March 14 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

THE PRINCIPLES of SUCCESSFUL LIVING

Ernest Holmes

Not Something for Nothing

"Lessons on prosperity and mental control of conditions are sometimes dangerous because of the misunderstanding of this subject.  Science of Mind is not a "get-rich-quick" scheme, neither does it promise something for nothing.  It does, however, promise the one who will comply with its teaching that he shall be able to bring greater possibilities and happier conditions into his experience.

We do not teach that you can get what you want.  If we could all get what we want, it might be disastrous, for it is certain that most of us would want things that would interfere with the well-being of someone else.

While we could not expect to demonstrate that which is contrary to the nature of our own existence, we not only believe but we know that it is entirely possible, through mental treatment - through right thought and belief - to greatly influence our environment, its reaction to us, the situations we meet and the conditions we contact. There is such a thing as demonstrating a control of conditions. We shall be able to prove this in such degree as we are successful in looking away from the conditions which now exist, while accepting better ones. Not only must we accept this intellectually, but our acceptance must become a subjective embodiment of which the intellect furnishes but a mental picture.

Consequently, this Science does not promise something for nothing.  It does, however, tell us that if we comply with the Law, the Law complies with us. No man can demonstrate peace and cling to unhappiness.  He can demonstrate resignation, and call it peace, but it will not be peace.  No man can jump into the water and remain dry.  This is contrary to law and to reason. NO PERSON WHOSE ENTIRE TIME IS SPENT IN THE CONTEMPLATION OF LIMITATION CAN DEMONSTRATE FREEDOM FROM SUCH LIMITATATION!  The Law Itself must be willing to give, because in so giving Life is Self-Expressed.

The Law Is Infinite

The Science of Mind is based entirely upon the supposition that we are surrounded by a Universal Mind, into which we think. This Mind, in Its original state, fills all space.  It fills the space that man uses in the Universe.  It is in man, as well as outside him.  As he thinks into this Universal Mind, he sets a law in motion, which is creative, and which contains within Itself a Limitless possibility.

The Law through which man operates is Infinite, but man appears to be finite; that is, he has not yet evolved to a complete understanding of himself.  He is unfolding from a Limitless Potential but can bring into his experience only that which he can conceive.  There is no limit to the Law, but there appears to be a limit to man's understanding of It.  As his understanding unfolds, his possibilities of attainment will increase.

It is a great mistake to say:  "Take what you wish, for you can have anything you like."  We do not take what we wish, but we do attract to ourselves that which is like our thought.  MAN MUST BECOME MORE IF HE WISHES TO DRAW A GREATER GOOD INTO HIS LIFE.  We need not labor under the delusion that all we have to do is to say that everything is ours.  This is true in Reality, but in fact it is only as true as we make it.  We provide the mold for the Creative Law, and unless the mold we provide is increased, Substance cannot increase in our experience; for Mental Science does not promise anything that will do away with the necessity of complying with law.

The Law is a law of liberty, but not a law of license.  It is exact and exacting, and unless we are willing to comply with Its Nature and work with It, along the lines of Its inherent being, we shall receive no great benefit.  EVERY MAN MUST PAY THE PRICE FOR THAT WHICH HE RECEIVES AND THAT PRICE IS PAID IN MENTAL AND SPIRITUAL COIN.

All nature conspires to produce and manifest the freedom of the individual, that it may unloose its own energy.  We may be sure God is for us - whatever our conception of God may be, whatever our conception of the relationship of Jesus, and the idea of Christ to humanity and God and our own salvation may be - this thing must act in accordance with definite Law in the Universe, and this Law says that whenever and wherever there is an adequate subjective image, which does not contradict the nature of the Universe, that image will not only tend to take form, but will take form and will manifest. This Law we did not make and we cannot change.

But this teaching should not be confused with the idea that we can show people how to get what they want, regardless.  True prayer must be, "Thy will be done," but the implication relative to the Will of God in this prayer is not a submission to the inevitability of evil or limitation; it is a knowledge that the Will of God is always GOOD.

