March 9 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Inducing Thought ~ Ernest Holmes

"That which thought has done, thought can un-do.  Life-long habits of wrong thinking can be consciously and deliberately neutralized, and an entirely new order of mental and emotional reaction established in Mind.  Merely to abstain from wrong thinking is not enough; there must be active right thinking.  We must become actively constructive and happy in our thinking - not merely passively so.  New and wholesome ideas of life, vitality and hope must be accepted and incorporated into the sub-stratum of our mental life, so that a more wholesome externalization may manifest in our bodily condition and environment.

Since we must all begin right where we are, most of us will be compelled to begin our healing work with a mechanical process.  We should take the highest thought we have, and attempt to enlarge on this consciousness until it embraces a more vital concept of Reality.  Consciousness in this sense means an inner embodiment of ideas. If one wishes to demonstrate prosperity, he must first have a consciousness of prosperity; if he wishes health, he must embody the idea of health.  This is more than faith; it is the knowledge that we are dealing with Law. While a certain consciousness may be mechanically induced, of course, the more spontaneity put into the mechanical word, the more power the word must have.

Choosing Thought

We cannot live a choiceless life.  Every day, every moment, every second, there is choice.  If it were not so we would not be individuals. 

We have the right to choose what we wish to experience.  We have the right to choose the kind of companions with whom we wish to associate; to say in what city and in what type of house we would like to live. We are individuals and the only way we can be individuals is to be spontaneous.  There is no such thing as a mechanistic individuality, it must have the essential elements of spontaneity.  There is no spontaneity and no individuality without prerogative.  There can be no choice unless there is something form which to choose, otherwise the ability to choose would be merely a fantasy.  Therefore, there must be not only the possibility of choice; but the liability of experiencing that which is chosen.

We have a right to choose what we shall induce in Mind.  The way in which our thoughts are to become manifest, we cannot always see - or should we be disturbed that we do not see the way - because effect is potential in cause.  "I am Alpha and Omega," and all that comes between cause and effect.  Cause and effect are really one, and if we have given cause set in motion, the effect will have to equal the cause.  One is the inside and the other the outside of the same thing. A certain, specific, intelligent idea in Mind, will produce a certain, specific, concrete manifestation equal to itself.  There is One Infinite Principle, One Infinite Thought-Stuff, One Infinite Creative Power, but countless numbers of forms, which change as the specific idea behind them changes."

February 22 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Subjective Law ~ Ernest Holmes

"We should grasp the idea of Universal Subjectivity, the Potentiality of all things, the Divine Creative Medium.  This is the Principle through which we are to demonstrate the healing of the body or of condition; and It acts accurately and mathematically, because It is the Law of Cause and Effect.

When we think, we think from conscious intelligence, or Spirit.  The thought then becomes subjectified; it goes into the subconscious mind.  What is man's subconscious mind?  It is his atmosphere or mental center in Universal Subjectivity.  It is held in our philosophy that there is no such thing as your subjective mind and my subjective mind, meaning two, for this would be duality.  But there is such a thing as the subjective state of my thought and of your thought in Mind.  This should be seen clearly, for here is where psychology and metaphysics separate, where their interpretations differ.

When we think, we think into a Universal Creative Medium, a receptive and plastic medium which surrounds us on all sides, which permeates and flows through us.  When we think, we must and do think into and upon It, since It is omnipresent. 

As each subjectifies a consciousness about himself, he is surrounding himself with a mental atmosphere; and nothing can enter this except through the avenues of his own thought.  But this thought might be conscious or unconscious.  In most cases it is unconscious.  However, the student of metaphysics is learning to consciously control the stream of thought that he allows to enter his inner and creative mentality.

The Result of Our Own Thinking

Thought is an inner movement, which is largely the result of one's perception of life and his reaction to it.  Every time this movement takes place it takes place within Mind, upon Cause, according to Law.  We are dealing with the same Power that molds the planets and all that is upon them, and the limit of our ability to use this Power is not in Principle, but in our understanding of It!

