November 16 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

THE PRACTICE of SPIRITUAL MIND HEALING
Ernest Holmes

"Does it make any difference whether or not the patient is taking medicine? Not at all.  If it gives him any relief, he should have it.  We need all the relief we can get.  The patient is healed when he no longer needs medicine.  Some think they dishonor God when they take a pill.  This is superstition.  Discard these thoughts and give your entire attention to realizing perfection for your patient.

Healing is not accomplished through will power but by knowing the Truth.  This Truth is that the Spiritual Man is already Perfect, no matter what the appearance may be.  "Holding thoughts" has nothing to do with this form of treatment.  If you find when you begin to give a treatment that the process gives you a headache, know that you are doing your work on the mental plane and not through spiritual realization.  A treatment should leave the practitioner in better condition than before he gave it; otherwise, it is not a good treatment.

One might ask:  "Is all mental disease a thought held in the conscious mind of the patient?"  No, not necessarily.  It may be a subconscious thought, or it may be the result of many thoughts, which brought together produce a definite result.  Combinations of thought unite to produce definite effects.

Limitation and poverty are not things, but are the results of restricted ways of thinking.  We are surrounded by a Subjective Intelligence, which receives the impress of our thought and acts upon it.  This natural Law in the Mental World is neither good nor bad.  It can only be said of It that IT IS, and that we may consciously use It.  The Law is a law of reflection; for Life is a mirror, reflecting to us as conditions the images of our thinking.  Whatever one thinks tends to take form and become a part of his experience.  The Medium of all thought is the Universal Mind, acting as Law.  Law is always impersonal, neutral, receptive and reactive."

July 20 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

THE LAW of ATTRACTION
By Ernest Holmes

Attracting Success

"We mean by demonstration, bringing into our experience something which we had not experienced before; bringing it in as the result of conscious thought; and unless it is possible to do this, our whole science is a mistake and a delusion.  Unless there is a Divine Principle, Universal Soul or Subjectivity, or Medium, which, of Itself - without any help or assistance - can produce things, and will, then there is nothing in this teaching.  But there is a Divine Principle; and what It does for us It must do through us.  Our part in the demonstration is to set the word in motion, thus compelling, through the Law of Subjectivity, the result or manifestation. 

The subjective state of a man's thought decides what is going to happen to him in his objective experience.   The subjective state of his thought is the sum total of his thinking and knowing. It is the medium between the relative and the Absolute, between the Limitless and the conditioned.  Whatever is involved in it, will evolve.  Therefore, when there is no longer anything in our mentality which denies our word, a demonstration will be made; nothing can stop it, for the Law is Absolute.

We should approach the Law normally and naturally and with a sense of ease.  There is nothing peculiar or weird about it.  It is a natural Law, working in a normal way, and must be thought of in this light.  We should come to consider the Law and the Spirit as friends and think of them as such.  In this way we shall gradually go from good to more good and from peace to greater peace.  This is the natural unfoldment of Reality through man.  We should EXPECT THE BEST, and so live that the best may become a part of our experience.

Suppose one wishes more activity in his business, more success.  Every day he should see his place filled with people.  See them looking at and finding pleasure in his merchandise; see them comparing prices and realizing that he is offering good values; see them delighted with the service he is giving; see them cheerful, beaming, expansive, as they enjoy the atmosphere of his place; see the uplift which the spirit of his good-will gives them.  Make a mental picture of it all.  We are dealing with Intelligence, and we should recognize the Power we are working with - realizing our Oneness with It - and then we should ask for what we wish and take it.

If we were treating for activity in a store we owned in Boston, we should not be treating someone in Kalamazoo for the mumps and expect that the store would demonstrate more success.   WE MUST BE SPECIFIC IN WHAT WE DO, while at the same time never outlining how it shall be done.  Remember we are dealing with Intelligence.   IT IS GOING TO EVOLVE OUR CONCEPT EXACTLY AS WE INVOLVE IT.  If one could take a picture of his objective circumstances and a picture of his subjective mentality, he would find them to be identical, for one is the cause of the other.  One is the image and the other is the reflection of that image.

