The Master Key System: Practicing the Law of Attraction in Daily Life by Charles F. Haanel - HTML preview

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PART TWENTY-THREE

221. What is the first law of success?

Service.

222. How may we be of the most service?

By having an open mind. By being interested in the race rather than the goal, in the pursuit rather than possession.

223. What is the result of a selfish thought?

It contains the germs of dissolution.

224. How will our greatest success be achieved?

By a recognition of the fact that it is just as essential to give as to receive.

225. Why do great organizers meet with great success?

Because they do their own thinking.

226. Why do the great majority in every country remain the docile and apparently willing tools of the few?

Because they let the few do all their thinking for them.

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227. What is the effect of concentrating upon sorrow and loss?

More sorrow and more loss.

228. What is the effect of concentrating upon gain?

More gain.

229. Is this principle used in the business world?

It is the only principle which is ever used, or ever could be used; there is no other principle. The fact that it may be used unconsciously does not alter or change the situation.

230. What is the practical result of this principle?

Success which is an effect, not a cause. If we wish to secure any effect we must ascertain the cause, or idea or thought by which the effect is created.

We have discovered that premeditated, orderly thinking for a purpose matures that purpose into fixed form, so that we may be absolutely sure of the result of our dynamic experiment.—Francis Larimer Warner.

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Part 24

TELLS the entire theory and practice of every system of Metaphysics; it tells how to express harmony, how to express health, how to express abundance. It explains the nature of all conditions, and how they may be changed or removed. It explains how every difficulty, no matter what it is or where it is, can be removed or dissolved, and it explains the only way in which this is ever done or can be done. It also tells of a Master Key by which those who are wise enough to understand, broad enough to weigh the evidence, firm enough to follow their own judgment, and strong enough to make the sacrifice exacted, may enter and partake.

INTRODUCTION. PART TWENTY-FOUR.

This is the final Part.

If you have practiced each of the exercises a few minutes every day, as suggested, you will have found that you can get out of life exactly what you wish by first putting into life that which you wish, and you will probably agree with the adept who said: "The Master Key thought is almost overwhelming; it is so vast, so available, so definite, so reasonable and so usable."

The fruit of this knowledge is, as it were, a gift of the Gods; it is the "Truth"

that makes men free, not only free from every lack and limitation, but free from sorrow, worry and care. Is it not wonderful to realize that omnipotent law is no respecter of persons; that it makes no difference what your past habit of thought may have been, the way has been prepared.

If you are inclined to be religious, the greatest religious teacher the world has ever known made the way so plain that all may follow. If your mental bias is toward physical science, the law will operate with mathematical certainty. If you are inclined to be philosophical, Plato or Emerson may be your teacher; but, in each case, you may, by The Master Key, reach degrees of power to which it is impossible to assign any limit.

An understanding of The Master Key, I believe, is the secret for which the ancient Alchemists vainly sought, because it explains how gold in the mind may be transmuted into gold in the heart and in the hand.

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PART TWENTY-FOUR

1. When the scientists first put the Sun in the center of the Solar System and sent the earth spinning around it, there was immense surprise and consternation. The whole idea was self-evidently false; nothing was more certain than the movement of the Sun across the sky, and any one could see it descend behind the western hills and sink into the sea; scholars raged and scientists rejected the idea as absurd, yet the evidence has finally carried conviction in the minds of all.

2. We speak of a bell as a "sounding body," yet we know that all the bell can do is to produce vibrations in the air. When these vibrations come at the rate of sixteen a second they cause a sound to be heard in the mind. It is possible for the mind to hear vibrations at the rate of 38,000 a second. When the number increases beyond this all is silent again; so that we know that the sound is not in the bell, it is in our own mind.

3. We speak and even think of the Sun as "giving light." Yet we know it is simply giving forth energy which produces vibrations in the ether at the rate of four hundred trillion a second, causing what are termed light waves, so that we know that what we call light is simply a form of energy and that the only light there is, is the sensation caused in the mind by the motion of the waves.

When the number increases, the light changes in color, each change in color being caused by shorter and more rapid vibrations; so that although we speak of the rose as being red, the grass as being green, or the sky as being blue, we know that the colors exist only in our minds, and are the sensations experienced by us as the result of the vibrations of light waves. When the vibrations are reduced below four hundred trillion a second, they no longer affect us as light, but we experience the sensation of heat. It is evident, therefore, that we cannot depend upon the evidence of the senses for our information concerning the realities of things; if we did we should believe that the sun moved, that the world was flat instead of round, that the stars were bits of light instead of vast suns.

4. The whole range then of the theory and practice of any system of metaphysics consists in knowing the Truth concerning yourself and the world in which you live; in knowing that in order to express harmony, you must think harmony; in order to express health you must think health; and in order to express abundance you must think abundance; to do this you must reverse the evidence of the senses.

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5. When you come to know that every form of disease, sickness, lack and limitation are simply the result of wrong thinking, you will have come to know

"the Truth which shall make you free." You will see how mountains may be removed. If these mountains consist only of doubt, fear, distrust or other forms of discouragement, they are nonetheless real, and they need not only to be removed but to be "cast into the sea."

6. Your real work consists in convincing yourself of the truth of these statements. When you have succeeded in doing this you will have no difficulty in thinking the truth, and as has been shown, the truth contains a vital principle and will manifest itself.

