June 30 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

GENERAL SUMMARY
By Ernest Holmes

"Conscious thought is the starting point of every new creation.  Trained thought is far more powerful than untrained since the admission that thought is power gives it added power.  This is one of the great secrets of Mental Science.  Conscious thought is the starting point.  The Subjective Law knows only to obey.  It can do nothing else.  It has no will of Its own.  We impress our will upon It.  We do not will, as though we were using an arbitrary force, we impress It.  We should be careful to differentiate between these two attitudes of mind.

The idea of a successful life will create success.  This idea will find objective form in the outer world of the one who holds to it with conviction.  It must first become established in the conscious mind.  It will then transmit itself into a subjective embodiment and when this happens success will become habitual.

If one does not know exactly what he wishes to do he should treat himself for general success in whatever he attempts to do.  He must treat himself for guidance into the knowledge of that which would be best for him to do, remembering that the Inner Mind knows infinitely more than the intellect.  It knows how to take ideas and form objective circumstances around them.  Naturally the sooner we know just what we wish to do the quicker we shall create the mental images that are definite and the Creative Mind can more quickly set to work to carry out our plans for us.

The objective mind alone may consciously decide what is to happen.  All subjective decisions are merely conclusions built on already accepted premises, ideas or thought patterns.  The conscious mind may change these thought patterns and thereby cause a different flow of energy and intelligence toward the objective of its desires.  The Spirit alone has the power of real self-expression and true volition.  This is why we call the conscious part of mind, the Spirit of man; the conscious Mind of the Universe, the Spirit of God.

Remember that when you use your subjective mind you are using the Creative Power of the Universe.  For the two are really one.  There is but One Mind, whether It be individual or Universal.  Remember also that Mind in its conscious state is Spirit, whether we think of It as in man or in God, that is, whether we think of It as individual or Universal.  Mind in its unconscious or subjective state is the Law of cause and effect.  The Law of cause and effect of Itself is not an entity but is the way that we use the great Law of all life.  From this viewpoint any particular effect may be changed by altering our thought relationship to the fundamental Law which gives rise to lesser causes and effects.  This we cannot do while we look only to that which is limited or already in form.  We DEAL WITH THE FORMLESS.

We must consciously know that we can use creative power. The more complete such acceptance on our part, the more completely we shall be able to use this power for definite purposes.  We should develop a conscious conviction of our ability to know and to understand the way that the mind works.  We shall not be able to do this while we listen to those who deny us, or themselves, the privileges we wish to enjoy.  No one ever yet found a living soul in a dead body or learned that affirmations of life and health will become beneficial by denying any power to them.

If, at times, we doubt our ability to  use the law, we should again remind ourselves that it is not I but the Spirit of the Father in me who doeth the work.  This will straighten our thought and place us again on the road of faith and understanding.  WE MUST BELIEVE.  WE MUST LEARN HOW TO BELIEVE.  WE SHOULD TREAT OURSELVES UNTIL WE DO BELIEVE.  No one every started at the top.  Let us be happy to begin right where we are and grow."

June 29 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS

Ernest Holmes

A Treatment for Alcoholism or Other Drug Addiction

There is but one Universal Life, God or Spirit.  This Universal Life is a principle of perfect harmony and right action.  It is an omnipresent and self-knowing principle, whole and complete within Itself.  It is forever calm and peaceful.  It is, therefore, a principle of complete satisfaction which knows no unsatisfied desire.  The only appetite or desire of Infinite Mind is for the complete manifestation of Its own constructive contemplation. 

My life is a part of this Universal Life; Its peace, calm and satisfaction are manifesting in and through me now in absolute perfection.  My spirit, being one with Universal Spirit, has nothing to desire or long for - save the natural expression of peace, poise and complete satisfaction.  That subjective race-thought, which speaks to me as limitation or a desire for abnormal stimulation, has no answering or recognizing voice within me.  I turn from all such inharmonious thoughts toward the reality of my oneness with Universal Life (the Father) realizing here in the formless Realm of Reality, the complete satisfaction of knowingness, the senses of calm well-being, wisdom and understanding.  Here within the Realm of Reality (the Kingdom of God) I sense the truth of my complete mastery over all things.   My body is that concept of Universal Mind which is composed of the Creator's perfect ideas (God's body).  Within the form, which is commonly termed the human body, is nothing which can speak to me, demanding anything whatsoever.  I dwell within the Realm of the Universal and declare that the calm and complete satisfaction of the Self-Knowing God is expressing in and through me, unhindered and unopposed.

I go forth with a complete sense of mastery in the realm of form (my earth experience) unafraid, happy and joyous in my expression of all that is desirable and constructive; knowing that all destructive desires and inharmonious thoughts disappear and dissolve into the nothingness from which they came, having no power to perpetuate themselves, since they are neither person, place nor thing.

I Do Know the Truth and I Am Free

June 28 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

Ernest Holmes

Within Thee Is Fullness of Life

Within Thee is fullness of Life.

Within Thee is complete Joy and everlasting Peace.

Within Thee is all.

Thou art in me as I am in Thee, and we are all in all.

My Life is full and complete within me, and that Life I give to all men freely;

And from all I receive again that which I have given,

For it is One in All.

I am One with the fullness of All Life.

June 27 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

FROM THE TEACHING OF JESUS
~ Ernest Holmes

The Father's House Always Open

"And so the son found everything in the Father's House just as he had left it.  Nothing had changed and he was made welcome to all the divine stores.  But he had to return to find joy and peace forevermore.  How wonderful is Reality!  While we may have seemed to be away from it, it has ever remained the same and is ever ready to reveal itself to us.  All we have to do is to go half way; that is, turn to it and it will turn to us.  The Truth known is instantly demonstrated; for the Truth is Changeless Reality and cannot come and go.  No matter how long we may have been away from Reality in our thought, It is always here, ready to spring forth, full-orbed, into expression.  No matter how long a room may have been darkened, the entrance of light instantly illuminates it.  What becomes of the darkness when the light enters?  Where did it come from and where does it go?

It is difficult to comprehend such an infinite possibility as an instantaneous reconciliation with the universe; we demonstrate this only in degrees, because our consciousness is not yet fitted to perceive the wholeness of complete perfection.

The Stay-at-Home Son

"Now his elder son was in the field:  and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard music and dancing.
"And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant.  And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.
"And he was angry and would not go in:  therefore came his father out, and intreated him.
"And he answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee...and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends...
"And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine."

How human the stay-at-home son was, and what a theological attitude he took in regard to his younger brother!  He had not entered himself and he was not willing that anyone else should enter.  His real attitude was that God should condemn everything that he, himself, did not like or believe.  He was puffed  up with self-righteousness and personal conceit, filled with petty vanity, and fuming with anger over his brother's welcome home.  I expect that we meet him in ourselves nearly every day - in our personal experiences with other people - in our intolerant attitude and uncharitableness toward others who do not think as we think.  But God knows as little about self-righteousness as He knows about evil, for both are false; therefore, He said unto the elder son, "Thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine."  This implies that the elder son had missed the mark as well as the younger, for he had been living in the midst of plenty and had not recognized it.  He needed but to have asked and he would have received all that the father had.  Both sons were foolish but it is a question which was the more completely deluded.

