September 30 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

GENERAL SUMMARY
Ernest Holmes

"Mind is forever conscious of Itself and of what It does.  Its consciousness is Its law.  Its consciousness is perfect and Its laws are perfect.  Mind cannot be conscious of anything but Itself, since It is all.  Spirit is conscious of man since man exists and since God must be conscious of all that is.  Therefore man is, because God is conscious of him.  And God's consciousness of man must be complete and perfect.  Generic man must be held in the Mind of God as a complete and perfect manifestation of the Divine.

Mind is all-inclusive and all-pervading. Mind is also self-governing and self-propelling.  Spirit is conscious of love as Its is conscious of life.  It is inspired by love and Its government is one of love.  Thus love is the fulfilling of the perfect law.  Law is the outcome of love and love is the outpusher through law.  Love and law go hand in hand to produce a complete and perfect manifestation.

Man's consciousness of God constitutes his real and immortal self.  There is really only one man viewed from the Universal sense, but in this one, or "grand man" as it has been called, there are innumerable persons.  Each is in direct relationship to the Whole.  Each is an image of God but God is not lessened by being represented in innumerable forms and through limitless numbers of mentalities any more than the figure five would become exhausted by being used by innumerable mathematicians.

Our consciousness of God is our real self and at the same time it is both personal and impersonal.  It is personal in that it is personified through us and it is impersonal in that we are all using a universal power.  When we know that we are using such a power all doubt as to our ability to use it will vanish and our words will be spoken with spontaneous reliance on Truth.

In spiritual healing the practitioner deals with thought alone.  He is not dealing with a sick body or a sick man.  There is no one to be healed in the Truth and we must think in the Truth if we expect to heal.  There is no material body to be healed and no material man to suffer pain or anguish.  Disease is neither person, place nor thing to the one who wishes to heal.  The practitioner must try to become conscious of perfection alone and nothing else.  In whose mind is he to become conscious of perfection?  In the only person's mind he can ever be conscious of anything, in his own mind.  The first man to be healed is the practitioner.

Here in his own mind he meets the belief in the necessity of sickness or discord.  He repudiates this belief and explains to himself what the real truth is.  He is conscious, as his explanation goes on, that he is meeting and neutralizing false claims held to be true about his patient.  Knowing that they are false, he resolves them into thoughts and heals the thought.  The whole process is one of thought and realization and could not be anything else.

The practitioner works within his own mind until he is mentally satisfied, until the whole reaction in his thought causes him to understand that his patient is now healed.  This healing is really the action of Spirit upon the mind of the healer, the active Principle of truth, goodness and harmony.

Since the Divine must hold us as some part of Its eternal perfection, we are fulfilling our destiny when we think of ourselves as already Divine and perfect.  To contemplate that Divine Life which is at the very center of everyman's life - this is the very essence of mental healing.

This is what we mean by realization.  Words carry the mind forward to a place in thought where realization begins.  At this point the most effective work is done.  It is an inward feeling, a silent sense of Divine Reality.  Troward tells us that the Divine Spirit is the limitless potential of human life.  Which means that the human is really Divine but will ever evolve into newer and better states of conscious being.

In practice we state clearly in words what these ideas mean to us and then we relate these statements to some needed experience or to some desired good which we have not been experiencing.  After using whatever words will bring conviction to our thought we pause and try to realize the presence of the All Power from which every special good comes.  This is the adding the Spirit to the letter of the Law.  However we should never forget that both the letter and the Spirit are necessary in our work.  The letter molds while the Spirit creates.  The thought is a mold, conviction is the molten substance poured into this mold.  One is not complete without the other and many people make the mistake of using only one of these essential states of consciousness.

When we live in obedience to the Power which is over us we shall be able to consciously direct the lesser conditions that are around us.  Adam was permitted to name all creation and man was supposed to exercise an authority over all that is below him.  This means his whole physical environment, of course.  But this power was abused and the experience of lack, sickness and limitation fell upon humanity.  Adam symbolizes everyman's experience. The allegory of Eden is the story of human evolution.

Wherever the image of thought is set, there the Power to create resides.  "God if thou seest God, Dust if thou seest dust." Can we see good where evil appears to be?  Then we can remove the evil.  When we bring a lamp into a darkened room, where does the darkness go?  The darkness neither came nor did it go, anywhere.  It never was a thing of itself, merely a condition.  And we have power over conditions."

September 29 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

WHAT the MYSTICS HAVE TAUGHT
Ernest Holmes

Individuality (Continued)

"All of the great mystics have taught practically the same thing.  They have all agreed that the soul is on the pathway of experience, that is, of self-discovery; that it is on its way back to its Father's House; and that every soul will ultimately reach its heavenly home.

They have taught the Divinity of Man.  "I have said, Ye are Gods; and all of you are the children of the Most High."  They have old us that man's destiny is Divine and sure; and that creation is complete and perfect now.  The great mystics have all agreed that man's life is his to do with as he chooses, but that when he turns to the One, he will always receive inspiration from on High.

They have told us of the marvelous relationship which exists between God and man, and of a close Union that cannot be broken; the greatest of the mystics have consciously walked with God and talked with Him, just as we talk with each other.  It is difficult to realize how this can be.  It is hard to understand how a Being, so Universal as God must be, can talk with man.  Here alone, the mystic sense reveals the greater truth and knows that, infinite as is the Divine Being, IT IS STILL PERSONAL TO ALL WHO BELIEVE IN ITS PRESENCE!  It is entirely possible for a man to talk with the Spirit, for the Spirit is within him, and He who made the ears, can hear.