So our success in business, the activity which we generate through the operation of the Law, depends upon our ability to conceive.  At all times, we are either drawing things to us or pushing them away.  In the average individual, this process goes on without his knowing it, but ignorance of the law does not change its result.  "What," someone will say, "do you think that I thought failure or wanted to fail?"  Of course not.  Perhaps you thought that failure might come, maybe you even feared it would come, or in some other way gave it entrance to your mind."

June 1 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Summary of Part Two:  Spiritual Mind Healing ~ Ernest Holmes

First Division:  Ideation

A recognition of the Power, and the thought and purpose back of mind healing.

"The possibility of spiritual mind healing, changing environment, controlling conditions, etc., through the power of right thinking, rests entirely upon the theory that we are surrounded by a Universal Mind, which reacts to our thought - and always according to Law.

Spiritual Man is Perfect, but his individual use of Life and Law enables him to cover a perfect idea with an apparently imperfect cloak.

Sickness is not a spiritual Reality; it is an experience - an effect and not a cause.  The body, devoid of mentality, could neither know nor experience sensation; it is entirely an effect.  The body of man is made from the same undifferentiated Spiritual Substance from which all Creation is formed.

Man comes into objectivity with the tendency of the race already subjectified within him, through race-suggestion.  The race experiences sickness and limitation, and this suggestion is more or less operative through all people.  It works through the subjective race thought and operates through the individual.

Man need not consciously think negation in order to produce physical disturbance, but the physical correspondent is a logical outcome of what he thinks.  Thus we see not only how important it is to entertain right thoughts, but also the necessity for having a constructive basis for our thinking.

We find that prayer is essential to happiness, for righteous prayer sets the law of the Spirit of life in motion for our good.  Prayer is essential to the conscious well-being of the soul.  Prayer has stimulated countless millions to higher thoughts and better lives.  Prayer is its own answer.  Before our prayer is framed in words the possibility of its answer already exists.

We find that faith in God is a spiritual quality of the mind; and an understanding faith is based on Immutable Principle.  Its action is higher than that of the intellect, because it is born of intuition.

One should have faith in himself, faith in his fellowman, in the Universe, and in God.  Our mind must be steady in its conviction that our life is some part of God, and that the Spirit is incarnated in us.  "Faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen."

A spiritual practitioner is one who recognizes man as a Spiritual Reality.  Since there is but One Mind, the practitioner makes this recognition within his own mind.  Through the medium of the One Mind, his statements rise to objective conditions in his patient, according to his belief and the patient's receptivity.  Healing is accomplished through the act of setting Subjective Law in motion.  The more spiritual or Godlike the mentality of the practitioner, the more powerful the treatment.

A mental treatment begins and ends within the thought of the practitioner, because he is in the same Mind in which his patient lives.  Treatment is the act of inducing right concepts on the subjective side of life.

Absent and present treatments are the same, for there is no absence in the One Presence.  So far as the practitioner is concerned, there is no difference between an absent and a present treatment.  He needs only to know whom he wishes to help, realizing that in the field of Mind and Spirit there is no apartness, and then he speaks the word for the other person, in full confidence that the Law will operate upon it.  He is not concerned where the person is whom he desires to help, or what he may be doing at that particular time.  He is concerned only with his own thought relative to his person, endeavoring to bring out in his own mind the realization that this person is a spiritual entity, governed by a perfect Law, directed by positive Intelligence, and animated by Divine Life, Love, and Law.

There is no personal responsibility in healing.  We should not feel that we put the power into the word.  The practitioner directs the Power and lets It work.  One does not hold thought in mental healing; he looses thought.  A practitioner does not try to suggest, hypnotize or mentally influence; he simply seeks to know that man is now a spiritual being, and he holds to that belief no matter what the appearance may be.  Right mental treatment does not tire the one giving the treatment.

Personal magnetism has nothing to do with mental healing.  The whole basis of the possibility of mental healing rests upon the premise that we all live in One Creative Mind which reacts to our belief.  It is as though there were a Universal Ear, listening to and hearing everything that we say, feel or think, and reacting to it.

Healing is not a process but a revelation; for the revealing of the perfect man always heals.  The process, if there is one, is the time and thought that it takes to arrive at the correct understanding of man's perfect state in Spirit.

