December 3 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

PHYSICAL PERFECTION
Ernest Holmes

Colds, Influenza and Grippe

"Those who calmly announce that they are "very susceptible to changes in the weather, " have accepted whole-heartedly the mental impression that the weather is a determining factor in whether or not they experience "colds."  The trouble is not with the weather but in their thinking; they have not freed their consciousness from the old training that a "draft may produce pneumonia."  This belief causes one to be afraid and confused.  Mental conflicts also cause confusion, and confusion may cause colds.  So the first step is to erase from the conscious mind all fear of drafts.

Colds have no part in your life, as the very life of God flows freely through you.  Every breath you breathe bespeaks your eternal alliance with Life.  We should be willing to declare our disbelief in colds and help free ourselves and others from the depleting habit of "bad colds."

A conviction that the God within sustains us now and at all times, in perfect health, will bring peace.  And we should eliminate from mind the duration, symptoms, and frequency of colds, thereby removing a pattern which we no longer wish to use.  We should consciously harmonize ourselves with everything and everyone about us - with people, the weather, with God and spiritual perfection.

In colds, congestion, influenza and grippe, the thought to heal is confusion.  There should be a consciousness of poise, a recognition of peace; when this comes into the individual's experience, he will have fewer colds.  More colds result from damp spirits than from wet feet.  When we fear and resist the weather, we chill, not from the winds and rain, but from our own coldness of heart.  We should claim our dominion and power in Spirit.   Spirit is not subject to heat or cold."

November 13 ~ The Sciend of Mind in a Year

THE PRACTICE of SPIRITUAL MIND HEALING
Ernest Holmes

"No matter what the need may be, whether we call it physical disease, poverty, unhappiness, lack of opportunity, or need for love and friendship, we should conform the words in our treatment to meet the necessity of the case.  Because we are all members of one another, the word of the practitioner will rise through the consciousness of his patient into experience.  There is a law in physics which says that water will reach its own level by its own weight.  There is a law of metaphysics corresponding to it; consciousness will externalize at is own level, by its own recognition.  We may call this faith, we may call it embodiment, we may call it whatever we will, there is something in the Universe which responds and corresponds to our mental states.

Therefore, it is imperative that we turn from the relative, because TO VIEW LIMITATION IS TO IMPRESS IT UPON THE MIND, and accentuate the state of consciousness which produced it.  It is not always easy to turn from fear, from poverty and pain, and from the hurt of human existence, to that which is perfect.  But whoever can do this - and will train himself to do it - will be like the man healed of blindness.  He had little comprehension of how it had been done; he could only say:  "Whereas I was blind, now I see.""

November 7 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for SELF-Help

By Ernest Holmes

Complete Confidence

My confidence in the All Good is complete.

My faith in the Power of Spirit is supreme.

I have no doubts nor uncertainties.

I know that my Good is at hand, and

I realize that no fear can hinder

That Good from making Its appearance in my life and affairs.

I know that my Life and Good are complete.

Evil cannot touch nor hinder my work.

I rest in security, for

THE ONE MIND IS MY COMPLETE REFUGE AND STRENGTH.

I am serene and confident.

 Drawing the Good

I draw my Good to me as I travel along the Way of Life, and nothing can keep It from me.

My Good will always follow me.

I accept the Good and rejoice that it is with me.

I accept the Good.

October 21 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

SOME PHASES of the SUBJECTIVE LIFE
Ernest Holmes

The Subjective Mind

"We have already seen that what we call the soul is really the subjective part of us.  We wish to look a little further into some of the phenomena of the soul.

We do not have two minds, but we do have a dual aspect of mentality in what we call the objective and subjective states of consciousness.  The objective mind is that part of the mentality which functions consciously.  It is the part of us which is self-knowing and without it we would not be self-conscious entities.  Our conscious mind is the place where we consciously live and are aware that we are living.  This is Spirit.

Our subjective mind is our mental emanation in Universal Subjectivity.  It is our individual use of mental law.  We certainly do not wish to deviate from that which psychology teaches about the mind of man in its conscious, subconscious, or subjective states.  We merely wish to add this:  the reason we have a subjective mind is that Subjectivity existed in the Universe prior to our use of It; and where we use It, It forms around us a subjective personification of ourselves, which is a result of the action and the reaction of our thought.

The subjective mind is the seat of memory and contains a remembrance of everything that has ever happened to the outer man.  It also contains the family and race characteristics.  It retains these memories, in a certain sense, as mental pictures.  The subjective mind might be compared to a picture gallery, upon whose walls are hung the pictures of all the people whom the individual has ever known, and all the incidents which he has ever experienced."