Since we see that personality is what one does with his individuality, we should turn within (as have all those great souls who have blessed the world with their presence), we should turn within and FIND GOD.  It should seem natural to turn to the Great Power back of everything; it should seem normal to believe in this Power; and we should have a sense of a Real Presence when we do turn toward the One and Only Power in the entire Universe.

This method is by far the most effective.  It gives a sense of power that nothing else can and in this way proves that it is a Reality.  It would be a wonderful experiment if the world would try to solve all of its problems through the power of Spirit.  Indeed the time will come when everyone will..."From the highest...to the lowest."

Undoubtedly the power of Jesus lay in His recognition of the Infinite Person as a Responsive, Conscious, Living Reality; while, on the other hand, He recognized the Law as an arbitrary force which was compelled to obey His will.  He combined the personal and the impersonal attributes of Life into a perfect Whole.  THE INFINITE IS PERSONAL TO EVERY SOUL WHO BELIEVES IN THE INFINITE.  It is a mistake to so abstract the Principle that we forget the Living Presence.  It is the combination of the two which makes work effective.  A sense of real completion can come only to that soul that realizes its Unity with the Great Whole.  Man will never be satisfied until his whole being responds to this thought, and then, indeed, will "God go forth again into Creation."  "To as many as believed, gave He the power.""

September 28 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

WHAT the MYSTICS HAVE TAUGHT
Ernest Holmes

Individuality

"The higher the sense of Truth, the greater will be the realization of the uniqueness of individual character and personality.  The real Self is God-given and cannot be denied.  It is the place where God comes to a point of Individualized and Personified Expression.  "I am the light of the world."

Individuality means self-choice, volition, conscious mind, personified Spirit, complete freedom and a Power to back up that freedom.  There could not be a mechanical or an unspontaneous individuality.  Individuality must be created in the image of Perfection and let alone to make this stupendous discovery for itself; it emerges from the Universal.  Psychology teaches the personification of this individuality, which is true as far as it goes, but metaphysics universalizes it by unifying it with the Whole.  There is a Universal nature of Man, inherent within him, which causes the manifestation of his personality.  The Spirit of God.

We have now discovered a unity with the Whole on the three sides of life, or from all three modes of expression.  We are one with the body of the physical world; One with the Creative Law of the Universe in the mental world; and One with the Spirit of God in the conscious world.

Could we ask or hope for more?  Would it be possible for more to be given?  We could not ask for more and no greater freedom could be given.  From now on we shall expand, grow and express only to the degree that we consciously cooperate with the Whole."

September 27 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

WHAT The MYSTICS HAVE TAUGHT
Ernest Holmes

Unity (Continued)

"In treatment there should always be a recognition of the absolute Unity of God and man:  the Oneness, Inseparability, Indivisibility, Changelessness.  God as the big circle and man as the little circle.  Man is in God and God is man, just as a drop of water is in the ocean, while the ocean is the drop of water.  This is the recognition which Jesus had when he said, "I and the Father are One."  There is a perfect Union, and to the degree that we are conscious of this Union, we incorporate this consciousness in our word; and our word has just as much power as we put into it, nor more and no less.

Within this Infinite Mind each individual exists, not as a separated but as a separate entity.  We are a point in Universal Consciousness, which is God, and God is our Life, Spirit, Mind and Intelligence.  We are not separated from Life, neither is It separated from us, but we are separate entities in It - individualized centers of God Consciousness.

We came from Life and are in Life, so we are One with Life; and we know that Instinctive Life within - which has brought us to the point of self-recognition - still knows in us the reason for all things, the purpose underlying all things; and we know that there is nothing in us of fear, doubt or confusion which can hinder the flow of Reality to the point of our recognition.  We are guided daily by Divine Intelligence into paths of peace, wherein the soul recognizes its Source and meets It in joyful union, in complete At-One-ment.

The power of Jesus is understood when we study His method of procedure.  Consider His raising of Lazarus from the dead.  Standing at the tomb, He gave thanks; this was recognition.  He next said:  "I know that thou hearest me always;" this was unification.  Then He said:  "Lazarus, come forth," this was his command.  The method is perfect and we shall do well to follow it.  This method can be used in all treatment.  First, realize that Divine Power is; then unify with It; and then speak the word as "one having authority," for the Law is "the servant of the Eternal Spirit throughout all the ages."

Jesus prayed that all might come to see the Unity of Life.  "That they may be One even as we are One," was His prayer as He neared the completion of His great work - the prayer that enabled those closest to Him to understand the Unity of Spirit, in which man clearly recognizes his Oneness with his Creator and with all Creation.  All mystics have sensed that we live in One Life:  "In Him we live and move and have our being."

The Unity of Good is a revelation of the greatest importance, for it teaches us that we are One with the Whole and One with each other.  The Fatherhood of God and the actual Brotherhood of Man will be made apparent on earth to the degree that man realizes true Unity."

September 26 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

By Ernest Holmes

The Night Is Filled with Peace

I wrap myself in the mantle of Love and fall asleep, filled with Peace.

Through the long night Peace remains with me, and at the breaking of the new day 

I shall still be filled with Life and Love.

I shall go forth into the new day confident and happy.

I rest in Thee.

September 25 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

By Ernest Holmes

Stillness and Receptivity

I am still and receptive to Life

I let Life flow through me into all that I do, say or think.

I shall let my Life be what it is, and shall not worry nor complain.

I am now entered into the Secret Place of the Soul where complete quiet 

reigns supreme and where God talks to me.

