May 19 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Healing is Clear Thinking ~ Ernest Holmes

"Scientific mental healing is the result of clear thinking and logical reasoning, which presents itself to consciousness and is acted upon by Mind.  It is a systematic process of reasoning, which unearths the mental cause or idea underlying disease, and presents the Truth about man's being.

For instance, say to yourself:  "God is all there is.  There is only One Life."  When you are treating, if there is any slight point which is not clear, do not continue with the treatment.  Stop at once, go back to your analysis of Ultimate Reality and build your whole argument upon It, in order to get a clear consciousness.

Repeat:  "God is All.  There is but One Power, Intelligence and Consciousness in the Universe, but One Presence.  This One Presence cannot change into but Itself.  It is Changeless, and It is my life now, It is in me now."  Claim that no form of race-suggestion, belief in limitation, subjective idea of limitation, thought of karma, fatalism, theology or hell, horoscope, or any other false belief, has power.  Accept none of them.  If you have ever believed in them, if you have ever believed that the stars govern you, or that your environment governs you, or that your opportunities govern you, recognize this as an hypnotic condition into which you have fallen, and deny every one of them until there is no longer anything in you that believes in them.

This is a good way to clear your consciousness.  We can readily see what it does:  it induces a clear concept of Reality, which must reproduce Itself.  This process of clear thinking, if carried out every day, will heal.

When you are giving a treatment, you are thinking.  You are meeting, opposing, neutralizing, erasing and obliterating suppression, fear, doubt, failure, morbid emotion and sense of loss - whatever the trouble may be.  Every time your thought hits fairly and squarely, it erases just as definitely as one would erase a chalk line.  Such is the mystery of the appearance and the disappearance of thought."

January 25 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

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

"One of the great difficulties in the new order of thought is that we are likely to indulge in too much theory and too little practice.  As a matter of fact, we only know as much as we an prove by actual demonstration.  That which we cannot prove may, or may not, be true but that which we can prove certainly must be, and is, the truth.

Of course, the theory of any scientific principle goes beyond its application, at any given stage of the unfoldment of that principle, and the evolution of its accomplishments.  If this were not true, there would be no progress in any science.  The sciences are objectively real to us only in so far as we demonstrate them, and until demonstrated they are suppositional, so far as practical results are concerned.  If there is any field of research where the practical application is necessary, it is in the metaphysical field, the reason being that the principle of metaphysics seems less tangible to the average person than does the principle of other sciences.  As a matter of fact, all principles are as intangible, but the world at large has not yet come to consider the Principle of mental practice in the same light that it considers other given principles of life and action.  Its apparent intangibility is lessened whenever and wherever anyone actually demonstrates the supremacy of spiritual thought force over apparent material resistance.

It is easy enough to rush about shouting that there are no sick people, but this will never heal those who appear to be sick.  It is easy to proclaim that there are no needy.  Anyone can say this, whether he be wise or otherwise.  If we are to prove such statements to be facts in our experience, we shall be compelled to do more than announce a principle, no matter how true it may be.

There is no doubt about the immutability and the availability of the Law.  The Law is Infinite.  It is right where we happen to be at any given time.  It occupies all space and fills every form with differentiations of Itself.  The Law also flows through us, because It flows through everything, and since we exist, It must be in and through us.  This is the crux of the whole matter.  Infinite and immutable as the Law is - ever-present and available as it must be, the potential possibility of all human probability - It must flow through us in order to manifest for us.

It has been proved that by thinking correctly and by a conscious mental use of the law of Mind, we can cause It to do definite things for us, through us.  By conscious thinking, we give conscious direction to It, and It, consciously or unconsciously, responds to our advance along the line of our conscious, or subjective, direction.

