January 31 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Metaphysics and Physics ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

The laws of Mind, or spirit, are not different from the laws of chemistry and physics.  Metaphysics begins where physics leaves off.  Everything is movement; everything we can take hold of and analyze, all things in the physical world or the world of form are in a certain rate of vibration and are an effect.  This is the result of "an Infinite Thinker thinking mathematically."

To reduce this proposition to the practical life of the individual, our belief is that anything the mind thinks, it can unthink.  If, therefore, by the law of cause and effect we have produced unpleasant conditions, we should be able by this same law to produce an entirely different effect.

Another principle which is fundamental to our practice is, that not only what is set in motion can be changed; but that the Truth known is demonstrated.  The knowledge of Truth and its demonstration is both simultaneous and instantaneous.  Since we are dealing with that which is Limitless, knowing no big and no little, the possibility of our demonstration rests not in the Principle, but in our acknowledgment of, and embodiment in it, of the ideas we desire experienced!  The saying of "peace" will not produce peace unless back of the word is a realization of the meaning of peace.  So in the simplicity of our own language, we try to convince ourselves of the reality of that for which we are treating, knowing that in such degree as we have an embodiment of the idea, it is thrown into a mechanical field and must operate.

"Spirit is the Power that knows Itself."  Whatever that power within us is that knows itself, constitutes the part of us which is spirit or spiritual.  To be self-conscious, is to be a spiritual entity.  Mind, in Its self-conscious form, cannot be differentiated from Spirit.  Mind, in Its subjective or subconscious state, is the Law of Spirit.  Man is a spirit while God is The Spirit.  Man is an individual, while God is the Universal, but since the individual comes from and is in the Universal, it follows that man is a little world within himself.  This is what Jesus meant when he said that man has inherent life within himself.  The meaning of inherent life is real life...creative life.

No limit can be placed upon the spirit of man.  It merges with the Universal Spirit for the two are really One.  God is in us as we are in God - the same essence, the degree apparently different.  The one finite and  the other Infinite, and since the Infinite cannot come from the finite, it follows that the finite must come from the Infinite - a little circle within the big circle. 

Metaphysically, we recognize the Universal Spirit as the Source of all life and inspiration; an Infinite Self-Knowingness, which we grasp only in part but which is ever available, since the Infinite is omnipresent.  The mind of man is an extension of the Eternal Mind or Spirit, and his evolution is the unfolding of this everlasting Mind or Spirit through his thought.

Only One Mind

There is no such thing as your mind, my mind and God's Mind.  There is only Mind, in which we all "live and move and have our being."

Things are ideas in form.  What else could they be?  There is nothing from which to make things except ideas.  In the beginning, we behold nothing visible; there is only an Infinite Possibility, a Limitless Imagination, a Consciousness - the only action of this Consciousness being Idea.

That  which we call our subjective mind is, in reality, our identity in Infinite Mind.  It is the result  of our mental attitudes. It is our mental atmosphere, or center, in Universal Subjective Mind, in which are retained all of the images, impressions, inherited tendencies and race suggestions.  We see then that our subjective mind is the medium through which experiences come to us.

There is One First Cause - Spirit, Soul and Body - Cause, Medium, and Effect; the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.  Not three gods, but the Triune Nature of the One God, the One Cause.  We think of Spirit as Absolute, Self-Conscious Intelligence.  We think of Soul as receptive to Intelligence and the Intelligence as always acting upon It.  Spirit and Soul inter-sphere each other and both have omnipresence.  The Spirit of the Universe permeates the Soul of the Universe, forever impregnating It with ideas.  The Soul of the Universe is the "Holy Womb of Nature," producing the forms which appear in the manifest universe.

The Body of the Universe is the result of the thought of Spirit, operating through the medium of soul  The Father is Absolute, Positive Intelligence; the Son is the Offspring of the Father; the Holy ghost is "The Servant of the Eternal Spirit throughout the ages."  Spirit is Absolute Intelligence, operating through the Soul of Receptive Intelligence, impregnating It with "the Divine Ideas."

The "Personalness" of God

We should think of God, not only as Principle, forever pushing forward into expression; but as Infinite Person.  In other words, if we merely think of an abstract Principle, and a mathematical Law of Cause and Effect, we shall lose all warmth and color.  We should be very careful in abstracting the Principle not to forget the Essence.

There is something in the human mind that desires to think of God or Spirit as Person.  Anything which has been in the human mind since time began - anything we are unable to erase from the human mind as a deep urge - arises out of Reality.

Let us not forget that there is inherent necessity for warmth and color.  The Universe is more than an inexorable Law of Cause and Effect.  PERSONALITY CANNOT EMERGE FROM A PRINCIPLE WHICH DOES NOT CONTAIN THE INHERENT POSSIBILITY OF PERSONALITY.  In each one of us, to each one of us, through each one of us, something is personalized and that which is personalized is personal to its own personification!  Spiritual evolution should make the Infinite not more distant; but more intimate.

January 30 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

The Action of Spirit Within Itself ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

God, the Self-Existent First Cause, speaks and it is done. His Word is Law.  God is Word, God is Law, God is Spirit.  Spirit knows Itself; the Law is the servant of the Spirit, and is set in motion through Its Word.  All law is some form of universal force or energy.  Law does not know itself;  Law knows only to do.  It is the medium through which the Spirit operates to fulfill Its purpose.

Did God make Law?  It is impossible to think of a time when Law did not operate; it is impossible to conceive that It was ever created.  Therefore, Law must be Co-Existent and Co-Eternal with Spirit, a part of the Causeless Nature of the Divine Reality.

The Spirit operates through Law, which is some part of Its own Nature; therefore, all action must be some action of Spirit as Law!  The Word of Spirit moves through the Law and, since the Law must be as timeless as the Spirit, we could not think of a time when Law was not, or a time when It would cease to be; neither can we imagine the Law ever failing to operate once It is set in motion.

We have then, an Infinite Spirit and an Infinite Law...Intelligence and the Way It works.  GOD WORKING THORUGH LAW, which is unfailing and certain.  Creation - the activity of God, the activity of Spirit - the passing of Substance into form, through a Law, which is set in motion by the Word of Spirit.  Spirit is "the same yesterday, today and forever," so our thought cannot picture a time when the activity of Spirit will cease.

The whole action of Spirit must be within Itself, upon the Law (which is also within Itself) and upon the Universal Stuff, which is also within Itself.  The three in reality are One - The Trinity.  There is something called God that makes things out of Himself (or Itself) by becoming the things It makes, according to law and order.   As nearly as the intelligence of the human race is able to judge, Spirit creates by contemplation.

How We Understand Its Operation

The philosophy of applied metaphysics rests upon two or three very simple, theoretical propositions.  ALL INVISIBLE PRINCIPLES ARE THEORETICAL, in that we cannot appraise them with our physical senses; we cannot weigh and measure them.  Life, love, and beauty may be considered theoretical, in that no one has ever seen them.  We see only their manifestations; but because of such manifestations, we reason that the reality exists.

Metaphysical work rests upon the theory that the Universe is a thing of Absolute Intelligence, that this Intelligence is Self-Existent - Spirit was not created.  It was, is and ever will be.  We are compelled to assume the actuality of an Original Creative Energy and Intelligence, before which nothing comes.  God, the Divine or Universal Life Principle, or whatever we choose to call It, is an Original, Uncreated, Changeless Being.  Not a Being with parts, but BEING with potentialities. There is a vast difference.

A present interpretation of the Universe, according to one learned physicist, is that of "an Infinite Thinker, thinking mathematically."  The Infinite thinker is a spontaneous Thinker.  The Infinite Thinker thinks, and what follows is in a sequence of law and order, of cause and effect; this is the mathematics.  The Infinite Thinker, in movement, is Principle.  The Being of the Infinite Thinker is pure Spirit, and may be thought of (in a sense which we but dimly comprehend) as the Infinite or abstract Essence of concrete personality, and the Cause of all objective and subjective manifestation.

To express this more simply, God thinks.  As the result of God's thought, Law is set in motion - or The Thought moves as Law - in a field of Cause and Effect.  Its movement is now mathematical.  The only thing that is spontaneous is the Creative Thought Itself - the Contemplation of Spirit.

January 29 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Spirit ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

The Definition of Spirit

"The nature of Being is a Unity, with three distinct attributes:  Spirit, Soul, and Body.

The definition of Spirit is:  "life or intelligence conceived of entire lay apart from physical embodiment.  It is vital essence, force, energy, as distinct from matter."

Probably the definition of "Spirit" is more easily understood, more readily accepted, than any other term used in describing Deity.  Jesus in talking with the woman of Samaria, explained:  "God is Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.". 

The nature of Being is a Unity, with three distinct attributes:  Spirit, Soul, and Body.