7. Those who heal diseases by mental methods have come to know this truth; they demonstrate it in their lives and the lives of others daily. They know that life, health and abundance are Omnipresent, filling all space, and they know that those who allow disease or lack of any kind to manifest, have as yet not come into an understanding of this great law.

8. As all conditions are thought creations and therefore entirely mental, disease and lack are simply mental conditions in which the person fails to perceive the truth; as soon as the error is removed, the condition is removed.

9. The method for removing this error is to go into the Silence and know the Truth; as all mind is one mind, you can do this for yourself or anyone else. If you have learned to form mental images of the conditions desired, this will be the easiest and quickest way to secure results; if not, results can be accomplished by argument, by the process of convincing yourself absolutely of the truth of your statement.

10. Remember, and this is one of the most difficult as well as most wonderful statements to grasp. Remember that no matter what the difficulty is, no matter where it is, no matter who is affected, you have no patient but yourself; you have nothing to do but to convince yourself of the truth which you desire to see manifested.

11. This is an exact scientific statement in accordance with every system of Metaphysics in existence, and no permanent results are ever secured in any other way.

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12. Every form of concentration, forming Mental Images, Argument, and Auto-Suggestion are all simply methods by which you are enabled to realize the Truth.

13. If you desire to help someone, to destroy some form of lack, limitation or error, the correct method is not to think of the person whom you wish to help; the intention to help them is entirely sufficient, as this puts you in mental touch with the person. Then drive out of your own mind any belief of lack, limitation, disease, danger, difficulty, or whatever the trouble might be.

As soon as you have succeeded in doing this the result will have been accomplished, and the person will be free.

14. But remember that thought is creative and consequently every time you allow your thought to rest on any inharmonious condition, you must realize that such conditions are apparent only, they have no reality; that spirit is the only reality and it can never be less than perfect.

15. All thought is a form of energy, a rate of vibration, but a thought of the Truth is the highest rate of vibration known and consequently destroys every form of error in exactly the same way that light destroys darkness; no form of error can exist when the "Truth" appears, so that your entire mental work consists in coming into an understanding of the Truth. This will enable you to overcome every form of lack, limitation or disease of any kind.

16. We can get no understanding of the truth from the world without; the world without is relative only; Truth is absolute. We must therefore find it in the "world within."

17. To train the mind to see Truth only is to express true conditions only. Our ability to do this will be an indication of the progress we are making.

18. The absolute truth is that the "I" is perfect and complete; the real "I" is spiritual and can therefore never be less than perfect; it can never have any lack, limitation, or disease. The flash of genius does not have origin in the molecular motion of the brain; it is inspired by the ego, the spiritual "I" which is one with the Universal Mind, and it is our ability to recognize this Unity which is the cause of all inspiration, all genius. These results are far-reaching and have effect upon generations yet to come; they are the pillars of fire which mark the path that millions follow.

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19. Truth is not the result of logical training or of experimentation, or even of observation; it is the product of a developed consciousness; Truth within a Caesar, manifests in a Caesar's deportment, in his life and his action; his influence upon social forms and progress. Your life and your actions and your influence in the world will depend upon the degree of truth which you are enabled to perceive, for truth will not manifest in creeds, but in conduct.

20. Truth manifests in character, and the character of a man should be the interpretation of his religion, or what to him is truth, and this will in turn be evidenced in the character of his possessions. If a man complains of the drift of his fortune he is just as unjust to himself as if he should deny rational truth, though it stands patent and irrefutable.

21. Our environment and the innumerable circumstances and accidents of our lives already exist in the subconscious personality which attracts to itself the mental and physical material which is congenial to its nature. Thus is our future being determined from our present, and if there should be apparent injustice in any feature or phase of our personal life, we must look within for the cause, try to discover the mental fact which is responsible for the outward manifestation.

22. It is this truth which makes you "free," and it is the conscious knowledge of this truth which will enable you to overcome every difficulty.

23. The conditions with which you meet in the world without are invariably the result of the conditions obtained in the world within; therefore it follows with scientific accuracy that by holding the perfect ideal in mind you can bring about ideal conditions in your environment.

24. If you see only the incomplete, the imperfect, the relative, the limited, these conditions will manifest in your life; but if you train your mind to see and realize the spiritual ego, the "I" which is for ever perfect and complete, harmonious; wholesome and healthful conditions only will be manifested.

25. As thought is creative, and the truth is the highest and most perfect thought which anyone can think, it is self-evident that to think the truth is to create that which is true and it is again evident that when truth comes into being that which is false must cease to be.

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26. The Universal Mind is the totality of all minds which are in existence.

Spirit is Mind, because spirit is intelligent. The words are, therefore, synonymous.

27. The difficulty with which you have to contend is to realize that the mind is not individual. It is omnipresent. It exists everywhere. In other words, there is no place where it is not. It is, therefore, Universal.

28. Men have, heretofore, generally used the word "God" to indicate this Universal, creative principle; but the word "God" does not convey the right meaning. Most people understand this word to mean something outside of themselves; while exactly the contrary is the fact. It is our very life. Without it we would be dead. We would cease to exist. The minute the spirit leaves the body, we are nothing. Therefore, spirit is really all there is of us.

