April 30 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

GENERAL SUMMARY Continued ~ Ernest Holmes

"The engine of the Subjective Mind must be guided.  It is neither person, place nor thing of Itself.  It is Subjective to the desire of man, consequently It has for him only the power he decrees It to have.

Because thought is made of the stuff that forms the universe into definite creation the Law is charged with the power that we give It.  No more and no less.  It responds by correspondence.  It is a mirror and a perfect one.  It molds our ideas and beliefs into visible form and casts them back multiplied.  It does not know that It is doing this, but It knows how to do it.  This is one of the great enigmas of the universe.

The nature of Reality is such that Universal Mind has unlimited power but so far as man is concerned It has only the power which he gives to It.  He gives It power when he says, "I am weak, sick or unhappy."  It says for him what he first says for himself.  And since for countless ages, man has believed that which is not true of God, his body and environment reflect this limited concept of the Universe.  This Law is a force in nature to be used and brought under conscious control of the spirit of man which is his conscious mind.  Man's conscious mind is the consciousness of God in him.

Mind as Law is helpless without direction.  It has nowhere to go and nothing to do of Itself.  IT MUST BE DIRECTED OR IT WILL DO NOTHING OF PERMANENT WORTH FOR MAN.  Mind as Law is an abstraction, merely a possibility.  Man is a concrete knower; he is the consciousness of Spirit, individualized, the personality of God multiplied.  Spiritual man is One with Spiritual God.  Spirit operates through man as self-knowingness and this makes man distinct and different from all other creations so far as mentality is concerned.  Mind as Law is unconscious Intelligence and lives only through man.  It is his to command, his servant.  It has no desire of Its own.  Man is Its desire, will and purpose.

While Mind as Law is always subjective to man's desire, we must not forget that It has Infinite Intelligence within Itself.  It is Mind in the abstract and in the unformed.  It is Mind in an unthought state, so to speak.  It takes concrete form from desires and mental images impressed upon It.  It resides within us for the purpose of being used and It should be used definitely and with conscious knowledge that It is being used for specific purposes.  It will do for us whatever we wish It to do provided we first create the thought mold.

God as Conscious Mind is Spirit.  God as Subjective Mind is Law.  God as Conscious Mind is Self-knowing but the Law of God's Mind, like all other laws of nature, is given us to be used.

The Law of Mind obeys the orders that are given It whether we are conscious or unconscious that such orders are being given.  Being entirely sensitive to our thought and by its very nature absolutely receptive as well as intelligent and responsive to it - and at the same time being creative - it is easy to see what a tremendous power we have at our conscious disposal.

The Universal Mind in Its subjective state is what we mean by the Law of Mind.  The subjective Medium is limitless and can do anything that we may wish It to do.  It must obey the conscious thought since It has no power to reason other than deductively.  This is why conscious thought has power.  Power and energy are phases of mind acting as law.  Mind in all its phases is some part of God.  Man is some part of God and since God or Spirit is a complete and a perfect Unit then man's mind is simply the place where he individualizes as God."

April 9 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Misplaced Faith ~ Ernest Holmes

"Someone has said that the entire world is suffering from one big fear ...the fear that God will not answer our prayers.  Let us analyze the fears which possess us and see if this is true.  The fear of lack is nothing more than the belief that God does not, and will not, supply us with whatever we need.  The fear of death is the belief that the promises of eternal life may not be true.  The fear of loss of health, loss of friends, loss of property - all arise from the belief that God is not all that we claim:  Omniscience, Omnipotence, and Omnipresence.

But what is fear?  Nothing more nor less than the negative use of faith ...faith misplaced; a belief in two powers instead of One; a belief that there can be a Power - opposed to God - whose influence and ability may bring us evil.  In other words, to correct all the evils of the world, would be but to have the positive faith, faith rightly placed, a faith that laws hold of the integrity of the Universe, the beneficence of God and the Unity of all life.  Nevertheless, we cannot have faith in that which we do not in some measure understand.

Understanding Faith

We wish a faith based on the knowledge that there is nothing to fear!  "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."  The thought of faith molds the undifferentiated substance, and brings into manifestation the thing which was fashioned in the mind.  This is how faith brings our desires to pass.

When we use our creative imagination in strong faith, it will create for us, out of the One Substance, whatever we have formed in thought.  In this way man becomes a Co-Creator with God.  There will never be an end to any of the eternal verities like Truth, Love, Beauty.  There will never be an end to God, nor to the any of the attributes which are co-eternal and co-existent with God.  If we are wise, we shall cultivate a faith in these realities.  This is not a difficult task, but a thrilling experience.