Spirit is the active and Self-Conscious Principle.  Spirit is First Cause or God - the Absolute Essence of all that is.  It is the great or Universal I AM.  Spirit is Conscious Mind and is the Power which knows Itself.  It is conscious Being.

The Spirit is Self-Propelling.  It is Absolute and All.  It is Self-Existent and has all life within Itself.  It is the Word and the Word is Volition.  It has choice because It is Volition.  It is Will because It chooses.  It is Free Spirit, because It knows nothing outside Itself, and therefore nothing different from Itself.

Spirit is the Father-Mother God, because It is the Principle of Unity back of all things.  The masculine and the feminine principles both come from the One.  Spirit is all Life, Truth, Universe that knows Itself.  The Spirit could know nothing outside Itself, that would be God and something else.  SPIRIT IS ALL - the Center and Circumference of everything that exists - both manifest and unmanifest.  It has no enemies, no differences, no otherness, no apartness, no separation from Itself.  It is Undivided, Complete and Perfect within Itself, having no opposites and no opposition.  It know s only Its own ability and since It is All, It cannot be hindered in any way, shape or manner.

It is impossible for a finite mind to comprehend such a complete Life and Power.  in moments of real inspiration, we realize, to a degree at least, that God is All - That which has within Itself all that really is - the Life in everything ant he Love through everything.  The One Presence and the One Infinite Person, Whom we call god or Spirit; within this One all live.

Its Nature

The fundamental premise upon which the philosophy of the Bible is developed is that Spirit is One, and that CREATION IS THE RESULT OF SPIRIT'S ONE MODE OF ACTION.

Perhaps the one point on which we are all agreed is that whatever the Nature of First Cause or Spirit, It is creative.  If this were not true, nothing could come into existence.  It is impossible to think of Creative Life expressing Itself other than in livingness.  Jesus undoubtedly meant just this, when he explained that he had come "that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."

Another point on which we are all agreed as to the Nature of First Cause is, that It is harmonious.  If there were an element of inharmony, discord or decay anywhere in Its Nature, It would destroy Itself.

It has always been taught that the Soul of the Universe is that receptive medium into which the Spirit breathes forth the forms of Its thought.  It is subjective to the Spirit.  That which is subjective is always impersonal, neutral, plastic, passive and receptive.  Wherever we find subjective law, we shall find something that is compelled to receive that which is given it, and compelled to act upon it.  Consequently, the Soul of the Universe has been called "a blind force, not knowing, only doing."  It has been called "The Servant of the Eternal Spirit throughout the ages."  It is the medium of the thought, power and action of Spirit.

Spirit, the Changeless

Creation does not mean making something out of nothing.  Creation is the passing of Spirit into form and is eternally going on.  Spirit cannot change, for being All, there is nothing for It to change into.  This is self-evident.

It is necessary for us to understand that the only active Principle is Spirit...Self-Conscious, Self-Knowing Life...and that all else is subject to Its Will.  The Spirit is conscious of Its own Thought, Its own Desire, Its own manifest Action; and It is conscious that Its Desire is satisfied.  Consequently, It is conscious of that which It manifests; but It is not conscious of any effort or process in Its manifestation.

It is necessary that Soul and Body should exist because Spirit, without manifestation, would construct only a dream world, never coming to Self-Realization.  In order to express, there must be a medium through which Spirit manifests and there must be a manifestation, hence, Soul and Body.  The teaching of the great thinkers of all time is, that we live in a threefold Universe of Spirit, Soul and Body - of Intelligence, Substance and Form."

January 28 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

How to Use It - Conclusion ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

"A treatment is a spiritual entity in the mental world and is equipped with power and volition - as much power and volition as there is faith in it, given to it by the mind of the one using it - and, operating through the Law, It knows exactly how to work and what methods to use and just how to use them.  We do not put the power into this word, but we do let the power of the Law flow through it, and the one who most completely believes in this power will produce the best results.  The is the Law of cause and effect, again. 

When one gives a treatment for right action, and does not believe that right action will be the result, he makes his own treatment negative.  Therefore, we should spend much time in convincing ourselves of the truth of our treatments.  Now this is not a power of will, but a power of choice.  We do not put the power into the treatment, and we will take out of the treatment ONLY AS MUCH AS WE BELIEVE IS IN IT!

If one doubts his ability to give an effective treatment, he should specifically treat himself to remove this doubt.  He should say something like this, but not necessarily these words:  "I am convinced that this word has power, and I firmly believe in it.  I trust it to produce the right results in my life, (or in the life of the one for whom I am using my word)."

We should work, not with anxiety but with expectancy; not by coercion but with conviction; not through compulsion but in a state of conscious recognition and receptivity.  We do not have to drive or push but we must accept and believe.  We should, then, leave everything to the Law, expecting a full and complete proof of our faith.  We shall not be disappointed nor chagrined, for the Law is our faithful servant.

One should treat any given proposition until he proves his Principle, no matter how long it takes.  We should treat until we get results - until there comes into our objective experience the actual outpouring of our subjective words.  When working for someone else, speak the name of this person - into Mind - then proceed with the treatment.  Should someone come to you with the question, "Am I too old to find my rightful place?", what are you as a practitioner to reply?  You explain that there is no recognition of age in the truth; that everyone has his place in Truth; that God does not withdraw Himself from us at a certain age, for God is Omnipresence.  In this Presence, every being is fully provided for at every age.

A practitioner consciously removes the apparent obstruction, and leaves the field open to a new influx of Spirit.  He resolves things into thoughts, dissolves the negative appearance in the condition, by recognizing only perfection.  THE PRACTITIONER MUST KNOW, AND MUST STATE, THAT THERE ARE NO OBSTACLES IN THE PATHWAY OF TRUTH.  He must know that his word, being the activity of the Truth, removes all obstructions from the pathway of his patient, or the one for whom he is working.

If the obstruction is the result of a "hang-over" of belief from past years, the practitioner must know that no past mistake can hinder or obstruct the flow of Divine Intelligence through God's idea - which is perfect man, manifesting the attributes of God in freedom, happiness, activity and power, and that this Truth is now made manifest in his life.

The patient should try to be receptive, not to the will of the practitioner, but to the purpose of the Universe.  That is, the patient should expect results and should be willing to give up anything and everything that would hinder the demonstration.  Perfect belief is the beginning and the end of all good mental work.

The mental attitude of the practitioner is one of denial toward every false condition that opposes the principle of Life as one of absolute perfection.  God's world is perfect, and this is the Principle we have to demonstrate.  Spiritual things must be spiritually discerned and when we are ready and willing spiritually to discern, we shall find a ready response from the Invisible into the visible.  Let us do our work conscientiously and thoroughly and leave the results to that Law which is perfect.

A new light is coming into the world.  We are on the borderland of a new experience.  The veil between Spirit and matter is very thin.  The invisible passes into visibility through our faith in it.  A new science, a new religion, and a new philosophy are rapidly being developed.  This is in line with the evolution of the great Presence and nothing can hinder its progress.  It is useless, as well as foolish, to make any attempts to cover this Principle, or to hold It as a vested right of any religion, sect or order.  The Truth will out; the Spirit will make Itself known.  Happy are we if we see these things which, from the foundation of the human race, have been longed for by all aspiring souls.

True thought deals directly with First Cause; and this Science is the study of First Cause, Spirit or the Truth, that Invisible Essence, that Ultimate Stuff and Intelligence from which everything comes - the Power back of creation - The Thing Itself."

January 27 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

How to Use It (Continued) ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

Of all the people in the world, the ones who have come the nearest to touching the seamless garment of Truth have been the most sympathetic and the greatest lovers of the race.  Jesus said, "And I, if I be lifted up, ....(not dragged down) will draw all men unto me."  (John 12:32)

We are in the world and of it and it is good that it is so.  The world is all right when we view it correctly.  Who knows what would transpire if all men would speak the truth?  It has never yet been tried, but let not the mouth of the profane hinder those who would enter, thereby keeping them from entering.  The world has never yet followed the simple ethics of Jesus, yet it is loud in its proclamation that it is Christian.  This statement is not written in a spirit of controversy, it is one of conviction, and will make its appeal only to those who are convinced  "A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still."

Let us return to the man who really wishes to demonstrate the supremacy of spiritual thought force over apparent material resistance.  Let us put his treatment in the first person - impersonating him for the purpose of clarity.

"I am a center in the Divine Mind, a point of God-conscious life, truth and action.  My affairs are divinely guided and guarded into right action, into correct results.  Everything I do, say or think, is stimulated by the Truth.  There is power in this word that I speak, because it is of the Truth and it is the Truth.  There is perfect and continuous right action in my life and my affairs.  All belief in wrong action is dispelled and made negative.  Right action alone has power and right action is power, and Power is God...the Living Spirit Almighty.  This Spirit animates everything that I do, say or think.  Ideas come to me daily and these ideas are divine ideas.  They direct me and sustain me without effort.  I am continuously directed.  I am compelled to do the right thing at the right time, to say the right word at the right time, to follow the right course at all times.