It must and will respond to everyone, because It is Law and law is no respecter of persons.  We are surrounded by an intelligent force and substance, from which all things come - the ultimate Essence, in the invisible and subjective world, of all visible and objective forms and conditions.  It is around us in its original state, ready and willing to take form through the impulse of our creative belief.  It works for us by flowing through us. This law we did not create; this law we cannot change.  We can use It correctly only as we understand and use It according to Its nature.

Hence, it follows that if we believe that It will not work, It really works by appearing to "not work."  When we believe that It cannot and will not, then, according to the principle, It DOES NOT.  But when It does not, It still does - only It does according to our belief that It will not.  This is our own punishment through the law of cause and effect; we do not enter in because of our doubts and fears.  It is not a punishment imposed upon us by the Spirit of God, but an automatic result of failing constructively to use the Law of God.

God does not punish the mathematician who fails to obtain the right answer to his problem.  The thought of the unsolved problem does punish him until he applies the right principle and thus secures the desired result.  Thus sin and punishment, righteousness and salvation, are logical reactions of the Universe to the life of the individual.

When we are dealing with real Life - with thoughts, impulses , emotions, etc. - we are dealing with Causation, with original Cause, and we should be most careful how we deal with such powers and forces.  In dealing with this subtle power of Mind and Spirit, we are dealing with a fluent force.  It is forever taking form and forever deserting the form which it has taken.  Thus a practitioner of this Science should not be confused over any given form, but should know that any form which is not of the original harmony is subject to change.  The Original Spirit is Harmony.  It is Beauty and Truth and everything that goes with Ultimate Reality.  The Universe is not divided against Itself.

We should learn to control our thought processes and bring them into line with Reality.  Thought should tend more and more toward an affirmative attitude of mind that is positive, stable, and - above all else - toward a real unity with Spirit that is already complete and perfect."

January 16 ~ Science of Mind in a Year

Mental Laws ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

"As we think of the medium of radio transmission in terms of law, so we should think of the Mental Medium in terms of law, for the Mental Medium must be the Law of mental action.  While we might think of It as the Mind of God, we could not think of It as the Spirit of God; for the Mental Medium is automatic, while the Spirit must be Self-Knowing. We could not call the Universal Medium of Mind "God" any more than we could call electricity "God."  The Universal Medium of Mind is but one of the many attributes of God, the avenue through which God operates as Law.

We should differentiate between Universal Mind and Universal Spirit. As we examine the Subjective, we find It to be both intelligent and conscious, without knowing that It is intelligent, and without being self-conscious.  All law must be subjective; the soil knows how to take a seed and make a plant from it; it does not know whether it is making a tomato or a potato. If this were not true of the laws of nature, we could not depend upon them, we should be confronted with caprice.  One of the most difficult problems to realize is that when we are dealing with the Law of Mind, we are dealing with an absolutely impersonal thing.  It knows how to create without knowing what It creates.  Therefore, we must distinguish between the Law of Mind and the Spirit which uses the Law.  The ancients taught that there is an Infinite Self-Knowing Spirit (one of the oldest sayings in the world is:  "Spirit is the Power that knows Itself.") in addition to which there is an Infinite Law which knows how to do but does not care what It does.  This Law is the Karmic Law of Buddha:  "The Law that binds the ignorant and frees the wise," as Anna Besant stated it.  It is the Cause and Effect of the West; but It is not to be confused with Kismet, which is fate, because Its tendency can be changed.

There is a Law in the Universe which operates in a certain way according to the tendency set in motion, and does so mathematically, inexorably.  We cannot destroy the Law but we can re-direct Its movement.  Just as we plant seeds and later decide we wish something else, we go out and uproot the first seeds and plant others in their place.  We are not thereby destroying the soil; we have simply determined to use it in a different way.  When we are dealing with Subjectivity, we are always dealing with that which is subject to the conscious volition. 

The conscious volition in the Universe is what is meant by the Spirit or Dog.  The Mental Medium, the Universal Subjectivity, the Law, is the doer of the Word!  Plotinus speaks of it as a doer but not a knower.  He called it a blind force, not knowing only doing.

