Do you remember the parable of the prodigal son?

 

The story recently came to mind as I studied The Master Key System by Charles Haanel.

Haanel writes in Chapter 20,  “Spiritual wealth: unless you recognize it and use it, it will have no value. The one and only condition of spiritual power is use or recognition.”

A parable is a short story intended to illustrate a spiritual lesson. In the story of the prodigal son is the same message that Charles Haanel teaches in The Master Key System.

We can fail to recognize this world within, and so exclude it from our consciousness, but it will still be the basic fact of all existence; and when we learn to recognize it, not only in ourselves, but in all persons, events, things and circumstances we shall have found the “Kingdom of heaven” which we are told is “within” us. -Haanel

As the story goes … a father gave his younger son his share of the family fortune and as you know, the son took off and squandered everything.  When he returned home, he was greeted with a party which totally pissed off his older brother.

The older brother complained how unfair it was because he had played by the rules and never messed up.

His father replied, “Son, you don’t understand. You’re with me all the time, and everything that is mine is yours.  All you have to do is understand that it belongs to you and you can ask for it any time! It doesn’t become useful until you acknowledge it and receive it.”

The lesson of the Prodigal Son lies in this question:

Which one are you?  The prodigal son or the jealous brother?

The older son recognized, asked and received the gifts that were available to him.

He took action. He dared to live life differently, to try something he had never done before.

He lost it all.

Did he give up, say this doesn’t work, throw in the towel and agree to struggle for the rest of his life?

NO!

He didn’t stay in the lowest, desperate, financially devasted state because … he remembered.

He remembered that spiritual wealth is always available to everyone. He reconnected to the Universal Source where all that he needed, desired, and imagined was waiting for him.

He returned home.

Home – the re-connection to Universal mind, to the ALL in ALL for he knew that He who made him was in him … was him.

The brother, on the other hand, complained and became bitter, jealous, envious crying out “it’s not fair.”

He did not recognize or make use of the spiritual wealth that was his to access at anytime.

His father reminded him, “Son, all you have to do is understand that it belongs to you and you can ask for it any time! It doesn’t become useful until you acknowledge it and receive it.”

We can take this a little deeper and see how it also applies to your experiences in building your  business.

As marketers, especially when you are not seeing the results that you desire, you have probably at one time or another experienced the feeling of jealousy and envy when you witness the success of others.

You become like the other brother.

You begin to think “they are better than me, more skillful, more knowledgeable … even lucky.”

You begin to feel resentment, jealousy, even anger.

When that happens, it’s time to recognize that the power to receive more blessings is already within you.  You just have to recognize it and use it, as Charles Haanel teaches.

When you begin to perceive that the essence of the Universal is within yourself—is you—you begin to do things; you begin to feel your power; it is the fuel which fires the imagination; which lights the torch of inspiration; which gives vitality to thought; which enables you to connect with all the invisible forces of the Universe. It is this power which will enable you to plan fearlessly, to execute masterfully. -Haanel

On the other hand, if you, like the prodigal son, have tried and failed, all is not lost.

It isn’t your last rodeo.

Just go back home … AGAIN.

Reconnect with He who made you and is in you … and is you.

There you will be greeted with embraces and celebrations, luscious robes, the fatted calf, the golden ring on your hand for it is all available and waiting for you.

“In him we live and move and have our being” is literally and scientifically exact! That you ARE because He IS, that if He is Omnipresent He must be in you. That if He is all in all you must be in Him! That He is Spirit and you are made in “His image and likeness” and that the only difference between His spirit and your spirit is one of degree, that a part must be the same in kind and quality as the whole. When you can realize this clearly you will have found the secret of the creative power of thought, you will have found the origin of both good and evil, you will have found the secret of the wonderful power of concentration, you will have found the key to the solution of every problem whether physical, financial, or environmental. -Haanel

The key to manifesting the desires for success and abundance is to connect with the power that is within you.

When you do, there will be no jealousy or blame.  There will be no fear or doubt.

You just have to recognize and access the power that is yours.

The secret of power is a perfect understanding of the principles, forces, methods and combinations of Mind, and a perfect understanding of our relationship to the Universal Mind. It is well to remember that this principle is unchangeable; if this were not so, it would not be reliable; all principles are changeless. This stability is your opportunity; you are its active attribute, the channel for its activity; the Universal can act only through the individual. -Haanel

This classic book, “The Master Key System” was written over one hundred years ago but the message is as prevalent today as it was back then.

If you would like to join the study and discussion of this powerful, life-changing book, we meet every Monday thru Friday morning on an open conference call.

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Which one are you right now – the prodigal son or the complaining brother?

 

Trisha
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