Part 19 · Appearances Are Deceptive · points 27–29 of 29 in this Part
This week: become absorbed — and stop trusting appearances
The earth is not flat, the sky is not a dome. Neither is your situation final.
3 numbered points · 2 study questions · 1 min read
The earth is not flat, the sky is not a dome. Neither is your situation final.
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.
189. Does the creative energy originate in the individual or the Universal?
In the Universal, but the Universal can manifest only through the individual.
190. Why is the individual necessary?
Because the Universal is static, and requires energy to start it in motion. This is furnished by food which is converted into energy, which in turn enables the individual to think. When the individual stops eating he stops thinking; then he no longer acts upon the Universal; there is consequently no longer any action or reaction; the Universal is then only pure mind in static form – mind at rest.
Haanel's own words — points 27–29
Quoted exactly from The Master Key System (1912, public domain). The translation above is ours; this is his.
For your exercise this week, concentrate, and when I use the word concentrate, I mean all that the word implies; become so absorbed in the object of your thought that you are conscious of nothing else, and do this a few minutes every day. You take the necessary time to eat in order that the body may be nourished, why not take the time to assimilate your mental food?
Let the thought rest on the fact that appearances are deceptive. The earth is not flat, neither is it stationary; the sky is not a dome, the sun does not move, the stars are not small specks of light, and matter which was once supposed to be fixed has been found to be in a state of perpetual flux.
Try to realize that the day is fast approaching – its dawn is now at hand – when modes of thought and action must be adjusted to rapidly increasing knowledge of the operation of eternal principles. “Silent thought, is, after all, the mightiest agent in human affairs.” - Channing
Put it to work
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 timerKeep going
Your current situation is not the truth about you