How do we know what the Will of God is?  We do not, other than this:  The Will of God cannot be death.  Why?  Because if we assume God to be the Principle of Life, the Principle of Life cannot produce death without destroying Itself.  The Will of Life has only to BE Life.   The Will of that which is Infinite can never be finite. Everything then should tend to expansion and multiplication in the Divine Plan.  THAT is the Will of God.  It has to be beauty, truth and harmony, as Troward said, as this is the true relationship of the Whole to the parts and the parts to the Whole.  Therefore, we should interpret the Will of God to be everything that expresses life without hurt.  This seems to be a fair, logical, sane and intelligent criterion.  Anything that will enable us to express greater life, greater happiness, greater power - so long as it does not harm anyone - must be the Will of God for us.  As much life as one can conceive will become a part of his experience.

A mental avenue must be provided through which the Law may operate as a law of liberty, if we are to be free.  This does not mean we must please the Law, for It is impersonal and neither knows nor cares who uses It, nor for what purpose; but, because It is impersonal, It is compelled by Its very nature to return to the thinker exactly what he thinks into It.  The law of mental equivalents must never be overlooked, for "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."

If a man is intelligent, he will naturally seek to free himself from misery and unhappiness.  Theology may say that this is a selfish motivation, but it is exactly what we all are trying to do and calling it by a different name.  Whether it is through the remission of sins, or the salvation of the individual soul, every act in the life of the individual is that such an individual may express himself.  For instance, the love of a mother for her children, a man for his wife, a patriot for his country, a preacher for his religion, an artist for his art - all of these are but ways of self-fulfillment.  This is legitimate self-expression.

We realize, however that to attempt this self-expression at the expense of society or other individual is to defeat the very purpose for which freedom exists, for back of all is a unity.  Hence we find that the laws of necessity and not of theology (of which all religions and ethics and moral and social systems are but feeble lights) do ultimately compel experience into the path of true righteousness.

The criterion for any man as to what is right or wrong for him is not to be found in some other man's judgment.  The criterion is:  Does the thing I wish to do express more life, more happiness, more peace to myself, and at the same time harm no one?  If it does, it is right. It is not selfish.  But if it is done at the expense of anyone, then in such degree we are making a wrong use of the Law.

We may be quite emphatic in saying that we think the Universe exists for the expression of Spirit, and man exists for self-expression, because he is the expression of Spirit.

Man does not exist for the purpose of making an impression upon his environment.  He does exist to express himself in and through his environment.  There is a great difference.  Man does not exist to leave a lasting impression upon his environment.  Not at all.  It is not necessary that we leave any impression.  It is not necessary, if we should pass on tonight, that anyone should remember that we have ever lived.  All that means anything is that while we  live, WE LIVE, and wherever we go from here we shall keep on living.

It is quite a burden lifted when we realize that we do not have to move the world - it is going to move anyway.  This realization does not lessen our duty or our social obligation.  It clarifies it.  It enables us to do joyously, and free from morbidity, that which we should do in the social state.

With this in mind, and believing that there is an Infinite Law of the Spirit, or Law of Life, which tends to multiply our gifts because in doing so It multiplies Its own experience, Its own pleasure, Its own fruition; we may assume that spiritual man is already a success, is already supplied with everything that he needs.  The potential of all things exists in the Universal Wholeness."

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 3 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Activity of the One Mind ~ Ernest Holmes

"We are living in an Intelligence Universe, which responds to our mental states.  To the extent that we learn to control these mental states, we shall automatically control our environment.  This is why we are studying the power of thought as we approach the subject of spiritual mind healing.  This is what is meant by the practical application of this Science to the problems of everyday living.  The result of this mental work is what is meant by demonstration.

In the great Universal Mind, man is a center of intelligence, and every time he thinks he sets Mind in action.  Because of the Oneness of Mind, It cannot know anything outside Itself, and therefore cannot contradict any thought given It, but must reflect whatever is cast into It.  We are immersed in an Infinite Creative Medium which, because of Its Nature, must create after the pattern our thought gives It.  Jesus understood this, and in a few simple words laid down the law of life:  "It is done unto you AS you believe."  No more simple and yet no more profound statement could be made."

