October 28 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

SOME PHASES of the SUBJECTIVE LIFE
Ernest Holmes

Streams of Consciousness

"Each being an individual entity in Mind is known by the name he bears, and by the vibration which he emanates; for while we are all in One Mind or Spirit, each has a separate and individualized personality.

According to the Unity of Mind, thought is everywhere present, and so long as it persists it will remain present.  What is known in one place, may be known in all places.  Time, space and obstructions are unknown to Mind and thought.  It follows, that anyone tuning into our thought, will enter into our stream of consciousness, no matter where we are and no matter where he may be.  If we still persist after the body shall have suffered physical death (and we are convinced that we shall) this law must still hold good, for past and present are one and the same in Mind.  Time is only the measure of an experience, and space, of itself, is not apart from, but is in, Mind. 

A psychic can enter the stream of thought of anyone whose vibration he can mentally contact, be that person in the flesh or out of it; and since we are all psychic - all having a soul element - we are all doubtless communicating with each other to the degree that we sympathetically vibrate toward each other.  We do not all have the ability to objectify psychic impressions and ordinarily they never come to the surface.  However, they are there just the same.  This is why we often feel uneasy in the presence of certain people, or when we mentally contact some condition and are aware of a disturbed inner feeling, without any apparent reason.

There are many normal psychics who can, while in a perfectly objective state, read people's thoughts and perform many other wonderful feats of the mind.  This is normal and no harm can come from it.  It is, indeed, one of Nature's ways of working and is most interesting.  Any psychic power which can be used while in a normal state of mind is harmless and helpful; by this we mean one that can be used while one is in a conscious state."

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.

July 9 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MENTAL EQUIVALENTS 
By Ernest Holmes

Perfect Action ... No Mistakes

"In mental work,, we must realize that there is One Infinite Mind, which is consciously directing our destiny.  Declare every day that:  "No mistakes have been made, none are being made, and none can be made."  Declare:  "There is One Supreme Intelligence which governs, guides and guards, tells me what to do, when to act and how to act."  Having done this in perfect faith, act with perfect assurance.  Declare further:  "Everything necessary to the full and complete expression of the most boundless experience of joy is mine now."  Know this, see it, feel it and BE it.  Do this every day for a few minutes.  We should all do this until the time comes when it is no longer necessary.  When that time comes we will know it because our demonstrations will have been made.

Suppose someone says, "I have made a lot of mistakes in my life, I had opportunities I did not grasp."  Every man has this feeling at some time in his life.  This is a direct belief that there is but one opportunity which comes to man and if he does not take it he will have no more.  This is a belief in limited opportunities and it must be denied completely and specifically.  It is not that we have made no mistakes, but if the belief in the necessity of mistakes stays in the consciousness, then there is bound to be a repetition.  It is scientific practice to declare that there have been no mistakes in man's consciousness, that if there have been they are now wiped out.  There are none in the Divine Plan, and there is no plan for man other than the Divine Plan.

If a man had had, and apparently lost, many opportunities, he must be shown that he stands at the point of limitless opportunity; that opportunity is right here today; that he sees and grasps it.  It recognizes him as he recognizes it.  We exist in Limitless Opportunities, which are forever seeking expression through us.

Know that there is no condemnation, for nothing can condemn unless we believe in condemnation.  Destroy the thought that would place limitation or bondage upon any situation or condition.  "Loose him and let him go."  Talk to yourself, not to the world.  There is no one to talk to but yourself for all experience takes place within.  Conditions are the reflections of our meditations and nothing else.  There is but One Mind, that Mind is our mind now.  It never thinks confusion, knows what It wishes and how to accomplish what It desires.  It is what It desires!"

June 18 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

PHYSICAL PERFECTION ~ Ernest Holmes

Treating Insanity

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

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

May 20 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Healing is Clear Thinking (continued) ~ Ernest Holmes

"Right thought, constantly poured into consciousness, will eventually purify it.  Discord might be likened to a bottle of impure water; healing might be likened to the process of dropping pure water into the bottle, a drop at a time, until the whole is clean and pure.  Someone might ask why the bottle could not be turned upside down and at once drain out all the impurities.  Sometimes this happens but not often.  Meanwhile, a drop at a time will finally eliminate the impurities and produce a healing.

In treating, go beyond the disease and supply a spiritual consciousness.  A treatment is not complete without a great realization of Life and Love, of God and Perfection, of Truth and Wisdom, of Power and Reality.  Sense the Divine Presence in and through the patient at all times.

Whether we say that thought goes out, or that it is operated upon by Principle makes little difference.  It is very evident that until a thought is created, there is no operation.  It is evident that THINKING SETS CAUSATION IN MOTION.  Whether the word used heals, or simply sets the law in motion, really is of small import.

The practitioner is in the same Mind in which his patient lives; consequently, since each is in the One Mind, the patient is sick in the same medium and in a certain sense in the same Mind in which the practitioner lives; and because this Mind is Indivisible, the practitioner can, in his own mentality, reach the thought which causes the patient to be sick.  Whether we say he sends out a thought, or that he simply realizes a thought, makes no difference.  The simplest way is to say that the practitioner realizes, within himself, upon the One Mind, through the One Medium, in the One Law.