The Application of the Story

But to bring this story down to our own experience -for it is a lesson for everyone for all time - we live in the midst of eternal good, but it can only be to us what we believe it to be.  We are at the mouth of the river, but we must let down our own buckets if we wish them to be filled with the pure waters of Reality.

We are surrounded by a Spirit of living Intelligence, and eternal givingness, love, goodness and power, that wishes to express Itself through us.  There is Divine Urge within, ever pushing us forward to the goal.  We are also surrounded by an immutable Law of cause and effect, and because of our divine individuality and the necessity of experience in order to come to a realization of what, and who, we are, we are subject to the causes which we have set in motion.  All is love and yet all is law.  Both love and law are perfect and we, as individuals, can experience only what we really believe and act upon."

June 26 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

Ernest Holmes

The Joy of the Soul

My Soul within me rejoices at the realization of Life.

I am made glad as I behold my inner Light;

I cannot be sad nor depressed, for the All Good has claimed me as Its own.

O Soul within me, rejoice and become glad, for Thy Light has come

and Thy Day of Salvation is at hand.

Be still within me and behold Him Who sitteth On High.

I rejoice in my Life within me.

Freedom from Sin

I am free from belief in sin; there is neither sin nor sinner.

There is no judgment against anyone.

God does not condemn and man cannot.

All fear of sin is removed from me; all belief in punishment is gone from me.

I live by the One Power, and no thought can enter to disturb me.

There is neither sin nor sinner.

June 25 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

PHYSICAL PERFECTION
By Ernest Holmes


Treating Lung Trouble

"The spiritual idea of lung itself is universal and perfect, nothing has ever happened to it.  It was, is, and ever will be - perfect.  But man, through the creative medium of his thought, has caused an appearance of disease in the lung.  Back of all such trouble is a consuming passion, an unexpressed emotion, a strong desire.  Healing will take place to the degree that the practitioner neutralizes this belief and perceives the presence of a perfect lung.

The practitioner realizes there is a perfect body, perfect being, perfect God, perfect man, perfect expression, perfect bronchial tubes, perfect trachea, perfect lungs!  The practitioner, if he would heal, must elevate his own thought.  The word he speaks is law, it is power; it knows itself to be what it is.  It is the law unto the case.  He is now conscious that the word he speaks will neutralize and entirely destroy the false thought and condition.  He says:  "There is one body; this body is the Body of God, and is Perfect; It is never depleted, Its vitality is never lowered.  There is no wasting away, nor burning up of substance, for substance is eternal, changeless and perfect.  This Body is the body of my patient right now."

He continues until he covers what, in his own thought, appears to be the mental cause of the false condition.  If he does this day after day, the patient will be relieved, though the practitioner never thinks of his patient, other than that the word of Truth is being spoken for him.  He never wonders whether his word is taking effect, because he speaks into Intelligence and lets It act.

Human life is the incarnation of God in man.  With every indrawn breath, we breathe in life, and with every outgoing breath, we give it forth.  The lungs are constantly renewed by every respiration.  With every new inspiration of renewed thought we appropriate something of God.  With every out-pouring of life, expressed in faith and good deeds, we are expressing God.  When we associate our breathing with the very Life and Light of God, nothing can retard the flow of life through us.  A good meditation for practitioner or patient, who has any fear of lung trouble, is:

'The One Infinite Life and Substance is the only Life and Substance in existence; and this Life and this Substance is my Life now.  I express through a spiritual body, which is and must continue to be, perfect.  There is no wasting or destruction of any part, for that which is Eternal can never be non-existent.  Any tissues that appear to be impaired are now renewed by the very Life of God, which is flowing in and through me.

"I erase from my consciousness the belief that the tissues of my body can be impaired, inflamed or destroyed.  Joyfully, peacefully, trustingly, confidently, I give my body - every tissue, atom, and function - over to the Spirit of Life, which in Its perfection does now renew and rebuild me, even out of Itself.  That Substance out of which my body is created is Spiritual, and is maintained by the all-powerful Essence of Spirit.'"

June 24 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MENTAL EQUIVALENTS
By Ernest Holmes

"Why is it that Jesus could say to the paralyzed man, "Take up thy bed and walk"?  Because Jesus knew when he said this that the man would get up and walk.  HE NOT ONLY BELIEVED THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING TO RESPOND TO HIM BUT HE HAD AN EQUIVALENT OF ITS RESPONSE, which is just as necessary.

The Law is Infinite and Perfect but in order to make a demonstration WE MUST HAVE A MENTAL EQUIVALENT OF THE THING WE DESIRE.  A demonstration, like anything else in the objective life, is born out of a mental concept.  The mind is the fashioning factor, and according to its range, vision and positiveness, will be the circumstance or experience.  For example:  If one sees only unloveliness in others, it is because unloveliness is a strong element in himself.  The light he throws on others is generated in his own soul and he sees them as he chooses to see them.  He holds constantly in his mind a mental equivalent of unloveliness and creates unlovely reactions toward himself.  He is getting back what he is sending out.  If a man believes himself to be a failure and that it is useless for him to try to be anything else, he carries with him the mental equivalent of failure.  So he succeeds in being a failure according to law.  This is his demonstration.   Having a strong picture or mental concept, and holding to that equivalent regardless of circumstances or condition, we must sooner or later manifest according to the concept.

It follows, then, that the range of our possibilities at the present time does not extend far beyond the range of our present concepts.  As we bring ourselves to a greater vision, we induce a greater concept and thereby demonstrate more in our experience.  In this way there is a continuous growth and unfoldment taking place.  We do not expect to give a treatment today, for prosperity, and have a million dollars tomorrow.  But little by little we can unfold our consciousness, through the acquisition of greater and still greater mental equivalents, until at last we shall be made free.

The way to proceed is to begin right where we are.  It is not scientific to attempt to begin somewhere else.  One who understands the systematic use of the Law will understand that he is where he is because of what he is, but he will not say, "I must remain where I am, because of what I am."  Instead he will begin to disclaim what he appears to be.  As his statements release wrong subjective tendencies, providing in their place a correct concept of life and Reality, he will automatically be lifted out of his condition; impelling forces sweeping everything before them, will set him free, if he trusts in Spirit and the working of the Law.

Stay with the One and never deviate from It, never leave It for a moment.  Nothing else can equal this attitude.  TO DESERT THE TRUTH IN THE HOUR OF NEED IS TO PROVE THAT WE DO NOT KNOW THE TRUTH.  When things look the worst, that is the supreme moment to demonstrate, to ourselves, that there are no obstructions to the operation of Truth.  When things look the worst is the best time to work, the most satisfying time.  The person who can throw himself with a complete abandon into that Limitless Sea of Receptivity, having cut loose from all apparent moorings, is the one wo will always receive the greatest reward."

June 23 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MENTAL EQUIVALENTS
By Ernest Holmes

What Do We Mean by Mental Equivalents?

"Prayer does something to the mind of the one praying.  It does not do anything to God.  The eternal Gift is always made.  The Gift of God is the Nature of God, the Eternal Givingness.  God cannot help making the gift, because GOD IS THE GIFT.  We do not have to pray God to be God.  God is God.  Jesus revealed the nature of the Divine Being by his personal embodiment of the Divine Nature.  He said, "As ye believe, it shall be done unto you."