Spiritual Substance is all around us, waiting to be formed.  Thus we see what Jesus meant when he said:  "And I say unto you, Ask and it shall be given unto you."  The Law must work in compliance with our demand.  The Divine Urge within us is God's way of letting us know that we should push forward and take that which is awaiting our demand.  If the good were not already ours in the invisible supply, it would be impossible for us to procure it in any manner.  "He openeth his hand and satisfieth the desire of every living creature."

April 1 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Prayer and Treatment ~ Ernest Holmes

"One of the questions most frequently asked about the Science of Mind is, "Are prayers and treatments identical?"  The answer to this question is both Yes and No.

If when one prays his prayer is a recognition of Spirit's Omniscience, Omnipotence, and Omnipresence, and a realization of man's unity with Spirit, then his prayer is a spiritual treatment.

If, on the other hand, one is holding to the viewpoint that God is some far off Being, Whom he would approach with doubt in his thought; wondering if by some good luck he may be able to placate God or persuade Him of the wisdom of one's request - then, there is but little similarity between prayer and treatment.  Nothing could bring greater discouragement than to labor under the delusion that God is a Being of moods, who might answer some prayers and not others.

It would be difficult to believe in a God who cares more for one person than another. There can be no God who is kindly disposed one day and cruel the next; there can be no God who creates us with tendencies and impulses we can scarcely comprehend, and then eternally punishes us when we make mistakes.  God is a Universal Presence, an impersonal Observer, a Divine and impartial Giver, forever pouring Himself into His Creation."

March 18 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Success and Happiness ~ Ernest Holmes

"Success and happiness are ours when we deal with Absoluteness.  This is the attitude we should have.  What we need to know is the Truth.  This does not mean that we need not be active; of course we shall be active, but we need not compel things to happen.  Only remember we are surrounded by a Universal Subjectivity, a Subjective, Creative Consciousness, which is receptive, neutral, impersonal, always receiving the impress of our thought and which has no alternative other than to operate directly upon it, thus creating the things which we think.

Each one should realize that there is nothing in him which denies that which he desires.  Our unity with good is not established while there is anything in us which denies it.  People often say:  "How shall I know when I know?"  The very fact that one can ask this proves he does not know, for when he knows that he knows, he can prove his knowing by doing.

Thought sets definite forces in motion in Mind, relative to the individual who thinks.  For instance, I am known in consciousness as Ernest Holmes, for that is my name; and every claim made for me, which I accept, operates through avenues of mind-activity and returns to me as some condition.

A good demonstration is made when Truth, gathering Its own power, lifts one out of his environment; and until that time comes, he should stay where he is, in order that he may know when he has made a demonstration.  It is not a good demonstration if when we give our treatments we have to struggle just as before.  Principle is Absolute, and in so far as any individual can actually induce, within consciousness, upon Principle, a definite, concrete acceptance of his desire...it will manifest, even though every thought on earth had to change to compel it!  If it were a bit of information that was needed for the demonstration that only one person on earth knew - and that person was in the center of Africa - the information would be produced!"

March 14 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

THE PRINCIPLES of SUCCESSFUL LIVING

Ernest Holmes

Not Something for Nothing

"Lessons on prosperity and mental control of conditions are sometimes dangerous because of the misunderstanding of this subject.  Science of Mind is not a "get-rich-quick" scheme, neither does it promise something for nothing.  It does, however, promise the one who will comply with its teaching that he shall be able to bring greater possibilities and happier conditions into his experience.

We do not teach that you can get what you want.  If we could all get what we want, it might be disastrous, for it is certain that most of us would want things that would interfere with the well-being of someone else.

While we could not expect to demonstrate that which is contrary to the nature of our own existence, we not only believe but we know that it is entirely possible, through mental treatment - through right thought and belief - to greatly influence our environment, its reaction to us, the situations we meet and the conditions we contact. There is such a thing as demonstrating a control of conditions. We shall be able to prove this in such degree as we are successful in looking away from the conditions which now exist, while accepting better ones. Not only must we accept this intellectually, but our acceptance must become a subjective embodiment of which the intellect furnishes but a mental picture.

