Top Secret: The Truth Behind Today's Pop Mysticisms

I had mixed feelings while reading this book. For one, Price is an incredibly knowledegable scholar who has a broad and deep knowledge of many religious systems as well as philosophy. He has a sharp wit and can elicit a chuckle as he points out the flaws in some of the guru's systems. And pointing out the flaws is something that he is very good at, particularly at dismantling some of the notions passed on as truth by the targets of his book, among them Deepak Chopra, Marianne Williamson and Joel Osteen. As a mainstream Christian, for me this book contains a lot of powerful refutations against some of these purveyors of New Age and New Thought beliefs. In addition, reading through some of the text is like taking a mini, high-level course in comparative religion and philosophy, as Price covers some key teaching from Hinduism, Bhuddism and others. At the same time, I am afraid that Price probably loses a lot of his audience as he writes matter-of-factly about terms like nondualism and other religious and philosophical technical terms. Price is also objective as he notes some of the positives in the belief systems that he is criticizing. On the other hand, Price does not let the reader know that he is something of a strong agnostic bordering on atheist. It's not really clear what he ultimately believes, but that's the best I can muster from viewing his web site and reading testimonials from his supporters. He's written a book that apparently argues that Jesus didn't exist and he is a member of the Jesus Seminar, which, as I understand, is an organized effort to refute much of Christian "organized religion". I mention this because as you are reading along, absorbing the critiscisms of his subjects, Price suddenly whacks you with an anti-Christian left hook to the head. You feel somewhat betrayed and a little guitly, as you are enjoying Price taking down Chopra and others, when he brings you down as well, not hurt by the shrapnel of his attacks on the others, but by a direct hit. I think it would have been more honest if the author, editor and publisher had put Price's worldview up front, so as to at least be prepared for his treatment of mainstream Christian beliefs. If you are strong in your Christian faith, I don't think that Price's attacks will more than shock you, so that the critical material of the other views that he covers is worth reading.

There's no such thing as a free lunch. Similarly, when it comes to dealing with the problems in life, there are no easy answers. In the cold, cold world, it's not surprising that some people are spiritually hungry, and there are plenty who are willing to feed that hunger. Unfortunately, many of these people offer the equivalent of junk food, briefly tasty and filling but with little long-lasting positive effect. In Top Secret, Robert Price deals with such junk food vendors, starting with the most popular one of the moment, Rhonda Byrne and The Secret. As with many of the works, Price sees a little value in Byrne's book, but overall is very critical of it and its central thesis that we can affect the physical world through positive thought and that if negative things happen, it's the victim's fault: he or she was asking for it, if even subconsciously. Price treats Deepak Chopra as little more than a con artist, James Redfield (The Celestine Prophecy) as a hack writer and Helen Schucman (A Course in Miracles) as an author of boring claptrap. All the works mentioned offer those easy answers, but they accomplish little. In fact, soon enough, most people go on to the next guru when the present one fails to satisfy anymore. In an interesting and lengthy set of appendices, Price deals with cults, first defining them (and contrasting them with churches and sects) and then showing that they are not necessarily as dangerous and evil as people perceive them (although there are notable exceptions). I'm not sure how well this section fits with the rest of the book, but it is interesting and counters the preconceptions many people have about cults. Price is a knowledgeable person and has a substantial background in studying religions. Unfortunately, he is almost too knowledgeable at times, as the information he presents interferes with the flow of the writing in places. He is almost the opposite of a Carl Sagan or Martin Gardner, who may not have Price's expertise in theology, but are more skilled with communicating their ideas. Nonetheless, the message of Top Secret is important, though I doubt that those who most need this message will ever get it.

Millions have or have read THE SECRET, a spiritual survey that captured American attentions. But what is the secret within The Secret? Robert Price blends his knowledge of theology with spiritual wisdom and biblical criticism to analyze Rhonda Byrne's best seller plus other popular spiritual books that have promised American spiritual revitalization. From old traditions to new doctrines and the differences between them, TOP SECRET is a fine pick for both new age and spirituality collections.

I thought the book was very interesting. I thought I would agree with everything Dr. Price would write, but here I found I did not agree with his evaluation of all his points. That is okay. Most of his other books I enjoyed as well.

Most of you have seen popular spiritual books that top the best-seller lists, such as "The Secret," "How to Know God," "The Power of Now," and others. Unfortunately, there really isn't an effective guide that examines these books for the uninformed reader, until now. Biblical scholar Robert M. Price examines today's popular spiritualities critically and sympathetically. Of course, he is more sympathetic to some than to others. The books/spiritualities Price looks at are: * Rhonday Byrne's "The Secret." Oprah devoted several shows to this book. Basically, Byrne's work is an outgrowth of the "New Thought" movement, which asserts that there is an invisible force in the universe which people can manipulate and use to their advantage. Byrne uses a distorted version of quantum physics to back this up. So if you believe you will find a job, right now, then it will happen. Price agrees that the attitude one takes can influence the outcomes in one's life, but he finds the metaphyiscs behind "The Secret" to be just silly. * Eckhart Tolle's "The Power of Now"- Price generally likes Tolle's work, which has its roots in the Zen idea of believing that the conscious self is an illusion. Tolle believes that one should neither have anxiety about the past nor the future, but focus on the present moment. Although Price thinks that Tolle has some eccentric ideas, he generally believes that his work contains great wisdom. * The work of Pema Chödrön- Price discusses the work of this contemporary Buddhist guru, to which he is generally sympathetic. He goes into a lengthy discussion about her variety of Buddhism, and other varieties of it; you'll learn more than you ever wanted to know! * Deepak Chopra's "How to Know God"- Chopra does not come off well in Price's analysis. Chopra's "God" is part of the quantum world, which one can use to do such things as end aging and achieve success. Price takes Chopra to task for what he sees as a "blame the victim" approach- if one can't end aging or achieve success, then that person doesn't have enough faith. * Helen Schucman's "A Course in Miracles"- Price is very hard on this cornerstone of the New-Age movement. He doesn't even think it has much literary value. Price shows the absurdity of claiming that "Course" was divinely dictated to the author, despite the human character being very evident. * Marianne Williamson's "A Return to Love"- Essentially, Williamson explains "A Course in Miracles" better than the original author did. Price says that Williamson is advocating a selfless love which does not allow for any kind of boundaries; if you dislike something someone did, then you must change your own perception of the other person. This, Price says, is unworkable on a large scale. Neale Donald Walsh's "Conversations With God"- This is also a key book in the New-Age movement. Price criticizes Walsh's double-standard of him believing that the bible should not be considered a revealed text, but that his book should. Joel Ost