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The Master Key System, by Charles F. Haanel, [1919], at sacred-texts.com
A Vocabulary of Words
used in the text of
"The Master Key,"
specially explained.
ABSOLUTE—That which cannot be measured, determined, limited, expressed; the fundamentally and self-existently real from which all other reality springs.
ACCRETION—Growth or accumulation by external additions.
ALTRUISM The instinct and emotion which prompts to effort on behalf of others.
ANALYTICAL—Proceeding by analysis; the separating of anything into first principles.
ANTHROPOMORPHIC—The ascription of human attributes, feelings and conduct to the Deity; the natural result of the limitation of human thought and language.
APPERCEPTION—The mental process which associates and brings to attention all the ideas and memories associated with the central thought to which the attention is directly given.
ARCANA—An inner secret or mystery; something hidden from the mass of men; one of the great secrets which the alchemists sought to discover.
ATTENTION—The act or process of giving especial clearness to one or more particulars in the complex content of consciousness. Thus the difference between an ordinary mind and the mind of a Newton consists principally in this, that the one is capable of a more continuous attention than the other.
BELIEF—Confidence in the truth of a proposition which is felt to lack positive proof; acceptance without proof; that which is believed; a creed.
CELL—The smallest element of an organized body that manifests independent vital activities. The tissues
of the human body are an aggregate of cells and their products; they are from 1-125 to 1-5000 of an inch in diameter.
CONCENTRATE—To draw or direct to or toward a common centre.
CONCEPTION—The act of grasping two or more attributes into the unity of thought which we call a concept.
CONSCIOUSNESS—All forms of sensation, feeling, perception, planning and thought; a comprehensive tern for the complement of all our cognitive energies.
COSMIC—Pertaining to the universe as a harmonious and orderly system as opposed to chaotic.
COSMOLOGICAL—Relating to the nature and laws of the cosmos as an instituted and alterable order of things, as a cosmological argument.
DEDUCTION—Reasoning from the general to the particular; deduction proceeds from a general principle, through an admitted instance to a conclusion.
DIFFERENTIATION—The process of making or becoming different, as the hypothesis that the characteristic cell growth and divergent particularization of all organisms are due to environment and local conditions as opposed to inherited differentiation by which the characteristics are inherent in the composition of the embryo.
EGO—The "I" which thinks, feels and acts; the conscious individual or the thinking self as distinguished from all objects of thought and from its own states or powers; the pure principle of personal identity.
ELECTRICITY—A material agency which, when in
motion, exhibits magnetic, chemical and thermal effects.
ELOHIM—The Hebrew title of most frequent occurrence in the Old Testament, expressing absolute Divine power.
EVOLUTION The unity of action exhibited in the operations of nature; the act or process of evolving; the succession of changes by which a germ passes from a simple to a complex condition. "With each succeeding Kingdom, evolution has changed its direction upward from the physical to the psychical."—Funk.
ELECTRON The smallest known component of matter; always associated with an unvarying unit charge of negative electricity.
FAITH—Active belief; belief which amounts to a basis for action upon the accepted premises.
GERMINATE—The first act of growth, in a seed, spore or ovum.
GLOSSARY—An explanatory vocabulary dealing with a class of words, as of those of a dialect or a science.
GOD The embodiment or some aspect of reality or of some being regarded as the ultimate principle of the universe.
GRAVITATION—The tendency of every particle of matter in the universe toward every other particle; also the law which expresses this force which is; the accelerating tendency of bodies toward the centre of the earth is equal to the earth's attraction minus the centrifugal force arising from the rotation of the earth on its axis.
HARMONY—Completeness and perfection resulting from
diversity in unity; agreement in relation; orderliness.
IDEA—A thought which is conceived to be in a measure independent of the thinker, and, in a sense, self existent, "Thought" is used to name the presentation which is the direct product of the active mind and which would not and could not exist apart from the acting mind, while "idea" is used to name the presentation of the mind which is no longer considered as acting; a presentation which might even exist apart from, and independently of, a mind or its activities. A thought is felt to be peculiar to the one thinking it, while the idea is felt to be, in a measure, self-determined or due to the nature of that with which it is associated so that all minds would foam it the same; the term still feels the influence of Plato's conception of the ideas as the forms of fundamental reality.
IDEALIZE—To render ideal, to conform to some mental standard as of perfection.
INHIBIT—To restrict by prohibition; to check; to suppress.
