November 16 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

THE PRACTICE of SPIRITUAL MIND HEALING
Ernest Holmes

"Does it make any difference whether or not the patient is taking medicine? Not at all.  If it gives him any relief, he should have it.  We need all the relief we can get.  The patient is healed when he no longer needs medicine.  Some think they dishonor God when they take a pill.  This is superstition.  Discard these thoughts and give your entire attention to realizing perfection for your patient.

Healing is not accomplished through will power but by knowing the Truth.  This Truth is that the Spiritual Man is already Perfect, no matter what the appearance may be.  "Holding thoughts" has nothing to do with this form of treatment.  If you find when you begin to give a treatment that the process gives you a headache, know that you are doing your work on the mental plane and not through spiritual realization.  A treatment should leave the practitioner in better condition than before he gave it; otherwise, it is not a good treatment.

One might ask:  "Is all mental disease a thought held in the conscious mind of the patient?"  No, not necessarily.  It may be a subconscious thought, or it may be the result of many thoughts, which brought together produce a definite result.  Combinations of thought unite to produce definite effects.

Limitation and poverty are not things, but are the results of restricted ways of thinking.  We are surrounded by a Subjective Intelligence, which receives the impress of our thought and acts upon it.  This natural Law in the Mental World is neither good nor bad.  It can only be said of It that IT IS, and that we may consciously use It.  The Law is a law of reflection; for Life is a mirror, reflecting to us as conditions the images of our thinking.  Whatever one thinks tends to take form and become a part of his experience.  The Medium of all thought is the Universal Mind, acting as Law.  Law is always impersonal, neutral, receptive and reactive."

August 4 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

PHYSICAL PERFECTION
By Ernest Holmes

Nerve Troubles

"As we come to realize that thoughts are things we shall also see that different kinds of thoughts will produce different types of effects.  There is but one final Truth or Reality, but It is always presenting us with varying forms of Itself.  These forms are temporarily misshapen by the creative power of our own thought.  For we must not forget that what we call our thought is really the place where we are using the Creative Mind Itself.  Our thought is creative, not because we will it so, but BECAUSE IT ALREADY IS SO.  WE CANNOT CHANGE THIS NOR ESCAPE FROM ITS EFFECTS IN OUR LIVES.

Consequently we see that certain thoughts would depress while other would exalt.  And all according to the One Law governing our lives.  With this in mind, then, we understand what is meant by saying that certain thoughts should be used in treating certain cases.

Let us consider what kind of thought to use in treating nerve troubles.  We do not deny that people suffer from this or any other cause.  We do, however, affirm that thought may help and has the possibility of completely healing them from the trouble.  The nerves certainly represent the highest form of intelligence running through the flesh.  They really represent mind in the highest form it takes as it controls the human body. 

The general treatment for nerve disorders should incorporate thoughts of peace, poise and power.  There is no strain or struggle in the Universe.  All the actions of Life are harmonious, steady, sure and quiet.  Because the nerves are so responsive to thought, they react immediately to a statement of harmony.  An understanding of the truth that good alone is real and true, gives us the faith essential to an establishment of a firm, unwavering mind, which is necessary if one is to have firm, steady, sensitive, quickly-responding nerves.  Our thought must never waver from the premise of One Power, which is an impersonal, infinite Power for good.

We train our mind to contemplate the good, the enduring, the true.  That which has caused depression, discouragement or indecision, must be neutralized by our refusal to allow it to register.  Realize that the Spirit within you manifests as perfect harmony, and that every cell, atom and organ of your body is functioning according to the Divine Law.  Say: "I am filled with the peace, strength, power and decision of Spirit.  The life forces flow freely, peacefully, and harmoniously through every atom of my body, I am complete and perfect now.  The all-powerful Mind of the Indwelling Christ in me dissolves and dissipates from my mind all belief in indecision, anxiety, depression and discouragement, for I dwell in the realm of peace."