Anyone can heal who believes that he can, and who will take the time to set that belief in motion through the Law.  To daily see the perfect man, and to daily declare for his objective appearance, is correct mental practice and will heal.

A treatment recognizes that all is Mind, and that everything is mental.  It dissolves all disease into thought; neutralizes the false thought and recognizes the true.  Nothing can stop it from operating except a lack of faith in the reality of Truth and man's ability to use It.

In giving mental treatment, the practitioner first realizes his own being as spiritual; he then recognizes the spiritual state of his patient's being; then he attacks the false claim and brings the evidence of Truth to bear against it, thinking in such a manner as to completely destroy the false claim and realize the Truth.  In such degree as this acknowledgment is complete, petition is transmuted into acceptance, and the mind actually feels that the object of its desire is already an accomplished fact.

The greatest good that can come to anyone is the forming within him of an absolute certainty of himself, and of his relationship to the Universe, forever removing the sense of heaven as being outside himself.

Such an understanding teaches us that there can never come a time when we shall stop progressing; that age is an illusion, that limitation is a mistake, that unhappiness is ignorance.  This understanding will rob man of his loneliness and give him a sense of security which knows no fear, a peace without which no life can be happy, a poise which is founded on this peace, and a power which is the result of the union of peace with poise."

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 28 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

When and What Is a Demonstration? ~ Ernest Holmes

"In the language of metaphysics, a "demonstration" is made when the thing is accomplished which the one treating desires to achieve...whether it be health, happiness, or abundance.  A demonstration is a manifestation.  It is prayer answered.  When the word of a practitioner takes form, this is a demonstration.  When desire is given a subjective mold and then becomes objectified in the life of the one for whom the practitioner is working, this is demonstration.  The practitioner, of course, gives thanks as he makes his demand on the Infinite, knowing that supply and demand are one, and that his request is instantly manifest on the invisible plane.  "Before they call, will I answer," is the divine promise.

We cannot demonstrate beyond our ability to mentally embody an idea.  The argument is between our experience, what the world believes, and what we are convinced is the Truth.

It should be understood that we can demonstrate in spite of ourselves - in spite of all weakness, in spite of all fear, in spite of all that is in us - because such is the power of Truth.  We wait only for our own awakened thought.  The Law is neither good nor bad.  Law is and responds.

The possibility of demonstrating does not depend upon environment, condition, location, personality or opportunity.  It depends solely upon our belief and our acceptance, and our willingness to comply with the Law through which all good comes.  The Universe will never deny us anything, unless we conceive that it is possible for us to think of something that is impossible for the Universe to produce!  Everyone who asks receives, according to his belief."

March 18 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Success and Happiness ~ Ernest Holmes

"Success and happiness are ours when we deal with Absoluteness.  This is the attitude we should have.  What we need to know is the Truth.  This does not mean that we need not be active; of course we shall be active, but we need not compel things to happen.  Only remember we are surrounded by a Universal Subjectivity, a Subjective, Creative Consciousness, which is receptive, neutral, impersonal, always receiving the impress of our thought and which has no alternative other than to operate directly upon it, thus creating the things which we think.

Each one should realize that there is nothing in him which denies that which he desires.  Our unity with good is not established while there is anything in us which denies it.  People often say:  "How shall I know when I know?"  The very fact that one can ask this proves he does not know, for when he knows that he knows, he can prove his knowing by doing.

Thought sets definite forces in motion in Mind, relative to the individual who thinks.  For instance, I am known in consciousness as Ernest Holmes, for that is my name; and every claim made for me, which I accept, operates through avenues of mind-activity and returns to me as some condition.

A good demonstration is made when Truth, gathering Its own power, lifts one out of his environment; and until that time comes, he should stay where he is, in order that he may know when he has made a demonstration.  It is not a good demonstration if when we give our treatments we have to struggle just as before.  Principle is Absolute, and in so far as any individual can actually induce, within consciousness, upon Principle, a definite, concrete acceptance of his desire...it will manifest, even though every thought on earth had to change to compel it!  If it were a bit of information that was needed for the demonstration that only one person on earth knew - and that person was in the center of Africa - the information would be produced!"

March 4 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

It Is Done Unto Us ~ Ernest Holmes

"What a marvelous thought to bear in mind:  that it is done unto us!  We need not coerce, we do not create the power, but we must LET this Great Power operate through us.

