November 24 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

PHYSICAL PERFECTION
Ernest Holmes

Treating Kidney, Bladder and Liver Disturbances (continued)

"Bladder trouble:  In treating bladder trouble it is well to calm the thought.  To remove any sense of inner irritation or agitation will always be of great value in removing this particular trouble.  Again we should remind ourselves that there can be no real specific treatment for any particular trouble, but there is a certain way of approaching different troubles with good possibility of success.  To follow the leadings of our own thought in all cases, is right, but to pay particular attention to the specific idea which causes the patient to suffer, is always a correct method for practice.

Purity and strength, with perfect elimination, free from any sense of condemnation, is a good central thought to work on.  Remember that thoughts are things and therefore different kinds of thought give rise to different types of manifestation.

"There is no irritation, agitation or inflammation in Spirit and man is pure Spirit right now.  There is perfect and divine order in every organ and function of the body.  There is a discerning Intelligence which separates the false from the true.  No waste substance is allowed to remain in the system.  The joyous, free flow of Life and Spirit is now active through me, cleansing my mind and body from all impurities, in thought, or of the flesh.  There is no worry, irritation or agitation.  I am sustained in a deep inner calm.  Spirit flows through me and is never obstructed by anything unlike Itself.  There is no overaction, no inaction, nor is there any wrong action of Spirit within me.  Its action is complete, harmonious and perfect.  Everything that does not belong to Pure Spirit is washed away."

In this treatment the intention is that as a result of the statement, the bladder will be restored to its natural, perfect state."

July 5 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS

By Ernest Holmes

A Treatment to Heal Confusion or Discord

“I know there is a Spirit in me which unfolds Itself to me; and I know that this Spirit – or Infinite Wisdom and Divine Love and Perfect Law – enlightens my consciousness and awakens within me, within the personal, the knowledge of Its meaning, the realization of Its Presence, and the power of Its Law.  I am conscious that this Universal IT is an ever-present Being to me and to every man, because where the Universe personifies, It becomes personal.  Therefore, there is within me an immediate Presence, the Infinite of the finite self, all-knowing, all-wise, and forever perfect.  It is this Real Me that I seek to vision in my thought, that I seek to embody in my consciousness.  It is that ME that cannot be sick, knows no lack, has no limitation, never suffered want, and cannot experience fear.

The Spirit of Infinite Peace is my spirit now.  The Presence of That which is perfect is within me, in every function, in every organ, every attribute and every atom.  In each cell, there vibrates the perfect Divine Wholeness.

And this comprehension, this application to myself, this knowingness, reveals me to myself and heals the apparent confusion and discomfort, because WHERE THAT PERFECT CIRCULATION IS KNOWN, IT IS ESTABLISHED!  Where that perfect efficiency is known, it is demonstrated THE TRUTH KNOWN IS IMMEDIATELY MANIFEST, and I am now conscious of my own wholeness, my own depth of being, the spiritual me, the Divine Self.

And now I know that my Divine Self is not separated from the self that appears; that the Universal Self is made manifest because the Word is made flesh and dwells in the midst of my physical me.  The Word becomes activity and surrounds me with a harmonious activity – with happy action and perfect reaction.  The Word becomes Light and guides me into all good.  The Word becomes beauty and surrounds me with beauty.  The word, which is Substance, becomes supply and brings to me everything I need, because “The Word was with God and the Word was God,” and the Word is God.

This consciousness of Wholeness, this recognition of the Self, obliterates every belief of confusion and discord from my life.”

June 30 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

GENERAL SUMMARY
By Ernest Holmes

"Conscious thought is the starting point of every new creation.  Trained thought is far more powerful than untrained since the admission that thought is power gives it added power.  This is one of the great secrets of Mental Science.  Conscious thought is the starting point.  The Subjective Law knows only to obey.  It can do nothing else.  It has no will of Its own.  We impress our will upon It.  We do not will, as though we were using an arbitrary force, we impress It.  We should be careful to differentiate between these two attitudes of mind.