I receive.

September 24 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

WHAT the MYSTICS HAVE TAUGHT
Ernest Holmes

Unity

"Reason declares that that Which is Infinite cannot be divided against Itself.  The Infinite cannot be divided against Itself.  The Infinite is, therefore indivisible and consequently a Perfect unit.  "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is One Lord."  It is also "That Whose Center is everwhere and Whose Circumference is nowhere."

All of It is present at any and every point within Itself.  It is not approaching a point nor receding from it, but is always at the point.  The whole of God is present at any and every point within God.  It was to this Indwelling Spirit that Jesus prayed, for God is within man as well as throughout all creation.  It is "That thread of the All-Sustaining beauty which runs through all and doth all unite."  His lines have gone out into all places."  "There is no place where God is not."

This concept enabled Job to say, "In my flesh shall I see God." All life is bound together by One common Law of Love, and Love is the Self-Givingness of Spirit.  It was the realization of this One Presence which illumined the saints and sages of the past.  "I and the Father are One."  "The Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works."  We must come to sense this marvelous Presence, for this is the secret of successful metaphysical work:  God in all and through all.

All manifestation of Life is from an invisible to a visible plane, through a silent, effortless process of spiritual realization.  WE MUST UNIFY IN OUR OWN MENTALITIES WITH PURE SPIRIT.  To each of us, individually, God or Spirit is the Supreme Personality of the Universe - the Supreme Personality of that which we, ourselves, are.  It is only as the relationship of the individual to the Deity becomes enlarged that one has a consciousness of Power."

September 23 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

WHAT The MYSTICS HAVE TAUGHT
Ernest Holmes

What Is a Mystic? (Continued)

"The teaching of the mystics has been that there should be conscious courting of the Divine Presence.  There should be a conscious receptivitiy to It, but a balanced one.  As one of the Apostles said, in substance, that he would rather speak ten words with his understanding than ten thousand with confusion.  "God is not the author of confusion but of peace."  Unlike the great psychics of the ages, who have been more or less confused, the great mystics have been intensely and pre-eminently the sane people, sound people.

The philosophy of Jesus will remain sound when the belief in a material universe shall have been rolled up like a scroll and numbered with the things once thought to be real.  So will be the philosophy of Buddha, Plato, Socrates, Emerson and Walt Whitman, and the philosophy we are writing about today.  But the more or less unconscious disclosures of many psychics are not entire true, even in the day in which they are given.  While psychism is a most interesting field of study, we should understand it for what it is worth.

It is through the teachings of the illumined that the Spiritual Universe reveals Itself, imparting to us what we know about God.  What we directly experience ourselves, and what we believe others have experienced, is all we can know about God.

Jesus taught a Power transcendent, triumphant, absolute, positive, against which lesser laws meant nothing.  By Its very Presence It heals.  The mystics did not contend or argue with people.  There was nothing to argue about.  THEY SAW and KNEW.  They are the great revealers to man of the nature of the Universe, and the relationship of man to God."

September 22 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

WHAT the MYSTICS TAUGHT
Ernest Holmes

What is a Mystic? (continued)

"Man has compelled nature to do his bidding.  He has harnessed electricity, caught the wind, trapped steam, and made them do his will.  He has invented machines to do the work of thousands.  He has belted the globe with his traffic and built up a wonderful civilization; but in a few cases has he conquered his own soul.  The mystic has revealed things that do not pass as ships in the night.  He has revealed Eternal Verities and has plainly taught us that there is a Living Presence indwelling ALL.  This constitutes the greatest intellectual and spiritual heritage of the ages.  The balance of our knowledge of God must come as a direct impartation from Him.  We must learn it for ourselves.

The mystic does not read human thought, but rather he senses the atmosphere of God.  The mystics of every age have seen, sensed and taught THE SAME TRUTH!  Psychic experiences, on the other hand, bear the exact opposite testimony, as they more or less contradict each other, for each psychic sees a different kind of mental picture.  But the mystic experiences of the ages have revealed ONE AND THE SAME TRUTH!

A psychic sees largely through his own, or another's subjective mentality.  Consequently, his impressions are more or less colored by the vibration of his own or another's thought.  He is subject to hallucinations and false impressions of every description.  That is why, generally speaking, no two psychics see the same thing.  Mystics have all sensed one identical Reality, and their testimony is in no way confusing, because the Spirit within them has borne witness to the same Truth.

The mystics have been perfectly normal people.  They did not think of themselves as mystics, that was their language.  It was natural to them - perfectly normal.  They have been people like Jacob Boehme, a cobbler, pegging away at his shoes, who, looking up, saw in the geranium plant the reflection of the Cosmos - the very soul of God; like Jesus looking into the heart of nature; like Moses reading God's Law from a burning bush."

September 21 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

WHAT the MYSTICS HAVE TAUGHT
Ernest Holmes

What Is a Mystic?

"A mystic is not a mysterious person but is one who has a deep, inner sense of Life and of his unity with the Whole.  Mysticism and psychism are entirely different.  One is real while the other may, or may not, be an illusion.  There is nothing mysterious in the Truth, so far as It is understood, but all things seem mysterious until we understand them.

A mystic is one who intuitively perceives Truth and, without mental process, arrives at Spiritual Realization.  It is from the teachings of the great mystics that the best in the philosophy of the world has come.  Who was there who could have taught such men as these?  By what process of mentality did they arrive at their profound conclusions?  We are compelled to recognize that Spirit alone was their Teacher; they were indeed taught of God.