The practitioner realizes a certain truth for his patient within himself.  Therefore, he sets the Law in motion for his patient.  (The operation of this Law may be thought of in the same way we think of the law whereby water reaches its own level by its own weight.)  The practitioner knows WITHIN HIMSELF, and this self-knowingness rises into the consciousness of his patient.  It is like planting a seed in the ground, the practitioner sows the seed and the Creative Mind produces the plant.  Does the soil operate on the seed, or does the seed operate on the soil?  We do not know, but we do know that when a seed is put into the ground, the law pertaining to growth operates and a plant is produced, and that unless a seed is planted, no plant will be produced.

In practice, we make no attempt to send thoughts to our patients!  We know there is but One Mind.  We will say that "A" represents one who is sick and desires help.  "B" represents a practitioner.  "B" thinks into Mind; and whether we say that he is thinking within himself or somewhere else does not matter, he is always thinking into Mind, because he is in Mind!  But one might say, "The patient thinks into his own subjective mind."  Yes, if you wish to designate it as his subjective mind, but his subjective mind is only his atmosphere in the One Mind.  We must understand this very clearly, else someday there will be a wall between our thought and its ability to heal some person who happens to be at a physical distance.

Both the patient and the practitioner think into the common Mind.  Therefore, when a patient comes to a practitioner for healing, the practitioner does not try to hypnotize him, nor suggest anything to him.  He declares the Truth about the patient.  To the degree that the practitioner brings his own consciousness to a true recognition of perfection - provided there is a subjective receptivity in the thought of the patient - that man will be helped.

The practitioner does not try to hold a thought nor to send out a thought.   He simply tries to convince himself of the perfection of his patient.  The practitioner does not try to make his word operate through his patient, but only attempts to know the Truth of what he states.  The patient must be receptive to the Truth, then the Truth will heal him.  The practitioner is dealing with Universal Law, backed by omnipotent Power, which is Divine Principle.  This is what Jesus meant when he said:  "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free."

Every time we think, we are thinking into a receptive plastic Substance, which receives the impress of our thought.  When we stop to realize how subtle thoughts are, how unconsciously we think negation, how easy it is to get "down and out" mentally, we shall see that each is perpetuating his own condition.  This is why people go from bad to worse or from success to a greater success.

Only as we gradually, definitely, and intelligently take true ideas and build them into the structure of our own thought, can there come the desired reaction.  In mental treatment, the practitioner deals solely with ideas, and treats neither bodies nor conditions.  He never manipulates, nor should he lay hands on his patient...He does not care where the patient is when he is treating him, or what he may be doing.  The practitioner's work begins and ends within his own consciousness.  This should be constantly borne in mind."

May 10 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

Ernest Holmes

The Word of Power

My Word is a Word of Power, for I know that it is the Word of the Great God within me.

My Word shall accomplish and prosper, and shall do good unto all who call upon my name.

My Word is a tower of strength and cannot be denied.

It is complete and perfect here and now.

My Word is the Word of God.

My word is the word of God.

The Unassailable Truth and the Irresistible Word

The Truth within me is unassailable, and the Power of the Word is irresistible.

I can even now feel that my Word has gone forth with Power and Reality, and that it will accomplish that purpose for which it was created.

Limitless is its Power and wonderful are its works.

It can be nothing less than the Almighty working in and through me.

I will let this Word of the Spirit go forth from my mouth, and heal and bless the world.

It shall be as a strong tower unto all who call upon it.

The Truth is Complete and Perfect, and is within me now.

My Word is complete and perfect, now.

March 4 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

It Is Done Unto Us ~ Ernest Holmes

"What a marvelous thought to bear in mind:  that it is done unto us!  We need not coerce, we do not create the power, but we must LET this Great Power operate through us.

In the Infinity of Mind, there is nothing but Mind and what Mind does - Its operations.  This Mind is acted upon by our thought, and in this way thought becomes the law of our lives.  It is just as much a law in our individual lives as God's thought is in the larger life of the Universe.  WE DO NOT CREATE.  WE USE THE POWER OF THE ONE MIND, WHICH CREATES FOR US!  Our beliefs and our deep-seated convictions inevitably out-picture and reflect themselves in our experience and environment, both in the physical condition of the body, and in the larger world of our affairs.  What we outwardly are, and what we are to become, depends upon what we are thinking, for this is the way we are using Creative Power.  The sooner we release our minds from the thought that we have to create, the sooner we shall be able to work in line with Spirit.  Always man uses; he never creates anything.  The united intelligence of the human race could not make a single rosebud; but our thought, centered in Mind, is using the Creative Power of the Universe.

Law of Life is a law of thought - an activity of consciousness - the Power flows through us.  The Spirit can do for us only what It can do through us.  Unless we are able to provide the consciousness, It cannot make the gift.  The Power behind all things is without limit, but in working for us It must work through us.  Realizing, then, that while the Power is limitless, It must become operative through our own thought, we shall see that what we need is not some greater power, but a greater consciousness, a deeper realization of life, a more sublime concept of Being, a more intimate concept of an already indwelling God, Who is personal to us by virtue of being personified through us."

March 2 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

The Basis for Mental Healing ~ Ernest Holmes

"Much in this field is as yet obscure and imperfectly understood, for the scientific study of the mind is still in its infancy; but the fact that a misuse of mental and spiritual laws is at the root of many unhappy conditions incident to the physical life stands out clear and sharp.