February 29 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

GENERAL SUMMARY ~ Ernest Holmes

"The subjective mind of man is part of the Universal Subjective Mind of God.  It is the place where every man individualizes himself on the subjective side of life.  It is his use of the Law of Cause and Effect.  It is his use of the Law of Karma.  It is the Law of the Whole, now individualized as a law of the apparent part.  It may produce either freedom or bondage according to the way that it is used.  Man's use of the Universal Law makes it appear as thought his subjective mind were an entity of itself.  It never is, however, and this is one of the main points we should remember.  It is not separated from the Universal, but is, in a certain sense, the property of the individual in the Universal.  God and man are One, but God is greater than man.  The Whole is greater than Its parts.

The Universal Subjectivity is Mind in an abstract and formless state.  That is, it is a potential energy and a latent power, which means that It is unformed, but always ready to take form.  It is Mind and Substance in an unformed or uncreated state of being.  It is ready to become molded into creativeness.  It is unexpressed Mind.  It waits to be called into form or expression.  It exists in its original state, invisible but potential with all possible form.  A creative, universal energy waiting to be used, to be operated upon.  Willing, but having no volition of Its own.  Ready, but having no initiative.  Formless, but ready to take form.

Mind in Its subjective state is Universal.  Mind in Its subjective state cannot act until It is set in motion by mind in a conscious state.  Therefore Universal Subjective Mind is a doer and not a self-conscious knower.  It knows how to do but It does not have any conscious knowledge that It is doing.  Man calls It forth into expression.

In Universal Mind is contained the essence of everything that ever was, is or shall be.  The seen and the unseen are in It and governed by It.  It is the sole and only Creative Agency in the universe and all other apparent creative agencies are It working in different ways.  Things exist in the Universal Mind as ideas.  Ideas take form and become things in the concrete or the visible world.  Thought calls things forth from the universal into expression.

The correct understanding that Mind in Its unformed state can be called forth into individual use is key to all proper mental and spiritual work from a practical viewpoint.  To know that we are surrounded by such a creativeness is not enough, however, we must use this knowledge for definite purposes if we expect to make conscious use of the law for personal self-expression.  In this limitless Medium the potential of all our desires exists in an unformed state.  The Unformed is ready to take form, but having no intention of Its own, because It is not self-knowing, form must be imposed upon It.  Form is imposed upon It by the self-knowing mind of God and of man.  Man in the little world. God in the Great World.

The invisible essence of Mind is Substance.  That is, an unformed stuff, an energy.  It is energy plus intelligence.  Intelligence is conscious energy working upon unformed substance in accord with law.  When man makes a demand upon himself or demand upon the Universe which flows through the self, he is making a demand upon Original Mind and Original Energy.  Thus his demand causes Original Mind and Energy to produce certain specific things for him.  Thus is a new creation produced by the same Creative Force or energy that produces all things.  The Mind that man uses to conceive new ideas is the Original Mind of God.  There are not two minds but One.  The Universal and the individual are one in Essence.  Any apparent difference is in degree only."

February 24 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

SUMMARY of PART ONE:  The Nature of Being ~ Ernest Holmes

"There is a Universal Presence that acts as though It were intelligent, and we may assume that It is.  There is a Universal Intelligence acting as Law - we may also assume this to be true. There is a formless Stuff in the Universe, forever taking form, and forever changing its form - this we may accept as being self-evident.

We have every reason  to postulate a three-fold nature of the Universal Being, which we shall call Spirit, Soul, and Body.  We shall think of Spirit as the great Actor, Soul as the Medium of Its action, and Body the result of Its action.  We shall think of Spirit as the only Conscious Actor - the Power that knows Itself.  We shall think of Soul as a blind Force, obeying the Will of Spirit; and we shall think of Body as the effect of Spirit, working through Law to produce form.  We shall assume that neither Law, nor the Stuff from which form comes, has conscious intelligence, but must because of their nature be formed by the Word.  This simplifies the whole matter and enables us to see that in the entire Universe, One Power alone really acts - the Power of the Word of Spirit, God, or Universal Conscious Intelligence.

The evolution of man brings him arbitrarily to a place where true individuality functions.  From that day, a further evolution must be through his conscious co-operation with Reality.  All Nature waits on man's recognition of a co-operation with her laws, and is always ready to obey his will; but man must use Nature's forces in accordance with her law, and in co-operation with her purpose - which is goodness, truth, and beauty - if he wishes to attain self-mastery.