"All suggestion of age, poverty, limitation or unhappiness is uprooted from my mind and cannot gain entrance to my thought.  I am happy, well and filled with perfect Life.  I live in the Spirit of Truth and am conscious that the Spirit of Truth lives in me.  My word is the law unto its own manifestation, and will bring to me or cause me to be brought to its fulfillment.  There is no unbelief, no doubt, no uncertainty.  I know and I know that I know.  Let every thought of doubt vanish from my mind that I may know the Truth and the Truth may make me free."

The Truth is instantaneous in its demonstration, taking only such time in Its unfoldment as is inherent in the law of a logical and sequential evolution.  In this invisible law of unfoldment, we must come to trust, and although we do not see the way, we must believe that the way IS and IS OPERATIVE.  We must trust the Invisible, for It is the sole cause of that which is visible... "...things which are seen were not made of things which do appear."   (Heb. 11:3)

Healing and demonstration take place as our minds become attuned to the truth of Being.  There is no process of healing, but there is generally a process in healing.  This process is the time and effort which we undergo in our realizations of Truth.

The one who wishes scientifically to work out his problems, must daily take the time to meditate and mentally treat the condition, no matter what the apparent contradictions may be.  He is working silently in the Law and the Law will find an outlet through his faith in It.  This Law is the Law which puts the act into all action.  It is the invisible actor, working through us to will and to do.  As a result of right treatment, the mold formed in the subjective mind by the treatment makes possible a concrete manifestation.  The treatment is an intelligent Energy in the invisible world.  It is a spiritual entity, working through the Law of Mind, and it is an actual force now consciously directed.  Therefore, it must produce specific results.

This will not seem strange to those who have given thought to the subject.  As the primordial Word of the Creator is the only thing which explains creation, so every man's word - partaking of this original nature as it does - must reproduce the creative function in his life, at the level of his consciousness of One Life back of, in, and through all.

January 26 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

How to Use It (Continued) ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

"We should be able to look a discordant fact in the face and deny its reality, since we know its seeming reality is borrowed from illusion, from "chaos and old night."  Our standard is one of perfection.  "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect"  (Matt. 5:48)  We should be able to look at a wrong condition with the knowledge that we can change it.  The realization that we have this ability must be gained by the application of our knowledge. 

The practice of the Science of Mind calls for a positive understanding of the Spirit of Truth; a willingness to let this inner Spirit guide us, with the conscious knowledge that "The law of the Lord is perfect."  (Psalms 19:7)  And we must believe this to be a fact.  IN SO FAR AS OUR THOUGHT IS IN ACCORD WITH THIS PERFECT LAW, IT WILL ACCOMPLISH AND NOTHING CAN HINDER IT.  "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away,"  (Matt. 24:35) said the beautiful Jesus, as he strove to teach his disciples the immutability of the Law of Righteousness.

A practitioner uses thought definitely and for specific purposes, and the more definitely he uses the Law, the more directly will It respond to him.  A false fact is neither person, place nor thing to the one who uncovers it, and once uncovered it has no place in which to hide.  The illusion, seen and understood, is made negative in the experience of the one who suffered by it.  While it is true that wrong conditions exist, they could not remain unless there were someone to experience them.  Consequently, the experience must be in consciousness.  Change the consciousness and the false condition will disappear.  Conditions are not entities, we are entities.  Cannot that which is conscious cast out that which has no consciousness?  If we properly understood, we would be able to remove false conditions as easily as Jesus did.  He knew, but our faith is weak.  We must strengthen it and we can.

Let us analyze this:  One finds himself impoverished.   He wishes to change this condition.  He knows that it is not in accord with Ultimate Reality; that the Spirit imposes no limitations.  Therefore, he knows that his apparent limited condition has no rea law to support it; it is simply an experience of consciousness  He wishes a definite result in the opposite direction.  First, he realizes that the Law of Life is a Law of Liberty, of Freedom.  He now states that this Law of Liberty is flowing through him and into all his affairs. But the image of his limitation persists. Her is a definite contradiction of his statements of freedom.

Right here, he must stop and declare that these images of limitation are neither person, place nor thing; that they have no power, personality nor presence and no real law to support them.  He does not believe in them and they cannot operate through him.  He is free from their influence, forever.  He then begins to fill his thought with the idea of faith, the expectancy of good and the realization of plenty.  He senses, and mentally sees, right action in his life.  He puts his whole trust in the Law of good, and It becomes very real to him as he definitely speaks It into being - into his being and into the being of his affairs. He denies anything and everything that contradicts his realization of this truth.

At this point of realization, he meets a friend(?) who immediately begins a tale of woe about hard times, bad business condition, etc., and, should he listen to this "tale of the serpent," he might reverse his previous affirmations and make negative his former mental and spiritual concept!  This does not mean that he should refuse to hold conversation with people, for fear they will neutralize the position which he has taken in his mind, but that he should refuse mentally to accept the false position.  Then he can talk with anyone and not be disturbed.

The time will come when we will let our "conversation be in Heaven," and refuse to talk about, read or think about, those things that ought not to be.  But, someone will say, "Should we refuse to look at sickness, poverty and unhappiness"  This is not what we are discussing.  We will not refuse to help the helpless or lift up the fallen, but we will refuse to wallow in the mud because of our sympathies.  "And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch."  (Matt. 15:14)"

January 25 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

How to Use It ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

"One of the great difficulties in the new order of thought is that we are likely to indulge in too much theory and too little practice.  As a matter of fact, we only know as much as we an prove by actual demonstration.  That which we cannot prove may, or may not, be true but that which we can prove certainly must be, and is, the truth.

Of course, the theory of any scientific principle goes beyond its application, at any given stage of the unfoldment of that principle, and the evolution of its accomplishments.  If this were not true, there would be no progress in any science.  The sciences are objectively real to us only in so far as we demonstrate them, and until demonstrated they are suppositional, so far as practical results are concerned.  If there is any field of research where the practical application is necessary, it is in the metaphysical field, the reason being that the principle of metaphysics seems less tangible to the average person than does the principle of other sciences.  As a matter of fact, all principles are as intangible, but the world at large has not yet come to consider the Principle of mental practice in the same light that it considers other given principles of life and action.  Its apparent intangibility is lessened whenever and wherever anyone actually demonstrates the supremacy of spiritual thought force over apparent material resistance.

It is easy enough to rush about shouting that there are no sick people, but this will never heal those who appear to be sick.  It is easy to proclaim that there are no needy.  Anyone can say this, whether he be wise or otherwise.  If we are to prove such statements to be facts in our experience, we shall be compelled to do more than announce a principle, no matter how true it may be.

There is no doubt about the immutability and the availability of the Law.  The Law is Infinite.  It is right where we happen to be at any given time.  It occupies all space and fills every form with differentiations of Itself.  The Law also flows through us, because It flows through everything, and since we exist, It must be in and through us.  This is the crux of the whole matter.  Infinite and immutable as the Law is - ever-present and available as it must be, the potential possibility of all human probability - It must flow through us in order to manifest for us.

It has been proved that by thinking correctly and by a conscious mental use of the law of Mind, we can cause It to do definite things for us, through us.  By conscious thinking, we give conscious direction to It, and It, consciously or unconsciously, responds to our advance along the line of our conscious, or subjective, direction.

It must and will respond to everyone, because It is Law and law is no respecter of persons.  We are surrounded by an intelligent force and substance, from which all things come - the ultimate Essence, in the invisible and subjective world, of all visible and objective forms and conditions.  It is around us in its original state, ready and willing to take form through the impulse of our creative belief.  It works for us by flowing through us. This law we did not create; this law we cannot change.  We can use It correctly only as we understand and use It according to Its nature.

Hence, it follows that if we believe that It will not work, It really works by appearing to "not work."  When we believe that It cannot and will not, then, according to the principle, It DOES NOT.  But when It does not, It still does - only It does according to our belief that It will not.  This is our own punishment through the law of cause and effect; we do not enter in because of our doubts and fears.  It is not a punishment imposed upon us by the Spirit of God, but an automatic result of failing constructively to use the Law of God.

God does not punish the mathematician who fails to obtain the right answer to his problem.  The thought of the unsolved problem does punish him until he applies the right principle and thus secures the desired result.  Thus sin and punishment, righteousness and salvation, are logical reactions of the Universe to the life of the individual.

When we are dealing with real Life - with thoughts, impulses , emotions, etc. - we are dealing with Causation, with original Cause, and we should be most careful how we deal with such powers and forces.  In dealing with this subtle power of Mind and Spirit, we are dealing with a fluent force.  It is forever taking form and forever deserting the form which it has taken.  Thus a practitioner of this Science should not be confused over any given form, but should know that any form which is not of the original harmony is subject to change.  The Original Spirit is Harmony.  It is Beauty and Truth and everything that goes with Ultimate Reality.  The Universe is not divided against Itself.