29. Now the only activity which the spirit possesses is the power to think.

Therefore, thought must be creative, because spirit is creative. This creative power is impersonal and your ability to think is your ability to control it and make use of it for the benefit of yourself and others .

30. When the truth of this statement is realized, understood, and appreciated, you will have come into possession of the Master Key, but remember that only those who are wise enough to understand, broad enough to weigh the evidence, firm enough to follow their own judgment, and strong enough to make the sacrifice exacted, may enter and partake.

31. Now, try to realize that this is truly a wonderful world in which we live, that you are a wonderful being, that many are awakening to a knowledge of the Truth, and as fast as they awake and come into a knowledge of the "things which have been prepared for them" they, too, realize that for them previously "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man," the splendor which exists for those who find themselves in the Promised Land. They have crossed the river of judgment and have arrived at the point of discrimination between the true and the false, and have found that all they ever willed or dreamed, was but a faint concept of the dazzling reality.

Though an inheritance of acres may be bequeathed, an inheritance of knowledge and wisdom cannot. The wealthy man may pay others for doing his work for him, but it is impossible to get his thinking done for him by another, or to purchase any kind of self-culture.—S. Smiles.

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PART TWENTY-FOUR

231. Upon what principle does the theory and practice of every system of Metaphysics in existence depend?

Upon a knowledge of the "Truth" concerning yourself and the world in which you live.

232. What is the "Truth" concerning yourself?

The real "I" or ego is spiritual and can therefore never be less than perfect.

233. What is the method of destroying any form of error?

To absolutely convince yourself of the "Truth" concerning the condition which you wish to see manifested.

234. Can we do this for others?

The Universal Mind in which "we live and move and have our being" is one and indivisible; it is therefore just as possible to help others as to help ourselves.

235. What is the Universal Mind?

The totality of all mind in existence.

236. Where is the Universal Mind?

The Universal Mind is omnipresent, it exists everywhere. There is no place where it is not. It is therefore within us. It is "The World within." It is our spirit, our life.

237. What is the nature of the Universal Mind?

It is spiritual and consequently creative. It seeks to express itself in form.

238. How may we act on the Universal Mind?

Our ability to think is our ability to act on the Universal Mind and bring it into manifestation for the benefit of ourselves or others.

239. What is meant by thinking?

Clear, decisive, calm, deliberate, sustained thought with a definite end in view.

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240. What will be the result?

You will also be able to say, "It is not I that doeth the works, but the 'Father'

that dwelleth within me, He doeth the works." You will come to know that the "Father" is the Universal Mind and that He does really and truly dwell within you, in other words, you will come to know that the wonderful promises made in the Bible are fact, not fiction, and can be demonstrated by anyone having sufficient understanding.

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GLOSSARY

ABSOLUTE—That which cannot be measured, determined, limited, expressed; the fundamentally and self-existently real from which all other reality springs.

ACCRETION—Growth or accumulation by external additions.

ALTRUISM—The instinct and emotion which prompts effort on behalf of others.

ANALYTICAL—Proceeding by analysis; the separating of anything into first principles.

ANTHROPOMORPHIC—The ascription of human attributes, feelings and conduct to the Deity; the natural result of the limitation of human thought and language.

APPERCEPTION—The mental process which associates and brings to attention all the ideas and memories associated with the central thought to which the attention is directly given.

ARCANA—An inner secret or mystery; something hidden from the mass of men; one of the great secrets which the alchemists sought to discover.

ATTENTION—The act or process of giving especial clearness to one or more particulars in the complex content of consciousness. Thus the difference between an ordinary mind and the mind of a Newton consists principally in this, that the one is capable of a more continuous attention than the other.

BELIEF—Confidence in the truth of a proposition which is felt to lack positive proof; acceptance without proof; that which is believed; a creed.

CELL—The smallest element of an organized body that manifests independent vital activities. The tissues of the human body are an aggregate of cells and their products; they are from 1/125 to 1/5000 of an inch in diameter.

CONCENTRATE—To draw or direct to or toward a common center.

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CONCEPTION—The act of grasping two or more attributes into the unity of thought which we call a concept.

CONSCIOUSNESS—All forms of sensation, feeling, perception, planning and thought; a comprehensive term for the complement of all our cognitive energies.

COSMIC—Pertaining to the universe as a harmonious and orderly system as opposed to chaotic.

COSMOLOGICAL—Relating to the nature and laws of the cosmos as an instituted and alterable order of things, as a cosmological argument.

DEDUCTION—Reasoning from the general to the particular; deduction proceeds from a general principle, through an admitted instance to a conclusion.

DIFFERENTIATION—The process of making or becoming different, as the hypothesis that the characteristic cell growth and divergent particularization of all organisms are due to environment and local conditions as opposed to inherited differentiation by which the characteristics are inherent in the composition of the embryo.

EGO—The "I" which thinks, feels and acts; the conscious individual or the thinking self as distinguished from all objects of thought and from its own states or powers; the pure principle of personal identity.

ELECTRICITY—A material agency which, when in motion, exhibits magnetic, chemical and thermal effects.

ELOHIM—The Hebrew title of most frequent occurrence in the Old Testament, expressing absolute Divine power.

EVOLUTION—The unity of action exhibited in the operations of nature; the act or process of evolving; the succession of changes by which a germ passes from a simple to a complex condition. "With each succeeding Kingdom, evolution has changed its direction upward from the physical to the psychical."—Funk.

