July 30 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

GENERAL SUMMARY

By Ernest Holmes

“We attract to ourselves the objective form of our subjective embodiments.  Law knows how to make things out of ideas.  We do not consciously know how It does this; nor do we know how corned beef and cabbage are turned into flesh and bone, but they are and we have been so accustomed to the thought that they are, that we have implicit faith that they will continue to be.  Should we doubt this phenomenon we should be thought [strange].  When we believe in the Law of Mind in the same way we shall be surprised at the results we receive.

Thoughts of lack, poverty and limitation contain within themselves the conditions necessary to produce lack, poverty and limitation.  Remember that we are not dealing with two powers, but with one, ever presenting Itself in varying guises.  “To the pure thou wilt show thyself pure; to the froward thou wilt show thyself froward.”  It will become to us what we are to It.  The Law knows us only as we first know ourselves.  We make up Its mind because Its mind is subjective.  The Spirit controls the Law.  This is the great mystery, the limitless wonder of the universe – that, which out of nothing, can make something.  But Its nothing is really the Substance of every something.

Because all people have believed in lack a law of human thought has been made which binds the race.  Limitation is the result of an ignorant use of the Law.  Every advance in any science proves this to be true.  The real Law is one of freedom.  By that freedom we bind ourselves until we learn how to change the thought and by so doing to change the limitation into freedom.  The two are merely a different use of the One Law.

Limitation is a condensation of the idea of want.  Mind accepts this idea as though it were true and then makes it true in our experience.  It is not always easy to see this nor is it easy to rise above it, but it can be done and we should begin at once to control our thought patterns in such a way that they will produce plenty instead of lack.

The Law of Mind is not selective.  That is, It is receptive without caring what It receives.  It is creative without caring what It creates.  It knows how to do without consciously knowing that It is doing or what It is doing.  It seems strange that the first thing to realize is that there could be such a Law in the universe.  But on second thought we find that all natural laws are of a like character, no natural law is ever selective of itself.  This is why we must realize that the Spirit Itself is more than any or all laws as we understand them.  Conscious mind controls the Law of Mind.  The Law of Mind is sensitive but not conscious from the standpoint of having any selective quality.  Selectivity is the office of the conscious mind while creativeness is the office of the Inner Mind.

Thoughts of lack manifest as limitation.  Thoughts of abundance manifest as success and happiness.  Failure and success are but two ends of one stick.  All conditions and every circumstance is of the nature of effects and can in no way limit Mind unless we take them as a fresh starting point for a creative pattern.  The thought that any given condition is a thing of itself tends to make it appear to be a thing of itself.  Reverse the thought and the condition tends to become reversed.

The Law can know no conditions as such.  It knows form but not size.  Outline is real but limitation is unreal to Mind.  In the Absolute nothing depends on anything but ideas.  Ideas are form, condition, circumstance, cause and effect, and everything that happens between cause and effect.  This is what a treatment is.  It is a thing of itself if we know that it is.  It is what we know it to be.

“Fear not, little flock, it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”  Fear is the great enemy of man.  But fear is a mental attitude and as such can be converted into something else.  Fear is the reverse mental attitude to faith, and is a result of the lack of faith.  Fear brings limitation and lack in its wake and destroys the happiness and possibility of a greater degree of livingness to those who suffer from it.

Fear blocks the more complete givingness of the Spirit to Its highest form of manifestation on this planet, which is mankind.  Fear arises from that mental attitude which limits the possibility and the willingness of Spirit to give us the good we so greatly desire.  There is nothing wrong in the desire for self-expression.  God is more completely expressed through the man who lives largely than through the one who lives meagerly.

Fear is a belief in limitation, a denial that the Divine is the Center and the Source of all good.  We must do all in our power to overcome it.  “Perfect love casts out fear;” that is, confidence overcomes the depression of doubt.  Mental depression can produce physical and financial depression.  The psychology of economic cycles proves this.  In the midst of plenty humanity lives in want, because of fear.   To overcome fear is the greatest adventure of the mind of man.”

June 24 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MENTAL EQUIVALENTS
By Ernest Holmes

"Why is it that Jesus could say to the paralyzed man, "Take up thy bed and walk"?  Because Jesus knew when he said this that the man would get up and walk.  HE NOT ONLY BELIEVED THAT THERE WAS SOMETHING TO RESPOND TO HIM BUT HE HAD AN EQUIVALENT OF ITS RESPONSE, which is just as necessary.

The Law is Infinite and Perfect but in order to make a demonstration WE MUST HAVE A MENTAL EQUIVALENT OF THE THING WE DESIRE.  A demonstration, like anything else in the objective life, is born out of a mental concept.  The mind is the fashioning factor, and according to its range, vision and positiveness, will be the circumstance or experience.  For example:  If one sees only unloveliness in others, it is because unloveliness is a strong element in himself.  The light he throws on others is generated in his own soul and he sees them as he chooses to see them.  He holds constantly in his mind a mental equivalent of unloveliness and creates unlovely reactions toward himself.  He is getting back what he is sending out.  If a man believes himself to be a failure and that it is useless for him to try to be anything else, he carries with him the mental equivalent of failure.  So he succeeds in being a failure according to law.  This is his demonstration.   Having a strong picture or mental concept, and holding to that equivalent regardless of circumstances or condition, we must sooner or later manifest according to the concept.

It follows, then, that the range of our possibilities at the present time does not extend far beyond the range of our present concepts.  As we bring ourselves to a greater vision, we induce a greater concept and thereby demonstrate more in our experience.  In this way there is a continuous growth and unfoldment taking place.  We do not expect to give a treatment today, for prosperity, and have a million dollars tomorrow.  But little by little we can unfold our consciousness, through the acquisition of greater and still greater mental equivalents, until at last we shall be made free.

The way to proceed is to begin right where we are.  It is not scientific to attempt to begin somewhere else.  One who understands the systematic use of the Law will understand that he is where he is because of what he is, but he will not say, "I must remain where I am, because of what I am."  Instead he will begin to disclaim what he appears to be.  As his statements release wrong subjective tendencies, providing in their place a correct concept of life and Reality, he will automatically be lifted out of his condition; impelling forces sweeping everything before them, will set him free, if he trusts in Spirit and the working of the Law.

Stay with the One and never deviate from It, never leave It for a moment.  Nothing else can equal this attitude.  TO DESERT THE TRUTH IN THE HOUR OF NEED IS TO PROVE THAT WE DO NOT KNOW THE TRUTH.  When things look the worst, that is the supreme moment to demonstrate, to ourselves, that there are no obstructions to the operation of Truth.  When things look the worst is the best time to work, the most satisfying time.  The person who can throw himself with a complete abandon into that Limitless Sea of Receptivity, having cut loose from all apparent moorings, is the one wo will always receive the greatest reward."

