December 10 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

PHYSICAL PERFECTION
Ernest Holmes

Supply

God is Spirit.  Spirit is Substance and Substance is supply.  This is the keynote to a realization of the more abundant life, to the demonstration of success in financial matters.  It is right that we should be successful, for otherwise the Spirit is not expressed.  The divine cannot lack for anything and we should not lack for anything that makes life worth while here on earth.

Everything that we do should be a success and we should be led to do those things which are constructive and worth while.  To bring a realization of the Presence of the Spirit into all our acts is to prove that God is all - even in the slightest things which we undertake.  Nothing is great and nothing is small to the divine, so we should never wonder if what we are going to do will be hard or easy.  God knows no hard and no easy.

A treatment after this manner should prove the law of abundance in the life of those who use such statements, and believe in them:

"I am surrounded by pure Spirit, by God, the Living Spirit.  My thought is God thought, and it is the law unto that thing where unto it is spoken.  Everything that I do shall be a success.  I am led, guided and inspired by the Living Spirit of Love and of right action.  I am compelled to move in the right direction and to always know what to do, where, and how to do it.

"I am surrounded by right action.  I am filled with the consciousness of right action.  Right action is success in all that I undertake to do.  I am successful in all my undertakings, and I am compensated for all my efforts.  I am surrounded by Substance, which is always taking the form of supply and always manifesting Itself to me in the form of whatever my need may be at the time.

"I always have an abundance of money and an abundance of whatever it takes to make life happy and opulent.  There is a continuous movement toward me of supply, of money, of all that I need to express the fullest life, happiness and action.

"I have an inner understanding of my place in the Universe.  I know that it is unique.  The Divine has not incarnated in anyone else in just the same individual way that It has in me.  I am unique and forever individualized.  Therefore, I do not need to imitate anyone or to long for the good that belongs to another.  All good is now mine and is now manifest in my experience.  I do not compete with anyone, for I am and remain forever myself.  This self is united with all selves, but is always an individual and a unique self.

"There is that in me which all people recognize as worth while and desirable, and everyone whom I meet loves this self of mine and recognizes its worth.  I draw all toward me and those whom I can benefit and those who can benefit me are irresistibly drawn toward me.  I do not strain, will or coerce.  I know.  The Truth makes me free from the fear of poverty or bondage, and emancipates me from the thought of limitation.  I see that money, like everything else that is desirable, must be a spiritual idea, and I know that I have this idea right in my mind at this moment.  I shall always have this idea of abundance.  It is mine and I take it.

"The opportunity for self-expression and compensation is always open to me and I am at all times compelled to know, accept and operate upon this opportunity.  I have abundance because I am abundance.  'All that the Father hath is mine.'"

December 2 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

PHYSICAL PERFECTION
Ernest Holmes

Weather Conditions

"Pure Spirit is not and cannot be governed by any weather conditions whatsoever.  All weather is a manifestation of Spirit, a flowering of the Divine in sunshine, in shade, in rain and in clouds.  Say:

"I am in complete unity with all.  I am in complete agreement with all, and I enjoy all.  There is no congestion in the weather and none in me.  There is no confusion about the weather in my thought.  I have no fear of any kind of weather since I know that I am at one with all.  I love the clouds, the rain and the sunshine.  I am one with the heat and with cold.  I am unified with humidity, with dryness of atmosphere, and with sunshine and shadow.

"Every atom of my body responds to this understanding that changes in weather conditions are but variations of the One Life, but different manifestations of the One God appearing to me in many forms.  Each and every one of the forms I love and feel my unity with.  I love the heat of the desert and the dampness of the ocean.  I feel physically complete and harmonious in every climate.  I do not condemn any kind of weather for all at part of myself.  I am one with all.  I love all and I feel comfortable in all.

"Every belief that I may have ever had that says I am afraid of weather conditions, is now vanished from my thought forever.  It is no more and therefore can no longer operate.  I now and feel my freedom.  In this freedom I rejoice.""

November 29 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

By Ernest Holmes

I Am Complete in Thee

Almighty God, Everlasting Good, Spirit, Maker of all things and Keeper of my Life, Thou art All.

Infinite Presence within, in Whom all live; Joy Supreme, flooding all with gladness, I adore Thee.