The first principle fundamental to the understanding of the operation of thought is, that we are surrounded by an Infinite Intelligence.  The possibility of healing physical disease, changing environment, attracting friends and demonstrating supply through the power of right thinking, rests entirely on the theory that we are surrounded by an Infinite Mind, which reacts to our thought according to Law.

We comprehend the meaning of Infinite Intelligence only in a small degree, but because we are spiritual beings, we do sense the presence of an Intelligence which is beyond human comprehension - an Intelligence which is great enough to encompass the past, to understand the present, and to be Father of the future.  It is the Cause of everything that has been, and is that out of which must unfold everything that is to be.  Our own intelligence is one of Its activities and is of like nature to It.

The Act of Incarnation

At the level of our self-comprehension, we know and understand the nature of God.  This self-knowing, which is God-knowing, has the possibility of an eternal expansion. As individual intelligence, we communicate with each other - are able to respond to each other - and in so doing we establish the fact that intelligence responds to intelligence.  This same law must hold good, whether we think of finite intelligence responding to finite intelligence, or Infinite Intelligence responding to finite intelligence - for intelligence is the same in ESSENCE wherever we find it.  We may conclude that Infinite Intelligence responds to us by the very necessity of being true to Its own Nature.

But how does It respond?  It can respond only by corresponding, which means that the Infinite Intelligence responds to us by a direct impartation of Itself through us.  "The highest God and the innermost God is One God."  So with Jesus we may say:  "The Father and I are One."  Whatever intelligence we possess is some degree of the One Intelligence, which we call God.

The Infinite Mind, then, imparts Itself to the finite, through the act of incarnation.  The progress of the human race is a result of that process whereby Intelligence passes, by successive degrees of incarnation, through evolution, into the human mind."

February 23 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Oneness with All Law ~ Ernest Holmes  

"When we know our Oneness with God and Law, what a great burden is removed.  Any sense of opposition is removed from the consciousness which perceives Unity.  That which we call OUR subjective mind is but a point in Universal Mind where our personality maintains its individualized expression of Spirit.  If we think of ourselves as being separated from the Universe, we shall be limited by this thought, for it is a belief in separation from God which binds and limits.  WE ARE BOUND BY NOTHING EXCEPT BELIEF.  "They could not enter in because of their unbelief, and because they limited the Holy One of Israel."

There is but One Mind.  Here is the point:  everything we experience, touch, taste, handle and smell - environment, bodies, conditions, money, happiness, friends  - all are effects.  Is it clear that the infinite and limitless possibilities of that One of which man is a part, depend in man's expression, upon his own concept?  If he is a point of personality in Limitless Mind, which he is; and if all his life must be drawn from this One Mind, which it must be, there cannot be anything else, can there?  And if there is nothing else, if there is nothing to move save Mind - and if man is a thinking center in Mind- nothing is going to happen TO him that does not happen THROUGH him, whether it be the result of his own erroneous conclusions, those of his grandfather, or those of the race to which he belongs!  This is not in any sense fatalistic, for WE MAY CHANGE THE TREND OF CAUSATION WHICH IAS BEEN SET IN MOTION AT ANY TIME WE DECIDE TO DO SO.

Everything comes from Intelligence.  There is nothing but Unity; there is nothing but freedom; there is nothing but completeness; there is nothing but Totality. Begin at the beginning and reason this out, time after time, until all doubt disappears. It is necessary that each one do this for himself.

Such is the power of right thinking that it cancels and erases everything unlike itself.  It answers every question, solves all problems, is the solution to every difficulty.  It is like the sunlight of Eternal Truth bursting through the clouds of obscurity and bathing all life in a celestial glory.  It is the Absolute with which we are dealing and nothing less."

February 22 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Subjective Law ~ Ernest Holmes

"We should grasp the idea of Universal Subjectivity, the Potentiality of all things, the Divine Creative Medium.  This is the Principle through which we are to demonstrate the healing of the body or of condition; and It acts accurately and mathematically, because It is the Law of Cause and Effect.

When we think, we think from conscious intelligence, or Spirit.  The thought then becomes subjectified; it goes into the subconscious mind.  What is man's subconscious mind?  It is his atmosphere or mental center in Universal Subjectivity.  It is held in our philosophy that there is no such thing as your subjective mind and my subjective mind, meaning two, for this would be duality.  But there is such a thing as the subjective state of my thought and of your thought in Mind.  This should be seen clearly, for here is where psychology and metaphysics separate, where their interpretations differ.

When we think, we think into a Universal Creative Medium, a receptive and plastic medium which surrounds us on all sides, which permeates and flows through us.  When we think, we must and do think into and upon It, since It is omnipresent. 

As each subjectifies a consciousness about himself, he is surrounding himself with a mental atmosphere; and nothing can enter this except through the avenues of his own thought.  But this thought might be conscious or unconscious.  In most cases it is unconscious.  However, the student of metaphysics is learning to consciously control the stream of thought that he allows to enter his inner and creative mentality.

The Result of Our Own Thinking

Thought is an inner movement, which is largely the result of one's perception of life and his reaction to it.  Every time this movement takes place it takes place within Mind, upon Cause, according to Law.  We are dealing with the same Power that molds the planets and all that is upon them, and the limit of our ability to use this Power is not in Principle, but in our understanding of It!