We should learn to control our thought processes and bring them into line with Reality.  Thought should tend more and more toward an affirmative attitude of mind that is positive, stable, and - above all else - toward a real unity with Spirit that is already complete and perfect."

January 24 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Place No Limit on Principle ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

Know your own mind. Train yourself to think what you wish to think; be what you wish to be; feel what you wish to feel, and place no limit on Principle!

The words which you speak would be just as powerful as the words which Jesus spoke, if you knew your word was the Law whereunto it was sent, but you must KNOW this WITHIN and not merely accept it with your intellect.  If you have reached a point where the inner consciousness believes, then your word is simply an announcement of Reality!

KNOW - without a shadow of a doubt - that as a result of your treatment, some action takes place in Infinite Mind.  Infinite Mind is the actor and you are the announcer.  If you have a  vague, subtle, unconscious fear, be quiet and ask yourself, "Who am I?"  "What am I?"  "Who is speaking?"  "What is my life?"  IN this manner think right back to the Principle, until your thought becomes perfectly clear again.  Such is the power of right thinking, that it cancels and erases everything unlike itself.  It answers every question, solves all problems, is the solution to every difficulty.  It is like the sunlight of Eternal Truth, bursting through the clouds of obscurity and bathing all life in glory.  It is the Absolute with which you are dealing.  ALL THERE REALLY IS, IS GOD!

God Never Compromises

In demonstrating over conditions, the only inquiries we need to make are:  "Do the things we want lend themselves to a constructive program?  Do they express a more abundant life, rob no one, create no delusion, and express a greater degree of livingness?"  If we are able to answer these questions affirmatively, then all the power in the Universe is back of our program!  If it is money, houses, automobiles, lands, stocks, bonds, dresses, shirts or shoe strings - all of which come from the same source - there can be nothing either in the Law or in the Spirit back of the Law, to deny us the right to the greatest possible expression of life.

Good never compromises with Its opposite.  The one practicing must be able to look a fact in the face, and know that all manifestations are effects and can be changed by changing the mental cause. He must be able to look at the sick man who has come to him for help, and know that only perfection stands before him; he must see beyond the appearance to that which is basically perfect.  This will not be irrational to the one who has made a careful study of the Science of Mind and Spirit.

Truth knows no opposites.  When we take away the belief in evil - the belief that the outward appearance is the same as the inner reality - evil flees.  We must continually remind ourselves of the power of the Word, and of our ability to use it.  We must know that Truth produces freedom because Truth is freedom.  Our work will best be done in quiet expectancy and in calm confidence. The results rest in the Eternal Law of Good.

January 23 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Turn Entirely from the Condition ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

""Behold thou my face forevermore." "Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth."  That is, look up and not down. The reason a man has difficulty in throwing off some weakness of character - while believing in Spirit implicitly and having faith that he is going to overcome his limitation - is because he has not induced the necessary images in mind. If he had, he would have overcome his trouble. Thinking of his weakness keeps the image of it before him.  We cannot be too insistent on this all-important point:  in treating, we must TURN ENTIRELY AWAY FROM THE CONDITION.  Disease and limitation are neither person, place, nor thing.  Turn entirely from the condition, or limited situation, to its opposite, to the realization of health, happiness and harmony.  Spiritual treatment starts with Perfect God, Perfect Man, and Perfect Being, which statement consciously removes any belief which denies such manifestation.

Look Only at What You Want

Never look at that which you do not wish to experience.  No matter what the false condition may be, it must be refuted.  The proper kind of a denial is based upon the recognition that, in reality, there is no limitation, for Mind can as easily make a planet as an acorn. The Infinite knows no difference between a million dollars and a penny.  It only knows that IT IS.

It is the consciousness back of the word that forms the word.  Consciousness means the inner embodiment of an idea through the recognition of Truth and a direct relationship to the Divine.  The greatest teacher who ever lived was the most spiritual man, for the more universal and comprehensive the thought, the more Godlike it must become.

A good treatment is always filled with the recognition of the Presence of God, or Good.  This automatically wipes out any picture of undesirable conditions, for the Spirit of God is a law of elimination and obliteration to everything unlike Itself!  Even in what we term spiritual things, we are still dealing with the law of cause and effect, for God is Law.  The more exalted, the more heavenly, the more boundless, the more Godlike or Christlike the thought it, the more power it will have.  This is why the greatest teacher became the Savior.  A spiritual genius would have to be a  Savior.

Never Limit Your View of Life

Never limit your view of life by any past experience.  The possibility of life is inherent within the capacity to imagine what life is, backed by the power to produce this imagery, or Divine Imagination.  It is not a question of failing or succeeding. It is simply a question of sticking to an idea until it becomes a tangible reality.  The illusion is in the way we look at things.  We have looked at poverty, degradation and misery until they have assumed gigantic proportions. Now we must look at harmony, happiness, plenty, prosperity, peace and right action, until they appear.

When we are making a demonstration, we pay no attention to what happens in the objective world.  We interpret causes by conditions, only as we realize that a condition must partake of the nature of its cause.  If there appears to be confusion in the condition, then there must have been confusion in the thought back of it.  We pay no attention to the right subjective recognition.  The way scientifically to work out a problem is daily in thought to conceive of it as already being an accomplished fact in experience.  We realize the desire is already embodied in the Absolute.  We are dealing with nothing less than the Absolute - with REALITY.

During the process, many things may happen that appear to be destructive.  We may pass through good fortune and bad, but if we can come to the point where we are not disturbed by "things" we can have found the secret.  If, as Jesus said, we "judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment," remembering that "things which are seen are not made of things which do appear;" if, I repeat, we can judge in this manner, OUT OF ANY CHAOS WE CAN PRODUCE HARMONY."

January 22 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

The Perfect Universe ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

"We must seek to realize the spiritual Universe, regardless of any condition which appears, if we would embody the greatest good.  If the spiritual Universe were not perfect, It could not exist for a single moment. 

The Truth is Indivisible and Whole.  God is Complete and Perfect.  A Perfect Cause must produce a perfect effect.  Disregarding all evidence to the contrary, the student of Truth will maintain that he lives in a Perfect Universe and among people potentially perfect. He will regulate his thinking to meet this necessity and will refuse to believe in its opposite. At first he may be influenced by conditions, and he may appear to be weak, but as time goes on he will prove to himself that his position is a correct one, for that which appears imperfect will begin to slip from his experience.

To daily meditate on the Perfect Life, and to daily embody the Great Ideal, is a royal road to freedom, to that "peace which passeth understanding," and is happiness to the soul of man.  Let  us learn to see as God must, with a Perfect Vision.  Let us seek the good and the true and believe in them with our whole heart, even though every man we meet is filled with suffering, and limitation appears at all sides.  We cannot afford to believe in imperfection for a single second, to do so is to doubt God; it is to believe in a Power apart from God, to believe in another Creator.  Let us daily say to ourselves:  "Perfect God within me, Perfect Life within me, which is God, come forth into expression through me as that which I am; lead me ever into the paths of perfection and cause me to see only the Good."  By this practice, the soul will become illumined and will acquaint itself with God and be at peace.  "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.""

January 21 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Causes and Conditions ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

Mental Practice Deals Only with Thought

"The philosophy of spiritual mind healing is based upon the conception that we are living in a universe of Intelligence - spiritual Universe; that thought are things, that definite states of consciousness, as they become subjective, operate through a creative field and tend to reproduce themselves in form.

Therefore, it logically follows that this system of treatment is for the purpose of uncovering and neutralizing the wrong states of thought...of building in mind a concept of our spiritual birthright.  Thought which is built upon a realization of the divine Presence has the power to neutralize negative thought, to erase, it, just as light has the power to overcome darkness; not by combating darkness, but by being exactly what it is:  LIGHT.  "And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not."

Therefore, spiritual treatment does not concern itself with unpleasant conditions nor with imperfect manifestations, either in one's body or the body of one's affairs.  Treatment is for the purpose of inducing an interior awareness - an inner realization - in the mind of the practitioner, pertaining to the spiritual perfection of the person for whom he is working.

Changeless Reality

Spirit is Changeless Reality.  That which we call personality is the instrument through which Spirit operates, but Spirit can operate for the individual only by operating through him. Spirit is never bound by the form It takes, and is not affected by any apparent cause or condition, but is forever free.  Spirit not only fills all forms but surges around them and through them.  Ice is formed from water, all ice is some form of water.  Just so, god and man exist in an eternal state of Unity - the solid and the liquid are one substance.