ELECTRON—One of the smallest known components of matter; always associated with an unvarying unit charge of negative electricity.

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FAITH—Active belief; belief which amounts to a basis for action upon the accepted premises.

GERMINATE—The first act of growth, in a seed, spore or ovum.

GLOSSARY—An explanatory vocabulary dealing with a class of words, as of those of a dialect or a science.

GOD—The embodiment or some aspect of reality or of some being regarded as the ultimate principle of the universe.

GRAVITATION—The tendency of every particle of matter in the universe toward every other particle; also the law which expresses this force which is; the accelerating tendency of bodies toward the center of the earth is equal to the earth's attraction minus the centrifugal force arising from the rotation of the earth on its axis.

HARMONY—Completeness and perfection resulting from diversity in unity; agreement in relation; orderliness.

IDEA—A thought which is conceived to be in a measure independent of the thinker, and, in a sense, self existent, "Thought" is used to name the presentation which is the direct product of the active mind and which would not and could not exist apart from the acting mind, while "idea" is used to name the presentation of the mind which is no longer considered as acting; a presentation which might even exist apart from, and independently of, a mind or its activities. A thought is felt to be peculiar to the one thinking it, while the idea is felt to be, in a measure, self-determined or due to the nature of that with which it is associated so that all minds would foam it the same; the term still feels the influence of Plato's conception of the ideas as the forms of fundamental reality.

IDEALIZE—To render ideal, to conform to some mental standard of perfection.

INHIBIT—To restrict by prohibition; to check; to suppress.

IMAGINATION—The act or power of combining products of past experiences in new, modified or ideal forms. The creative or constructive power of the mind. The act of constructive intellect in grouping knowledge or thought into new, original or rational systems. "Science, Invention and Philosophy have little use for fancy, but the creative, penetrative power of 218

imagination is to them the breath of life, and the condition of all advance and success."

IMMUTABLE—Not capable of change, either by increase or decrease, by development or self evolution; unchangeable; invariable and permanent.

INDUCTION—The scientific method that proceeds by 1, exact operation; 2, correct interpretation; 3, rational explanation; 4, scientific construction.

Reasoning from the particular to the general; induction proceeds from a number of collated instances, through some attribute common to them all, to a general principle.

INDIVIDUAL—A complete independent single being; incapable of division without loss of identity.

INEXORABLE—Not to be moved by entreaty; unyielding; unrelenting; implacable; inflexible.

INFINITE—Self-existent and all-inclusive reality; unmeasured, undetermined, unlimited; independent of expression, yet including all expressions, or actualized things; the absolute.

INSIGHT—A perception of the inner nature of a thing.

INSPIRATION—The inbreathing or imparting of an idea, emotion or mental or spiritual influence; the elevating and creative influence of genius.

INTANGIBLE—Incapable of being touched; not perceptible to the senses, having no clear foundation in fact.

INTUITION—A conclusion which was arrived at without the conscious use of reason and not directly traceable to ordinary understandings of sensory experiences; the faculty of (unconscious). mind by which we arrive at intuitions, or know things without being taught; direct, or immediate knowledge of physical or moral values.

KEY—Anything which discloses or opens something to the understanding, as a key to a subject or problem; that which opens the way to other projects or renders further progress possible.

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KINETIC—Producing motion; active as opposed to latent; the kinetic theory has been found capable of explaining nearly all the phenomena of gasses and is now generally accepted.

LEAVEN—Anything that by exerting a secret or silent influence gradually brings about a change in character or conditions.

LOGIC—The science or doctrine of correct thinking; the principles governing the reasoning faculties in the pursuit and exposition of truth.

LOVE—The outgoing or yearning of the soul for what is good or excellent.

MASTER—One who controls or has authority; a superior, a ruler or governor; one who gains the victory as "I am the master of my fate."

MASTER KEY—A key which controls a number of locks, the separate keys of which are not interchangeable.

MATTER—That fours of being or substance that is characterized by extension, inertia, weight, etc.; or, in general, by the properties cognized by the senses.

MECHANISM—The structure or means of action of any mechanical contrivance. "A human organism with all its parts in harmonious action is a splendid mechanism."—Winchell.

METAPHYSICS—The science of the first principles of being and of knowledge; the reasoned doctrine of the essential nature and fundamental relations of all that is real.

MIND—An abstract, collective form for all forms of conscious intelligence.

NATURAL LAW—That which is normal or in accordance with the ordinary course of things; as opposed to the supernatural.

NEGATIVE—Absence or obscurity of anything affirmative or definite; emptiness; voidness; nullity. Thus, "You can never overthrow falsehood by negative, but by establishing the antagonistic truth."—Robertson.

OBJECTIVE—Having the nature of an object or being that is thought of or perceived; as opposed to that which thinks or perceives.

OMNISCIENCE—Knowledge of all things; infinite or unlimited knowledge.

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OMNIPOTENT—Possessing unlimited or universal power, applicable to the Deity alone.

OMNIPRESENCE—Essentially present everywhere at the same time.

PERCEPTION—Any insight or intuitive judgment that implies unusual discernment of fact or truth.

PERSONAL—Pertaining to, or characteristic of a human being.