June 4 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Do Not Try to Go Beyond Your Understanding ~ Ernest Holmes

"Since our spiritual understanding is not sufficient to enable us to mentally set bones, we call in a surgeon; since we cannot walk on the water, we take a boat.  We can go only as far as our spiritual knowledge takes us.  Principle is Infinite, but we shall demonstrate Its power only at the level of our concept of It.  Every day we shall have made new discoveries - laws which have always existed but which have not as yet been utilized.

Do not let any one discourage or belittle your efforts by asking, "Why don't you walk on the water?  Jesus did."  Do not be sidetracked by any of these futile suggestions, these mental obstructions which an unbeliever would seek to throw in your path.  If we had the understanding which Jesus had, we would be able to walk on the water.  I am not at all confused by the fact that we do not do this today.  Someday one will come along who knows how to walk on or over the water.

We are probably on the verge of a great spiritual awakening.  People are so tired of looking for things where they do not exist, that they are going to more and more completely open their thought to the realization that Spirit is an active Presence.  But if we spend our entire time trying to find out why It does not work, we shall never find out how and why It does work.  Arguing is often a waste of time.  Somehow there must come to each individual an interior conviction, that we are One with the Universe, and that the Spirit flows through us at the lever of our recognition and embodiment of It.  For this is "the way, the truth and the life."

People say:  "I can't take off my glasses."  Then wear them but begin to make the declaration that there is One Perfect Vision seeing through you.  This the Truth.  If this statement becomes a subjective realization, you will be healed, will no longer need glasses.

If a plaster will relieve, use it.  If a pill does any good, take it, but gradually try to lead the thought from where it is into the higher realms of consciousness where the soul recognizes its own I-Am-ness.

Suppose one is unable to convince himself of the Truth of the statement which he makes, how is he going to bring himself to a place of belief?  By repeating his affirmation, dwelling on its meaning, meditating up on the spiritual significance of it, until the subjective state of his thinking becomes clarified.  This is the only reason for repeating treatments, for one treatment would heal if there were no subjective doubts.  Repeated treatments induce, within consciousness, a definite concept of an already established truth, even though the fact may not as yet have become objectified.  This is why mental healing is scientific.  There is no room for doubt in a treatment.

Realize that you treat with your understanding; by your own choice you decide to give a treatment, but the treatment becomes operative through the Law.  Never say:  "I am not good enough to treat."  In God there are no good, better or best.

Do not allow yourself to become superstitious, for you are dealing with a normal, natural law in the mental and spiritual world.  This law is just as real as any other known law.  Never say:  "I am not sure that I have enough power to treat."  You can never heal with this mental attitude, for that implies that you think you are doing the healing.  Rather, say:  "As I let fall the forms of my thought, they are operated upon by Principles in which I believe.  This is the law of God, the law of man, and the law of the Universe."  Never say, or think:  "This disease is hard to heal, while that presented yesterday was easy."  If you find yourself saying this, at once heal yourself.  Such a belief comes from the thought that we are dealing with a limited power, and that such power knows degrees of discomfort.  The truth is that there is but One Power and that Power knows only Perfection."

April 30 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

GENERAL SUMMARY Continued ~ Ernest Holmes

"The engine of the Subjective Mind must be guided.  It is neither person, place nor thing of Itself.  It is Subjective to the desire of man, consequently It has for him only the power he decrees It to have.

Because thought is made of the stuff that forms the universe into definite creation the Law is charged with the power that we give It.  No more and no less.  It responds by correspondence.  It is a mirror and a perfect one.  It molds our ideas and beliefs into visible form and casts them back multiplied.  It does not know that It is doing this, but It knows how to do it.  This is one of the great enigmas of the universe.

The nature of Reality is such that Universal Mind has unlimited power but so far as man is concerned It has only the power which he gives to It.  He gives It power when he says, "I am weak, sick or unhappy."  It says for him what he first says for himself.  And since for countless ages, man has believed that which is not true of God, his body and environment reflect this limited concept of the Universe.  This Law is a force in nature to be used and brought under conscious control of the spirit of man which is his conscious mind.  Man's conscious mind is the consciousness of God in him.

Mind as Law is helpless without direction.  It has nowhere to go and nothing to do of Itself.  IT MUST BE DIRECTED OR IT WILL DO NOTHING OF PERMANENT WORTH FOR MAN.  Mind as Law is an abstraction, merely a possibility.  Man is a concrete knower; he is the consciousness of Spirit, individualized, the personality of God multiplied.  Spiritual man is One with Spiritual God.  Spirit operates through man as self-knowingness and this makes man distinct and different from all other creations so far as mentality is concerned.  Mind as Law is unconscious Intelligence and lives only through man.  It is his to command, his servant.  It has no desire of Its own.  Man is Its desire, will and purpose.

While Mind as Law is always subjective to man's desire, we must not forget that It has Infinite Intelligence within Itself.  It is Mind in the abstract and in the unformed.  It is Mind in an unthought state, so to speak.  It takes concrete form from desires and mental images impressed upon It.  It resides within us for the purpose of being used and It should be used definitely and with conscious knowledge that It is being used for specific purposes.  It will do for us whatever we wish It to do provided we first create the thought mold.

God as Conscious Mind is Spirit.  God as Subjective Mind is Law.  God as Conscious Mind is Self-knowing but the Law of God's Mind, like all other laws of nature, is given us to be used.

The Law of Mind obeys the orders that are given It whether we are conscious or unconscious that such orders are being given.  Being entirely sensitive to our thought and by its very nature absolutely receptive as well as intelligent and responsive to it - and at the same time being creative - it is easy to see what a tremendous power we have at our conscious disposal.

The Universal Mind in Its subjective state is what we mean by the Law of Mind.  The subjective Medium is limitless and can do anything that we may wish It to do.  It must obey the conscious thought since It has no power to reason other than deductively.  This is why conscious thought has power.  Power and energy are phases of mind acting as law.  Mind in all its phases is some part of God.  Man is some part of God and since God or Spirit is a complete and a perfect Unit then man's mind is simply the place where he individualizes as God."

April 16 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Conviction ~ Ernest Holmes

"Mental Science does not deny the divinity of Jesus; but it does affirm the divinity of all people.  It does not deny that Jesus was the son of God; but it affirms that all men are the sons of God. It does not deny that the kingdom of God was revealed through Jesus; but it says that the kingdom of God is also revealed through you and me.

Jesus said:  "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you."  Faith is centered in, and co-operates with, Divine Mind.

Because we fail to realize that Principle is not bound by precedent, we limit our faith to that which has already been accomplished, and few "miracles" result.  When, through intuition, faith finds its proper place under Divine Law, there are no limitations, and what are called miraculous results follow.