We are dealing with a neutral, creative Power, just as we would be in the case of electricity or any other natural force.  It is on a higher plane for It is the Power of Intelligence.  Our thought, in its externalization, will reach its own level, just as water reaches its own level by its own weight and without effort.  This is in line with the necessity for the Universe, in order to be at all, must be Self-Existent.  By the Self-Existence of the Universe is meant a Universe which is Its own reason for being; a Universe which exists by virtue of Itself being All.

Each one of us today is the result of the use he has made of the Law, either consciously or unconsciously.  As soon as we realize this we shall see that what we are now (or what we now have and experience) is the result of what we have thought; and the answer to what we shall be is contained in what we are now thinking, FOR WE CAN CHANGE OUR THINKING!

Man thinks, and supposes that he lets go of those thoughts,...that he is finished with them; but such is not the case, for thought becomes subjectified in the Mind like a seed planted in the soil, and , unless neutralized, it stays there and determines the attraction and repulsion in the experience of the one thinking.  There is a constant action on the subjective side of life; and it is the unconscious process which decides what is going to happen in the outer experience.  Whatever we think, act, believe in, feel, visualize, vision, image, read and talk about - in fact all processes which affect or impress us at all - are going into the subjective state of our thought, which is our individualized use of the Universal Mind.  Whatever goes into the subjective state of our thought tends to return again as some condition.  So we, and we alone, control our destiny.

Law is Mind in Action

There is One Infinite Life acting through Law, and this Law is mental.   Law is Mind in action.  We are surrounded by an Infinite, subconscious, impersonal, neutral, plastic and ever-present Thinking Stuff, from which all things come, and which, in Its Original State, permeates and penetrates all things.

By impressing our thought upon this Substance, we can cause It to produce for us that which we think. Impressing our thought upon It is not an external act, for when we impress our thought upon ourselves, we are thinking into It. This is because of the Unity of all Mind.

Jesus said:  "As thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee."  Knowing the nature of Law, He did not say:  "It is done unto you as you wish."  He announced the universality of the Law when he called it a Law of Belief.

The Destructive Use of the Law

Someone may say, "I cannot imagine God not caring."  I cannot either, but we are dealing with Law.  Does the law of electricity care whether it cooks the dinner or burns the house?  Whether it electrocutes a criminal or warms a saint?  Of course, it does not.  Does the Urge which impels people to express, care whether a man kneels in ecstasy or lies drunk in the gutter?  We are dealing with Law, and it follows that since we are dealing with Law, It will ultimately bring back to us the result of the forces which we set in motion through It.

Consequently, no person who is enlightened would seek to use this Law destructively, for he would know that, sooner or later, the very power set in motion by himself would ultimately destroy him.  "All they that take the sword shall perish by the sword." The Spirit of Christ is the spirit which constructively uses the Law.  The spirit of antichrist is the destructive use of the Law. The Spirit of Christ, being in line with the Cosmic Life, will always transcend, neutralize, destroy, and utterly obliterate the spirit of the Antichrist.  Finally, only the Spirit of Christ can succeed."

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."

February 19 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Limitless Medium ~ Ernest Holmes

"When we realize that in dealing with our own individuality, we are dealing with Self-Conscious Mind, and when we realize that in dealing with subjective mind, we are dealing with a Universal Subjectivity, we shall come to understand that we have a Creative Intelligence at our disposal, compared with which the united intelligence of the human race is as nothing.  The Universal Subjective Mind, being entirely receptive to our thought, is compelled by Its very nature, to accept that thought and act upon it no matter what the thought may be.

Since we are dealing with an Infinite Power, which knows only Its own ability to do, and since It can objectify any idea impressed upon It, there can be no limit to what It can or would do for us, other than the limit of our inward embodiment.  Limitation is not in Principle nor in Law, but only in the individual use we make of Principle.  Our individual use of It can only equal our individual capacity to understand It, to embody It. We cannot demonstrate beyond our ability to provide a mental equivalent of our desire.

Subjectivity is entirely receptive and neutral as we have learned, and It can take our thoughts only the way we think them - It has no alternative.  If I say, "I am unhappy," and continue to say it, the subconscious mind says, "Yes, you are unhappy," and keeps me unhappy as long as I say it, for thoughts are things, and an active thought will provide an active condition for good or evil.

Suppose one has thought poverty year after year, he has thereby personified a law which continues to perpetuate this condition.  If the thought is not erased the condition will remain.  A law has been set in motion which says "I am poor," and sees to it that this is so.  This is at first an auto-suggestion, then it becomes an unconscious memory, working day and night.  This is what decides how the Law of Attraction works for us, because the laws of attraction and repulsion are entirely subjective.  Our use of them may be conscious to start with, but it becomes subconscious as soon as used. 

Suppose I do not say I am poor, but that I came into the world with an unconscious  thought of poverty.  So long as this thought remains, I am likely to remain poor.  I may not understand the Law, but it will be working all the time.  We come into this world with a subjective tendency toward conditions, but we must not forget that we are also dealing with a subjective tendency toward ultimate good, because in spite of all conditions, the race believes more in good than in evil; otherwise it would not continue to exist.  This is the eternal hope and sense of our life.