Our great religions have been given by a few who climbed the heights of spiritual vision and caught a fleeting glimpse of Ultimate Reality.  No living soul could have taught them what they know.

The great poets have been true mystics who, through their poems, have revealed the Presence of God.  Men like Robert Browning, Tennyson, Wordsworth, Homer, Walt Whitman, Edward Rowland Sill, and others of like nature, have given us poetry which is immortal, because they had a spiritual sense of life.

Great spiritual philosophers are mystics.  The old prophets were mystics - David, Solomon, Jesus, Plotinus, and a score of others, all had the same experience - the sense of a Living Presence.  The greatest music ever composed was written by the hand of a mystic, and the highest and best in art has come from men of spiritual perception."

September 20 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS

By Ernest Holmes

The following meditation is printed just as it was given in class and group work.

I Represent The Principle of Perfection

"In each human being, the Whole is represented, and the entire knowledge of wisdom, of health, and the perfection of every act, manifests - is represented - and it is through this Inner Divine Voice, the Divine Nature within us, that we are able to perceive and trust, and come into conscious contact with, this Divine Principle.  In the sight of this Within, we are perfect.  We must try to see ourselves as God sees us, free and filled with vitality and sufficiency for every occasion.

It is not enough to confess that God is the only Power there is.  It is only when this consciousness of power is hooked to the dynamo of the mind that there is generated, through the imagination, an embodiment of that which is able to loose it in any direction it sees fit.  It is not enough merely to say that there is One Mind and that Mind is God.  To this we must add:  "That Mind is my mind now."  That completes the thought, makes possible a loosing of the Divine Intelligence through our own imagination.

Let us not forget that, in treatment, we must sense the embodiment of that which we wish to experience.  The statements which are made in the treatment are for the purpose of delivering to the imagination, in a certain form, THAT WHICH WAS TRUE BEFORE WE MADE THE STATEMENTS.  The whole problem is not one of creation, but one of direction, and there is no direction unless there is first an embodiment.  Let us try this in our meditation.  We know that we reflect the Divine Perfection and that there is an intuition within us which guides us.  We know that all the power there is and all the presence there is, is this perfect Spirit, this Divine Reality, which is around us and through us and in us.  Now, each turning directly to his own thought says:

"The Spirit within me, which is God, the Living Spirit Almighty, is Perfection.  It is Wholeness; It is Peace.  It is Divine Guidance, Perfect Peace, Complete Wholeness, Absolute Perfection, and right now, this moment, this Spirit governs every act of my life.  It surrounds me with Light, in which there is no darkness, no gloom, no heaviness and no fear.  In this Light, I live and move and have my being.  And this Light dispels all darkness and casts out all fear.

"This Divine Wisdom within me guides every act, directs everything in my life, toward happiness, toward peace, toward power, and being the Spirit of Love, It surrounds me with beauty, with friendship and with joy.  Being the Giver of Life, every day I receive that which is perfect, abundant, happy, joyful and free.  Being that Divine Thing which individualizes in me, It is entirely individual, personal and unique.  I am the expression of my own complete self, and there is no barrier or bar to that self-expression.  Being the Spirit of Substance, that Spirit within me is the Father of Supply, and It brings to me everything necessary to my unfoldment, and keeps me in the wisdom through which It governs me, now and forever."

I Represent the Principle of Perfection

September 19 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS

By Ernest Holmes

Peace, Poise and Power

Peace, Poise and Power are within me, for they are the witnesses of the Inner Spirit of all Truth, Love and Wisdom.

I am at peace within me, and all about responds to that Great Calm of the Inner Soul which knows its rightful place in the All Good.

Power is born from within me and passes into my experience without effort or labor.

I rest in Security and Peace, for the Inner Light shines forth and illumines the way.

I rest in Thee.

September 18 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS

By Ernest Holmes

One with Perfect Action

I am One with Perfect Action.  Everything I do, say or think is quickened into action through this right understanding and this correct knowing.

The harmonious action of the great Whole operates through me now and at all times.

I am carried along by this Right Action and am compelled to do the right thing at the right time.

There is nothing in me that can hinder this action from flowing through me.

The action of God is the only action.

September 17 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

By Ernest Holmes

No Over-Action nor Inaction

There is no over-action nor inaction in Divine Law, for everything moves according to perfect harmony.

Every idea of my body functions in accordance with this Law of Perfect Life.

I now perceive that the action within me is perfect, complete and harmonious.

Peace be unto every part of me, and perfect Life to every member of my body.

I act in accordance with Divine Law.

I am Perfect Life throughout my whole Being.

September 16 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

FROM the TEACHINGS of JESUS
Ernest Holmes

The Secret of Prayer (Matt. 6:6)

"The secret of prayer and its power in the outward life depends upon an unconditioned faith in, and reliance upon this inner Presence.  We must enter the closet.  That is, we are to shut out all else and enter the Presence of Spirit, in quietness and confidence - believing.  Prayer has power, not through repetition, but by belief and acceptance.  Prayer is to be simple, direct and receiving.  We are to believe that God indwells our own life, that this Divine Presence is sufficient for all needs.  we are to believe that God will provide for us and bless us abundantly.  And when we enter this secret place, we are to leave all else behind; all hate, animosity and vindictiveness, for only in so doing can we enter.

How God Forgives ( Matt. 6:14, 15)

We are told that God will forgive us after we have forgiven others.  This is a direct statement and one that we should ponder deeply.  Can God forgive until we have forgiven?  If God can work for us only by working through us, then this statement of Jesus stands true, and is really a statement of the law of cause and effect.  We cannot afford to hold personal animosities or enmities against the world or individual members of society.  All such thoughts are outside the law and cannot be taken into the heavenly consciousness.  Love alone can beget love.  People do not gather roses from thistles.