The whole teaching of Jesus was based on the theory that we are surrounded by an intelligent Law, which does unto each as he believes.  He implied the necessity of faith, conviction, and acceptance.  That is, it must be measured out to us according to our own measuring.  We must not only believe, we must know that our belief measures the extent and degree of our blessing.  If our belief is limited only a little can come to us, because that is as we believe.  We call this the law of mental equivalents.  How much life can any man experience?  As much as he can embody.  There is nothing fatalistic about this.  We are so constituted that we can continuously increase our embodiment.  We grow in grace, as it were.  We grow in power and theoretically there should be no limit to that growth.  But right today we can expect to demonstrate or to have our prayers answered according to our belief and the embodiment of that belief.

Lowell said, "The gift without the giver is bare," and it is just as true that there can be no gift without a receiver.  It is said, "To as many as received him, to them gave he the power."  We seek to uncover the science of prayer:  the essence of the Spirit embodied in it.  We find that the essence of the power of prayer is faith and acceptance.  In addition to the law of faith and acceptance, the law of mental equivalents must be considered.  These are the two great laws with which we have to deal and we shall never get away from either.  If prayer has been answered, it is not because God has been moved to answer one man and not another, but because one man more than another has moved himself into a right relationship with the Spirit or the Principle of Being - whichever one chooses to call It.

Faith, then, touches a Principle which responds, we may be certain of this.  We should have more faith than we do rather than less, nor is it foolish to cultivate faith.  ALL PRAYERS WILL BE ANSWERED WHEN WE PRAY ARIGHT.  The first necessity is faith.  Faith!  But someone may exclaim, "This is what has always been taught, this is nothing new!"  Correct, we have nothing new.  We simply have a new approach to an old truth, a more intelligent, a more systematic way of consciously arriving at faith.  This is what treatment is for."

June 22 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MENTAL EQUIVALENTS
By Ernest Holmes

If We Know

"If we know that the Power with which we are dealing is Principle and not personality; if we know and believe that Mind is the only Actor, Cause, Effect, Substance, Intelligence, Truth and Power that there is; if we have a real embodiment; then we can demonstrate.  If we lack, if we are poor, if we are without friends, if we are without opportunity, we should be sure to erase from our consciousness any sense of lack.  We erase thought from consciousness by pouring in an opposite thought.  This thought meets the other and neutralizes its effect.  It rubs it out just as we rub a chalk mark off a board.   We must maintain a consistent, positive, aggressive mental attitude in the Truth.

We walk by falling forward; water falls by its own weight; the planets are eternally falling through space; everything sustains itself in nature.  The only reason man is limited is that he has not allowed the Divine within him to more completely express.  Man's Divine Individuality compels Infinity to appear in his experience as duality because he has believed in duality."

June 21 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

by Ernest Holmes

The Radiation of Life

The life of God within me radiates and shines forth from me in a constant stream of Light to all.

The One Life flowing through me is Life to all who come near.

The One Power operating through me is flowing into everything that I contact.

Life radiates from me.

Unity

Today I realize that I am One with the All Good; my God and I are One.

I cannot be hid from His face.

I behold Thee, O Most High, enthroned in my temple of flesh.

Thy secret place is within me.  I feel Thy presence,

I hear Thy voice, I rejoice in Thy Light.

Today my body responds to the Divine Behest:  "Be perfect."

I know of my perfection and wholeness; I am complete and perfect now.

Let every thought of disease flee from me, and let Thy Light shine.

O Light Eternal, O Light of my Life, I come into Thy presence with joy and thanksgiving.

So be it.

June 20 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

FROM THE TEACHING OF JESUS
~ Ernest Holmes

And the Father Saw Him Afar Off

""And he arose, and came to his father.  But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him."

This is the most perfect lesson ever taught by the Great Teacher.  "When he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him."  This means that God turns to us as we turn to Him.  A more beautiful thought could not be given than this!  There is always a reciprocal action between the Universal and the individual mind.  As we look at God, God looks at us.  Is it not true that when we look at God, God is looking through us at Himself?   God comes to us as we come to Him.  "It is done unto us as we believe."  "Act as though I am and I will be."

God Does Not Condemn

"And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.

"But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.

"And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:  For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.  And they began to be merry."

The great lesson to learn here is that God never reproaches and never condemns.  God did not say to the returning son, "You miserable sinner, you are no more worthy to be called my son."  He did not say, "I will see what I can do about saving your lost soul.  I will spill the blood of my most precious son in hopes that by his atonement your life may be made eternal."  He did not say, "You are a worm of the dust and I will grind you under my feet in order that you may know that I am God and the supreme power of the universe."  No, GOD DID NOT SAY ANY OF THESE ATROCIOUS THINGS!  What the Father did say was, "Bring forth quickly the best robe, and put it on him:  and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet."  Here Jesus is showing that God is Love and knows nothing about hate.

God Knows No Sin

Perhaps the most significant thing in this paragraph is the fact that God did not answer his son when he talked about being a sinner.  The Father talked about something else.   This is one of the most wonderful lessons in the whole story.  God does not know evil and therefore cannot talk about, or conceive it in any form.  God does not even hear us, could not hear us, when we talk about sin or evil.  If He could hear it, He would be conscious of it; if He could be conscious of it, He would not be wholly good.  If God could know evil, then evil would be an eternal reality.  But God is sinless and perfect and nothing can reflect itself in the Divine, save a perfect image.  If God could know sin, He would be a sinner.  It is enough to know that this cannot be.

The Best Robe

Now, the "best robe" was a seamless garment and typifies a state of complete unity, as does the ring.  The robe is seamless and the ring is without beginning or end.  It begins everywhere and ends nowhere.  It is like Eternity and Eternal Reality.  It perfectly describes the Divine Nature.  "The fatted calf" represents the abundance of God's love and providence."

June 19 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

Ernest Holmes

I Went into a Mountain

I have discovered a Secret Place within,

where the thought goes into a mountain high above the din of the world.

I have found in this mountain a Place of Peace and rest,

A Place of joy and comfort to the heart.

I have found that the Secret Place of God is within my own Soul.

I will listen for Thy Voice.

June 18 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

PHYSICAL PERFECTION ~ Ernest Holmes

Treating Insanity

"In treating one whose mind appears to be deranged, realize that there is but One Mind, which Mind is God, and is Perfect.  This is the only Mind there is.  It is the Mind of your patient; It is your own Mind.  This Mind being a Complete, Perfect, and Indivisible Whole, cannot labor under a delusion, cannot for one moment lose Its Self-Consciousness.  After you have realized this Truth about Life, know that it is also true about the one whom you are treating.  His thought is perfect.  If one should have a complete realization of this, knowing there is just the One Mind, there would be no doubt or confusion, and the mentality of the patient would cease to be deranged.

The practitioner must never allow himself to think of the patient as having "lost his mind."  If once the consciousness of the practitioner becomes clouded by such a thought, he would be truly "the blind leading the blind."  The practitioner must believe that there is but One Intelligence in the universe, and that this Intelligence is everywhere, flows in unlimited supply through every individual.   Man's mentality is a point in Universal Mind, to which all things are known.  In this Mind all persons are rational and poised."