PHILOSOPHY—Knowledge, in a scientific system, of the ultimate principles, elements, cause and laws that underlie and explain all knowledge and existence, and their application in the explanation of these.

PHYSICS—That science or group of sciences which treats the phenomena associated with matter in general, especially in its relation to energy and the laws governing these phenomena.

PHYSIOLOGY—The branch of biology which treats the vital phenomena manifested by animals and plants.

PLASTIC—Capable of being molded into form; as the plastic mind of Truth; or the inner mind of man as having a plastic power over his material body.

POLARITY—That quality of a body by which its smallest parts have certain properties related to a line of direction through its mass, the properties at one end of the line being opposite to the properties at the other end of it, as in a magnet.

POSITIVE—Inherent in a thing, by and of itself; not related to other things, or to human judgment or feeling; absolute; inherent; not admitting of doubt; final; undeniable and incontestable.

POTENTIAL—Possible, but not actual; possessing inherent qualities for development; inherent power, capability, efficiency, as opposed to actuality.

PRANA—The breath of life.

PRECEDENT—Something antecedent in matter, manner or form; which may be cited as an example, model, authority or justification.

PREDOMINANT—Superior in power, influence, effectiveness; having ascendency or control.

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PREMISE—A proposition laid down, proved, supposed or assumed that serves as a ground for an argument or conclusion.

PRINCIPLE—The ultimate essential element that enters into the composition of all being. The moving cause, power or force by which being manifests. The Universal truth expressing the law of this manifestation; that which determines the nature, character and essence of anything.

PROPHYLACTIC—Any measure efficacious in protecting from disease.

PSYCHICAL—Pertaining to the mind or soul; mental as distinguished from the physical of physiological.

PSYCHOLOGY—The science which treats the mind, its functions, condition of activity and development, its essential nature and place in nature at large.

RADIANT—Emitting rays of light or brightness; figuratively, beaming with joy, kindness and love.

RADICAL—Proceeding from the root, source or foundation. Hence, thorough-going, extreme, fundamental.

REALITY—That which is believed to exist independently of thoughts or opinions; the independently existent; the genuine; opposed to the imaginary or fanciful. That appears reality which receives a major share of the attention.

REASON—(1) The faculty of mind by which experiences are compared and inference drawn; (2) The process of arriving at conclusions by means of comparisons; (3) A proposition from which another is validly inferred.

RELAX—To make less vigorous or stringent; abate in strictness or severity; mitigate; to relieve from strain or effort; abate in attention or assiduity, as to relax the mind.

SAGACITY—The power of ready, far-reaching and accurate inference from slight facts; or readiness to see the result of any action; especially upon human actions or conduct.

SAMENESS—The least degree of diversity.

SCIENCE—Knowledge gained and verified by exact observations and correct thinking, methodically formulated and arranged in a rational system.

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SERVICE—The act of helping another or promoting his interests in any way.

SOLAR PLEXUS—The largest sympathetic plexus in the body found behind the stomach in front of the aorta and the crura of the diaphragm. It is composed of branches of the pneumogastric and great splanchnic nerves; the most important ganglia connected with its cords are the right and left semilunar. A number of smaller plexus are derived from it.

SPIRIT—The Invisible and incorporeal principle in man; the principle of self-consciousness, self-activity and of rational power in general; that which signifies a likeness in man to the Divine Being.

SUB-CONSCIOUS—That which pertains to the real nature or essence of a person or thing; proceeding from or taking place within the subject, as opposed to the objective. Thus sensation is subconscious, while perception is an objective experience.

SUBJECTIVE—Such processes that seem to have psychical characteristics, but are not attended by consciousness.

SYLLABUS—A concise statement of a subject; an epitome, abstract statement or summary.

SYLLOGISM—A logical formula or analysis of a formal argument, consisting of three propositions, the first two of which are called the premises and the third the conclusion.

SYSTEM—The orderly combination or arrangement into a whole; especially such combinations according to some rational principle or organic idea giving it unity and completeness.

TELEPATHY—(Greek, tele, at a distance, pathos, to experience.) The communication of thoughts between minds without any material medium, ordinary expression or the use of the senses.

THEOLOGY—The science that treats the being of God, the attributes of God, the doctrine of the Trinity and creation and providence.

THERAPEUTIC—The art and science of curing disease.

TRANSCENDENTAL—Rising above the ordinary notions of men; transcending all ordinary specified bounds or powers; surpassing the limits of 223

individual experiences, but forming the universal and necessary conditions of experiences in general.

TRUTH—A statement or belief which represents or conforms to reality; a law or principle established by correct reasoning.

UNIVERSAL—Relating to the entire universe; all-embracing; unlimited; regarded or existing as a whole; entire.

UNIVERSAL MIND—The life principle of every atom in existence.

VIBRATION—A rapid motion back and forth; a vibration is completely determined by its amplitude, frequency and period; thus the lowest vibrations appreciated in a musical note are sixteen per second and those which produce the highest tone 41,000 per second.

VISUALIZE—To give pictorial vividness to a mental representation; to construct a visual image in the mind.

VOLATILE—Not lasting or permanent; fleeting; transient; changeable; evaporating.

WILL—The mental power to choose; the power to mold the expressions of the mind; the realization of desires; volition.