September 29 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

WHAT the MYSTICS HAVE TAUGHT
Ernest Holmes

Individuality (Continued)

"All of the great mystics have taught practically the same thing.  They have all agreed that the soul is on the pathway of experience, that is, of self-discovery; that it is on its way back to its Father's House; and that every soul will ultimately reach its heavenly home.

They have taught the Divinity of Man.  "I have said, Ye are Gods; and all of you are the children of the Most High."  They have old us that man's destiny is Divine and sure; and that creation is complete and perfect now.  The great mystics have all agreed that man's life is his to do with as he chooses, but that when he turns to the One, he will always receive inspiration from on High.

They have told us of the marvelous relationship which exists between God and man, and of a close Union that cannot be broken; the greatest of the mystics have consciously walked with God and talked with Him, just as we talk with each other.  It is difficult to realize how this can be.  It is hard to understand how a Being, so Universal as God must be, can talk with man.  Here alone, the mystic sense reveals the greater truth and knows that, infinite as is the Divine Being, IT IS STILL PERSONAL TO ALL WHO BELIEVE IN ITS PRESENCE!  It is entirely possible for a man to talk with the Spirit, for the Spirit is within him, and He who made the ears, can hear.

Since we see that personality is what one does with his individuality, we should turn within (as have all those great souls who have blessed the world with their presence), we should turn within and FIND GOD.  It should seem natural to turn to the Great Power back of everything; it should seem normal to believe in this Power; and we should have a sense of a Real Presence when we do turn toward the One and Only Power in the entire Universe.

This method is by far the most effective.  It gives a sense of power that nothing else can and in this way proves that it is a Reality.  It would be a wonderful experiment if the world would try to solve all of its problems through the power of Spirit.  Indeed the time will come when everyone will..."From the highest...to the lowest."

Undoubtedly the power of Jesus lay in His recognition of the Infinite Person as a Responsive, Conscious, Living Reality; while, on the other hand, He recognized the Law as an arbitrary force which was compelled to obey His will.  He combined the personal and the impersonal attributes of Life into a perfect Whole.  THE INFINITE IS PERSONAL TO EVERY SOUL WHO BELIEVES IN THE INFINITE.  It is a mistake to so abstract the Principle that we forget the Living Presence.  It is the combination of the two which makes work effective.  A sense of real completion can come only to that soul that realizes its Unity with the Great Whole.  Man will never be satisfied until his whole being responds to this thought, and then, indeed, will "God go forth again into Creation."  "To as many as believed, gave He the power.""

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 24 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

WHAT the MYSTICS HAVE TAUGHT
Ernest Holmes

Unity

"Reason declares that that Which is Infinite cannot be divided against Itself.  The Infinite cannot be divided against Itself.  The Infinite is, therefore indivisible and consequently a Perfect unit.  "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is One Lord."  It is also "That Whose Center is everwhere and Whose Circumference is nowhere."

All of It is present at any and every point within Itself.  It is not approaching a point nor receding from it, but is always at the point.  The whole of God is present at any and every point within God.  It was to this Indwelling Spirit that Jesus prayed, for God is within man as well as throughout all creation.  It is "That thread of the All-Sustaining beauty which runs through all and doth all unite."  His lines have gone out into all places."  "There is no place where God is not."

This concept enabled Job to say, "In my flesh shall I see God." All life is bound together by One common Law of Love, and Love is the Self-Givingness of Spirit.  It was the realization of this One Presence which illumined the saints and sages of the past.  "I and the Father are One."  "The Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works."  We must come to sense this marvelous Presence, for this is the secret of successful metaphysical work:  God in all and through all.

All manifestation of Life is from an invisible to a visible plane, through a silent, effortless process of spiritual realization.  WE MUST UNIFY IN OUR OWN MENTALITIES WITH PURE SPIRIT.  To each of us, individually, God or Spirit is the Supreme Personality of the Universe - the Supreme Personality of that which we, ourselves, are.  It is only as the relationship of the individual to the Deity becomes enlarged that one has a consciousness of Power."

September 20 ~ 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.

I Represent The Principle of Perfection

"In each human being, the Whole is represented, and the entire knowledge of wisdom, of health, and the perfection of every act, manifests - is represented - and it is through this Inner Divine Voice, the Divine Nature within us, that we are able to perceive and trust, and come into conscious contact with, this Divine Principle.  In the sight of this Within, we are perfect.  We must try to see ourselves as God sees us, free and filled with vitality and sufficiency for every occasion.

It is not enough to confess that God is the only Power there is.  It is only when this consciousness of power is hooked to the dynamo of the mind that there is generated, through the imagination, an embodiment of that which is able to loose it in any direction it sees fit.  It is not enough merely to say that there is One Mind and that Mind is God.  To this we must add:  "That Mind is my mind now."  That completes the thought, makes possible a loosing of the Divine Intelligence through our own imagination.