Man never creates; he discovers and uses.  Through this method all sciences are evolved.  We live in a Universe of Law, through which runs a spirit of self-knowing Intelligence.  "All's Love, yet all is Law," mused Robert Browning. 

The Law has done all it can automatically do for man.  It has evolved him to a point of individuality and must now let him alone to discover the secrets of life for himself.  Man is potentially perfect but free-will and self-choice cause him to appear imperfect.  In reality all he can destroy is some particular embodiment of himself.  The divine spark is always intact in potential man.

Man awakes to self-consciousness, finding himself already equipped with a mentality, a body and an environment.  Gradually he discovers one law of nature after another, until he conquers his environment through his knowledge of the nature of those laws. Everywhere he finds that nature does his bidding, in so far as he understands her laws and uses them along the lines of their inherent being.  He must first obey  nature and she will then obey him.

Man discovers his ability to think and realizes that from within there comes a reaction to his thought.  He can think consciously and mental law acts upon his thought; and his physical body is affected by his thinking.

He next discovers that he can think for others, causing corresponding action in and through their bodies.  In this way, he discovers a  mental medium through which thought operates.  He realizes himself to be a thinking center in a Universal Mind.

Man next discovers that his affairs are primarily a thing of thought, and that being able to think for others he can also aid in the control of their affairs. He now realizes that everything in the visible world is an EFFECT; that back of all effects are ideas which are the real Cause of these effects.  The Divine Ideas are perfect, but man's freedom of individuality causes them to appear imperfect. Through right thinking, he is able to uncover the appearance of imperfection and reveal the Perfect Idea.  "Behold, thou, my face forevermore."

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."

February 10 ~ The Science of Mind

Form Within the Formless ~ Ernest Holmes

"Our physical body is like other physical manifestations.  The idea of body is an image derived from the fountain of all ideas.  The form is a materialization from the Substance of all forms.  All bodies are made out of the same stuff. This one stuff is an inanimate and infinite stuff, and is equally distributed in the universe - much like the modern idea of the ether of space - and IT IS THE NATURE OF THIS STUFFF TO TAKE FORM!  Therefore, form is entirely in the realm of effect.  Form comes and goes but it is not self-knowing.  Form is within the formless.  Form is not an illusion, even when it is the form of disease; it then represents a false conclusion, but is as real as it is supposed to be.  If the formless did not take form Spirit would never arrive at self-realization. 

The Formless takes form in what we call "time."  "Time is a sequence of events in a unitary wholeness;" it is recollection, attention, and anticipation - past, present, and future - simply the measure of experience.  Of course time is real, but never a thing of itself.  If the Timeless did not manifest in what we call time, it would never come to self-fruition.  Therefore we have form and time, and what we call space, which is never a thing of itself but the possibility of outline.  If there were not such outline we would walk through each other without recognition.  Form is real as form but is not self-conscious, it is subjective to the power that created it.  Forms come and go but the Power back of them is Changeless.  Form is temporary but Mind is eternal."

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 30 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

The Action of Spirit Within Itself ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

God, the Self-Existent First Cause, speaks and it is done. His Word is Law.  God is Word, God is Law, God is Spirit.  Spirit knows Itself; the Law is the servant of the Spirit, and is set in motion through Its Word.  All law is some form of universal force or energy.  Law does not know itself;  Law knows only to do.  It is the medium through which the Spirit operates to fulfill Its purpose.

Did God make Law?  It is impossible to think of a time when Law did not operate; it is impossible to conceive that It was ever created.  Therefore, Law must be Co-Existent and Co-Eternal with Spirit, a part of the Causeless Nature of the Divine Reality.

The Spirit operates through Law, which is some part of Its own Nature; therefore, all action must be some action of Spirit as Law!  The Word of Spirit moves through the Law and, since the Law must be as timeless as the Spirit, we could not think of a time when Law was not, or a time when It would cease to be; neither can we imagine the Law ever failing to operate once It is set in motion.

