September 25 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

By Ernest Holmes

Stillness and Receptivity

I am still and receptive to Life

I let Life flow through me into all that I do, say or think.

I shall let my Life be what it is, and shall not worry nor complain.

I am now entered into the Secret Place of the Soul where complete quiet 

reigns supreme and where God talks to me.

I receive.

August 31 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

GENERAL SUMMARY
Ernest Holmes

"We should contact a larger field of faith.  This is done by understanding that God is the giver and the sustainer of human life and expression.  God is all there is.  He is Substance and Supply.  We must learn to accept this.  If it is God's pleasure to give us the Kingdom then it should be our privilege to accept the gift.

The Spirit has not withheld good from us, but ignorance of the true law of supply has caused us to have fear.  "They could not enter in because of their unbelief and because they limited the Holy One of Israel."  We should endeavor to stop limiting God.  All things are given unto us but we shall have to do the taking.  God gives in the abstract, we receive in the concrete.  The gift of Heaven is forever made.  The receiving of this gift is an eternal process of forever expanding the finite.

Since we cannot contract the Absolute we shall have to expand the relative.  The Infinite will not be, or become, less than Itself.  We are of Its nature.  We did not make our own being.  All we can do is to accept that the being which we are is some part of the Divine.  To know this is to overcome fear.  Whether this fear is of lack, pain, sickness or death, it is always a belief that there is something other than Life or that Life withholds pleasure, peace, success and Heaven from us.

Love alone can overcome fear because love surrenders itself to the object of its adoration.  The soul must make a complete surrender of itself to the Spirit.  That is, the Law must come under subjection to the Spirit.  The will of the Spirit is peace, clear thinking and happiness, It could have no other will.

Should we learn to contemplate those things which are desirable and to forget the rest, we would soon overcome fear through faith.  Both are mental.  Let us learn to reverse the thoughts of fear and transmute them into faith.

Since Spirit is present in Its entirety at all times and in all places it follows, that all of Spirit is wherever we center our attention.  And since Spirit is both receptivity and creative responsiveness it follows that wherever we center our attention its image must concentrate substance into the form of such attention.  This is fundamental to our concept of mental and spiritual treatment.  For it is not by external power nor through objective might that our work is to be done, but through the Spirit and the Law.  The Spirit guides and the Law executes.  That which we can take is given us.

Pure Spirit exists at the center of all form.  Of Itself, It is formless but It is ever giving birth to form.  The forms come and go but It goes on forever.  We are some part of It.  If pure Spirit is at the center of everything and is always responding to our thought there is no limit to Its manifestation for us except the limitations that we set.

If it is difficult to see this, realize that our subjective self is the immediate connection between the Absolute and the relative.  It is our share of the Law and immediately connects us with the Creativeness of the Whole.  The Absolute is in relationship to Itself alone.  It is not circumscribed by any form but remains independent of all forms.  It can as easily create a new form for us as to perpetuate an old one.

Mind is the realm of causes.  Conditions are in the realm of effects.  Effects flow from causes and not from themselves.  Thought is the instrument of Mind.  New thoughts create new conditions.  We must learn to think in the Absolute.  This means to think independently of any given or experienced effect.  "Judge not according to appearances."  This thought strikes away the shackles of bondage and finds a new cause at work.

Just as we can conceive of some definite idea, then go on to the conception of another, so we can treat for as many conditions as we can clearly conceive.

We cannot account for the seen without having faith in the unseen.  All advance in science or any other branch of learning must follow this rule if it is to accomplish anything.  To believe in Life is to believe in the invisible.  As science postulates some etheric movement at the center of all objective form, so we start with the premise that this initial movement starts as Pure Intelligence, independent of any form but ready to take form.  All form is temporary even though it lasts for countless millions of years.  That is, any given form comes and goes in a process of time for any given time is temporary.

We have arrived at the conclusion that Spirit or the Mind of God is all Causation.   Then Spirit or Mind is also all effect.  Cause and effect are but two ends of one Unity.  The physical end is visible, the spiritual invisible, but may be inwardly perceived and outwardly experienced.

