Douglas Jacoby has shared his critique of the idea promoted in the popular book The Secret. This is my response, based on an interview with Bob Proctor (one of the main teachers of "The Secret" which is based on "the Law of Attraction." -- Chad Garber (Atlanta)
PR.com:
What is the difference between just positive thinking, versus what you do, in getting yourself into a positive vibration?
Bob Proctor:
If you go back into proverbs in the Christian Bible, Solomon said, "As a man thinketh in his heart" [20:7]. Not as a man thinketh, but as a man thinketh in his heart. The subconscious mind, the early Greeks referred to as "the heart." As a person thinketh in their subconscious mind, so are they. There's a beautiful word it s called Praxis. Praxis is the integration of belief with behavior. There are certain things you'll say, "I believe that" and yet your behavior would indicate that you've never heard of it. Pay attention to people when they say, "I believe that", but they don't do it. Why? On a conscious level they believe something. They consciously and intellectually understand it, but their paradigm is programmed the opposite way.
Chad's Comments:
Let me share what I see as the problem with Proctor's usage of this Bible passage. If we look at the context of the proverb Bob quotes (and which many say is the foundation of the entire philosophy), we will quickly see the irony of Bob using this scripture as the foundation of how to get rich:
Prov 23:4-8 (HCSB)
4Don’t wear yourself out to get rich; stop giving your attention to it.
5As soon as your eyes fly to it, it disappears for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.
6Don’t eat a stingy person’s bread and don’t desire his choice food
7for as he thinks within himself so he is. “Eat and drink” he says to you but his heart is not with you.
8You will vomit the little you’ve eaten and waste your pleasant words.
This proverb is just saying that what is going on in someone s heart is how someone really is. This has nothing to do with changing our thoughts in order to attract those things we want. In fact the whole theme of this proverb is dealing with not being all about money and other things we can get.
Douglas adds:
Praxis the Greek word Proctor confidently mentioned, does not in fact mean "integration of belief with behavior." The basic meaning of praxis is deed or action. And besides, the proverbs of Solomon were not written in Greek; they were written in Hebrew. Proctor is over-reaching.