Let us not forget that, in treatment, we must sense the embodiment of that which we wish to experience.  The statements which are made in the treatment are for the purpose of delivering to the imagination, in a certain form, THAT WHICH WAS TRUE BEFORE WE MADE THE STATEMENTS.  The whole problem is not one of creation, but one of direction, and there is no direction unless there is first an embodiment.  Let us try this in our meditation.  We know that we reflect the Divine Perfection and that there is an intuition within us which guides us.  We know that all the power there is and all the presence there is, is this perfect Spirit, this Divine Reality, which is around us and through us and in us.  Now, each turning directly to his own thought says:

"The Spirit within me, which is God, the Living Spirit Almighty, is Perfection.  It is Wholeness; It is Peace.  It is Divine Guidance, Perfect Peace, Complete Wholeness, Absolute Perfection, and right now, this moment, this Spirit governs every act of my life.  It surrounds me with Light, in which there is no darkness, no gloom, no heaviness and no fear.  In this Light, I live and move and have my being.  And this Light dispels all darkness and casts out all fear.

"This Divine Wisdom within me guides every act, directs everything in my life, toward happiness, toward peace, toward power, and being the Spirit of Love, It surrounds me with beauty, with friendship and with joy.  Being the Giver of Life, every day I receive that which is perfect, abundant, happy, joyful and free.  Being that Divine Thing which individualizes in me, It is entirely individual, personal and unique.  I am the expression of my own complete self, and there is no barrier or bar to that self-expression.  Being the Spirit of Substance, that Spirit within me is the Father of Supply, and It brings to me everything necessary to my unfoldment, and keeps me in the wisdom through which It governs me, now and forever."

I Represent the Principle of Perfection

September 11 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

By Ernest Holmes

No Delays

There are no delays in the Divine Plan for me.

Nothing can hinder the operation of this Law unto my Life and Action.

Obstructions are removed from my path, and I now enter into the

realization and manifestation of complete fulfillment.

I do not have to wait, for the Law waits upon me at every turn in Life's road.

Now it is done unto me.

No Delays

There are no delays in the Divine Plan for humanity.

Nothing can hinder the operation of this Law unto our Life and Action.

Obstructions are removed from our path, and WE now enter into the

realization and manifestation of complete fulfillment.

We do not have to wait, for the Law waits upon us at every turn in Life's road.

Now it is done unto All of Us.

September 9 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

FROM The TEACHINGS of JESUS
Ernest Holmes

The New Birth (John 3:3-9)

""Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."  Jesus is referring to the heavenly birth, which means being born into the knowledge of Truth.  He refers to this as being born of water and Spirit.

The symbol of water is used to express the idea of a complete immersion in Spirit.  As water flows in and around, so we are immersed in an everlasting Spirit which flows around, in and through us.  To be immersed in water symbolizes our recognition that we are surrounded by pure Spirit.  It is the outward sign of an inner conviction.  But water alone cannot make us completely clean or whole.  We must be born of the Spirit, for "that which is born of the spirit is Spirit."

Man partakes of the Divine nature and the Divine nature is man.  The recognition of this is being born of the Spirit.  But we cannot be born of the spirit unless we do the will of the Spirit and the will of the Spirit is goodness, peace, mercy, justice and truth.  It is conscious union with God.

The new birth comes not by observation nor by loud proclamation, but through an inner sense of reality.  We cannot tell where this comes from, if we look to outward things, as it proceeds from the innermost parts of our own being.

Heaven (John 3:13)

"And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he hath came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven."  Here is another of those hidden meanings which places Jesus among the great mystics.  He says that no man can go to heaven unless he came from heaven, and that he can neither go to, nor come from, heaven unless he is already there!

This is in line with the idea that the Truth knows neither yesterday, today nor tomorrow.  It knows sequence but not time.  Only that can return to heaven which was born in heaven, and since heaven is not a place, but a state of consciousness, the return must be a recognition that heaven is already within.  The son of man, who is also the son of God, is already in heaven and knows it not.

The Son of Man (John 3:14)

As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so Jesus tells us must the son of man also be lifted up.  By looking on and believing in this son, we are saved.  Jesus could not have been referring to his own personality, for he knew that this would soon be taken from the sight of humanity.  We must look for a deeper meaning.

We must be lifted up, that is we must realize our Divine nature and relationship to the Truth of God.  This relationship is one of complete unity.  The cross represents the tree of life and may also be thought of as the tree of unity.

When Moses lifted up the serpent, those who looked upon it were healed.  This understanding produced a consciousness of unity, which had healing power.  The Life Principle is either looked up on as material or spiritual.  When looked upon as material, it casts us from the Garden of Eden - the garden of the soul.  The Life Principle viewed only as matter is death, but viewed as life and unity, It becomes life everlasting.  Moses elevated the Life Principle and Jesus did the same.  The son of man must be lifted up, even as Moses lifted up the Life Principle, symbolized by the serpent.