In the Infinity of Mind, there is nothing but Mind and what Mind does - Its operations.  This Mind is acted upon by our thought, and in this way thought becomes the law of our lives.  It is just as much a law in our individual lives as God's thought is in the larger life of the Universe.  WE DO NOT CREATE.  WE USE THE POWER OF THE ONE MIND, WHICH CREATES FOR US!  Our beliefs and our deep-seated convictions inevitably out-picture and reflect themselves in our experience and environment, both in the physical condition of the body, and in the larger world of our affairs.  What we outwardly are, and what we are to become, depends upon what we are thinking, for this is the way we are using Creative Power.  The sooner we release our minds from the thought that we have to create, the sooner we shall be able to work in line with Spirit.  Always man uses; he never creates anything.  The united intelligence of the human race could not make a single rosebud; but our thought, centered in Mind, is using the Creative Power of the Universe.

Law of Life is a law of thought - an activity of consciousness - the Power flows through us.  The Spirit can do for us only what It can do through us.  Unless we are able to provide the consciousness, It cannot make the gift.  The Power behind all things is without limit, but in working for us It must work through us.  Realizing, then, that while the Power is limitless, It must become operative through our own thought, we shall see that what we need is not some greater power, but a greater consciousness, a deeper realization of life, a more sublime concept of Being, a more intimate concept of an already indwelling God, Who is personal to us by virtue of being personified through us."

February 29 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

GENERAL SUMMARY ~ Ernest Holmes

"The subjective mind of man is part of the Universal Subjective Mind of God.  It is the place where every man individualizes himself on the subjective side of life.  It is his use of the Law of Cause and Effect.  It is his use of the Law of Karma.  It is the Law of the Whole, now individualized as a law of the apparent part.  It may produce either freedom or bondage according to the way that it is used.  Man's use of the Universal Law makes it appear as thought his subjective mind were an entity of itself.  It never is, however, and this is one of the main points we should remember.  It is not separated from the Universal, but is, in a certain sense, the property of the individual in the Universal.  God and man are One, but God is greater than man.  The Whole is greater than Its parts.

The Universal Subjectivity is Mind in an abstract and formless state.  That is, it is a potential energy and a latent power, which means that It is unformed, but always ready to take form.  It is Mind and Substance in an unformed or uncreated state of being.  It is ready to become molded into creativeness.  It is unexpressed Mind.  It waits to be called into form or expression.  It exists in its original state, invisible but potential with all possible form.  A creative, universal energy waiting to be used, to be operated upon.  Willing, but having no volition of Its own.  Ready, but having no initiative.  Formless, but ready to take form.

Mind in Its subjective state is Universal.  Mind in Its subjective state cannot act until It is set in motion by mind in a conscious state.  Therefore Universal Subjective Mind is a doer and not a self-conscious knower.  It knows how to do but It does not have any conscious knowledge that It is doing.  Man calls It forth into expression.

In Universal Mind is contained the essence of everything that ever was, is or shall be.  The seen and the unseen are in It and governed by It.  It is the sole and only Creative Agency in the universe and all other apparent creative agencies are It working in different ways.  Things exist in the Universal Mind as ideas.  Ideas take form and become things in the concrete or the visible world.  Thought calls things forth from the universal into expression.

The correct understanding that Mind in Its unformed state can be called forth into individual use is key to all proper mental and spiritual work from a practical viewpoint.  To know that we are surrounded by such a creativeness is not enough, however, we must use this knowledge for definite purposes if we expect to make conscious use of the law for personal self-expression.  In this limitless Medium the potential of all our desires exists in an unformed state.  The Unformed is ready to take form, but having no intention of Its own, because It is not self-knowing, form must be imposed upon It.  Form is imposed upon It by the self-knowing mind of God and of man.  Man in the little world. God in the Great World.

The invisible essence of Mind is Substance.  That is, an unformed stuff, an energy.  It is energy plus intelligence.  Intelligence is conscious energy working upon unformed substance in accord with law.  When man makes a demand upon himself or demand upon the Universe which flows through the self, he is making a demand upon Original Mind and Original Energy.  Thus his demand causes Original Mind and Energy to produce certain specific things for him.  Thus is a new creation produced by the same Creative Force or energy that produces all things.  The Mind that man uses to conceive new ideas is the Original Mind of God.  There are not two minds but One.  The Universal and the individual are one in Essence.  Any apparent difference is in degree only."