While Jesus remained with the disciples, their faith for the most part was of the same essence as his, but as the years passed and his followers became more and more immersed in objective organization, they ceased to preach the necessity of a living faith.  In fact, a few hundred years later, the Christians where teaching that the early "miracles" merely provide the divinity of Jesus!

If we are to have an active faith - the faith of God instead of merely a faith in God - our thought must be centered in Universal Mind.  We are convinced that under Divine Law all things are possible, if we only believe, and work in conformity with the principles of that Law. Such a faith does not spring full-orbed into being, but grows by knowledge and experience.  No matter what the outside appearance, we must cling steadfastly to the knowledge that God is good, and God is all, underneath, above and round about.  Thus we shall be able to say, with conviction:  "I know in whom I have believed...""

March 3 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Activity of the One Mind ~ Ernest Holmes

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

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

February 25 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

THE NATURE of BEING (continued) ~ Ernest Holmes

"Man's idea of Deity evolves with his other ideas. After a belief in many gods, he comes to realize there is One Mind and One Spirit back of all manifestation.  One Spirit, or Self-Conscious Life, acting through the medium of One Mind or Subjective Law, producing many manifestations. Multiplicity comes from Unity without breaking up the Unity of the Whole.

Spirit is Self-Knowing, but Law is automatic and obeys the Will of Spirit, having no alternative other than to obey.  Like all law, the Law of Mind is an impersonal force, and because of Its nature It is compelled to act.

Soul and Universal Subjective Mind have the same meaning, and are the Creative Medium of all thought and action.  Soul is also the Substance of Spirit, the unformed Stuff, from which all forms are evolved.

Spirit, acting upon Soul, produces Creation.  Spirit, Soul and Substance intersphere each other, each being omnipresent.  Creation takes place within Spirit, and is the result of the contemplation or the self-knowingness of Spirit.  Creation is eternally going on; change is always taking place within that which is Changeless.  forms appear and disappear in a Medium which of Itself is formless.

Spirit thinks or knows within Itself, and, as a result of this inner action, Creation manifests.  Creation is the play of Life upon Itself, through Divine Self-Imagination.  Spirit must create in order to be expressed.  Spirit, Life, Soul, Substance, Law and Unity are all Co-Existent and Co-Eternal with each other.  The only thing that changes is form.  Spirit makes things out of Itself by becoming the thing It makes.  There is no effort in the process.

Conscious Mind and Spirit have the same meaning:  that part of Reality which is Self-Knowing.

Subconscious and Subjective Mind, Soul and Mental Medium, Universal Subjectivity and Law, all have the same meaning:  that part of Reality which acts as Law.

Body, Creation, or the manifest universe, is the result of Spirit acting through Law.  Body, Creation, or the manifest Universe is a result of the Knowingness of Spirit.

Spirit alone is Self-Conscious.  Law and manifestation are automatic reactions to Spirit.

Soul, or Subjective Mind, Substance or unformed Stuff, and Conscious Spirit permeate all things and all people.  There is an Intelligence acting through everything, and everything responds to this Intelligence.

It cannot be too plainly stated that Spirit, or Conscious Intelligence, is the only Self-Assertive Principle in the Universe.  "Spirit is the Power that knows Itself," and is the only Power that is self-knowing, everything else is subject to Spirit.  The sole and only operation of Spirit is through Its Word, acting as Law through Substance, producing Creation."

February 20 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Unity ~ Ernest Holmes

"Our teaching is that man actually has a body; that he actually has a subjective life and that he actually is a spirit.  Body, soul, and spirit represent a point where individuality is accentuated in Universality.  It is only through this conception that we can arrive at a consciousness of the Unity of the Whole.  In other words, if I have one mind and you have one mind and God has another Mind...three separate minds...I cannot talk with you and you cannot talk with God.  If your mind and my mind were not the same mind, we would have no way by which to communicate with each other.  Thus we are forced to the conclusion that there is but One Mind.  Each individual, however, is a unique variation in the Universe; no two people are alike and yet all people are rooted in that which is identical. 

We recognize, then, in man's self-knowing mind his Unity with the Whole; for while a drop of water is not the ocean, yet it does contain within itself all the attributes of the limitless deep.  Man's self-knowing mind is the instrument which perceives Reality and cognizes or realizes Truth. All illumination, inspiration, and realization must come through the self-knowing mind in order to manifest in man.  Vision, intuition and revelation proclaim themselves through man's self-knowing  mind; and the saints and sages, the Saviours and Christs, the prophets and seers, the wise and learned have all consciously perceived and proclaimed this fact.

Every evidence of human experience, all acts of kindness and mercy, have interpreted themselves through man's self-knowing mind.  All that we consciously know, say or think, feel or believe, hope or long for, fear or doubt, is some reaction of the self-knowing mind. Subjective memories we have, and unexpressed emotions we feel, but to the self-knowing mind alone comes realization. Without this capacity to consciously know, man would not exist as an expressed being; and so far as we are concerned, would not exist at all.  The self-knowing mind of man proclaims itself in every thought, deed or act, and is truly the only guarantee of his divinity. It is his unity with the Whole, or God on the conscious side of life, and is an absolute guarantee that he is a center of God-consciousness in this vast Whole.

We will say, then, that in Spirit man is One with God.  But what of the great Law of the Universe?  If we are really One with the Whole, we must be One with the Law of the Whole, as well as One with the Spirit.  Again psychology has determined the fact to be more than fancy. The characteristics of the subconscious mind of man determine his Subjective Unity with the Universe of Life, Law and Action.

In the subjective mind of man we find a law obeying his word, the servant of his spirit, the mental law of his being, the creative factor within him.  This is our individual use of that greater Subjective Mind of the Universe, which is the seat of all law and action. Marvelous as this concept may be, it is none the less true that man has at his disposal in what he calls his subjective mind, a power which is Limitless.  Man's thought becomes the law of his life, through the one great Law of all Life. There are not two subjective minds; there is but One Subjective Mind, and what we call our subjective mind is really the use we are making of this One Law. 

Each individual maintains his identity in Law, through his personal use of Law, and each is drawing from Life what he thinks into it.  To learn how to think is to learn how to live.  Man, by thinking, can bring into his experience whatever he desires if he thinks correctly.  This is not done by holding thoughts, but by knowing the Truth. There is a vast difference, a difference which too few realize.

Modern science tends toward a teaching of Unity; tends to resolve the material universe into a physical universe, and the physical universe into energy. The tendency of modern thought is to return, by the route of inductive science, to the great spiritual deductions of the ages - that All is One.  But men are still puzzled, trying to reconcile the world of multiplicity - the objective world of many things - to their belief in the final necessity of Unity.  Every great spiritual teacher has known that God is One - not two. they have also known that evil exists in the world - what we mean by evil is apparent limitation - poverty, sickness, death and what we call sin, which is nothing more than a mistake.