Spirit, then, is all there is at this very hour and all creation is spiritual.  The Universe is a Spiritual System impregnated with Divine Ideas and peopled with Spiritual Forms.  The ideas of God are perfect laws on their way to producing complete and perfect effects.  The Universe is alive, conscious, awake and aware.  It is love and life.  It is law and order.  It is a Cosmos."

April 18 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

How to Approach the Spirit ~ Ernest Holmes

"If we wish to come to the Spirit for the healing of our wounds, let us come in peace and with spontaneous joy, for the Spirit is joy; let us come with thanksgiving also, for a thankful heart is in harmony with life.  But we must come in quiet confidence, with an open and receptive mind, a believing heart, naturally, sanely and expectantly.  In this way, we ware entering the portals of Reality, clad in garments of righteousness.

We often think what we require is money, friends and physical healing. After these things, do those, who are outside a knowledge of the Law, seek; and they do well, for we need all these things.  But they are the effects of right relationships to life.  All people need some form of healing. Most people are unhappy, few have any realization of permanent peace.  We seek fragments, when the whole is at hand.  How illogical to think that anything can rise higher than its source.  The Universe is a perfect, undivided whole, and healing can take place only when one is unified with It.  How can anyone, then, be healed in part?  Let us seek wholeness above all else.

If we would come to the Universal Wholeness, we must approach it through the law of its own nature. This means that we must give our undivided attention to the spiritual unit back of all things.  Since all else is included within this unit, we find our particular good only through unity with life.  This conscious unity makes our mind receptive to completion, since Life Itself is complete.  This perception is always an inner light, for the individual can use only such knowledge as he inwardly possesses.  In reality, we know God or Truth, only as we ourselves embody God or Truth.  AND SINCE IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO EMBODY ANYTHING OUTSIDE OURSELVES, THIS KNOWLEDGE MUST BE AN INNER LIGHT.  The Truth Itself is Infinite, but we only embody the Infinite in degree.  To the degree that we do embody Reality, we become poised and powerful.

The Purpose of the Science of Mind

The whole purpose of the Science of Mind is to reconcile the apparent separation of the spiritual world, which must be Perfect, with the material world, which appears imperfect.  The Spiritual world is the CAUSE of the material; we are spiritual beings governed by mental law.  ONLY THAT WORLD CAN APPEAR TO US WHICH WE MENTALLY PERCEIVE.  Man's experience is the logical outcome of his inner vision; his horizon is limited to the confines of his own consciousness.  Wherever this consciousness lacks a true perspective, its outward expression will lack proper harmony.  This is why we are taught to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.  Since no one lives by proxy, but each unto himself, every individual must make the test in his own soul.

And Jesus Knew Their Thoughts (Matt. 12:25)

"And Jesus knew their thoughts..."  That is, he had an extended vision which enabled him to know what others were thinking.  He had healed a man possessed of unclean thoughts, and the priests had reasoned within themselves that his power to do this was of the "evil one."

Jesus, understanding what was in their minds, told them that a house divided against itself cannot stand; and that if he cast out evil by the power of evil, then evil would be a house divided against itself.  "But," he said, "if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you."

We cannot do good while we continue to do evil, nor can we heal evil except by the power of good.  To all sincere students of Spiritual Science, this lesson is a guide post, pointing to the fact that the thought of good must ever overcome any thought that is less than good.  By the presence of good, evil is cast out, just as by the presence of light, the darkness disappears.

Good Thoughts and a Good Harvest (Matt. 7:17, 18)

A good tree produces good fruit, so good thoughts bear a harvest of good deeds, while evil consumes itself in the flame of its own fire.  If a man's life produces good deeds, then the man is himself good; and this, no matter what his particular religious belief may or may not be.

The mouth speaks from the heart.  It is impossible for a man to conceal himself.  In every act, word, or gesture, he stands revealed as he is, and not as he would have himself appear to be.  From the universe, nothing is or can be hidden; the very walls have ears and the mirror of life cannot help reflecting back to us that which we really are.

