September 23 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

WHAT The MYSTICS HAVE TAUGHT
Ernest Holmes

What Is a Mystic? (Continued)

"The teaching of the mystics has been that there should be conscious courting of the Divine Presence.  There should be a conscious receptivitiy to It, but a balanced one.  As one of the Apostles said, in substance, that he would rather speak ten words with his understanding than ten thousand with confusion.  "God is not the author of confusion but of peace."  Unlike the great psychics of the ages, who have been more or less confused, the great mystics have been intensely and pre-eminently the sane people, sound people.

The philosophy of Jesus will remain sound when the belief in a material universe shall have been rolled up like a scroll and numbered with the things once thought to be real.  So will be the philosophy of Buddha, Plato, Socrates, Emerson and Walt Whitman, and the philosophy we are writing about today.  But the more or less unconscious disclosures of many psychics are not entire true, even in the day in which they are given.  While psychism is a most interesting field of study, we should understand it for what it is worth.

It is through the teachings of the illumined that the Spiritual Universe reveals Itself, imparting to us what we know about God.  What we directly experience ourselves, and what we believe others have experienced, is all we can know about God.

Jesus taught a Power transcendent, triumphant, absolute, positive, against which lesser laws meant nothing.  By Its very Presence It heals.  The mystics did not contend or argue with people.  There was nothing to argue about.  THEY SAW and KNEW.  They are the great revealers to man of the nature of the Universe, and the relationship of man to God."

September 16 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

FROM the TEACHINGS of JESUS
Ernest Holmes

The Secret of Prayer (Matt. 6:6)

"The secret of prayer and its power in the outward life depends upon an unconditioned faith in, and reliance upon this inner Presence.  We must enter the closet.  That is, we are to shut out all else and enter the Presence of Spirit, in quietness and confidence - believing.  Prayer has power, not through repetition, but by belief and acceptance.  Prayer is to be simple, direct and receiving.  We are to believe that God indwells our own life, that this Divine Presence is sufficient for all needs.  we are to believe that God will provide for us and bless us abundantly.  And when we enter this secret place, we are to leave all else behind; all hate, animosity and vindictiveness, for only in so doing can we enter.

How God Forgives ( Matt. 6:14, 15)

We are told that God will forgive us after we have forgiven others.  This is a direct statement and one that we should ponder deeply.  Can God forgive until we have forgiven?  If God can work for us only by working through us, then this statement of Jesus stands true, and is really a statement of the law of cause and effect.  We cannot afford to hold personal animosities or enmities against the world or individual members of society.  All such thoughts are outside the law and cannot be taken into the heavenly consciousness.  Love alone can beget love.  People do not gather roses from thistles.

The Father who seest in secret will reward us openly.  Shall we not learn to enter the "secret place of the Most High," within our own soul, in gladness?  We are to fast without outward sign, but with the inner mind open and receptive to the Good alone.  Our treasure is already in heaven, and our thought can take us to this treasure only when it is in accord with divine harmony and perfect love.

The Single Eye (Matt. 6:22)

If our eye is single, we shall be filled with light.  That is, when we perceive the Unity of Good, we shall perceive it in its entirety, an undivided whole.  But if our eye be filled with evil, we shall remain in darkness.  We must cleave to the good, and trust absolutely in the Law of God to bring about any desired end.  Spirit will mold our purposes when we allow It to do so.  As we learn to depend more and more upon the perfect Law, we shall find that the outward things which are necessary to our good, will be provided.  We shall be cared for as the lilies of the field, which live directly upon the Divine bounty.  And yet they toil not nor do they spin.

The Divine Bounty (Matt. 6:26)

As God cares for the birds, who do not gather into barns, so shall we be cared for if we trust and do not doubt.  But we are to seek the Kingdom first.  Jesus bade us to completely trust in God for everything and in every instance.  He had a complete reliance upon God.  Dare we say that such confidence will be misplaced?  Have we ever tried it?  Until we have tried and failed, we are not in a position to contradict this theory.  Those who have implicitly relied upon this theory are providing the principle to be definite, and one upon which an absolute reliance may be placed.

Have no fear of tomorrow; enjoy today.  Refuse to carry the corpse of a mistaken yesterday.  What untold misery is suffered through the burdens imposed by our yesterdays and the bitter prospects of our tomorrows!  The good of the present day is too often sandwiched between these two impossible situations.  The day in which we live is sufficient.  We are to live today as though God were in His Heaven, while all is well with our souls.

Jesus made the greatest claim upon God, of anyone who ever lived.  He demanded a complete and unreserved trust in the goodness and loving kindness of the Creator.  And harking down the ages - since he lived and taught his marvelous philosophy to mankind - those who have followed his teachings have been justified in their faith."

August 17 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

FROM the TEACHING of JESUS

By Ernest Holmes

Why Jesus Had Such Power

"In this book no attempt is made to discuss all the sayings of Jesus.  He lived in a world of spiritual realization far beyond that of which the average man has any understanding.  As spiritual things must be spiritually discerned, so the full meaning of his sayings can never be clear to us until we have attained a consciousness equal to his.  But in the record of his sayings there is much which bears witness to our own belief, and, no doubt, could we penetrate the meaning of his teaching, we should have a perfect explanation of our own philosophy.

Jesus discerned spiritual truth.  Why or how we do not know, nor does it make any difference.  The world has not produced another like him and, until it does, he must receive a unique place in the history of human character.

Man Shall Not Live by Bread Alone (Matt. 4:4)

What did Jesus teach?  "It is written that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."

Who eats of bread alone, will continually hunger.  To the physical benefits of the human board must be added the spiritual strength of divine wisdom."