Oprah Winfrey Interviews Esther Hicks on the Law of Attraction and Her Being Cut from "The Secret"
I was quite annoyed to see that Esther Hicks was edited out of the movie The Secret. TheSecretNotes.com has the full story.
It is my belief that The Secret is NOT based on the Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D Wattles. It simply could not have been!
The Science of Getting Rich is a book from 1910 - brilliant for its time - but obsolete, poorly written and long-winded by today's standards. I wrote a one page summary of it - judge for yourself.
Instead, I believe Rhonda developed the Secret and was influenced not by the Science of Getting Rich but by the books by Esther Hicks. After all, Esther Hicks was originally supposed to get 10% of revenues from the Secret. (see this post).
Instead I believe that due to the Secret's amazing popularity, contractual business dealings got in the way. The Secret was re-edited to exclude Esther Hicks and the idea that the film was based on the Science of Getting Rich was substituted in.
Why the Science of Getting Rich? Purely a business decision.
Well it was written in 1910 - the book is now in the public domain, which means that ANYONE can publish or edit the book without paying royalties. This of course, made it an excellent choice.
Pic Below: Esther and husband Jerry Hicks
Now I am not suggesting that the producers of the Secret dumped Esther and picked The Science of Getting Rich so they could keep a larger chunk of their profits. It could have been a reasonable business decision because Esther's book sometimes deals with the supernatural, particular her conversations with the entity Abraham. Something like that is not going to be consumed by a wide market (although I see nothing wrong with it).
I think Rhonda Byrne and her crew are wonderfully good people and they have performed a great service to the world by packaging the Secret in such a way that the world was ready to wake up to it. Even Esther Hicks - on her website, mentions that there is no ill will. Although Esther does say - she felt she and her husband were "drawn in, utilized and then discarded".
But it is a shame to see the Secret cut out Esther - both from the film and from her share of the revenue pie.
The fact should not be hidden from the public. Ester Hicks' book is clearly the motivator for Rhonda's film. And you should go out and BUY that book.
I would give the book "The Secret" a rating of 3 out of 5.
But I would give Ester Hicks's "Law of Attraction" a 5 out of 5.
Read both books and judge for yourself. One feels like spiritual truth - the other like modern-day pop-culture psychology.
Esther Hicks is truly one of the greatest teachers I have come across (along with Jose Silva, Neale Donald Walsch and Bob Proctor).
Thank You Esther!
Now About Oprah's Interview with Esther Hicks
In the interview Ester discusses how she met Rhonda Byrne of the Secret, how she and her husband met Jane Roberts of the Seth Book, and how she later learned to channel Abraham and wrote Ask And It is Given and The Law of Attraction.
There are 2 parts and you can listen to them from the link below. (audios courtesy of AttractionHacker.com)
Part 1: Oprah Interviews Esther on the Secret
Part 2: Oprah Interviews Esther on Why She Was Cut from the Secret + Esther Channels Abraham.
Read More:
Interesting Articles on Esther Hicks
Oprah on the Secret: Episode 1
Oprah on the Secret: Episode 2
PS - fellow bloggers. If you share by gratitude to Esther Hicks, please feel free to syndicate this post. It's our way of thanking Esther by drawing attention to her book and her truly beautiful work which we feel needs to be brought to people's attention.
April 11th, 2007 at 7:52 pm
I think the only thing that no one connected with "The Secret" or Abraham can/has answered is about Law of Attraction and when bad things happen to children. Oprah even danced around this topic but Esther Hicks never really explained this. I don't believe that when children and babies encounter horrific things that they are attracting that to themselves! Impossible.
April 12th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
When I saw Esther in the first "The Secret", I was attracted to her message and her. When I ordered further copies to give to family, I looked for her but she was not there! Now I have only one original copy which I look forward to viewing many times!