We must heal ourselves form worry.  This tension is relaxed as we gain confidence in good, in truth and in beauty.  Faith must overcome fear, and strong statements of faith should be used to erase the thoughts of doubt and worry that have assailed us.  "I have faith.  I am faith.  I abide in faith.  All doubt and fear have left me.  I understand why it is that I can remain in faith.  I have complete confidence.  I do not waver nor falter in my faith, for I know that God, the Living Spirit, is the only Presence there is or ever can be."

We should also erase the thoughts of yesterday that would rob us of today's happiness.  "There is nothing arising out of the past that can disturb me.   The past, the present and the future are one unbroken stream of Good.  I loose all thoughts that in the past have caused anxiety.  The Spirit knows no past and is not affected by the belief in any.  The past is swallowed up in the victory of a perfect present, which is filled with love and protection."

Equally we must not have fear for the future.  "I see that the future is bright with promise.  It beckons me forward into a more complete realization of my own worth and my rightful place in the Universe.  All my tomorrows will be happy and filled with harmonious occupations.  I look to the future with great and pleasurable anticipation, knowing it will expand my opportunity for radiant self-expression.  I love my past and my future and understand that they are but continuations of the one unbroken chain of life.  There is no future to be afraid of and no past to bring discord into the present."

Such statements will tend to erase any negative stream of causation that may have been set in motion in the past.  Waste no time arguing with anyone over these truths.  This is true and it really works.  We would better spend our time using the Law than arguing over It.  Our position is to be proven by DEMONSTRATION ALONE.  THIS IS THE FINAL TEST OF ALL THEORIES.

We should read, study, think and meditate upon those statements which tend to calm, to give poise and confidence, and erase all thought of fear and tension.  The subjective law can only operate upon that which is given it, so we must be very careful of our patterns of thought.  We live in a sea of Perfect Life and we should take time to understand and sense this in our imagination.  We should think of ourselves as being surrounded by perfect life and poised in an eternal calm.  We are in a sea of untroubled waters of life, from which we may freely drink.  We must do the drinking.  No one else can do this for us.  We should hold out the cup of acceptance until it is filled and overflowing with the manifestations of our desires.  This chalice of the heart is held up that the heavenly flow may fill it with God's abundant life.

The words of peace spoken to the nervous system will remove the tension which produces pain and inflammation of the nerves.  There is neither irritation, agitation nor inflammation in God, in Spirit, in Truth, and man is the Truth.  "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you...Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."  "I am pure Spirit.  My entire nervous system is pure Spirit.  I am poised in harmony, in Truth and in complete calm.  My nervous system is in the Spirit within me, governing my physical body with harmony.  There is no need for pain.  My body is pure Spiritual Substance and as such it is perfect and harmonious."

We are poised in a sense of peace, which comes from our complete faith in God as the light, power and inspiration of our life.  There will be no twitching of muscles, no uneasiness or anxiety about any outcome, if we know - whether waking or sleeping - that every step of the way God goes with us."

June 25 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

PHYSICAL PERFECTION
By Ernest Holmes


Treating Lung Trouble

"The spiritual idea of lung itself is universal and perfect, nothing has ever happened to it.  It was, is, and ever will be - perfect.  But man, through the creative medium of his thought, has caused an appearance of disease in the lung.  Back of all such trouble is a consuming passion, an unexpressed emotion, a strong desire.  Healing will take place to the degree that the practitioner neutralizes this belief and perceives the presence of a perfect lung.

The practitioner realizes there is a perfect body, perfect being, perfect God, perfect man, perfect expression, perfect bronchial tubes, perfect trachea, perfect lungs!  The practitioner, if he would heal, must elevate his own thought.  The word he speaks is law, it is power; it knows itself to be what it is.  It is the law unto the case.  He is now conscious that the word he speaks will neutralize and entirely destroy the false thought and condition.  He says:  "There is one body; this body is the Body of God, and is Perfect; It is never depleted, Its vitality is never lowered.  There is no wasting away, nor burning up of substance, for substance is eternal, changeless and perfect.  This Body is the body of my patient right now."