We are dealing with an impersonal Principle.  It will operate for one just as quickly as for another, because It is Law.  Dare to speak, and to know that what you speak is the law unto the thing spoken regardless of what conditions exist.  One, alone, in consciousness with the Infinite, constitutes a complete majority.  Knowing this in your thought, work in perfect peace and calm.  ALWAYS EXPECT THE GOOD.  Have enthusiasm and, above all, have a consciousness of love - a radiant feeling flowing through your consciousness at all times.  Treat yourself until you have an inner sense of unity with all Good.

January 20 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

No Mystery in Truth ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

Faith in a certain specific statement has power consciously to oppose, neutralize, erase and obliterate the opposite mental attitude.  It is because of this fact that this study is a science that can definitely be used, and we must accept it as such.  The mystery with which most people surround the search for Truth, relative to this Principle, is not read out of It, but is read into It.

It stands to reason that if thought and faith, prayer, hope and appreciation are anything at all, they are definite; and if they are definite, they must be specific; if they are specific, then they unquestionably must accomplish their desire.

Hope a Subtle Illusion

Many people correctly begin their treatment in this manner:  "I know that the Principle of Intelligence within me will direct me, etc.," then they complete it with the thought:  "Well, I certainly hope it does."  This is entirely forgetting any definite statement, and is simply wondering if possibly some good will come along.  This is not a correct treatment, and is not the scientific use of this Principle.

Hope is good; it is better than despair, but it is a subtle illusion and is an unconscious compromise, and has no part in an effective mental treatment.  We should say to doubt:  "where did you come from, who is your father, etc....You have no place in my mind.  Get out!  I know that the faith within me now neutralizes ALL doubt."  This is the scientific use of a mental statement.  There must be no compromise with the consciousness.

We have discovered what the Principle is and How It Works, and now this is What It Does.  Specifically turn to that thought which tells us we do not know how to use It and repudiate the falsehood. The Principle that we have to demonstrate is perfect, and - in so far as we can compel the mind to perceive this perfection - so far it will automatically demonstrate.  Experience has proved this to be true.

We waste much time in arguing over things that cannot be answered.  When we have arrived at the ultimate, THAT IS THE ULTIMATE.  It is the way the Thing works.  Therefore, we have a right to say that there is a law involved, and that this Law executes the word.  We discover laws, find out how they work and then begin to use them.  Therefore, this question is answered, when we say it is the nature of thought and of the Creative Energy, and the nature of Being TO BE THIS WAY.  We would say that Law is an attribute of God.  God did not make Law; It co-exists with the Eternal. The Infinite Law and the Infinite Intelligence are but two sides of the Infinite Unity.  One balances the other and they are the great personal and impersonal principles in the universe.  Evolution is the out-working of the mechanical, and involution is the in-working of the conscious and the volitional.

No Limit to Thought

When we think, something happens to thought. The field through which thought operates is Infinite.  There is no reason to doubt it.  No matter how it is approached, to thought there can be no limit, so we will say that it is the nature of Being to react in this way.  Here and now, we are surrounded by, and immersed in, an Infinite Good. How much of this Infinite Good is ours?  ALL OF IT!  And how much of It may we have to use?  AS MUCH OF IT AS WE CAN EMBODY.

January 19 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

The Principle Re-stated ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

"Let us restate our Principle.  We are surrounded by an Infinite Possibility.  It is Goodness, Life, Law and Reason.  In expressing Itself through us, It becomes more fully conscious of Its own being.  Therefore, It wishes to express through us.  As It passes into our being, It automatically becomes the law of our lives.  It can pass into expression through us only as we consciously allow It to do so.  Therefore, we should have faith in It, and Its desires and Its ability to do for us all that we shall ever need to have done.  Since It must pass through our consciousness to operate for us, we must be conscious that It is doing so.

The one who wishes to demonstrate some particular good must become conscious of this particular good, if he wishes to experience it.  Therefore, he must make his mind receptive to it and he must do this consciously.  There is no hocus-pocus in a mental treatment.  It is always definite, conscious, concrete and explicit.  We are dealing with Intelligence, and should deal with It intelligently.

There is no occult trick in giving scientific treatments.  It is just the reverse. Simplicity should mark our every effort and positivity should accompany all statements that we make into the law of Good.

The Secret Already Known

A treatment is a statement in the Law, embodying the concrete idea of our desires and accompanied by an unqualified faith that the Law works for us, as we work with It.  Let us waste no further time looking for the secret of success or the key to happiness.  Already the door is open and whosoever will may enter.

Undoubtedly, each of us is now demonstrating his concept of life, but trained through is far more powerful than untrained, and the one who give conscious power to his thought should be more careful what he thinks than the one who does not.  The more power one gives to his thought - the more completely he believes that his thought has power - the more power will it have.

Treatment Active, Not Passive

A treatment is an active thing.  When one gives a treatment, he is not sitting around, hoping that something may happen.  He ids definitely, constructively, actively stating, sensing, knowing some specific good.  This is in accord with the Principle which we seek to demonstrate.   If we give treatments without a definite motive in mind, the most we can accomplish will be to promote a salutary atmosphere.  A passive meditation will never produce an active demonstration, any more than an artist can paint a picture by sitting down with his paints but never using them.

The mind must conceive before the Creative Energy can produce; we must supply the avenue through which It can work.  It is ready and willing.  It is Its nature to spring into being through our thought and action.

In an iron foundry, the pig iron is thrown into a great furnace and melted.  That which was solid becomes liquid, and is then poured into molds which are fashioned in different shapes.  The iron itself neither knows nor  cares what particular form it takes, it is formless, ready to take any form supplied.  If we did not place it in the property molds, the liquid would assume no particular form.

This is the way it is in dealing with the subtle energy of Spirit, but the molds are made in our own subjective minds, through conscious and specific thought, purpose and direction.  We should be very careful not to think that because we make the mold, we must create the substance.  It already exists; It is part of the Life in which we live, a part of the Universal Energy.  Definite molds or concepts decide the shape which is to be created from the general liquid.  This should prove to us that there is a specific technique in mental treatment which we should not overlook.  If we wish a certain good, we must instill into our own minds a realization of this specific good and then - as this idea is the mold we place in mind - it will be filled by the substance necessary for the complete manifestation of this good in our lives.

Therefore, if a man is seeking to demonstrate, he must tell himself that he has faith in his power, in his ability, in the Principle, and in the certainty of the demonstration for which he works.  Faith, being a mental attitude, is according to law; and even though one doubts, he can overcome his doubts and create the desired faith, definitely.  If this were not so, only those who by nature have faith in God could ever hope to understand the Principle of the Science of Mind and Spirit, which is subject to certain, definite, immutable and impersonal laws.  However, even though faith is a necessary attitude, it is something that can always be established by explaining the theory and proving the Principle."

January 18 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

The Scientific Method ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

If we observe any scientific discovery, we shall see that this is the way it works.  Some man's mind discovers the law, or principle, governing the science; this is the way of Love, of personal volition, of choice - this is the spontaneous element in the universe.  Following this knowledge of the way the principle works - having discovered the operation of the Law - the spontaneous element now rests its case on immutable reactions inherent in the Law.  All science is based upon proven principles.

But we should not overlook the significant fact that it is the MIND which discovers and makes use of the mechanical law!  Is not this mind the Spirit in us?  We can never completely fathom the Infinite Mind:  we shall always be discovering new lands.  Consequently, evolution is an eternal unfoldment of the more yet to be.

Since it is the mind which must first come to see, know and understand - and since all future possibility for the race must first find an avenue of outlet through someone's mind - we shall do well to look to the mind for the answer to all our problems.

Undoubtedly we are surrounded by, and immersed in, a perfect Life:  a complete, normal, happy, sane, harmonious and peaceful existence.  But only as much of the Life as we embody will really become ours to use.  As much of this Life as we understand and embody will react as immutable law - the reaction of the mechanical to the volitional.  The concept is wonderful and fraught with tremendous significance.  In it is bound up our hopes and fears, our expectations, and our future and present realizations.

Since an understanding of any law must pass first through our conscious mind before we can make use of it, it follows that with all our getting, we should get understanding.  Should we wish to know a certain truth, we should state that this truth is already known in Mind and this statement will be true, but the Over-Mind must be accepted into our mind before we can understand It.  How, then, are we to accomplish the desired result?  By stating and feeling that our mind knows the truth about the thing we desire to know.  In this way we draw the Infinite Mind into our mentalities, for definite knowledge of some particular good.

Contains All Knowledge

The Universal Mind contains all knowledge. It is the potential ultimate of all things.  To It, all things are possible.  To us, as much is possible as we can conceive, according to law.  Should all the wisdom of the universe be poured over us, we should yet receive only that which we are ready to understand.  This is why some draw one type of knowledge and some another, and all from the same source - the Source of all knowledge.  The scientist discovers the principles of his science, the artist embodies the spirit of his art, the saint draws Christ into his being - all because they have courted the particular presence of some definite concept.  Each state of consciousness taps the same source, but has a different receptivity.  Each receives what he asks for, according to his ability to embody.  The Universal is Infinite; the possibility of differentiating is limitless.

