Science of Mind: What It Does

The woman called the Teacher of Teachers in the New Thought Movement, Emma Curtis Hopkins, once said, “There’s good out there and I ought to have it.” I believe that we should have whatever we want to live life to the fullest, but saying that can cause people to think that Science of Mind is all about getting “stuff”.

It is not. Science of Mind allows us to create the lives we want, or actually, accept the lives that are already ours to enjoy. We are in human form and I believe that we ought to experience that plane of existence to the fullest – to feel, taste, smell, hear and see all that this corporeal world has to offer. However, true happiness, contentment and peace of mind can never come from the physical alone. The key is to balance the spiritual with the physical.

Science of Mind scientific and rational. Religious Science is a blending of spirituality and science, two concepts not often used in the same sentence, but in truth one and the same. Dr. Holmes said, “The Universe is impersonal...It is no respecter of persons.” That means that it is going to work the same for me as it does for you every time. Can you imagine if electricity only worked if we were in a good mood or “nice people”? We are the ones who allow Spirit to work in our lives – there is no resistance on God’s part. To allow God to work in our lives, Ralph Waldo Emerson advises that we get our “bloated nothingness” out of the way of the Divine power. Those who think too much of themselves (the arrogant ones that scripture calls those puffed up with pride) will not perceive the simplicity of faith, yet the pure in heart see God. The farmer sees the Heavenly Host in her fields. The infant frolics with God as it plays with its toes. The mother has clasp God to her breast as she nurses. The fond lover has seen God in the eyes of his partner. We look far too far away for the Reality of God. About this Holmes says: “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 of the Reality of life is one of the first and most important things to do; the Science of Mind gives us the framework to do just that. That may seem elementary, simple. But simple is not always easy. We live today in a world that we as an industrialized nation have made very complicated. It is not always easy to get a straight answer to questions you want answered. It does us good once in a while to step back from our lives and do a reality check. How complicated do we want our lives to be? Are there areas we can make simpler, with less stress? We will not eliminate all stress in our lives, but we do not want to add to the stress in our lives by living complicated, rigid lives just because so much of our world does that.

The study of metaphysics, Religious Science and the Science of Mind is like any other course of study or area of expertise. It has a language all of its own. We use terms which are not commonly used in the daily language of people on the street, and we use commonly-used words in a new and different way. Words have ower and meaning we assign to them. Dr. Holmes tells us the “laws of nature are set and immutable” (which mean unchangeable), but the spontaneous recognition of these laws gives us the power to bring them into practical use in everyday life and experience.” When we put our thoughts out there and believe, opportunities will arise. That is the way the Law works: a conscious action and an inevitable re-action to our action (or conscious thought). 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. Yet, what do we say? "But HOW does it work?" "You can't just expect it to react that way - why look how hard I've worked all my life!"

To change our lives we must acknowledge our doubts, our fears, but we must not let them run our lives or allow them to take our eyes of our visions and goal. Turn to any doubt in your mind and find the falsehood of that doubt, or be willing to acknowledge the issues that the doubt brings up and deal with them to the best of your ability. The Principle we have to demonstrate is perfect, and to the extent that we can convince ourselves of that perfection, to that extent it will automatically demonstrate. Do not waste your time arguing its possibility or reliability with those who doubt the power of prayer or have no faith in the Power of God Mind. Believe change is possible.

Be willing this week to open up to just a fraction more of this Power, or as much as you want. And then, let God show off in your life and embrace all the love and good which is already yours!

Dr. Terry

Science of Mind: The Way It Works

This is the second in the four-part series about the Science of Mind. Science of Mind (SOM) is a scientific approach to religion and a religious reverence in scientific law. It is a spiritual philosophy which deals with the unity of all life and which proclaims that God Power exists at the center of every person. SOM is not a special revelation; but rather a compilation of many revelations. Dr. Ernest Holmes said he never had an original thought. I believe he had some amazing ways of expressing ancient principles, but this speaks to his belief in the unity of all people. In Eccl. 1:9, wise King Solomon tells us that “there is nothing new under the sun.” Religious Science (RS) accepts the good wherever we find it and then makes it our own to the best of our understanding.

