Part 13 · A Part of the Whole · points 16–21 of 27 in this Part

What people are actually looking for

Wealth, health and love — and none of them arrive by accident.

6 numbered points · 2 study questions · 2 min read

The one line to keep

Wealth, health and love — and none of them arrive by accident.

Thought brings conditions in correspondence with itself. So when you think of material wealth, do not dwell on the want; think of the supply and your connection to it. Haanel then adds the part most people skip: nobody can be happy without health, strength and friends. He contrasts the old teaching that told people they were worms and warned them away from the desire to rise — which he treats as one of the great causes of human discouragement.

Why this matters — Part 13

When you have failed at something, the story quickly becomes about your material: “the stuff I'm made of is lesser, so of course.” Haanel attacks that story at its root and doesn't negotiate. You are not made of lesser stuff — you are a part of the whole, and a part cannot be a different kind of thing from its source. Failing at a task tells you nothing about the material. It tells you about method, timing, preparation. Those are teachable.

Study questions 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.

125. What does it destroy?

Superstition, precedent and conventionality.

126. How have these laws been discovered?

By a generalization of facts which are uncommon, rare, strange; and which form the exception.

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Haanel's own words — points 16–21

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

Thought will bring about conditions in correspondence with the predominant mental attitude. Therefore, if we fear disaster, as fear is a powerful form of thought, disaster will be the certain result of our thinking. It is this form of thought which frequently sweeps away the result of many years of toil and effort.

If we think of some form of material wealth we may secure it. By concentrated thought the required conditions will be brought about, and the proper effort put forth, which will result in bringing about the circumstances necessary to realize our desires; but we often find that when we secure the things we thought we wanted, they do not have the effect we expected. That is, the satisfaction is only temporary, or is possibly the reverse of what we expected.

What, then, is the proper method by which to proceed? What are we to think in order to secure what we really desire? What you and I desire, what we all desire, what everyone is seeking, is Happiness and Harmony. If we can be truly happy we shall have everything the world can give. If we are happy ourselves, we can make others happy.

But we cannot be happy unless we have, health, strength, congenial friends, pleasant environment, sufficient supply, not only to take care of our necessities but to provide for those comforts and luxuries to which we are entitled.

The old orthodox way of thinking was to be “a worm”, to be satisfied with our portion whatever it is; but the modern idea is to know that we are entitled to the best of everything, that the “Father and I are one” and that the “Father” is the Universal Mind, the Creator, the Original Substance from which all things proceed.

Now, admitting that this is all true in theory, and it has been taught for two thousand years, and is the essence of every system of Philosophy or Religion, how are we to make it practical in our lives? How are we to get the actual, tangible results here and now?

Put it to work

This week's exercise

The Recognition (Part Thirteen)

Usual seat. Body relaxed, mind quiet.

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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 method that built the modern worldCareful reasoning about small observations produced modern life.2Three ways people explain unusual powerCall it supernatural, call it forbidden, or call it a law you can learn.3What people are actually looking forWealth, health and love — and none of them arrive by accident.4Put it into practice, then recogniseThe part is the same in kind and quality as the whole. Recognise it.

Part 13 · A Part of the Whole

Recognition is what makes it real

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