The idea of a successful life will create success.  This idea will find objective form in the outer world of the one who holds to it with conviction.  It must first become established in the conscious mind.  It will then transmit itself into a subjective embodiment and when this happens success will become habitual.

If one does not know exactly what he wishes to do he should treat himself for general success in whatever he attempts to do.  He must treat himself for guidance into the knowledge of that which would be best for him to do, remembering that the Inner Mind knows infinitely more than the intellect.  It knows how to take ideas and form objective circumstances around them.  Naturally the sooner we know just what we wish to do the quicker we shall create the mental images that are definite and the Creative Mind can more quickly set to work to carry out our plans for us.

The objective mind alone may consciously decide what is to happen.  All subjective decisions are merely conclusions built on already accepted premises, ideas or thought patterns.  The conscious mind may change these thought patterns and thereby cause a different flow of energy and intelligence toward the objective of its desires.  The Spirit alone has the power of real self-expression and true volition.  This is why we call the conscious part of mind, the Spirit of man; the conscious Mind of the Universe, the Spirit of God.

Remember that when you use your subjective mind you are using the Creative Power of the Universe.  For the two are really one.  There is but One Mind, whether It be individual or Universal.  Remember also that Mind in its conscious state is Spirit, whether we think of It as in man or in God, that is, whether we think of It as individual or Universal.  Mind in its unconscious or subjective state is the Law of cause and effect.  The Law of cause and effect of Itself is not an entity but is the way that we use the great Law of all life.  From this viewpoint any particular effect may be changed by altering our thought relationship to the fundamental Law which gives rise to lesser causes and effects.  This we cannot do while we look only to that which is limited or already in form.  We DEAL WITH THE FORMLESS.

We must consciously know that we can use creative power. The more complete such acceptance on our part, the more completely we shall be able to use this power for definite purposes.  We should develop a conscious conviction of our ability to know and to understand the way that the mind works.  We shall not be able to do this while we listen to those who deny us, or themselves, the privileges we wish to enjoy.  No one ever yet found a living soul in a dead body or learned that affirmations of life and health will become beneficial by denying any power to them.

If, at times, we doubt our ability to  use the law, we should again remind ourselves that it is not I but the Spirit of the Father in me who doeth the work.  This will straighten our thought and place us again on the road of faith and understanding.  WE MUST BELIEVE.  WE MUST LEARN HOW TO BELIEVE.  WE SHOULD TREAT OURSELVES UNTIL WE DO BELIEVE.  No one every started at the top.  Let us be happy to begin right where we are and grow."

June 11 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Repeating Treatments ~ Ernest Holmes

"A treatment is a specific thing.  When you are treating to neutralize any particular form of disease, your word should be spoken in such a way as to neutralize a belief in the necessity of the condition.  Each treatment must have in itself everything necessary to cover the case.  When you treat, resolve things into thought -- bodies, people, objects and all things - everything is a thing of thought.  Having resolved everything into thought, know that disease is neither person, place, nor thing.  It has no location, does not belong to anyone, cannot operate through anyone.  Know that it is a false image, with no power, and then you are ready to mentally dissolve it.

Always come to a complete conclusion when giving a treatment.  Always feel that it is done, complete and perfect and give thanks for the answer, as if it were already objectified.  In the interval between treatments, do not carry the thought of the patient around with you.  Tod do so is to doubt, and this mental attitude must be completely overcome.  Each treatment should be a complete statement of the Reality of Being.  The treatment should be repeated daily until a healing takes place.  If it takes five minutes, five hours, five days, or five years, the treatment must be kept up until a healing is accomplished.  This is the only method we know.  It is not enough to say that everything is all right.  This is true in Principle, but in fact and in human experience, it is only as true as we make it.  Treat until you get results.  A healing takes place when the patient is no longer sick, and until such time, mental work should be done."

May 22 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

Ernest Holmes

Oh, for a Tongue to Express

Oh, for a tongue to express the Wonders which the Thought reveals!

Oh, for some Word to comprehend the boundless idea!

Would that some Voice were sweet enough to sound the harmony of Life.

But Within, in that vast realm of thought where the Soul meets God, the Spirit knows.