None of the practice of SOM can be effective without a firm belief in God, or whatever you personally call that Higher Power, Universal Force, Life Energy, etc. This is the meaning of the mystical saying of the Apostle Paul in Acts 17:28: “In Him we live, and move, and have our being.” We, meaning Religious Scientists or New Thought practitioners like myself, see God as a Consciousness of Unity. We do not traditionally communicate in a way that supports unity; rather, English and many other major languages are inherently full of separation and sexism.

When a religious scientist prays s/he must have a strong belief in the unity of all life. The form of prayer that RS uses, called Spiritual Mind Treatment, or affirmative, scientific prayer, is what sets RS apart from the other New Thought religions. (For more information on this, please refer to the page on our new website at: http://newthoughtpa.org/ ). This type of prayer must have a basis of unity. The one “treating”, as it is called, must believe in One Mind and One Spirit, therefore only Divine Right Action can come of the situation at hand.

There is one Law or Principle in any given situation. As to our physical bodies, there are not two separate Principles, one of sickness, one of health. There is one Principle used two different ways, one way producing what we want, the other way producing what we do not want. Both outcomes are a result of our belief system and how we think, either consciously or sub-consciously. The possibility of healing exists in the consciousness of each of us. There will come with the desire for healing or change everything we require to fulfill that longing — but we must be open to that. We have the faith in the thing unseen, this Universal Power.

We believe in our own individualized use of this Active Force. We believe we can make a difference; that conditions in our lives which are undesirable can be changed; or, at least believing we can see conditions in a different way. We recognize that this Power is consistent and always present. It works all the time and for everyone. That is why the Apostle Paul told the Hebrew Christians of the first century “some did not enter into the faith because of their unbelief” (Heb. 4:6). We may enter in because of our belief, but we cannot enter while there is unbelief. This is what the scriptures refer to as “a house divided against itself” – we are pushing and pulling at the same time and accomplishing nothing.

Our belief sets the limit to how successful our treatments/prayers will be. Spirit is ready to fill everything, because It is Infinite. It is not a question of Spirit’s or God’s willingness or ability. It is entirely a question of our own receptivity to being blessed. You are a thinking, willing, knowing, conscious center of Life. You are surrounded by, immersed in, and there is flowing through you, a creative Something . . . call It whatever you want. The sum total of all your thought, will, purpose and belief, creates a “tendency” in this Law that causes It to react to you according to the sum total of that belief. It behooves us, therefore, to do all we can to see that our thought processes are in line with the life we desire to have.

Ignorance of the Universal Laws excuses no one from its effects. It, therefore, stands to reason we ought to learn the Law, learn to believe of and in It, and approach It directly, head-on and specifically. That is why I hope to hear from enough of you locally that I can begin offering classes, where we can look deeply into the issues in our lives and how to use the Principles to assist us in making changes for the better. Please let me know if you are interested! Drop me a line: terry@newthoughtpa.org

In Spirit, Truth and Playfulness,

Dr. Terry

What is the “Science of Mind”? – Part One

I hope you enjoy this brief introduction to the Science of Mind philosophy that I have spoken about in my blogs. Each of the four parts comes from the first four chapters of the Science of Mind textbook, written by Ernest Shurtleff Holmes.

Ernest Holmes was born in 1887 and passed on in 1960. Holmes published his Science of Mind philosophy in 1926 after many years of studying metaphysics and countless ancient philosophers. Eventually this philosophy led to the establishment of the Churches of Religious Science, one of the three “New Thought” religions – the other two being Unity and Divine Science.

Holmes spiritual philosophy aligns with all religions. Many people think of Science of Mind as their way of life, but still practice a traditional religion. Holmes believed in the unity of all life and proclaimed that God Power exists at the center of every person. Thanks to the discovery and evidence of quantum physics in the twenty-first century, this is no longer metaphysical psychobabble – it is current science.

