I bought the book "The Secret" and I have some questions.

This sounds a great deal to me like Christian Science, or like the Reagan for Prosperty bunch back in the 80's.
I'm not knocking it; but it sounds a lot like actualization, a la that Stuart Smalley guy on SNL.

What am I missing?

Whatever The Secret is or isn't, it definitely isn't connected to a hierarchy of other people, a la Christian Science. There's no one else who will moderate or define your success, only you.

Stuart Smalley was famous for his affirmations: "I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone it, people like me!" Those are affirmations, and the joke there was that his affirmations sound a lot like those used in 12 step programs and group therapy sessions. Stuart was funny (to me) because he must have started with virtually no self-esteem.

As far as the Reagan for Prosperity bunch, weren't they more like the Pod People in "Invasion of the Body Snatchers"?

What I like about The Secret is that it streamlines a lot of complicated metaphysical concepts into a method that's much easier to use.

And you can customize The Secret to suit yourself. Whenever I have negative thoughts, I visualize a pencil eraser, quickly erasing my negative thought. Then I replace that with a visualization of a beautiful sunrise. That's my way of saying that you really have to experiment with using The Secret, until you find what works best for you. There's no lockstep mentality with it, thank goodness.

Thank you so much for that!

If anyone else has developed any personal techniques for using The Secret, I bet we'd all love to hear about it.

If I start to think something "non positive", I immediately say "I take that out of the law". And since watching Oprah interview her guests about the secret I've started seeing everything I say as an "order" (as in ordering a meal at a restaurant) to the universe. I have had to say never mind, I'd rather have _____________ too many times to mention but at least I'm becoming conscious of all the things I've been ordering that I DON'T want.

Wasn't it the African American woman who said that (ordering in a restaurant)? Brilliant. One thing I noticed about her, though, was how much she cried when she discussed finding solace in "the arms of men". She cried like a baby on the taped portion and cried still more about it later. Beieve me, I understand that she meant she way overdid the "comfort" thing, but at least she reached out to another person for comfort, in whatever way. The huge volume of tears surprised me, because it seemed she had not released that or forgiven herself completely. And I mean this in the nicest possible way: the arms of men can be very comforting, indeed, in every context. Maybe that's just me putting that spin on her tears; I don't know.

But I do believe it is a good thing in this context; that she has not completley released that. That probably made her a lot more relatable to people watching and in the audience. It could also be the realization of the positive soul aspect of what she did-that she was trying to share love even in the most self-defeating of ways. Hope that makes a bit of sense.
Besides; we are all on the journey. I am glad she is able to be so honest about where she is on that path.

And that's probably helping her heal herself, by being so open and honest. She literally undressed her soul and stood naked before the world. That takes courage!