I will listen for that Voice and It will tell me of Life, of Love and Unity.

Speak to me, Spirit.

O Soul of Mind, Look Out and See

O Soul of mine, look out and see; look up and know Thy freedom.

Be not cast down nor dismayed; be uplifted within me and exult, for Thy Salvation has come.

Behold the wonders of the Great Whole and the marvels of the Universe.

Look out and see Thy good.  It is not afar off, but is at hand.

Prepare Thyself to accept and believe; to know and live.

Let Life enter and live through Thee, Soul of mine, and rejoice that Thou hast vision so fair and so complete.

Rejoice that the Perfect Whole is so completely reflected through Thee.

My light has come.

May 20 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Healing is Clear Thinking (continued) ~ Ernest Holmes

"Right thought, constantly poured into consciousness, will eventually purify it.  Discord might be likened to a bottle of impure water; healing might be likened to the process of dropping pure water into the bottle, a drop at a time, until the whole is clean and pure.  Someone might ask why the bottle could not be turned upside down and at once drain out all the impurities.  Sometimes this happens but not often.  Meanwhile, a drop at a time will finally eliminate the impurities and produce a healing.

In treating, go beyond the disease and supply a spiritual consciousness.  A treatment is not complete without a great realization of Life and Love, of God and Perfection, of Truth and Wisdom, of Power and Reality.  Sense the Divine Presence in and through the patient at all times.

Whether we say that thought goes out, or that it is operated upon by Principle makes little difference.  It is very evident that until a thought is created, there is no operation.  It is evident that THINKING SETS CAUSATION IN MOTION.  Whether the word used heals, or simply sets the law in motion, really is of small import.

The practitioner is in the same Mind in which his patient lives; consequently, since each is in the One Mind, the patient is sick in the same medium and in a certain sense in the same Mind in which the practitioner lives; and because this Mind is Indivisible, the practitioner can, in his own mentality, reach the thought which causes the patient to be sick.  Whether we say he sends out a thought, or that he simply realizes a thought, makes no difference.  The simplest way is to say that the practitioner realizes, within himself, upon the One Mind, through the One Medium, in the One Law.

The practitioner realizes a certain truth for his patient within himself.  Therefore, he sets the Law in motion for his patient.  (The operation of this Law may be thought of in the same way we think of the law whereby water reaches its own level by its own weight.)  The practitioner knows WITHIN HIMSELF, and this self-knowingness rises into the consciousness of his patient.  It is like planting a seed in the ground, the practitioner sows the seed and the Creative Mind produces the plant.  Does the soil operate on the seed, or does the seed operate on the soil?  We do not know, but we do know that when a seed is put into the ground, the law pertaining to growth operates and a plant is produced, and that unless a seed is planted, no plant will be produced.

In practice, we make no attempt to send thoughts to our patients!  We know there is but One Mind.  We will say that "A" represents one who is sick and desires help.  "B" represents a practitioner.  "B" thinks into Mind; and whether we say that he is thinking within himself or somewhere else does not matter, he is always thinking into Mind, because he is in Mind!  But one might say, "The patient thinks into his own subjective mind."  Yes, if you wish to designate it as his subjective mind, but his subjective mind is only his atmosphere in the One Mind.  We must understand this very clearly, else someday there will be a wall between our thought and its ability to heal some person who happens to be at a physical distance.

Both the patient and the practitioner think into the common Mind.  Therefore, when a patient comes to a practitioner for healing, the practitioner does not try to hypnotize him, nor suggest anything to him.  He declares the Truth about the patient.  To the degree that the practitioner brings his own consciousness to a true recognition of perfection - provided there is a subjective receptivity in the thought of the patient - that man will be helped.

The practitioner does not try to hold a thought nor to send out a thought.   He simply tries to convince himself of the perfection of his patient.  The practitioner does not try to make his word operate through his patient, but only attempts to know the Truth of what he states.  The patient must be receptive to the Truth, then the Truth will heal him.  The practitioner is dealing with Universal Law, backed by omnipotent Power, which is Divine Principle.  This is what Jesus meant when he said:  "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free."