This is the principle which we use in practice.  We should distinguish between conscious volition as Spirit, and the Subjective Law, which works  with intelligence but not self-conscious awareness.  When this is realized we shall no longer be superstitious about our use of the Law.  It has been difficult to get away from such a superstitious reaction, because of a theological rather than a scientific approach to the subject.  The Law we are discussing is simply a law of Nature, a force of Nature.  It happens to be a mental force, and an intelligent and creative one, like electricity, which will either light our house and cook our food or will electrocute us if we use it incorrectly.

The Threefold Nature of God

We find, then, as we study our own being we begin to deduce what the nature of God, or the Universal Being, is.  There is no way we can know God except by studying man.  Someone may say, "God reveals Himself;" yes, we think God reveals Himself to us, but only by revealing Himself through us.  We know about God only as we judge what God must be, by studying the nature of those things which we can somewhat analyze, plus that intuitive feeling we have of eternal verities.

If we study the true nature of man, then we shall have delved into the real nature of God, or First Cause, from which man springs.  As we have found that man is threefold in his nature, we must deduce that God is threefold in His Nature, i.e. that God is Spirit, or Self-Knowingness; God is Law and action; God is result or Body.  This is  the inner teaching of "The Trinity."  God, as Self-Knowing Spirit means the Divine Being Whom we have always thought of and believed in, the Being to Whom we have prayed and Whom we have adored.  God as Law means the way in which Spirit works, and Law in this sense would be the servant of the Spirit.  God as Body means the manifestation of the Spirit.

Trinity of Being

This trinity of being appears to run through all Nature and all life.  For instance, there is electricity, the way it works and its results, which is light or motive power.  There is the seed, the creative medium of the soil, and the plant. 

Turn it as we may, we are confronted with the necessity of a Trinity of Being.  Throughout the ages, this Trinity has been taught.  Every great religion and every great spiritual philosophy has taught this Trinity.  Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is the Christian Trinity.  It is the Thing, the Way It Works, and What It Does.  The Thing is Absolute Intelligence; the way It works, is Absolute Law; and What It does, is the result - manifestation.  The action of the Thing Itself is what the Bible calls "The Word."....Absolute Intelligence."

January 15 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Where Do We Get Our Mental Impressions?  Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

"The paramount problem of philosophy now as in the past, is, how and from whence do we get our mental impressions?  Kant says:  We are able to perceive an object because it awakens an intuitive perception within us.  How could it awaken an intuitive perception within us, unless the medium which created the object already existed within us?  The intuitive perception was not the result of perceiving the object, but was itself the cause of the object perceived!  This is what Emerson would have us understand when he says "There is one mind common to all individual men."

That which is apparently outside can become known to the individual through intuition, because the perception and the perceiver must be in one and the same Mind.  No object can appear to exist in the objective world unless there is first a subjective world to perceive the object.  There is no object on the outside of Reality; but Reality must be an Infinite Perceiver or an Infinite Mind....One Mind common to all men.

The Bible says:  "In Him we live  and move and have our being."...."Him"...."It"....or "God."  Jesus said Reality is not in the mountain, nor afar off, but within us.  So without trying to define, without making any attempts to explain, we make the simple statement:  "Mind is."  Mind is, and Mind is both Universal and individual, i.e., It is not only Universal and abstract, It is also individual and concrete.  The Mind which is personified is the same Mind which is Universal.

This is the perception that Buddha, Jesus and other great spiritual leaders had.  They understood that the Universe has to be One in order to be at all.  Jesus saw it, when he said in substance:  If I cast out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of devils, that is a house divided against itself, which cannot stand; and he also said, "Who hath seen me hath seen the Father."  Jesus had arrived at a perception of Oneness.

