Some of this is just Snake Oil.
Our country has become very materialist, but even so, it is still a country where the rich get richer and the poor poorer. Why? Because the poor don’t know how to tune in with the Universe; therefore, it is their fault that they are poor. Actually, the rich just know how to suck the poor dry; either way, it is the poor person’s fault.
These books have been around for a while. In 1937, Think and Grow Rich was popular. I checked it out the library when I was a kid, and in later life I found it and bought it. Not that I will read it again, but when I find a book that I read as a child, I usually buy it. It is still in print and selling copies. It lists people who used its methods and grew rich. Of course, those who used its methods got rich by taking from the poor. Equality will never bring wealth. Give your employees a decent wage, and you may not make it, but at least you will not be ripping off people.
Then there was the book, The Law of Attraction. You had to give your money away for it to multiply. It had other methods as well, but giving your money away was the best way. I know because I read the book, and I used to go to the Science of Mind Church that promotes It. They actually sold books like this in their church book store.
We have other prosperity churches now where the ministers are rich from donations that they use to build these mega-churches. Some of their members prosper enough to make other members believe and give. Other members just think it is their problem, and this could create low self-esteem. As for me, I would rather these churches were turned into homeless shelters. Then Marilyn and the others can go to them and preach their prosperity message for free. See how long that lasts or even works. At least you can then say that these property people were doing Christ's work of selling everything and giving to the poor.
Speaking of which, the Jehovah’s Witnesses had another twist on it. Most of the members never had great jobs, but after Armageddon they were going to be able to live in those rich homes whose owners had been killed by Jehovah. In their own way, they were also materialistic.
Then you have SGI Buddhism, a sect that chants for a new job, a home, etc. If you don’t get these things, then you are not chanting correctly. I was never sure how you chanted correctly, because all you had to do was think of what you wanted and then chant, Nam Myoho Renge Kyo, over and over and over again. Actually that is cheaper than buying a book like this and taking lessons, unless you donated ten percent of your money to them. Maybe it will work for you. When I was in that sect, it was noted by the head honcho that those in other countries chanted for peace, not for material wealth. Still, their countries had no peace. Just like many Christians here who pray for peace, peace that never comes, but at least they are praying for something that is good for others; they are not selfish.
I learned that there were limits on everything: affirmations, psychic readings, being in a guru/disciple relationship, and even making money without being greedy.
This book is based on writing down affirmations. Now I know that affirmations can work for some things, like helping a person get out a depressive state, giving them more confidence to maybe look for a job, but they will not bring money to you out of the blue. What affirmations do is work on your subconscious mind to change how you feel about yourself. You are not getting in touch with the Universe or God as the author of this book says, but she is right in saying that you get in touch with your subconscious mind. They work like hypnosis, which I had learned and used to practice many years ago. Get into any kind of altered state and use these affirmations to change your thoughts, and they work. Write them down or say them silently like a mantra all day, and they will work—for some things. Writing down affirmations or saying them out loud will still work on your subconscious mind. But one method is no more powerful than the other as this author claims.
Swami Yogananda, a guru from India came to America in 1920 and used affirmations. He claimed that he had spiritualized his, so that they would work. You can buy his book online or at the Self Realization Fellowship book store, if you believe that they need to be spiritualized. I knew when I read his book on affirmations that you didn’t have to use his. I had used my own back in the 80s; I just made them up. They worked for changing how I felt about myself; they got rid of my reactive depression that I had been in for years, but they can't cure all types of depression. Even psychiatrist Dr. David Burns knew about this kind of positive thinking years ago and wrote a book called, Feeling Good: The New Mood Therapy.
But Yogananda taught one other thing that this book teaches, and that is to never think negative thoughts. This has worked for ages with some gurus who tell you to only have positive thoughts, because then you cannot have negative thoughts about the guru, and you can’t voice them to others in your group. And as the author of tis book says, If we talk poorly about others, it will affect us negatively. Ah, control freaks, who would like to control our minds, making us think that we are the ones controlling our thoughts. Sooner or later, you cannot protect yourself from those who think negatively about you. Disgruntled disciples will always begin to talk about the things that they have seen and heard. If an author proves to be a fake, students will talk. And when they talk they are threatened with lawsuits. People and organizations have to always protect their wealth. That is when the belief that you should not speak negatively goes out the window and into the courts. There is an article on this on the internet titled: Empty Prosperity Promises: Are Lawsuits an Option? By Brian Karjala
You have to ask yourself why did these prosperity churches come into existence. Maybe it is because people can’t make a decent living because they can’t make a decent wage to even get by on, and so they go out and buy books like this and take lessons that then say that the other books on this subject don’t work because they didn’t teach it correctly. At least that is what one reviewer who takes her classes claims she says. Of course, you need to have some money in order to buy these books in the first place. If you don’t you are out of luck, and it is still your fault.
What we need instead is for people to vote in order to put people in office that will lift them out of their poverty, but of course that will never happen, because most people only care about making themselves rich, not lifting others out of poverty.
We really needed Bernie Sanders; instead people voted for a president who promised them jobs. No one listened when he said that wages were too high, and he wanted to lower them. Because he was rich, he was going to make others rich. No one thought to realize how he became rich, just as they don’t think about how these ministers or business people get rich.
Note on Testimonial reviews of this book:
"Testimonials are easy to generate and have been produced for all sorts of claims. However, testimonials should never be confused with scientific evidence — or portrayed in a way suggesting they are equivalent. Testimonials may provide ideas that warrant further investigation, but that’s it." ``Jamie Hale, M.S.