We are reminded here of another symbol, one used in the Old Testament, that of the serpent which cast Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden.  The serpent meant the outer rim of spiritual existence - the Life Principle viewed from an isolated and materialistic basis.  The worship of material existence, apart from God, cast Adam and Eve from the Garden of Perfection.  The attempt to live in effects, apart from True Cause, always does this.

The story of the Fall, taken literally, would be ridiculous to the point of absurdity; hence it is necessary to look for a deeper meaning.  The writer was trying to teach a Cosmic lesson ... the lesson of right and wrong.  The Garden of Eden typifies life in its pure essence.  Adam means man in general, generic man.  Man exists in pure Life and has all of Its agencies at his command.  This si the meaning of his being told to till the soil and enjoy the fruits of his labor. 

The Tree of Life is our real being, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil means the possibility of dual choice - that is, we can choose even that which is not for our best good.  Man is warned not to eat of the fruit of this tree, for it  is destructive.

Eve, the woman in the case, was made from a rib of Adam.  this story suggests the dual nature of man as a psychological being.  The woman is made from the man.  She must have been in him else she could not have been made out of him, and the story clearly states that she was taken from his being.

Adam and Eve are potential in all of us.  The serpent represents the Life Principle, viewed from a material basis, which beguiles us in this way:  he says that evil is as real as good; that the devil has equal power with God; that negation equals positive goodness, and that the Universe is dual in Its Nature.  From the acceptance of this argument, we experience both good and evil.  And should we come full-orbed into individuality, without having learned the lesson of unity, we should live forever in a state of bondage.  This is the meaning of God saying, "He shall become as one of us and live forever."  The eternal Mind does not wish us to live forever in bondage, and this is what would happen unless we first learn the lesson of right and wrong.

And so that part of us which can be fooled eats of the fruit of dual experience and in so doing reveals its own nakedness.  The native state of man is one of purity, peace and perfection and it is only when we compare these with impurity, distress and imperfection, that we are revealed as naked.  Emerson tells us that virtue does not know it is virtuous.  It is only when virtue tastes of impurities that it becomes naked and must hide from itself.

The Voice of God, "walking in the garden in the cool of the day," means the introspective and meditative part of us, which in its moments of pure intuition and reason, sees the illusion of a life apart from God or Good.  Error is ever a coward before Truth, and cannot hide itself from Reality, which sees through everything, encompasses all and penetrates even the prison walls of the mind with Its clear effulgence.

The conversation between God and Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden, represents the arguments that go on in our own minds, when we try to  realize the truth.  These arguments are familiar to all.  The expulsion from the Garden is a necessary and logical outcome of tasting of dual experience.  If we believe in both good and evil, we must experience both.

But, lest we should become discouraged, we remember that Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness and those who looked upon it were healed.  The serpent means the Life Principle.  Viewed from a material basis alone, it casts us from a perfect state.  Lifted up, that is, viewed from a true meaning of the Unity of God, it heals.  Here is the choice again, only stated in different words.  The difference is not in the thing itself, but in the way we look at it.

The son of man is every man who ever lived or ever will live.  Our life is from Spirit, not from matter.  This viewpoint is the truth and truth alone makes free.  We come into everlasting life as we elevate this inner principle to a sense of the unity of man with God.  Each must lift himself to the cross of the tree of Life, thus unifying himself with Reality.  The concept is glorious and the reward certain.  The revelation of the self to the self - this is the great lesson of lessons."

September 4 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

OTHER TEACHINGS from the NEW TESTAMENT
Ernest Holmes

The Renewing of the Mind (Eph. 4:23, 24)
  "We are told to be renewed in mind by the Spirit and to put on the new man, which is created in true holiness.  The Science of Mind teaches how to accomplish this.  The mind is the creative factor within us, and when the mind takes its pattern after the Spirit, it automatically renews the outer man after true holiness or wholeness.

Whatever the mind holds to and firmly believes in, forms a new pattern of thought within its creative mold, as whatever thought is held in the mind tends to take outward form in new creations.  This is the secret - and the whole secret - of the creative law of mind.

Be Strong in the Lord (Eph. 6:10)

"Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might."  To be strong in the Lord is to be sure of ourselves, because we are sure of the Principle of Life which manifests Itself through us.

We wrestle not against outward things but against inward ideas and beliefs.  The power of darkness is the power of false belief and superstition.  If a man can change his inner concept, his whole life will be changed.  All cause is from within, all effect is forever without.

Wickedness in High Places (Eph. 6:12)

Wickedness in high places means an inverted use of the law of righteousness, the misuse of the powers of the mind.  The mental law is neutral, plastic, receptive and creative.  There is a right and a wrong use of this law, just as there is a right and a wrong use of any other law.

