Napoleon Hill's Experience

2004-9-22 02:26:00

My Friends,

As I said, I read in one of Napoleon Hill's books many years ago about his encounter with the Brotherhood. I lost the book long ago, but ordered it again from Amazon.com. It arrived today and below is the excerpt of his experience.

NAPOLEON HILL's EXPERIENCE

Through the, Jungle of Life with unseen watchers. You know this book has been nearly seventy years in the making. I have intimated, too, that in those decades I did not know I would write a book which equates wealth with peace of mind, but somehow felt I would. Obviously I could not write it as a young man nor even as a fifty-year-old man, for I had not gathered the necessary experience. Obviously I could not write it, either, until I had learned well, and tested, thoroughly, every bit of advice I give. That advice has been tested in many lives besides my own, and the stories I tell brim with life lessons you will learn for yourself - which is the best way to learn them.

Now and again I have had evidence that unseen friends hover about me, unknowable to ordinary senses. In my studies I discovered there is a group of strange beings who maintain a school of wisdom which must be ten thousand years old, but I did not connect them with myself. Now I have found there is a connection. I am not one of them! - but I have been watched by them. Here is how I found it out.

I finished this book. And then ... One day I knew the time had come to write this book. Perhaps the brief illness I had at that time, during which I outlined the book, was planned by those others to draw my mind away from day-to-day affairs. I wrote the book, enjoying it as one always enjoys a labor of love. It took a number of months, during which I felt highly alive and happy.

I completed the last chapter and still sat before my typewriter, musing on what I had written. Ultimately, nothing matters, I thought-yet it is good to have achieved that which the mind has conceived for so long a time. I was alone in my study and all was very still.

A voice spoke. I saw nobody. I cannot tell you whence the voice came. First it spoke a password known to few men, that riveted my attention.

"I have come," said the voice, "to give you one more section to include in your book. In writing this section you may cause some readers to disbelieve you, yet you will write honestly and many will believe and be benefited. The world has been given many philosophies by which men are prepared for death, but you have been chosen to give mankind a philosophy by which men are prepared for happy living."

I whispered: "Who are you?"

In a softened voice, which sounded like chimes of great music, the unseen speaker replied: "I come from the Great School of the Masters. I am one of the Council of Thirty-Three who serve the Great School and its initiates on the physical plane."

The Great Schools of the Masters!

That is the school of wisdom which has persisted secretly in the Himalayas for ten thousand years. Sometimes known as the Venerable Brotherhood of Ancient India, it is the great central reservoir of religious, philosophical, moral, physical, spiritual and psychical knowledge.

Patiently this school strives to lift mankind from spiritual infancy and darkness to maturity of soul and final illumination.

From the remotest days of antiquity, the Masters of the Great School have communicated with each other by telepathy. Eventually, they met and organized themselves into the world's oldest association.

"These Masters," says J. E. Richardson in The Great Message, "are the Great Teachers who, through all human history, have not only declared their personal knowledge of another life, but have made the personal demonstration of their knowledge in such manner as to leave no possible doubt in the minds of their disciples, or students, as to the fact of that personal knowledge."

The Great School of the Masters always has exercised its powers for the constructive unfolding of individual human intelligence, in harmony with man's unchallengeable control over his individual powers of thought. The Masters believe that this great prerogative, which has been reserved for man alone, provides man with the means by which he may largely control his earthly destiny.

The School has Masters who can disembody themselves and travel instantly to any place they choose in order to acquire essential knowledge, or to give knowledge directly, by voice, to anyone else. Now I knew that one of these Masters had come across thousands of miles, through the night, into my study.

The Master continues to speak. After having paused to allow me time in which to collect my thoughts, the Master continued in the same great musical voice which surely would have resounded through the house had it not been audible to my ears alone.

I shall not set down every word he said, but shall include the gist of his message. Much of what he said already has been presented to you in the chapters of this book or will follow in other chapters.

"You have earned the right to reveal a Supreme Secret to others," said the vibrant voice. "In the journey through life there is a Jungle of Life, a Black Forest through which every individual must pass alone. In the Black Forest he overcomes enemies and his own inner opposition and turmoil. The Black Forest helps to give refinement to the soul of man through struggle and resistance, so that the soul may return to the Great Eternal Reservoir from whence it emerged and become a part of Infinite Intelligence. You have been under the guidance of the Great School but you have been your own master. You have passed through the Jungle of Life safely. Now you must give to the world a blueprint with which others may traverse that same Black Forest.

"And now I shall name the enemies who must be met and conquered in the journey.

"The foremost is FEAR. The expression of fear denies man the use of his true power of thought - a power which can enable each individual to acquire all of his physical needs and control his earthly destiny.

"The next great enemy," said the Master, "is GREED for the possession of material things and for power to control others for selfish ends. No person who is filled with greed and avarice can pass through the Jungle of Life and successfully attain and use the Supreme Secret, for he affronts the Creator when he violates the rights of others.