Eternal Peace, undisturbed and quiet, I feel Thy calm.

O Thou Who dost inhabit Eternity and dost dwell within all Creation, Who Dost live through all things and in all people, hear Thou my prayer.

I would enter Thy gates with joy and live at peace in Thy House.

I would find a resting place in Thee, and in Thy presence live.

Make me to do Thy will and from Thy wisdom teach me the ways of Truth.

Compel me to follow Thee and let me not pursue the paths of my own counsel.

O Eternal and Blessed Presence, illumine my mind and command my will that my Soul may be refreshed and that my life may be renewed.

As deep cries unto deep, so my thought cries unto Thee and Thou dost answer.

I am renewed and refreshed; my whole being responds to Thy love, and I am complete in Thee.

All my ways are guarded and guided, and I shall live with Thee eternally.

O Lover of my Soul and Keeper of my Spirit, none can separate us, for we are One.

So shall Thy Wisdom guide me, Thy Presence dwell within me, Thy Love keep me and
Thy Life envelop me now and forevermore.

I rest in Thee.

November 13 ~ The Sciend of Mind in a Year

THE PRACTICE of SPIRITUAL MIND HEALING
Ernest Holmes

"No matter what the need may be, whether we call it physical disease, poverty, unhappiness, lack of opportunity, or need for love and friendship, we should conform the words in our treatment to meet the necessity of the case.  Because we are all members of one another, the word of the practitioner will rise through the consciousness of his patient into experience.  There is a law in physics which says that water will reach its own level by its own weight.  There is a law of metaphysics corresponding to it; consciousness will externalize at is own level, by its own recognition.  We may call this faith, we may call it embodiment, we may call it whatever we will, there is something in the Universe which responds and corresponds to our mental states.

Therefore, it is imperative that we turn from the relative, because TO VIEW LIMITATION IS TO IMPRESS IT UPON THE MIND, and accentuate the state of consciousness which produced it.  It is not always easy to turn from fear, from poverty and pain, and from the hurt of human existence, to that which is perfect.  But whoever can do this - and will train himself to do it - will be like the man healed of blindness.  He had little comprehension of how it had been done; he could only say:  "Whereas I was blind, now I see.""

November 7 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for SELF-Help

By Ernest Holmes

Complete Confidence

My confidence in the All Good is complete.

My faith in the Power of Spirit is supreme.

I have no doubts nor uncertainties.

I know that my Good is at hand, and

I realize that no fear can hinder

That Good from making Its appearance in my life and affairs.

I know that my Life and Good are complete.

Evil cannot touch nor hinder my work.

I rest in security, for

THE ONE MIND IS MY COMPLETE REFUGE AND STRENGTH.

I am serene and confident.

 Drawing the Good

I draw my Good to me as I travel along the Way of Life, and nothing can keep It from me.

My Good will always follow me.

I accept the Good and rejoice that it is with me.

I accept the Good.

November 1 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

By Ernest Holmes

Inspiration

Come, Thou Great and Infinite Mind and inspire me to do great deeds.

Acquaint me with Thy knowledge and in Thy wisdom make me wise.

I would be taught of Thee, Inner Light, and inspired by Thy presence.

I will listen for Thy Voice and it will tell me of great things to be done.

I will walk in Thy Paths and they will lead me into All Good.

I will be inspired from On High.

O Wonderful Presence, flooding me, filling me with Thy Light, Thou dost inspire me!

I feel the inspiration of Spirit.

The Dawn Has Come

Out of the darkness of the long night the Dawn has come.

I rise to meet the new day, filled with confidence and strength.

I arise and go forth into the dawn, inspired and refreshed by the Living Spirit within me.

O Day, you shall never die; the sun shall never set upon your perfect glory.

For the Lamp of the Soul has been re-kindled with the oil of Faith,

And Love has cleansed the windows of Life with the spirit of gladness.

They shall nevermore grow dim with fear, for Perfect Love casteth out all fear.

My light has come.

October 24 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

By Ernest Holmes

The Quick Answer

My answer comes quickly and surely back to me from On High.

My answer will not fail me, for the Law of the Universe is the Power through which it comes.

