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Principles of Religious Science By B y Ernest Ern est S. Holmes Holm es
The Creative Power of the Mind B y C h r is tia ti a n D . La L a rs o n
A Clinic for Sick Business B y C la r e n c e M a y e r
Daily M editations editation s
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CONTENTS FOR FEBRUARY
The Science of Mind Magazine The Science of Mind Magazine is published monthly by the Institute of Religious Science and School of Philosophy, Inc., 2511 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, Cali fornia. Entered as second class matter November Nove mber 13th, 1928, 192 8, at the Postoffice at Los Angeles, California, under the act of March 3, 1879. Subscribers' copies are mailed to reach them on the 20th of each month preceding the date date of o f issue. I f you do not receive your copy promptly, please report at once. Subscription Subscription price is $2.50 per year. Single copies 25c. M ail ai l subscriptions subscriptions to the Science of Mind Magazine, 2511 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. Sample copies will be mailed to any address free of charge. The Science of Mind Magazine is on sale in Seattle at Seattle Truth Center, suite 327, 327 , Hotel Hote l Gow man; ma n; in San San Francisco at at the the Metaphysical Library, 177 Post Street; in London, England, at 9 Percy Street and 93 Mortimer Street; at various Truth Centers in the western states and on news stands throughout Southern California. The Science Science of Mind Magazine, Copyrigh Copyrightt 1930 by Institute Institute of Religious Religious Science and and Scho School ol of Philosophy, Inc. Los Angeles, California. California. All All rights reserved. reserved.
CONTENTS FOR FEBRUARY
The Science of Mind Magazine The Science of Mind Magazine is published monthly by the Institute of Religious Science and School of Philosophy, Inc., 2511 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, Cali fornia. Entered as second class matter November Nove mber 13th, 1928, 192 8, at the Postoffice at Los Angeles, California, under the act of March 3, 1879. Subscribers' copies are mailed to reach them on the 20th of each month preceding the date date of o f issue. I f you do not receive your copy promptly, please report at once. Subscription Subscription price is $2.50 per year. Single copies 25c. M ail ai l subscriptions subscriptions to the Science of Mind Magazine, 2511 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California. Sample copies will be mailed to any address free of charge. The Science of Mind Magazine is on sale in Seattle at Seattle Truth Center, suite 327, 327 , Hotel Hote l Gow man; ma n; in San San Francisco at at the the Metaphysical Library, 177 Post Street; in London, England, at 9 Percy Street and 93 Mortimer Street; at various Truth Centers in the western states and on news stands throughout Southern California. The Science Science of Mind Magazine, Copyrigh Copyrightt 1930 by Institute Institute of Religious Religious Science and and Scho School ol of Philosophy, Inc. Los Angeles, California. California. All All rights reserved. reserved.
The Trinity B y H . F o s t e r H o l m e s
PHILOSOPHY:— Resear Research ch concernin concerning g truth of being being = W I S D O M SCIENCE:— Study Study of of observabl observablee fact factss = = = K N O W L E D G E R E L I G I O N :— Sp irit ir itua ua l perc pe rcep epti tion on = = = = = = = = = =L =L O V E Re s ul t : = = U N D E R S T A N D I N G When these three join hands we shall have a Balanced World and PEACE
Gratitude B y N e d L . C h a p i n
M ar k T w ain once once generous generously ly befri befriended ended a certain certain man and many years later regretfully referred to the incident as follows: “ I never expect expected ed him him to be grate ful. I never expected him to be thankful—my experience of men had long ago taught me that one of the surest ways of be ge ttin tt ing g an enemy ene my w as to do someone some one an act ac t of kind ki nd ness which should lay upon him the irritating sense of an obligation.” In this this recital recital— — really really a conf confes essi sion— on— M ar k T w ain reveal revealss a fru itfu l field field for the study of hum an natu re. O n both sid sides es,, the mental reactions between the giver and the receiver have much to do with successful and happy living. M an y peop peoplle, like like M ar k T w ain , have resent resented ed the inadequate inadequate expression of gratitude, but few, like Twain, have been able to change the shoe to the other foot so cleverly, making out, not himself, but the other person, as being laid under the smart of irritation. M ark T w ain , as most of us do, do, judged too much by by appearance ances. s. In extending a kindness kindness,, we should should no t feel that a lasting lasting debt is laid upon ano ther. If th