February 11 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Cause and Effect ~ Ernest Holmes

"Effect is that which did not make itself but must have a power back of it, causing it to be.  All manifestation, all body, is effect, and is subject to its cause!

The Creator is greater than His creation.  Everything we see, touch, taste, feel, hear or grasp with the physical senses, is an effect.  "Things which are seen are not made of things which do appear."  What we see comes from that which we do not see.

If self-knowingness is in Spirit, and if the Law which executes the volition of Spirit is entirely subconscious, or subjective to the Will of Spirit, it follows that both cause and effect are spiritual!  Involved within the idea which the Spirit drops into the Creative Medium, is everything necessary to bring this idea into form.  Spirit never thinks of methods or processes, for that which the Spirit involves must evolve!  The contemplation of Spirit, the Self-Knowingness of God, produces involution.  Evolution is the passing of thought into manifestation.

To put it another way:  All is Infinite Being and all is eternally becoming.  Infinite Being is Infinite Knowingness; as the result of this Infinite Knowingnesss, there is an Infinite Becomingness or Creation. The Infinite Knowingness produces what is called involution through the self-contemplation of Spirit.  As the result of this contemplation - the Word of the Bible - Creation is made manifest.  This is evolution.

Evolution is the process, the way, the time, and the experience that transpires as Thought - or Intelligence, or Idea, or Contemplation - passes from abstract Being into concrete expression.  Consequently, evolution is an effect of intelligence and not the cause of it!  EVOLUTION IS NOT CREATING INTELLIGENCE; INTELLIGENCE IS PROJECTING EVOLUTION.  We do not deny the theory of evolution; we affirm its cause to be Intelligence, operating as Consciousness and Law."

February 10 ~ The Science of Mind

Form Within the Formless ~ Ernest Holmes

"Our physical body is like other physical manifestations.  The idea of body is an image derived from the fountain of all ideas.  The form is a materialization from the Substance of all forms.  All bodies are made out of the same stuff. This one stuff is an inanimate and infinite stuff, and is equally distributed in the universe - much like the modern idea of the ether of space - and IT IS THE NATURE OF THIS STUFFF TO TAKE FORM!  Therefore, form is entirely in the realm of effect.  Form comes and goes but it is not self-knowing.  Form is within the formless.  Form is not an illusion, even when it is the form of disease; it then represents a false conclusion, but is as real as it is supposed to be.  If the formless did not take form Spirit would never arrive at self-realization. 

The Formless takes form in what we call "time."  "Time is a sequence of events in a unitary wholeness;" it is recollection, attention, and anticipation - past, present, and future - simply the measure of experience.  Of course time is real, but never a thing of itself.  If the Timeless did not manifest in what we call time, it would never come to self-fruition.  Therefore we have form and time, and what we call space, which is never a thing of itself but the possibility of outline.  If there were not such outline we would walk through each other without recognition.  Form is real as form but is not self-conscious, it is subjective to the power that created it.  Forms come and go but the Power back of them is Changeless.  Form is temporary but Mind is eternal."

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 23 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Turn Entirely from the Condition ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

""Behold thou my face forevermore." "Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth."  That is, look up and not down. The reason a man has difficulty in throwing off some weakness of character - while believing in Spirit implicitly and having faith that he is going to overcome his limitation - is because he has not induced the necessary images in mind. If he had, he would have overcome his trouble. Thinking of his weakness keeps the image of it before him.  We cannot be too insistent on this all-important point:  in treating, we must TURN ENTIRELY AWAY FROM THE CONDITION.  Disease and limitation are neither person, place, nor thing.  Turn entirely from the condition, or limited situation, to its opposite, to the realization of health, happiness and harmony.  Spiritual treatment starts with Perfect God, Perfect Man, and Perfect Being, which statement consciously removes any belief which denies such manifestation.