The Father who seest in secret will reward us openly.  Shall we not learn to enter the "secret place of the Most High," within our own soul, in gladness?  We are to fast without outward sign, but with the inner mind open and receptive to the Good alone.  Our treasure is already in heaven, and our thought can take us to this treasure only when it is in accord with divine harmony and perfect love.

The Single Eye (Matt. 6:22)

If our eye is single, we shall be filled with light.  That is, when we perceive the Unity of Good, we shall perceive it in its entirety, an undivided whole.  But if our eye be filled with evil, we shall remain in darkness.  We must cleave to the good, and trust absolutely in the Law of God to bring about any desired end.  Spirit will mold our purposes when we allow It to do so.  As we learn to depend more and more upon the perfect Law, we shall find that the outward things which are necessary to our good, will be provided.  We shall be cared for as the lilies of the field, which live directly upon the Divine bounty.  And yet they toil not nor do they spin.

The Divine Bounty (Matt. 6:26)

As God cares for the birds, who do not gather into barns, so shall we be cared for if we trust and do not doubt.  But we are to seek the Kingdom first.  Jesus bade us to completely trust in God for everything and in every instance.  He had a complete reliance upon God.  Dare we say that such confidence will be misplaced?  Have we ever tried it?  Until we have tried and failed, we are not in a position to contradict this theory.  Those who have implicitly relied upon this theory are providing the principle to be definite, and one upon which an absolute reliance may be placed.

Have no fear of tomorrow; enjoy today.  Refuse to carry the corpse of a mistaken yesterday.  What untold misery is suffered through the burdens imposed by our yesterdays and the bitter prospects of our tomorrows!  The good of the present day is too often sandwiched between these two impossible situations.  The day in which we live is sufficient.  We are to live today as though God were in His Heaven, while all is well with our souls.

Jesus made the greatest claim upon God, of anyone who ever lived.  He demanded a complete and unreserved trust in the goodness and loving kindness of the Creator.  And harking down the ages - since he lived and taught his marvelous philosophy to mankind - those who have followed his teachings have been justified in their faith."

September 15 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

By Ernest Holmes

The Power Within Blesses All

The Power within me is blessing all mankind, and is forever healing all with whom I come in contact.

The Power within me is God, and It must bless and help and heal all who come near It.

Silently the work goes on, and silently all are being helped by this Inner Power which is operating through me.

I will give thanks that my Power within is silently blessing and helping every one to whom my thought reaches.

The Life within me blesses all mankind.

September 14 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

By Ernest Holmes

Thanksgiving and Praise

I will give thanks to my Inner Life for all Its Marvelous Wonders, and for all Its Wonderful Works.

I will sing and be glad, for I know that I am hidden with Truth in a Perfect Life.

The fullness of Joy is mine.

September 13 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS

By Ernest Holmes

(The following meditations is printed just as it was given in class and group work.)

My Ideal Merges into the Real

We now let go of everything and enter into the contemplation of peace and good and truth and beauty.  We are conscious that God is All there is, there is nothing else.  We are certain that the Spirit of Reality is our spirit, flows into our spirit and through our spirit.  And we are conscious that Love does guide and direct, lead, maintain and sustain.  We know that each one of us is a center of this Divine Life, in this Perfect Peace, this Complete Happiness, and this Absolute wholeness; and we know that this Perfection - which is the center of our very being - is projected into every atom of our being.

We know that the Law of this Being is perfect and there is no obstruction to Its operation.  We know that the Principle within us guides us, not only into the way of truth, but in the way and the performance of that knowledge.  WHATEVER IS FOR OUR BENEFIT IS ALREADY PROVIDED.  It is all one thing.  It is all One Presence, operating through One fundamental Law, therefore, everything necessary to our well-being (whether we think of it as spiritual, mental or physical), everything necessary to remove any belief in obstruction and the inflow and out-push of that Spirit, is brought into our experience.  All good, all substance, all supply, all activity, all opportunity for self-expression is ours now!

My Ideal Merges into the Real

September 12 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

By Ernest Holmes

No Misrepresentations

No one can misdirect; none can mislead me.

I am free from the belief in all lies and untruths;

I know and speak only the Truth, and the Truth alone can be spoken to me.

I know the false and can understand the Real

I cannot be fooled nor misled; I am guided by Truth alone.

There is no lie nor liar.

September 11 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

By Ernest Holmes

No Delays

There are no delays in the Divine Plan for me.

Nothing can hinder the operation of this Law unto my Life and Action.

Obstructions are removed from my path, and I now enter into the

realization and manifestation of complete fulfillment.

I do not have to wait, for the Law waits upon me at every turn in Life's road.

Now it is done unto me.

No Delays

There are no delays in the Divine Plan for humanity.

Nothing can hinder the operation of this Law unto our Life and Action.

Obstructions are removed from our path, and WE now enter into the

realization and manifestation of complete fulfillment.

We do not have to wait, for the Law waits upon us at every turn in Life's road.

Now it is done unto All of Us.

September 10 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

FROM The TEACHINGS of JESUS
Ernest Holmes

The Pure in Heart Shall See God (Matt. 5:8)

""The pure in heart shall see God."  Can we ever see God?  Is there any news of Heaven other than that which comes through our own thought, or through the thought of another?  Who thinks purity see it, and is beholding god.  The face of "The Ancient of Days" onlooks eternity, and the upward glance ever sees this reality in all things.  The pure in heart not only shall see God, but do see Him.