e recipien t is is wise enough to express express his his gratitude, so much the better; if not, the benefactor should not be aggrieved. If he is, is, he falls into the vice vice of perceiving his his own v irtu e and into the further error of criticizing and condemning a fellow being. Once there was a man who jumped from a wharf into an icy river and rescued rescued a small boy boy from drow ning. A fte r the rescu rescuee the boy’s fa th e r cam e ru n n in g in p u rs u it of the th e d e p a rtin rt in g hero. he ro. “ A re you the man wh o saved saved my son ?” he panted . “Y es,” replied the hero, hero, modestly. modestly. “W e ll,” demanded the father, “wh at did did you do with his hat?” Gratitude, like adversity, has its uses, and these, too, are sweet. There is no exercise to expand the soul like the sincere expression of gratitude unless it be the receiving of gratitude graciously. W e coun t those wise wh o do no t receiv receivee favors because because they do do not wish to be under obligations; we count those wise indeed who
The The
Science of Mind Magazine it o r N e d L . C h a p i n , E d ito E r n e s t S. H o l m e s , C h r i s t i a n D . L a r s o n , H e l e n V a n S l y k e , Ass A sso o ciat ci at e E dito di to rs
V o l . III, No. 5
LOS ANG ELE S, CA LIFO RN IA
February,
1930
render themselves independent of the necessity of receiving favors, bu b u t wise wi sest st of all al l is he w h o follo fo llow w s the th e advice adv ice of Seneca Sen eca an d “ thin th inks ks of returning a kindness even while receiving it.” W e teach teach children children to expr expres esss gratitude. T he y sa say, “T ha nk you !” and we smile smile w ith pleasure. A t bottom this teaching arise arisess from the inherent desire for progress along those lines recognized as good and helpful, for to show good breeding by expressing one’s gratitud e is is constructive and benef benefic icia ial. l. “ G ra titud e,” w rote Samuel Samuel Johnson, “is a fruit of great cultivation; you do not find it among gross people.” There is a type of gratitude sometimes mistaken for genuine but in reality fals false. e. O f this kind, La Rochefoucauld said said,, “T h e gratitud e of most men is is bu t a secret desire of receiving gre ate r benefits.” Such gra titud e is cheap cheap and insin insincere. cere. It shrinks the soul. soul. In tru e gra titud e there is a qua lity tha t ennobles ennobles and so so glori glorifi fies. es. G ra titu de , whe n genuine and true, fa thers a desire desire to ret u rn th e kindnes kindness. s. In this high high type of gratitude there is no mere pretense, but a kind of giving of one’s one’s self self whereby all score scoress are equalized. T he n , at peace peace w ith the world, one may be as Emerson’s great men who “sit carelessly in their chairs.” Differences Differences and opposites opposites often t hr ow an object into into relief. So with gratitud e and and ingratitude ingratitude . L iter atu re abounds abounds in stirring paspassages based upon the heart interest that surrounds the victims of m an’s an’s ing ratitud e. F o r eexampl xample, e, Kin g L ear cried from from his soul soul,, “Ingratitude, thou marblehearted fiend!” In “As You Like It,” we read: “Blow, “Blow, blow, blow, thou thou winter w in d ! Thou art not so unkind as man’s ingratitude.” Elsewhere Shakespeare writes, “I hate ingratitude more in a man
than lying, vainness, babbling, drunkenne ss.’’ I ng rat itud e it was, “m ore strong than tra itors ’ arms,” tha t burst the heart of mighty Caesar. In the Epigram s of Ausonius we read, “ E ar th produces nothing worse than an ungrateful man,” and there is an old couplet which says, “He that’s ungrateful has no guilt but one; all other crimes may pass for virtues in him .” Equa lly scathing denunciation of ingratitude is this from Seneca: “Ingratum si dixens, omnia dixens.” “If you say he is ungrateful, you say all that can be said.” T ru e gratitude, the gratitude that warms the heart and adds to the world’s happiness, is defined as, “a sense of appreciation of favors received, accompanied with good will toward the benefactor.” It is selfevident that from good will, only good can result. There is an old and appropriate saying that he enjoys much who is than kfu l for little. In the Bible, the greatest book ever w ritten, we find the Psalms ringing down through the ages with songs of thanksgiving. Jesus, the grea test psychologist of all time, laid the basis fo r the highest use of gra titu de when he pronounced the law of faith in these words recorded in the Gospel of St. M ar k: “W ha t things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” Life, living and achievement are altogether a matter of consciousness. Ideas and thoughts are the moving causes. T hin gs and cond itions are results, only, or at most, secondary causes. T h e spirit— the consciousness—can mold and