Life always becomes to us the particular thing we need when we believe that It becomes to us that particular thing.  The understanding of this is the essence of simplicity.  As all numbers proceed from the fundamental unit, as all material forms are but different manifestations of one formless stuff, so all things proceed from that which is neither person, place nor thing, but is the essence of all things.

Our thought and conscious receptivity differentiate this Universal Possibility, by drawing It through our minds and causing It to flow into particular channels, through the conscious receptivity of our different faiths.  One state of consciousness will differentiate one kind of a result, another mental state a different manifestation.

Mental Work is Definite

Mental work is definite.  Each state of thought taps the same Principle, each uses the same Law, is inspired by the same Spirit, but each draws forth a different result.  Here is multiplicity proceeding from Unity.  This is what Emerson meant when he said that Unity passes into variety.

But, someone will ask, can we bring out both good and evil from the One Source?  Of course not.  The First Principle is goodness, and only in so far as our thought and action tend toward a constructive program, will it eventually succeed.  We cannot fight the Universe.  It refuses to be budged from Its course.  We can only go with It.

But there is ample latitude for personal expression.  How then, are we to know what is right and what is wrong?  We are not GOING to know; we already do know.  Every man knows right from wrong, in its broadest sense.

It should be considered right to live and to enjoy living.  To be well, happy, and to express freedom, is to be in accord with Divine Law and Wisdom. Here is latitude enough for the most expectant, and the most enthusiastic.

January 17 ~ Science of Mind in a Year

What It Does ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

"We should approach the study of this Science rationally, never expecting to drive any benefits from it that its Principle does not contain.  For while it is true that we are immersed in an Infinite Intelligence, a Mind that knows all things, it is also true that this Intelligence can acquaint us with Its ideas only as we are able and willing to receive them.  The Divine Mind is Infinite.  It contains all knowledge and wisdom, but, before It can reveal Its secrets, It must have an outlet.  This outlet we shall be compelled to supply through our own receptive mentalities.

All invention, art, literature, government, law and wisdom that has come to the race has been given to it through those who have deeply penetrated the secrets of nature and the mind of God.

Perhaps the simplest way to state the proposition is to say that we are surrounded by a Mind, or Intelligence, that knows everything; that the potential knowledge of all things exists in this Mind; that the abstract essence of beauty, truth and wisdom co-exist in the Mind of the Universe; that we also exist in It and may draw from It.  BUT WHAT WE DRAW FROM IT WE MUST DRAW THROUGH THE CHANNEL OF OUR OWN  MINDS.  A unity must be established, and a conscious connection must be made, before we can derive the benefits which the greater Mind is willing to reveal or impart to us.

The Spirit can give us only what we can take; It imparts of Itself only as we partake of Its nature.  It can tell us only what we can understand.  The Infinite Knowingness becomes our wisdom only in such degree as we embody Its Intelligence.  It has been said that we can know God only in so far as we can become God.  This is a far-reaching thought and should be carefully scrutinized.  It is to be taken figuratively and not too literally, for we cannot really become God, but we can and do partake of the Divine Nature, and the Universal does personify Itself through man in varying degrees, according to man's receptivity to It.

The Universe Impersonal

The Universe is impersonal.  It gives alike to all.  It is no respecter of persons.  It values each alike.  Its nature is to impart, ours to receive.  When we stand in the light, we cast a shadow across the pathway of our own experience.  Emerson advises that we get our bloated nothingness out of the way of the divine circuits.

A Riddle of Simplicity

It is a beautiful and true thought to realize that every man stands in the shadow of a mighty Mind, a pure Intelligence, and a Divine givingness!  Not alone unto the great comes the soft tread of the Unseen Guest.  The arrogant have not perceived the simplicity of faith, but the pure in heart see God.  The farmer has seen the Heavenly Host in his fields.  The child has frolicked with Him at play.  The mother has clasped Him to her breast and the fond lover has seen Him in the eyes of his beloved.  We look too far away for Reality.

The intelligence by and through which we perceive that there is a Spiritual Presence and an Infinite Mind in the Universe, constitutes our receptivity to It, and decides Its flow through us.  We have made a riddle out of simplicity; therefore, we have not read the sermons written in stones, nor interpreted the light of love running through life.

To return to a sane simplicity is one of the first and most important things to do.  All men receive some light, and this light is always the same light.  There is one nature diffused throughout all nature; One God incarnated in all peoples.

The Divine Incarnation is inherent in our nature.  We are immersed in an Infinite Knowingness.  the question is, how much of this Realty are we going to express in our own lives?  The direct approach is always the best and the most effective.  In so far as any man has spoken the truth, he has proclaimed God -- it matters not what his particular approach may have been.  The scientist and the philosopher, the priest and the professor, the humanitarian and the empire builder, all have caught some gleam of the eternal glory and each has spoken, in his own tongue, that language which is of itself Universal.

Let us do away with a ponderosity of thought and approach the thing simply and quietly. It is the nature of the Universe to give us what we are able to take.  It cannot give us more.  It has given all, we have not yet accepted the greater gift.

Spiritual wisdom says that God manifests through everything and is incarnated in all men; that all is Divinity and that Nature herself is the body of God. The mechanical laws of nature are set and immutable, but the spontaneous recognition of these laws gives us the power to bring them into practical use in everyday life and experience.

Here we have a dual unity; law and order, spontaneous choice, volition, conscious action, and automatic reaction.  The laws of the universe are to be trusted but we must come to understand them before we can use them.  Once understood, any law is available and is impersonally responsive to each and all alike.

Love Rules Through Law

In an intelligent study of the teachings of the Science of Mind, we come to understand that all is Love and yet all is Law.  Love rules through Law.  Love is the Divine Givingness; Law is the Way.  Love is spontaneous; Law is impersonal.  We should study the nature of Reality with this in mind, and in this way we shall avoid two grave mistakes:  either viewing life as made up only of mechanical laws, or viewing it as made up only of spontaneous actions, irrespective of law and order.

As we gain the broader viewpoint, we shall see that Life must contain two fundamental characteristics.  We shall see that there is an Infinite Spirit, operating through an Infinite and Immutable Law.  In this, Cosmos, and not chaos, finds an eternal existence in Reality.  Love points the way and Law makes the way possible."

January 16 ~ Science of Mind in a Year

Mental Laws ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

"As we think of the medium of radio transmission in terms of law, so we should think of the Mental Medium in terms of law, for the Mental Medium must be the Law of mental action.  While we might think of It as the Mind of God, we could not think of It as the Spirit of God; for the Mental Medium is automatic, while the Spirit must be Self-Knowing. We could not call the Universal Medium of Mind "God" any more than we could call electricity "God."  The Universal Medium of Mind is but one of the many attributes of God, the avenue through which God operates as Law.

We should differentiate between Universal Mind and Universal Spirit. As we examine the Subjective, we find It to be both intelligent and conscious, without knowing that It is intelligent, and without being self-conscious.  All law must be subjective; the soil knows how to take a seed and make a plant from it; it does not know whether it is making a tomato or a potato. If this were not true of the laws of nature, we could not depend upon them, we should be confronted with caprice.  One of the most difficult problems to realize is that when we are dealing with the Law of Mind, we are dealing with an absolutely impersonal thing.  It knows how to create without knowing what It creates.  Therefore, we must distinguish between the Law of Mind and the Spirit which uses the Law.  The ancients taught that there is an Infinite Self-Knowing Spirit (one of the oldest sayings in the world is:  "Spirit is the Power that knows Itself.") in addition to which there is an Infinite Law which knows how to do but does not care what It does.  This Law is the Karmic Law of Buddha:  "The Law that binds the ignorant and frees the wise," as Anna Besant stated it.  It is the Cause and Effect of the West; but It is not to be confused with Kismet, which is fate, because Its tendency can be changed.

There is a Law in the Universe which operates in a certain way according to the tendency set in motion, and does so mathematically, inexorably.  We cannot destroy the Law but we can re-direct Its movement.  Just as we plant seeds and later decide we wish something else, we go out and uproot the first seeds and plant others in their place.  We are not thereby destroying the soil; we have simply determined to use it in a different way.  When we are dealing with Subjectivity, we are always dealing with that which is subject to the conscious volition. 

The conscious volition in the Universe is what is meant by the Spirit or Dog.  The Mental Medium, the Universal Subjectivity, the Law, is the doer of the Word!  Plotinus speaks of it as a doer but not a knower.  He called it a blind force, not knowing only doing.

This is the principle which we use in practice.  We should distinguish between conscious volition as Spirit, and the Subjective Law, which works  with intelligence but not self-conscious awareness.  When this is realized we shall no longer be superstitious about our use of the Law.  It has been difficult to get away from such a superstitious reaction, because of a theological rather than a scientific approach to the subject.  The Law we are discussing is simply a law of Nature, a force of Nature.  It happens to be a mental force, and an intelligent and creative one, like electricity, which will either light our house and cook our food or will electrocute us if we use it incorrectly.