He continues until he covers what, in his own thought, appears to be the mental cause of the false condition.  If he does this day after day, the patient will be relieved, though the practitioner never thinks of his patient, other than that the word of Truth is being spoken for him.  He never wonders whether his word is taking effect, because he speaks into Intelligence and lets It act.

Human life is the incarnation of God in man.  With every indrawn breath, we breathe in life, and with every outgoing breath, we give it forth.  The lungs are constantly renewed by every respiration.  With every new inspiration of renewed thought we appropriate something of God.  With every out-pouring of life, expressed in faith and good deeds, we are expressing God.  When we associate our breathing with the very Life and Light of God, nothing can retard the flow of life through us.  A good meditation for practitioner or patient, who has any fear of lung trouble, is:

'The One Infinite Life and Substance is the only Life and Substance in existence; and this Life and this Substance is my Life now.  I express through a spiritual body, which is and must continue to be, perfect.  There is no wasting or destruction of any part, for that which is Eternal can never be non-existent.  Any tissues that appear to be impaired are now renewed by the very Life of God, which is flowing in and through me.

"I erase from my consciousness the belief that the tissues of my body can be impaired, inflamed or destroyed.  Joyfully, peacefully, trustingly, confidently, I give my body - every tissue, atom, and function - over to the Spirit of Life, which in Its perfection does now renew and rebuild me, even out of Itself.  That Substance out of which my body is created is Spiritual, and is maintained by the all-powerful Essence of Spirit.'"

June 2 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Physical Perfection - Concluded ~ Ernest Holmes

What Can Be Healed?

"What should we try to heal through spiritual treatment?  If we were dealing only with the power of a thought, we should not expect to heal anything; but if we are dealing with a Universal Principle, why should we set any limit to Its power?

Since the Law of God is Infinite, from the spiritual viewpoint, there is no incurable disease, as opposed to a curable one.  The Law knows nothing about disease; It only acts.  The practitioner realizes that this word is the presence, power and activity of Truth, which is in him, which is Almighty, which is God, "beside which there is none other."

This word is the law unto the thing whereunto it is spoken, and has within itself the ability, the power, and the intelligence to execute itself, through the great Law of all life.  This word being the spontaneous recognition of Living Spirit - Infinite, Ever-Present, and Active - is now made manifest in and through this person, or thing, about which the practitioner is thinking.

To Spirit there can be no incurable disease.  The word "incurable" means not susceptible of being cured.  The root definition of cured is "cared for."  If we say that a disease is incurable, we are saying that it is not sensitive to care.   As long as any cell is alive it is sensitive to care, which means that as long as a person is alive, the cells of the body respond to care.  Naturally, they are not being cured if they are not being property cared for.  We have already learned that disease is largely a state of mind, and we could hardly say that a state of mind is incurable, could we?  We know that thought is constantly changing, forever taking on new ways of expression.  It cannot possibly remain permanent.  It has to change.  Can we not, accordingly, change it to a better state instead of to a worse?

Materia medica is using the term "incurable" less and less frequently, for most disease in the field of medicine is being cured.  Let us then free ourselves from the assumption that any disturbed state of thought need be permanent ("incurable")."

May 18 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Disease Is Not Always Due to Conscious Thought ~ Ernest Holmes

"Diseases which are mental in their origin must arise from some inner state of consciousness.  While most disease must first have a subjective cause, this subjective cause (nine times out of ten) is not conscious in the thought of the person who suffers from it, but is perhaps largely the result of certain combinations of thinking.

So while it is true that disease has a prototype in subjective mind, it is also true that the individual who suffers from the disease, frequently has never thought he was going to have that particular kind of trouble.

But this does not alter the fact that every disease which comes up through subjectivity, and appears in the body, must come through mind.

How to Heal

In our work, we treat man, not as a physical body, neither do we treat the disease as belonging to him, the reason being that if we do, we cannot subsequently free him from it.  We do not think of the disease as being connected with him or a part of him.  The practitioner seeks to realize man as perfect, not needing to be healed of anything.  This is nothing less than the realization of the Presence and the Power of God, or Spirit, as Man's Life, as the only life there is, as complete and perfect in him right now.