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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1. In referring to the subconscious and conscious minds, or the objective and subjective, which is the technically correct expression, "We have two minds which, although related, are distinct," or, "We have one mind with two distinct functions?"

The correct expression is, "We have one mind with two distinct functions."

There are not two minds.

2. Are the Devil in religion, the Negative in Science, and the Bad in Philosophy merely imaginary manifestations of thought energy, or shall we class them as wrong yet real manifestations? If all that we have and are, all of our powers come from one eternal source, to what must we attribute these imaginary entities?

These are not imaginary entities. They are simply perversions. If you use electricity for light, you call it good. If you grasp a wire which has not been properly insulated and it kills you, it is not for that reason bad or evil. You were simply careless or ignorant of the laws governing electricity. For the same reason, the one Infinite Power, which is the source of all Power, manifests in your life either as good or as evil, as you make use of it constructively or destructively.

3. Is not the Master Key Idea of "God" Pantheistic?

This depends entirely upon your idea of Pantheism. Pantheism is a loose term and may be interpreted in various ways, for instance, Pantheism conceives the Universe to be one eternal, involuntary evolution of an Infinite Being, as contrasted with Atheism, which is a positive denial of the Divine Immanence, and Agnosticism, which is a dogmatic doubt of the existence of God.

4. Is this right? Truth is absolute, but conception of truth varies with the individual consciousness. Therefore, no one can say when the ultimate truth has been reached, because no one can say when the individual consciousness has been developed to the point where further development is impossible.

Yes, truth is absolute, but the conception of truth varies with the individual consciousness. On the other hand, truth is not a matter of belief. It is a matter of demonstration. It is not a question of authority, but a question of perception.

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5. Since the real "I" is spiritual and there-tore perfect, and since it "controls and directs both the body and mind," how is it that we see such imperfect results?

We see no imperfect results. We see nothing but perfection. Perfection means that the Law operates with immutable precision. Spiritual law always operates perfectly. If the individual thinks constructively, results are constructive, harmonious. If he thinks destructively, he reaps exactly what he sows. The Law works perfectly. We see no imperfect results whatsoever. We may freely choose what we think, but the result of our thought is governed by an immutable law.

6. "What is Life?"

Life is that quality or principle of the Universal Energy which manifests in so-called organic objects as growth and voluntary activity, and which is usually co-existent in some degree, with some manifestation of that same Universal Energy as the quality or principle termed intelligence. You must understand that there is only one Supreme Principle, evading all comprehension of its essential nature. It is the Absolute. Man can think only in terms of the relative.

Therefore, he sometimes defines It as the Universal Intelligence, the Universal Substance, as Ether, Life, Mind, Spirit, Energy, Truth, Love, etc. His particular definition at any moment is governed by the particular relationship of the phenomena of Being in which he thinks of this Principle at that moment.

7. How is the law governing success or prosperity placed in operation?

The human brain is the finest and most vibrant mechanism in existence.

Every time you think you send a message into the formless energy from which and by which all things are created. This starts a train of causation which relates with the things that correspond with the image of your thought. If your thought is sufficiently refined and concentrated you will be placed in harmony with the object of your thought quickly; if not, more time will be required.

Most persons are busily engaged in concentrating upon lack, limitation, loss and disharmony of every kind, and they are therefore attracting these conditions, a few are busily engaged in concentrating upon success, prosperity and harmonious conditions generally, and find that their environment reflects the quality of their thought.

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8. How is prayer answered?

The Universal Mind, the Omnipotent Power, the Supreme Being, does not change the modus operandi of the Universe, in order to comply with our requests, nor does it make exception, but it does act through well-known laws, and these laws can be placed into operation, consciously or unconsciously, by accident or design. It is the operation of this marvelous law of attraction which has caused men in all ages and in all times to believe that there must be a personal Being who responded to their petitions and manipulated events in order to meet their demands.

9. You correctly state that "Possession depends on use." How can this fact be best explained to show that this is the only way in which to acquire a "reservoir of power, possession, etc.,"

to draw on in time of emergency, etc.?

By illustration: A man desires to strengthen his arm. He wishes it to become powerful. He does not conserve what strength he has in the arm by binding it to his side. If he did this, he would soon lose what strength he already had.

On the contrary, he begins to use it, he begins to exercise it, and he finds that the more he uses it, the more strength is secured. The more he gives of his strength, the more he gets. The same rule applies in regard to mental and spiritual strength.

10. "Unless we are willing to think we shall have to work, and the less we think the more we shall work, and the less we shall get for our work." Is it possible to conceive of a world in which there are no "hewers of wood"?

Thought has taken much drudgery out of work, but much so-called "scientific management" and "efficiency and engineering systems" look upon millions of human beings as mere machines capable of making so many motions less or more per hour.

To labor is to serve and all service is honorable. But a "hewer of wood"

contemplates blind service instead of intelligent service. Labor is the creative instinct in manifestation. Owing to the changes which have taken place in the industrial world, the creative instinct no longer finds expression. A man cannot build his own house, he cannot even make his own garden, he can by no means direct his own labor; he is, therefore, deprived of the greatest joy which can come to man, the joy of achieving, of creating, of accomplishing, and so this great power is perverted and turned into destructive channels. He can construct nothing for himself, so he begins to destroy the works of his 227

more fortunate fellows. Labor is, however, finding that the Universe is not a chaos but a cosmos, that it is governed by immutable laws, that every condition is the result of a cause and that the same cause invariably produces the same effect. It is finding that these causes are mental, that thought predetermines action. It is finding that constructive thought brings about constructive conditions, and destructive thought brings about destructive conditions.