IMAGINATION—The act or power of combining products of past experiences in new, modified or ideal forms. The creative or constructive power of the mind. The act of constructive intellect in grouping knowledge or thought into new, original or rational systems. "Science, Invention and Philosophy have little use for fancy, but the creative, penetrative power of imagination is to them the breath of life, and the condition of all advance and success."
IMMUTABLE—Not capable of change, either by increase or decrease, by development or self evolution; unchangeable; invariable and permanent.
INDUCTION—The scientific method that proceeds by 1, exact operation; 2, correct interpretation; 3, rational explanation; 4, scientific construction. Reasoning from the particular to the general; induction proceeds from a number of collated instances, through some attribute common to them all, to a general principle.
INDIVIDUAL—A complete independent single being; incapable of division without loss of identity.
INEXORABLE—Not to be moved by entreaty; unyielding; unrelenting; implacable; inflexible.
INFINITE—Self-existent and all-inclusive reality; unmeasured, undetermined, unlimited; independent of expression, yet including all expressions, or actualized things; the absolute.
INSIGHT—A perception of the inner nature of a thing.
INSPIRATION—The inbreathing or imparting of an idea, emotion or mental or spiritual influence; the elevating and creative influence of genius.
INTANGIBLE—Incapable of being touched; not perceptible to the senses, having no clear foundation in fact.
INTUITION—A conclusion which was arrived at without the conscious use of reason and not directly traceable to ordinary understandings of sensory experiences; the faculty of (unconscious). mind by which we arrive at intuitions, or know things without being taught; direct, or immediate knowledge of physical or moral values.
KEY—Anything which discloses or opens something to the understanding, as a key to a subject or problem; that which opens the way to other projects or renders further progress possible.
KINETIC—Producing motion; active as opposed to latent; the kinetic theory has been found capable of explaining nearly all the phenomena of gases and is now generally accepted.
LEAVEN—Anything that by exerting a secret or silent influence gradually brings about a change in character or conditions.
LOGIC—The science or doctrine of correct thinking; the principles governing the reasoning faculties in the pursuit and exposition of truth.
LOVE—The outgoing or yearning of the soul for what is good or excellent.
MASTER—One who controls or has authority; a superior, a ruler or governor; one who gains the victory as "I am the master of my fate."
MASTER KEY—A key which controls a number of locks, the separate keys of which are not interchangeable.
MATTER—That fours of being or substance that is characterized by extension, inertia, weight, etc.; or, in general, by the properties cognized by the senses.
MECHANISM—The structure or means of action of any mechanical contrivance. "A human organism with all its parts in harmonious action is a splendid mechanism."—Winchell.
METAPHYSICS—The science of the first principles of being and of knowledge; the reasoned doctrine of the essential nature and fundamental relations of all that is real.
MIND—An abstract, collective form for all forms of conscious intelligence.
NATURAL LAW—That which is normal or in accordance
with the ordinary course of things; as opposed to the supernatural.
NEGATIVE—Absence or obscurity of anything affirmative or definite; emptiness; voidness; nullity. Thus, "You can never overthrow falsehood by negative, but by establishing the antagonistic truth."—Robertson.
OBJECTIVE—Having the nature of an object or being that is thought of or perceived; as opposed to that which thinks or perceives.
OMNISCIENCE—Knowledge of all things; infinite or unlimited knowledge.
OMNIPOTENT—Possessing unlimited or universal power, applicable to the Deity alone.
OMNIPRESENCE—Essentially present everywhere at the same time.
PERCEPTION—Any insight or intuitive judgment that implies unusual discernment of fact or truth.
PERSONAL—Pertaining to, or characteristic of a human being.
PHILOSOPHY—Knowledge, in a scientific system, of the ultimate principles, elements, cause and laws that underlie and explain all knowledge and existence, and their application in the explanation of these.
PHYSICS—That science or group of sciences which treats of the phenomena associated with matter in general, especially in its relation to energy and the laws governing these phenomena.
PHYSIOLOGY—The branch of biology which treats of the vital phenomena manifested by animals and plants.
PLASTIC—Capable of being moulded into form; as the plastic mind of Truth; or the inner mind of man as having a plastic power over his material body.
POLARITY—That quality of a body by which its smallest parts have certain properties related to a line of direction through its mass, the properties at one end of the line being opposite to the properties at the other end of it, as in a magnet.
POSITIVE—Inherent in a thing, by and of itself; not related to other things, or to human judgment or feeling; absolute; inherent; not admitting of doubt; final; undeniable and incontestable.