First recognize your own perfection then build up the same recognition for your patient.  You are then ready to directly attack the thought that binds him, recognizing that your word destroys it, and stating that it does.  You may then take into account and specifically mention everything that needs to be changed, every so-called broken law or false thought.  Then finish your treatment with a realization of peace, remaining for a few moments in silent recognition that your work is done, complete and perfect.

The work must not be thought of as hard.  When we know that there is but One Mind, we shall realize that this work could not be difficult or laborious.   Mental treatment is a direct statement of belief into Mind, coupled with a realization that the work is already an accomplished fact.  The spiritual man needs no healing, health is an omnipresent reality, and when the obstructions that hinder healing are removed, it will be found that health was there all the time.  So in your work, do not feel that you must heal anyone.  Your only responsibility is to uncover the Truth.

Never say:  "Here is a patient whom I must heal," for if you think of him from this viewpoint, how are you going to heal him?  If you mentally see a sick man, he will remain mentally sick.  We cannot heal successfully while we recognize sickness as a reality to the Spirit.  In spiritual healing by this method, no one believes in disease, it  has no action nor reaction, it has neither cause nor effect, it has no law to support it and no one through whom it can operate.  There is no one to talk with about it, and no one to believe in it.  While we maintain that disease is primarily a thing of thought, we do not deny the actuality of its experience nor the suffering it causes, instead we seek to heal it, and we co-operate with all, no matter what method they are using to relieve distress.

You have nothing to do with the patient's thought as a personality, for as your own thought clears, he will be helped.  First eliminate doubt and fear from your own thought; realize that your patient is a Divine Being, and that your word is the law unto the thing unto which it is spoken.  This is what gave Jesus His power:  "For He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.""

May 14 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Disease Is Impersonal ~ Ernest Holmes

“The word disease means lack of ease – dis-ease.  Ab-normal, absence of a normal condition.  In order to do his work, it is necessary for the practitioner to know that disease is not an entity, any more than darkness (which is the absence of light) is an entity.  From the standpoint of the mental practitioner, disease is an impersonal thing, attempting to operate and personify itself, a thought force, a misconception, a conviction in the mind of the one who has it, and of course, an actual experience to the one who is suffering from it.

Regardless of its particular source, disease is an experience operating through people, which does not belong to them at all.  Recognize that it is neither person, place nor thing, that there is no spiritual law to support it, that it is discord fleeing before harmony, that there is nothing but the Truth.  You must know that the Power you are using is definite, scientific, dynamic, spiritual, absolute, complete, and that It will work.  Let no fear come into your thought.

The first thing a practitioner does is to separate the belief from the believer.  It is a personal, not a Cosmic problem.  Evil is not a problem to God, it is only a problem to the individual.  Therefore, we separate the belief from the believer, and begin to perceive the individual as a spiritual being, no longer subject to this belief, and even now the embodiment of perfection.  If the practitioner is able to see only perfection, wholeness, he will see health manifested in his patient.  The practitioner, then, recognizing that Mind, or Intelligence, or Spirit – whatever he chooses to call It – is the groundwork of all movement, definitely, specifically and consciously, speaks his word into this creative medium.

Begin to use this principle, no matter how slight you feel your knowledge, and the result will inspire you to perceive new ways and methods of approach, until you gradually grow into deeper assurance.

Man is fundamentally perfect, this is our whole premise – Perfect God, Perfect Man, Perfect Being – this is the whole basis of our argument.  Always mentally separate disease from the one suffering from it.  In mental practice, NEVER LOCATE DISEASE, because thoughts are things.  Separate the belief from the believer, for the spiritual man has no disease, and you are talking only about the spiritual man.”

April 12 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for SELF-HELP

Ernest Holmes

I Do Not Inherit Disease

There is no inherited tendency to disease nor ill health.

I am born of Pure Spirit.

False ideas cannot be transmitted from one to another, and I am free from race-suggestion.