The peacemakers are called the children of God.  We never associate warriors with the divine Kingdom.  Struggle and strife are outside the Kingdom; they cannot enter in because of their confusion.   Only peace can enter the gates of Reality and sit at the table of love.  The Divine Host serves not his bounty to confusion, but distributes His gifts to those who enter His gates with peace in their minds and love in their hearts.

"Ye are the light of the world."  Man is the candle of the Lord.  How important then that this light be kept trimmed and burning with the oil of pure Spirit, through the wick of peace and joy.  In this way do we glorify that Indwelling God who is the Heavenly Father and the Cosmic Mother of all.

The Altar of Faith (Matt. 5:23)

Again, Jesus tells us that our gifts, brought to the alter of life, are unacceptable while there is aught between us and our fellow man.  Here is a hard saying.  We cannot always please our fellow men.  Human experience has taught that this is impossible.  What attitude, then, are we to assume?  This:  whether we please or whether we displease, we need have no personal animosity toward others.  The altar of faith is approached through peace and goodwill toward all.  The Divine Ear is attuned to harmony and cannot be approached through discord.

When we agree with our adversaries quickly they will disappear, for there can be no reality to us unless we recognize it.  But if we recognize that which is false, by our acceptance of it, we shall be delivered to the judgment whereby we ourselves have judged.  The utmost farthing must be paid, until we no longer indulge in evil doing.

Jesus tells us to resist not evil, to love our enemies, and to do good to them who would do us evil, for this is to manifest the spirit of love, which is God.  God loves all alike and causes His rain to fall and His sun to shine alike upon all.  In arms which are all inclusive, Divine Love encompasses everything.

The Father Who Seeth in Secret (Matt. 6:4)

We are not to give our alms before men to be seen of them, but to do good for the pure love of good.  Here Jesus is teaching the lesson of sincerity.  Men will come and men will go, friend and foe alike may fall away, but always the soul shall be thrown back upon itself.  The Indwelling Spirit who lives in the secret place of our lives, will ever be with us.  And this Father who seeth in secret will reward us openly.  Here, again, is a suggestion of the Law of Cause and Effect, about which Jesus so often spoke.

Our prayers are to be made to God in the secret place of our own being.  They are not to be shouted aloud for the ears of  men.  The soul must enter this secret placed, naked and alone.  This is how the One returns to the One."

September 9 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

FROM The TEACHINGS of JESUS
Ernest Holmes

The New Birth (John 3:3-9)

""Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."  Jesus is referring to the heavenly birth, which means being born into the knowledge of Truth.  He refers to this as being born of water and Spirit.

The symbol of water is used to express the idea of a complete immersion in Spirit.  As water flows in and around, so we are immersed in an everlasting Spirit which flows around, in and through us.  To be immersed in water symbolizes our recognition that we are surrounded by pure Spirit.  It is the outward sign of an inner conviction.  But water alone cannot make us completely clean or whole.  We must be born of the Spirit, for "that which is born of the spirit is Spirit."

Man partakes of the Divine nature and the Divine nature is man.  The recognition of this is being born of the Spirit.  But we cannot be born of the spirit unless we do the will of the Spirit and the will of the Spirit is goodness, peace, mercy, justice and truth.  It is conscious union with God.

The new birth comes not by observation nor by loud proclamation, but through an inner sense of reality.  We cannot tell where this comes from, if we look to outward things, as it proceeds from the innermost parts of our own being.

Heaven (John 3:13)

"And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he hath came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven."  Here is another of those hidden meanings which places Jesus among the great mystics.  He says that no man can go to heaven unless he came from heaven, and that he can neither go to, nor come from, heaven unless he is already there!

This is in line with the idea that the Truth knows neither yesterday, today nor tomorrow.  It knows sequence but not time.  Only that can return to heaven which was born in heaven, and since heaven is not a place, but a state of consciousness, the return must be a recognition that heaven is already within.  The son of man, who is also the son of God, is already in heaven and knows it not.

The Son of Man (John 3:14)

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so Jesus tells us must the son of man also be lifted up.  By looking on and believing in this son, we are saved.  Jesus could not have been referring to his own personality, for he knew that this would soon be taken from the sight of humanity.  We must look for a deeper meaning.

We must be lifted up, that is we must realize our Divine nature and relationship to the Truth of God.  This relationship is one of complete unity.  The cross represents the tree of life and may also be thought of as the tree of unity.

When Moses lifted up the serpent, those who looked upon it were healed.  This understanding produced a consciousness of unity, which had healing power.  The Life Principle is either looked up on as material or spiritual.  When looked upon as material, it casts us from the Garden of Eden - the garden of the soul.  The Life Principle viewed only as matter is death, but viewed as life and unity, It becomes life everlasting.  Moses elevated the Life Principle and Jesus did the same.  The son of man must be lifted up, even as Moses lifted up the Life Principle, symbolized by the serpent.

We are reminded here of another symbol, one used in the Old Testament, that of the serpent which cast Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden.  The serpent meant the outer rim of spiritual existence - the Life Principle viewed from an isolated and materialistic basis.  The worship of material existence, apart from God, cast Adam and Eve from the Garden of Perfection.  The attempt to live in effects, apart from True Cause, always does this.