Look Only at What You Want

Never look at that which you do not wish to experience.  No matter what the false condition may be, it must be refuted.  The proper kind of a denial is based upon the recognition that, in reality, there is no limitation, for Mind can as easily make a planet as an acorn. The Infinite knows no difference between a million dollars and a penny.  It only knows that IT IS.

It is the consciousness back of the word that forms the word.  Consciousness means the inner embodiment of an idea through the recognition of Truth and a direct relationship to the Divine.  The greatest teacher who ever lived was the most spiritual man, for the more universal and comprehensive the thought, the more Godlike it must become.

A good treatment is always filled with the recognition of the Presence of God, or Good.  This automatically wipes out any picture of undesirable conditions, for the Spirit of God is a law of elimination and obliteration to everything unlike Itself!  Even in what we term spiritual things, we are still dealing with the law of cause and effect, for God is Law.  The more exalted, the more heavenly, the more boundless, the more Godlike or Christlike the thought it, the more power it will have.  This is why the greatest teacher became the Savior.  A spiritual genius would have to be a  Savior.

Never Limit Your View of Life

Never limit your view of life by any past experience.  The possibility of life is inherent within the capacity to imagine what life is, backed by the power to produce this imagery, or Divine Imagination.  It is not a question of failing or succeeding. It is simply a question of sticking to an idea until it becomes a tangible reality.  The illusion is in the way we look at things.  We have looked at poverty, degradation and misery until they have assumed gigantic proportions. Now we must look at harmony, happiness, plenty, prosperity, peace and right action, until they appear.

When we are making a demonstration, we pay no attention to what happens in the objective world.  We interpret causes by conditions, only as we realize that a condition must partake of the nature of its cause.  If there appears to be confusion in the condition, then there must have been confusion in the thought back of it.  We pay no attention to the right subjective recognition.  The way scientifically to work out a problem is daily in thought to conceive of it as already being an accomplished fact in experience.  We realize the desire is already embodied in the Absolute.  We are dealing with nothing less than the Absolute - with REALITY.

During the process, many things may happen that appear to be destructive.  We may pass through good fortune and bad, but if we can come to the point where we are not disturbed by "things" we can have found the secret.  If, as Jesus said, we "judge not according to appearance, but judge righteous judgment," remembering that "things which are seen are not made of things which do appear;" if, I repeat, we can judge in this manner, OUT OF ANY CHAOS WE CAN PRODUCE HARMONY."

January 21 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Causes and Conditions ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

Mental Practice Deals Only with Thought

"The philosophy of spiritual mind healing is based upon the conception that we are living in a universe of Intelligence - spiritual Universe; that thought are things, that definite states of consciousness, as they become subjective, operate through a creative field and tend to reproduce themselves in form.

Therefore, it logically follows that this system of treatment is for the purpose of uncovering and neutralizing the wrong states of thought...of building in mind a concept of our spiritual birthright.  Thought which is built upon a realization of the divine Presence has the power to neutralize negative thought, to erase, it, just as light has the power to overcome darkness; not by combating darkness, but by being exactly what it is:  LIGHT.  "And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not."

Therefore, spiritual treatment does not concern itself with unpleasant conditions nor with imperfect manifestations, either in one's body or the body of one's affairs.  Treatment is for the purpose of inducing an interior awareness - an inner realization - in the mind of the practitioner, pertaining to the spiritual perfection of the person for whom he is working.

Changeless Reality

Spirit is Changeless Reality.  That which we call personality is the instrument through which Spirit operates, but Spirit can operate for the individual only by operating through him. Spirit is never bound by the form It takes, and is not affected by any apparent cause or condition, but is forever free.  Spirit not only fills all forms but surges around them and through them.  Ice is formed from water, all ice is some form of water.  Just so, god and man exist in an eternal state of Unity - the solid and the liquid are one substance.

We are dealing with an impersonal Principle.  It will operate for one just as quickly as for another, because It is Law.  Dare to speak, and to know that what you speak is the law unto the thing spoken regardless of what conditions exist.  One, alone, in consciousness with the Infinite, constitutes a complete majority.  Knowing this in your thought, work in perfect peace and calm.  ALWAYS EXPECT THE GOOD.  Have enthusiasm and, above all, have a consciousness of love - a radiant feeling flowing through your consciousness at all times.  Treat yourself until you have an inner sense of unity with all Good.