The Armor of God (Eph. 6:12-18)

The armor of God is faith in the good, the enduring and the true.  Against such, there is no law.  That is, against Truth, nothing can stand.  The armor of God suggests protection to those who believe in and trust the law of Good.  With this armor - knit together by that thread of unity running through all, strong with the strength of the Almighty, burnished with clear vision and true estimates of life and Reality - we are safe.  We abide under the shadow of the everlasting truth.  With Moses, we can say, "underneath are the everlasting arms."

The breastplate of righteousness covers and gives sanctuary to the heart of hearts, the innermost soul of man.  The feet, shod with the gospel of peace, can travel and not become weary.  With Solomon we are happy when we find Wisdom, for "Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace."

And we take also "the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked."  The positive thought of Truth is a shield against which nothing unlike Itself can stand.  In the Science of Mind, we learn that no thought of negation can enter a mind already filled with peace and faith.  The suggestion of limitations, fear and doubt cannot find entrance to that mental home where God is enthroned as the Supreme Guest. 

And the sword of the Spirit is the word of Truth.  This has also been called a two-edged sword, cleaving the false from the true, cutting its way across the path of confusion, uprooting the thistles and briars, clearing the way for Truth and beauty to flourish in the home of the soul.

The Word of God is not a battle hymn of righteousness, but a paean of praise, a psalm of beauty and a song of joy.  "If God be for us, who can be against us?""

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

August 22 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

By Ernest Holmes

I Shall Not Doubt nor Fear

I shall not doubt nor fear, for my salvation is from On High,

and the day of its appearing is now at hand.

I shall not doubt nor fear, for my whole being responds

to the realization of Life within and around me.

I shall not fear, for the Hosts of Heaven are waiting upon me,

and the Law of the Universe is my Salvation.

I shall not fear.

August 19 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

FROM the TEACHING of JESUS
Ernest Holmes

The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth (Matt. 5:5)

""The meek shall inherit the earth."  This is a teaching of non-resistance.  War lords and plunderers of human possessions have come and gone.  Kingdoms have risen only to crumble in dust and become numbered with past events.  Passion and lust for power have strewn the earth with destruction.  It would seem as though the meek had lost out in the titanic struggle for temporal supremacy.

In the midst of this drama of human existence, Jesus declared that the meek shall inherit the earth.  Let us inquire if his teaching is a true one.  Do we teach our children to follow the steps of a Caesar and a Napoleon? Or do we tell them the story of Jesus or Buddha?  The cross is mightier than the crown and we teach our children that LOVE MASTERS EVERYTHING!  The meek shall inherit the earth.  To whom have our artists turned for inspiration and that quickening power which enables them to depict the idea?  Not to the war lords, nor even the captains of industry, but to the meek.

What characteristics are set before us as being worthy?  Have not faith and belief in the divine Goodness been the theme of our greatest singers?  Who could write a beautiful story about hell?  But heaven and love have inspired thousands to the uplifting of humanity.  Jesus was right when he said that the meek shall inherit the earth.  They have done so and will continue to do so!

They That Hunger Shall Be Fed (Matt. 5:6)

They who hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be filled.  Is there anyone who does not have a soul hunger?  Does not the spirit of man thirst after knowledge and understanding, yearn for Truth and Reality, as blind men yearn for light?  And his hunger can only be satisfied with spiritual food, as manna from heaven.

Let us inquire into this teaching and see if it be an illusion.  Turn to the history of those who have been spiritually-minded, and the question is answered.  They have not received a stone when they asked for bread.  All who have been hungry have been fed; their hunger has been blessed, in that it has led them to that only food - that heavenly manna - which has sustained, strengthened and upheld them, while the rest of the world (with thirst unsatisfied and appetite unappeased) has eagerly inquired from what store they bought their goods.  They who hunger and thirst after Reality are always fed, and directly by the hand of God Himself.

The Merciful Shall Obtain Mercy (Matt. 5:7)

"Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy."  Again we are confronted with an apparent contradiction.  Do the merciful always obtain mercy?  From casual observation, it would seem otherwise.  But are not many of our observations based on a finite outlook, from a limited concept?  Can we estimate life from the range of one human experience?  If life begins with the cradle and ends with the grave, then are all of our hopes, not only forlorn, but useless.  It is only with the "eye views the world as one vast plain, one boundless reach of sky," that it sees truly.

The perspective of reality is lost when we view life from the range of a short experience.  Jesus saw beyond the veil and estimated life from the great perspective - the long run of the adventure of the soul.  He knew that the law of cause and effect takes care of all, and that the "Mills of God" will grind the chaff of unreality from the wheat of the Spirit. What matter if these mills do not do all of their grinding while we are clothed in flesh! Did not Jesus know another life which to him was as real as this one?  Can we expect, in this world, to receive full compensation for all our work?  Of course not.  We are building on an eternal foundation, one that time cannot alter nor experience destroy.