Consequently, this Science does not promise something for nothing.  It does, however, tell us that if we comply with the Law, the Law complies with us. No man can demonstrate peace and cling to unhappiness.  He can demonstrate resignation, and call it peace, but it will not be peace.  No man can jump into the water and remain dry.  This is contrary to law and to reason. NO PERSON WHOSE ENTIRE TIME IS SPENT IN THE CONTEMPLATION OF LIMITATION CAN DEMONSTRATE FREEDOM FROM SUCH LIMITATATION!  The Law Itself must be willing to give, because in so giving Life is Self-Expressed.

The Law Is Infinite

The Science of Mind is based entirely upon the supposition that we are surrounded by a Universal Mind, into which we think. This Mind, in Its original state, fills all space.  It fills the space that man uses in the Universe.  It is in man, as well as outside him.  As he thinks into this Universal Mind, he sets a law in motion, which is creative, and which contains within Itself a Limitless possibility.

The Law through which man operates is Infinite, but man appears to be finite; that is, he has not yet evolved to a complete understanding of himself.  He is unfolding from a Limitless Potential but can bring into his experience only that which he can conceive.  There is no limit to the Law, but there appears to be a limit to man's understanding of It.  As his understanding unfolds, his possibilities of attainment will increase.

It is a great mistake to say:  "Take what you wish, for you can have anything you like."  We do not take what we wish, but we do attract to ourselves that which is like our thought.  MAN MUST BECOME MORE IF HE WISHES TO DRAW A GREATER GOOD INTO HIS LIFE.  We need not labor under the delusion that all we have to do is to say that everything is ours.  This is true in Reality, but in fact it is only as true as we make it.  We provide the mold for the Creative Law, and unless the mold we provide is increased, Substance cannot increase in our experience; for Mental Science does not promise anything that will do away with the necessity of complying with law.

The Law is a law of liberty, but not a law of license.  It is exact and exacting, and unless we are willing to comply with Its Nature and work with It, along the lines of Its inherent being, we shall receive no great benefit.  EVERY MAN MUST PAY THE PRICE FOR THAT WHICH HE RECEIVES AND THAT PRICE IS PAID IN MENTAL AND SPIRITUAL COIN.

All nature conspires to produce and manifest the freedom of the individual, that it may unloose its own energy.  We may be sure God is for us - whatever our conception of God may be, whatever our conception of the relationship of Jesus, and the idea of Christ to humanity and God and our own salvation may be - this thing must act in accordance with definite Law in the Universe, and this Law says that whenever and wherever there is an adequate subjective image, which does not contradict the nature of the Universe, that image will not only tend to take form, but will take form and will manifest. This Law we did not make and we cannot change.

But this teaching should not be confused with the idea that we can show people how to get what they want, regardless.  True prayer must be, "Thy will be done," but the implication relative to the Will of God in this prayer is not a submission to the inevitability of evil or limitation; it is a knowledge that the Will of God is always GOOD.

How do we know what the Will of God is?  We do not, other than this:  The Will of God cannot be death.  Why?  Because if we assume God to be the Principle of Life, the Principle of Life cannot produce death without destroying Itself.  The Will of Life has only to BE Life.   The Will of that which is Infinite can never be finite. Everything then should tend to expansion and multiplication in the Divine Plan.  THAT is the Will of God.  It has to be beauty, truth and harmony, as Troward said, as this is the true relationship of the Whole to the parts and the parts to the Whole.  Therefore, we should interpret the Will of God to be everything that expresses life without hurt.  This seems to be a fair, logical, sane and intelligent criterion.  Anything that will enable us to express greater life, greater happiness, greater power - so long as it does not harm anyone - must be the Will of God for us.  As much life as one can conceive will become a part of his experience.

A mental avenue must be provided through which the Law may operate as a law of liberty, if we are to be free.  This does not mean we must please the Law, for It is impersonal and neither knows nor cares who uses It, nor for what purpose; but, because It is impersonal, It is compelled by Its very nature to return to the thinker exactly what he thinks into It.  The law of mental equivalents must never be overlooked, for "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

If a man is intelligent, he will naturally seek to free himself from misery and unhappiness.  Theology may say that this is a selfish motivation, but it is exactly what we all are trying to do and calling it by a different name.  Whether it is through the remission of sins, or the salvation of the individual soul, every act in the life of the individual is that such an individual may express himself.  For instance, the love of a mother for her children, a man for his wife, a patriot for his country, a preacher for his religion, an artist for his art - all of these are but ways of self-fulfillment.  This is legitimate self-expression.