"INTOLERANCE is third on the list of enemies. Intolerance is the evil partner of selfishness and ignorance. It closes the mind and shuts out facts. It deprives a person of valuable friendships he will need in his journey through life and repels the co-operation of others.

"EGOTISM is the fourth great enemy of man. Self-respect is a most desirable quality, but self-love is self-deceit and causes a man to lose his respect for others.

"LUST is the fifth enemy. It prevents sex emotion from being properly transmuted and properly directed. It leads to excessive sexual expressions which dissipate the vital creative forces of mind and body.

"ANGER, the sixth enemy, is a form of temporary insanity. Righteous indignation that is controlled and directed toward the correction of a cause is occasionally necessary, but those who live with rage cannot truly know the Supreme Secret.

"HATRED, the seventh enemy, is anger which has been, allowed to dwell in the mind until it has hardened like so much cement. It is a mind-poison which erroneously twists the individual's thinking. One who harbors hate cannot control and, direct his power of thought toward constructive ends, and thus" he is denied this one and only outright prerogative with which man has been blessed by the Creator."

The Master went on while I listened raptly. He spoke of the enemy of JEALOUSY, that mixture of covetousness and fear; and of IMPATIENCE, which prevents cause from bearing its fruit in effect. He listed DECEIT, which in the end deceives the deceiver; FALSEHOOD, which weaves a noose with which the liar spiritually hangs himself; the related enemy of INSINCERITY; and VANITY, which makes men vulgar and forms a repulsive force.

In the midst of a great silence the representative of the Great School told me I had been chosen to tell others of all the enemies, including the enemies of CRUELTY, which attracts all the other enemies like a pack of wolves, and MERCILESS- NESS, which turns its back upon those in need and makes the soul shrivel. He spoke of INJUSTICE, of SLANDER and of GOSSIP. He pointed, out that one may know the Supreme Secret in words but cannot use it if he ever attempts to destroy others. He showed me how the Black Forest closes in for a lifetime upon those who do not vanquish the enemies of UNDEPENDABILITY, DISHONESTY, DISLOYALTY and REVENGE.

In concluding with the names of four more enemies against whom I was to warn the world, the Master said they were fully as important in their menace as any of the others. They were: WORRY, which reveals that a man is no bigger than that which he allows to worry him; ENVY, a form of jealousy which most particularly destroys initiative and self-discipline; HYPOCHONDRIA, which prevents the mind from conceiving the continued good health of its bodily temple and so gives ill health its first foothold, which often is in the mind; and INDECISION, which grows stronger the more it is indulged until it rides one's back and one can fall and lie lost, in the Black Forest.

"There are other enemies of man," the Master said, "but who conquers these twenty-six will conquer all the others. Know that one who seeks earnestly to conquer these twenty-six lurking enemies becomes an Initiate of the Great School. We know him, and he has access to the mind of a Master. The means of communication is telepathy. The Initiate may at times convey his need for instruction through what is commonly known as prayer."

The principle of prayer. The Master then told me the principles which lie behind prayer that can bring true help and guidance. You who read the mere printed words should read this section several times until its great meaning is clear to you.

"Prayer," the Master said, "is to be based upon a real need for help to accomplish something of constructive value.

"In true prayer one asks for help only after he has proved, by his own effort, that his own powers are not sufficient to enable him to accomplish his purpose.

"The person who prays for help should not assume he gives over his own individual freedom of action, but rather should, know he is to co-operate with the helping agencies he cannot see.

"He must know, with confident self-respect, that his first duty is to improve himself and his condition; and that out of this, when it is well done, flows his second duty, which is to, help humanity.

"These are the principles we look for in any prayer. However the prayer may be said or thought, under whatever conditions, these principles come through when they are present and bespeak the suppliant's fitness."

The Master now gave a word of caution for the Initiate who is on his way through the Jungle. He told me-as I now tell you-that now and then open spaces appear in that Black Forest, and as one walks clear of clinging underbrush he may think he has conquered all of the twenty-six enemies. This may be a deception on the part of the enemies. A dependable way keep track of the enemies one has overcome is to list them on chart, thus:

FEAR
GREED
INTOLERANCE
EGOTISM
LUST ANGER
HATRED
JEALOUSY
IMPATIENCE
CRUELTY
MERCILESSNESS
INJUSTICE
SLANDER
GOSSIP
UNDEPENDABILITY
DISHONESTY
DISLOYALTY
REVENGE
DECEIT
FALSEHOOD
INSINCERITY
VANITY
WORRY
ENVY
HYPOCHONDRIA
INDECISION

The list should be checked at least once a year. Done honestly, and with the insight and self-knowledge one has gained, such a check enables one to search his record and know the names of the defeated enemies. These are crossed off the list. As long as one enemy remains, the person who made the list still wanders in the Jungle of Life. When every enemy has been accounted for, he has passed through the Jungle.

What happens at the end of the great journey. The Master explained: "When the Initiate has truly conquered all of the twenty-six enemies of success, peace and harmony, he will receive a communication from a Master of the Great School. He will be assured of his success in having passed through the Jungle, and he will receive definite instructions for his future conduct.