The Threefold Nature of God

We find, then, as we study our own being we begin to deduce what the nature of God, or the Universal Being, is.  There is no way we can know God except by studying man.  Someone may say, "God reveals Himself;" yes, we think God reveals Himself to us, but only by revealing Himself through us.  We know about God only as we judge what God must be, by studying the nature of those things which we can somewhat analyze, plus that intuitive feeling we have of eternal verities.

If we study the true nature of man, then we shall have delved into the real nature of God, or First Cause, from which man springs.  As we have found that man is threefold in his nature, we must deduce that God is threefold in His Nature, i.e. that God is Spirit, or Self-Knowingness; God is Law and action; God is result or Body.  This is  the inner teaching of "The Trinity."  God, as Self-Knowing Spirit means the Divine Being Whom we have always thought of and believed in, the Being to Whom we have prayed and Whom we have adored.  God as Law means the way in which Spirit works, and Law in this sense would be the servant of the Spirit.  God as Body means the manifestation of the Spirit.

Trinity of Being

This trinity of being appears to run through all Nature and all life.  For instance, there is electricity, the way it works and its results, which is light or motive power.  There is the seed, the creative medium of the soil, and the plant. 

Turn it as we may, we are confronted with the necessity of a Trinity of Being.  Throughout the ages, this Trinity has been taught.  Every great religion and every great spiritual philosophy has taught this Trinity.  Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is the Christian Trinity.  It is the Thing, the Way It Works, and What It Does.  The Thing is Absolute Intelligence; the way It works, is Absolute Law; and What It does, is the result - manifestation.  The action of the Thing Itself is what the Bible calls "The Word."....Absolute Intelligence."

January 15 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Where Do We Get Our Mental Impressions?  Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

"The paramount problem of philosophy now as in the past, is, how and from whence do we get our mental impressions?  Kant says:  We are able to perceive an object because it awakens an intuitive perception within us.  How could it awaken an intuitive perception within us, unless the medium which created the object already existed within us?  The intuitive perception was not the result of perceiving the object, but was itself the cause of the object perceived!  This is what Emerson would have us understand when he says "There is one mind common to all individual men."

That which is apparently outside can become known to the individual through intuition, because the perception and the perceiver must be in one and the same Mind.  No object can appear to exist in the objective world unless there is first a subjective world to perceive the object.  There is no object on the outside of Reality; but Reality must be an Infinite Perceiver or an Infinite Mind....One Mind common to all men.

The Bible says:  "In Him we live  and move and have our being."...."Him"...."It"....or "God."  Jesus said Reality is not in the mountain, nor afar off, but within us.  So without trying to define, without making any attempts to explain, we make the simple statement:  "Mind is."  Mind is, and Mind is both Universal and individual, i.e., It is not only Universal and abstract, It is also individual and concrete.  The Mind which is personified is the same Mind which is Universal.

This is the perception that Buddha, Jesus and other great spiritual leaders had.  They understood that the Universe has to be One in order to be at all.  Jesus saw it, when he said in substance:  If I cast out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of devils, that is a house divided against itself, which cannot stand; and he also said, "Who hath seen me hath seen the Father."  Jesus had arrived at a perception of Oneness.

Images of thought, although they appear to arise from without, actually arise from the objective side of that which is a part of a subjective within.  In order that Nature may be coherent and come into self-expression, there must be an objective, a manifest world; but that which is physically outside of us still exists in the same medium in which we have our being, and the intelligence by which we perceive it is the SAME INTELLIGENCE THAT CREATED IT.  Therefore, while it is objectively separate, it is subjectively unified.  Our images of thought arise from within a medium in which both the one who sees, and that which is seen, exist in a state of inner unity.  God exists in everything.  God exists in me, and because God exists in me, I am able to recognize other beings in whom God exists.  Spirit is the medium through which I am conscious of myself, of others, and of my environment.

Reading Thought

Recognizing that we are surrounded by a Universal Mind, it does not seem strange that certain people should  sense our thoughts even when we are not aware of the fact, because thought operates through a medium which is Universal....always present.

It is almost certain that between friends there is at all times a silent communication, a sort of unconscious mental conversation, going on.  When this arises to the surface of the conscious intelligence, it is called mental telepathy.  This communication with others is going on all the time, whether the conscious mind is aware of it or not.  These impressions are more or less vague and seldom come to the surface.  They are there, nevertheless, and are gradually building into our mentalities impressions and forms of thought that are unconsciously and silently perceived.

This all leads to the conclusion that what we call our subjective mind is really the use that we, as individuals, make of a Universal Subjectivity. Just as radio message are operative through a universal medium, so our thoughts are operative through a Universal Medium."

January 14 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Memory ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

"Pondering on this, man came to the conclusion that memory was an active thing, and he reasoned after this fashion:  "Memory must be the storehouse of all ideas that have passed through my mind.  Memory is active, for my thoughts come back to me. My thought is conscious of my body; my body is operated upon by my thought, and it must be operated upon by my memory, since memory is active; but since memory is the result of conscious thought, memory of itself is an unconscious operation of what was once a conscious thought."  THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CONCLUSIONS WHICH THE MIND OF MAN HAS EVER MADE.  By changing his thought, he could re-mold his affairs; and by right thinking he could bring new conditions into his life!  Tremendous!

Science

Science is the knowledge of facts based upon some proven principle.  The scientific investigation of anything is, of necessity, a cold-blooded proposition.  We speak about knowing, about science being absolute knowledge; science is absolute knowledge, in so far as the facts of science are demonstrable!

How Laws are Discovered

In the scientific discovery of laws, certain theories are postulated; such theories may develop through research and investigation.  When a theory proves to be correct, after many experiments, then, a principle is announced.  In this way scientific truth is demonstrated; but no one has ever seen any of these principles which science announces, as no one has ever seen the great Cause which lies back of all the manifestations of life.

As soon as a law is discovered, experiments are made with it, certain facts are proven to be true, and in this way, a science is gradually formulated. Any science consists of the number of known facts about its invisible principle.  As more and more facts are gathered and proven, the science expands and gradually becomes accepted by all and may be used by those who understand it.

The Science of Mind

Let us, then approach the Science of Mind with awe, but not with fear; with a truly humble spirit, but not with any sense that we are unworthy, and certainly with no superstition.  Let us approach it normally, happily, willing to accept it, glad to experiment with it, believing that as a result of our efforts we shall derive this great good -- a better understanding of the natural laws of Life as they apply to the individual and his relationship to the universal scheme of things.

The Science of Mind, then, is the study of Life and the nature of the laws of thought; the conception that we live in a spiritual Universe; that God is in, through, and around and for us.  There is nothing supernatural anywhere, on any plane; that which today seems to us supernatural, after it is understood will be found spontaneously natural.

We say there is a Universal Mind; but no one ever saw It.  We say God is Spirit; but no one ever saw God.  The Bible says, "No man hath seen God at any time; only the Son, he hath revealed Him."  To express this idea in our language:  No one has seen Cause; because we see an effect, we know there must be a Cause.  Nothing is more evident than the fact that we live; and since we live, we must have life, and since we have life there must be Life.  The only proof we have of Mind is that we think.  The Eternal Principle is forever hidden.

January 13 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MIND...The Greatest Discovery ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

Nature Waits on Man's Self-Recognition

"Nothing is more apparent than that man, as he now appears, is the result of evolution.  But in order to evolve, he had to have a Principle from which to unfold.  Since man is intelligent, he must have evolved from an Intelligent Cause.

In studying the order of man's evolution, it seems certain that it was necessary - from the time that he was brought to a point of self-choice--that he be left alone to discover his true nature. If man is endowed with the attributes of self-choice and free will, he must be allowed to make this great discovery for himself.  Even God could not make a mechanical individual.  Consider any of Nature's forces, they must have existed always, but, so far as man is concerned, they exist to be used only after he has discovered them and learned how to make use of them.  Electricity was a reality in the universe when Moses led the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but neither Moses nor any of his followers knew anything about it.  This is true of all natural laws; they have always existed but only when understood may they be used.  In this way, Life waits upon man's discovery of natural laws, his discovery of  himself, and his discovery of his relationship to the great Whole.

The principle of any science is invisible, theoretical, as is our idea of Spirit. No one has seen God; no one has seen Life; what we have seen is the manifestation of Life.  No one has seen Intelligence; we experience It.  No one has ever seen Causation; we see what It does, we deal with Its effects.  We cannot see Beauty.  The artist feels beauty and depicts it as best he can, and the result of his effort is what we call the beautiful  The mathematician solves a problem, but the problem is not the Principle of Mathematics; the solution of the  problem is an effect or a result of the application of the principle.  We do not see Life, we experience living.  Causation is invisible.