We realize, however that to attempt this self-expression at the expense of society or other individual is to defeat the very purpose for which freedom exists, for back of all is a unity.  Hence we find that the laws of necessity and not of theology (of which all religions and ethics and moral and social systems are but feeble lights) do ultimately compel experience into the path of true righteousness.

The criterion for any man as to what is right or wrong for him is not to be found in some other man's judgment.  The criterion is:  Does the thing I wish to do express more life, more happiness, more peace to myself, and at the same time harm no one?  If it does, it is right. It is not selfish.  But if it is done at the expense of anyone, then in such degree we are making a wrong use of the Law.

We may be quite emphatic in saying that we think the Universe exists for the expression of Spirit, and man exists for self-expression, because he is the expression of Spirit.

Man does not exist for the purpose of making an impression upon his environment.  He does exist to express himself in and through his environment.  There is a great difference.  Man does not exist to leave a lasting impression upon his environment.  Not at all.  It is not necessary that we leave any impression.  It is not necessary, if we should pass on tonight, that anyone should remember that we have ever lived.  All that means anything is that while we  live, WE LIVE, and wherever we go from here we shall keep on living.

It is quite a burden lifted when we realize that we do not have to move the world - it is going to move anyway.  This realization does not lessen our duty or our social obligation.  It clarifies it.  It enables us to do joyously, and free from morbidity, that which we should do in the social state.

With this in mind, and believing that there is an Infinite Law of the Spirit, or Law of Life, which tends to multiply our gifts because in doing so It multiplies Its own experience, Its own pleasure, Its own fruition; we may assume that spiritual man is already a success, is already supplied with everything that he needs.  The potential of all things exists in the Universal Wholeness."

March 11 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

The Power Within ~ Ernest Holmes

"Through spiritual discernment, we see that we have within us a power which is greater than anything we shall ever contact; a power that can overcome every obstacle in our experience and set us safe, satisfied, and at peace, healed and prosperous in a new light and a new life. "If God be for us who can be against us?"

God's Creative Power of Mind is right here.  We have as much of this power to use as we believe in and embody.  The storehouse of nature is filled with infinite good, awaiting the touch of our awakened thought to spring forth into manifestation in our lives; but the awakening must be within our thought!  The word that we speak is the law of our lives, and nothing hinders its operation but ourselves.  We may use this creative word for whatever purpose we desire, and this word become the law unto the thing for which it was spoken.  We are given the power to sit in the midst of our lives and direct their activities.  Strife and struggle are unnecessary.  We only need to know, but we must know constructively.

Just so far as we depend upon any condition, past present or future, we are creating chaos, because we are then dealing with conditions (effects) and not with causes.  Could we but comprehend the fact that there is a Power that makes things directly out of Itself - by simply becoming the thing It makes - could we but grasp this greatest truth about life; and realize that we are dealing with a Principle, scientifically correct and eternally present, we could accomplish whatever it is possible for us to conceive. Life externalizes at the level of our thought.

We Set Our Own Limitations

Do we desire to live in a world peopled with friends who love us, surrounded by things beautiful and pleasing?  There is but one way, and this way is as certain as that the sun shines.  DAILY WE MUST CONTROL ALL THOUGHT THAT DENIES THE REAL; AFFIRM THE DIVINE PRESENCE WITHIN US; then, as the mist disappears before the sun, so shall adversity melt before the shining radiance of our exalted thought!

The Prodigal Son remained a prodigal as long as he chose to do so.  When he chose to, he returned to his "Father's house" and was greeted with outstretched hands. So shall our experience be when we return to the world which is perfect; there will be something that will turn to us.  We shall behold a new heaven and a new earth, not in some far off place but here and now.  "Act as though I am and I will be."  The Spirit of Truth will lead us into all good.  This is the highroad to the fulfillment of our lives.

There is, then, no limitation outside our own ignorance, and since we can all conceive of a greater good than we have so far experienced, we all have the ability to transcend previous experiences and rise triumphant above them; but we shall never triumph over them while we persist in going through the old mental reactions.

Understanding

Before we attempt to improve our conditions; before we proceed further on the subject of healing it is necessary that we be certain in our own minds that thought is creative, as upon this basis our entire superstructure rests. Since Spirit creates by contemplation - purely mental action - then everything in the manifest world is some effect of Its thought.  Our own  minds are an expression of the Divine Mind and must be of the same essence.

That we find ourselves in an undesirable condition in the face of all this, is merely proof that we have limited ourselves by our very freedom.  Shall we not, then, reverse our thinking and take for our starting point the inherent nature of mental powers?

