April 22 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Treatment Not Explained in the Bible ~ Ernest Holmes

"From beginning to end, in one way or another, the Bible teaches the law of cause and effect, based upon the premise that the Universe is a spiritual system, that the Infinite creates by the power of Its word or the contemplation of Its consciousness, and, as a complement to this, that man reproduces the Universal on an individual scale.

The bible does not tell us how to give a treatment.  It is only within the last hundred years that the science which we are studying has been given to the world.  It is not an old system of thought.  The old systems of thought did contain the Truth, but one would never learn how to give an effective mental treatment by studying them.  We would no more learn how to give a treatment by studying the Bible, than we would learn how to psycho-analyze a person.  The principle of spiritual treatment is implied in the Bible as well as in other sacred writings of antiquity, but one could not learn how to give a treatment from reading any of these Scared Books.  From all of these sources we gain a tremendous spiritual inspiration, but they do not teach how to give a treatment.

What Is a Practitioner?

The one who attempts to heal himself or another through a recognition of the creative power of Mind and the ever availability of Good, is a mental or spiritual practitioner.  Such a one refuses to allow negative thoughts to control his consciousness.   He endeavors to greet the divinity in every man he meets.

The one seeking to demonstrate the power of spiritual realization in everyday affairs should believe in Divine guidance.  He should affirm that his mind is continually impressed with the images of right action, and that everything in his life is controlled by love, harmony and peace; that everything he does prospers, and that the Eternal Energy back of all things animates everything which he undertakes.  Every objective evidence contrary to good should be resolutely denied, and in its place should come a sense of right action.  He should feel a unity of Spirit in all people, and running through all events.  He should declare that the Spirit within him is God, quickening into right action everything he touches, bringing the best out of all his experiences, and forever guiding and sustaining.  The greatest good which his mind is able to conceive should be affirmed as a part of his everyday experience.  No matter what the occupation of such a man, he is a mental and spiritual practitioner, and from such daily meditation he should venture forth into a life of action, with the will to do, the determination to be, and a joy in becoming!

The professional mental and spiritual practitioner is one who has dedicated his life - his time, his energies, his intelligence - to helping others, through mental and spiritual means and methods."

March 5 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Thought Force ~ Ernest Holmes

"Thought force is a movement of consciousness in a field of mechanical but intelligent Law.  The movement of consciousness upon itself creates a motion or vibration upon Substance, the force of which is equal to the embodiment of the thought set in motion.  For everything that happens in the objective world, there must be something in the subjective world which perfectly balances it.

Let us suppose, for illustration, that the Universe is nothing but water, permeated by an Infinite Intelligence.  Imagine that every time this Intelligence moves, or thinks, ice is formed in the water, exactly corresponding to the thought.  We might have countless pieces of ice of different form, color and size, but these pieces of ice would still be water!  If we could heat the entire mass, it would melt, and all forms would again become fluid.  Nothing would have changed except form.  The physical universe is spirit in form.

First is Intelligence; then the Word, the idea, the image, the concept; then the movement toward the thing. Thought is an actual working power.  Otherwise, there would be nothing by which the Universe could be governed.

The Atmosphere of Our Thinking

We are all immersed in the atmosphere of our own thinking, which is the direct result of all we have ever said, thought or done.  This decides what is to take place in our lives.  Thought attracts what is like itself and repels what is unlike.  We are drawn toward those things which we mentally image.  Most of the inner processes of our thought have been unconscious, but when we understand the Law, we learn to consciously embody what we wish, and think of this only, and then we are drawn silently toward it.

The emphasis on true mental healing is insistently on God, the One Mind, the One Soul, the One Being, ever-present and ever-available; and on man's ability and right to make himself receptive to this healing Presence - a realization of the essential divinity of our own nature, and the truth that no evil can live in this Presence.  We must unify ourselves with the great Whole.  The man who dares to fling his thought out into Universal Intelligence, with the assurance of one who realizes his divine nature and its relation to the Universe - and dares to claim all there is - will find an ever-creative good at hand to aid him.  God will honor his request.  To the soul that knows its own divinity, all else must gravitate.  Let us, then, enlarge our thought processes and dare to think in Universal terms.  Let us dare to believe that every constructive word is invincible!"