Every time we think, we are thinking into a receptive plastic Substance, which receives the impress of our thought.  When we stop to realize how subtle thoughts are, how unconsciously we think negation, how easy it is to get "down and out" mentally, we shall see that each is perpetuating his own condition.  This is why people go from bad to worse or from success to a greater success.

Only as we gradually, definitely, and intelligently take true ideas and build them into the structure of our own thought, can there come the desired reaction.  In mental treatment, the practitioner deals solely with ideas, and treats neither bodies nor conditions.  He never manipulates, nor should he lay hands on his patient...He does not care where the patient is when he is treating him, or what he may be doing.  The practitioner's work begins and ends within his own consciousness.  This should be constantly borne in mind."

May 18 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Disease Is Not Always Due to Conscious Thought ~ Ernest Holmes

"Diseases which are mental in their origin must arise from some inner state of consciousness.  While most disease must first have a subjective cause, this subjective cause (nine times out of ten) is not conscious in the thought of the person who suffers from it, but is perhaps largely the result of certain combinations of thinking.

So while it is true that disease has a prototype in subjective mind, it is also true that the individual who suffers from the disease, frequently has never thought he was going to have that particular kind of trouble.

But this does not alter the fact that every disease which comes up through subjectivity, and appears in the body, must come through mind.

How to Heal

In our work, we treat man, not as a physical body, neither do we treat the disease as belonging to him, the reason being that if we do, we cannot subsequently free him from it.  We do not think of the disease as being connected with him or a part of him.  The practitioner seeks to realize man as perfect, not needing to be healed of anything.  This is nothing less than the realization of the Presence and the Power of God, or Spirit, as Man's Life, as the only life there is, as complete and perfect in him right now.

First recognize your own perfection then build up the same recognition for your patient.  You are then ready to directly attack the thought that binds him, recognizing that your word destroys it, and stating that it does.  You may then take into account and specifically mention everything that needs to be changed, every so-called broken law or false thought.  Then finish your treatment with a realization of peace, remaining for a few moments in silent recognition that your work is done, complete and perfect.

The work must not be thought of as hard.  When we know that there is but One Mind, we shall realize that this work could not be difficult or laborious.   Mental treatment is a direct statement of belief into Mind, coupled with a realization that the work is already an accomplished fact.  The spiritual man needs no healing, health is an omnipresent reality, and when the obstructions that hinder healing are removed, it will be found that health was there all the time.  So in your work, do not feel that you must heal anyone.  Your only responsibility is to uncover the Truth.

Never say:  "Here is a patient whom I must heal," for if you think of him from this viewpoint, how are you going to heal him?  If you mentally see a sick man, he will remain mentally sick.  We cannot heal successfully while we recognize sickness as a reality to the Spirit.  In spiritual healing by this method, no one believes in disease, it  has no action nor reaction, it has neither cause nor effect, it has no law to support it and no one through whom it can operate.  There is no one to talk with about it, and no one to believe in it.  While we maintain that disease is primarily a thing of thought, we do not deny the actuality of its experience nor the suffering it causes, instead we seek to heal it, and we co-operate with all, no matter what method they are using to relieve distress.

You have nothing to do with the patient's thought as a personality, for as your own thought clears, he will be helped.  First eliminate doubt and fear from your own thought; realize that your patient is a Divine Being, and that your word is the law unto the thing unto which it is spoken.  This is what gave Jesus His power:  "For He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.""

May 5 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

The Law of God Is One of Liberty (II Cor. 3:17) ~ Ernest Holmes

"The law of God is one of liberty and not one of bondage.  The Spirit of the Lord is everywhere.  Freedom and liberty are also everywhere if we could but see them.  Freedom, like Truth, is self-existent and self-propelling.  The Spirit, Truth, and Freedom are co-existent with one another.

Whenever we are conscious of God, or pure Spirit, we are made free. This is proven in mental and spiritual healing; when we are conscious of perfect life, the body is healed.  We must become unconscious of the imperfect and conscious of the perfect alone.  Since our ideas of perfection are limited to our present understanding, we do not yet manifest perfection.  With a greater unfoldment of Reality through our consciousness, we shall evolve a more perfect body.

