Part 11 · Faith Is a Substance · points 25–30 of 36 in this Part

A new era of faith

Every generation has to be told the truth in its own language.

6 numbered points · 1 study question · 2 min read

The one line to keep

Every generation has to be told the truth in its own language.

Changing words, new language, fresh interpretations — but the same truth, told again to each new generation and each new person. Haanel says he is standing at the edge of an era where the power of thought is finally being understood seriously. And he names the highest discovery of all time: not steam, not electricity, but the fact that thought is creative.

Why this matters — Part 11

Hopelessness is the belief that wanting is pointless — so the first casualty is desire itself. Haanel's instruction is strange and kind: don't manufacture the feeling of hope, just take the posture of someone already answered. The worried, grasping posture says “this probably won't happen.” He asks for the relaxed posture of a person whose order is already in the post. Posture first. Feeling follows later, as it always does.

Study question for this sublevel

Haanel put a review question at the end of every part. Answer out loud first — the recall is what moves it into memory.

109. What is the Law of Attraction?

The Law by which Faith is brought into manifestation.

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Haanel's own words — points 25–30

Quoted exactly from The Master Key System (1912, public domain). The translation above is ours; this is his.

Changing emphasis, new language, novel interpretations, unfamiliar perspectives, are not, as some suppose, signs of departure from truth but on the contrary, they are evidence that the truth is being apprehended in new relations to human needs, and is becoming more generally understood.

The truth must be told to each generation and to every people in new and different terms, so that when the Great Teacher said, "Believe that ye receive and ye shall receive" or, when Paul said, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" or, when modern science says, "The Law of Attraction is the law by which thought correlates with its object," each statement when subjected to analysis, is found to contain exactly the same truth. The only difference is in the form of presentation.

We are standing on the threshold of a new era. The time has arrived when man has learned the secrets of mastery and the way is being prepared for a new social order, more wonderful than anything every heretofore dreamed of. The conflict of modern science with theology, the study of comparative religions, the tremendous power of new social movements – all of these are clearing the way for the new order. They may have destroyed traditional forms which have become antiquated and impotent, but nothing of value has been lost.

A new faith has been born, a faith which demands a new form of expression. And this faith is taking form in a deep consciousness of power which is being manifested, in the present spiritual activity found on every hand.

The spirit which sleeps in the mineral, breathes in the vegetable, moves in the animal, and reaches its highest development in man is the Universal Mind, and it behooves us to span the gulf between being and doing, theory and practice, by demonstrating our understanding of the dominion which we have been given.

By far the greatest discovery of all the centuries is the power of thought. The importance of this discovery has been a little slow in reaching the general consciousness, but it has arrived, and already in every field of research the importance of this greatest of all great discoveries is being demonstrated.

Put it to work

This week's exercise

Believing You Have Already Received (Part Eleven)

Usual seat, relaxed and empty of surface noise.

See all steps

Sit with it

Guided stillness timer

The sit is the whole foundation of the course: still body, watched breath, no phone. Pick five minutes if fifteen feels like a hill.

Open the timer

Keep going

1The reasoning that earns its keepInduction is the dividing line between superstition and intelligence.2A law discovered by subtractionThe universe answers careful looking. Look carefully at yourself.3Believe you have already received ⚠Ask as though the answer is already in the post.4Thinking on the plane of the absoluteFaith is the substance of things hoped for, not a feeling.5A new era of faithEvery generation has to be told the truth in its own language.6This week: Whatsoever thingsWhatsoever — the word contains no limits.

Part 11 · Faith Is a Substance

Act as though the outcome is already arranged

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