any news bulletins about it.

Till then, what are you observing — and who’s observing it?

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS – Be sure to get your free sample of Miracles Coaching by clicking right here.

Note: My new audio program will be out late October. It’s called The Abundance Paradigm: Moving from the Law of Attraction to the Law of Creation. Stay tuned for details. Visit Nightingale-Conant.

My entire day got rearranged when Rhonda Byrne’s new book, The Power, arrived. I dropped everything to read it. I have been waiting for her sequel to the global hit movie and book The Secret since 2006. Well, it’s finally here.

I’ve liked Rhonda ever since she first called me in 2005 and invited me to be in “some movie” she wanted to make. She had read my book, The Attractor Factor, and loved it. She said she was creating a movie about the Law of Attraction and wanted me in it.

Would I be interested?

Not really, and not at first.

I had no idea if she were real or not. Many people have wild ideas and big dreams. Most don’t take any action, though. But I told her I was open to the idea.

Months later I was filmed for the movie. Months after that the movie was released. The rest, as they say, is history. I’ve gone on national television because of my role in the movie, been speaking around the world, been invited to star in several other movies, and got new book deals and more, all thanks to Rhonda and The Secret.

I’m grateful. And I’ve been just as eager for her follow-up book. When I was on the Larry King TV show the second time, years ago, I announced a sequel to the movie. Rhonda had led me to believe one was in the works. Well, we’re still waiting. But today the sequel to the book is here.

And it’s GREAT.

The Power is about love. In short, when you love anything, you feel different, and you end up attracting more of the same in your life to love. If you can just focus on love, your entire life will blossom.

Yes, The Power is about the Law of Attraction. But the book explains LOA in a practical way. It explains the essence of the Law of Attraction.

Rhonda doesn’t quote any of the teachers from The Secret to prove her points. Instead, she quotes from the legends — Jesus, Buddha, Einstein — all dead authorities. None can argue with her. And they all seem to say you can have what you want if you practice love. Well, I agree.

It’s clear that Rhonda is a fan of Neville Goddard. She quotes him repeatedly. I’m a fan, too, and republished Neville’s first book years ago, called At Your Command. Rhonda and I have had at least two dinner conversations where we discussed Neville.

In short, Neville taught that if you can feel what you want as if it were already fact, it would become reality. I’ve written about Neville in The Attractor Factor and other books, etc. He’s a hero of mine. Rhonda loves him, too. His message is an undercurrent throughout her book.

The Power is an upbeat, wise, feel good read. You wouldn’t expect anything less from the wizard behind The Secret. I love the book and will re-read it, give it as gifts, and more. I think it will become a New Thought classic.

But I still take issue with Rhonda’s stance that you don’t really have to take any action to attract what you want.

I was the guy in the movie The Secret stating you needed to act on your ideas. But Rhonda still believes what you want will just come to you if you feel it real. I’m sure for the person who created a movie sweeping the globe, who made over $300,000,000 in sales, and who has been pursued since 2006 for her next projects, that for her it seems like it’s all coming her way without effort.

But I also noticed that when The Power was getting close to publication date, that emails from Rhonda started appearing. It seemed as if she was waking up her list before telling them she had a book coming out.

That, to me, is action.

It’s also wise marketing.

I’ve seen things happen seemingly without effort, of course. When I attracted my new Spyker car and wanted to be in Heavy Hitters magazine again, I opened their magazine and was surprised to see myself in it. I hadn’t done anything. Yet there I was.

Still, it’s been my experience that you need to co-create your life.  You are creating in participation with the Divine. You are still needed to do things.

The Heavy Hitters magazine didn’t have a photo of me and my Spyker (it was of me and my Rolls-Royce). So I wrote to the editor (note I’m taking inspired action) and showed him pics of my Spyker. He then agreed to run a feature on me and my new car in the next issue.

In short, I had to take action to attract my goal.

Then again, maybe Rhonda is right and I’m just working too hard.

Find out for yourself.

Go get and read Rhonda Byrne’s book, The Power.

Its power and message is all love.

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS – Claim your Miracles Coaching free 30-minute session by clicking on the above link.

Which of these mistakes do you make with the Law of Attraction?

1. Thinking imagining what you want is enough.

2. Trying to attract a specific person.

3. Focusing on the material only.

4. Focusing on the spiritual only.

5. Working with affirmations only.

Truth is, there are many mistakes when it comes to using the Law of Attraction. It’s usually because most people don’t have a complete understanding of it. They saw the movie The Secret and thought they got it, when all they got was an introduction to it.

So what’s the truth?

1. Imagining what you want is a great way to program your unconscious but it’s only a first step. You still have work to do. That’s where the Law of Right Action comes into play. Do something to assist the attraction of what you want. Rhonda Byrne created the movie The Secret with more than the Law of Attraction; she didn’t just sit and dream about it. She took action. (She’s taken more action recently, as her next book, The Power, will be out in August.)

2. Trying to attract a specific person is a violation of free will. Your task is to focus on the qualities you want in a person. Then let the Universe bring your match to you. After all, it has about seven billion people (!) to draw from. It’s an ego trip to think you have selected the right person for you, when you don’t know everyone in the pool.

3. Focusing on the material, in attracting new cars and more cash, is fine, as long as you know it’s a temp high and a mask for the real juice of life: the Divine. Don’t focus on the car, but on the feeling behind the car. That is Divine. 4. Focusing on the spiritual or metaphysical often creates a nasty “spiritual ego” that judges everyone else as lacking and needing more meditation, spirituality, etc. It’s the worst ego of all. It gets mesmerized by the invisible and overlooks the visible; it judges the material as bad, not realizing that everything is spiritual.