How are we going to reconcile suffering and lack with the Goodness of God?  The difficulty is solved when we realize that all creation is an effect.  It is real enough - as real as it is supposed to be.  As you look about you, the mountain is a mountain, and the molehill is a molehill, the dust storm is a dust storm; but they are all effects.  As you enter your garden and observe the bamboo tree, the grape fruit, and the many other variations of form, you see each is rooted in the one creative soil, and each is individualizing out of this creative soil that which is unique. The type maintains its integrity always.

We observe in creation an atomic intelligence, then a simple consciousness; after which comes a personal consciousness, then a Cosmic consciousness.  These variations of consciousness are definitely defined and accepted by most investigators. As we watch the transition from the atomic to the simple intelligence, from the simple to the personal from the personal to the Cosmic, we find that we are merely going up a scale of Unity.  The Spirit is not something apart from matter so-called, but is something working through matter; the potential possibility of what we call the highest and the lowest is inherent in everything.  They are not different things. They are the same thing functioning at different levels. "It is neither Lo here nor Lo there, for behold the Kingdom of God is within."

There are different mental depths and heights fro which we may look out upon life; from whatever level we look, that which we see comes back to us  by an invariable law of attraction.  That which we look upon is real while we look at it.  We arrive at a consciousness of Unity only in such degree as we see that what we are lookin FOR , we are looking WITH, and looking AT. Heaven is lost merely for the lack of a perception of harmony.  Hell is the phantom abode of our morbid imaginations.  Heaven and Hell are states of consciousness."

February 16 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Freedom or Bondage ~ Ernest Holmes

"We, therefore, arrive at the conclusion that while bondage is an experience, there is a Reality to which bondage is not real.  To that Reality bondage is not even an illusion or hallucination; there is a part of us that is never fooled.  That is why, in the midst of the greatest trial, death, or any human suffering, something rises from within and says with Job:  "Though I die, yet shall I live."

Freedom of will means the ability to do, say, and think as one wishes; to express life as one personally desires, to be able merely to think and dream of freedom would not be liberty. A prisoner under a life sentence can do that.  To imagine, without the power to manifest such imagination, would be to remain in a dream world which would never come to self-realization; this is not the world in which man lives at all, for man's world is one of self-expression, even though this expression appears to limit him.

We are in an Infinite Mind and Infinite Mind is also in us.  It is by this Mind that we think.  This Mind is eternal therefore, we are eternal.  This Mind is complete, therefore, we are spiritually complete, thought we do not appear to be so.  This does not alter the fact that potential man is just as perfect as is the inherent God.  As Jesus said:  "Fear no, little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom;" if it is the Father's good pleasure to give us the Kingdom we should learn how to receive and use It.

A freedom under compulsion would amount to the worst kind of bondage.  The Bible says:  "If there had been any law whereby this freedom could be compelled, then verily by the law would that freedom have been given."  If there had been a way by which the Divine Creative Principle could have compelled man to suddenly appear on the scene of experience full-orbed with all his freedom - and still be an individual- then verily by the law would this have been done.  But even God could not do this. The only way God can evolve a spontaneous individual is to let him alone and allow him to awaken to himself.  "Behold I stand at the door and knock..."

So man must be created with the possibility of limitless freedom and let alone to discover himself.  On the road to self-discovery he must be subject to the Law of Reality, and if in ignorance he violates this Law, he must thereby suffer.  This is not, however, because any Divine decree ordains suffering but simply because it is the necessity of the case.  God never intended man to suffer.  Suffering may be salutary in that it leads us to a place where we learn that it is unnecessary!  We shall cease to suffer as we more and more comply with the Laws of the Universe, all suffering is the result of some infringement of these Laws. It is a solace to the mind when we come to understand that all human limitation, from the standpoint of the Divinity within us, is unnecessary.  We recognize that we experience pain, but how could there bean eternal reality to pain?  If this were true, we would have a suffering Universe, a suffering God, an agonizing Deity, all of which seem untrue, unreal and impossible.

We must know definitely and consistently that the Universe is for us and not against us.  But someone will say "The Universe is not for us, look at the evil, the limitation, lack and physical pain and anguish of the human race."  We shall have to learn that evil is neither person, place nor thing of itself, but is an experience which we are allowed to have - because of our divine individuality - until through negative experiences we learn to use the Law affirmatively, to cooperate with It, and thus to enjoy Its full benefits, for the true Law is a Law of Liberty and not of bondage.  The Universe is fool-proof.  It does say we can have what we can take, while at the same time we must expect toe experience the logical result of our thought and act, be it good or what we call evil.

The meaning of freedom implies the possibility of suffering, because if we are free we are free only by virtue of the possibility of choosing more than one course of action as an experience.  There is no freedom or happiness, as a spontaneous individuality, unless there can be a temporary restriction of bondage and unhappiness through the wrong use of freedom.  (All things are possible to the Infinite, but the Infinite forever remains true to Its own nature and never contradicts Itself.)

If man takes his images of thought only from his previous experiences, then he continues in the bondage which those previous experiences create.  If we talk about discord, we shall become more discordant.  The more the world arms for war, the more certain it is that there will be war. People who spend all their time talking about their unhappiness become more unhappy.  Jesus understood these great laws of cause and effect in the Universe, which work sometimes with apparent slowness but always with sureness.  Eventually we shall understand that all human bondage is an invention of ignorance."

February 12 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Unity and Multiplicity ~ Ernest Holmes

"The stuff out of which our human bodies are made is the same etheric substance from which all things are made. The One Mind conceives all things.  From Unity - which is the One, back of all things, through the One Law, which is the Medium of all action - multiplicity is manifested, but the many never contradict the Unity of the whole.  When we realize that we are dealing with an Infinite Intelligence, and with an Infinite Law within this Intelligence, we see that no limit should be placed upon the Creative Principle.

Could we understand Absolute Causation, we should perceive It to be pure Intelligence operating through perfect Law, and producing effects which live and have their being, not by virtue of an isolated life buy by reason of a Universal Unity which permeates all things.  We should then see that the world of multiplicity is deep-rooted in a Universe of Unity; that nothing happens by chance; that we live under a government of Law - from the vast planetary system to a garden of roses; from the Archangel (the Christ), to the saint and the sinner; through good an in what is called evil.  Thorough cosmic activities and in human destinies, we behold the vast objective panorama of invisible, but adequate, subjective causes.