The First Great Discovery

The first great discovery man  made was that he could think.  This was the day when he first said "I am."  This marked his first day of personal attainment.  From that day, man became individual and had to make all further progress himself.  from that day, there was no compulsory evolution; he had to work in conscious union with Life.

The basis from which man is evolving is Infinite.  Behind him is the Great Unknown but not the great unknowable.  As the result of the discovery that he could think, plan and execute, man has built up a great civilization; he has perceived that Nature works through him in order to work for him.  He has harnessed electricity, compelled steam to do his bidding, conquered the air, built cities, made the desert to bloom, and has thrown the lines of his commerce around the globe.  Indeed, he has seemed to possess the earth during this process, even though little attention has been given to that still, small voice which said:  "Man, know thyself." 

The Greatest Discovery of All Time...Mind

Man's first discovery of his ability to think was taken as a matter of fact.  He had always been able to think.  It was proof that he existed; it gave him the ability to know his needs and to supply them.  It appeared to be an automatic thing; it came with him and would doubtless die when he died.  The brain seemed to be the organ of thought, and of course, when death stilled the brain it would no longer operate.

However, a day came when some wise man claimed that it was not the brain that does the thinking, for if the brain could think it would keep on thinking when removed from the body; yet without a brain a man could not think which proved that something behind the brain used it as an instrument.  Man does think, so behind the brain there must be a thinker.  But where is the thinker?  We do not see him.  Have we a right to say there is a thinker, when we have never seen him?  Yes, for the proof of this reality is the evidence of his thought.  Back of the organism is the thinker and the doer - the Mind.  This was the greatest discovery of all time for it mean that  the body without the thinker could not function.  At first, man did not perceive this and thought only of his body as self-operating, but when he discovered this was not the case, he found that he could consciously think and decide, and that something happened to his thoughts after he thought them; they went somewhere and returned to him as  memory."

January 12 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Spirit Works for Us by Working Through Us ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

"The Thing, then works for us by working through us and is us, always. It cannot work for us in any other way  It spreads Itself over the whole universe and shouts at us from every angle, but It can become power to us ONLY WHEN WE RECOGNIZE IT AS POWER.

We cannot recognize that It is, while we are believing that It is not.  Hence, it is written:  "they...entered not in because of unbelief."  (Heb. 4:6)  We may enter in because of our belief, but we cannot enter while there is unbelief.  Here we come to a house divided against itself.  If we say we can only experience a little good, then we shall experience but a little good.  But, if we say, with Emerson, "There is no great and no small to the soul that maketh all," then we may experience a greater good because we have conceived it.

Therefore, our belief sets the limit to our demonstration of a Principle which, of Itself, is without limit.  It is ready to fill everything, because It is Infinite.  So, it is not a question of Its willingness, nor of Its ability.  It is entirely a question of our own receptivity. 

How Much Can We Believe?

That we must go the way of the Law, is a fundamental tenet of this Science, because Nature obeys us as we first obey It, and our obedience to It is our acceptance of It.  How much can we believe?  AS MUCH AS WE CAN BELIEVE will be done unto us.

When the consciousness speaks, the law receives and executes. When a farmer plants a seed, he invokes the law.  That which follows is done by the mechanical side of Nature, which has no volition of Its own.  Involution is the cause and evolution is the effect.  When a practitioner thinks, or gives a treatment, or makes a prayer, he is dealing with involution - the first step of the creative order.  This is what the Bible calls the Word.  That which follow is evolution, or the unfoldment of the word, or concept, into objective existence.

We are thinking, willing, knowing, conscious centers of Life.  We are surrounded by, immersed in, and there is flowing through us, a creative Something....call It what you will.  The sum total of all our thought, will, purpose, and belief, creates a tendency in the Law that causes It to react to us according to the sum total of that belief.

Ignorance of the law excuses no one from its effects.  If then, certain specific ways of thought and belief have produced limitations, other beliefs will change them.  We must learn to believe.  The approach should be direct, and it should be specific.

Suppose one is laboring under the idea of limitation.  His whole thought is a picture of limitation.  Where is he placing himself in Mind?  Is he not, in substance, saying:  "I cannot have and enjoy good things"?  And he is demonstrating that he cannot have, or accomplish, good.  It may take time to reshape the basis of his thought; he must commence by saying, "I perceive that because I am what I am - because of this Infinite Thing that over-shadows eternity and finds Its abiding place in me, I know that good is now mine - all good."  There is no mental coercion in this.  We do not will things to be done; things are brought into being, not by will, but by the power of the self-assertive Truth.

How much can one demonstrate?  Just what one can believe.  How much can we see, how much can we accept, how much can we find in our consciousness that is no longer repudiated by our own denials?  Whatever that is, THAT MUCH WE CAN HAVE.

Good Only - Not Good and Evil

The gardener goes forth in faith to sow his seeds.   He has learned that as he sows, so shall he reap; that the law works for all alike.  We must accustom ourselves to the concept of the impersonalness of the law, the availability of the law, and the mechanical accuracy of the law.  If we can conceive only a little good, that is as much as we can experience.

We must instill into the mind the fundamental proposition that good is without bounds.  Only good and loving-kindness shall "follow me all the days of my life."  (Psalms 23)  We must get this concept, rather than continuing to think there is a power of evil as opposed to the power of Good.  We experience good and evil because we perceive a presence of duality rather than unity.

Then, knowing that The Thing can work for us only through us, let us begin to accept today more good than we experienced yesterday, and to know that we shall reap a harvest of fulfilled desires.  The time must come when we shall have left the apparent evil behind; when it shall be rolled up like a scroll and numbered with the things which were once thought to be.

Let us realize and work with this sound knowledge and perfect faith:  That as high as we shall make our mark in Mind and Spirit, so high shall be Its outward manifestation in our material world."

January 11 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

The Way It Works by Ernest Holmes ~ The Science of Mind

The Science of Mind is not a special revelation of any individual; it is, rather, the culmination of all revelations. We take the good wherever we find it, making it our own in so far as we understand it.  The realization that Good is Universal, and that as much good as any individual is able to incorporate in his life is his to use, is what constitutes the Science of Mind and Spirit. 

We have discussed the nature of The Thing as being Universal Energy, Mind, Intelligence, Spirit - finding conscious and individualized centers of expression through us - and that man's intelligence is this Universal Mind, functioning at the level of man's concept of It.  This is the essence of the whole teaching.

Universal Mind, or Spirit, Is God

There is a Universal Mind, Spirit, Intelligence, that is the origin of everything:  It is First Cause.  It is God.  This Universal Life and Energy finds an outlet in and through all that is energized, and through everything that lives.  There is One Life back of everything that lives.  There is One Energy back of all that is energized.  This Energy is in everything.  There is One Spirit back of all expression.  That is the meaning of that mystical saying:  "In Him we live, and move, and have our being."  (Acts 17:28)

The life which we live is the Universal Life expressing through us, else how could we live.  Our thought and emotion is the use we make - consciously or unconsciously - of this original creative Thing that is the Cause of everything.  Therefore, we shall say that the mind, spirit and intelligence which we find in ourselves is as much of this original, creative God as we understand.  That this is not robbing God is a self-evident fact.  Since we are, then we are real and actual and have existence; and since we can reduce all that is to a fundamental unit, we find that we have this proposition:

There is Spirit - or this Invisible Cause - and nothing, out of which all things are to be made.  Now, Spirit plus nothing leaves Spirit only.  Hence there is One Original Cause and nothing, out of which we are made.  In other words, we are made from this Thing.  That is why we are called the "son of God." 

We now know that this is what we are - because we could not be anything else - but we do not know how much of this we are!  When we see It as It is, then, we shall see ourselves as we are.  We can only see It by looking at It through our own eyes.  Hence, we shall find a better God when we shall have arrived at a higher standard for man.  If God is to interpret Himself to man, He must interpret Himself through man.  And the Spirit can make no gift that we do not accept.

The Seed of Perfection is Hidden Within

This Original Life is Infinite.  It is good.  It is filled with peace.  It is the essence of purity.  It is the ultimate of intelligence.  It is power.  It is Law.  It is Life.  It is in us.  In that inner sanctuary of our own nature, hidden perhaps from objective gaze, "nestles the seed, perfection."

In our ignorance of the truth, we have misused the highest power we possess.  And so great is this power - so complete is our freedom in it, so absolute the domain of law through it - that the misuse of this power has brought upon us the very conditions from which we suffer.  We are bound because we are first free; the power which appears to bind us is the only power in the universe which can free us.  This is why Jesus summed up His whole philosophy in this simple statement:  "It is done unto you as you believe."  The great Teacher looked so deeply into Nature, that She revealed Her fundamental simplicity to him.  That "Believe" and that "as" symbolize heaven and hell.  And so we suffer, not because suffering is imposed upon us, but because we are ignorant of our true nature.