June 17 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

PHYSICAL PERFECTION
~ Ernest Holmes

Why People Become Fatigued

"Let a person say to himself, "I am overworked," and at once there will come up through his consciousness a belief in weariness.  People who are constantly complaining of being tired are hypnotized into this belief through the law of race suggestion.  An instance of this is the belief that one more than forty years of age is easily fatigued, cannot engage in strenuous exercise of any kind, and must work fewer hours each day.  This race suggestion has hypnotized the entire world.  Only a few people past forty dare to undertake new endeavors and engage in activities with the same enthusiasm they did at twenty-five.  At what we term middle-age, all too many complain of habitual fatigue.  Usually this is attributed to over-exertion, or general dissipation of the reserves, but frequently, when analyzed, the mental cause will be discovered as a deep-seated resistance to conditions which the patient has found himself unable to change.

Suppose someone had been bound by mental confusion, that desires had torn him and conflicts had entered into his life, what would have occurred?  He would have been continually dropping opposing thoughts into his mentality; and as the mental action - the friction - took place, it might produce a very tired body; and if over-chaotic, it might produce what is known as nervous prostration.  It would not, however, be the body that was sick, but a condition brought about through wrong thought.

Now, if subjective thought were a thing apart from us, if we did not have conscious access to it, we could not change it; but being the result of the way thought has worked, we can consciously change it.  If this were not true, mental healing would be impossible.

We can free ourselves from a feeling of approaching fatigue, by knowing that we have within us - always immediately available - an Infinite Strength.  As we allow the thought of this to enter our inner consciousness, we feel strong, vital, and equal to any emergency.  "Know ye not that ye are the temple of the living God?"  This power within you is the same that holds the planets in space.  The power back of your word is perfect law and is fulfilled and returned to you as your perfect strength."

June 16 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

PHYSICAL PERFECTION
Ernest Holmes

Headache

"Confused, worried, anxious, tense thoughts can produce a congestion in the head.  Those who worry over trifles, and think they are subject to the conditions which surround them, often suffer from headaches, but a realization of the vitalizing power of Spirit through the entire body quickly removes tension and brings a sense of relaxation to the body.

Back of nearly every discord or disorder, there is some subjective complex, or mental knot, that needs to be untied; generally, some suppressed emotion, which perhaps is centered around the affections - the likes and dislikes, the loves and passions, and everything which goes with them.  These knots must be untied, and it is the business of the practitioner to untie them.

A treatment for peace, alone, often brings quick results when one is suffering from headache.  If one can stop long enough to realize:  "Infinite Intelligence within me lifts me out of worry, confusion and doubt," many times nothing else is necessary.  And a safe rule for the prevention of headache is thinking correctly.  Think only "whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report."  Following is a suggested treatment:

"There is neither congestion nor confusion in Spirit, and this man is spiritual.  There is neither ache nor pain in the Consciousness of god as It flows through man.  All ideas are assimilated, find perfect expression in joy through the life-giving Source which cannot be congested, retarded, nor strained.  Ideas are comprehended fully and completely, their spiritual significance is assimilated, and there is no strain as they pass into self-expression.  The flow of Life-force to the brain centers is always unretarded, sufficient and sustained.""

June 15 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

FROM THE TEACHINGS of JESUS
~Ernest Holmes

The Child-Like Faith (Matt. 18:3, 4, 5)

"Jesus tells us that the child-like mind is more receptive to Truth than the over-intellectual who demand too rational an explanation of those truths which must be accepted on faith alone. What man can explain why he lives?  The self-evident fact of living is the only explanation possible or necessary.  In the whole life, and through the entire teaching, of this marvelous man, we find a child-like faith in the universe and an implicit trust in the goodness of God.  Judging his work by its results, and its influence on succeeding ages, we are compelled to accept the fact that "Wisdom is justified of her children."

The Real Father and Son (Matt. 11:27)

"And no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him."

What reasonable explanation can we find to this passage, unless we look for some hidden meaning behind these words of the great teacher?  God alone knows the real Son, forever hidden in the bosom of the Father.  To God, this idea of sonship must be pure, complete and perfect; divine, holy and indestructible.  With our present limited vision, we neither see nor know the real Son, but the Father within knows and understands.  "Neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him."  God is revealed through the Son, and the Son reveals himself to other sons when he realizes that God is his life.  This implies a direct relationship between God and man.

If one would know God, he must penetrate deeply into his own nature, for here alone can he find Him.  If he would reveal God to his fellowmen, he must do so by living such a God-like life, that the Divine Essence flows through him to others.  The only way to know God is to be like Him; and while this may seem discouraging in our present state of evolution, we should remember that we have but started on an eternal ladder which ever spirals upward.

When Jesus said to come to him and find rest ("Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest...") did he mean that we should, or could, come unto his personality?  Of course not.  Jesus knew that his human personality would soon be dissolved in his divine individuality.  He knew that he was soon to leave this world and go on to a deeper realization of life, truth and beauty.

It is evident, then, that he was referring to his understanding of life, when he told all who are weary to come unto him and find rest.  Had he not already explained that God indwells every soul?  He was inviting people to penetrate more deeply into their own natures, if they would find peace and comfort.  This has ever been the lesson taught by the illumined that we find God only within ourselves, and God can work for us only by working through us.  God reveals Himself directly through the Son.  The Son reveals God, when he realizes that God is already within him.  This understanding would not produce an undue conceit, nor would it set man in the temple of god as God; but it would place a true estimate of value on the life of man.

The Power at the Heart of God

Peace is the power at the heart of God.  It is through the revelation of the self, to the self, that one understands life; that he approaches the power which is at the heart of God.  This comes through a recognition of the unity of the individual, with the Spirit back of, in, and through all.

The problem of philosophy is to unite the Infinite with the finite; to join the abstract with the concrete; to find a meeting place between the Absolute and the relative; to unify with the First Cause.   The same problem confronts religion and is, indeed, its whole purpose:  to unify man with God.  This is also true of science, but from a different angle.  Science seeks to join causes with effects, and by so doing make practical use of its knowledge.  Science is really spiritual, while philosophy leads to true religion.  Science is the handmaid of religion and philosophy."

June 14 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

Ernest Holmes

I Am Not Alone

I am not alone, for a Presence goes with me and daily accompanies me on my travels.

Always I shall find this Divine Companion with me.

He will not desert nor allow me to go alone.

He will always be with me and near me, and will always provide for every want.

My life is hid with Christ in God.

June 13 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

Ernest Holmes

The Divine Plan for Me

The Divine Plan for me is Perfect.  I am held in the Mind of God

as a Complete and Perfect Expression of Life and Truth.

No power can hinder nor mar this Inner Image of Reality,

for It is God-given and God-kept.

God gave and God will keep.

The Personality of God

The Great Personality of God is my Personality; the Limitless Knowingness

of The Spirit is my Knowingness, and the One Mind is my mind.

All, All live in One Infinite Being, and each manifests

the One Who is formed through and in all.

Man is the Personality of God in manifestation

and cannot be left without the Inner Witness of the Spirit.

I now realize that the Infinite Personalness of the Spirit

is my Personality, and I rejoice to know the Truth about myself.

God is my Personality.

