Customer Reviews

The Master Key System

5 star:		(59)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

This 116 page version from BN Publishing is NOT the complete Master Key System. It is an abridged version and is not worth buying. I went to the library and checked out the "real" book, which is more like 400+ pages. This book is barley 110 (plus 6 pages of ads in the back!). Look at the page count before ordering. Maybe I'm missing something, but there really should be a big, bold warning that this version is totally abridged. I've never seen a book so different from the original.

It is ridiculously short, has no flow in the text (basically there are numbered paragraphs) and absolutely not the same as the original text. I don't really understand, actually, why it got published with the same name or why the reviews on here are so wonderful. I'm thinking maybe amazon uses the same reviews for all versions? Anyway, be sure to look at the page count before ordering and don't buy this one.

Rhonda Byrne's "The Secret" may be the book du jour among the self help / get rich quick crowd, but Charles Haanel's "The Master Ket System"...first published as a correspondence course in 1912, then in a single volume in 1917...is the real deal.

My exposure to the book came through its inclusion in The Prosperity Bible: Landmark Writings on the Incredible Prospering Powers of the Human Mind, and the foreword immediately lays the groundwork:

"The student who learns that power comes from within, that he is weak only because he has depended on help from the outside, and who unhesitatingly throws himself on his own thought, instantly rights himself, stands erect, assumes dominant attitude, and works miracles."

A large part of what's wrong with modern "self help" works is that they exist primarily to set you up as an ongoing customer, to sell you more product, more books, more CDs, more "success journals," anything and everything that the author can slap his or her name onto.

The Master Key System is built on a single, powerful premise: That the world you see around you is created by you in the world inside of you. It's all manifestation, and to add another modern buzz word, "The Law Of Attraction."

Haanel refers to the system as a science, and it he certainly approaches the subject from that standpoint. The key points are largely set up as scientific / mathematical arguments in which A + B = C...you witness the progression of his argument and are hard pressed to find flaws in it.

If you like little soundbites...if you like "gift books" or "coffee table books" packed with scenic photos of crashing waves and majestic landscapes and encouraging "power thoughts" like "SEE your future...BE your future..," this might not be the book for you.

As another reviewer pointed out, Haanel "could have" given you a Cliffs Notes version of this book, but he chose not to do that. In "The Prosperity Bible," the book runs 136 pages, but these are large pages with small type. I've seen a paperback edition that's 484 pages in length. The book goes to great lengths to assert, and then re-assert, its authority on the subject of "how" and "why" things happen. You can't get that from a pamphlet. Be patient, take your time, read the whole thing from front to back. You'll be glad you did.

Haanel writes "We cannot express powers that we do not possess. The only way by which we may secure possession of power is to become conscious of power, and we can never become conscious of power until we learn that all power is from within."

I highly recommend this book, but only if you're willing to invest the time and effort required to use it as an agent of change in your life.

I found out about this book on Twitter. One of my twitter friends 'tweeted' that it was one of the best books that he's read. In his tweet he posted a link to the amazon page. When I got to it, I was glad to read that the book was back in print.

Now, I realize that the book is floating around on the internet as an ebook but I prefer to have the real thing.

After having read this book, I have to add it to my list of the top 10 books that I've read in my life. I've read many of the classic books like Think and Grow Rich, The Power of Positive Thinking, Law of Success, etc.
And in many ways, I prefer this book.

The closest book that I've read that is similar to this book is Three Magic Words by US Andersen. I really believe that we have greater control over our circumstances than we realize. One of the other reviewers stated that some of the more prominent self-help coaches and gurus don't really believe that you control 100% of your results.

Now, the problem with that thinking is that it defies the laws of the universe. The world we 'see' is the world of effects that have definite 'causes' and those causes originate in the world within. So, it's our job as spiritual beings to focus our thoughts on the things we desire and trust that The Universal Mind will show us the ways and means, in other words, 'the how' of achieving our desires. Once we receive divine guidance on the 'how' then we must take action.

The book provides a lot of practical advice for people in the areas of health, relationships, and business. One particular line in the book that I thought possessed great truth was when he said,

'Difficulties and obstacles will continue to come until we absorb their wisdom and gather from them the essentials of further growth'

This is a book that you need to read slowly. Take your time with it and let your mind absorb the great Truths that are presented by the author.

After you've finished reading this book, you will truly realize that you have no excuses for the results that you are manifesting in your life. And for those of you who are relatively succesful, you too will benefit from this book.


John Hinds
Author of "What's In Your Water?"

In the introductory biography which precedes Haanel's work, the publishers highlight at least one reason why you might want to read this book:

"It is Silicon Valley's secret that almost every entrepreneur who made a fortune in recent years did so by studying the words Mr Haanel penned over eighty years ago....Since this book was no longer in print until recently, copies of The Master Key System became a hot commodity in the Valley".

Now I've no way of knowing if this statement is true, but such is the power of Haanel's system that it seems eminently plausible. I would not for a moment want anyone to think that Haanel presents some kind of 'cosmic ordering'-type, 'get-rich-quick' system, and neither is it a book about Law of Attraction. It is far deeper, and more important, than that. Haanel claims that his system can revolutionise your life. I've been working with this kind of system for years, and am emphatically convinced that it works.

At the heart of Haanel's approach is an analytical thesis that was pioneered by Thomas Troward (to whom Haanel refers in this book). Essentially, this thesis is that the universe is governed by an overarching creative process.

