Foreword
Some men seem to attract success, power, wealth, attainment, with
very little conscious effort; others conquer with great difficulty;
still others fail altogether to reach their ambitions, desires and
ideals. Why is this so? Why should some men realize their ambitions
easily, others with difficulty, and still others not at all? The
cause cannot be physical, else the most perfect men, physically,
would be the most successful. The difference, therefore, must be
mental - must be in the mind; hence mind must be the creative force,
must constitute the sole difference between men. It is mind,
therefore, which overcomes environment and every other obstacle in
the path of men.
When the creative power of thought is fully understood, its
effect will be seen to be marvelous. But such results cannot be
secured without proper application, diligence, and concentration.
The student will find that the laws governing in the mental and
spiritual world are as fixed and infallible as in the material
world. To secure the desired results, then, it is necessary to know
the law and to comply with it. A proper compliance with the law will
be found to produce the desired result with invariable exactitude.
The student who learns that power comes from within, that he is weak
only because he has depended on help from outside, and who
unhesitatingly throws himself on his own thought, instantly rights
himself, stands erect, assumes a dominant attitude, and works
miracles.
It is evident, therefore, that he who fails to fully investigate
and take advantage of the wonderful progress which is being made in
this last and greatest science, will soon be as far behind as the
man who would refuse to acknowledge and accept the benefits which
have accrued to mankind through an understanding of the laws of
electricity.
Of course, mind creates negative conditions just as readily as
favorable conditions, and when we consciously or unconsciously
visualize every kind of lack, limitation and discord, we create
these conditions; this is what many are unconsciously doing all the
time.
This law as well as every other law is no respecter of persons,
but is in constant operation and is relentlessly bringing to each
individual exactly what he has created; in other words, "Whatsoever
a man soweth that shall he also reap."
Abundance, therefore, depends upon a recognition of the laws of
Abundance, and the fact that Mind is not only the creator, but the
only creator of all there is. Certainly nothing can be created,
before we know that it can be created and then make the proper
effort. There is no more Electricity in the world today than there
was fifty years ago, but until someone recognized the law by which
it could be made of service, we received no benefit; now that the
law is understood, practically the whole world is lit by it. So with
the law of Abundance; it is only those who recognize the law and
place themselves in harmony with it, who share in its benefits.
The scientific spirit now dominates every field of effort,
relations of cause and effect are no longer ignored.
The discovery of a region of law marked an epoch in human
progress. It eliminated the element of uncertainty and caprice in
men's lives, and substituted law, reason and certitude.
Men now understand that for every result there is an adequate and
definite cause, so that when a given result is desired, they seek
the condition by which alone this result may be attained.
The basis upon which all law rests was discovered by inductive
reasoning which consists of comparing a number of separate instances
with one another until the common factor which gives rise to them
all is seen.
It is this method of study to which the civilized nations owe the
greater part of their prosperity and the more valuable part of their
knowledge; it has lengthened life, it has mitigated pain, it has
spanned rivers, it has brightened the night with the splendor of
day, extended the range of vision, accelerated motion, annihilated
distance, facilitated intercourse, and enabled men to descend into
the sea, and into the air. What wonder then that men soon endeavored
to extend the blessings of this system of study to their method of
thinking, so that when it became plainly evident that certain
results followed a particular method of thinking it only remained to
classify these results.
This method is scientific, and it is the only method by which we
shall be permitted retain that degree of liberty and freedom which
we have been accustomed to look upon as an inalienable right,
because a people is safe at home and in the world only if national
preparedness mean such things as growing surplus of health,
accumulated efficiency in public and private business of whatever
sort, continuous advance in the science and art of acting together,
and the increasingly dominant endeavor to make all of these and all
other aspects of national development center and revolve about
ascending life, single and collective, for which science, art and
ethics furnish guidance and controlling motives.
The Master Key is based on absolute scientific truth and will
unfold the possibilities that lie dormant in the individual, and
teach how they may be brought into powerful action, to increase the
person's effective capacity, bringing added energy, discernment,
vigor and mental elasticity. The student who gains an understanding
of the mental laws which are unfolded will come into the possession
of an ability to secure results hitherto undreamed of, and which has
rewards hardly to be expressed in words.
It explains the correct use of both the receptive and active
elements of the mental nature, and instructs the student in the
recognition of opportunity; it strengthens the will and reasoning
powers, and teaches the cultivation and best uses of imagination,
desire, the emotions and the intuitional faculty. It gives
initiative, tenacity of purpose, wisdom of choice, intelligent
sympathy and a thorough enjoyment of life on its higher planes.
The Master Key teaches the use of Mind Power, true Mind Power,
not any of the substitutes and perversions; it has nothing to do
with Hypnotism, Magic or any of the more or less fascinating
deceptions by which many are led to think that something can be had
for nothing.
The Master Key cultivates and develops the understanding which
will enable you to control the body and thereby the health. It
improves and strengthens the Memory. It develops Insight, the kind
of Insight which is so rare, the kind which is the distinguishing
characteristic of every successful business man, the kind which
enables men to see the possibilities as well as the difficulties in
every situation, the kind which enables men to discern opportunity
close at hand, for thousands fail to see opportunities almost within
their grasp while they are industriously working with situations
which under no possibility can be made to realize any substantial
return.