April 25th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
[...] Many other authors actually believe that The Secret is fundamentally based on the works of Esther and Jerry Hicks rather than that of Wallace D. Wattles like the producers would have you believe. ( read this post) Note that Esther and Jerry Hicks are so well thought of that they recently appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show to explain things. [...]
April 27th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
[...] - Esther Hicks on Oprah [...]
April 27th, 2007 at 8:30 pm
[..]I think the only thing that no one connected with “The Secret†or Abraham can/has answered is about Law of Attraction and when bad things happen to children. Oprah even danced around this topic but Esther Hicks never really explained this. I don’t believe that when children and babies encounter horrific things that they are attracting that to themselves! Impossible. [..]
*Seen from the drama in which our Ego identifies its self with external circumstances, your reaction is totally right and understandable. If however you center yourself to the deepest core of your being, than all drama is no more than waves at the surface of a very deep ocean.
You are completely right about a child being innocent if you will agree that it is the human "I" of any child that is innocent. As soon as the child engages into being a true human, it immediately becomes part of the intelligent drama of life! If you would curiously want to consider as a possibility, that our commitment to being a human being was made before we were born, then also some harsh lessons may have been chosen before we were born as a child to our parents.
For any parent, the pain of harm, done to their child by illness or otherwise, is a devastating experience to their existence. At the same time, any devastating experience may be the strongest invitation of life itself to find the truth behind the illusion that we regard as our "reality". When we find peace and tranquillity in our deepest Self, we will know a Love and Peace beyond limits! A Love and Peace which all of our relations in life try to invite us to discover on the deepest level of our Being!
Wishing you a wonderful and curious journey,
With love,
Arnd.
May 1st, 2007 at 3:53 am
Esther Hicks is the REAL thing.
The Secret is a
a] nice movie for the general public. People watch it, feel good, and move on.
b] a marketing vehicle
May 1st, 2007 at 4:06 am
And one more thing. I didn't follow the stories flowing on the internet around this issue, and might as well be wrong. But from what I got from good sources, my understanding is that some "teachers" (aka marketers) had to pay to be included in the movie. I can hardly imagine Esther Hicks doing that. She is the authority that others shall pay to, not the other way.
May 14th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
So sad that esther is being cut out. Never bought an original. regret it
Interview with Bob
Proctor
June 4th, 2007 at 4:50 pm
[...] Why not, after completing the Law of Attraction Quiz read about the top Law of Attraction guru, Esther Hicks and The Secret [...]
July 23rd, 2007 at 10:12 pm
I too am a huge fan of Abraham's. Jerry and Ester's bring forth Abraham has certainly been a wonderful influence for me. I believe Rhonda was greatly influenced by Abraham's teachings as was most of those in "The Secret".
I don't know what prompted the change but The Law of Attraction without Abraham at this time in history is limiting at best, what The Law of Attraction is all about. However, I received a gracious reply from Abraham-Hicks and it is no problem for them. However, for me I'm glad I got one of the first editions of the movie.
P.S. I cannot get the Oprah interview with Esther to play.
I'm using Firefox, but I switched to Explorer and it still would not respond. Help
Love your site. Just great info.
September 11th, 2007 at 9:45 pm
When one reads The Law of Attraction it quite clearly explains that Esther could not have experienced that unless she had first had thoughts about it. It appears to be a very clear example, by the author herself, of the manifestation of what she had thought about. The authors are just as human as we are and her "manifestation" of The Secret experience is just a bit more public than most.
It's the way they resolved it that matters the most to me.