"First, he will be shown that a reasonable part of his time is to be devoted to directing others who are struggling to pass through the Jungle, and to helping his fellow men in every other possible way. He will know already that a benefit to others benefits himself, but now he will realize those benefits in their fullest measure.

"Second, he will be given the power to handle all adversities so that their eventual benefit to him always is revealed and he is conscious of his power to turn adversity into benefit.

"Third, the Initiate who masters the twenty-six enemies of man will quickly recognize the nature and purpose of any special mission to which he may be assigned in the future, and he always will have the courage to carry out that mission."

The Master went on quickly: "The Initiate retains the power to neglect or deny any of these requirements, but, should he do so, the penalty may be the complete revocation of the powers he has gained through many years of devoted effort. The powers include great blessings: "Hope, faith and courage to carry out any desired objective. "Benevolence toward his fellow men, and compassion for their problems.

"Self-understanding which reveals to him the nature of his own stupendous powers.

"Endurance and persistence enough to enable him to overcome all obstacles in his path.

"Sound health, both physical and mental.

"The wisdom with which to evaluate all things, and the self- discipline to give him complete mastery over himself.

"Patience with which to deal with adversities.

"Tolerance toward all, and a true spirit of brotherly love.

"Freedom from worry.

"Material abundance to meet all his needs and desires.

"A keen evaluation of time.

"Freedom from all vices.

"A magnetic personality and a spirit of generosity which, attracts friendly co-operation.

"The ability to profit from his mistakes of the past.

"A listening ear, a silent tongue, a faithful heart, a keen, sense of loyalty.

"A profound love of truth.

"The capacity for telepathic communication, including communication with Infinite Intelligence.

"A true understanding of scientific prayer, along with the capacity to get aid from the Masters when it may be needed.

"Immunity against the acts of all evil persons.

"Release from all inherited negative traits. "Complete mastery of every kind of fear, including the fear of death.

"Understanding of the over-all purpose of fife, along with the glorious ability to live according to that purpose."

The Master concludes his message. Another pause in the deep silence, and the Master said: "He will not only understand the true purpose of life, but also he will have at his command the power to fulfill that purpose without having to experience another incarnation on this earthly plane.

"And the Masters of the Great School, on this earthly plane

and all other planes, will rejoice at his triumph and will bid him godspeed toward his own Mastership. His cycle toward Mastership will not have ended, but he will have spread before him the chart by which to navigate successfully."

The voice ended. I began to hear little sounds of the world around me, and I knew the Master had returned to the Great School of the Masters.

The inherent lesson in a few words. Ultimately, nothing matters. Read once more and see how much of the Master's message is concerned with here and now, the time in which we insure, by ourselves, whether life will reward us or punish us; whether we will win our dreams or die unfulfilled. Notice the several ways in which we are enjoined not to become too meanly important ... meanly important in a big show of property or power which counts as nothing in the scheme of things and can destroy health and happiness.

As for the Ultimate beyond our earthly ultimates, we see a vision of a great reservoir of life-spirit, but we are not enjoined to walk in awe nor to walk apart from the affairs of life in some kind of self-assumed sainthood. Goodness in life devolves upon living, and life was not planned as a bed of roses, but as a wholehearted adventure in training one's self to know and win and enjoy the good.

Already you are qualified to use the Supreme Secret in many ways. As soon as you know it-if you do not already know it-you will see why this is so.

CHECKING ON CHAPTER 12:

You are very important-for a little while

When you take your affairs too seriously you steal from your peace of mind. A really big man knows the world around him is bigger than he is. The tensions incurred in trying to "live big" when it is not in your nature may bring you a guilty conscience and other troubles. Many really big men stop by the wayside of life and enjoy themselves, but small men are afraid to do this. Andrew Carnegie had a memorable motto which teaches us not to attempt to. borrow the bigness of others.

Ultimately, -nothing matters

When you are grimly involved in getting, it is time to remind yourself that, ultimately, nothing matters. Every-, thing matters in its time and place, but maintaining perspective gives you a recognition of the ages as well as of today. An experience in "automatic writing" at my typewriter seems to have been a communication from the! world beyond the five senses to tell me that nothing matters, ultimately, and to enable me to pass on the word.

Why fear anything?

Too many people stretch their social consciences into consciences full of fear, depression and self-defeat. Marching through life with courage and confidence does away with fear and there is no need to be concerned with the size of your tombstone. A fearless, peaceful man named Elbert Hubbard wrote as he pleased, published his own works and made a fortune. Neither Hubbard nor Emerson had to be reminded that, ultimately, nothing matters.

In the Jungle of Life there is unseen guidance

The author based much of this book upon a revelation from the Great School of the Masters. Twenty-six enemies lie in wait in the Jungle of Life. Defeat them and you acquire new ability to live a life of peace, abundance, success and enjoyment.

Grow Rich With Peace of Mind by Napoleon Hill Pages 169-178