We have gone far in the right direction, when we have determined that Creation could have originated only in Intelligence; and have realized further that our own mental power must be the same in kind with the creativeness of God.  Thus we begin to sense, even though dimly, that as our minds become more like the Divine Mind, we shall expand into a greater livingness - our world created by our consciousness, and our consciousness taking its color from the perception of our relation to the Infinite!

We should strive toward a perfect vision, a perfect conception.  We should expand our thought until it realizes all good, and then cut right through all that appears to be, and use this Almighty Power for definite purposes.  We should daily feel a deeper union with Life, a greater sense of that Indwelling God - the God of the seen and of the unseen - within us. When we speak into this Mind, we have sown a seed of thought in the Absolute and we may rest in peace.  We need not make haste, for it is done unto us as we believe. "In that day they that call upon me, I will answer.""

March 9 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Inducing Thought ~ Ernest Holmes

"That which thought has done, thought can un-do.  Life-long habits of wrong thinking can be consciously and deliberately neutralized, and an entirely new order of mental and emotional reaction established in Mind.  Merely to abstain from wrong thinking is not enough; there must be active right thinking.  We must become actively constructive and happy in our thinking - not merely passively so.  New and wholesome ideas of life, vitality and hope must be accepted and incorporated into the sub-stratum of our mental life, so that a more wholesome externalization may manifest in our bodily condition and environment.

Since we must all begin right where we are, most of us will be compelled to begin our healing work with a mechanical process.  We should take the highest thought we have, and attempt to enlarge on this consciousness until it embraces a more vital concept of Reality.  Consciousness in this sense means an inner embodiment of ideas. If one wishes to demonstrate prosperity, he must first have a consciousness of prosperity; if he wishes health, he must embody the idea of health.  This is more than faith; it is the knowledge that we are dealing with Law. While a certain consciousness may be mechanically induced, of course, the more spontaneity put into the mechanical word, the more power the word must have.

Choosing Thought

We cannot live a choiceless life.  Every day, every moment, every second, there is choice.  If it were not so we would not be individuals. 

We have the right to choose what we wish to experience.  We have the right to choose the kind of companions with whom we wish to associate; to say in what city and in what type of house we would like to live. We are individuals and the only way we can be individuals is to be spontaneous.  There is no such thing as a mechanistic individuality, it must have the essential elements of spontaneity.  There is no spontaneity and no individuality without prerogative.  There can be no choice unless there is something form which to choose, otherwise the ability to choose would be merely a fantasy.  Therefore, there must be not only the possibility of choice; but the liability of experiencing that which is chosen.

We have a right to choose what we shall induce in Mind.  The way in which our thoughts are to become manifest, we cannot always see - or should we be disturbed that we do not see the way - because effect is potential in cause.  "I am Alpha and Omega," and all that comes between cause and effect.  Cause and effect are really one, and if we have given cause set in motion, the effect will have to equal the cause.  One is the inside and the other the outside of the same thing. A certain, specific, intelligent idea in Mind, will produce a certain, specific, concrete manifestation equal to itself.  There is One Infinite Principle, One Infinite Thought-Stuff, One Infinite Creative Power, but countless numbers of forms, which change as the specific idea behind them changes."

February 20 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Unity ~ Ernest Holmes

"Our teaching is that man actually has a body; that he actually has a subjective life and that he actually is a spirit.  Body, soul, and spirit represent a point where individuality is accentuated in Universality.  It is only through this conception that we can arrive at a consciousness of the Unity of the Whole.  In other words, if I have one mind and you have one mind and God has another Mind...three separate minds...I cannot talk with you and you cannot talk with God.  If your mind and my mind were not the same mind, we would have no way by which to communicate with each other.  Thus we are forced to the conclusion that there is but One Mind.  Each individual, however, is a unique variation in the Universe; no two people are alike and yet all people are rooted in that which is identical. 

We recognize, then, in man's self-knowing mind his Unity with the Whole; for while a drop of water is not the ocean, yet it does contain within itself all the attributes of the limitless deep.  Man's self-knowing mind is the instrument which perceives Reality and cognizes or realizes Truth. All illumination, inspiration, and realization must come through the self-knowing mind in order to manifest in man.  Vision, intuition and revelation proclaim themselves through man's self-knowing  mind; and the saints and sages, the Saviours and Christs, the prophets and seers, the wise and learned have all consciously perceived and proclaimed this fact.