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 16 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Freedom or Bondage ~ Ernest Holmes

"We, therefore, arrive at the conclusion that while bondage is an experience, there is a Reality to which bondage is not real.  To that Reality bondage is not even an illusion or hallucination; there is a part of us that is never fooled.  That is why, in the midst of the greatest trial, death, or any human suffering, something rises from within and says with Job:  "Though I die, yet shall I live."

Freedom of will means the ability to do, say, and think as one wishes; to express life as one personally desires, to be able merely to think and dream of freedom would not be liberty. A prisoner under a life sentence can do that.  To imagine, without the power to manifest such imagination, would be to remain in a dream world which would never come to self-realization; this is not the world in which man lives at all, for man's world is one of self-expression, even though this expression appears to limit him.

We are in an Infinite Mind and Infinite Mind is also in us.  It is by this Mind that we think.  This Mind is eternal therefore, we are eternal.  This Mind is complete, therefore, we are spiritually complete, thought we do not appear to be so.  This does not alter the fact that potential man is just as perfect as is the inherent God.  As Jesus said:  "Fear no, little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom;" if it is the Father's good pleasure to give us the Kingdom we should learn how to receive and use It.

A freedom under compulsion would amount to the worst kind of bondage.  The Bible says:  "If there had been any law whereby this freedom could be compelled, then verily by the law would that freedom have been given."  If there had been a way by which the Divine Creative Principle could have compelled man to suddenly appear on the scene of experience full-orbed with all his freedom - and still be an individual- then verily by the law would this have been done.  But even God could not do this. The only way God can evolve a spontaneous individual is to let him alone and allow him to awaken to himself.  "Behold I stand at the door and knock..."

So man must be created with the possibility of limitless freedom and let alone to discover himself.  On the road to self-discovery he must be subject to the Law of Reality, and if in ignorance he violates this Law, he must thereby suffer.  This is not, however, because any Divine decree ordains suffering but simply because it is the necessity of the case.  God never intended man to suffer.  Suffering may be salutary in that it leads us to a place where we learn that it is unnecessary!  We shall cease to suffer as we more and more comply with the Laws of the Universe, all suffering is the result of some infringement of these Laws. It is a solace to the mind when we come to understand that all human limitation, from the standpoint of the Divinity within us, is unnecessary.  We recognize that we experience pain, but how could there bean eternal reality to pain?  If this were true, we would have a suffering Universe, a suffering God, an agonizing Deity, all of which seem untrue, unreal and impossible.

We must know definitely and consistently that the Universe is for us and not against us.  But someone will say "The Universe is not for us, look at the evil, the limitation, lack and physical pain and anguish of the human race."  We shall have to learn that evil is neither person, place nor thing of itself, but is an experience which we are allowed to have - because of our divine individuality - until through negative experiences we learn to use the Law affirmatively, to cooperate with It, and thus to enjoy Its full benefits, for the true Law is a Law of Liberty and not of bondage.  The Universe is fool-proof.  It does say we can have what we can take, while at the same time we must expect toe experience the logical result of our thought and act, be it good or what we call evil.

The meaning of freedom implies the possibility of suffering, because if we are free we are free only by virtue of the possibility of choosing more than one course of action as an experience.  There is no freedom or happiness, as a spontaneous individuality, unless there can be a temporary restriction of bondage and unhappiness through the wrong use of freedom.  (All things are possible to the Infinite, but the Infinite forever remains true to Its own nature and never contradicts Itself.)

If man takes his images of thought only from his previous experiences, then he continues in the bondage which those previous experiences create.  If we talk about discord, we shall become more discordant.  The more the world arms for war, the more certain it is that there will be war. People who spend all their time talking about their unhappiness become more unhappy.  Jesus understood these great laws of cause and effect in the Universe, which work sometimes with apparent slowness but always with sureness.  Eventually we shall understand that all human bondage is an invention of ignorance."

January 27 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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