I shall not doubt nor fear, for the answer is swift and certain.

My answer comes.

A Song of Joy

There is a Song upon my lips today; it sings of the glad heart and the happy ways of Life.

I will listen to my song, for it carols to me the glad tidings of Great Joy, of Love and Life.

It tells me of the Wondrous Journey of the Soul and the Boundless Life in which my life is hid.

I am filled with joy.

October 17 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

By Ernest Holmes

Power to Live

I have the power to live the life of good.

My power is from On High, it cannot be taken from me;

It will not leave me desolate.

Power flows through me and is in me, and

I can now feel and sense it.

The Power to live is in me and it cannot desert me.

It is my power and is continually present.

I am the power to live.

The Circle of Love

A circle of love is drawn around me and mine, and all.

No harm can enter that Sacred Circle, for it is the Love of God.

It is a complete protection from all evil.

"I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me."

There is no evil and no harm.

I am free from all sense of fear.

Love surrounds and protects me.

October 10 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

By Ernest Holmes

The Way Is Made Clear Before Me

The Way is made clear before me; I do not falter nor fall.

The Way of the Spirit is my Way, and I am compelled to walk in it.

My feet are kept on the Path of Perfect Life.

The Way is prepared before me, and that Way is a Path of Peace, of Fulfillment and Joy.

The Way is bright with the light of Love and Kindness.

The Way I tread is a pleasant and happy one.

I see the Way and I walk in it.

October 7 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

By Ernest Holmes

The Secret Way

There is a Secret Way of the Soul which all may know.

It is the Way of Peace and Love.

This Secret Way leads into places of joy

And into the house of good.

It is the Way of the Spirit, and all may enter who will.

I tread the Secret Way of good, the Path of Peace,

And I enter into "The Secret Place of the Most High."

The Secret Place of The Most High is within me.

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 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 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 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.

August 25 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

By Ernest Holmes

I Was Told to Live

By some inner mystic Presence,

I was told to live and to love, to laugh and to be glad.

I was told to be still and know of the One Almighty Power, in and through all.

I was told to let that Power work through and in me.

I believed that voice and I received my Good.

I am healed - The joy of Life.

August 19 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

FROM the TEACHING of JESUS
Ernest Holmes

The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth (Matt. 5:5)

""The meek shall inherit the earth."  This is a teaching of non-resistance.  War lords and plunderers of human possessions have come and gone.  Kingdoms have risen only to crumble in dust and become numbered with past events.  Passion and lust for power have strewn the earth with destruction.  It would seem as though the meek had lost out in the titanic struggle for temporal supremacy.

In the midst of this drama of human existence, Jesus declared that the meek shall inherit the earth.  Let us inquire if his teaching is a true one.  Do we teach our children to follow the steps of a Caesar and a Napoleon? Or do we tell them the story of Jesus or Buddha?  The cross is mightier than the crown and we teach our children that LOVE MASTERS EVERYTHING!  The meek shall inherit the earth.  To whom have our artists turned for inspiration and that quickening power which enables them to depict the idea?  Not to the war lords, nor even the captains of industry, but to the meek.

What characteristics are set before us as being worthy?  Have not faith and belief in the divine Goodness been the theme of our greatest singers?  Who could write a beautiful story about hell?  But heaven and love have inspired thousands to the uplifting of humanity.  Jesus was right when he said that the meek shall inherit the earth.  They have done so and will continue to do so!

They That Hunger Shall Be Fed (Matt. 5:6)

They who hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled.  Is there anyone who does not have a soul hunger?  Does not the spirit of man thirst after knowledge and understanding, yearn for Truth and Reality, as blind men yearn for light?  And his hunger can only be satisfied with spiritual food, as manna from heaven.

Let us inquire into this teaching and see if it be an illusion.  Turn to the history of those who have been spiritually-minded, and the question is answered.  They have not received a stone when they asked for bread.  All who have been hungry have been fed; their hunger has been blessed, in that it has led them to that only food - that heavenly manna - which has sustained, strengthened and upheld them, while the rest of the world (with thirst unsatisfied and appetite unappeased) has eagerly inquired from what store they bought their goods.  They who hunger and thirst after Reality are always fed, and directly by the hand of God Himself.