Every evidence of human experience, all acts of kindness and mercy, have interpreted themselves through man's self-knowing mind.  All that we consciously know, say or think, feel or believe, hope or long for, fear or doubt, is some reaction of the self-knowing mind. Subjective memories we have, and unexpressed emotions we feel, but to the self-knowing mind alone comes realization. Without this capacity to consciously know, man would not exist as an expressed being; and so far as we are concerned, would not exist at all.  The self-knowing mind of man proclaims itself in every thought, deed or act, and is truly the only guarantee of his divinity. It is his unity with the Whole, or God on the conscious side of life, and is an absolute guarantee that he is a center of God-consciousness in this vast Whole.

We will say, then, that in Spirit man is One with God.  But what of the great Law of the Universe?  If we are really One with the Whole, we must be One with the Law of the Whole, as well as One with the Spirit.  Again psychology has determined the fact to be more than fancy. The characteristics of the subconscious mind of man determine his Subjective Unity with the Universe of Life, Law and Action.

In the subjective mind of man we find a law obeying his word, the servant of his spirit, the mental law of his being, the creative factor within him.  This is our individual use of that greater Subjective Mind of the Universe, which is the seat of all law and action. Marvelous as this concept may be, it is none the less true that man has at his disposal in what he calls his subjective mind, a power which is Limitless.  Man's thought becomes the law of his life, through the one great Law of all Life. There are not two subjective minds; there is but One Subjective Mind, and what we call our subjective mind is really the use we are making of this One Law. 

Each individual maintains his identity in Law, through his personal use of Law, and each is drawing from Life what he thinks into it.  To learn how to think is to learn how to live.  Man, by thinking, can bring into his experience whatever he desires if he thinks correctly.  This is not done by holding thoughts, but by knowing the Truth. There is a vast difference, a difference which too few realize.

Modern science tends toward a teaching of Unity; tends to resolve the material universe into a physical universe, and the physical universe into energy. The tendency of modern thought is to return, by the route of inductive science, to the great spiritual deductions of the ages - that All is One.  But men are still puzzled, trying to reconcile the world of multiplicity - the objective world of many things - to their belief in the final necessity of Unity.  Every great spiritual teacher has known that God is One - not two. they have also known that evil exists in the world - what we mean by evil is apparent limitation - poverty, sickness, death and what we call sin, which is nothing more than a mistake.

How are we going to reconcile suffering and lack with the Goodness of God?  The difficulty is solved when we realize that all creation is an effect.  It is real enough - as real as it is supposed to be.  As you look about you, the mountain is a mountain, and the molehill is a molehill, the dust storm is a dust storm; but they are all effects.  As you enter your garden and observe the bamboo tree, the grape fruit, and the many other variations of form, you see each is rooted in the one creative soil, and each is individualizing out of this creative soil that which is unique. The type maintains its integrity always.

We observe in creation an atomic intelligence, then a simple consciousness; after which comes a personal consciousness, then a Cosmic consciousness.  These variations of consciousness are definitely defined and accepted by most investigators. As we watch the transition from the atomic to the simple intelligence, from the simple to the personal from the personal to the Cosmic, we find that we are merely going up a scale of Unity.  The Spirit is not something apart from matter so-called, but is something working through matter; the potential possibility of what we call the highest and the lowest is inherent in everything.  They are not different things. They are the same thing functioning at different levels. "It is neither Lo here nor Lo there, for behold the Kingdom of God is within."

There are different mental depths and heights fro which we may look out upon life; from whatever level we look, that which we see comes back to us  by an invariable law of attraction.  That which we look upon is real while we look at it.  We arrive at a consciousness of Unity only in such degree as we see that what we are lookin FOR , we are looking WITH, and looking AT. Heaven is lost merely for the lack of a perception of harmony.  Hell is the phantom abode of our morbid imaginations.  Heaven and Hell are states of consciousness."

January 30 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

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

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

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

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

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

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

How We Understand Its Operation

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

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

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

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

January 27 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

January 22 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

The Perfect Universe ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

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

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

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

January 16 ~ Science of Mind in a Year

Mental Laws ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

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

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

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

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

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

The Threefold Nature of God

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

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

Trinity of Being

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

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

January 15 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reading Thought

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

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

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

January 14 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Memory ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

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

Science

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

How Laws are Discovered

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

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

The Science of Mind

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

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

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

January 12 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

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

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

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

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

How Much Can We Believe?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Good Only - Not Good and Evil

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

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

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

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