The encouraging message in all of this is, no matter what may be in the subjective state of our thought, the conscious state can change it; this is what treatment does.  How can this be done?  Through the most direct method imaginable:  by consciously knowing that there is no inherited tendency toward limitation, no race suggestion operating through subjectivity, nothing in, around or through us that believes in or accepts limitation in any way, shape, manner or form.  We do not stop here, this is only half the treatment.  The conscious state must now provide a higher contemplation, a spiritual realization, which says:  "I partake of the nature and bounty of the All Good and I am now surrounded by everything which makes life worth while."  The Universal Medium at once changes Its thought (because Its thought is deductive only) and says:  "Yes, I am all these things in you," and immediately begins the work of bringing such conditions to pass. Whatever is held in consciousness until it becomes a apart of the subjective  side of thought, tends to take place in the world of affairs.  The reason that we do not demonstrate more easily is that the subjective state of our thought is too often neutralized by the objective state, though often this is an unconscious process of thought. 

Whatever our subconscious mind holds long enough, is bound to be produced in our external affairs.  Our subconscious Mind is the Medium in which we all live and move an have our being on the subjective side of life - our atmosphere in Universal Subjectivity - the Medium through which all intercommunication takes place on every plane. 

It follows from what we have said, that any suggestion held in Creative Mind would produce its logical result, no matter what such suggestion might be.  If it were a suggestion of good, it would construct, for this is a neutral field.

Christ and Antichrist

The Spirit of Christ means that mentality which recognizes the Law and uses It for constructive purposes only.  The spirit of antichrist means the spirit of the individual who understanding the Law, uses It destructively.  The meaning of the Flood or Deluge (which is recorded in every sacred scripture we have ever heard of or read) is that a race of people once lived upon the earth who came to understand the psychic or subjective Law as being the servant of the Spirit. They understood themselves to be Spirit, but they did not understand the harmonious Unity of Spirit.  They had arrived at an intellectual concept of the Law - a very clearly defined mental concept - but that knowledge was not used for constructive purposes. They used the Law destructively, and what happened?  The confusion which took place in the psychic world (or the psychic atmosphere of this planet) caused its physical correspondence in the form of a Deluge or the Flood.

There have been many controversies about the use and misuse of the Power of Mind.  Some claim that we cannot misuse this Power, since there is but One Mind and It cannot act against Itself.  MIND CANNOT ACT AGAINST ITSELF; AND ANY PERSON WHO KNOWS THIS, and KNOWS THERE IS  NO HUMAN MIND TO DESTROY, IS IMMUNE FROM MALPRACTICE.

We need have no fear of the misuse of this Law, if we protect ourselves by the realization that there is but One Ultimate Reality, for "against such there is no law."  We recognize Subconscious Mind as the Great Servant of our thought, the Medium through which all treatment operates; and this Universal Subjective Mind we contact within ourselves and nowhere else!  Being omnipresent, It is in us; our use of It we call our subjective mind, but of Itself It is Universal."

February 13 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Immortality ~ Ernest Holmes

Suppose we should be able to view the world, not as we do now from one plane but from ten different planes, what would happen?  We should certainly see ten times as much as we do now.  The present hypothesis of science is, that ether is more solid than matter; and this means that there could be a form within the very form that one's body now occupies in space; there might be innumerable bodies each within the other; and each would be just as real as the one we now think we occupy.  The Universe as we see it is not even a fractional part of the Universe that actually is, "Eye hath not seen...etc..." because it sees only on one plane and only in part.

From the standpoint of immortality we may have a body within a body to infinity.  When this physical body is rendered useless and is no longer a fit instrument through which to function, another one may be already there!

The physical disappearance of Jesus after his Resurrection was the result of the spiritualization of his consciousness.  This so quickened his mentality that his body disintegrated, and his followers could not see him because he was on another plane.  Planes are not places; they are states of consciousness.

Is it apparent that Spirit can know nothing outside Itself; that whatever the Spirit knows must be a definite mental image, concept or idea, in the Consciousness of the Spirit?  Is it clear that as the Self-Consciousness of Spirit knows within Itself, It knows upon Itself as Law?

Is it clear that the Law can never say "I will not," but can only act as instructed?  And is it clear that as the Spirit lets fall the form of Its thoughts into the Soul or Subjectivity of the Universe, these thoughts must manifest as things?  As Form? As Body?

A Divine Mental Picture

As we look at the many millions of forms all of different shape and color, and yet know that they all come from One Stuff, are we not compelled to accept the fact that there is a specific cause, or concrete mental image back of every idea or thing, a Divine Mental Picture?  in the subjective world, there must be a correspondent of everything in the objective world; and since the subjective world is a receptive or plastic substance, this correspondence can find its initial starting point only in real Intelligence.  Therefore, Intelligence is the ultimate creative agency of the Universe!

February 3 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

How We Use the Creative Principle ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

If, through the Law, thought is creative, we cannot say that one thought will create while another will not.  We must admit that all though is creative, according to the impulse, emotion or conviction behind the thought. Our theory is that the medium is a Universal, simultaneous Presence and in this Presence all live; and that whatever is known at one point in It is known at all points, instantly!  So if we, practicing this Principle in Los Angeles, declare the truth about some John Smith who lives in New York (or at any other place in the world) the speaking of his name draws the Law into the vibration of his personality, his individuality.  Mentally, physically, spiritually, he is now in It.  We have, so to speak, tuned into the keynote of his being  This being is also at the center of our being, therefore, the mental work is done in our being, for him; but it must, and does, operate through Law.  This Law is subjective.