June 12 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

FROM THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS
By Ernest Holmes

No One Gives to Us by Ourselves

"And he fain would have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat; and no man gave unto him."

"How true this is; no one can give unto us but ourselves and no one can rob us but ourselves.  "There are no gods to say us nay, for we are the life we live."  In our greatest extremity, in the moment of great need and dire distress, who can help or serve us?  All of our troubles come from an isolated sense of being; we alone can return to the "Father's House."

The question might be asked, "Where was God and why did He not come to the rescue of His beloved son?  Did He not care - was He heedless about His son's welfare?  Why did God allow such a thing to happen?  There is only one answer to all questions of this nature; God is always God, and man can always do as he pleases.  He would not be an individual unless this were possible.  The Father is never conscious of incompletion.  The Father's House is always open, the latch string ever hanging out, the door always ajar, but man must enter, if he wishes to abide within. 

Harmony can never become discord.  The truth can never produce a lie.  God can never be less than God.  Could God enter into a field of strife, then He would not be God.  God cannot enter the pig pen.  We cannot contract the Infinite, but we can expand the finite.  "As no man gave unto him."  It is always thus.

The Great Awakening

"And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough, and to spare, and I perish with hunger!"

"And when he came to himself."  This is the great awakening the moment in which we now live; in this moment we are asking this question of ourselves!  Is there not plenty in the universe?  Why do we want?  In this divine awakening, there seems to be an inner witness who remembers that we came from a heavenly state.  There seems to be an answer from that great within which says the Father's House is filled with peace, power and plenty.  The Universe is not limited.  It is abundant, lavish, extravagant.  Nothing can be taken from, nor added to, It.  Creation is the play of Life upon Itself.

We know, by intuition, that there is something beyond what we have so far consciously experienced in this world. Poets have sung of it and there are moments, in the lives of all, when the veil seems thin between and we almost enter into the heavenly estate.  This is the meaning of coming to one's self.  We are still in the awakening state, we have not yet consciously entered the state of perfect wholeness.  We know that such a state is a reality, and that we shall yet attain this reality.  Nothing can dislodge this inner and intuitive perception from our mentality; we know it as certainly as we know that we live.  This is God in us knowing Himself.  We are awakening to the realization that the Universe is perfect and complete.  It gives.  It is love.  It is good and wills only good to all alike.

Self-Condemnation

The prodigal said, "I will arise and go to my father and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, And am no more worthy to be called thy son:  make me as one of thy hired servants."

This represents a theological state of mind which is quite common to all of us; one of self-condemnation and personal distrust; it is morbid and detrimental to our welfare; a theological state of introspective morbidity, which might be classed as one of our worst mental diseases.  Self-condemnation is always destructive and should never be indulged in by anyone, it is always a mistake.  There is no question but that all of us have done that which is not for the best.  From this viewpoint, all have been sinners, because all have fallen short of the Divine Calling.  If we have sinned, it is because we have been ignorant of our true nature and because experience was necessary to bring us to ourselves."

June 11 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Repeating Treatments ~ Ernest Holmes

"A treatment is a specific thing.  When you are treating to neutralize any particular form of disease, your word should be spoken in such a way as to neutralize a belief in the necessity of the condition.  Each treatment must have in itself everything necessary to cover the case.  When you treat, resolve things into thought -- bodies, people, objects and all things - everything is a thing of thought.  Having resolved everything into thought, know that disease is neither person, place, nor thing.  It has no location, does not belong to anyone, cannot operate through anyone.  Know that it is a false image, with no power, and then you are ready to mentally dissolve it.

Always come to a complete conclusion when giving a treatment.  Always feel that it is done, complete and perfect and give thanks for the answer, as if it were already objectified.  In the interval between treatments, do not carry the thought of the patient around with you.  Tod do so is to doubt, and this mental attitude must be completely overcome.  Each treatment should be a complete statement of the Reality of Being.  The treatment should be repeated daily until a healing takes place.  If it takes five minutes, five hours, five days, or five years, the treatment must be kept up until a healing is accomplished.  This is the only method we know.  It is not enough to say that everything is all right.  This is true in Principle, but in fact and in human experience, it is only as true as we make it.  Treat until you get results.  A healing takes place when the patient is no longer sick, and until such time, mental work should be done."

June 10 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Treating Pain ~ Ernest Holmes

"Use the thought of peace with the realization of a Perfect Presence.  Many times, just the statement:  "Right where pain seems to operate, the Presence of God is," will instantly obliterate the pain.  The perfect realization of this Presence would always do so.  Know that in this Presence there is no tension, no struggle, no fear, there is no sense of conflict.  Know this until there comes to your consciousness a deep, calm sense of peace and ease, and until every thought of pain is eliminated.

Healing takes place to the degree that we send down the right kind of thoughts into subjectivity.  We mean, by thinking consciously and with deep feeling (knowing) we implant the right idea in Mind, and Mind reproduces this idea, as effect, in the body.  We must realize that we are using a Power, compared to which the united intelligence of the human race is as nothing.  The practitioner involves an idea in Mind; it is the Law which creates.  As the practitioner treats his own mentality, which is simply a point in Mind, he reaches the mentality of his patient.  The practitioner can erase the thought of pain from the patient's mentality when he has first neutralized the idea in his own thought."

June 9 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

How Habits Are Acquired and Treated ~ Ernest Holmes

"What is a habit?  A habit is desire objectified - "the continuous character of one's thoughts and feelings" - desire for something that will give satisfaction.  At the root of all habit is one basic thing:  the desire to express life.  There is an urge to express in all people, and this urge, operating through the channels of Creative Mind, looses energy into action, and compels the individual to do something.  Back of all this desire is the impulse of Spirit to express.  In man, this impulse must express at the level of his consciousness.

"For each, for the joy of working and each in his separate star,

Shall paint the thing as he sees It, for the God of things as they are."

Some express themselves constructively and some destructively.  Suppose a man who has the liquor habit comes to you to be healed.  You would not treat that habit.  You would not pray for the man to be healed.  You would know that you are dealing with a man who has the desire to express life and who, for the moment, thinks he must express it in terms of intoxication.  He once thought this expressed reality to him.  He now knows that it does not, but he cannot with mere will-power stop it, for the habit appears to have taken complete possession of him.  (We might well remember always that unless we control thought, it will control us.)

In giving treatment, first recognize who and what this man is, saying something like this:  "This man is the full and complete expression of Truth, and as such he is free from any sense of limitation.  He is not bound by any sense of inferiority, which he needs to cover up, for he is a unique individuality, expressing all the attributes of God.  He is free from any delusion or fear of delusion.  He knows that the Spirit of Truth within him is complete and always satisfied.  He has no longing outside of the longing to express his own divinity, and he has the assurance that he shall be able to gratify this: 'Blessed are they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness (right living) for they shall be filled.'  This thing which calls itself the liquor habit has no power over him and cannot operate through him.  By the power of this word which I am now speaking, this habit is completely destroyed and forever obliterated."  Then mentally see him free and harmoniously expressing life and happiness."

June 8 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Depend Upon Principle ~ Ernest Holmes

"Principle is the Power that made everything.  It is Absolute, It will not and cannot be denied.  The only thing that can deny God is yourself.