We are dealing with a neutral, creative Power, just as we would be in the case of electricity or any other natural force.  It is on a higher plane for It is the Power of Intelligence.  Our thought, in its externalization, will reach its own level, just as water reaches its own level by its own weight and without effort.  This is in line with the necessity for the Universe, in order to be at all, must be Self-Existent.  By the Self-Existence of the Universe is meant a Universe which is Its own reason for being; a Universe which exists by virtue of Itself being All.

Each one of us today is the result of the use he has made of the Law, either consciously or unconsciously.  As soon as we realize this we shall see that what we are now (or what we now have and experience) is the result of what we have thought; and the answer to what we shall be is contained in what we are now thinking, FOR WE CAN CHANGE OUR THINKING!

Man thinks, and supposes that he lets go of those thoughts,...that he is finished with them; but such is not the case, for thought becomes subjectified in the Mind like a seed planted in the soil, and , unless neutralized, it stays there and determines the attraction and repulsion in the experience of the one thinking.  There is a constant action on the subjective side of life; and it is the unconscious process which decides what is going to happen in the outer experience.  Whatever we think, act, believe in, feel, visualize, vision, image, read and talk about - in fact all processes which affect or impress us at all - are going into the subjective state of our thought, which is our individualized use of the Universal Mind.  Whatever goes into the subjective state of our thought tends to return again as some condition.  So we, and we alone, control our destiny.

Law is Mind in Action

There is One Infinite Life acting through Law, and this Law is mental.   Law is Mind in action.  We are surrounded by an Infinite, subconscious, impersonal, neutral, plastic and ever-present Thinking Stuff, from which all things come, and which, in Its Original State, permeates and penetrates all things.

By impressing our thought upon this Substance, we can cause It to produce for us that which we think. Impressing our thought upon It is not an external act, for when we impress our thought upon ourselves, we are thinking into It. This is because of the Unity of all Mind.

Jesus said:  "As thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee."  Knowing the nature of Law, He did not say:  "It is done unto you as you wish."  He announced the universality of the Law when he called it a Law of Belief.

The Destructive Use of the Law

Someone may say, "I cannot imagine God not caring."  I cannot either, but we are dealing with Law.  Does the law of electricity care whether it cooks the dinner or burns the house?  Whether it electrocutes a criminal or warms a saint?  Of course, it does not.  Does the Urge which impels people to express, care whether a man kneels in ecstasy or lies drunk in the gutter?  We are dealing with Law, and it follows that since we are dealing with Law, It will ultimately bring back to us the result of the forces which we set in motion through It.

Consequently, no person who is enlightened would seek to use this Law destructively, for he would know that, sooner or later, the very power set in motion by himself would ultimately destroy him.  "All they that take the sword shall perish by the sword." The Spirit of Christ is the spirit which constructively uses the Law.  The spirit of antichrist is the destructive use of the Law. The Spirit of Christ, being in line with the Cosmic Life, will always transcend, neutralize, destroy, and utterly obliterate the spirit of the Antichrist.  Finally, only the Spirit of Christ can succeed."

February 9 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

That Which Changes ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

"We have learned that Spirit is the Absolute Being, that It is the only thing in the universe which has self-knowingness, volition, choice or will.  The Soul is the servant of the Spirit and has no choice and no purpose other than to execute the purpose given It.  The Spirit of the Universe cannot change; begin ALL, there is nothing for It to change into.  The Soul of the Universe must obey the Will of the Spirit.  THE BODY OF THE UNIVERSE CANNOT HELP CHANGING!  This is what constitutes the eternal activity of Spirit within Itself; the Spirit passing into form - creation eternally going on.  Since Spirit must be manifest in order to be conscious, there must be a way in which It manifests and there must be a manifestation.  So we have Soul and Body.  Body, the manifestation and Soul, the Way, or Law by which It manifests."