Mind and Ether

In an interesting article by Sir Oliver Lodge (in which he writes about ether and the laws of the physical universe) he says that no two physical particles really touch each other, no two electrons.  They are all divided from each other by a space which is relative to the space between the planetary bodies, and they never once touch each other, throughout their existence, other than through the medium of this ether.  Lodge calls the ether "the cement of matter."  His theory is that just as the laws of attraction and repulsion, gravitation, adhesion and cohesion, operate through the ether, so there must be a Universal Mind that operates upon the ether, or upon Mind; or that Mind must operate upon mind, through the medium of the ether; or perhaps the ether is Mind?  His conclusion is that Mind and ether interact.

We think of the ether of Mind as a Universal Subjectivity, the Soul of the Universe.  Just as the ether of space is a medium for physical action, so this Universal Subjectivity is the medium for mental action.  Anything that has ever been thought at any time in the history of man, exists today in a subjective state in Universal Mind.  When we get into the field of Mind, there is no past, present or future.  They merge into one medium.

February 1 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

GENERAL Summary ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

"The Mind of man is some part of the Mind of God, therefore it contains within itself unlimited possibility of expansion and self-expression.

The conscious mind of man is self-knowing, self-assertive; it has volition, will, choice and may accept or reject. It is the only part of man's mind which can think independently of conditions.

The sub-conscious mind of man is simply the Law of Mind in action.  It is not a thing of itself but is the medium for all thought action.  It is the medium by which man may call into temporary being whatever he needs or enjoys on the pathway of his experience.

The Mind of God is Infinite.  The mind of man is some part of this Infinite, Creative Mind of God.  Therefore the mind of man is as infinite as is man's capacity to understand his true relationship to God or Spirit.  The mind of man is continuously unfolding into a greater recognition of its real plan in the creative order of the Universe.  It does not yet comprehend its own power or scope but it does know how, in some measure, to consciously co-operate with the Infinite.

Spirit is really the only Mind there is.  It is Eternal.  It never began nor will It ever cease to be.  It is complete and perfect, happy and whole, satisfied and at peace with Itself.  The Spirit is the only Conscious Intelligence in the Universe.  Therefore It is the only Directive Intelligence in the Universe.

Because the mind of man is the Mind of God in man, the mind of man is conscious and directive.  It is to man what God is to the Universe.

God is Spirit.  That is, without parts.  A Universal Unity and Wholeness.  God is Mind.  The self-knowing Mind of God is the Spirit of God and at the same time the Spirit of man.  Mind in its self-knowing state is Spirit.  The Mind of God and the Mind of man is the same Mind.  The conscious mind of man is part of the Self-Knowingness of the Mind of God.  The conscious mind of man is the Self-Knowingness of Spirit operating through the thought of man.  Hence its creativeness.

The conscious mind of man is that part of, or unity with, the Supreme Spirit which enables man to be an individual unit, separate in identity without becoming separated from, the Whole Spirit of God, the Whole Mind of God.  Without this conscious mind of man in an individualized state of God, or the Spirit, would have no independent offspring, therefore God would not be completely expressed.  The Eternal has placed Himself at the center of man's being in order that man may function individually.  The discovery of this, the greatest truth about man, is the greatest discovery of the ages.

It is this Divine Self-Knowingness in man which distinguishes him from all other creation.  It belongs to man alone.  It appears full-orbed in man alone.  Man alone is able to consciously work out his own destiny, to determine what manner of life he shall lead.  For it is written that God created him but little lower than the angels and crowned him with glory and honor."

January 31 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Metaphysics and Physics ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

The laws of Mind, or spirit, are not different from the laws of chemistry and physics.  Metaphysics begins where physics leaves off.  Everything is movement; everything we can take hold of and analyze, all things in the physical world or the world of form are in a certain rate of vibration and are an effect.  This is the result of "an Infinite Thinker thinking mathematically."

To reduce this proposition to the practical life of the individual, our belief is that anything the mind thinks, it can unthink.  If, therefore, by the law of cause and effect we have produced unpleasant conditions, we should be able by this same law to produce an entirely different effect.

Another principle which is fundamental to our practice is, that not only what is set in motion can be changed; but that the Truth known is demonstrated.  The knowledge of Truth and its demonstration is both simultaneous and instantaneous.  Since we are dealing with that which is Limitless, knowing no big and no little, the possibility of our demonstration rests not in the Principle, but in our acknowledgment of, and embodiment in it, of the ideas we desire experienced!  The saying of "peace" will not produce peace unless back of the word is a realization of the meaning of peace.  So in the simplicity of our own language, we try to convince ourselves of the reality of that for which we are treating, knowing that in such degree as we have an embodiment of the idea, it is thrown into a mechanical field and must operate.

"Spirit is the Power that knows Itself."  Whatever that power within us is that knows itself, constitutes the part of us which is spirit or spiritual.  To be self-conscious, is to be a spiritual entity.  Mind, in Its self-conscious form, cannot be differentiated from Spirit.  Mind, in Its subjective or subconscious state, is the Law of Spirit.  Man is a spirit while God is The Spirit.  Man is an individual, while God is the Universal, but since the individual comes from and is in the Universal, it follows that man is a little world within himself.  This is what Jesus meant when he said that man has inherent life within himself.  The meaning of inherent life is real life...creative life.