Do not think of disease as an entity, but as in impersonal thought-force.  In healing, you are separating the false from the true.  The work is definite and dynamic, and is consciously done, always with a clear purpose in mind.

If your own thought is clear, and you are able to realize the Presence of Spirit in your patient, your work will be effective.  Through the proper use of this great Subjective Law, you can impress a definite idea upon it, and if you, yourself, do not withdraw that idea, or neutralize it by an opposite one, the Law will bring it into manifestation.

What we need, then, is to learn the Law governing this Principle.  When you give a treatment, you are definitely setting a Universal Law in motion, which must not only accept what you say but the way in which you say it.  If your treatment is given with a sense of struggle, it will manifest in that way.  If it is given with a sense of peace, then it will manifest in a peaceful manner.

Remember that you need to assume no personal responsibility for the recovery of your patient, but you do have a definite obligation, which is to give the treatment...properly, clearly, fully, and conscientiously...when you have agreed to.  Back of all appearance to the contrary, it is your business to mentally see the spiritual perfection of your patient.

When you have occasion to treat yourself, call your own name, and proceed with the treatment as though you were treating someone else.  Or you may say, "I am thus and so..."

Disease will be healed, provided you get at its cause and remove it - and by getting at its cause, we mean getting at the mental cause - and provided the one for whom you are working is willing to surrender that cause.  You cannot heal anyone of his trouble, if it is the result of some mental attitude which he will not surrender.  In this case, find out what the mental attitude is and remove it, by showing the patient the right mental attitude.  It is the practitioner's duty to uncover false ideas of life, and replace them with the truth.  If this can be done before disease destroys the physical body, a healing will always follow."

June 7 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

Ernest Holmes

My Life Is One with God

My life is in God; it cannot be hurt nor hindered in its expression.

God lives and expresses through me; His work is complete and perfect in me now.

I know His life to be my life, and I know that my life is complete and perfect.

My Life is in God.

No Misunderstandings

There are no misunderstandings.

All is made clear between the ideas of Good.

No false sense of separation can come between people,

nor disturb the realization of the Unity of All Life.

I perceive that I am one with all people, and all are One with me.

There is no separation.

There is no separation.

June 6 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

FROM THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS

by Ernest Holmes

The Two Sons

"In presenting the parable of the Prodigal Son to his listeners, Jesus began by saying that the Father (which is the Universal Spirit) had two sons, meaning that, as the son of God, man has the right of self-choice.  This carries with it the possibility of an apparent duality (but, of course, not a real one) and the possibility of experiencing good and evil.  Moses referred to the same thing when he said that he had set a blessing and a curse before the Children of Israel, and they must choose whom they would serve.  The two sons referred to in this story, allegorically denote the two states of consciousness necessary to real individuality.  Man is a conscious, self-knowing mind, equipped with volition and choice; he is an individual and can do as he chooses.

God Does Not Argue (Luke 15:11-32)

"A certain man had two sons:  And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me.  And he divided upon them his living."

When the younger son asked for his portion of good, God did not argue with him; did not try to dissuade him; did not suggest that he was using bad judgment.  God never argues.  To argue is to suppose an opposite and God has no opposite.  We argue to arrive at a correct conclusion.  God is already the correct conclusion of all things, therefore, He does not need to argue.  Plotinus tells us that Nature never argues, that It contemplates Itself; that Its contemplation creates a form, through which It may become expressed.  Undoubtedly, this is the whole meaning and process of Creation.

"And he divided unto them his living."  There was no argument.  God did not tell the son that it would be far better for him to remain at home.  He did not say that he might come to want and suffer, perhaps starve.  He did not tell him anything:  "He divided unto them his living."  The Universe gives us what we ask; experience alone will teach us what is best to have.  "He divided unto them his living."  No clearer statement of individuality could possibly be inferred than this.  The son received exactly what he asked for; no more, and certainly no less.  The cup of his acceptance was filled from the universal horn of plenty; he could do with it as he chose.

The Far Country

"And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living."

When the son had received his share of goods, he went into a "far country."  We are all in this "far country," for it symbolizes the descent of the soul, or the outer rim of spiritual existence.  It is omnipresent, we cannot escape the Divine Presence, so this "far country" means a state of consciousness which has separated itself from the eternal good.  The "true meaning," I believe, of the "far country" would be a conscious separation from God, an isolated state, one in which there appears to be no remembrance of God as an actual, living, and ever-present Reality; one where man feels himself to be separated and entirely apart from the Eternal good.

This "far country" has a real a meaning today as it had in the hills of Galilee, nearly two thousand years ago, for all of us have come from heaven and nearly all feel the isolation of this seeming apartness from the Eternal Good.  Indeed, the whole endeavor of mankind is to return to the Father's House.

Why We Are in Want

"And there wasted his substance with riotous living.  And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want."

When one separates himself from the Divine Fire, he becomes an isolated spark.  We are strong only when united with Life.  As soon as our consciousness is detached from spiritual wholeness, we can no longer draw from that inexhaustible reservoir of eternal existence, so we become exhausted - there is nothing to fall back upon.

Life is one perfect Wholeness.  The Universe is a Unit.  God is One.  IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR MAN TO FEEL SEPARATED FROM THE SPIRIT WITHOUT FEELING LOST AND IN WANT.  This is why Jesus said he could nothing of himself, but could work only as the currents of divinity ran through his personal mentality.  That subtle something which runs through all things and which we call "the Thing Itself," that energy without which nothing can be energized, that Life without which nothing can live, that Power without which nothing can move, and that Spirit without which nothing can be - IS GOD.  It is only as we live in conscious union with the Spirit, and consciously let It work through us that we really live.

The Fallen Man

So, the prodigal son "began to be in want.  And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine."

The symbolism here is most interesting, for it perfectly depicts the state of humanity while in the "far country."  The "citizen" referred to means the attempt, on the part of man, to find some cause outside of Spirit.  Man seeks to league himself with material forces alone, not realizing that there can be nothing outside the Unity.  Most of us seek the cause in the effect and unknowingly put the cart before the horse, not realizing that the flower is already in the seed, and that effects must follow causes.  There can be no true alliance apart from life and no good apart from a unity with the Whole.  "And he sent him into his fields to feed swine."  Jesus was a Jew.  The Jews did not consider the meat of the swine lawful to eat; consequently he used this term to show how completely the prodigal son had fallen from his high estate - he must even be compelled to feed the despised swine.  This demonstrated that his state of being was so low that it would be impossible for it to be any worse.  It had reached the outer rim of reality."

June 5 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

By Ernest Holmes

His Eye Is on the Sparrow

"His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me."

This is a blessed thought, for it means that we cannot wander from His Presence,

nor depart from His care.

Always He will watch over us and comfort us.

Forever we shall sit in His house and ceaselessly He will care for us.

The All-Seeing Eye cannot overlook any one, and all, all shall be kept in His care.

All are kept in His care.

Hope Cannot Die

Hope cannot die.  Eternal Hope is forever warm and fresh within me;

the deathless Hope built upon the rock of sure knowledge.

Oh Hope Sublime, O Life Supreme, behold I come to Thee as a tired child,

and Thou dost rekindle within me the fires of Faith.

Strong, swift and sure, Faith springs forth into action

and my entire Being rises to meet the Dawn.