11. You say that "Life is an unfoldment, not accretion; what comes to us in the world without is what we already possess in the world within." Do you not take into consideration knowledge a person acquires from books, experiences, etc.?

You can derive absolutely no benefit from books, experiences, environment or anything else until you have created brain cells capable of receiving the thought. Your world within is an exact correspondence of your world without. Suppose for the moment that you are unfamiliar with the Hebrew language. A book might be given to you with the most beautiful thoughts written in the most wonderful language, but it would mean nothing to you until you had made yourself acquainted with the Hebrew language, and so with everything else. No thought, no idea, no experience has any value for us until we are capable of receiving it. For this reason the same thought would make absolutely no impression upon one man, while it would be received with amazement and delight by another. The first man has formed no brain cells capable of receiving it. The second man is ready for it. He understands the beauties contained in the idea.

12. Is it correct to say that true religion and true science are "twins" and that the death of one means the death of the other? Why?

True science and true religion are certainly twins. There can be no death for either, because what is true cannot die. "The essential characteristic of truth is steadfast fidelity to order and Law. The mind takes offense at every phenomenon of both inner and outer experience which appears to contradict that steadiness and constancy which it regards as the very essence of truth."

You will see that this applies to both science and religion. What is true in science must be true in religion. There cannot be a scientific truth and a religious truth, all truth is one and indivisible.

13. How do Materialism and Spiritualism find harmony in the Master Key System?

The Master Key System teaches that there is but one Principle—One Power.

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That everything which exists is a materialization of this One Power. The power itself is Spiritual, but the manifestation of the Power is material. One is subjective and the other objective. Two phases of one being. We find this everywhere in Nature, Man is a spiritual being, but he also has a material body. Spirit must manifest upon the objective plane in an objective manner.

The Spiritual in this sense has nothing whatsoever to do with what are usually considered spiritualistic phenomena.

14. What explanation is to be given of the fact that although a great majority of the people not only throughout Europe but in the United States are sick of war and want only peace and a return to prosperous normal conditions, that the return of the desired normal prosperous conditions is such a slow hard process?

There is, of course, as you say, no desire on the part of anyone for more war, just as there is no desire for poverty, crime or for any other destructive condition, but there is, on the other hand, a conscious and a subconscious desire for the things which bring about war, destruction, poverty and crime, and this lust of power or separation is the old question of "who is to be the greatest in the kingdom?"

The law is not a respecter of persons. This is true concerning nations as well as individuals. Nations as well as individuals will eventually learn that force can always be met with equal if not superior force, and for this reason can never be the determining factor of any situation.

Objective harmony can come only as a result of subjective harmony, and subjective harmony can come only as a result of vision, understanding and perception.

15. In the "Acme of Achievement" aimed at by The Master Key, how is it possible to ignore Theology?

A few centuries ago it was thought that we must choose between the Bible and Galileo. Fifty years ago it was thought that we must choose between the Bible and Darwin, but as Dean Inge, of St. Paul's Cathedral, says: "Every educated man knows that the main facts of organic evolution are firmly established, and that they are quite different from the legends borrowed by the ancient Hebrews from the Babylonians. We are not required to do violence to our reason by rejecting the assured results of modern research.

Traditional Christianity must be simplified and spiritualized. It is at present encumbered by bad science and caricatured by bad economics and the more 229

convinced we are of this, the less disposed we shall be to stake the existence of our faith on superstitions which are the religion of the irreligious and the science of the unscientific."

16. What is the meaning of the statement, "Only five per cent. have the vision to annex the strategic position, to see and feel a thing before it happens?"

Ninety-five per cent. of the people are busy attempting to change effects.

Something happens which they do not like and they try to change the situation. They soon find that they are simply changing one form of distress for another. The other five per cent. are busily engaged with causes. They know that in order to make any permanent change it is the cause which they must seek. They soon find that the cause is within their control. It is the five per cent. who do the thinking, and the ninety-five per cent. who merely accept the thought of others. It is those only who think who can see and feel a thing before it happens.

17. What, more explicitly, is to be understood by the term "polarity" as applied to the mental process?

Polarity is the tendency or inclination of a thought or feeling in a particular direction. When we think along certain lines continuously the thought becomes polarized, we can see other and different points of view with difficulty or not at all.

18. What is Truth?

Truth is the imperative condition of all well-being. To be sure, to know the truth and to stand confidently on it is a satisfaction beside which no other is comparable. Truth is the underlying verity, the condition precedent to every business or social relation. Truth is the only solid ground in a world of conflict and doubt and danger.

Every act not in harmony with Truth, whether through ignorance or design, cuts the ground from under our feet, leads to discord, inevitable loss and confusion, for while the humblest mind can accurately foretell the result of every correct action, the greatest, most profound and penetrating mind loses its way hopelessly and can form no conception of the results due to a departure from correct principles.

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19. How are Germs created?

Creation consists in the art of combining forces which have an affinity for each other, in the proper proportion. Thus oxygen and hydrogen combined in the proper proportions produce water. Oxygen and hydrogen are both invisible gasses, but water is visible.