No limit can be placed upon the spirit of man.  It merges with the Universal Spirit for the two are really One.  God is in us as we are in God - the same essence, the degree apparently different.  The one finite and  the other Infinite, and since the Infinite cannot come from the finite, it follows that the finite must come from the Infinite - a little circle within the big circle. 

Metaphysically, we recognize the Universal Spirit as the Source of all life and inspiration; an Infinite Self-Knowingness, which we grasp only in part but which is ever available, since the Infinite is omnipresent.  The mind of man is an extension of the Eternal Mind or Spirit, and his evolution is the unfolding of this everlasting Mind or Spirit through his thought.

Only One Mind

There is no such thing as your mind, my mind and God's Mind.  There is only Mind, in which we all "live and move and have our being."

Things are ideas in form.  What else could they be?  There is nothing from which to make things except ideas.  In the beginning, we behold nothing visible; there is only an Infinite Possibility, a Limitless Imagination, a Consciousness - the only action of this Consciousness being Idea.

That  which we call our subjective mind is, in reality, our identity in Infinite Mind.  It is the result  of our mental attitudes. It is our mental atmosphere, or center, in Universal Subjective Mind, in which are retained all of the images, impressions, inherited tendencies and race suggestions.  We see then that our subjective mind is the medium through which experiences come to us.

There is One First Cause - Spirit, Soul and Body - Cause, Medium, and Effect; the Father, Son and Holy Ghost.  Not three gods, but the Triune Nature of the One God, the One Cause.  We think of Spirit as Absolute, Self-Conscious Intelligence.  We think of Soul as receptive to Intelligence and the Intelligence as always acting upon It.  Spirit and Soul inter-sphere each other and both have omnipresence.  The Spirit of the Universe permeates the Soul of the Universe, forever impregnating It with ideas.  The Soul of the Universe is the "Holy Womb of Nature," producing the forms which appear in the manifest universe.

The Body of the Universe is the result of the thought of Spirit, operating through the medium of soul  The Father is Absolute, Positive Intelligence; the Son is the Offspring of the Father; the Holy ghost is "The Servant of the Eternal Spirit throughout the ages."  Spirit is Absolute Intelligence, operating through the Soul of Receptive Intelligence, impregnating It with "the Divine Ideas."

The "Personalness" of God

We should think of God, not only as Principle, forever pushing forward into expression; but as Infinite Person.  In other words, if we merely think of an abstract Principle, and a mathematical Law of Cause and Effect, we shall lose all warmth and color.  We should be very careful in abstracting the Principle not to forget the Essence.

There is something in the human mind that desires to think of God or Spirit as Person.  Anything which has been in the human mind since time began - anything we are unable to erase from the human mind as a deep urge - arises out of Reality.

Let us not forget that there is inherent necessity for warmth and color.  The Universe is more than an inexorable Law of Cause and Effect.  PERSONALITY CANNOT EMERGE FROM A PRINCIPLE WHICH DOES NOT CONTAIN THE INHERENT POSSIBILITY OF PERSONALITY.  In each one of us, to each one of us, through each one of us, something is personalized and that which is personalized is personal to its own personification!  Spiritual evolution should make the Infinite not more distant; but more intimate.

January 26 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

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

"We should be able to look a discordant fact in the face and deny its reality, since we know its seeming reality is borrowed from illusion, from "chaos and old night."  Our standard is one of perfection.  "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect"  (Matt. 5:48)  We should be able to look at a wrong condition with the knowledge that we can change it.  The realization that we have this ability must be gained by the application of our knowledge. 

The practice of the Science of Mind calls for a positive understanding of the Spirit of Truth; a willingness to let this inner Spirit guide us, with the conscious knowledge that "The law of the Lord is perfect."  (Psalms 19:7)  And we must believe this to be a fact.  IN SO FAR AS OUR THOUGHT IS IN ACCORD WITH THIS PERFECT LAW, IT WILL ACCOMPLISH AND NOTHING CAN HINDER IT.  "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away,"  (Matt. 24:35) said the beautiful Jesus, as he strove to teach his disciples the immutability of the Law of Righteousness.

A practitioner uses thought definitely and for specific purposes, and the more definitely he uses the Law, the more directly will It respond to him.  A false fact is neither person, place nor thing to the one who uncovers it, and once uncovered it has no place in which to hide.  The illusion, seen and understood, is made negative in the experience of the one who suffered by it.  While it is true that wrong conditions exist, they could not remain unless there were someone to experience them.  Consequently, the experience must be in consciousness.  Change the consciousness and the false condition will disappear.  Conditions are not entities, we are entities.  Cannot that which is conscious cast out that which has no consciousness?  If we properly understood, we would be able to remove false conditions as easily as Jesus did.  He knew, but our faith is weak.  We must strengthen it and we can.

Let us analyze this:  One finds himself impoverished.   He wishes to change this condition.  He knows that it is not in accord with Ultimate Reality; that the Spirit imposes no limitations.  Therefore, he knows that his apparent limited condition has no rea law to support it; it is simply an experience of consciousness  He wishes a definite result in the opposite direction.  First, he realizes that the Law of Life is a Law of Liberty, of Freedom.  He now states that this Law of Liberty is flowing through him and into all his affairs. But the image of his limitation persists. Her is a definite contradiction of his statements of freedom.