5. Affirmations are one way to plant a new idea in your mind, but affirmations usually don’t go deep enough to create change. You need to get into the unconscious mind. To do that you may need deeper work, more clearing, or coaching.

Most people who try to use the Law of Attraction are basically wanting to click their heels together and have their intentions manifest before their eyes. While I believe in magic and miracles, I also know too many people self sabotage their own desires and deceive themselves; they trick themselves out of their own good.

The goal of life, as I’ve said many times, is to awaken.

One of the first steps is to awaken to the deeper aspects of the Law of Attraction.

Yes, you can most likely have whatever you can imagine, usually not by thinking about it alone, though, but by adding action, positive belief, and more.

I’ve covered this at length in recent books, and in recent audio programs, such as The Secret to Attracting Money. I’ll be doing it again in my new audio program, where I explain how to move from the Law of Attraction to the Law of Creation.

For now, yes, learn more about the Law of Attraction, but also be sure to actually use the Law of Right Action and do something. Life is a co-creation, which means it needs you to help attract the results you want.

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS —  As I mentioned above, Rhonda Byrne is still taking action. Her next book will be out in weeks. I haven’t seen it yet but the publisher ordered a first print run of two million copies. That’s staggering. Obviously, they expect it to do well. It’s called, The Power. And I’m sure Rhonda didn’t get it written or published by only thinking about it. She knows “the secret” alright, and it’s much more than just the Law of Attraction.

Recently I caught the classic 1956 movie, Moby Dick, based on the famous book by Herman Melville, starring Gregory Peck, directed by John Huston, screenplay by Ray Bradbury. I was reminded of how hypnotic and meaningful the movie is, with symbols about Divinity and messages about the Law of Attraction, and more. I loved it. Always have.

You probably know the Melville book is an American classic first published in 1851. You probably also never read it. At least not all of it. Even Ray Bradbury admitted he could never get through the thing.

I have read it. I’m a fan of the book. I read everything by Melville when I was in college in the 1970s, including Billy Budd, Typee, and The Confidence Man, and even his overlooked poetry, such as Clarel.

But I wouldn’t read Moby Dick today.

Instead, I’d watch the 1956 movie.

Here’s why:

Moby Dick is actually a story about the war between ego and, well, let’s say it: God. Captain Ahab is out to kill God. Yes, the great white whale is a symbol. But everything in life is. In this case, the whale represents the Divine. And Ahab wants it on a stick. Or at least a harpoon.

As Pip says in the movie, “That ain’t no whale; that a great white god.”

But why does Ahab hate God/Whale?

The movie cuts to the chase and tells the story best. Ahab went fishing one day, ran into God in the appearance of a huge white whale, and God/whale challenged him. Ahab lost a leg. Got a facial scar. And was royally upset. He devoted the rest of his life to revenge. Of course, trying to blame God for your life is a losing battle. After all, God’s in control, not you.

And this is Ahab’s problem.

Ahab thinks he can find and destroy God/whale. He bribes his crew with a Spanish gold coin to find the whale. He uses maps and math to help pinpoint the next appearance of the great white.

Along the way Ahab ignores another ship in need of help. Ignores his crew who needs to work. Ignores Starbuck, his first in command, trying to warn him of his choices. And ignores his own mission: to hunt for whales so the world has light from burning their fat.

Listen as Ahab declares how he would “strike out the sun” if it insulted him:

“Speak not to me of blasphemy, man; I’d strike the sun if it insulted me. Look ye, Starbuck, all visible objects are but as pasteboard masks. Some inscrutable yet reasoning thing puts forth the molding of their features. The white whale tasks me; he heaps me. Yet he is but a mask. ‘Tis the thing behind the mask I chiefly hate; the malignant thing that has plagued mankind since time began; the thing that maws and mutilates our race, not killing us outright but letting us live on, with half a heart and half a lung.”

Ahab is pure ego.

He’s hypnotic, as most madmen are.

He’s obsessed, as most madmen are.

And he’s going to fail, as most hypnotic, obsessed, madmen do.

He’s not going to be able to kill “the thing behind the mask” because that thing is God/Divine/Life.

How do we know Ahab failed?

The only reason we know of the story at all is that there was a lone survivor. Ishmael, played by actor Richard Basehart in the movie, is a detached observer. He’s a witness. He’s a reporter of the event. He lives to report the lesson back to us.

Why?

Because you and I need reminded that there is God and there is our ego. When you battle God/Divine/Life/Whale, you lose.

Here’s the lesson as I see it (with apologies to Melville, Bradbury, et al): Accept what happens to you in life as a gift, learn from it, turn it around if need be, and then get on with your life mission.

Feeling resentful, angry, unforgiving and driven by revenge is only going to do one thing: sink your ship.

The secret to living a happy life is to go with the flow. That doesn’t mean roll over and play dead. Put up your sails to use the God-given winds to get you where you want to go, but don’t blame God/Divine/Whale when you hit any bumps in the road. You attracted them as an unconscious dance of energies with life. Just adjust your sails and get back on track. Life goes on.

Beware The Ahab Syndrome.

It’s self-sabotage at the extreme.

What whale have you been fighting, anyway?

Ao Akua,

Joe

PS — Here’s sci-fi legend Ray Bradbury giving a misleading (it wasn’t as easy as he claims in this clip) but fun account of how he wrote the screenplay to Moby Dick for egocentric director John Huston by becoming author Herman Melville: