June 6 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

FROM THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS

by Ernest Holmes

The Two Sons

"In presenting the parable of the Prodigal Son to his listeners, Jesus began by saying that the Father (which is the Universal Spirit) had two sons, meaning that, as the son of God, man has the right of self-choice.  This carries with it the possibility of an apparent duality (but, of course, not a real one) and the possibility of experiencing good and evil.  Moses referred to the same thing when he said that he had set a blessing and a curse before the Children of Israel, and they must choose whom they would serve.  The two sons referred to in this story, allegorically denote the two states of consciousness necessary to real individuality.  Man is a conscious, self-knowing mind, equipped with volition and choice; he is an individual and can do as he chooses.

God Does Not Argue (Luke 15:11-32)

"A certain man had two sons:  And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me.  And he divided upon them his living."

When the younger son asked for his portion of good, God did not argue with him; did not try to dissuade him; did not suggest that he was using bad judgment.  God never argues.  To argue is to suppose an opposite and God has no opposite.  We argue to arrive at a correct conclusion.  God is already the correct conclusion of all things, therefore, He does not need to argue.  Plotinus tells us that Nature never argues, that It contemplates Itself; that Its contemplation creates a form, through which It may become expressed.  Undoubtedly, this is the whole meaning and process of Creation.

"And he divided unto them his living."  There was no argument.  God did not tell the son that it would be far better for him to remain at home.  He did not say that he might come to want and suffer, perhaps starve.  He did not tell him anything:  "He divided unto them his living."  The Universe gives us what we ask; experience alone will teach us what is best to have.  "He divided unto them his living."  No clearer statement of individuality could possibly be inferred than this.  The son received exactly what he asked for; no more, and certainly no less.  The cup of his acceptance was filled from the universal horn of plenty; he could do with it as he chose.

The Far Country

"And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living."

When the son had received his share of goods, he went into a "far country."  We are all in this "far country," for it symbolizes the descent of the soul, or the outer rim of spiritual existence.  It is omnipresent, we cannot escape the Divine Presence, so this "far country" means a state of consciousness which has separated itself from the eternal good.  The "true meaning," I believe, of the "far country" would be a conscious separation from God, an isolated state, one in which there appears to be no remembrance of God as an actual, living, and ever-present Reality; one where man feels himself to be separated and entirely apart from the Eternal good.

This "far country" has a real a meaning today as it had in the hills of Galilee, nearly two thousand years ago, for all of us have come from heaven and nearly all feel the isolation of this seeming apartness from the Eternal Good.  Indeed, the whole endeavor of mankind is to return to the Father's House.

Why We Are in Want

"And there wasted his substance with riotous living.  And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want."

When one separates himself from the Divine Fire, he becomes an isolated spark.  We are strong only when united with Life.  As soon as our consciousness is detached from spiritual wholeness, we can no longer draw from that inexhaustible reservoir of eternal existence, so we become exhausted - there is nothing to fall back upon.

Life is one perfect Wholeness.  The Universe is a Unit.  God is One.  IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR MAN TO FEEL SEPARATED FROM THE SPIRIT WITHOUT FEELING LOST AND IN WANT.  This is why Jesus said he could nothing of himself, but could work only as the currents of divinity ran through his personal mentality.  That subtle something which runs through all things and which we call "the Thing Itself," that energy without which nothing can be energized, that Life without which nothing can live, that Power without which nothing can move, and that Spirit without which nothing can be - IS GOD.  It is only as we live in conscious union with the Spirit, and consciously let It work through us that we really live.

The Fallen Man

So, the prodigal son "began to be in want.  And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine."