Jesus plainly tells us that we are held accountable for the very words which we speak.  No man every lived who placed a greater power in the word.  By our words we are justified or condemned.  The word may be considered to be the complete thought and act of man.  There must be a thought before there can be an act, and a thinker before there can be any thought.  The thinker condemns or justifies himself through his thought." 

March 2 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

The Basis for Mental Healing ~ Ernest Holmes

"Much in this field is as yet obscure and imperfectly understood, for the scientific study of the mind is still in its infancy; but the fact that a misuse of mental and spiritual laws is at the root of many unhappy conditions incident to the physical life stands out clear and sharp.

The first principle fundamental to the understanding of the operation of thought is, that we are surrounded by an Infinite Intelligence.  The possibility of healing physical disease, changing environment, attracting friends and demonstrating supply through the power of right thinking, rests entirely on the theory that we are surrounded by an Infinite Mind, which reacts to our thought according to Law.

We comprehend the meaning of Infinite Intelligence only in a small degree, but because we are spiritual beings, we do sense the presence of an Intelligence which is beyond human comprehension - an Intelligence which is great enough to encompass the past, to understand the present, and to be Father of the future.  It is the Cause of everything that has been, and is that out of which must unfold everything that is to be.  Our own intelligence is one of Its activities and is of like nature to It.

The Act of Incarnation

At the level of our self-comprehension, we know and understand the nature of God.  This self-knowing, which is God-knowing, has the possibility of an eternal expansion. As individual intelligence, we communicate with each other - are able to respond to each other - and in so doing we establish the fact that intelligence responds to intelligence.  This same law must hold good, whether we think of finite intelligence responding to finite intelligence, or Infinite Intelligence responding to finite intelligence - for intelligence is the same in ESSENCE wherever we find it.  We may conclude that Infinite Intelligence responds to us by the very necessity of being true to Its own Nature.

But how does It respond?  It can respond only by corresponding, which means that the Infinite Intelligence responds to us by a direct impartation of Itself through us.  "The highest God and the innermost God is One God."  So with Jesus we may say:  "The Father and I are One."  Whatever intelligence we possess is some degree of the One Intelligence, which we call God.

The Infinite Mind, then, imparts Itself to the finite, through the act of incarnation.  The progress of the human race is a result of that process whereby Intelligence passes, by successive degrees of incarnation, through evolution, into the human mind."

January 18 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

The Scientific Method ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

If we observe any scientific discovery, we shall see that this is the way it works.  Some man's mind discovers the law, or principle, governing the science; this is the way of Love, of personal volition, of choice - this is the spontaneous element in the universe.  Following this knowledge of the way the principle works - having discovered the operation of the Law - the spontaneous element now rests its case on immutable reactions inherent in the Law.  All science is based upon proven principles.

But we should not overlook the significant fact that it is the MIND which discovers and makes use of the mechanical law!  Is not this mind the Spirit in us?  We can never completely fathom the Infinite Mind:  we shall always be discovering new lands.  Consequently, evolution is an eternal unfoldment of the more yet to be.

Since it is the mind which must first come to see, know and understand - and since all future possibility for the race must first find an avenue of outlet through someone's mind - we shall do well to look to the mind for the answer to all our problems.

Undoubtedly we are surrounded by, and immersed in, a perfect Life:  a complete, normal, happy, sane, harmonious and peaceful existence.  But only as much of the Life as we embody will really become ours to use.  As much of this Life as we understand and embody will react as immutable law - the reaction of the mechanical to the volitional.  The concept is wonderful and fraught with tremendous significance.  In it is bound up our hopes and fears, our expectations, and our future and present realizations.

Since an understanding of any law must pass first through our conscious mind before we can make use of it, it follows that with all our getting, we should get understanding.  Should we wish to know a certain truth, we should state that this truth is already known in Mind and this statement will be true, but the Over-Mind must be accepted into our mind before we can understand It.  How, then, are we to accomplish the desired result?  By stating and feeling that our mind knows the truth about the thing we desire to know.  In this way we draw the Infinite Mind into our mentalities, for definite knowledge of some particular good.

