I have to say that the Am Way connection comes as no suprise. The Hicks' have clearly made a fortune out of this endevour. The untold story behind this is that often their followers are brought to the edge of financial ruin following a dream that never materialises.

My husband and I recently became friendly with another married couple. We have just moved to a new area and don't know many people here. This couple seemed nice enough at first, but recently they have started pushing this movie, "The Secret" on us. I watched this movie and it's the usual, "You CAN think yourself rich, happy, successful" garbage. That's fair enough, but what worries me is that this couple are now talking like they have joined some sort of cult. Here are a few examples:
An acquaintance of ours recently lost his wife and only daughter in a car crash. they say, he must have thought about it and so it happened. He attracted the experience into his life subconsciously with negative thoughts.
My sister lost her daughter to cot death recently. they say, although terrible, this is natural and we "attract" tragedy into our lives with negative thought processes. Its the Law of Attraction. "It's not a comfortable concept" they say, "but it says so in the video."
They say people who are raped in "this life" were probably rapists in "another life".
They say victims of abuse and domestic violence "attrat" negative experiences and patterns of behaviour into thier lives. It's the Law of attraction. "It say so in the video".
So shocked, appalled and offended by these sentiments and attitudes am I that I have tried to distance myself somewhat from this couple. I have had three miscarriages. The last one was in January and left me feeling emotional and mildly depressed. They have approached me to say I should watch the video again and introduce some positive thinking into my life. The lunacy is unbelievable. These videos should come with a public health warning!! These in this video people are just salesmen trying to sell an impossible dream and make money out of it and some people are thinking they have come across the meaning of life after they have watched it.
This couple ar nice people but when they start up about "The Secret" it's just crazy talk! I find myself wanting to end the friendship on this basis alone.

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Reality Check
My husband and I recently became friendly with another married couple. We have just moved to a new area and don't know many people here. This couple seemed nice enough at first, but recently they have started pushing this movie, "The Secret" on us. I watched this movie and it's the usual, "You CAN think yourself rich, happy, successful" garbage. That's fair enough, but what worries me is that this couple are now talking like they have joined some sort of cult. Here are a few examples:
An acquaintance of ours recently lost his wife and only daughter in a car crash. they say, he must have thought about it and so it happened. He attracted the experience into his life subconsciously with negative thoughts.
My sister lost her daughter to cot death recently. they say, although terrible, this is natural and we "attract" tragedy into our lives with negative thought processes. Its the Law of Attraction. "It's not a comfortable concept" they say, "but it says so in the video."
They say people who are raped in "this life" were probably rapists in "another life".
They say victims of abuse and domestic violence "attrat" negative experiences and patterns of behaviour into thier lives. It's the Law of attraction. "It say so in the video".
So shocked, appalled and offended by these sentiments and attitudes am I that I have tried to distance myself somewhat from this couple. I have had three miscarriages. The last one was in January and left me feeling emotional and mildly depressed. They have approached me to say I should watch the video again and introduce some positive thinking into my life. The lunacy is unbelievable. These videos should come with a public health warning!! These in this video people are just salesmen trying to sell an impossible dream and make money out of it and some people are thinking they have come across the meaning of life after they have watched it.
This couple ar nice people but when they start up about "The Secret" it's just crazy talk! I find myself wanting to end the friendship on this basis alone.

They are speaking in cult-speak and are rapt up in the positive thinking 'theory'. A wise decision to distance yourself.

Reality Check, I am sorry you have to deal with the hard-sell from these nutters.

Just to let you know, I saw "The Secret", and there is nothing in that movie that specifically comes out and says anything about deaths, rapes and car accidents. In fact, the "Secret" movie is rather vague: I think it's intended to pique people's curiosity without revealing too much about the actual teachings. I'm guessing this couple probably has several Abraham-Hicks video tapes that go into more depth about their teachings, and that's probably where they got that info from.

That is one thing that really bothers me about Abraham-Hicks: the way the Law of Attraction can be so easily turned into "blame the victim". I can't see how that can possibly help anyone.

From the work I did with the Lynn Grabhorn book (similar to A-H): and her explanation of the Law of Attraction: yes, the belief is that positive feelings attract positive things in your life, and negative feelings attract negative things in your life. (Notice I said "feelings" and not "thoughts": there is a difference.)

However, nowhere in Grabhorn's writings does she say that people should go around saying horrible, cruel things to people blaming them for their problems! I am just shocked that people could display so little sympathy for others! This sounds exactly like the woman I mentioned in my earlier post who quit our group after another member posted about a death in her family.