The symbolism here is most interesting, for it perfectly depicts the state of humanity while in the "far country."  The "citizen" referred to means the attempt, on the part of man, to find some cause outside of Spirit.  Man seeks to league himself with material forces alone, not realizing that there can be nothing outside the Unity.  Most of us seek the cause in the effect and unknowingly put the cart before the horse, not realizing that the flower is already in the seed, and that effects must follow causes.  There can be no true alliance apart from life and no good apart from a unity with the Whole.  "And he sent him into his fields to feed swine."  Jesus was a Jew.  The Jews did not consider the meat of the swine lawful to eat; consequently he used this term to show how completely the prodigal son had fallen from his high estate - he must even be compelled to feed the despised swine.  This demonstrated that his state of being was so low that it would be impossible for it to be any worse.  It had reached the outer rim of reality."

June 5 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

By Ernest Holmes

His Eye Is on the Sparrow

"His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me."

This is a blessed thought, for it means that we cannot wander from His Presence,

nor depart from His care.

Always He will watch over us and comfort us.

Forever we shall sit in His house and ceaselessly He will care for us.

The All-Seeing Eye cannot overlook any one, and all, all shall be kept in His care.

All are kept in His care.

Hope Cannot Die

Hope cannot die.  Eternal Hope is forever warm and fresh within me;

the deathless Hope built upon the rock of sure knowledge.

Oh Hope Sublime, O Life Supreme, behold I come to Thee as a tired child,

and Thou dost rekindle within me the fires of Faith.

Strong, swift and sure, Faith springs forth into action

and my entire Being rises to meet the Dawn.

Hope, Faith and Love are in me.

June 4 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Do Not Try to Go Beyond Your Understanding ~ Ernest Holmes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

June 3 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Suggestions for Treatments ~ Ernest Holmes

"In giving mental and spiritual treatments, it is better not to dwell too much on the negative, since we are liable to give it undue importance.  To affirm the presence of God is better than to deny the presence of evil.  However, if the presence of evil persists in making its appearance, it is sometimes well to deny it, to know it is neither person, place nor thing, that it does not belong to us, and that it cannot operate through or around us.  It is neither cause, medium, nor effect.  It is neither imagination, idea, nor reflection.  It is neither visible nor invisible.  It cannot emanate from God, and does not emanate from man.  The devil is a myth, and heaven is lost merely for the lack of an idea of harmony.  "Stand still and watch the sure salvation of the Lord."  This Lord Is always an indwelling Presence.  The individual "I" which is an incarnation of the Universal "I Am."

A practitioner should think of his patient as a perfect entity, living in a perfect Universe, surrounded by perfect situations and governed by perfect Law.  The entire Universe is devoted to his good.  "All the Father hath is thine."  "Arise, O Son, and take."  This taking is better accomplished through an affirmative attitude of  mind than by dwelling too much on the negative.  "Behold!  The kingdom of heaven is at hand," but this kingdom must be recognized.  The recognition is a mental act.  We must know that the All-Powerful Spirit is ever available and ever equal to the healing of any discordant condition of body, mind or affairs, but we must never look outside of ourselves to find this Spirit, since It is indwelling.  What we really do is to look within our own consciousness, and "pray to the Father who is in secret and the Father who seeth in secret, shall reward us openly."  The sincere practitioner will be sure his own thought is clear, that his own faith is equal to the demands made upon it.  Above all else he must be careful not to be caught in the negative stream of consciousness.  Jesus could not have raised Lazarus from among those who were believed to be dead if he had been afraid to "roll away the stone," nor if he had listened to the wailing of those about him.  To be spiritually minded is to enter that tranquil atmosphere of pure thought, that "Heavenly Consciousness" which is "the secret place of the Most High" in man.

In beginning a series of treatments for any person, we start with the idea of Perfect God, Perfect Man, and Perfect Being.  In every case it is well to begin by the removal of doubt and fear, to assure ourselves that the one whom we are seeking to help is complete and perfect, harmonious and whole.  Next we must conform our arguments, statements and realizations so that they may measure up to this high ideal.