Blessings
November 8th, 2007 at 12:56 am
I've been hearing about "the secret" for awhile now but never knew it was about the law of attraction. Just yesterday I was at borders and I saw the dvd near the check out. I read the back to see what it was all about, but it was very vague, and left me more questions. So even more intrigued I looked it up as soon as I got home, and found out it's about the law of attraction (which really blew me away). I'm a big Ester Hicks fan and I love her work. Thats why it amazed/surprised me when I found out that "The Secret" was based off the LOA. I guess I didn't think something metaphysical could become so mainstream and accepted (which is great BTW). So I went to "the secrets" official website and couldn't find any mention of Hicks or Abraham on the site, which was kinda Ticking me off. Anyway... a Google search eventually lead me to this site because I was searching for the Oprah interview. I wanted to hear what they said about children. Because I'm just like anybody else and I don't think children should be suffering in this day and age (It is the 21st century right?). I guess I kinda agree with the above post/s, but I also thought it could be a form of hell? Maybe Hitler is living out his next 9,000,000 lives as a starving child. Though its hard for me to believe that, because what lessons would he learn from such an existence? Anyway... I don't know why I'm posting this, I guess I just felt the need to rant or something of that nature. Anyway, my email was mandatory so if you every get the Oprah Interview working please let me know. THANKS! and much love to everyone!
~Jon
January 19th, 2008 at 2:19 am
The Holy Bible is filled with wisdom and knowledge on the topic of the law of attraction...It's also called Faith and a correct way to pray. Many people just do not recognize it. "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray believe that ye receive them and ye shall have them" Mark 11:24 "As a man thinketh in his heart so he is." Proverbs 23:7 as well as many others. Christ used this power to perform the miracles He performed as He was a human being on earth with perfect, doubtless faith...Not because He was God. And he tells us that we would do greater things than He if we have faith even the size of a grain of mustard seed. Esther Hicks has a troubling spirit about her. Even though most of what she speaks is good knowledge, the source of the wisdom is in deed shaky. Others that shared this great wisdom and knowledge in the early part of the 20th century long before Esther were...Robert Collier, Dr. Joseph Murphy, Napoleon Hill and Norman Vincent Peale as well as Wallace Waddles. Dr. Joseph Murphy's notes are filled with scripture backing his truths.
January 24th, 2008 at 1:20 am
Bad things happen to children not because of the law of attraction, but because of Karma and that child's, and very often parents', Reincarnation Plan and soul agreements with each other. We come to Earth to learn and grow our consciousness. While on the astral we plan our life and lessons and create a curriculum know as the Reincarnation Plan or Blueprint. The RP contains our life lessons (Karma) and our soul agreements with those who are going to help us fulfill our mission. When a child chooses to manifest a debilitating disease, he does so knowing that what he learns is for his greater good and the good of those meant to share the experience with him/her. It's necessary to look at life through our spiritual pre-birth eyes, as opposed to our human senses. It doesn't make sense otherwise. I suggest that you visit my website, http://www.gracefulkarma.com if you want to know more about this.
February 14th, 2008 at 2:51 am
I also think that The Secret is based on Hill's THINK AND GROW RICH - it uses a lot of the same language as Hill's classic and still in print book. I found it odd that the Secret book and DVD do not acknowledge Hill (it is on the website, however). I explored the entire Hicks/Secret scenario in THE SECRET OF THE SECRET. It's an interesting story and a testament to the Hicks'dignity.
May 27th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
another load of hogwash. how in the world does a small child attract such things as abuse?? all this stuff seems to serve to divert your attention from the fact that so many people are suffering in this world by the hands of evil. i mean if you buy into all this stuff (like i once did btw) then all it does is justify you to turn a blind eye to therest of the world because clearly suffering people deserve all they get! puhhhhhhhleeez. yes turn a blind eye and hope it makes you feel better in your happy lives. i mean come on, this stuff is coming from people who have "stable" lives. try feeding this stuff to people in Myanmar and the countless other suffering places. all the rest of this karma, reincarnation and other new age hogwash is extremely questionable and i would thoroughly question where this information is coming from. i would certainly question who this "abraham or any other channel entity" is. its easy enough for an entity to put on an angelic face to get a certain job done... diverting attention from real problems and making things feel alright... well news flash.. things are not alright and they won'tbe if people keep turning a blind eye because they've been given comforting reasons from some charming entitiy to do so.