Images of thought, although they appear to arise from without, actually arise from the objective side of that which is a part of a subjective within.  In order that Nature may be coherent and come into self-expression, there must be an objective, a manifest world; but that which is physically outside of us still exists in the same medium in which we have our being, and the intelligence by which we perceive it is the SAME INTELLIGENCE THAT CREATED IT.  Therefore, while it is objectively separate, it is subjectively unified.  Our images of thought arise from within a medium in which both the one who sees, and that which is seen, exist in a state of inner unity.  God exists in everything.  God exists in me, and because God exists in me, I am able to recognize other beings in whom God exists.  Spirit is the medium through which I am conscious of myself, of others, and of my environment.

Reading Thought

Recognizing that we are surrounded by a Universal Mind, it does not seem strange that certain people should  sense our thoughts even when we are not aware of the fact, because thought operates through a medium which is Universal....always present.

It is almost certain that between friends there is at all times a silent communication, a sort of unconscious mental conversation, going on.  When this arises to the surface of the conscious intelligence, it is called mental telepathy.  This communication with others is going on all the time, whether the conscious mind is aware of it or not.  These impressions are more or less vague and seldom come to the surface.  They are there, nevertheless, and are gradually building into our mentalities impressions and forms of thought that are unconsciously and silently perceived.

This all leads to the conclusion that what we call our subjective mind is really the use that we, as individuals, make of a Universal Subjectivity. Just as radio message are operative through a universal medium, so our thoughts are operative through a Universal Medium."

January 14 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Memory ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

"Pondering on this, man came to the conclusion that memory was an active thing, and he reasoned after this fashion:  "Memory must be the storehouse of all ideas that have passed through my mind.  Memory is active, for my thoughts come back to me. My thought is conscious of my body; my body is operated upon by my thought, and it must be operated upon by my memory, since memory is active; but since memory is the result of conscious thought, memory of itself is an unconscious operation of what was once a conscious thought."  THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CONCLUSIONS WHICH THE MIND OF MAN HAS EVER MADE.  By changing his thought, he could re-mold his affairs; and by right thinking he could bring new conditions into his life!  Tremendous!

Science

Science is the knowledge of facts based upon some proven principle.  The scientific investigation of anything is, of necessity, a cold-blooded proposition.  We speak about knowing, about science being absolute knowledge; science is absolute knowledge, in so far as the facts of science are demonstrable!

How Laws are Discovered

In the scientific discovery of laws, certain theories are postulated; such theories may develop through research and investigation.  When a theory proves to be correct, after many experiments, then, a principle is announced.  In this way scientific truth is demonstrated; but no one has ever seen any of these principles which science announces, as no one has ever seen the great Cause which lies back of all the manifestations of life.

As soon as a law is discovered, experiments are made with it, certain facts are proven to be true, and in this way, a science is gradually formulated. Any science consists of the number of known facts about its invisible principle.  As more and more facts are gathered and proven, the science expands and gradually becomes accepted by all and may be used by those who understand it.

The Science of Mind

Let us, then approach the Science of Mind with awe, but not with fear; with a truly humble spirit, but not with any sense that we are unworthy, and certainly with no superstition.  Let us approach it normally, happily, willing to accept it, glad to experiment with it, believing that as a result of our efforts we shall derive this great good -- a better understanding of the natural laws of Life as they apply to the individual and his relationship to the universal scheme of things.

The Science of Mind, then, is the study of Life and the nature of the laws of thought; the conception that we live in a spiritual Universe; that God is in, through, and around and for us.  There is nothing supernatural anywhere, on any plane; that which today seems to us supernatural, after it is understood will be found spontaneously natural.

We say there is a Universal Mind; but no one ever saw It.  We say God is Spirit; but no one ever saw God.  The Bible says, "No man hath seen God at any time; only the Son, he hath revealed Him."  To express this idea in our language:  No one has seen Cause; because we see an effect, we know there must be a Cause.  Nothing is more evident than the fact that we live; and since we live, we must have life, and since we have life there must be Life.  The only proof we have of Mind is that we think.  The Eternal Principle is forever hidden.