Week 20 of the Master Key System deals with The Spirit of Things and how it relates to the manifestation process.
Haanel begins once again by re-iterating the role of thought in the creative process.
“Thought necessarily precedes and predetermines action; action precedes and predetermines condition…”
Thought which is fueled by emotion sets forth the power of intention.
Intention leads to action which produces changes in the outer world.
How the masses are enslaved through thinking
“So long as you do this you limit yourself to superficial conditions and make of yourself a beast of burden for those who think; those who recognize their power; those who know that unless we are willing to think we shall have to work, and the less we think the more we shall have to work, and the less we shall get for our work.”
Haanel explains how the masses who obsess over superficial outer conditions are forever the subjects of those who are able to think.
The masses stare at the reflection (outer world) as an unchangeable fact.
In most cases, they let others do the thinking for them and remain ‘drifters’ as coined by Napoleon Hill.
The masters work primarily on the image through changing their thoughts and emotions (inner world).
They understand a change in the outer world comes from within.
“The mirror won’t smile, unless you do first.”
Great minds like Newton and Einstein were able to come up with fundamental theories only by first contemplating the unseen realms in their minds.
Newton was a known student of Alchemy.
He even translated his version of The Emerald Tablet of Hermes.
Einstein spent many hours in deep contemplation playing with different thought experiments.
The movers and shakers of the world are the thinkers.
It’s important to understand thought is a double-edged sword.
“This power of thought, if understood and correctly used, is the greatest labor-saving device ever dreamed of, but if not understood or improperly used, the result will in all probability be disastrous.”
Thought is neutral.
Its capacity to do good or bad is shaped by the individual.
A knife in the hands of a skilled surgeon can remove a cancerous growth and save a life.
A knife in the hands of a criminal can take a life.
Everyone has access to the knife, however, how we use it differs in purpose.
The Master Key System Chapter 20 – The Importance of emotions
“An intellectual understanding will be of no assistance; the emotions must be brought into action; thought without feeling is cold. The required combination is thought and feeling.”
To harness the complete power of thought, emotion must be injected.
This is why the most powerful and persistent beliefs we develop arrive from moments of heightened emotions.
These events, which are often traumatic, leave a lasting impact on the psyche.
But how do we inject emotions into our thoughts?
Well, you can’t create emotions at will.
You can, however, channel emotions you have previously felt by reflecting on memories.
Or vividly imagining a scenario which will bring you joy.
This observation was noted by occultist Dion Fortune.
“Genuine emotion, and none other has adequate motive power cannot be produced at will. Coué realized this, and found his substitute for emotion in long-continued attention.”
Long-continued attention can come in the form of autosuggestion (affirmations) as prescribed by Emile Coué.
The same result can also be attainted through visualization methods like SATS from Neville Goddard.
The Importance of Being
Haanel stressed the importance of the self-image.
Inner work, which is the basis of The Master Key System, aims to make a change in the self-image through a change of thought.
This work become the catalyst of a ripple effect which will change your outer conditions.
“Thought is creative vibration and the quality of the conditions created will depend upon the quality of our thought, because we cannot express powers which we do not possess. We must “be” before we can “do” and we can “do” only to the extent to which we “are,” and so what we do will necessarily coincide with what we “are” and what we are depends upon what we “think.””
— Charles Haanel
Now you may think that perhaps you can just WILL yourself to change.
Surely, if you do all of the right actions you will get the corresponding outer conditions?
You will.
For a time.
Using willpower is like attempting to keep a cork submerged in water.
Your efforts will work for a while but soon your hand will tire.
As soon as you cease your efforts the unrelenting force of buoyancy will undo your efforts.
When you use willpower without a change in the internal, you work against the law.
Soon, things will be restored to their rightful place.
“There are those who seem to think that by force of will they can coerce this law; that they can sow seed of one kind and by “Will Power” make it bear fruit of another, but the fundamental principle of creative power is in the Universal…”
— Charles Haanel
The great Maxwell Maltz elaborated on the power and importance of the self-image in his wonderful book ‘Psycho-Cybernetics’.
The Master Key System Chapter 20 Exercise
For your exercise, this week, go into the Silence and concentrate on the fact that “In Him we live and move and have our being” is literally and scientifically exact! That you ARE because He IS, that if He is Omnipresent He must be in you. That if He is all in all you must be in Him! That He is Spirit and you are made in “His image and likeness” and that the only difference between His spirit and your spirit is one of degree, that a part must be the same in kind and quality as the whole. When you can realize this clearly you will have found the secret of the creative power of thought, you will have found the origin of both good and evil, you will have found the secret of the wonderful power of concentration, you will have found the key to the solution of every problem whether physical, financial, or environmental.
The week 20 exercise of the Master Key System invites the student to contemplate their connection with The Universal Mind.
The central tenet of New Thought philosophy is that Man is an individualization of God (similar to the Hermetic Principle of Mentalism).
Man is made in the likeness of the Universal.
Man is a microcosm in the macrocosm.
Because of this principle, man creates his world through thought in a similar way that God created the universe through thought.
The only difference is one of degree.
Man is still subject to the laws of the physical world but can create within his plane of correspondence.
This realization will give you great power.
Do this, and you will be one step closer to living and dying well.