October 15 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

WHAT The MYSTICS HAVE TAUGHT
Ernest Holmes

Cosmic Consciousness - Illumination (Continued)

"The intelligence in an animal which directs its actions and tells it where to go to find food and shelter, we call instinct.  It is really Omniscience in the animal.  The same quality, more highly developed, makes a conscious appearance in man and is what we call intuition.  Intuition is God in man, revealing to him the Realities of Being; and just as instinct guides the animal, so would intuition guide man, if he would allow it to do so.

Here again we must be careful not to mistake a psychic impression for an intuitive one.  Psychic impressions may control; intuition remains in the background and waits for recognition.  "Behold I stand at the door and knock."

All arbitrary control of man must have stopped as soon as he came to a point of self-knowingness.  From this point, he must discover himself; but intuition, which is nothing less than God in man, silently awaits his recognition and co-operation.  The Spirit is  always with us if we would but sense Its Presence.  Mystics have felt this wonderful Power working from within; and have responded to It; and as certain evidence that they were not laboring under delusions, THEY HAVE ALL SENSED THE SAME THING.  Had the impressions been psychic only, each would have seen and sensed a different thing, for each would merely have been seeing through the darkness of his own subjective mentality.

Cosmic Consciousness is not a mystery, it is the Self-Knowingness of God through man.  The more complete the operation of that Power, the more complete is man's conscious mentality, for the illumined do not become less, but more, themselves.  The greater the consciousness of God, the more complete must be the realization of the True Self - the Divine Reality."

October 13 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

WHAT The MYSTICS HAVE TAUGHT
Ernest Holmes

Cosmic Consciousness - Illumination

"Dr. Bucke defines Cosmic Consciousness as:  "One's consciousness of his unity with the Whole."  The mystic intuitively perceives Truth, and often without any process of reasoning - immediately is aware, with what Swedenborg called a sort of "interior awareness," a spiritual sense.

There can and does descend into our minds - embody and personify in our person - a Divinity, a Unity, the Spirit of God, the direct incarnation of the Original Thing, in us - the mystical presentation of Christ.

Dean Inge, perhaps the best thinker in the Anglican Church of today, tells us that Plotinus had seven distinct periods of cosmic consciousness, in which state he was so completely unified with the Universe that he became One with It.  His spiritual philosophy was a result of these experiences.  Plotinus, you will recall, was one of the greatest of the Neo-Platonic Philosophers.

Dr. Buck, the author of that most rational book, "Cosmic Consciousness," cites many instances of known and authentic records of people who have had definite Cosmic experiences.  In his scientific approach to this subject, he calls attention to the necessity of distinguishing between psychic revelations and Cosmic Consciousness.

Reports of the experiences of most psychics are contradictory.  While on the other hand, the experiences of those who have entered into Cosmic Consciousness - over a period of thousands of years - tell us an identical story, once we get the key to their language - all tell the same story of Reality.  The psychic may or may not be true; the spiritual is always true. The psychic realm is the realm of the subconscious, or relative first cause.   The spiritual is the realm of First Cause.  Therefore, we may read Buddha, Jesus, Plato, Socrates, Aristotle, Swedenborg, Emerson, Whitman, Browning or any of the other great mystics, no matter in what age they have lived, and we shall find the same Ultimate.  By reading the writings of most psychics, we enter confusion; therefore, we must understand clearly this vital difference between psychism and mysticism.  One may or may not be true; the other is always true."

October 10 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

By Ernest Holmes

The Way Is Made Clear Before Me

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

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

My feet are kept on the Path of Perfect Life.

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

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

The Way I tread is a pleasant and happy one.

I see the Way and I walk in it.

September 27 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

WHAT The MYSTICS HAVE TAUGHT
Ernest Holmes

Unity (Continued)

"In treatment there should always be a recognition of the absolute Unity of God and man:  the Oneness, Inseparability, Indivisibility, Changelessness.  God as the big circle and man as the little circle.  Man is in God and God is man, just as a drop of water is in the ocean, while the ocean is the drop of water.  This is the recognition which Jesus had when he said, "I and the Father are One."  There is a perfect Union, and to the degree that we are conscious of this Union, we incorporate this consciousness in our word; and our word has just as much power as we put into it, nor more and no less.

Within this Infinite Mind each individual exists, not as a separated but as a separate entity.  We are a point in Universal Consciousness, which is God, and God is our Life, Spirit, Mind and Intelligence.  We are not separated from Life, neither is It separated from us, but we are separate entities in It - individualized centers of God Consciousness.

We came from Life and are in Life, so we are One with Life; and we know that Instinctive Life within - which has brought us to the point of self-recognition - still knows in us the reason for all things, the purpose underlying all things; and we know that there is nothing in us of fear, doubt or confusion which can hinder the flow of Reality to the point of our recognition.  We are guided daily by Divine Intelligence into paths of peace, wherein the soul recognizes its Source and meets It in joyful union, in complete At-One-ment.