I don't know enough about Abraham-Hicks to know whether their teachings say to blame people for their problems, or whether these particular people you and I have encountered are misinterpreting the teachings. I can't see how it would be constructive or beneficial for anyone to be told that they are to blame for tragedies in their life. The only purpose that would serve would be to make people feel guilty, angry, and more depressed: hardly the feelings that are conducive to changing your life for the better!

I just wanted to say something else I just remembered. Lynn Grabhorn apparently committed suicide after writing her 3rd book. It's not apparent from her website (www.grabhorn.com), but I was told this by some A-H people. These A-H people invariably had something critical to say about Grabhorn for killing herself. That really upset me. Instead of showing compassion for someone who ended their own life, they bash her and attack her when she's not even around to defend herself!

I just wanted to add my apologies to the sad comments made by Reality Check. You certainly should not have been exposed to this warped way of thinking given your recent experiences. However, I have heard of other people who have either lost babies or relatives and have allegedly been told by the Hicks' or their followers that they attracted this negative experience. I even watched an 'instructional' video in which the Hicks tried to convince a woman whose cat was dying of cancer not to worry about the animal as it was following its own path of joy! I cannot believe what these groups get away with and how damaging some of their so called spiritual statements can be.

Ahhh, don't get me started on Abraham-Hicks and the Law of Attraction!

I am a New Ager. I like to think of myself as a thinking, open-minded, and yet practical New Ager.

LOA (Law of Attraction), as a meme, is a virus that has completely INFECTED the New Age and personal development world.

Yes, positive thinking can be helpful. But NO, we do not "attract" negative experiences with our thoughts. No, we did not attract cancer to our cat, or a car crash for our brother!

What bothers me more than this, however, is the excessive focus on material wealth that is now being spouted by a lot of so-called "spiritual leaders."

Joe Vitale, an Internet marketer who says openly he uses "hypnotic" marketing techniques, is part of this movement. The guy is all about using LOA to manifest a bunch of new cars for yourself.

It's obscene, really.

The problem with these things is that there's a slight grain of truth in it, which is why it is so popular. It can and does work (to a certain degree). I have seen in my own life amazing synchronicities and miracles happen due to my positive "intention."

But LOA is bastardization of spirituality and it pisses me off to no end that it is being passed around as a "LAW" or as science. It is NEITHER.

I found this forum through a google search on " 'abraham-hicks'+'cult' "

Abraham-Hicks is nothing more than a sick way for the Hicks to make money. They manipulate people's minds into thinking that negative experiences are the result of negative thoughts. What about people with generalized anxiety disorder or obsessive- compulsive disorder? Such people certainly didn't ask for such negative thoughts- it is their brain chemicals.

A few things bug me about the Hicks' outfit. First, their books all say the EXACT same thing. A money-making machine, pure and simple. Second, their entire story screams of fraudulent activity. Third, as a former subscriber to their yahoo digest, I have seen how much their brand of LOA has messed up well-intentioned people.

I left the yahoo group after a very hurt woman was encouraged to engage in promiscuous sex by a fellow "Aber". She was told to believe that she could not become pregnant or contract an STD, and so, she would be safe in her promiscuity. Another woman asked about her miscarriage. She said her doctor warned her that there was something "wrong" with the pregnancy. Many "Abers" told her that she caused the miscarriage by listening to her doctor. I was the ONLY person who posted my condolences!!!

Finally, I had an online friend who immersed herself in New Ageism. She received a "Doctorate" in "Divinity" from an unknown school of "inner studies". Slowly, she became more involved in Abe-Hicks and slowly, she became brainwashed. When I asked her about the demise of a romantic relationship, she told me I had set out negative vibrations about my subconscious desire for a failed relationship and so that's why the relationship ended.

What really scared me was that she disapproved of my other romantic interests because none of them practiced the Abe-Hicks "work".

We were in touch for five years. She started to change this summer, as she grew more interested (sucked in????) in Abe-Hicks. I ended the friendship last week with a kind note saying Abe-Hicks was fraudulent and I was afraid for her.

Does anyone know if Esther and Jerry had a family? I seem to remember hearing that they had a daughter. Is she involved in the business?

I do believe in the Law of Attraction, but I sometimes wonder about the heavy marketing that's part of the Hicks machine.

BJ

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pinemeadows
I do believe in the Law of Attraction, but I sometimes wonder about the heavy marketing that's part of the Hicks machine.

I feel the same way.

I have to say this thread has really helped with the problems I am having with my husband. I would like to know more about Jerry and Esther's past and the Amway connection. I did mention this to my husgband, but he totally goes into a kind of robot like response and refuses to see any past to the pair beyond the 'spiritual' work they do at the moment. Any help on filling in the gaps in their past would be invaluable.