transform conditions and things; can move them about like pawns on a chess board. In this play of life, the first necessity, therefore, is to build up the consciousness— the sense of power, coupled w ith appreciation and acknowledgement of its source, the C reato r of all. Th erefo re, a man gives thanks, expresses gratitude, lets his heart pour out in thankfulness. Ca n any othe r men tal or spiritual effort reinforce a m an’s faith so effectively? Gratitude, in its highest and finest use, is a builder of character, brin ging men toge ther in a sp irit of generosity and m utu al appreciation. G ra titu de increases imm easurably in every man his faith in God, and in every man m ultiplies the joy of living. Shall we not, then, say with Shakespeare: “O Lord, that lends me life, Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness.”
Principles of Religious
Principles of Religious Science B y E r n e s t S . H o l m e s
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T H E P E R FE C T H E R E A ND T H E C O M P L ET E N OW
U R subject deals with the eternity of time. T im e is not a thing of itself but is a measure of experience whereby the Spirit may be conscious of Its own activity.
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Time of itself is nothing in that it is “no thing” yet it is not exactly nothing for without some measure of experience the inner Spirit would be unrecognized and unrecognizable and, bein g unexpressed, would be incomplete. Therefore we cannot truly call time an illusion. While there has been much philosophic discussion regarding time it leads us only to this conclusion—that whether or not time is real it is yet actual and necessary as a measurement of the duration of man’s experience. Time may be divided into memory or recollection, which is called past time—attention and recognition which we call present time, and ant icipati on or expectation which we call fu ture time. Let us briefly consider these divisions of time. The past has gone, yet the experiences of the past are written in memory, and memory contains the accumulated knowledge of the individ ual and of the race. W e continuously de pend on this source for information, for in spirat io n and guidance. Could memory be entirely extinguished, both in the mind of the individual and of the race, the entire background of our life would disappear, the stream of consciousness would
be abruptly severed; no grea ter cat as tr ophe could be imagined. Th e instinctive laws of nature have so ord ained that memory and experience shape and mould our lives toward greater attainment and eternal progress. Hence the time past is giving birth to the present time in which we recognize, understand and experience the activities of everyday life. Th us recognition, experience and activity slip away into the past, ever building a more substantial foundation upon which time — now only anticipated — shall rear a more noble edifice. Could the expectation of the future be removed from the enthusiasm of our vision, all efforts of today would be futile. Again nature has instinctively ordained that there shall ever be hel d before our waiting thought a goal, not too easily reached, which Swedenborg likened to the Spiritual Sun forever at the angle of fortyfive degrees in the heavens. Thu s, symbolically, the face of progress is ever toward the east with the light before it while casting its shadows behind. Since it is impossible for one to entirely rob himself of memory it behooves all to carefully guard the experiences of the present, that when they do become memories they shall be happy ones and it is a well established fact according to a known law of the mental life, that if one is retaining un pleasant incidents in his memory they can be neutr alized thro ug h the power of his own wor d and his imagination. This is the secret of the confessional and of the analysis of the “ Psyche”— (soul) to remove the stain, the hu rt and the condemnation from the past, leaving in their place the gentle urge of better purpose and a sense of the “Divine Forgivingness.” If we are carrying about in our memory that which does not measure up with h arm on y we should consciously discharg e it, knowing that though all have made mistakes there is still no power in the universe which wishes us ill. Let our present experiences be of such character as to harm no one and help all. Then shall the past be a beautif ul me m ory, the present a glad hour and the future a joyful expectation. All souls are eternal, all men are Divin e and in the long run good shall come to all. It is impossible to draw a fair estimate of the life of the soul from the short rang e experiences of a few years. W e are
eternal beings on the pathway of experience for the purpose