We should not separate Life from living, Spirit from matter, nor Divine Principle from a Universal Creation.  God is "All in all."  That is, God IS, and is in everything.  The gardener finds a divine idea concealed in the seed; loosed into action this idea produces a plant.  The geologist finds the imprint of invisible forces in the rock.  The evolutionist reads the history of cosmic activities on this planet, as he deciphers the unfolding of an Intelligent Life Force carrying creation forward to its consummation point here, which is the production of self-conscious life.  The scientist finds an energy concealed in the atom, and the spiritual genius discloses an intuitive knowledge, which can be accounted for only on the theory that we lie in "the lap of an Infinite Intelligence."

So close is the union of creation with the Creator, that it is impossible to say where one begins and the other leaves off.  Emerson tells us that nature is Spirit reduced to Its greatest thinness; and Spinoza says that Mind and matter are the same thing; while Jesus proclaimed that the very words which he spoke were Spirit and were life.  Robert Browning writes of the spark which we may desecrate, but never quite lose, and he further announces that all are gods, "though in the germ."  Wordsworth sings that Heaven is that native home of all mankind, and Tennyson exclaims that more things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams, while Shakespeare perceived sermons in stones and good in everything.

We are on the verge of disclosing a spiritual Universe, and will ultimately conclude that what we call the physical universe is a spontaneous emergence, through evolution of inner forces which cannot be explained, but which must be accepted.  How, then, can we doubt that the very mind which we now use is the Intelligent Principle from which all life draws its power to be and its intelligence to express?

The furtherance of evolution depends upon our ability to sense a unity with Nature and her forces.  When the knowledge of this unity comes alike to all, the tread of armies will cease and the bugle call will echo the soft notes of brotherly love."

February 2 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

SOUL ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

Creative Medium

"We have spoken of the threefold Nature of Reality or God- the Trinity of Being- as Spirit, Soul and Body:  Conscious Intelligence, Subjective Law, and Form.  This threefold unity of Reality has been taught by most of the great spiritual philosophies and religions that have been given to the world.

We are using the word "Soul" in the sense of a Universal Soul, or Medium, through which Spirit operates.  It is the Holy Ghost, or third Person of the Chistian Trinity.  Like the creative soil, in which seeds are planted and from which plant life comes, the Soul of the Universe is the Creative Medium into which the Word of Spirit falls and from which Creation arises.

We should not, however, think of Soul and Spirit as separate from each other.  They are really two parts or aspects of the same thing, each being Self-Existent and Co-Eternal with the other.  The term Subjective Mind is used in speaking of the Univeral Soul, rather than the term Subconscious Mind, to avoid the impression that subjective means unconscious.  MIND NEVER COULD BE UNCONSCIOUS!  The Soul is subjective to Spirit, receives impressions from Spirit.  The Subjective Mind which we call Soul, is not a knower in the sense that Spirit is, i.e., It is not Self-Conscious.  It knows only to do without knowing why It does.  It is a doer or executor of the will of the Spirit and has no choice of Its own.  It is the business of Soul to reflect the images that Spirit casts into It.

Subjective Intelligence

The Soul is immaterial as we think of matter, but It is the Substance of Spirit and perhaps we could use the expression, "the matter of Spirit."  As all matter in the physical world is supposed finally to resolve into the ether form which it came, we may think of the Substance of Soul as we think of the ether of science, and realize that all form finally becomes Soul-Stuff again.

Perhaps the simplest way would be to think of It as the last and final analysis of matter.  (We continue to use this word in the face of the knowledge that scientists, in theory, have already done away with matter.)  We know that matter comes from somewhere, and the teaching is that Soul-Stuff is the source from which it comes.  We must, however, distinguish Soul-Stuff from Soul.  Soul is Subjective Intelligence, the Principle just beneath Spirit; for, while Soul may not have the conscious Intelligence to choose, It certainly has the Intelligence to execute the desire of Spirit.  IT IS NEVER IN ANY SENSE UNCONSCIOUS.  The Soul of the Universe is next in Principle to Spirit and is the servant of Spirit.  The term "Soul-Stuff" refers to the primordial or undifferentiated Substance from which all things are made.

While the Soul may not choose, having no self-consciousness of Its own, yet It has an Intelligence which is infinite, compared to the intelligence which we exhibit.  For instance, the combined intelligence of the race could not create the life of a plant, yet the Intelligence in the creative soil of the earth will produce as many for us as we ask, when we plant the seed of that which we wish to have created.

The same principle holds good in that greater Creative Medium of the Spirit, which we call the Soul of the Universe.  It has the Intelligence and Power to produce, but no choice as to what It is to produce.  Having no conscious mind of Its own, It receives all ideas given It, and tends to create a form around them.  If It could choose, It could reject, and this is as impossible as for the soil to say, "You must not plant spinach this year, you must plant cauliflower."  We can imagine what consternation would prevail throughout the world if just once the soil failed to function according to the law of its nature.  We need not be disturbed by such a fear.  It is bound to accept and to act.  It does not argue but at once begins to create a likeness of the pattern given it.  If we say "petunias," right back to us it says "petunias," and begins immediately the business of producing them.  Being a neutral, creative medium which knows neither good nor bad, it is conscious only of its own ability to do.  This is why some of the earlier philosophers referred to the Universal Soul, or Creative Medium, as a "blind force, not knowing, only doing."  This we know to be true of the nature of all law.  We are not discussing the Nature of the Spirit.  We are talking about Law.

Law

It must be apparent by now that the Creative Medium of Spirit is the great Mental Law of the Universe.  It is the Law, obeying the Will of the Spirit; It is the Universal Law of Mind.  All law is Mind in action.  Soul is the Medium through which all Law and all Power operate.  Being subjective, It cannot analyze, dissect or deny.  Because of Its Nature, It must always accept.  The Karmic Law, which means the Law of Cause and Effect, works through the medium of the Universal Soul, which is the Creative Principle of Nature and the Law of Spirit.

Let us bear in mind that neither Spirit nor the Soul of the Universe were ever created.  Each is eternal. Because this impartial, impersonal Soul is the medium through which Spirit works, and because It is a "blind force not knowing, only doing," It was called by the ancients "Maya," from which arose the teachings of the illusions of the mind - the mirror of the mind.

What is termed Subjective Mind, as the average person comprehends it, has no existence.  In reality, there is no such thing as your subject mind and my subjective mind.  If our subjective minds were isolated and things of themselves, we would be so completely separated that there would be no means by which we could communicate with each other. The next great bridge that psychology must cross is a recognition that what is called your subjective mind and my subjective mind is merely the place where Universal Subjectivity, the Creative Medium Itself, reacts to our personal use of It.