The power of Jesus is understood when we study His method of procedure.  Consider His raising of Lazarus from the dead.  Standing at the tomb, He gave thanks; this was recognition.  He next said:  "I know that thou hearest me always;" this was unification.  Then He said:  "Lazarus, come forth," this was his command.  The method is perfect and we shall do well to follow it.  This method can be used in all treatment.  First, realize that Divine Power is; then unify with It; and then speak the word as "one having authority," for the Law is "the servant of the Eternal Spirit throughout all the ages."

Jesus prayed that all might come to see the Unity of Life.  "That they may be One even as we are One," was His prayer as He neared the completion of His great work - the prayer that enabled those closest to Him to understand the Unity of Spirit, in which man clearly recognizes his Oneness with his Creator and with all Creation.  All mystics have sensed that we live in One Life:  "In Him we live and move and have our being."

The Unity of Good is a revelation of the greatest importance, for it teaches us that we are One with the Whole and One with each other.  The Fatherhood of God and the actual Brotherhood of Man will be made apparent on earth to the degree that man realizes true Unity."

September 18 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS

By Ernest Holmes

One with Perfect Action

I am One with Perfect Action.  Everything I do, say or think is quickened into action through this right understanding and this correct knowing.

The harmonious action of the great Whole operates through me now and at all times.

I am carried along by this Right Action and am compelled to do the right thing at the right time.

There is nothing in me that can hinder this action from flowing through me.

The action of God is the only action.

September 7 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS
By Ernest Holmes

I Am Not Bound by Any Mistake

Let us now let go of everything and enter into the consciousness of that which we believe.  The Spirit within each one of us is God, and It is perfect, It is love, reason, life, truth and beauty.  It is limitless and perfect and complete and whole.  It knows no lack and no limitation.

There is nothing we have done, said or thought which rises up against us, which has power over us or which limits us; there is no memory of fear, no condemnation for previous mistakes.  With the desire to free ourselves from the further indulgence in the mistake, the effect of the previous mistake is wiped out, just as light dissipates the darkness.  The Universe holds nothing against us; It can hold nothing against us, because It can know nothing unlike Itself.  Therefore, It only knows us as Perfection.  There has never been an occurrence for which we have to suffer!  Consequently, every apparent shortcoming - which could be traced to some mental or spiritual infringement of the Law - is not only removed but the effect is healed!

That means there is no history to our case.   All of its history is this minute wiped out in the knowledge that today the perfect Law - the Law of Freedom - is the only Law there is in our experience.  We enter into that freedom with joy, free from every sense of sadness and burden.  We enter into it with laughter, with lightness.  It is something which lifts us above the heaviness of morbidity and lack and limitation, into that rarer atmosphere where our opinions do not collide, and we enter into it with peace, free from fear.

We know that Infinite Wholeness is in us and through us and around us now, and we are conscious that we are renewed this moment, instantly and perfectly, after the image of Perfection.  We are today guided into right action in every exercise of our affairs.  Since there is no great and no small to the Infinite, all that seems of little consequence in our lives has the Divine Guidance just as perfectly and completely as that which we think of as being tremendously important.  We are guided into the knowledge of happiness, of certainty, of wholeness and of freedom; and we know that there is that subtle Essence of the Spirit, which emanates from us at all times, healing everything It contacts.

I Am Not Bound by Any Mistake

August 30 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS

By Ernest Holmes

(The following meditation is printed just as it was given in class and group work.)

Perfect Intelligence Directs My Thought

We now let go of everything and enter into a state of peace.  We know the Spirit within us is God, the Living Spirit Almighty...that God Who is Infinite, Perfect and Complete, never needed anything, never had any trouble, never could destroy; the God Who never operated against Himself, Who never condemned Himself--the Spirit that fashions each of us from His own perfect Being.  "All in all, we know Thee, God, omnipresent, full and free; one with every pathway trod, our immortal destiny."

That Infinite Wholeness is perfect peace within us.  That Infinite Intelligence is working through us and our affairs; our thought is inspired, guided, governed and directed by Divine Wisdom.  That Infinite Wholeness is the circulation of ideas, of intelligence, wisdom, truth and life.  It is the elimination of every conception of confusion.  It is the assimilation of that which is whole, happy, perfect.  The Divine Intelligence is the government of our affairs.  Each has within himself this guide to truth, to reason, to beauty, to right action, to certainty and to peace.

Perfect Intelligence Directs My Thought

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!"

March 11 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

The Power Within ~ Ernest Holmes

"Through spiritual discernment, we see that we have within us a power which is greater than anything we shall ever contact; a power that can overcome every obstacle in our experience and set us safe, satisfied, and at peace, healed and prosperous in a new light and a new life. "If God be for us who can be against us?"