My Life is from Above, and I remember that I was always Perfect and Complete.

An Inner Light shines forth and frees me from the bonds of false belief.

I came from the Spirit.

No Congestion

There is no congestion nor stoppage of action.

Life, flowing through me, is Perfect and Clear;

It cannot be stopped, retarded nor hindered.

I feel the One Life flowing through me now.

It eliminates all impure secretions and cleanses my thought from any suggestion of false deposits in the flesh.

I am Clean, Pure and Perfect, and my Word eliminates all else.

There is no congestion.

April 5 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for SELF-HELP

Ernest Holmes

He Is Mighty Within Me to Heal

God within me is mighty to heal.

He healeth me of all my diseases and removes all fear from me.

My God within is now healing me of all sickness and pain and is bringing comfort to my soul.

God is my life; I cannot be sick.

I hear the voice of Truth telling me to arise and walk, for I am healed.

I am healed.

I Do Not Inherit Disease

There is no inherited tendency to disease nor ill health.

I am born of Pure spirit.

False ideas cannot be transmitted from one to another, and I am free from race-suggestion.

My Life is from Above, and I remember that I was always Perfect and Complete.

An Inner Light shines forth and frees me from the bonds of false belief.

I came from the Spirit.

February 8 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

BODY ~ Ernest Holmes

Definition

The Universe has been called the Great Trinity, or Triune Unity of Spirit, Soul and Body - the Body being the result, the effect, the objectification of Spirit.  Soul is the immaterial, plastic and receptive Medium.  It is primordial or Cosmic Stuff, unmanifest form.  Body is the result of Spirit working through Soul or Law.  THE ENTIRE MANIFESTATION OF SPIRIT, BOTH VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE, IS THE BODY OF GOD. There is One Body of the Universe.  Within this One Body is included all lesser bodies.

Body means the entire manifestation of Spirit on all planes.  "In my father's house are many mansions," said Jesus.  We do not, of course, see all these mansions.  Science has revealed to us that many exist which we do not see and revelation has shown that the Universe is Infinite..."For we know in part, and we prophesy in part."

The word "body" as used in the Science of Mind means all objective manifestations of the invisible Principle of Life.  The body is distinguished from the idea, in that the body is seen while the idea is invisible.  The physical universe is the Body of God - the invisible Principle of all life.  Our physical being is the body of the unseen man.  Behind the objective form of the rose is the idea that projects the rose.

Body is always an effect, never a cause.  Body expresses intelligence, its apparent intelligence being lent by the consciousness which permeates it.  We would not say that consciousness is in the body, but rather that body is in consciousness!  If one is unconscious he has neither pain nor fear.  Pain and fear are in consciousness, but consciousness so completely envelopes the body that it appears to be intelligent.

Perhaps the human body is an exact counterpart of an invisible body which is non-material as we now understand matter and physical form.  The physical body is evolved for the purpose of allowing consciousness to function on this plane.  The body is necessary to this plane, since only through a physical body can we properly function here.  When the body is no longer a fit instrument the soul deserts it and continues to function on another plane.

To say that the body is unreal is a mistake.  It is real but is an effect, not an entity.  It may yet be proven that the mind completely controls the body, and that the body is but a reflection of the mind.  In no way would this contradict the reality of the body nor the experience of pain and sickness, but it might help in an understanding of these experiences.  While we may affirm that the body is not a thing of itself, we cannot say there is no body.  The simplest way to think of body is to realize that it is the objective manifestation of a subjective mind and consciousness; and if we are to be well and happy, not only the body but the mind also must be peaceful and harmonious.

Psychology has shown that physical (or subjective) disturbances produce physical reactions in the body.  If the body is to be permanently well, the soul or subjective life must be in poise, the mind peaceful and happy.  It may be considered as a general rule that when the soul is poised in true spiritual realization the body will be normal and healthy.  This is the purpose of mental healing, whether it be approached from the psychological or metaphysical angle.  Psychology and metaphysics are but two ends of the same thing.  So we treat the body as a legitimate effect, controlled by the soul life.