Tapping the Source is one of those nice books that provides a reasonable, heartfelt approach to the idea of positive thinking. It is based on the teachings of one of the original positive thinking gurus, Charles Haanel, who first outlined the ideas in his Master Key System almost 100 years ago.

Co-written by three authors, the bulk of the book is written by John Selby, who is truly the heart of this work. Using elements of his own spiritual approach, Selby takes you through a complete meditative process based on Haanel's philosophy. He does this, step-by-step, by teaching a group of "Focus Phrases" that you can use to get into a state of interior peace, whereby you can connect to your "Source" for inspiration and manifestation.

This is a great process to learn, especially for those who are struggling with the "no-thought" variations of meditation. The process requires either memorization or recording yourself reciting the Focus Phrases in an audio you can use for your meditative practice.

The other two authors provide their own insights in more introductory portions of the book. One part explains some helpful business principles, which can stand on their own, but these can be safely skipped if you are not an entrepreneur.

What truly set the book apart for me was its measured approach to the Law of Attraction. I am not a fan of the Law of Attraction, primarily because I feel people have made it into a fundamentalist belief system rather than a general principle that can be utilized for better results in life. The Law of Attraction is usually overly simplified and used too much for shallow materialism. Tapping the Source thankfully provides a more thoughtful approach to positive thinking that recognizes that inner peace and a feeling of purpose and connection are ultimately higher goals than just getting a shiny new car.

Because of the open nature of the approach, you can use their Master Key meditation as a spiritual practice or a tool for manifestation. As such, it should appeal to those spiritual seekers who are looking for something "more" than just a material fix.

In addition to the book, Tapping the Source is supposed to have an online community to support the concepts of the book with free audios and other resources. As of this writing, the website does not seem to be completely finished, though a mailing list sign-up is available.

A Tapping the Source movie being released. I'm frankly not too interested in watching it, because I am guessing it will err on the side of being too much hype (ala The Secret DVD), but I'm sure it will appeal to many. Just know, that if you are (like myself) the kind of person who might roll your eyes a bit at hyped up films like The Secret, but you are open to new spiritual practices, you might still enjoy the book.

As for myself, I liked the book a lot and plan to keep it on my bookshelf as a reference, but that will be enough. No films for me! I've been incorporating the Focus Phrase meditation into my spiritual practice, and while I haven't yet had any massive life changes, it's only been a month or so. But so far, so good.