Within us, then, there is a creative field which we call subjective mind, and around us there is a field which we call Universal subjectivity.  One is Universal, the other individual, but in reality they are one.  There is One mental Law in the Universe and where we use It, It becomes our law, because we have individualized It.  It is impossible to plumb the depths of the individual mind, because it is not really individual but individualized.

Behind or within the individualized point is the Universal, which has no limits.  In this concept alone lies the possibility of an endless and an eternal expansion.  Everyone is Universal on the subjective side of life and individual only at the point of conscious perception.  We use the power of the Universal Mind every time we think!"

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 20 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

No Mystery in Truth ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

Faith in a certain specific statement has power consciously to oppose, neutralize, erase and obliterate the opposite mental attitude.  It is because of this fact that this study is a science that can definitely be used, and we must accept it as such.  The mystery with which most people surround the search for Truth, relative to this Principle, is not read out of It, but is read into It.

It stands to reason that if thought and faith, prayer, hope and appreciation are anything at all, they are definite; and if they are definite, they must be specific; if they are specific, then they unquestionably must accomplish their desire.

Hope a Subtle Illusion

Many people correctly begin their treatment in this manner:  "I know that the Principle of Intelligence within me will direct me, etc.," then they complete it with the thought:  "Well, I certainly hope it does."  This is entirely forgetting any definite statement, and is simply wondering if possibly some good will come along.  This is not a correct treatment, and is not the scientific use of this Principle.

Hope is good; it is better than despair, but it is a subtle illusion and is an unconscious compromise, and has no part in an effective mental treatment.  We should say to doubt:  "where did you come from, who is your father, etc....You have no place in my mind.  Get out!  I know that the faith within me now neutralizes ALL doubt."  This is the scientific use of a mental statement.  There must be no compromise with the consciousness.

We have discovered what the Principle is and How It Works, and now this is What It Does.  Specifically turn to that thought which tells us we do not know how to use It and repudiate the falsehood. The Principle that we have to demonstrate is perfect, and - in so far as we can compel the mind to perceive this perfection - so far it will automatically demonstrate.  Experience has proved this to be true.

We waste much time in arguing over things that cannot be answered.  When we have arrived at the ultimate, THAT IS THE ULTIMATE.  It is the way the Thing works.  Therefore, we have a right to say that there is a law involved, and that this Law executes the word.  We discover laws, find out how they work and then begin to use them.  Therefore, this question is answered, when we say it is the nature of thought and of the Creative Energy, and the nature of Being TO BE THIS WAY.  We would say that Law is an attribute of God.  God did not make Law; It co-exists with the Eternal. The Infinite Law and the Infinite Intelligence are but two sides of the Infinite Unity.  One balances the other and they are the great personal and impersonal principles in the universe.  Evolution is the out-working of the mechanical, and involution is the in-working of the conscious and the volitional.

No Limit to Thought

When we think, something happens to thought. The field through which thought operates is Infinite.  There is no reason to doubt it.  No matter how it is approached, to thought there can be no limit, so we will say that it is the nature of Being to react in this way.  Here and now, we are surrounded by, and immersed in, an Infinite Good. How much of this Infinite Good is ours?  ALL OF IT!  And how much of It may we have to use?  AS MUCH OF IT AS WE CAN EMBODY.

January 19 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

The Principle Re-stated ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

"Let us restate our Principle.  We are surrounded by an Infinite Possibility.  It is Goodness, Life, Law and Reason.  In expressing Itself through us, It becomes more fully conscious of Its own being.  Therefore, It wishes to express through us.  As It passes into our being, It automatically becomes the law of our lives.  It can pass into expression through us only as we consciously allow It to do so.  Therefore, we should have faith in It, and Its desires and Its ability to do for us all that we shall ever need to have done.  Since It must pass through our consciousness to operate for us, we must be conscious that It is doing so.

The one who wishes to demonstrate some particular good must become conscious of this particular good, if he wishes to experience it.  Therefore, he must make his mind receptive to it and he must do this consciously.  There is no hocus-pocus in a mental treatment.  It is always definite, conscious, concrete and explicit.  We are dealing with Intelligence, and should deal with It intelligently.

There is no occult trick in giving scientific treatments.  It is just the reverse. Simplicity should mark our every effort and positivity should accompany all statements that we make into the law of Good.

The Secret Already Known

A treatment is a statement in the Law, embodying the concrete idea of our desires and accompanied by an unqualified faith that the Law works for us, as we work with It.  Let us waste no further time looking for the secret of success or the key to happiness.  Already the door is open and whosoever will may enter.

Undoubtedly, each of us is now demonstrating his concept of life, but trained through is far more powerful than untrained, and the one who give conscious power to his thought should be more careful what he thinks than the one who does not.  The more power one gives to his thought - the more completely he believes that his thought has power - the more power will it have.

Treatment Active, Not Passive

A treatment is an active thing.  When one gives a treatment, he is not sitting around, hoping that something may happen.  He ids definitely, constructively, actively stating, sensing, knowing some specific good.  This is in accord with the Principle which we seek to demonstrate.   If we give treatments without a definite motive in mind, the most we can accomplish will be to promote a salutary atmosphere.  A passive meditation will never produce an active demonstration, any more than an artist can paint a picture by sitting down with his paints but never using them.

The mind must conceive before the Creative Energy can produce; we must supply the avenue through which It can work.  It is ready and willing.  It is Its nature to spring into being through our thought and action.

In an iron foundry, the pig iron is thrown into a great furnace and melted.  That which was solid becomes liquid, and is then poured into molds which are fashioned in different shapes.  The iron itself neither knows nor  cares what particular form it takes, it is formless, ready to take any form supplied.  If we did not place it in the property molds, the liquid would assume no particular form.

This is the way it is in dealing with the subtle energy of Spirit, but the molds are made in our own subjective minds, through conscious and specific thought, purpose and direction.  We should be very careful not to think that because we make the mold, we must create the substance.  It already exists; It is part of the Life in which we live, a part of the Universal Energy.  Definite molds or concepts decide the shape which is to be created from the general liquid.  This should prove to us that there is a specific technique in mental treatment which we should not overlook.  If we wish a certain good, we must instill into our own minds a realization of this specific good and then - as this idea is the mold we place in mind - it will be filled by the substance necessary for the complete manifestation of this good in our lives.

Therefore, if a man is seeking to demonstrate, he must tell himself that he has faith in his power, in his ability, in the Principle, and in the certainty of the demonstration for which he works.  Faith, being a mental attitude, is according to law; and even though one doubts, he can overcome his doubts and create the desired faith, definitely.  If this were not so, only those who by nature have faith in God could ever hope to understand the Principle of the Science of Mind and Spirit, which is subject to certain, definite, immutable and impersonal laws.  However, even though faith is a necessary attitude, it is something that can always be established by explaining the theory and proving the Principle."

