March 22 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Where Did Man Come from and Why? ~ Ernest Holmes

"To inquire why Life itself is, is useless, for Life is self-existent, and all of the science, wit and art of man can never fathom that which is self-existent.  "I am that I am."  Since we are, we must have evolved from, or become manifested in, that which is.  Our physiological and psychological reactions, are reactions to something which has an actual existence, intelligence and consciousness.  Our actions and reactions can be analyzed.  The invisible Life Principle incarnated in us cannot be analyzed.  Any attempt to do so is futile.

Facts admit of proof, Life announces Itself.  We know that we are; even a flat denial of our existence would constitute a bold affirmation of its reality.  If we were to push our history back to some beginning, we should still be compelled to make the simple statement that man is.  If man's life is of God, then it comes from a Source that had no beginning, so the question as to WHY he is, must forever remain unanswered.  God could not tell why God is!  To suppose that Life could give an excuse or reason for being would be to suppose an absurdity.  Life IS, and right at this point all inquiry into Truth starts, and from this point alone must this inquiry continue.

We are not so much interested, however, in why we are, as in what we are.  That we are some part of Life, no one can deny and keep faith with reason."

February 15 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MAN'S RELATIONSHIP to the SPIRITUAL UNIVERSE ~ Ernest Holmes

Man Re-enacts the Nature of God

Whatever is true of the Universe as a Whole must also be true of the individual as some part of this Whole.  Man is evolved from the Universe as a self-conscious, thinking center of Living Spirit, and as such he must, in his nature and being, reproduce the Universe.

If we realize that God is "Triune" and that man is a spiritual likeness of God we shall see that the whole scheme of Life, and the whole nature of the Divine Being, is reenacted through man.  This, of course, does not mean that man is God.  It means that in his small world of individual expression, his nature is identical with God's.

This is what Jesus meant when he said, "As the Father hath life within Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life within himself."  This refers to the inherent Life, real Life.  That is the only life God could have.  We must expect to find in man, therefore, the same inherent attributes that we find in the Universe from which he springs.  A single drop of water is not the whole ocean, but it does contain within itself the same qualities and attributes.

Man is made out of and from Life.  As effect must partake of the nature of its cause, so man must partake of the Divine Nature from which he springs.  We did not create our nature; We cannot change its inherent reality; we are what we are and we use this nature for better or for worse.  Being what we are there are certain responsibilities that go with our natures - certain obligations; if our thought is creative and if we have selectivity - that is, volition and choice - and if we are unfolding to a discovery of our true nature, which must already be perfect, then the obligation and responsibility of this nature could impose freedom or bondage upon us temporarily, but our bondage cannot be real from the standpoint of the Absolute.

The World Has Learned All It Should Through Suffering

The Science of Mind and Spirit, makes a tremendous claim when it states that the individual should be free from the bondage of sickness, poverty and unhappiness.  It does, however, carefully set forth the conditions under which freedom operates and the laws governing Life, stating in no uncertain terms that unless man understands these conditions and obeys these laws, he will not receive full benefit from its teachings.

The world is beginning to realize that it has learned all it should through suffering and pain.  Surely there can be no Intelligence in the Universe that wishes man to be sick, suffer pain, be unhappy and end in oblivion.  Surely if God or Universal Intelligence is imbued with goodness, then It could not ordain that man should ultimately be other than a perfect expression of Life.

We have shown that man's nature is the same as God's Nature; we should have no intellectual difficulty in realizing that an Infinite Intelligence could not make an automatic individuality, and this explains why man suffers on his road to self-discovery.  His suffering is not God-ordained, because he creates his own experience as he becomes individualized.  By individuality is mean self-choice, volition, conscious mind, personified Spirit, complete freedom, and a POWER TO BACK UP THAT FREEDOM.  We cannot imagine a mechanical or unspontaneous individuality; to be real and free, individuality must be created in the image of Perfection and let alone to make the great discover for itself.

January 27 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

January 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.""