A true estimate of real values cannot be built on the shifting sands of time alone.  In the long run, the merciful will obtain mercy!  In the long run, we shall reap as we have sown!"

August 18 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

By Ernest Holmes 

One with Perfect Action

I am One with Perfect Action.  Everything that 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 b 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.

July 31 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

FROM THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS

By Ernest Holmes

Abiding in the One (John 15:7)

“If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.”

It is impossible for humanity to literally abide in the man Jesus, so we must look for a figurative meaning in these words.  He is speaking of the spirit of his teachings; and the whole spirit of his teachings is to the effect that man is an individualized center of God-Consciousness.  The spirit of man is the spirit of God, for God is One.

When we abide in the One, we cannot ask amiss, but we must ask for that which is right and good.  Consequently, our prayers to the One will be answered.  But let us remember that the prayer is answered according to the law, and this law is one of liberty and never one of license.  True liberty comes only through true harmony; true harmony only through true unity; and true unity can come only through the conscious realization that we are one with God or Good.

Jesus implies a power which can and will work for those who harmonize with, and believe in it.  But we must first abide in the Spirit of Truth.  And what is the spirit of Truth other than that we live in conscious unity with good and do harm to no one?  Goodness is natural, while evil is abnormal.

To trust in the law of good is to constantly believe that we are surrounded by a Power which can and will cast all fear from our minds, free us from all bondage, and set us safe and satisfied in a new order of living.

That Ye Bear Much Fruit (John 15:8)

“Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit.”  When we express a greater livinginess, then Life is more completely expressing Itself though us.  A barren tree does not express the principle of abundance and production, so a life barren of good does not fully express the divine ideal.

Evolution has brought man to a point of self-expression and it can do no more for him until he consciously co-operates with it.  Its law is one of growth and unfoldment.  God goes forth anew into creation whenever anyone discovers a new truth or increases knowledge about an old one.  Each is a center of the All, and each has access to the All, through his own nature.

Jesus refers to his joy on the eve of his greatest lesson to mankind.  That joy which is full and complete.  That joy which no man can take away:  the joy of a sense of completion.  He was about to lay down his earthly life, as the greatest object lesson ever taught.  And what was this lesson?  That LOVE knows no bounds and that the Eternal Goodness gives Itself to all.  God as man, in man, is man.”

July 27 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

PHYSICAL PERFECTION
By Ernest Holmes

Vision

"According to the Scriptures, mind and body must be kept pure - must be kept "single" to the good - in order that perfect, abiding sight may be attained.  "The light of the body is the eye; if, therefore, thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.  But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness."  (Matt. 6:22, 23)

But the eyes, of themselves, cannot see.  The mind within does the real seeing, the real interpreting of what the eyes look upon.  The eyes can truly be called "the windows of the soul"  They typify the ability of the mind to discern and understand.  As the light of understanding dawns upon us, we have a habit of saying, "I see, I see," meaning that we mentally discern.  The man who clearly realizes his Oneness with all Good should have strong, clear eyesight!

God sees, and His is the only Mind there is.  It is man's Mind, and consequently he sees, whether he knows it or not.  Do not fear to claim this, for it is the truth.  There is no obstruction to vision, no near vision and no far vision; there is no false vision, no weak vision nor blurred vision.  There is One Perfect Seeing, which is now seeing through  you...which is now seeing through me.

When we fail to use any organ, it becomes useless.  As the eyes are the organs of the soul, when we do not use our soul powers, we lose the use of the organs through which they function!  If one does not allow the mind to look out through the eyes, the vision becomes blurred or imperfect.  To regain this, one must use the inner sight.

In cases of defective sight, declare that spiritual vision is clear, and that your faith in spiritual substance is unshaken.  When faith touches a certain point in our consciousness, and the light of spiritual understanding dawns upon us, we glorify the good.  If we have been outwardly blind, our sight is restored.  We should praise our vision.  The clearness of spiritual vision should be reflected through our eyes.

Always one should be conscious of the idea of Wholeness of Life, perfect function at every point.  The practitioner should know that Spiritual Substance was never destroyed at any point, on any plane of expression, and that the vision of his patient is perfect and indestructible right now.  Declare daily:  "Through my eyes, God sees the perfection of His Kingdom.  I, too, see perfection in all creation...the beauty of the Omnipresent God."

Thoughts of dishonesty and suspicion make the eyes shifty.  Thoughts of fear, desolation, and hopelessness make the eyes lusterless.  The eyes brighten with friendliness and good cheer, when animated by the light of love, joy, faith or noble purpose.