January 17 ~ Science of Mind in a Year

What It Does ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

"We should approach the study of this Science rationally, never expecting to drive any benefits from it that its Principle does not contain.  For while it is true that we are immersed in an Infinite Intelligence, a Mind that knows all things, it is also true that this Intelligence can acquaint us with Its ideas only as we are able and willing to receive them.  The Divine Mind is Infinite.  It contains all knowledge and wisdom, but, before It can reveal Its secrets, It must have an outlet.  This outlet we shall be compelled to supply through our own receptive mentalities.

All invention, art, literature, government, law and wisdom that has come to the race has been given to it through those who have deeply penetrated the secrets of nature and the mind of God.

Perhaps the simplest way to state the proposition is to say that we are surrounded by a Mind, or Intelligence, that knows everything; that the potential knowledge of all things exists in this Mind; that the abstract essence of beauty, truth and wisdom co-exist in the Mind of the Universe; that we also exist in It and may draw from It.  BUT WHAT WE DRAW FROM IT WE MUST DRAW THROUGH THE CHANNEL OF OUR OWN  MINDS.  A unity must be established, and a conscious connection must be made, before we can derive the benefits which the greater Mind is willing to reveal or impart to us.

The Spirit can give us only what we can take; It imparts of Itself only as we partake of Its nature.  It can tell us only what we can understand.  The Infinite Knowingness becomes our wisdom only in such degree as we embody Its Intelligence.  It has been said that we can know God only in so far as we can become God.  This is a far-reaching thought and should be carefully scrutinized.  It is to be taken figuratively and not too literally, for we cannot really become God, but we can and do partake of the Divine Nature, and the Universal does personify Itself through man in varying degrees, according to man's receptivity to It.

The Universe Impersonal

The Universe is impersonal.  It gives alike to all.  It is no respecter of persons.  It values each alike.  Its nature is to impart, ours to receive.  When we stand in the light, we cast a shadow across the pathway of our own experience.  Emerson advises that we get our bloated nothingness out of the way of the divine circuits.

A Riddle of Simplicity

It is a beautiful and true thought to realize that every man stands in the shadow of a mighty Mind, a pure Intelligence, and a Divine givingness!  Not alone unto the great comes the soft tread of the Unseen Guest.  The arrogant have not perceived the simplicity of faith, but the pure in heart see God.  The farmer has seen the Heavenly Host in his fields.  The child has frolicked with Him at play.  The mother has clasped Him to her breast and the fond lover has seen Him in the eyes of his beloved.  We look too far away for Reality.

The intelligence by and through which we perceive that there is a Spiritual Presence and an Infinite Mind in the Universe, constitutes our receptivity to It, and decides Its flow through us.  We have made a riddle out of simplicity; therefore, we have not read the sermons written in stones, nor interpreted the light of love running through life.

To return to a sane simplicity is one of the first and most important things to do.  All men receive some light, and this light is always the same light.  There is one nature diffused throughout all nature; One God incarnated in all peoples.

The Divine Incarnation is inherent in our nature.  We are immersed in an Infinite Knowingness.  the question is, how much of this Realty are we going to express in our own lives?  The direct approach is always the best and the most effective.  In so far as any man has spoken the truth, he has proclaimed God -- it matters not what his particular approach may have been.  The scientist and the philosopher, the priest and the professor, the humanitarian and the empire builder, all have caught some gleam of the eternal glory and each has spoken, in his own tongue, that language which is of itself Universal.

Let us do away with a ponderosity of thought and approach the thing simply and quietly. It is the nature of the Universe to give us what we are able to take.  It cannot give us more.  It has given all, we have not yet accepted the greater gift.

Spiritual wisdom says that God manifests through everything and is incarnated in all men; that all is Divinity and that Nature herself is the body of God. The mechanical laws of nature are set and immutable, but the spontaneous recognition of these laws gives us the power to bring them into practical use in everyday life and experience.

Here we have a dual unity; law and order, spontaneous choice, volition, conscious action, and automatic reaction.  The laws of the universe are to be trusted but we must come to understand them before we can use them.  Once understood, any law is available and is impersonally responsive to each and all alike.

Love Rules Through Law

In an intelligent study of the teachings of the Science of Mind, we come to understand that all is Love and yet all is Law.  Love rules through Law.  Love is the Divine Givingness; Law is the Way.  Love is spontaneous; Law is impersonal.  We should study the nature of Reality with this in mind, and in this way we shall avoid two grave mistakes:  either viewing life as made up only of mechanical laws, or viewing it as made up only of spontaneous actions, irrespective of law and order.

As we gain the broader viewpoint, we shall see that Life must contain two fundamental characteristics.  We shall see that there is an Infinite Spirit, operating through an Infinite and Immutable Law.  In this, Cosmos, and not chaos, finds an eternal existence in Reality.  Love points the way and Law makes the way possible."

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 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.

January 13 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MIND...The Greatest Discovery ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

Nature Waits on Man's Self-Recognition

"Nothing is more apparent than that man, as he now appears, is the result of evolution.  But in order to evolve, he had to have a Principle from which to unfold.  Since man is intelligent, he must have evolved from an Intelligent Cause.

In studying the order of man's evolution, it seems certain that it was necessary - from the time that he was brought to a point of self-choice--that he be left alone to discover his true nature. If man is endowed with the attributes of self-choice and free will, he must be allowed to make this great discovery for himself.  Even God could not make a mechanical individual.  Consider any of Nature's forces, they must have existed always, but, so far as man is concerned, they exist to be used only after he has discovered them and learned how to make use of them.  Electricity was a reality in the universe when Moses led the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but neither Moses nor any of his followers knew anything about it.  This is true of all natural laws; they have always existed but only when understood may they be used.  In this way, Life waits upon man's discovery of natural laws, his discovery of  himself, and his discovery of his relationship to the great Whole.

The principle of any science is invisible, theoretical, as is our idea of Spirit. No one has seen God; no one has seen Life; what we have seen is the manifestation of Life.  No one has seen Intelligence; we experience It.  No one has ever seen Causation; we see what It does, we deal with Its effects.  We cannot see Beauty.  The artist feels beauty and depicts it as best he can, and the result of his effort is what we call the beautiful  The mathematician solves a problem, but the problem is not the Principle of Mathematics; the solution of the  problem is an effect or a result of the application of the principle.  We do not see Life, we experience living.  Causation is invisible.

The First Great Discovery

The first great discovery man  made was that he could think.  This was the day when he first said "I am."  This marked his first day of personal attainment.  From that day, man became individual and had to make all further progress himself.  from that day, there was no compulsory evolution; he had to work in conscious union with Life.