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 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 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 15 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reading Thought

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

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

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

January 14 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Memory ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

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

Science

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

How Laws are Discovered

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

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

The Science of Mind

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

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

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

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 12 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Spirit Works for Us by Working Through Us ~ Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind

"The Thing, then works for us by working through us and is us, always. It cannot work for us in any other way  It spreads Itself over the whole universe and shouts at us from every angle, but It can become power to us ONLY WHEN WE RECOGNIZE IT AS POWER.

We cannot recognize that It is, while we are believing that It is not.  Hence, it is written:  "they...entered not in because of unbelief."  (Heb. 4:6)  We may enter in because of our belief, but we cannot enter while there is unbelief.  Here we come to a house divided against itself.  If we say we can only experience a little good, then we shall experience but a little good.  But, if we say, with Emerson, "There is no great and no small to the soul that maketh all," then we may experience a greater good because we have conceived it.

Therefore, our belief sets the limit to our demonstration of a Principle which, of Itself, is without limit.  It is ready to fill everything, because It is Infinite.  So, it is not a question of Its willingness, nor of Its ability.  It is entirely a question of our own receptivity. 

How Much Can We Believe?

That we must go the way of the Law, is a fundamental tenet of this Science, because Nature obeys us as we first obey It, and our obedience to It is our acceptance of It.  How much can we believe?  AS MUCH AS WE CAN BELIEVE will be done unto us.

When the consciousness speaks, the law receives and executes. When a farmer plants a seed, he invokes the law.  That which follows is done by the mechanical side of Nature, which has no volition of Its own.  Involution is the cause and evolution is the effect.  When a practitioner thinks, or gives a treatment, or makes a prayer, he is dealing with involution - the first step of the creative order.  This is what the Bible calls the Word.  That which follow is evolution, or the unfoldment of the word, or concept, into objective existence.

We are thinking, willing, knowing, conscious centers of Life.  We are surrounded by, immersed in, and there is flowing through us, a creative Something....call It what you will.  The sum total of all our thought, will, purpose, and belief, creates a tendency in the Law that causes It to react to us according to the sum total of that belief.

Ignorance of the law excuses no one from its effects.  If then, certain specific ways of thought and belief have produced limitations, other beliefs will change them.  We must learn to believe.  The approach should be direct, and it should be specific.

Suppose one is laboring under the idea of limitation.  His whole thought is a picture of limitation.  Where is he placing himself in Mind?  Is he not, in substance, saying:  "I cannot have and enjoy good things"?  And he is demonstrating that he cannot have, or accomplish, good.  It may take time to reshape the basis of his thought; he must commence by saying, "I perceive that because I am what I am - because of this Infinite Thing that over-shadows eternity and finds Its abiding place in me, I know that good is now mine - all good."  There is no mental coercion in this.  We do not will things to be done; things are brought into being, not by will, but by the power of the self-assertive Truth.

How much can one demonstrate?  Just what one can believe.  How much can we see, how much can we accept, how much can we find in our consciousness that is no longer repudiated by our own denials?  Whatever that is, THAT MUCH WE CAN HAVE.

Good Only - Not Good and Evil

The gardener goes forth in faith to sow his seeds.   He has learned that as he sows, so shall he reap; that the law works for all alike.  We must accustom ourselves to the concept of the impersonalness of the law, the availability of the law, and the mechanical accuracy of the law.  If we can conceive only a little good, that is as much as we can experience.

We must instill into the mind the fundamental proposition that good is without bounds.  Only good and loving-kindness shall "follow me all the days of my life."  (Psalms 23)  We must get this concept, rather than continuing to think there is a power of evil as opposed to the power of Good.  We experience good and evil because we perceive a presence of duality rather than unity.

Then, knowing that The Thing can work for us only through us, let us begin to accept today more good than we experienced yesterday, and to know that we shall reap a harvest of fulfilled desires.  The time must come when we shall have left the apparent evil behind; when it shall be rolled up like a scroll and numbered with the things which were once thought to be.

Let us realize and work with this sound knowledge and perfect faith:  That as high as we shall make our mark in Mind and Spirit, so high shall be Its outward manifestation in our material world."