In the demonstration of abundance, we seek to realize the liberty of the Sons of God - the freedom whereby God proves His absoluteness.  This is done, not by meditation upon limitation, but by contemplating plenty, abundance, success, prosperity and happiness.

It is unscientific to dwell upon lack, for it will create the undesired condition.  It is scientific to meditate on plenty, to bring the mind to a point of conceiving an eternal flow of life, truth and energy through us...and through everything that we do, say or think!

How to Demonstrate Liberty

To demonstrate liberty, drop all negative thoughts from the mind.  Do not dwell upon adversity but think plenty into everything, for there is power in the word.  Meditate on the things you are doing as being already done - complete and perfect.

Try to sense the Infinite Life around and within you.  This Life is already fully expressed and complete.  This Life is your life now and the life of all that you do, say or think.  Meditate upon this Life until your whole being flows into It and becomes one with It.

Now you are ready to prove your principle by allowing this Life to flow through the thing that you are working on or for.  Do not will or try to compel things to happen.  Things happen by an immutable law and you do not need to energize the Essence of Being; It is already big with power.  All you need do is to realize this fact, and then let it be done unto you, or unto that for which you are working.  L-E-T is a big word and an important one.  By taking thought, you do not add one cubit to Reality, but you do allow (let) Reality to manifest in the things you are doing.

As the power of your meditation is centered on what you are doing, life flows through that thing, animating it with real power and action, which culminates in the desired result.  The Spirit of God is loosed in your work.  Where this Spirit is, there is liberty."

The Science of Mind in a Year ~ Ernest Holmes

Thoughts Are Things ~ Ernest Holmes

"Health and sickness are largely externalizations of our dominant mental and spiritual states.  An emotional shock, or a mind filled with thoughts of fear, has been known to cause the momentary stoppage or acceleration of the heart.  Physicians now testify that, under emotional stress, particularly anger, the blood leaves a chemical deposit around the joints in the body.  Worry, fear anger, jealousy, and other emotional conditions, are mental in their nature, and as such are being recognized as the hidden cause of a large part of all the physical suffering to which the flesh is heir.  A normal healthy mind reflects itself in a healthy body, and conversely, an abnormal mental state expresses its corresponding condition in some physical condition.  Thoughts are things!

Modern psychology affirms that all the thoughts and emotions we have experienced since we came into conscious existence are still present in Mind, where ceaselessly active they manifest themselves as subjective tendencies that mold the body in health or sickness; and determine, as well, our reactions to all life and experience.

We do not maintain that this or that specific disease is always the result of thinking about such a condition; but we do assert that a prolonged discordant mental state is certain to eventuate in some form of physical ailment.  People have died of great grief; of broken hearts; of outburst of temper; of deep and continued resentment; of excessive worry, and many other mental states, in which there was no specific thought of sickness at all.  The point to remember is, that all mind activity inevitably tends to create its physical correspondent, so that an unhealthful and morbid mental state projects itself into the physical body.

Thoughts are things, they have the power to objectify themselves; thought lays hold of Causation and forms real Substance.  The word of man is the law of his life, under the One Great Law of all Life.  Thoughts of sickness can make a man sick, and thoughts of health and perfection can heal him.  Thought is the conscious activity of the one thinking, and works as he directs, through Law; and this Law may be consciously set in motion.  This Law will work for him to the fullest extent of his belief in, and understanding of, It.  A realization of the Presence of God is the most powerful healing agency known to the mind of man.

One with God

Until we awake to the fact that we are One in nature with God, we shall not find the way of life. Until we realize that our own word has the power of life, we will not see clearly.  The Bible points out that man has the same power, in his own life and in his own world, that it claims for God.  "The Word was with God and the Word was God," is an oft-repeated but little understood statement.  The promise to man is equally positive:  "The word is nigh thee, even in thine own mouth that thou shouldst know it and do it."  If any word has power, it follows that all words have power.  It means that every word which we hear, speak or think, has some power."