The story of the Fall, taken literally, would be ridiculous to the point of absurdity; hence it is necessary to look for a deeper meaning.  The writer was trying to teach a Cosmic lesson ... the lesson of right and wrong.  The Garden of Eden typifies life in its pure essence.  Adam means man in general, generic man.  Man exists in pure Life and has all of Its agencies at his command.  This si the meaning of his being told to till the soil and enjoy the fruits of his labor. 

The Tree of Life is our real being, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil means the possibility of dual choice - that is, we can choose even that which is not for our best good.  Man is warned not to eat of the fruit of this tree, for it  is destructive.

Eve, the woman in the case, was made from a rib of Adam.  this story suggests the dual nature of man as a psychological being.  The woman is made from the man.  She must have been in him else she could not have been made out of him, and the story clearly states that she was taken from his being.

Adam and Eve are potential in all of us.  The serpent represents the Life Principle, viewed from a material basis, which beguiles us in this way:  he says that evil is as real as good; that the devil has equal power with God; that negation equals positive goodness, and that the Universe is dual in Its Nature.  From the acceptance of this argument, we experience both good and evil.  And should we come full-orbed into individuality, without having learned the lesson of unity, we should live forever in a state of bondage.  This is the meaning of God saying, "He shall become as one of us and live forever."  The eternal Mind does not wish us to live forever in bondage, and this is what would happen unless we first learn the lesson of right and wrong.

And so that part of us which can be fooled eats of the fruit of dual experience and in so doing reveals its own nakedness.  The native state of man is one of purity, peace and perfection and it is only when we compare these with impurity, distress and imperfection, that we are revealed as naked.  Emerson tells us that virtue does not know it is virtuous.  It is only when virtue tastes of impurities that it becomes naked and must hide from itself.

The Voice of God, "walking in the garden in the cool of the day," means the introspective and meditative part of us, which in its moments of pure intuition and reason, sees the illusion of a life apart from God or Good.  Error is ever a coward before Truth, and cannot hide itself from Reality, which sees through everything, encompasses all and penetrates even the prison walls of the mind with Its clear effulgence.

The conversation between God and Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden, represents the arguments that go on in our own minds, when we try to  realize the truth.  These arguments are familiar to all.  The expulsion from the Garden is a necessary and logical outcome of tasting of dual experience.  If we believe in both good and evil, we must experience both.

But, lest we should become discouraged, we remember that Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness and those who looked upon it were healed.  The serpent means the Life Principle.  Viewed from a material basis alone, it casts us from a perfect state.  Lifted up, that is, viewed from a true meaning of the Unity of God, it heals.  Here is the choice again, only stated in different words.  The difference is not in the thing itself, but in the way we look at it.

The son of man is every man who ever lived or ever will live.  Our life is from Spirit, not from matter.  This viewpoint is the truth and truth alone makes free.  We come into everlasting life as we elevate this inner principle to a sense of the unity of man with God.  Each must lift himself to the cross of the tree of Life, thus unifying himself with Reality.  The concept is glorious and the reward certain.  The revelation of the self to the self - this is the great lesson of lessons."

September 8 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

By Ernest Holmes

The Inner Light

The Light of Heaven shines through me and illumines my path.

The Light Eternal is my guide and my protection.

In that Light there is no darkness at all.

It is a Perfect Light shining from the altar of a perfect Love.

O Light and Love within me, Thou art welcome.

Light shines through me and illumines the Way.

September 7 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS
By Ernest Holmes

I Am Not Bound by Any Mistake

Let us now let go of everything and enter into the consciousness of that which we believe.  The Spirit within each one of us is God, and It is perfect, It is love, reason, life, truth and beauty.  It is limitless and perfect and complete and whole.  It knows no lack and no limitation.

There is nothing we have done, said or thought which rises up against us, which has power over us or which limits us; there is no memory of fear, no condemnation for previous mistakes.  With the desire to free ourselves from the further indulgence in the mistake, the effect of the previous mistake is wiped out, just as light dissipates the darkness.  The Universe holds nothing against us; It can hold nothing against us, because It can know nothing unlike Itself.  Therefore, It only knows us as Perfection.  There has never been an occurrence for which we have to suffer!  Consequently, every apparent shortcoming - which could be traced to some mental or spiritual infringement of the Law - is not only removed but the effect is healed!

That means there is no history to our case.   All of its history is this minute wiped out in the knowledge that today the perfect Law - the Law of Freedom - is the only Law there is in our experience.  We enter into that freedom with joy, free from every sense of sadness and burden.  We enter into it with laughter, with lightness.  It is something which lifts us above the heaviness of morbidity and lack and limitation, into that rarer atmosphere where our opinions do not collide, and we enter into it with peace, free from fear.

We know that Infinite Wholeness is in us and through us and around us now, and we are conscious that we are renewed this moment, instantly and perfectly, after the image of Perfection.  We are today guided into right action in every exercise of our affairs.  Since there is no great and no small to the Infinite, all that seems of little consequence in our lives has the Divine Guidance just as perfectly and completely as that which we think of as being tremendously important.  We are guided into the knowledge of happiness, of certainty, of wholeness and of freedom; and we know that there is that subtle Essence of the Spirit, which emanates from us at all times, healing everything It contacts.

I Am Not Bound by Any Mistake

September 6 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

By Ernest Holmes

My Affairs

My affairs are in the hands of Him

Who guides the planets in their course,

And Who causes the Sun to shine.

Divine Understanding attends me on the Way,

And I shall not be hindered in my work.

My affairs are controlled by Perfect Intelligence,

And cannot be hindered from expression.

I know that all that I do is done from the One Motive:

To express Life; and Life will be expressed

In and through me.  I cannot hinder it.