eternal beings on the pathway of experience for the purpose of gaining true individuality; even our mistakes are a part of our evolution and should be so considered. From the viewpoint of the Infinite Mind it must be that what we call the past, present, and the futu re are one. T h e Omega must be potential in the Alp ha. Th us it is writte n “ I am the Alpha and the Omega; the beginning and the end”— he that was and he that is to come. T h e pote ntiality of our lives must have been forever in the Divine Mind, so as individuals we should forever expand, continuously growing into the likeness of tha t Ch rist inh ere nt in all men. Could our eyes completely penetrate the spiritual realms and could our imaginations rise by pure intuition to the comprehension of reality we should, no doubt, perceive what the illumined have seen and sensed—that there is very little between us and heaven; and, that this little is entirely bound up in our own concepts. This intangible thing which refuses analysis, this subtle presence which can be neither caught nor bound, the Life Principle and the intelligent consciousness within us, partakes of the nature of Eternity and cannot even conceive of its own birth, nor can it possibly experience, even in its own imagination, any reality to its passing. T hu s can eterni ty be crowded into a day or a day stretched forth into eternity.
MEDITATION Born of E te rnal D ay
Child of All Good, you are born of Eternal Day. There is no evening of the Soul, for it shall live forever. It is Deathless and Perfect, Complete and One with the Everlasting. N o th ought of to m orrow can distu rb the calm of him who knows that Life is one Eternal Day. N o fear can ente r where Love reigns, and Reason keeps fa ith w ith Hope. The thoughts of the tomorrows and the yesterdays are swallowed up in the great realization of the Perfect Here and the Com plete Now. To -day I comp letely accept my wholeness.
II T H E L AW A N D T H E W O RD N the study of Relig io us Science we lea rn that the sequence of the creative order is first, intelligence; next, the movement of intelligence, which is the concept, the word or the idea; then the law moving in accord with the movement of intelligence; then, creation. Whatever the nature of the physical universe is—and no one knows w ha t it is— it is certai nly not an illusion. Creation, or visible form, is necessary to the life of the Spirit for without it the S pi rit would be unexpressed. As time is a creature of eternity, so form also is the creation of time, and both time and form are forever necessary to selfexpression, whether considered from the viewpoint of the individual or the universal life. Let us never think of creation as an illusion, or of things as being evil in themselves. T h e illusion is never in the thing but always in the way we look at it. T he infinite variat ions of life, the eternal manifestations of creation, though in changing forms, all point to the fact that the Infinite clothes Itself in form in orde r tha t It may enjoy Its own Being. I t must do this through the power of Its own imagination backed by the law of Its own word. T he re is no other possible conclusion to which we can arrive. Man as the complement of the Spirit is of the image of the Father; partaking of the Divine nature he must also have an inh eren t power within, whi ch is creative. Th is creative power immanent in man, is not placed there by the disposition of his own will nor through the imagination of his own thought, but should be considered rather as the nature of his being. In other words we should not attempt to explain why ultimate truths are true; they are true because they are true. Having discovered them there is nothing left other than to accept and utilize them. If there is any truth relative to the individual life which is of greater importance than this, it is that the thought of man deals with a creative agency or power. Fr om this he can never escape. Ou r word —our thought—our imagination— are all creative. W e d id not ha ng the stars in space nor set the lofty
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peaks overlooking the sea, but we have imagined unhappiness
peaks overlooking the sea, but we have imagined unhappiness and we do experience in life the outward manifestation of our inward convictions. The greatest discovery ever made is the discovery of the power of thought. Thought is an actual force dealing with the same kind of potential creative power in the universe of which only this can be said: “It Is.” Our thought operates independently of conditions and has the possibility of transcending circumstances as they now are, and causing new ones to be created. How ever, we should bear in mind that this creative power is only set in motion by our thought. The power itself belongs to the universe and no man made it. All tha t we can do is to accept, believe and use it. But while we continuously remould thought according to the pattern of ancient ideas we remain bound by previous opinion, bias and prejudice. W