God's Creative Power of Mind is right here.  We have as much of this power to use as we believe in and embody.  The storehouse of nature is filled with infinite good, awaiting the touch of our awakened thought to spring forth into manifestation in our lives; but the awakening must be within our thought!  The word that we speak is the law of our lives, and nothing hinders its operation but ourselves.  We may use this creative word for whatever purpose we desire, and this word become the law unto the thing for which it was spoken.  We are given the power to sit in the midst of our lives and direct their activities.  Strife and struggle are unnecessary.  We only need to know, but we must know constructively.

Just so far as we depend upon any condition, past present or future, we are creating chaos, because we are then dealing with conditions (effects) and not with causes.  Could we but comprehend the fact that there is a Power that makes things directly out of Itself - by simply becoming the thing It makes - could we but grasp this greatest truth about life; and realize that we are dealing with a Principle, scientifically correct and eternally present, we could accomplish whatever it is possible for us to conceive. Life externalizes at the level of our thought.

We Set Our Own Limitations

Do we desire to live in a world peopled with friends who love us, surrounded by things beautiful and pleasing?  There is but one way, and this way is as certain as that the sun shines.  DAILY WE MUST CONTROL ALL THOUGHT THAT DENIES THE REAL; AFFIRM THE DIVINE PRESENCE WITHIN US; then, as the mist disappears before the sun, so shall adversity melt before the shining radiance of our exalted thought!

The Prodigal Son remained a prodigal as long as he chose to do so.  When he chose to, he returned to his "Father's house" and was greeted with outstretched hands. So shall our experience be when we return to the world which is perfect; there will be something that will turn to us.  We shall behold a new heaven and a new earth, not in some far off place but here and now.  "Act as though I am and I will be."  The Spirit of Truth will lead us into all good.  This is the highroad to the fulfillment of our lives.

There is, then, no limitation outside our own ignorance, and since we can all conceive of a greater good than we have so far experienced, we all have the ability to transcend previous experiences and rise triumphant above them; but we shall never triumph over them while we persist in going through the old mental reactions.

Understanding

Before we attempt to improve our conditions; before we proceed further on the subject of healing it is necessary that we be certain in our own minds that thought is creative, as upon this basis our entire superstructure rests. Since Spirit creates by contemplation - purely mental action - then everything in the manifest world is some effect of Its thought.  Our own  minds are an expression of the Divine Mind and must be of the same essence.

That we find ourselves in an undesirable condition in the face of all this, is merely proof that we have limited ourselves by our very freedom.  Shall we not, then, reverse our thinking and take for our starting point the inherent nature of mental powers?

We have gone far in the right direction, when we have determined that Creation could have originated only in Intelligence; and have realized further that our own mental power must be the same in kind with the creativeness of God.  Thus we begin to sense, even though dimly, that as our minds become more like the Divine Mind, we shall expand into a greater livingness - our world created by our consciousness, and our consciousness taking its color from the perception of our relation to the Infinite!

We should strive toward a perfect vision, a perfect conception.  We should expand our thought until it realizes all good, and then cut right through all that appears to be, and use this Almighty Power for definite purposes.  We should daily feel a deeper union with Life, a greater sense of that Indwelling God - the God of the seen and of the unseen - within us. When we speak into this Mind, we have sown a seed of thought in the Absolute and we may rest in peace.  We need not make haste, for it is done unto us as we believe. "In that day they that call upon me, I will answer.""

March 6 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help and Healing

Ernest Holmes

"In these short meditations I have tried to set forth some ideas which my experiences in mental healing have given me.  I have found that a few brief statements, mentally affirmed, followed by a silent meditation, have been the most effective in the healing work.

Most of these meditation have been written in the first person in order that those using them may be able to do so just as the are written.

It is not claimed that there is any occult power in the words, but that words similar to these are effective in inducing a greater realization of life.

First, decide which meditation you wish to use; then become quiet and composed.  Then carefully read the meditation several times, phrase by phrase, endeavoring to realize the meaning of the words and trying to enter into the atmosphere of the thought.  After having done this, meditate upon the words, following that meditation until you feel a sense of realization."

Subtle Essence of Spirit Within Me

Subtle Essence of Spirit within me, flowing through me;

Elixir of Life in my veins purifying me with Thy marvelous Life,

I let Thy Spirit cleanse me from all false thought and idea;

I let Thy Life flow through me in a complete and Perfect Whole.

I feel the presence of Spirit within me.

The Everlasting Arms

His Arms enfold me, His Strength upholds me,

His Presence fills me with Life and Joy.

I shall nevermore be sad nor depressed, for I know that I do not walk Life's path alone.

There is One Who goes with me and tells me all the things that I should know.

There is a Presence with me guiding me into the Perfect Way.

I rejoice in knowing that I am not alone.