June 10th, 2008 at 2:21 am
On the heals of The Secret’s financial success have come more blatherings, and repetitive rehashings of old ideas, badly presented and argued. One re-printed concoction which gave root to The Secret is The Science of Success by Wallace D. Wattles.
Without delving into the endless incomprehensibly egocentric and materialistic pronouncements, one peculiar statement exemplifies the kind of insight provided by such books. The author claims “To fully live in soul, man must have love, and love is denied expression by poverty.†There aren’t very many interpretations possible for such denigration of humanity. Given that the vast majority of the world’s population is considered poor, this statement tells billions not to expect to either be capable of love, nor should they be able to be loved. Your not being rich means you’re out of luck on love and endless other potentialities.
So here’s a suggestion: At the diametrically opposite end of the spectrum in the exploration of life, the ego, and the soul, is a book that presents a powerful counter-balance to narcissistic salvation of soul and body presented by The Secret and The Science of Success. That book is My Self, My Soul by J. deBar. Even the tone to a difficult subject are refreshing.
“My Self, My Soul†refrains from sermonizing, unlike some how-to-make-a-fast-buck “answers to life†books permeated with not so subtle cult creation methods. It was welcome antidote to too many readings that just don’t digest well.
June 17th, 2008 at 5:59 am
Well Duh! Of course a child doesn't bring on bad things to itself. It's the parent's or care taker's job to do that. Once a someone comes to the age of accountability then they have the free will to choose for themselves on how their lives turn out. Yes, there are many people who had the misfortune when they are children to have bad things happen and not have the protection or guidance but there are also people who once they got to the point of choosing for themselves have chosen to follow the law of attraction and overcame those bad things. My two cents.
August 23rd, 2008 at 6:55 pm
In response to "Nevernind," :
I can surely sympathize with your pain of living in a world that seems so cruel and heartless regarding what oftentimes becomes the lifelong suffering that children are born into, misery that folk incur as the result of the SELFISHNESS from human folk in coalition or not, with natural conditions that devastate land and environments for the necessary conditions for folk to survive upon.
I could further say that I find it UNACCEPTABLE that the "excuse" that karma from other lifetimes would justify the disregard for the pain and suffering of the innocent throughout the world on behalf of humanity, angers and pains me as well. I too feel your pain and hear your ANGER, disgust & frustration(as you seek answers that your EGO cannot find the capacity to negotiate, least of all embrace.)
Clearly it is not my place or desire to speak of what another NEEDS!(For no one knows such a thing). However, let me say--And take this with a grain of salt or not/and grasp any part which may resonate with your own truth, "Each of us have our own mission in these little lives of ours, and each of us is beset with different conditions that will be experienced for purposes that we cannot see until LIFE exposes us to the seeds of opportunity that each experience that our conscious minds or egos force us to 'judge' as either bad or good; and that is if the children of God live long enough through the ordeal!!! Innocence is a natural state of being, and there is no distinction to God betwixt the victim or aggressor;good or evil or even teaching & learning. The struggle that these opposites confront us with is the basis of this whole illusion, which can evoke the worst in us or the VERY BEST(Which is the essential ground of one's potential taking on a human lifetime). My job is to bring into harmony this inner conflict while in the process of contending with it, by "Fighting the Good Fight." For it again, brings out the best in me. Thus, the lives of the innocent ones have not been in vain, even if they did not survive long enough to reach conception! KNOW that we are here to gain MASTERY over this illusion, by "Any Means Necessary!" And we do that by gaining mastery over our emotions--Not letting them control our minds & reactions. For these attached emotions are human(lower base)frequencies that the Most High is demanding that we face and release for the purpose of allowing \HIS light to be restored into our hearts and minds so that we may RECEIVE truth that our egos will embrace & APPRECIATE in the midst of "WHATEVER CONDITIONS, EVENTS, CIRCUMSTANCES OR SITUATIONS" that life leads us to. "KNOW THYSELF" you powerful spiritual being!