I am controlled by Intelligence.

September 5 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

By Ernest Holmes

Love Dissolves All Fear

Greater than fear is Love.

Love dissolves all fear, casts out all doubt and sets the captive free.

Love, like the River of Life, flows through me and refreshes me with its eternal blessings.

Love cannot be afraid; it is fearless and strong, and is mighty in its works.

It can accomplish all things through the Inner Light of that faith in the All Good,

Which fills my very Being with a Powerful Presence.

Love casts out all fear.

September 4 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

OTHER TEACHINGS from the NEW TESTAMENT
Ernest Holmes

The Renewing of the Mind (Eph. 4:23, 24)
  "We are told to be renewed in mind by the Spirit and to put on the new man, which is created in true holiness.  The Science of Mind teaches how to accomplish this.  The mind is the creative factor within us, and when the mind takes its pattern after the Spirit, it automatically renews the outer man after true holiness or wholeness.

Whatever the mind holds to and firmly believes in, forms a new pattern of thought within its creative mold, as whatever thought is held in the mind tends to take outward form in new creations.  This is the secret - and the whole secret - of the creative law of mind.

Be Strong in the Lord (Eph. 6:10)

"Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might."  To be strong in the Lord is to be sure of ourselves, because we are sure of the Principle of Life which manifests Itself through us.

We wrestle not against outward things but against inward ideas and beliefs.  The power of darkness is the power of false belief and superstition.  If a man can change his inner concept, his whole life will be changed.  All cause is from within, all effect is forever without.

Wickedness in High Places (Eph. 6:12)

Wickedness in high places means an inverted use of the law of righteousness, the misuse of the powers of the mind.  The mental law is neutral, plastic, receptive and creative.  There is a right and a wrong use of this law, just as there is a right and a wrong use of any other law.

The Armor of God (Eph. 6:12-18)

The armor of God is faith in the good, the enduring and the true.  Against such, there is no law.  That is, against Truth, nothing can stand.  The armor of God suggests protection to those who believe in and trust the law of Good.  With this armor - knit together by that thread of unity running through all, strong with the strength of the Almighty, burnished with clear vision and true estimates of life and Reality - we are safe.  We abide under the shadow of the everlasting truth.  With Moses, we can say, "underneath are the everlasting arms."

The breastplate of righteousness covers and gives sanctuary to the heart of hearts, the innermost soul of man.  The feet, shod with the gospel of peace, can travel and not become weary.  With Solomon we are happy when we find Wisdom, for "Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace."

And we take also "the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked."  The positive thought of Truth is a shield against which nothing unlike Itself can stand.  In the Science of Mind, we learn that no thought of negation can enter a mind already filled with peace and faith.  The suggestion of limitations, fear and doubt cannot find entrance to that mental home where God is enthroned as the Supreme Guest. 

And the sword of the Spirit is the word of Truth.  This has also been called a two-edged sword, cleaving the false from the true, cutting its way across the path of confusion, uprooting the thistles and briars, clearing the way for Truth and beauty to flourish in the home of the soul.

The Word of God is not a battle hymn of righteousness, but a paean of praise, a psalm of beauty and a song of joy.  "If God be for us, who can be against us?""

September 3 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

OTHER TEACHINGS from the NEW TESTAMENT
Ernest Holmes

The Unity of Life (Eph. 4:1-7)

"The unity of the Spirit is kept through the bonds of peace.  Other than peace suggests confusion and separation.  The Spirit is a perfect unit and we harmonize with this unity when we maintain a state of peace in our minds.

"There is one body and one Spirit."  The entire creation is this body - the Body of God, who is One Spirit.  Within this one Body are all bodies; that is, within the one creation - which is the product of the One Spirit - are all bodies.

We have learned that all material forms come form one ultimate substance.  Any special body is some manifestation of this original stuff.  The original substance takes many forms; multiplicity, or many, within unity, or the One.

"One Lord, one faith, one baptism."  One Lord, who is the indwelling Christ, generic man or the universal Son.  There is but one faith, for faith is an affirmative mental attitude toward the universe; and one baptism, which is the realization that we are in the One Spirit.

"One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all."  It would be impossible to make a clearer statement of Truth:  One Life behind all that lives!  One, One, One...never two.  The unity of all life.  To learn this is to know a secret of the ages.

Here is a mystical saying:  God is in all, through all, and above all, which means that we partake of the One Life...It is all of us...but we are not all of this Life.  No man can exhaust the Divine Nature, but all live by, in, and through It.  It is in us but also around us - It is what we are but infinitely more than we are!  We shall ever ascend into a greater expression of this One, but we can never completely encompass It.  This is a glorious concept, and one which fills us with wonder at the majesty of our own being - forever hid with Christ in God."

September 2 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

By Ernest Holmes

As Love Enters, Fear Departs

As Love enters, fear vanishes.

I am so filled with Love that no fear can enter my thoughts.

I am not afraid, for I know that a Perfect Intelligence guards and governs my every act.

Perfect Love casteth out all fear.

I am unafraid, and strong in my faith in that inner Presence that keeps me from all harm.

Perfect Love casteth out all fear.

September 1 - The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

By Ernest Holmes

No Mistakes

There are no mistakes; none have ever been made and none will ever be made.

Nothing ever happened in the past to hinder or hurt.

There is no past, and I know, and can see, that there is no belief in any past to rise against me.

I live in the Now, free from any yesterdays or tomorrows.

Now, I am Happy, Free and Complete.

There are no mistakes.