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Spiritual vibrations of the mind

Anil Bhat

Beyond The Secret is a sequel to The Secret, by Rhonda Byrne (New York, Atria Books, 2006, 198 pages), based on which a video by the same title was also released in the same year. According to a review of The Secret, by Donald S. Whitney, the essence of that book is "the law of attraction" Barnaby, who quotes Byrne and the 29 co-contributors extensively, interprets that everything in the Universe (which is always capitalised and usually synonymous for "God") vibrates on a particular frequency. When you think in harmony with the frequency of something, you attract it to you. If you think about wealth, you will receive wealth. If you think instead about your debt, you will receive more debt. You attract what you think about; your thoughts determine your destiny. Byrne restates the law of attraction in various ways: "Nothing (good or bad) can come into your experience unless you summon it through persistent thoughts".

Beyond The Secret, with an eye-catching bright yellow hard cover claimed as an international best seller, is a compilation of many quotes and paragraphs by a mix of 18 listed and briefly described authors, medical doctors, professors, psychologists, therapists, philosophers and specialists in certain fields and many others, who try to create consciousness about the inner and mostly unrealised or untapped areas of the human mind, which play a major role in achieving aims and aspirations.

The five chapters of this book - "The Revival of Ancient Wisdom", "The Opportunity of the New Millennium", "Learn to Explore Your Mind", "How Can You Transform Your Life?" and "Spiritual and Philosophical Sources" - take the reader on a short trip providing glimpses of the various aspects of and connections between the human mind and body, which should be dwelt upon to fulfill desires and improve the quality of life.

Considering a basic saying of Dalai Lama: "Neither temples nor complicated philosophies are needed. Our own minds and our hearts are our temples", Buddha: "You are what you have been; you shall be what you do now" and Khalil Gibran: "Nobody can teach you what is already dormant within the light of your own knowledge", the author begins her third chapter, "Learn to Explore Your Own Mind" with the contention that people use only 10 per cent of their mental energy in an appropriate manner, losing the rest in banal or negative thoughts or that unused energy remains "eternally asleep".

In the important process of analysing oneself, one of the main tasks is to identify one's fears and then overcome them. The various kinds and levels of fear have been listed and discussed. Once this has been done there laid down physical and mental procedures recommended by many of the scholars and experts who the author consulted and quoted which should be practised to enhance one's consciousness and capabilities. Sri Swami Sivananda's quote is "Fear is illusory. it cannot live. Courage is eternal. It cannot die."

It is after the elaboration of the well-known basic physical method for meditating or entering a state of altered or alleviated consciousness propounded in the book - achieved by a graduated process of breathing with concentration - that the relevance and timeless value of ancient Indian/Hindu philosophy, texts and practices emerges. In fact, the breathing techniques are based on Pranayam of Yoga, which gradually spread beyond India's shores in the 20th century.

Shaivism, mentioned in this book as being the first to explain the Law of Attraction, is based on the philosophy of the existence of Spanda, a Sanskrit sound meaning vibration or resonance, explained in the well-known text, Spanda-Karika, eventually got included in the Vedic texts known as the Upanishads. The millennium-long ignorance about the Upanishads by the West was finally broken in the beginning of the 19th century, thanks to the French scholar, Anquetil Du Perron, whose Latin translations evoked tremendous interest among scholars. A 100 years later William Walker Atkinson published Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction, which became the very Bible and reference point for mind study groups. Yet another 100 years later, Rhonda Byrne, an Australian, compiled the opinions of experts to spread the virtues of the Law of Attraction in The Secret. While the Law of Attraction remains exactly as described in the Upanishads and is as relevant today, what needs to be understood is its force and the means to use it, which keep changing as per developments in space and time. These spiritual vibrations of the mind became the basis for the movement named New Thought, which began in the late 19th century in the US.

The book, delving into the process of realising the great capabilities and capacities of the human mind, which can be effectively used to improve and enhance one's own life, should appeal to many who look for ways to cope with modern-day stress.

Many of the experts mentioned in this book may be owing a debt to Swami Vivekananda, who became a torchbearer of Indian spiritual traditions by his visit to the World Parliament of Religions at Chicago in 1893. Since then, his sharp and forthright message and above all its universality to humanity began to resonate in India and rest of the world.