The Master Key develops Mental Power which means that others
instinctively recognize that you are a person of force, of character
- that they want to do what you want them to do; it means that you
attract men and things to you; that you are what some people call
"lucky", that "things" come you way' that you have come into an
understanding of the fundamental laws of Nature, and have put
yourself in harmony with them; that you are in tune with Infinite;
that you understand the law of attraction, the Natural laws of
growth, and the Psychological laws on which all advantages in the
social and business world rest.
Mental Power is creative power, it gives you the ability to
create for yourself; it does not mean the ability to take something
away from someone else. Nature never does things that way. Nature
makes two blades for grass grow where one grew before, and Mind
Power enables men to do the same thing.
The Master Key develops insight and sagacity, increased
independence, the ability and disposition to be helpful. It destroys
distrust, depression, fear, melancholia, and every form of lack
limitation and weakness, including pain and disease; it awakens
buried talents, supplies initiative, force, energy, vitality - it
awakens an appreciation of the beautiful in Art, Literature and
Science.
It has changed the lives of thousands of men and women, by
substituting definite principles for uncertain and hazy methods -
and principles for the foundation upon which every system of
efficiency must rest.
Elbert Gary, the chairman of the United States Steel Corporation,
said "The services of advisors, instructors, efficiency experts in
successful management are indispensable to most business enterprises
of magnitude, but I deem the recognition and adoption of right
principles vastly more importance."
The Master Key teaches right principles, and suggests methods for
making a practical application of the principles; in that it differs
from every other course of study. It teaches that the only possible
value which can attach to any principle is in its application. Many
read books, take home study courses, attend lectures all their lives
without ever making any progress in demonstrating the value of the
principles involved. The Master Key suggests methods by which the
value of the principles taught may be demonstrated and put in actual
practice in the daily experience.
There is a change in the thought of the world. This change is
silently transpiring in our midst, and is more important than any
which the world has undergone since the downfall of Paganism.
The present revolution in the opinions of all classes of men, the
highest and most cultured of men as well as those of the laboring
class, stands unparalleled in the history of the world.
Science has of late made such vast discoveries, has revealed such
an infinity of resources, has unveiled such enormous possibilities
and such unsuspected forces, that scientific men more and more
hesitate to affirm certain theories as established and indubitable
or to deny certain other theories as absurd or impossible, and so a
new civilization is being born; customs, creeds, and cruelty are
passing; vision, faith and service are taking their place. The
fetters of tradition are being melted off from humanity, and as the
dross of materialism is being consumed, thought is being liberated
and truth is rising full orbed before an astonished multitude.
The whole world is on the eve of a new consciousness, a new power
and a new consciousness, a new power and a new realization of the
resources within the self. The last century saw the most magnificent
material progress in history. The present century will produce the
greatest progress in mental and spiritual power.
Physical Science has resolved matter into molecules, molecules
into atoms, atoms into energy, and it has remained for Sir Ambrose
Fleming, in an address before the Royal Institution, to resolve this
energy into mind. He says: "In its ultimate essence, energy may be
incomprehensible by us except as an exhibition of the direct
operation of that which we call Mind or Will."
Let us see what are the most powerful forces in Nature. In the
mineral world everything is solid and fixed. In the animal and
vegetable kingdom it is in a state of flux, forever changing, always
being created and recreated. In the atmosphere we find heat, light
and energy. Each realm becomes finer and more spiritual as we pass
from the visible to the invisible, from the coarse to the fine, from
the low potentiality to high potentiality. When we reach the
invisible we find energy in its purest and most volatile state.
And as the most powerful forces of Nature are the invisible
forces, so we find that the most powerful forces of man are his
invisible forces, his spiritual force, and the only way in which the
spiritual force can manifest is through the process of thinking.
Thinking is the only activity which the spirit possesses, and
thought is the only product of thinking.
Addition and subtraction are therefore spiritual transactions;
reasoning is a spiritual process; ideas are spiritual conceptions;
questions are spiritual searchlights and logic, argument and
philosophy is spiritual machinery.
Every thought brings into action certain physical tissue, parts
of the brain, nerve or muscle. This produces an actual physical
change in the construction of the tissue. Therefore it is only
necessary to have a certain number of thoughts on a given subject in
order to bring about a complete change in the physical organization
of a man.
This is the process by which failure is changed to success.
Thoughts of courage, power, inspiration, harmony, are substituted
for thoughts of failure, despair, lack, limitation and discord, and
as these thoughts take root, the physical tissue is changed and the
individual sees life in a new light, old things have actually passed
away, all things have become new, he is born again, this time born
of the spirit, life has a new meaning for him, he is reconstructed
and is filled with joy, confidence, hope, energy. He sees
opportunities for success to which he was heretofore blind. He
recognizes possibilities which before had no meaning for him. The
thoughts of success with which he has been impregnated are radiated
to those around him, and they in turn help him onward and upward; he
attract to him new and successful associates, and this in turn
changes his environment; so that by this simple exercise of thought,
a man changes not only himself, but his environment, circumstances
and conditions.
You will see, you must see, that we are at the dawn of a new day;
that the possibilities are so wonderful, so fascinating, so
limitless as to be almost bewildering. A century ago any man with a
Gatling Gun could have annihilated a whole army equipped with the
implements of warfare then in use. So it is at present. Any man with
a knowledge of the possibilities contained in the Master Key has an
inconceivable advantage over the multitude. |