Germs, however, have life; they must therefore be the product of something which has life or intelligence. Spirit is the only Creative Principle in the Universe, and Thought is the only activity which spirit possesses. Therefore, germs must be the result of a mental process.

A thought goes forth from the thinker, it meets other thoughts for which it has an affinity, they coalesce and form a nucleus for other similar thoughts: this nucleus sends out calls into the formless energy, wherein all thoughts and all things are held in solution, and soon the thought is closed in a form in accordance with the character given to it by the thinker.

A million men in the agony of death and torture on the battlefield send out thoughts of hatred and distress; soon another million men die from the effect of a germ called "influenza." None but the experienced metaphysician knows when and how the deadly germ came into existence.

As there are an infinite variety of thoughts, so there are an infinite variety of germs, constructive as well as destructive, but neither the constructive nor the destructive germ will germinate and flourish until it finds congenial soil in which to take root.

20. What has given rise to the idea of Reincarnation?

The germ plasma in each generation always contains the sum of all that has passed before it. The nucleus of every cell contains the chromosomes and these reproduce the species of nature and condition according to definite law.

Each chromosome, microscopically small as it is, contains the elements of every other cell in a matured body, plus characteristics of species, plus characteristics of form and appearance, plus family resemblance, plus nature, plus mind, plus matured tendencies, plus everything that makes personality and individuality. We are then physically exactly what our forefathers were, plus environment and education. It is this persistence of the identity of the individual chromosome from generation to generation which has given rise to the idea of reincarnation.

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21. What is Black Magic?

The idea that there is a phenomenon called Black Magic is attributable to credulity, superstition and a lack of understanding of the laws governing in the mental world. All thoughts and all things are held in solution in the Universal Mind. The individual may open his mental gates and thereby become receptive to thoughts of any kind or description. If he thinks that there are magicians, witches or wizards who are desirous of injuring him, he is thereby opening the door for the entrance of such thoughts, and he will be able to say with Job, "The things I feared have come upon me." If, on the contrary, he thinks that there are those who are desirous of helping him, he thereby opens the door for such help, and he will find that "as thy faith is, so be it unto thee"

is as true to-day as it was two thousand years ago.

22. I do not seem to grasp fully the application of the law of vibration to the thought world.

How, for instance, are we to change the rate of vibration here? In what direction shall it be changed to produce best results?

Every thought changes the rate of vibration. As you are enabled to think greater, deeper, higher and more forceful thoughts, the brain cells are refined, they become more powerful, and they are enabled to receive finer vibrations.

This is not only true in the mental and spiritual world, but in the physical world. As the ear becomes trained in music, it is enabled to receive finer vibrations, until the trained musician can hear harmonies of sound of which the ordinary person is entirely unaware.

23. Amid the seeming chaos of present day conditions is it not easy to discern the coming of that dawn which all the great ones of earth have foretold, the second coming of the Millennium?

One of the characteristic signs of a general awakening is the optimism shining through the mist of doubt and unrest, this optimism is taking the form of illumination, and as the illumination becomes general, fear, anger, doubt, selfishness and greed pass away. We are not looking for the Christ child, but the Christ consciousness. We are anticipating a more general realization of the Truth which is to make men free. That there may be one man or one woman who shall first realize this Truth in the new era is barely possible, but the preponderance of evidence points to a more general awakening to the Light of Illumination.

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24. You speak about the originating mind that forms, upholds, sustains and creates all there is. Does this explain the source from which comes man's ability to think lack, to think war and crime, etc.?

Yes, this includes man's ability to think lack, war and crime. If he can think constructive thought he can also think destructive thought; but as soon as man learns that thinking is a creative process, that we are creators, not creatures, he will discontinue the process of thinking destruction for himself and his fellows.

25. You are, without doubt, correct in stating that Carlyle's attitude of hatred of the bad was not conducive toward his own best development; on the other hand, what should be the attitude toward the giant evils of the day, such as war, corruption, murder, vice, theft and the like? Is it not often true that a tearing down, a clearing away of the brushwood, so to speak, must precede constructive work?

No, it is not true, the tearing down process is not at all necessary. We do not need to laboriously shovel the darkness out of a room before letting in the light; on the contrary, all that is necessary is to turn on the light and the darkness vanishes; likewise, if but one-tenth of one per cent. of the money and effort were spent in constructive work that is now being spent in destructive work, the giant evils of the day to which you refer would disappear as if by magic.

The unit of the Nation is the individual. The Government represents only the average intelligence of the units comprising the Nation. Therefore, our work is with the unit. When the thought of the individual has been changed the collective thought will take care of itself, but we try to reverse the process. We try to change governments instead of individuals, which cannot be done. But with a little intelligent organized effort the present destructive thought could be readily changed into constructive thought.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Charles Francis Haanel (May 22, 1866 – November 27, 1949) was an American author, philosopher,and businessman. He is best known for his contributions to the New Thought movement through his book, The Master Key System.

The Master Key System Institute is founded on the wisdom and teachings of this great man. His philosophy of life has benefited millions since he first published his seminal work. The Institute keeps his teachings active an alive for tens of thousands of students worldwide. Visit

www.masterkeyinstitute.org to take courses on the practical implementation of the Law of Attraction and the Master Key System.

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