Contains All Knowledge

The Universal Mind contains all knowledge. It is the potential ultimate of all things.  To It, all things are possible.  To us, as much is possible as we can conceive, according to law.  Should all the wisdom of the universe be poured over us, we should yet receive only that which we are ready to understand.  This is why some draw one type of knowledge and some another, and all from the same source - the Source of all knowledge.  The scientist discovers the principles of his science, the artist embodies the spirit of his art, the saint draws Christ into his being - all because they have courted the particular presence of some definite concept.  Each state of consciousness taps the same source, but has a different receptivity.  Each receives what he asks for, according to his ability to embody.  The Universal is Infinite; the possibility of differentiating is limitless.

Life always becomes to us the particular thing we need when we believe that It becomes to us that particular thing.  The understanding of this is the essence of simplicity.  As all numbers proceed from the fundamental unit, as all material forms are but different manifestations of one formless stuff, so all things proceed from that which is neither person, place nor thing, but is the essence of all things.

Our thought and conscious receptivity differentiate this Universal Possibility, by drawing It through our minds and causing It to flow into particular channels, through the conscious receptivity of our different faiths.  One state of consciousness will differentiate one kind of a result, another mental state a different manifestation.

Mental Work is Definite

Mental work is definite.  Each state of thought taps the same Principle, each uses the same Law, is inspired by the same Spirit, but each draws forth a different result.  Here is multiplicity proceeding from Unity.  This is what Emerson meant when he said that Unity passes into variety.

But, someone will ask, can we bring out both good and evil from the One Source?  Of course not.  The First Principle is goodness, and only in so far as our thought and action tend toward a constructive program, will it eventually succeed.  We cannot fight the Universe.  It refuses to be budged from Its course.  We can only go with It.

But there is ample latitude for personal expression.  How then, are we to know what is right and what is wrong?  We are not GOING to know; we already do know.  Every man knows right from wrong, in its broadest sense.

It should be considered right to live and to enjoy living.  To be well, happy, and to express freedom, is to be in accord with Divine Law and Wisdom. Here is latitude enough for the most expectant, and the most enthusiastic.

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 8 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

"In the Beginning, God!"  Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

(Blogger's Note: For the purposes of this writing, the pronoun He, Him has been changed to It when referring to "God")

The Beginning

We wish to discover what to believe in, why we believe in it, and why such a belief is reasonable; and in so far as possible to enter into the nature of the invisible Cause of this manifest life of ours.  We wish to discover how this Cause works; Its relationship to us and our relationship to It, and how we may use this knowledge.  The world is tired of mysteries, does not understand symbols, and longs for Reality.  What is Reality, where may It be found and how used?  These are some of the questions one should like to have answered.

"In the beginning, God!" In the beginning, Spirit or Intelligence only.  No manifest universe!  No system of planets!  No visible form, nothing but the Life Principle.  God, the Spirit, had not yet moved upon the waters.  Then this All-Being moved or began to create.  Where did Spirit move?  Upon what did It move?  From whence came Its pattern?  What means or power did It employ?  Through what agencies did It work?  In short, out of what is the world, ourselves included, made?  How did we and all other physical manifestations come into being?

If we suppose Spirit to be the Life Principle running through all manifestation, the Cause of all, then we must supposed that It has Substance within Itself.  It is Self-Existent Consciousness, and also Self-Existent Substance.  SPIRIT MAKES THINGS OUT OF ITSELF THROUGH SOME INNER ACT UPON ITSELF.  This inner act must, of course, be an ace of consciousness, of self-perception, of self-knowingness.  What God knows IS.  This has been called the Word of God and the Self-Contemplation of God.