The Merciful Shall Obtain Mercy (Matt. 5:7)

"Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy."  Again we are confronted with an apparent contradiction.  Do the merciful always obtain mercy?  From casual observation, it would seem otherwise.  But are not many of our observations based on a finite outlook, from a limited concept?  Can we estimate life from the range of one human experience?  If life begins with the cradle and ends with the grave, then are all of our hopes, not only forlorn, but useless.  It is only with the "eye views the world as one vast plain, one boundless reach of sky," that it sees truly.

The perspective of reality is lost when we view life from the range of a short experience.  Jesus saw beyond the veil and estimated life from the great perspective - the long run of the adventure of the soul.  He knew that the law of cause and effect takes care of all, and that the "Mills of God" will grind the chaff of unreality from the wheat of the Spirit. What matter if these mills do not do all of their grinding while we are clothed in flesh! Did not Jesus know another life which to him was as real as this one?  Can we expect, in this world, to receive full compensation for all our work?  Of course not.  We are building on an eternal foundation, one that time cannot alter nor experience destroy.

A true estimate of real values cannot be built on the shifting sands of time alone.  In the long run, the merciful will obtain mercy!  In the long run, we shall reap as we have sown!"

August 10 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

PHYSICAL PERFECTION
By Ernest Holmes

"Hardening of the arteries should be treated by thoughts of love.  A  knowledge that body is controlled by mind and need not grow old will help eliminate the fear of this condition, which race-suggestion says comes to many people with what is called "old age."  Treat to know that Love is stronger than any other force in the Universe, and that steadily and rhythmically the Life of God is pulsing through your body.  Persistently know the truth that God's Life flows ceaselessly out through your life and back to Him, where it is renewed, purified and refreshed; and that the pulsing power of divine Love propels it.

Suppose someone comes to you who has high blood pressure.  You wish to treat to remove this sense.  Your work will be recognized as effective if, after you have done your work, he can be examined and his blood pressure is found to be normal.

Take the idea of high blood pressure, or nervous pressure and all that goes with it, and transpose it for the spiritual sense that there is a divine circulation, it is the Spirit that is circulating through this person.  There is nothing to inhibit It, there is nothing to accelerate It; It is always perfect circulation, there is no thought of fear or congestion.  Undoubtedly the condition exists, as an experience, but as a mental practitioner, you are not dealing with objective symptoms but with thought alone.

If the circulatory system seems inadequate, then the practitioner should realize that his patient's circulation is equalized in Spirit, that Divine Life and Energy flow freely to every part of his being, cleansing, revitalizing , and restoring him to complete wholeness.  There is one circulation, which is the Spirit flowing through man.  There are no degenerative processes in the Spirit.

You sense this person as a being Divine, the Spirit indwells him.  There is no man outside of God.  The more convinced a practitioner is of this, the more certain he is that there now is a divine and uninhibited circulation, and that the blood pressure is normal in the experience of the one whom he is treating - the more definite will be the results.

In every case, the mental practitioner proceeds on the assumption that Spirit is already in his patient.  He thinks of Spirit back of the fact:  the Spirit of perfect circulation, uninhibited - that thing which must automatically eliminate everything that does not belong to that person.  Nothing can impoverish that flow; nothing can increase or diminish that pressure.

For any irregularities of the blood, the following simple meditation might be used:

"My existence is a harmonious progression, that of a son of God entering fully into conscious sonship.  My career through life is a joyous, happy expression, a daily expansion into realms of life and living.  My life in God is ageless, deathless, abiding.  I now surrender every personal doubt, fear or hard feeling that would retard the perfect flow of life through me.  There is no obstruction, no barrier in my mind, veins or affairs.  I am harmonious, peaceful, free and unafraid."

July 25 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

By Ernest Holmes

No Hypnotism nor False Suggestion

There is no hypnotism nor false suggestion.

I represent the One Mind which cannot act against Itself nor can It act against me.

I am immune to all suggestion and cannot receive false thoughts, nor harbor them.

I am surrounded with a circle of Love and Protection.

Asleep or awake, I am free from false thoughts.

I see the nothingness of all belief in, or fear of, otherness; 

and I know that The One and Only Mind, alone, can act.

Only the Good can enter.