We should be grateful for the help, if we find glasses helpful, but we must know within ourselves that we are not dependent upon them.  Hold steadfastly to the thought:  "I will lift up my eyes unto God, from whom comes my perfect sight."  Thus we are recognizing the condition, but not acknowledging it as an entity, and we are giving to Subjective Mind a new pattern (rather than the original pattern) for perfect eyes...perfect vision.  "Through the prism of God's love, I recognize the Oneness of God and man.  I have perfect vision right now.""

July 22 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

THE LAW of ATTRACTION
By Ernest Holmes

No Failures

"If one appears to have failed, he should realize that there are no failures in the Universe.  He should completely erase the idea of failure by stating that there are no failures.  If one believes that he failed last year, he will be likely to fail again this year, unless the false thought is erased.  Break down everything except the recognition of the One Perfect Power, which is not contingent upon any place, person, condition, time of year, or anything but Itself.  A demonstration is made when it comes straight through from the Truth.  The one who wishes to make a demonstration must clear up his own subjective atmosphere, the reason being that he may be objectively making statements which his subjective thought may be denying.  In this way, we often neutralize our word as fast as it is spoken.

When Jesus said:  "Resist not," He meant that non-recognition of evil is the only way to avoid it.  This is true according to the law of cause and effect, for what we persist in recognizing we persist in holding in place.  That which we refuse to recognize, we neutralize, and it is no longer there so far as we are concerned.

So we erase any idea of failure.  Now here is where it looks as if one were not telling the truth to himself, but he is declaring the truth about the Spirit that indwells him.  THIS SPIRIT NEVER FAILS.  Affirm this until it is a very part of your being:  "This word blots out from the book of my remembrance any sense of lack, limitation, want, or fear of failure.  There is no failure, no person to fail.  Failure is neither person, place nor thing.  It is a false thought and has no truth in it.  It is a belief in lack and there is no lack.  It is a belief in a limitation which does not exist.

Your word, which is one with the Infinite Life, has been spoken in calm trust.  It will be taken up at once and it will be oeprated on.  Perfect is the pattern and perfect will be the result.  Your word is now establishing it forever.  See this, feel it, know it.  You are now encompassed by perfect life, by infinite activity, by all power, by all guidance.  The Power of the Spirit is supplying you with all good, It is filling you with life and love.

Thought is very subtle and sometimes when you are making such an affirmation, arguments will rise against it.  Stop at once and meet those arguments.  Refuse to accept them.  We speak into our words the intellingence which we are, and backed by that greater Intelligence of the Universal Mind, our word becomes a law unto the thing for which it is spoken.  There goes forth from this word the Power of the Infinite.

Suppose one were treating his business and something within him should say:  "There are too many people in this business," he should handle the thought of competition at once.  Declare:  "There is no competition and no monopoly in my experience."

Treatment is a thing of itself; it is an entity of Infinite Intelligence, Life and Action, and nothing can hinder its operation but unbelief or a lack of adequate mental equivalents.  "They could not enter in because of unbelief," and because they "limited the Holy One of Israel."

Never depend upon people or say that things must come from this or that source.  It makes no difference where things come from.  SAY THAT THEY ARE, and let them come from where they may, and then if something occurs which points to a place for them to come from, it is correct to say:  "If this is the place, then there is nothing which can hinder."

Nothing moves but Mind.  God makes things through the direct act of becoming the things which He creates.  This is what we do, for our thought becomes the thing thought of.  The thought and the thing are one in reality.  WHAT A MAN HAS AND WHAT HE IS, IS THE RESULT OF THE SUBJECTIVE STATE OF HIS THOUGHT.  Keep on subjectifying thought until the balance of consciousness is on the affirmative side, and nothing can hinder it from demonstrating.  This is the inevitable for this is the way the Law operates.  A good meditation for Opportuniity is the following:

"My opportunities are unlimited.  There is a Divine Urge to express.  It permeates me and fills all space and all people.  All of my affairs are in Its hands.  To It are clearly visible the best ways, methods and means for my greater expression.  I leave my affairs in the hands of this principle, and I co-operate with It.

"Today the possibilities of my experience are unlimited.  The Spirit flows through me, inspiring me and sustaining that inspiration.  I have ability and talent and I am busy using them.  This talent is divinely sustained and marketed under a Universal plan of right action.

"Life lies open to me - rich, full, abudnant.  My thought, which is my key to life, opens all doors for me.  I am one with Infinity, Divinity.  I realize this unity.  I proceed on my way as one who knows that God goes with him into an eternal day of infinite privilege.  I have only to open the portals of my soul and accept that which is ready to express through me.  Today I fling these portals wide; today I am the instrument through which life flows.""