The Story of Creation Simplified

Without repeating the well-known account (rather accounts, for there are two) of Creation, as given in the Bible, let us say that someone - generally thought to have been Moses - in expounding his idea of how Creation came into being, put his thoughts into the form of an allegory or symbolic story.  Let us restate this story, in our own words, and see what we shall have:

God (meaning the Supreme Spirit or Intelligence of the Universe) was conscious of Itself, prior to the creation of any special world system. Being thus conscious, and desiring to manifest in form, It did so manifest through the power of It's Word, which is Law.  God is not only pure Spirit or Intelligence, It is Universe through the power of It's word).  Hence, when It speaks, It's Word becomes Law.  The Law must obey.  The Law is mechanical, the Word is spontaneous.  God cannot speak a word which contradicts It's own nature.

Since God is pure Intelligence and endless Being, It is always creating.  It is It's nature to create but being All It must act within Itself.

The World of God, spoken within Itself, sets the Law (which is also in Itself) in motion.  The result is Creation.  The Word is the mold, which acting through Law produces form.  As there are many words so there are many forms, each distinct and each an individualized idea of God.

Since the Word of God is permanent, when It speaks, that Word is equipped to perpetuate Itself, even as the seed contains within itself all that is necessary for the reproduction of its kind.  It does not become another kind, for this would produce confusion and the Divine Mind is never confused.

God made the mechanical universe, the plant and animal life, but this did not satisfy It, for It wished to create a being who could respond to and understand It.  So It created a being who had real life within itself.

It could do this only by imparting It's own nature to this being whom It called man.  It must make man in Its own image and likeness.  Man must be created out of the stuff of Eternity, if he is to have real being.  Humanity must partake of the nature of Divinity if it is to have real life.  So God made man from the essence of Itself and clothed this subtle essence with definite form.

And God said within Itself something after this fashion:  "If I wish to have a man who is a real being, I must give him self-choice.  He must be spontaneous, not automatic.  He must have dominion over everything I have created and he shall have all things to enjoy, for his life must be full and complete if he is to express My nature."

So God gave man dominion over all earthly things.  Man was not given the power to govern the universe, but he was given the power to have dominion.

And God viewing all that It had created saw that it was good, "very good."  How could it be otherwise since It had created it?  How could God, being Goodness, see other than good?

This, briefly, is the story of Creation.  The reader need not be startled by this rather human narrative.  Remember we are putting into human language a story which can only be imagined.  Let us see how much of this may have meaning for us - how much of it we may prove.

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."

January 3 ~ Science of Mind in a Year

Removing the Complex

Suppose someone is constantly saying:  "Everything is all wrong in the world.  People are wrong, things are wrong, conditions are wrong.  All is sickness and unhappiness.  Nothing seems worth while."  You as a practitioner* must not be disturbed by this complaint.  It is your business to remove this complex, for these inner emotions create outer conditions, in and through the body, and are responsible for a great deal of sickness in the world.

Treatment straightens out consciousness by clear thinking.  When the inner consciousness agrees with the Truth, then - and not until then - a demonstration takes place.  Specifically go over the thoughts which are wrong and use the power of your word to heal them.

"Medical practice takes into consideration the thoughts back of disease, and many eminent physicians probe deeply into the "complex," the "obsession," or the "defense mechanism," disclosed by the thought of the patient, which resulted in blindness, deafness, mutism, etc.

In spiritual mind healing, we recognize that cause is never material or physical.  There is only One First Cause.  But it is often necessary for the practitioner to diagnose the thought of his patient; in fact, this is an important point in healing.  This is psycho-analysis (from psyche, or soul).  Psycho-analysis is the analysis of the soul or subjective mind.  Its teaching is that within the soul, or subjective mind, all the seeds of our thoughts fall, and that most of man's physical troubles are caused by some inner conflict.  The conscious mind, desiring certain things which it cannot have, sends into the subjective thought opposing desires which conflict with each other and mentally tear or bind; and as they manifest in the body, they produce disease.  It is claimed that seventy percent of all diseases are the result of suppressed emotions.  These emotions are not necessarily sex emotions, but may be any suppressed desires.