The basis from which man is evolving is Infinite.  Behind him is the Great Unknown but not the great unknowable.  As the result of the discovery that he could think, plan and execute, man has built up a great civilization; he has perceived that Nature works through him in order to work for him.  He has harnessed electricity, compelled steam to do his bidding, conquered the air, built cities, made the desert to bloom, and has thrown the lines of his commerce around the globe.  Indeed, he has seemed to possess the earth during this process, even though little attention has been given to that still, small voice which said:  "Man, know thyself." 

The Greatest Discovery of All Time...Mind

Man's first discovery of his ability to think was taken as a matter of fact.  He had always been able to think.  It was proof that he existed; it gave him the ability to know his needs and to supply them.  It appeared to be an automatic thing; it came with him and would doubtless die when he died.  The brain seemed to be the organ of thought, and of course, when death stilled the brain it would no longer operate.

However, a day came when some wise man claimed that it was not the brain that does the thinking, for if the brain could think it would keep on thinking when removed from the body; yet without a brain a man could not think which proved that something behind the brain used it as an instrument.  Man does think, so behind the brain there must be a thinker.  But where is the thinker?  We do not see him.  Have we a right to say there is a thinker, when we have never seen him?  Yes, for the proof of this reality is the evidence of his thought.  Back of the organism is the thinker and the doer - the Mind.  This was the greatest discovery of all time for it mean that  the body without the thinker could not function.  At first, man did not perceive this and thought only of his body as self-operating, but when he discovered this was not the case, he found that he could consciously think and decide, and that something happened to his thoughts after he thought them; they went somewhere and returned to him as  memory."

January 5 ~ Science of Mind in a Year

The Universe Never Plays Favorites by Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

"We are so used to the thought that if we mix certain colors we get certain other colors, that we do not realize we are dealing with a principle.  We know that whoever blends those particular colors will get the same result, but we do not know why; THE WISEST MAN LIVING DOES NOT KNOW WHY!  We do not have to stretch our credulity any more in metaphysics.

We think of metaphysics, perhaps, as something that only the most profound thinkers have known about, but we should remember that we also are thinkers.  The profound thought of all ages has stood in awe of Life itself, realizing that here is a power and potentiality, the highest possibilities of which the human intellect cannot fathom.

Universal principles are never respecters of persons; the Universe has no favorites. Therefore, it is written:  "and let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."  (Rev. 22:17)


Nothing Supernatural about the Study of Life

Let us then approach the Science of Mind - the Science of Spiritual Psychology - with awe, but not with fear; with truly a humble thought, but not with a sense that we are unworthy.  Let us approach it normally, happily, willing to accept, glad to experiment, hoping and believing that as the result of our efforts we shall each derive a great good - a sound understanding of the natural laws of Life, as they apply to the individual and his relationship to the whole universal scheme of things.

This is the simple meaning of true metaphysical teaching, the study of Life and the nature of the Law, governed and directed by thought; always conscious that we live in a spiritual Universe; that God is in, through, around and for us.  There is nothing supernatural about the study of Life from the metaphysical viewpoint.  That which today seems to us supernatural, after it is thoroughly understood, will be found spontaneously natural.

We all know that many have been healed of physical disease through prayer.  Let us analyze this.  Why are some healed through prayer while others are not?  Can we believe that there is a God who picks out some man and says, "I will honor your prayer, but I do not think so much of Mr. So and So"?  It is superstitious to believe that God will answer the prayer of one above another.  Jesus said that God "maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."  (Matt. 5:45)

Since some people have been healed through prayer, while others have not, the answer is NOT that God has responded to some and not to others, but that some have responded to God more than others.  Their prayer (their thought) has responded by corresponding.  The answer to prayer is in the prayer.  But what is a prayer?  A prayer is a movement of thought, within the mind of the one praying, along a definite line of meditation; that is, for a specific purpose.

What is the mind?  No man living knows.  We know a great deal about the mind, but not what it is.  By mind, we mean consciousness.  We are now using it.  We cannot locate mind in the body, for, while the body is a necessary vehicle for consciousness while we are here, it is not consciousness.  We cannot isolate mind.  All we know about it is not what it is, but what it does, and the greatest philosopher who ever lived knows no more than this...except that he may tell us more of how it works.

January 4 ~ Science of Mind in a Year

The Thing Itself - Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

"We all look forward to the day when science and religion shall walk hand in hand through the visible to the invisible.  Science knows nothing of opinion, but recognizes a government of law whose principles are universal.  Yet any scientist who refuses to accept intangible values has no adequate basis for the values which he has already discovered.  Revelation must keep faith with reason, and religion with law - while intuition is ever spreading its wings for greater flights - and science must justify faith in the invisible.

To suppose that the Creative Intelligence of the Universe would create man in bondage and leave him bound would be to dishonor the Creative Power which we call God.  To suppose that God could make man as an individual, without leaving him to discover himself, would be to suppose an impossibility. Individuality must be spontaneous; it can never be automatic.  The seed of freedom must be planted in the innermost being of man, but, like the Prodigal Son, man must make the great discovery for himself.

We see abundance in the Universe. We cannot count the grains of sand on a  single beach.  The earth contains untold riches, and the very air is vibrant with power.  Why, then, is man weak, poor and afraid?  The Science of Mind deals with these questions.  The Divine Plan is one of Freedom; bondage is not God-ordained.  Freedom is the birthright of every living soul.  All instinctively feel this.  The Truth points to freedom, under Law.  Thus the inherent nature of man is forever seeking to express itself in terms of freedom.  We do well to listen to this Inner Voice, for it tells us of a life wonderful in its scope; of a love beyond our fondest dreams; of a freedom which the soul craves.

But the great Love of the Universe must be One with the great law of Its Own Being, and we approach Love through the Law. This, then, is the teaching:  Love and Law.  As the love of God is perfect, so the law of God is also is perfect.  We must understand both.

Whatever the nature of any principle may be - in so far as it is understood by anyone - it may be understood by all who take the time to investigate.  This does not require an unusual degree of intelligence, but, rather, a practical application of what we now know in order that we may increase our knowledge.  The study of the Science of Mind is a study of First Cause, Spirit, Mind, or that invisible Essence, that ultimate Stuff and Intelligence from which everything comes, the Power back of creation - the Thing Itself.

We accept this "thing" and believe in It.  What we desire is to know more about It, and how to use It.  From proof alone, we know we are dealing with a definite principle. If one (through the conscious use of his knowledge) can produce a certain result, he must know with what he is dealing.

It may seem as though, in dealing with metaphysics, we are dealing with something that is too abstract.  But what is tangible other than results?  Principles are forever hidden from our eyes.  We accept the deductions of science in so far as they are provided, and we recognize that they are built upon immutable, but invisible principles."