The Science of Mind deals with and uses the science of the laws of thought as they pertain to our relationship to the universal creative Mind (or God, or Force, or Higher Power) and to health, happiness and success. In the front of my copy of the Science of Mind textbook I have an anonymous poem. I have heard some people say that Dr. Holmes wrote it. I do not know that to be true, but it certainly agrees with his philosophy. This is what it says: “Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe, and enthusiastically act upon must inevitably come to pass”. Two basic Holmes’ concepts are Love and Law. The Law is perfect, so therefore the Love must also be perfect. "The study of the Science of Mind is a study of First Cause, Spirit, Mind, or that invisible Essence, the ultimate Stuff and Intelligence from which everything comes, the Power back of creation – The Thing Itself."

Dr. Holmes refused to believe that the Creative Intelligence of the Universe would create humankind in bondage and leave us bound as some faiths teach. To do so would be to dishonor the Creative Power that we call God. Because of this belief we trust that the basis of the Universe is Love, and that we have at our disposal all we need to live happy, productive, satisfying lives. We are individuals, and the Universe allows us to discover our individuality.

Freedom is our birthright and we all feel that instinctively. Humankind must have freedom to grow, to explore and to figure things out. Some call it intuition, some call it the inner voice, or the still small voice - but it is there within each of us, calling, beckoning to us to be more than we are, or at least more than we believe ourselves to be. It is the innermost thoughts we all have, however buried beneath all the pain, hurt and guilt. It is what we know to be our calling.

The Science of Mind is filled with what I call, “Here’s the Good News/Here’s the Bad News” statements. They are not really good or bad, but they are sobering. Here is one of those: The Universe never plays favorites. For scientific proof of this, take the action of mixing colors – it works the same for everyone. Why? No one knows. We know it does, but we really do not know how or why this works. That lack of understanding, however, does not stop the artist from mixing colors. So is it true of the metaphysical laws; we do not have to understand any more about metaphysics than we do about mixing colors to use the laws of metaphysics. In fact, we probably will never know why the laws of metaphysics work the way they do. That is why they are metaphysical, beyond the physical, beyond physical law. An in-depth knowledge of any physical or metaphysical process is not necessarily required to use the process.

I once heard Dr. Jay Scott Neale say, "We often hear it said that Religious Science is not for everyone. That is not true. However, not everyone is for Religious Science." That is because our teaching is not some magical answer, or a quick-fix, get-rich scheme. It requires dedication, faith and hard work. It is far easier to blame God, the government or our parents than to take personal responsibility for our lives and community. But the rewards of taking on that challenge are beyond anything you might be able to imagine.

Two other basic beliefs from Dr. Holmes are that there is nothing supernatural about the study of life and there is limitless power at our disposal. We do not have to be well-educated or esoteric in nature to understand life. Nor are we without power. Many churches do not teach these Truths – for centuries the Church has kept the masses in the dark, touting the religious as the only ones who can truly understand the scriptures. Science of Mind is a philosophy and way of life that allows us to align with whatever we consider that power greater than us to be, without the intercessors of priest, minister, church or dogma. We are spiritual beings having a human experience. That is because we live, move and have our being in a Spiritual Universe; that God is in, through, around, for and as us.

Holmes taught that "[a]ll thought is creative". Fortunately for us, all our thoughts do not immediately manifest! But if we believe in a Universe that does not judge and that is there to be directed, it should give us pause to consider twice on what we concentrate, what we ponder and how much energy we give to that which we do not want.

Religious Science is best known for the Holmes’ quote, “Change your thinking, change your life.” We are not bound by the past – we can create a new future and a better present. There is a Divine Essence, a Divine Nature within each of us - that is the Christ Consciousness. The mind which we discover within us is the Mind that governs everything and forms the very basis for Holmes’ philosophy. I hope you will return next week for part two in my series, “The Way It Works”.

In Spirit, Truth and Playfulness,

Dr. Terry