July 13 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MENTAL EQUIVALENTS
By Ernest Holmes

"Assume a case of treatment for prosperity.  Suppose one comes to you and says, "Business is bad.  There is no activity."  How are you going to treat him?  Are you going to treat activity, business, customers, conditions or what?  There is but one thing to treat, as far as the practitioner is concerned, and that is HIMSELF.  The practitioner treats himself, the reason being that his patient's mind and his own mind are in the One Mind.

There is but one activity, which is perfect.  Nothing has happened to it, nothing can cut if off, it is always operating.  There is no belief in inactivity.  What is this statement for?  To neutralize the belief in inactivity.  A word spoken in Mind will reach its own level in the objective world by its own weight; just as in physical science we know that water reaches its own level.  You must destroy the thoughts of inactivity.  Man cannot become either discouraged or afraid if he realizes that there is but One Mind which he may consciously use.  The real man knows no discouragement, cannot be afraid, and has no unbelief.  And he who knows of the power with which he is dealing and who plants a seed of thought in Subjectivity, knows that it will come up and bear fruit.

Bring out the idea of Substance.  Make consciousness perceive that Substance is Spirit, Spirit is God, and God is all there is.  Once you acquaint the consciousness with this idea, it is implanted in the Creative Power which is externalized in your life.

Continue to declare there were no mistakes, there are none and there never will be.  Say, "I represent the Truth, the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth.  It is unerring, It never makes mistakes.  There are no mistakes in the Divine Plan for me.  There is no limitation, poverty, want nor lack.  I stand in the midst of eternal opportunity, which is forever presenting me with the evidence of its full expression.  I am joy, peace and happiness.  I am the spirit of joy within me.  I am the spirit of peace within me, of poise and of power.  I am the spirit of happiness within me.  I radiate Life; I am Life.  There is One Life and that Life is my life now."

It is not enough to say:  "There is One Life and that Life is God."  We must complete this statement by saying:  "That Life is my life now," because we must couple this Life with ours in order to express It.  We are not becoming this Life, but are now in and of this Life.  There is no other Life.  God is not becoming:  God IS.  God is not growing; God is complete.  God is not trying to find out something; God already knows.  Evolution is not the expression of a becoming God, but is simply one of the ways that a God Who already IS, expresses Himself; and as such it is the logical result of involution and is eternally going on.

For the man who believes that "business is bad"; for the one who thinks he has made many mistakes and will make more; for the man who sees nothing but inactivity about him, the following meditation might be used:

"I know I am now at the threshold of all good, wisdom and Truth.  All the good I can embody is now mine.  I have only to open the portals of my soul and accept that which is ready to express through me.

"I expect, fully and emphatically, the answer to my prayer today.  Right now do I possess this thing I so greatly desire.  I remove my fear of lack and negation, for it is the only barrier which stands in the way of my experience of good.  I alone can remove it, and I do remove it now.

"In this moment my good comes to me, enough to spare, to give and to share. I can never be exhausted, my good can never be depleted, because that Source from which my good comes is inexhaustible.

"Today, in this moment, the Law responds to my thought.  My word is one of affirmation, rising from the knowledge that the Good, the Enduring and the True are Eternalities in my experience.  I cannot be apart from that which is my good.  My good is assured me by God, the Indwelling Essence of my life.""

July 12 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS

By Ernest Holmes

I Accept the Fullness of My Own Divine Well-Being

Within myself is that which is perfect, that which is complete, that which is divine; that which was never born and cannot die; that which lives, which is God – the Eternal Reality.  Within myself is peace, poise, power, wholeness and happiness.  All the power that there is and all the presence that there is, and all the life that there is, is God – the Living Spirit Almighty – and this Divine and Living Spirit is within me.  It is Wholeness.  It is never weary.  It is never tired.  It is Life.  It is complete Peace.  It is never afraid; It is never confused.  It is always poised and peaceful.  It is always in a state of perfect equilibrium.

This is the truth about myself; there is no other self.  Every image of fear is erased from my mind, every sense of confusion leaves my thought.  My mind now entertains and reflects the Divine into everything which I do, say and think – into my body, into my affairs.  That divine within me is Wholeness, and my mind reflects this Wholeness into every organ, every function, every action, every reaction of my physical being, renewing it after the Perfect Pattern – the Christ within me.  Universal Substance reflects Itself, into my mind, into daily supply, so that everything I need each day is supplied.  Before the need, is the thing, and with the apparent need is met.  There is Something within me which goes before me and prepares the way wherever I go – making straight the way, making perfect the way, making immediate and instant, and permanent and harmonious, every situation.  Consequently, my mind reflects the fullness of that Divine Substance, which heals every sense of lack in my life.  Peace, poise, power, perfection, Living Spirit within me, is me, myself.

I Accept the Fullness of My Own Divine Well-Being