Part 8 · Follow It Back to Its Origin · points 16–23 of 33 in this Part
Put yourself in position to receive
Stand where good things can reach you, then stop thinking small.
8 numbered points · 3 study questions · 3 min read
Stand where good things can reach you, then stop thinking small.
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.
75. What are mistakes?
The result of ignorance.
76. What is knowledge?
The result of man's ability to think.
77. What is the power with which successful men build?
Mind is the very moving force with which they secure the persons and circumstances necessary to complete their plans.
Haanel's own words — points 16–23
Quoted exactly from The Master Key System (1912, public domain). The translation above is ours; this is his.
When you have become thoroughly conscious of the fact that Mind is the only creative principle, that it is Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipresent, and that you can consciously come into harmony with this Omnipotence through your power of thought, you will have taken a long step in the right direction.
The next step is to place yourself in position to receive this power. As it is Omnipresent, it must be within you. We know that this is so because we know that all power is from within, but it must be developed, unfolded, cultivated. In order to do this we must be receptive, and this receptivity is acquired just as physical strength is gained, by exercise.
The Law of Attraction will certainly and unerringly bring to you the conditions, environment, and experiences in life, corresponding with your habitual, characteristic, predominant mental attitude. Not what you think once in a while when you are in church, or have just read a good book, BUT your predominant mental attitude is what counts.
You can not entertain weak, harmful, negative thoughts ten hours a day and expect to bring about beautiful, strong, and harmonious conditions by ten minutes of strong, positive, creative thought.
Real power comes from within. All power that anybody can possibly use is within man, only waiting to be brought into visibility by his first recognizing it, and then affirming it as his, working it into his consciousness until he becomes one with it.
People say that they desire abundant life, and so they do, but so many interpret this to mean that if they will exercise their muscles or breathe scientifically, eat certain foods in certain ways, drink so many glasses of water every day of just a certain temperature, keep out of drafts, they will attain the abundant life they seek. The result of such methods is but indifferent. However, when man awakens to the truth, and affirms his oneness with all Life, he finds that he takes on the clear eye, the elastic step, the vigor of youth; he finds that he has discovered the source of all power.
All mistakes are but the mistakes of ignorance. Knowledge gaining and consequent power is what determines growth and evolution. The recognition and demonstration of knowledge is what constitutes power, and this power is spiritual power, and this spiritual power is the power which lies at the heart of all things; it is the soul of the Universe.
This knowledge is the result of man's ability to think; thought is therefore the germ of man's conscious evolution. When man ceases to advance in his thoughts and ideals, his forces immediately begin to disintegrate and his countenance gradually registers these changing conditions.
Put it to work
The Tracing Back (Part Eight)
Take an object near you — a cup, a chair, a pair of shoes. Something you never think about.
See all stepsGuided 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
Everything you see was first a thought — including your life