We have then, an Infinite Spirit and an Infinite Law...Intelligence and the Way It works.  GOD WORKING THORUGH LAW, which is unfailing and certain.  Creation - the activity of God, the activity of Spirit - the passing of Substance into form, through a Law, which is set in motion by the Word of Spirit.  Spirit is "the same yesterday, today and forever," so our thought cannot picture a time when the activity of Spirit will cease.

The whole action of Spirit must be within Itself, upon the Law (which is also within Itself) and upon the Universal Stuff, which is also within Itself.  The three in reality are One - The Trinity.  There is something called God that makes things out of Himself (or Itself) by becoming the things It makes, according to law and order.   As nearly as the intelligence of the human race is able to judge, Spirit creates by contemplation.

How We Understand Its Operation

The philosophy of applied metaphysics rests upon two or three very simple, theoretical propositions.  ALL INVISIBLE PRINCIPLES ARE THEORETICAL, in that we cannot appraise them with our physical senses; we cannot weigh and measure them.  Life, love, and beauty may be considered theoretical, in that no one has ever seen them.  We see only their manifestations; but because of such manifestations, we reason that the reality exists.

Metaphysical work rests upon the theory that the Universe is a thing of Absolute Intelligence, that this Intelligence is Self-Existent - Spirit was not created.  It was, is and ever will be.  We are compelled to assume the actuality of an Original Creative Energy and Intelligence, before which nothing comes.  God, the Divine or Universal Life Principle, or whatever we choose to call It, is an Original, Uncreated, Changeless Being.  Not a Being with parts, but BEING with potentialities. There is a vast difference.

A present interpretation of the Universe, according to one learned physicist, is that of "an Infinite Thinker, thinking mathematically."  The Infinite thinker is a spontaneous Thinker.  The Infinite Thinker thinks, and what follows is in a sequence of law and order, of cause and effect; this is the mathematics.  The Infinite Thinker, in movement, is Principle.  The Being of the Infinite Thinker is pure Spirit, and may be thought of (in a sense which we but dimly comprehend) as the Infinite or abstract Essence of concrete personality, and the Cause of all objective and subjective manifestation.

To express this more simply, God thinks.  As the result of God's thought, Law is set in motion - or The Thought moves as Law - in a field of Cause and Effect.  Its movement is now mathematical.  The only thing that is spontaneous is the Creative Thought Itself - the Contemplation of Spirit.

January 28 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

How to Use It - Conclusion ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

"A treatment is a spiritual entity in the mental world and is equipped with power and volition - as much power and volition as there is faith in it, given to it by the mind of the one using it - and, operating through the Law, It knows exactly how to work and what methods to use and just how to use them.  We do not put the power into this word, but we do let the power of the Law flow through it, and the one who most completely believes in this power will produce the best results.  The is the Law of cause and effect, again. 

When one gives a treatment for right action, and does not believe that right action will be the result, he makes his own treatment negative.  Therefore, we should spend much time in convincing ourselves of the truth of our treatments.  Now this is not a power of will, but a power of choice.  We do not put the power into the treatment, and we will take out of the treatment ONLY AS MUCH AS WE BELIEVE IS IN IT!

If one doubts his ability to give an effective treatment, he should specifically treat himself to remove this doubt.  He should say something like this, but not necessarily these words:  "I am convinced that this word has power, and I firmly believe in it.  I trust it to produce the right results in my life, (or in the life of the one for whom I am using my word)."

We should work, not with anxiety but with expectancy; not by coercion but with conviction; not through compulsion but in a state of conscious recognition and receptivity.  We do not have to drive or push but we must accept and believe.  We should, then, leave everything to the Law, expecting a full and complete proof of our faith.  We shall not be disappointed nor chagrined, for the Law is our faithful servant.

One should treat any given proposition until he proves his Principle, no matter how long it takes.  We should treat until we get results - until there comes into our objective experience the actual outpouring of our subjective words.  When working for someone else, speak the name of this person - into Mind - then proceed with the treatment.  Should someone come to you with the question, "Am I too old to find my rightful place?", what are you as a practitioner to reply?  You explain that there is no recognition of age in the truth; that everyone has his place in Truth; that God does not withdraw Himself from us at a certain age, for God is Omnipresence.  In this Presence, every being is fully provided for at every age.