POTENTIAL—Possible, but not actual; possessing inherent qualities for development; inherent power, capability, efficiency, as opposed to actuality.
PRANA—The breath of life.
PRECEDENT—Something antecedent in matter, manner or form; which may be cited as an example, model, authority or justification.
PREDOMINANT—Superior in power, influence, effectiveness; having ascendency or control.
PREMISE—A proposition laid down, proved, supposed or assumed that serves as a ground for an argument or conclusion.
PRINCIPLE—The ultimate essential element that enters into the composition of all being. The moving cause, power or force by which being manifests. The Universal truth expressing the law of this manifestation; that which determines the nature, character and essence of anything.
PROPHYLACTIC—Any measure efficacious in protecting from disease.
PSYCHICAL—Pertaining to the mind or soul; mental as distinguished from the physical of physiological.
PSYCHOLOGY—The science which treats of the mind, its functions, condition of activity and development, its essential nature and place in nature at large.
RADIANT—Emitting rays of light or brightness; figuratively, beaming with joy, kindness and love.
RADICAL—Proceeding from the root, source or foundation. Hence, thorough-going, extreme, fundamental.
REALITY—That which is believed to exist independently of thoughts or opinions; the independently existent; the genuine; opposed to the imaginary or fanciful. That appears reality which receives a major share of the attention.
REASON—(1) The faculty of mind by which experiences are compared and inference drawn; (2) The process of arriving at conclusions by means of comparisons; (3) A proposition from which another is validly inferred.
RELAX—To make less vigorous or stringent; abate in strictness or severity; mitigate; to relieve from strain or effort; abate in attention or assiduity, as to relax the mind.
SAGACITY—The power of ready, far-reaching and accurate inference from slight facts; or readiness to see the result of any action; especially upon human actions or conduct.
SAMENESS—The least degree of diversity.
SCIENCE—Knowledge gained and verified by exact observations and correct thinking, methodically formulated and arranged in a rational system.
SERVICE—The act of helping another or promoting his interests in any way.
SOLAR PLEXUS—The largest sympathetic plexus in the body found behind the stomach in front of the aorta and the crura of the diaphragm. It is composed of branches of the pneumogastric and great splanchnic nerves; the most important ganglia connected
with its cords are the right and left similunar. A number of smaller plexus are derived from it.
SPIRIT—The Invisible and incorporeal principle in man; the principle of self-consciousness, self-activity and of rational power in general; that which signifies a likeness in man to the Divine Being.
SUB-CONSCIOUS—That which pertains to the real nature or essence of a person or thing; proceeding from or taking place within the subject, as opposed to the objective. Thus sensation is subconscious, while perception is an objective experience.
SUBJECTIVE—Such processes as seem to have psychical characteristics, but are not attended by consciousness.
SYLLABUS—A concise statement of a subject; an epitome, abstract statement or summary.
SYLLOGISM—A logical formula or analysis of a formal argument, consisting of three propositions, the first two of which are called the premises and the third the conclusion.
SYSTEM—The orderly combination or arrangement into a whole; especially such combinations according to some rational principle or organic idea giving it unity and completeness.
TELEPATHY—(Greek, tele, at a distance, pathos, to experience.) The communication of thoughts between minds without any material medium, ordinary expression or the use of the senses.
THEOLOGY—The science that treats of the being of God, the attributes of God, the doctrine of the Trinity and creation and providence.
THERAPEUTIC—The art and science of curing disease.
TRANSCENDENTAL—Rising above the ordinary notions of men; transcending all ordinary specified bounds or
powers; surpassing the limits of individual experiences, but forming the universal and necessary conditions of experiences in general.
TRUTH—A statement or belief which represents or conforms to the reality; a law or principle established by correct reasoning.
UNIVERSAL—Relating to the entire universe; all-embracing; unlimited; regarded or existing as a whole; entire.
UNIVERSAL MIND—The life principle of every atom in existence.
VIBRATION—A rapid motion back and forth; a vibration is completely determined by its amplitude, frequency and period; thus the lowest vibrations appreciated in a musical note are sixteen per second and those which produce the highest tone 41,000 per second.
VISUALIZE To give pictorial vividness to a mental representation; to construct a visual image in the mind.
VOLATILE—Not lasting or permanent; fleeting; transient; changeable; evaporating.
WILL—The mental power to choose; the power to mould the expressions of the mind; the realization of desires; volition.