Hope, Faith and Love are in me.

June 4 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Do Not Try to Go Beyond Your Understanding ~ Ernest Holmes

"Since our spiritual understanding is not sufficient to enable us to mentally set bones, we call in a surgeon; since we cannot walk on the water, we take a boat.  We can go only as far as our spiritual knowledge takes us.  Principle is Infinite, but we shall demonstrate Its power only at the level of our concept of It.  Every day we shall have made new discoveries - laws which have always existed but which have not as yet been utilized.

Do not let any one discourage or belittle your efforts by asking, "Why don't you walk on the water?  Jesus did."  Do not be sidetracked by any of these futile suggestions, these mental obstructions which an unbeliever would seek to throw in your path.  If we had the understanding which Jesus had, we would be able to walk on the water.  I am not at all confused by the fact that we do not do this today.  Someday one will come along who knows how to walk on or over the water.

We are probably on the verge of a great spiritual awakening.  People are so tired of looking for things where they do not exist, that they are going to more and more completely open their thought to the realization that Spirit is an active Presence.  But if we spend our entire time trying to find out why It does not work, we shall never find out how and why It does work.  Arguing is often a waste of time.  Somehow there must come to each individual an interior conviction, that we are One with the Universe, and that the Spirit flows through us at the lever of our recognition and embodiment of It.  For this is "the way, the truth and the life."

People say:  "I can't take off my glasses."  Then wear them but begin to make the declaration that there is One Perfect Vision seeing through you.  This the Truth.  If this statement becomes a subjective realization, you will be healed, will no longer need glasses.

If a plaster will relieve, use it.  If a pill does any good, take it, but gradually try to lead the thought from where it is into the higher realms of consciousness where the soul recognizes its own I-Am-ness.

Suppose one is unable to convince himself of the Truth of the statement which he makes, how is he going to bring himself to a place of belief?  By repeating his affirmation, dwelling on its meaning, meditating up on the spiritual significance of it, until the subjective state of his thinking becomes clarified.  This is the only reason for repeating treatments, for one treatment would heal if there were no subjective doubts.  Repeated treatments induce, within consciousness, a definite concept of an already established truth, even though the fact may not as yet have become objectified.  This is why mental healing is scientific.  There is no room for doubt in a treatment.

Realize that you treat with your understanding; by your own choice you decide to give a treatment, but the treatment becomes operative through the Law.  Never say:  "I am not good enough to treat."  In God there are no good, better or best.

Do not allow yourself to become superstitious, for you are dealing with a normal, natural law in the mental and spiritual world.  This law is just as real as any other known law.  Never say:  "I am not sure that I have enough power to treat."  You can never heal with this mental attitude, for that implies that you think you are doing the healing.  Rather, say:  "As I let fall the forms of my thought, they are operated upon by Principles in which I believe.  This is the law of God, the law of man, and the law of the Universe."  Never say, or think:  "This disease is hard to heal, while that presented yesterday was easy."  If you find yourself saying this, at once heal yourself.  Such a belief comes from the thought that we are dealing with a limited power, and that such power knows degrees of discomfort.  The truth is that there is but One Power and that Power knows only Perfection."

June 3 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Suggestions for Treatments ~ Ernest Holmes

"In giving mental and spiritual treatments, it is better not to dwell too much on the negative, since we are liable to give it undue importance.  To affirm the presence of God is better than to deny the presence of evil.  However, if the presence of evil persists in making its appearance, it is sometimes well to deny it, to know it is neither person, place nor thing, that it does not belong to us, and that it cannot operate through or around us.  It is neither cause, medium, nor effect.  It is neither imagination, idea, nor reflection.  It is neither visible nor invisible.  It cannot emanate from God, and does not emanate from man.  The devil is a myth, and heaven is lost merely for the lack of an idea of harmony.  "Stand still and watch the sure salvation of the Lord."  This Lord Is always an indwelling Presence.  The individual "I" which is an incarnation of the Universal "I Am."

A practitioner should think of his patient as a perfect entity, living in a perfect Universe, surrounded by perfect situations and governed by perfect Law.  The entire Universe is devoted to his good.  "All the Father hath is thine."  "Arise, O Son, and take."  This taking is better accomplished through an affirmative attitude of  mind than by dwelling too much on the negative.  "Behold!  The kingdom of heaven is at hand," but this kingdom must be recognized.  The recognition is a mental act.  We must know that the All-Powerful Spirit is ever available and ever equal to the healing of any discordant condition of body, mind or affairs, but we must never look outside of ourselves to find this Spirit, since It is indwelling.  What we really do is to look within our own consciousness, and "pray to the Father who is in secret and the Father who seeth in secret, shall reward us openly."  The sincere practitioner will be sure his own thought is clear, that his own faith is equal to the demands made upon it.  Above all else he must be careful not to be caught in the negative stream of consciousness.  Jesus could not have raised Lazarus from among those who were believed to be dead if he had been afraid to "roll away the stone," nor if he had listened to the wailing of those about him.  To be spiritually minded is to enter that tranquil atmosphere of pure thought, that "Heavenly Consciousness" which is "the secret place of the Most High" in man.

In beginning a series of treatments for any person, we start with the idea of Perfect God, Perfect Man, and Perfect Being.  In every case it is well to begin by the removal of doubt and fear, to assure ourselves that the one whom we are seeking to help is complete and perfect, harmonious and whole.  Next we must conform our arguments, statements and realizations so that they may measure up to this high ideal.

It is easy to believe that God is perfect.  We must also believe that the spiritual man is perfect, and since it is difficult to believe that the objective man is perfect, we must confine our statements to a realization of the spiritual perfection of man.  In such degree as our realization becomes a subjective embodiment, the objective healing will automatically take place.  We know the background of human thought is, to a great extent, one of negation, a denial of an harmonious and spiritual Universe; consequently, our outlook on life must be transformed by the renewing of the mind, and even when the results are not immediately forthcoming, we must still maintain a calm serenity of thought.  We must relight the torch of our imagination by "fire caught from heaven."  We must remain faithful to this vision for a realization of the Presence of God is the secret power of our work.

The following examples are not to be considered dogmatic; they are merely suggested ways by which one may do effective work.   The practitioner must realize that all power is given unto him.  He must believe that man is spiritual and he must be certain that his statements about the spiritual man will find a corresponding outlet in the physical man.  However, he is very careful never to treat the physical man, but to think of man's entire being as spiritual, and if man's entire being is spiritual, then his physical being must reflect spiritual ideas.  The practitioner supplies these spiritual ideas and lets the Law of Mind do the rest.  To begin the treatment by a silent assurance that man, being spiritual, is exempt from negation, is a correct starting point.  Infinite Love harmonizes man's entire being.  The healing currents of Life flow through him, taking away every negative thought and manifestation, and adjusting his whole physical being to the idea of Divine Harmony."

June 2 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Physical Perfection - Concluded ~ Ernest Holmes

What Can Be Healed?

"What should we try to heal through spiritual treatment?  If we were dealing only with the power of a thought, we should not expect to heal anything; but if we are dealing with a Universal Principle, why should we set any limit to Its power?