It is probable that when Jesus forgave the man his sins, he realized that the man had a complex of condemnation within himself. The sense of condemnation within himself.  The sense of condemnation which the race holds about itself weights it down, and it must be removed.  This explains why Jesus said: "Thy sins be forgiven thee."  It is feeling that hurts.  It has been said:  "Life is a comedy to him who thinks, a tragedy to him who feels."

We recognize that everything is in Mind and that nothing moves but Mind.  That Intelligence is back of everything, acting through a thought force which is concrete, definite and real.  The reason people do not realize that mental healing is possible is that they do not understand the meaning of Causation, they do not realize that Intelligence is back of all things, that there is but One Fundamental Intelligence in the Universe, and that the individual is simply a point where this One Mind manifests as person.  Disease must come through Mind, in order to operate through us.  There is but One Subjective Mind in the Universe, and we are always thinking into It.

The practitioner talks with his patient, explains to him the Law of Mind, teaches him the way, diagnoses his thought, points out to him that certain mental attitudes produce certain physical results, teaches him how to be harmonious in his thinking, how to be at peace, how to trust and believe in the Good.  In other words, the practitioner lifts him up mentally and spiritually, and supports his thought until he can stand alone.

A practitioner must be filled with the spirit of Divine Compassion.  He must have a deep, underlying sense of unity and sympathy, else he will do but little good; but he/she must not have sympathy with the disease.  The only guarantee of our Divinity is in its expression through our humanity.  Consequently, an enlightened soul understands the meaning of sympathy and exercises it, but not morbidly."

*The term "practitioner" refers to students and people who practice the teaching of this science, and those individuals who have formally licensed through Centers for Spiritual Living.  www.csl.org

Note regarding capitalization in the text: Dr. Holmes, throughout the text, has utilized capitalization as a reverent indication of the divine qualities in all of life.   For example, "Divine Compassion" is a quality, a state of being, that is expressed from that one source of all life....that has many names: God, Buddha, Allah, Yahweh, Father, Mother, Great Mother, Supreme Being, Consciousness.

January 2 ~ Science of Mind in a Year

Meditations for Self-Help and Healing - Science of Mind Textbook by Ernest Holmes

"In these short meditations I have tried to set forth some ideas which my experiences in mental healing have given me.  I have found that a few brief statements, mentally affirmed, followed by a silent meditation, have been most effective in the healing work. 

Most of these meditations have been written in the first person, in order that those using them may be able to do so just as they are written.

It is not claimed that there is any occult power in the words, but that the words similar to these are effective in inducing a greater realization of life.

First, decide which meditation you wish to use; then become quiet and composed.  Then carefully read the meditation several times, phrase by phrase, endeavoring to realize the meaning of the words and trying to enter into the atmosphere of the thought.  After having done this, meditate upon the words, following that meditation until you feel a sense of realization".  [blog note: meditations are incorporated into the daily readings, only 1 meditation for today's post]

Come, and Let Me Heal You

Come and I will heal you.

The inner power of Life within me is God,
And God has all power.

I will heal and help all who come to me.

I know that the realization of Life and Love within me heals all who come into Its presence.

I silently bless all who enter my atmosphere.

It is not I, but the Father who dwelleth in me, He doeth the works.

I heal all who come near me.


May your day be blessed as you recognize the power within. 

January 1 - Science of Mind in A Year

January 1 ~ New Cloth and Old Garments (Matt. 9:16, 17)

In saying that "no man puts a piece of new cloth on an old garment or new wine into old bottles," Jesus was teaching a lesson in religious development.  We are continuously living a new life, and when the old and the new do not fit nicely together, the old - being no longer able to contain the new - should be discarded.  Continually we must expect new revelations of old truths.  We should never lose sight of the fact that the soul is on the pathway of an endless and ever-expanding experience, and that only by expansion can it evolve.  This does not mean that we should cast away any good the old has to offer, but that we convert it into a greater good.  Accepting the lessons and experiences of the past, and taking the best from everything, we should press boldly forward, looking ever for the Truth, and ever ascending higher and higher into the heavens of reality.

There is no limit to the possibility inherent in all men.  Let the timid soul put its complete trust in good and press bravely on.