From: 'The Bacco's

Subject: Question

Hi there,

In your article "What is the NAM?" you stated that "(iv) Napoleon Hill's book "Grow Rich With Peace of Mind" was given to the author by spirits (the "Ascended Masters") who hovered about him."

I'm just wondering if you have any factual proof of this claim? Are there any writings or acknowledgments anywhere which point to such a fact? Is there any basis to this theory, or is it just speculation?

Thank you for your time.

28th April, 2004 - TCE replies:

Dear ''Bacco's''

thank you for your inquiry and we apologise for the delay in replying.

The answer to your questions can be found in the book in question: ''Grow Rich with Peace of Mind.''

Depending on the version read (probably between pages 158 to 162), you will find the following statements:

"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 this out. I finished this book. 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.... 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 School has Masters who can disembody themselves and travel instantly to any place they choose .... Now I knew that one of these Masters had come across thousands of miles, through the night, into my study."

"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. ... And now I shall name the enemies who must be met and conquered in the journey... The foremost is fear." He went on to name intolerance, egotism, lust, anger and hatred and a total of 26 enemies. ..."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 Master concluded after another pause in the deep silence, and 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 God speed toward his own mastership." ... 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.

Hill made similar statements in chapter two of the book "The Master Key to Riches" when he unconditionally represents 'Eight Princes' as distinct entities and (page 28) "my friends who have done most for me in preparing my mind for the acceptance of riches. I call them the Eight Princes. They serve me when I am awake and they serve me while I sleep."

He further states on page 29, "My greatest asset consists in my good fortune in having recognized the existence of the Eight Princes...." Hill opens the chapter by saying that you can call them other names beside "princes" but he specifically gives them attributes of distinct beings that can impute knowledge and have powers to affect physical events. Hill states that Andrew Carnegie "was blessed with the services of the Eight Princes. The Prince of Overall Wisdom served him so well that he was inspired not only to give away all his material riches, but to provide the people with a complete philosophy of life through which they too might acquire riches." He communicated with these beings every day expressing gratitude to each one for the named function. The exact words he used in addressing these beings are given on pages 27 through 29.

Hill refers to his communication as a "ceremony" on page 30 where he states: "Observe that I ask for nothing from the Princes, but I devote the entire ceremony to an expression of gratitude for the riches they have already bestowed upon me." He gives further credit to theses beings: "The Princes know my needs and supply them!... Yes, they supply all of my needs in overabundance." While discussing the philosophy of life that the princes gave, he states: "It supports all religions yet it is a part of none!"

Hill has stated in other books that he rejected the religion of his youth and believes that he is not associated with any religion but has knowledge that "supports all religion". He states, in his early writings, that he never met these beings face to face. In other books, however, he describes how beings actually materialized in front of him and talked with him. He is clearly communicating with spiritual beings and pays some kind of homage to them, thus practicing a very old religion currently called by many "New Age" religion.

In about 1937 he wrote "Think and Grow Rich" and was communicating with an "imaginary cabinet" made up by himself of nine individuals who were long dead. He imagined them talking to himself. He claimed that knowledge came from them that he was not able to get from just thinking. He wrote (page 216) in 'Think and Grow Rich': "In these imaginary council meeting I call on my cabinet members for the knowledge I wished to contribute, addressing myself to each member in audible words. . . ."

"The Master Key to Riches", was copyrighted in 1967 by Hill and he had now, apparently, stopped talking to an "imaginary cabinet" and was talking with actual unseen beings. So Hill's journey into communication with these spirits apparently began at least as early as his 1937 book and was continued into the creation of "Grow Rich With Peace of Mind".

Yours sincerely

TCE