The Price Of The Holy Grail

We've each got our favorite periods of history we identify with, and our favorite personages and activities. And one of my favorites, from early childhood—the very first things I remember reading in depth, so I had to be in the first, or presumably, the second grade—were the stories of Sir Lancelot and the Round Table.

King Arthur, Sir Parzival—there are variant ways to say it. Most people say Sir Perceval. I prefer the German pronunciation, Sir Parzival.

There's a book in the German language, written by Wolfram von Eschenbach, called Parzival. And that is the source—when it went into England, it was changed into Perceval. So say what you want.

It's a very deep book. It's well done; you see the difference, like with Star Wars. It's not just activity—there are principles, such as good versus evil, young versus old. There are life lessons.

And of course, that's pretty much like a lot of ancient literature—the Bible materials included, the ancient Greek materials included, the Tibetan traditions, the Indian traditions with Krishna… We can go on and on.

These stories are intended to teach lessons about the human condition and the path to achievement and/or fulfillment.

There's a quote I love—"In all the lands girt by the sea, there was never a house so well defended as Munsalvaesche. Wherever it lies, the way that leads there is roughened by strife."

Munsalvaesche is the mysterious castle that houses the Holy Grail.

Well, this is a good and true metaphor for success, achievement, fulfillment as we teach it. Sometimes it's as simple as saying, as we do for the Formula for Riches on page six of The NEW Think and Grow Rich, "Look, you have to know what you want, by when, and how you're going to get it. You have to plan it out, get your strategy cranking."

You want to make it into an affirmation, so you can then repeat it over and over again, and get it into your subconscious so that it guides everything you do.

Remember, think and grow rich—"grow rich" being the result!

So what this is talking about is the Holy Grail. The Holy Grail is success, is that achievement, is that fulfillment, is that contribution at a higher level. It's saying that you'll never get there without discipline, without work, without effort.

It's saying that you, yourself, will make up a lot of excuses why it's easier to quit, why someone else can have it but you can't. You are your biggest enemy. And it's all about getting to yourself.

The Holy Grail, Munsalvaesche, though well-defended, is yourself!