Haanel calls this "Universal Consciousness"; Troward called it "Spirit". Neither refers to "God", because the Universal Mind that they describe is an essentially impersonal, 'subjective' force, equivalent to the subconscious rather than the conscious in the human mind. It is more akin to a highest law of nature - a law of creativity - than to a deity. It is impersonal. You do not worship it, but you align your approach with it. Haanel's term "Universal Consciousness" is probably more apt than Troward's "Spirit" because the latter might carry connotations of the occult (though that was certainly not what Troward meant).

Haanel argues that everyone's subconscious is a part of the Universal Consciousness. This gives the individual access to great creative power, in any aspect of life. Anything that manifests in your external world, Haanel argues, has been manifested first in the inner world of your mind. The trick, therefore, is to learn how to discipline your inner world - in other words, to channel your thinking - so that inner creation is positive.

His method, originally published as a part-work, is to set out twenty-four stages of study, each including a mental exercise. Each chapter contains a list of numbered, very precise propositions. This is a very effective, very focused approach.

If you are sceptical about the idea of a universal creative process - and do not believe that thought drives the material - you are not going to like The Master Key System. But if you accept a Troward/Haanel-type analysis of cause and effect, you will find The Master Key System an extremely powerful and effective tool.

This book shows you how your mind works and gives you everything you need to start creating your world and your affairs as you would have them.

It is an investment well worth making. I am a New Thought Minister and I have been teaching these principles for over twenty years. Learn how the Law of Attraction works for you! Don't waste another day without this book.

There is always, and only, one first. This is it for self mastery and personal growth.

Buy this book, and use it in the manner intended, and you will see changes in your life after the first week and so will those around you. Results require effort activity on your part, and they are rewarded beyond description. But you must WORK AT IT.

This book and these techniques do not solve your problems, but they do teach you where the solution is and how to get to it, and most importantly how to use it.

If you are into this sort of thing; that is, self-development at all cost, even though this book was written in the early part of the 20th century, it is very much appropriate for people who are interested in self-evolution - self-development, in 2007. It explains in very clear, concise terms how to go about getting what you want at a deep level in a "weekly lesson format". As within, so without.
I have been reading and searching extensively for the last 30 years and I do not hesitate to recommend this book very highly.

Back in 1912, long before "The Secret" movie came out, Charles Hannel explained the Law of Attraction. He shows us that mental power is creative power, and that what we think about is what we attract into our life. He makes the point that the world within is the cause, and the world without is the effect.

In The Master Key, he provides 24 lessons all related to the power of thought. The lessons cover such topics as:
- the proper use of the subconscious mind
- the power of nonresistant thought
- the real nature of the "I" is spiritual
- how visualization works
- the 3 things all mankind desires (health, wealth & love)
- what it means to know the "Truth"
- the effortlessness of concentration
- and many, many more lessons on the power of thought

He also makes the very important point that the only value to any principle is in its application. So simply reading this book won't have any impact. You have to apply the principles. He helps you to do that by providing exercises at the end of each of the 24 lessons in the book. They start out very general and then each exercise builds on the prior one. So, for instance, the first exercise just says to sit still for 15 minutes, letting your thoughts roam where they will. The second exercise has you again sit still, but this time tells you to begin to control your thoughts, and so on through the 24th exercise. His intent is that you do one exercise per week. Through the exercises, he brings you from an intellectual understanding of the principles to an actual experience of the principles.

This is a very powerful book, which I would highly recommend to anyone seeking a more meaningful life.

My comments are based on the original book, not any re edits or revised editions. If you look online, you should be able to find an ebook of Charles Hannel's original for free, since the book is over 75 years old it is in the public domain. Personally I spend all day in front of a computer, so it's nice to take a break and read an actual physical book, and I like to circle, highlight and write on.

This book is incredible, I think this was probably "the secret" original edition since it was introduced in 1903, predating napoleon hill and several others. TO my knowledge this is the first book that mentions the "law of attraction" but it mentions several other laws as well. Although Prosperity through thought force

You could honestly come up with probably a chapter of material if you took each key point and went into detail describing it. But the information in this book is absolutely compacted to the max, no fluff at all. Honestly you could spend a long time just thinking about each section.
Unfortunately because it goes and lists everything, I know that some people will not find it a book that you can read through.
This is one that although it makes sense, it isn't an easy read. There's just so much information to take in, that most people will have difficulties reading it.
It isn't like chewing through a hard to swallow think hide meat though, it's more like very rich dessert that you want to savor.

But although it's a difficult book, this is still probably the best book I have ever read in my life. It's amazing that a book can have such deep profound information locked into every chapter. I read this prior to viewing "The Secret", and was actually very disappointed in the secret because it simply doesn't do the law of attraction justice.
I haven't even finished this book yet because I like to absorb my time and take it in.
If you put all the success books out there together, you will still probably have more information in this one.
I love how it actually logically and factually explains the law of attraction, and explains through the cause and effect how it all works.
Seriously, if you are thinking about getting this book get it. If you don't want to pay for it, search for it google and download it.
Here's a couple google searches
"Master Key system" filetype:doc (will find a word document version)
"Master Key system" filetype:pdf (will find a pdf version)
print it if you'd like otherwise read it online.

I purchased both the Master Key System and the Master Key Workbook. They both work together. The workbook gives you a way to put the lessons in the "System" into everyday use.

I have found the "system" very helpful. I recommend this to anyone who is ready to make the most of their life, both personally and professionally.

The system is not a "quick read and put aside" book. You work though it on a weekly basis, with one lesson per week. I find myself re-reading the lesson two to three times per week. The lessons are not long, but they are thought provoking. It builds, one week to the next.

The Master Key System
The Master Key Workbook