It is easy to believe that God is perfect.  We must also believe that the spiritual man is perfect, and since it is difficult to believe that the objective man is perfect, we must confine our statements to a realization of the spiritual perfection of man.  In such degree as our realization becomes a subjective embodiment, the objective healing will automatically take place.  We know the background of human thought is, to a great extent, one of negation, a denial of an harmonious and spiritual Universe; consequently, our outlook on life must be transformed by the renewing of the mind, and even when the results are not immediately forthcoming, we must still maintain a calm serenity of thought.  We must relight the torch of our imagination by "fire caught from heaven."  We must remain faithful to this vision for a realization of the Presence of God is the secret power of our work.

The following examples are not to be considered dogmatic; they are merely suggested ways by which one may do effective work.   The practitioner must realize that all power is given unto him.  He must believe that man is spiritual and he must be certain that his statements about the spiritual man will find a corresponding outlet in the physical man.  However, he is very careful never to treat the physical man, but to think of man's entire being as spiritual, and if man's entire being is spiritual, then his physical being must reflect spiritual ideas.  The practitioner supplies these spiritual ideas and lets the Law of Mind do the rest.  To begin the treatment by a silent assurance that man, being spiritual, is exempt from negation, is a correct starting point.  Infinite Love harmonizes man's entire being.  The healing currents of Life flow through him, taking away every negative thought and manifestation, and adjusting his whole physical being to the idea of Divine Harmony."

June 2 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

Physical Perfection - Concluded ~ Ernest Holmes

What Can Be Healed?

"What should we try to heal through spiritual treatment?  If we were dealing only with the power of a thought, we should not expect to heal anything; but if we are dealing with a Universal Principle, why should we set any limit to Its power?

Since the Law of God is Infinite, from the spiritual viewpoint, there is no incurable disease, as opposed to a curable one.  The Law knows nothing about disease; It only acts.  The practitioner realizes that this word is the presence, power and activity of Truth, which is in him, which is Almighty, which is God, "beside which there is none other."

This word is the law unto the thing whereunto it is spoken, and has within itself the ability, the power, and the intelligence to execute itself, through the great Law of all life.  This word being the spontaneous recognition of Living Spirit - Infinite, Ever-Present, and Active - is now made manifest in and through this person, or thing, about which the practitioner is thinking.

To Spirit there can be no incurable disease.  The word "incurable" means not susceptible of being cured.  The root definition of cured is "cared for."  If we say that a disease is incurable, we are saying that it is not sensitive to care.   As long as any cell is alive it is sensitive to care, which means that as long as a person is alive, the cells of the body respond to care.  Naturally, they are not being cured if they are not being property cared for.  We have already learned that disease is largely a state of mind, and we could hardly say that a state of mind is incurable, could we?  We know that thought is constantly changing, forever taking on new ways of expression.  It cannot possibly remain permanent.  It has to change.  Can we not, accordingly, change it to a better state instead of to a worse?

Materia medica is using the term "incurable" less and less frequently, for most disease in the field of medicine is being cured.  Let us then free ourselves from the assumption that any disturbed state of thought need be permanent ("incurable")."

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."

May 31 ~ The Science of Mind in a Year

MEDITATIONS for Self-Help

Ernest Holmes

Cast Aside All Doubt

Cast aside all doubt, O Soul of mine, and be unafraid, for Thy power is from On High.

He Who sitteth in the heavens shall be Thy champion;

Thou need not fear; Come forth, O Spirit, from within and express Thyself through me and let not my doubts hinder Thy approach.

My faith shall go forth to meet Thee, and my confidence shall embrace Thee.

My waiting thought shall bid Thee welcome to my house of Love,

And Joy shall accompany us through the ages yet to come.

I lay aside all fear and doubt.

Divine Companionship

I have an Inner Friend who walks and talks with me daily.

He is not afar off, but is within me, a constant companion.

I shall never become lonely, for my Friend is always near.

I have but to speak and He answers.

Before ever my lips spoke He told me of His love.

O my kind Friend, how dear to me is Thy presence.

The Spirit within me is my Friend.