A practitioner consciously removes the apparent obstruction, and leaves the field open to a new influx of Spirit.  He resolves things into thoughts, dissolves the negative appearance in the condition, by recognizing only perfection.  THE PRACTITIONER MUST KNOW, AND MUST STATE, THAT THERE ARE NO OBSTACLES IN THE PATHWAY OF TRUTH.  He must know that his word, being the activity of the Truth, removes all obstructions from the pathway of his patient, or the one for whom he is working.

If the obstruction is the result of a "hang-over" of belief from past years, the practitioner must know that no past mistake can hinder or obstruct the flow of Divine Intelligence through God's idea - which is perfect man, manifesting the attributes of God in freedom, happiness, activity and power, and that this Truth is now made manifest in his life.

The patient should try to be receptive, not to the will of the practitioner, but to the purpose of the Universe.  That is, the patient should expect results and should be willing to give up anything and everything that would hinder the demonstration.  Perfect belief is the beginning and the end of all good mental work.

The mental attitude of the practitioner is one of denial toward every false condition that opposes the principle of Life as one of absolute perfection.  God's world is perfect, and this is the Principle we have to demonstrate.  Spiritual things must be spiritually discerned and when we are ready and willing spiritually to discern, we shall find a ready response from the Invisible into the visible.  Let us do our work conscientiously and thoroughly and leave the results to that Law which is perfect.

A new light is coming into the world.  We are on the borderland of a new experience.  The veil between Spirit and matter is very thin.  The invisible passes into visibility through our faith in it.  A new science, a new religion, and a new philosophy are rapidly being developed.  This is in line with the evolution of the great Presence and nothing can hinder its progress.  It is useless, as well as foolish, to make any attempts to cover this Principle, or to hold It as a vested right of any religion, sect or order.  The Truth will out; the Spirit will make Itself known.  Happy are we if we see these things which, from the foundation of the human race, have been longed for by all aspiring souls.

True thought deals directly with First Cause; and this Science is the study of First Cause, Spirit or the Truth, that Invisible Essence, that Ultimate Stuff and Intelligence from which everything comes - the Power back of creation - The Thing Itself."

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.

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 24 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Place No Limit on Principle ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

Know your own mind. Train yourself to think what you wish to think; be what you wish to be; feel what you wish to feel, and place no limit on Principle!

The words which you speak would be just as powerful as the words which Jesus spoke, if you knew your word was the Law whereunto it was sent, but you must KNOW this WITHIN and not merely accept it with your intellect.  If you have reached a point where the inner consciousness believes, then your word is simply an announcement of Reality!

KNOW - without a shadow of a doubt - that as a result of your treatment, some action takes place in Infinite Mind.  Infinite Mind is the actor and you are the announcer.  If you have a  vague, subtle, unconscious fear, be quiet and ask yourself, "Who am I?"  "What am I?"  "Who is speaking?"  "What is my life?"  IN this manner think right back to the Principle, until your thought becomes perfectly clear again.  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 glory.  It is the Absolute with which you are dealing.  ALL THERE REALLY IS, IS GOD!

God Never Compromises

In demonstrating over conditions, the only inquiries we need to make are:  "Do the things we want lend themselves to a constructive program?  Do they express a more abundant life, rob no one, create no delusion, and express a greater degree of livingness?"  If we are able to answer these questions affirmatively, then all the power in the Universe is back of our program!  If it is money, houses, automobiles, lands, stocks, bonds, dresses, shirts or shoe strings - all of which come from the same source - there can be nothing either in the Law or in the Spirit back of the Law, to deny us the right to the greatest possible expression of life.

Good never compromises with Its opposite.  The one practicing must be able to look a fact in the face, and know that all manifestations are effects and can be changed by changing the mental cause. He must be able to look at the sick man who has come to him for help, and know that only perfection stands before him; he must see beyond the appearance to that which is basically perfect.  This will not be irrational to the one who has made a careful study of the Science of Mind and Spirit.

Truth knows no opposites.  When we take away the belief in evil - the belief that the outward appearance is the same as the inner reality - evil flees.  We must continually remind ourselves of the power of the Word, and of our ability to use it.  We must know that Truth produces freedom because Truth is freedom.  Our work will best be done in quiet expectancy and in calm confidence. The results rest in the Eternal Law of Good.