Find a new commentary on Haanel

Thought you'd want to find out about a complete commentary on Haanel. This is only found in my Go Thunk Yourself, Compleat! I had to delete it from the copy I sent to my Australian publisher, but I left it in the Lulu version. (Reason was that it makes publishing costs a lot higher, plus people may not want to read a thick work.)

But that is what makes this book compleat. I've stuffed almost everything in it which is worthwhile. (There's more in this blog - but that's an upcoming volume.)

This is an exclusive study - no one else has done this. And that extra makes this last book of the series so much more than just a rehash of earlier data. Compleat covers what I've done to "eat my own dog food" while I apply all this data to my own personal scene.

I was working earlier tonight to see how I could set this up as blog entries - but it is really way too long for that and would take more time than I have available to spend.

I will, however, give you the introductory remarks:

I started studying Haanel's Master Key System in earnest after I had already read through it once. That is the same advice I have for you.

Haanel wrote this originally as a 24-part course in 1909, publishing it as a single-volume book in 1912. So the language is sometimes a bit involved. It isn't the simple sentences we are used to these days. When you study Haanel, you really have to simply take it one paragraph at a time, ensuring that you really understand what he is trying to get across with that paragraph before you move onto the next.

Such an approach allows you to savor each bit and fully understand the interconnections each paragraph has with the preceding ones, which allows his arguments to gain more headway in your mind. As well, if you don't get where he is heading, you can simply backtrack to one or two paragraphs before that (or more) to see where you lost the trail of where he was heading. The trick is to ensure you really understand each paragraph before you go onto the next.

This is different from the introductory skim-type reading I advise when you first get your book. (And do buy a hardcopy book, or print out the whole chapter before you start – it is too easy to lose yourself and skip around when you are reading it off the screen, as well as being far more comfortable on the eyes.) I tell people to read it once through first, then settle down to really study it after that. You get the overview right off the bat and then get the details and precise logic on the next go 'round.

I'm going to review each chapter below, based on the notes I made as I went through it. I'll cover these by reproducing a quote and then giving you my take of this and the cross-connection with other studies, books, tapes, et al.

Realize that my view of this is just that. You read Haanel and you form your own conclusions. What I say should help, but it isn't any replacement for your own studies. This is why I've been careful to quote the exact phrase I comment on. But you need study this book yourself and glean what you can from it. Then start over from the beginning and study it again. Each time you will gain another level of understanding. You may find ultimately that you no longer need to study this book – or that you simply have to experience some more life and come back for another go-round.

But as the Huna principle goes, “Effectiveness is the measure of truth”, my words here are useful only if they help you. I say that any reader should study and understand the original books. No author has any say over your life or your own understanding this universe – other than you let that author influence you.

With that, I'll get out of your way and let you read what I've come up with to date.

So: buy and read this book. You'll get a lot out of it, something which will help you understand Haanel.