Right here, he must stop and declare that these images of limitation are neither person, place nor thing; that they have no power, personality nor presence and no real law to support them.  He does not believe in them and they cannot operate through him.  He is free from their influence, forever.  He then begins to fill his thought with the idea of faith, the expectancy of good and the realization of plenty.  He senses, and mentally sees, right action in his life.  He puts his whole trust in the Law of good, and It becomes very real to him as he definitely speaks It into being - into his being and into the being of his affairs. He denies anything and everything that contradicts his realization of this truth.

At this point of realization, he meets a friend(?) who immediately begins a tale of woe about hard times, bad business condition, etc., and, should he listen to this "tale of the serpent," he might reverse his previous affirmations and make negative his former mental and spiritual concept!  This does not mean that he should refuse to hold conversation with people, for fear they will neutralize the position which he has taken in his mind, but that he should refuse mentally to accept the false position.  Then he can talk with anyone and not be disturbed.

The time will come when we will let our "conversation be in Heaven," and refuse to talk about, read or think about, those things that ought not to be.  But, someone will say, "Should we refuse to look at sickness, poverty and unhappiness"  This is not what we are discussing.  We will not refuse to help the helpless or lift up the fallen, but we will refuse to wallow in the mud because of our sympathies.  "And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch."  (Matt. 15:14)"

January 18 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

The Scientific Method ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

If we observe any scientific discovery, we shall see that this is the way it works.  Some man's mind discovers the law, or principle, governing the science; this is the way of Love, of personal volition, of choice - this is the spontaneous element in the universe.  Following this knowledge of the way the principle works - having discovered the operation of the Law - the spontaneous element now rests its case on immutable reactions inherent in the Law.  All science is based upon proven principles.

But we should not overlook the significant fact that it is the MIND which discovers and makes use of the mechanical law!  Is not this mind the Spirit in us?  We can never completely fathom the Infinite Mind:  we shall always be discovering new lands.  Consequently, evolution is an eternal unfoldment of the more yet to be.

Since it is the mind which must first come to see, know and understand - and since all future possibility for the race must first find an avenue of outlet through someone's mind - we shall do well to look to the mind for the answer to all our problems.

Undoubtedly we are surrounded by, and immersed in, a perfect Life:  a complete, normal, happy, sane, harmonious and peaceful existence.  But only as much of the Life as we embody will really become ours to use.  As much of this Life as we understand and embody will react as immutable law - the reaction of the mechanical to the volitional.  The concept is wonderful and fraught with tremendous significance.  In it is bound up our hopes and fears, our expectations, and our future and present realizations.

Since an understanding of any law must pass first through our conscious mind before we can make use of it, it follows that with all our getting, we should get understanding.  Should we wish to know a certain truth, we should state that this truth is already known in Mind and this statement will be true, but the Over-Mind must be accepted into our mind before we can understand It.  How, then, are we to accomplish the desired result?  By stating and feeling that our mind knows the truth about the thing we desire to know.  In this way we draw the Infinite Mind into our mentalities, for definite knowledge of some particular good.

Contains All Knowledge

The Universal Mind contains all knowledge. It is the potential ultimate of all things.  To It, all things are possible.  To us, as much is possible as we can conceive, according to law.  Should all the wisdom of the universe be poured over us, we should yet receive only that which we are ready to understand.  This is why some draw one type of knowledge and some another, and all from the same source - the Source of all knowledge.  The scientist discovers the principles of his science, the artist embodies the spirit of his art, the saint draws Christ into his being - all because they have courted the particular presence of some definite concept.  Each state of consciousness taps the same source, but has a different receptivity.  Each receives what he asks for, according to his ability to embody.  The Universal is Infinite; the possibility of differentiating is limitless.

Life always becomes to us the particular thing we need when we believe that It becomes to us that particular thing.  The understanding of this is the essence of simplicity.  As all numbers proceed from the fundamental unit, as all material forms are but different manifestations of one formless stuff, so all things proceed from that which is neither person, place nor thing, but is the essence of all things.

Our thought and conscious receptivity differentiate this Universal Possibility, by drawing It through our minds and causing It to flow into particular channels, through the conscious receptivity of our different faiths.  One state of consciousness will differentiate one kind of a result, another mental state a different manifestation.

Mental Work is Definite

Mental work is definite.  Each state of thought taps the same Principle, each uses the same Law, is inspired by the same Spirit, but each draws forth a different result.  Here is multiplicity proceeding from Unity.  This is what Emerson meant when he said that Unity passes into variety.

But, someone will ask, can we bring out both good and evil from the One Source?  Of course not.  The First Principle is goodness, and only in so far as our thought and action tend toward a constructive program, will it eventually succeed.  We cannot fight the Universe.  It refuses to be budged from Its course.  We can only go with It.

But there is ample latitude for personal expression.  How then, are we to know what is right and what is wrong?  We are not GOING to know; we already do know.  Every man knows right from wrong, in its broadest sense.

It should be considered right to live and to enjoy living.  To be well, happy, and to express freedom, is to be in accord with Divine Law and Wisdom. Here is latitude enough for the most expectant, and the most enthusiastic.