Since the Law of God is Infinite, from the spiritual viewpoint, there is no incurable disease, as opposed to a curable one.  The Law knows nothing about disease; It only acts.  The practitioner realizes that this word is the presence, power and activity of Truth, which is in him, which is Almighty, which is God, "beside which there is none other."

This word is the law unto the thing whereunto it is spoken, and has within itself the ability, the power, and the intelligence to execute itself, through the great Law of all life.  This word being the spontaneous recognition of Living Spirit - Infinite, Ever-Present, and Active - is now made manifest in and through this person, or thing, about which the practitioner is thinking.

To Spirit there can be no incurable disease.  The word "incurable" means not susceptible of being cured.  The root definition of cured is "cared for."  If we say that a disease is incurable, we are saying that it is not sensitive to care.   As long as any cell is alive it is sensitive to care, which means that as long as a person is alive, the cells of the body respond to care.  Naturally, they are not being cured if they are not being property cared for.  We have already learned that disease is largely a state of mind, and we could hardly say that a state of mind is incurable, could we?  We know that thought is constantly changing, forever taking on new ways of expression.  It cannot possibly remain permanent.  It has to change.  Can we not, accordingly, change it to a better state instead of to a worse?

Materia medica is using the term "incurable" less and less frequently, for most disease in the field of medicine is being cured.  Let us then free ourselves from the assumption that any disturbed state of thought need be permanent ("incurable")."

June 1 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Summary of Part Two:  Spiritual Mind Healing ~ Ernest Holmes

First Division:  Ideation

A recognition of the Power, and the thought and purpose back of mind healing.

"The possibility of spiritual mind healing, changing environment, controlling conditions, etc., through the power of right thinking, rests entirely upon the theory that we are surrounded by a Universal Mind, which reacts to our thought - and always according to Law.

Spiritual Man is Perfect, but his individual use of Life and Law enables him to cover a perfect idea with an apparently imperfect cloak.

Sickness is not a spiritual Reality; it is an experience - an effect and not a cause.  The body, devoid of mentality, could neither know nor experience sensation; it is entirely an effect.  The body of man is made from the same undifferentiated Spiritual Substance from which all Creation is formed.

Man comes into objectivity with the tendency of the race already subjectified within him, through race-suggestion.  The race experiences sickness and limitation, and this suggestion is more or less operative through all people.  It works through the subjective race thought and operates through the individual.

Man need not consciously think negation in order to produce physical disturbance, but the physical correspondent is a logical outcome of what he thinks.  Thus we see not only how important it is to entertain right thoughts, but also the necessity for having a constructive basis for our thinking.

We find that prayer is essential to happiness, for righteous prayer sets the law of the Spirit of life in motion for our good.  Prayer is essential to the conscious well-being of the soul.  Prayer has stimulated countless millions to higher thoughts and better lives.  Prayer is its own answer.  Before our prayer is framed in words the possibility of its answer already exists.

We find that faith in God is a spiritual quality of the mind; and an understanding faith is based on Immutable Principle.  Its action is higher than that of the intellect, because it is born of intuition.

One should have faith in himself, faith in his fellowman, in the Universe, and in God.  Our mind must be steady in its conviction that our life is some part of God, and that the Spirit is incarnated in us.  "Faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen."

A spiritual practitioner is one who recognizes man as a Spiritual Reality.  Since there is but One Mind, the practitioner makes this recognition within his own mind.  Through the medium of the One Mind, his statements rise to objective conditions in his patient, according to his belief and the patient's receptivity.  Healing is accomplished through the act of setting Subjective Law in motion.  The more spiritual or Godlike the mentality of the practitioner, the more powerful the treatment.

A mental treatment begins and ends within the thought of the practitioner, because he is in the same Mind in which his patient lives.  Treatment is the act of inducing right concepts on the subjective side of life.

Absent and present treatments are the same, for there is no absence in the One Presence.  So far as the practitioner is concerned, there is no difference between an absent and a present treatment.  He needs only to know whom he wishes to help, realizing that in the field of Mind and Spirit there is no apartness, and then he speaks the word for the other person, in full confidence that the Law will operate upon it.  He is not concerned where the person is whom he desires to help, or what he may be doing at that particular time.  He is concerned only with his own thought relative to his person, endeavoring to bring out in his own mind the realization that this person is a spiritual entity, governed by a perfect Law, directed by positive Intelligence, and animated by Divine Life, Love, and Law.

There is no personal responsibility in healing.  We should not feel that we put the power into the word.  The practitioner directs the Power and lets It work.  One does not hold thought in mental healing; he looses thought.  A practitioner does not try to suggest, hypnotize or mentally influence; he simply seeks to know that man is now a spiritual being, and he holds to that belief no matter what the appearance may be.  Right mental treatment does not tire the one giving the treatment.

Personal magnetism has nothing to do with mental healing.  The whole basis of the possibility of mental healing rests upon the premise that we all live in One Creative Mind which reacts to our belief.  It is as though there were a Universal Ear, listening to and hearing everything that we say, feel or think, and reacting to it.

Healing is not a process but a revelation; for the revealing of the perfect man always heals.  The process, if there is one, is the time and thought that it takes to arrive at the correct understanding of man's perfect state in Spirit.

Anyone can heal who believes that he can, and who will take the time to set that belief in motion through the Law.  To daily see the perfect man, and to daily declare for his objective appearance, is correct mental practice and will heal.

A treatment recognizes that all is Mind, and that everything is mental.  It dissolves all disease into thought; neutralizes the false thought and recognizes the true.  Nothing can stop it from operating except a lack of faith in the reality of Truth and man's ability to use It.

In giving mental treatment, the practitioner first realizes his own being as spiritual; he then recognizes the spiritual state of his patient's being; then he attacks the false claim and brings the evidence of Truth to bear against it, thinking in such a manner as to completely destroy the false claim and realize the Truth.  In such degree as this acknowledgment is complete, petition is transmuted into acceptance, and the mind actually feels that the object of its desire is already an accomplished fact.

The greatest good that can come to anyone is the forming within him of an absolute certainty of himself, and of his relationship to the Universe, forever removing the sense of heaven as being outside himself.

Such an understanding teaches us that there can never come a time when we shall stop progressing; that age is an illusion, that limitation is a mistake, that unhappiness is ignorance.  This understanding will rob man of his loneliness and give him a sense of security which knows no fear, a peace without which no life can be happy, a poise which is founded on this peace, and a power which is the result of the union of peace with poise."

May 31 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

Ernest Holmes

Cast Aside All Doubt

Cast aside all doubt, O Soul of mine, and be unafraid, for Thy power is from On High.

He Who sitteth in the heavens shall be Thy champion;

Thou need not fear; Come forth, O Spirit, from within and express Thyself through me and let not my doubts hinder Thy approach.

My faith shall go forth to meet Thee, and my confidence shall embrace Thee.

My waiting thought shall bid Thee welcome to my house of Love,

And Joy shall accompany us through the ages yet to come.

I lay aside all fear and doubt.

Divine Companionship

I have an Inner Friend who walks and talks with me daily.

He is not afar off, but is within me, a constant companion.

I shall never become lonely, for my Friend is always near.

I have but to speak and He answers.

Before ever my lips spoke He told me of His love.

O my kind Friend, how dear to me is Thy presence.

The Spirit within me is my Friend.