e must do something to break down the walls of experience and expand the vision of the soul. H ere our imaginat ion comes into play enab ling us to conceive a greater good. N either the will nor the intellect is creative, they simply decide what the thought, the emotion and the imagination shall respond to. One who would rise above previous conditions, transcend intolerable limitations and create a better situation for himself must deliberately turn, in his imagination and thought, from the old order and with a calm but flexible determination, endeavor to contemplate only the good, the beautiful and the true. H e should refuse to adm it into his consciousness any controversy or argument, compel himself to know and to accept that in the apparent isolation of his own soul, from the genius of his own thought, he is moulding an individualized destiny out of the stuff from which all form emanates. MEDITATION N othing Can H in der
N oth in g can hin der my W o rd from w orkin g; It will work, and nothing can stop it. M y w ord is the La w u nto th at thing wh ereunto it is spoken, and will become fulfilled in the right way and at the right time. M y W o rd is complete and perfect, and is the presence and the Power of the One Mind that is in and through all. I speak tha t W o rd and know th at it will accomplish. I w ait in perfect confidence for the W o rd to fulfill itself in my life. M y W o rd is law.
I II INCREASING PROSPERITY R O S P E R IT Y is a state of mind. T he universe abounds with good. “To him that hath shall be given.” W e are all familiar with these statements and they are either true o false. All tru th resolves itself into this selfevident fact, that the universe must be a sustaining and selfperpetuating spiritual order amply able to provide for its own needs, and to adequately express its own inherent desires.
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M an is some par t of the universe. W h y the n is he limited unless it be that he has contradicted the fundamental principles of selfexistence and, in ignorance of his true nature, repudiated the greater claim which he might have made upon the universe? Prosperity is a state of mind. Activity is also a state of mind; and the law of compensation is an invisible but infallible governm ent of Divin e order. It is done unto us as we believe, but belief is largely subjective and we are all mor e or less marked by the grooves of experience, a large part of which has been adverse. Those who wish to demonstrate the supremacy of spiritual thought force over apparent material resistance must claim and kno w, in their own thought, that there is a Divine Intelligence directing them. There are those who will deny the possibility of a Divine guidance but they have not thought the matter through to its final conclusion. Le t those who believe not only affirm the presence, and accept the gu id an ce of such an In te ll igen ce but let them no longer menta lly contrad ict it. T he revelation of the ages affirms this position and the findings of modern science have failed to substantiate its denial. The universe would be incomplete if man were not ex pressed. T h a t principle which so lavishly distributes the heavenly bodies, peopling the Infinite reaches of space with personifications of itself must have both the intelligence and the ability to provide for man ’s needs. H ow then can we deny ourselves the privil ege of its personal at tention? Some will say that such an Infinite thing cannot be personal. H er e
again this attitude of mind has not contemplated the full measure of Reality. The Spirit personifies in and through everything—the rose the blade of grass, the mineral, animal and human kingdoms. Each and all are specific demonstrations of the ability and the desire of the Universal Mind to find concrete expression. Have we not a vision and a visioning faculty enabling us to perceive and conceive? Is not this inner imagery the manifestation in us of that universal contemplative intelligence which creates through the mandate of its own word? Are we not conscious centers of intention, volition and personified action? When Jesus prayed, “Our Father which art in heaven” he was not seeking to communicate with some God apart from himself but rather to stir up the Divinity that was in him and to arouse his own intellect to the realization that God indwelt his own soul. Infinite as the Spi rit is, eternal and limitless as life must be, it is yet directly personal, through its own personification, to all who app roach it. j The visioning faculty of our minds is a Divine heritage and when our imaginations and intellects and emotions shall have learned to respond only to the good, the good alone shall respond to us. It responds by corresponding. All thoughts of doubt and fear must be resolutely banished from the mind. W e must learn to build upon faith, live in a state of conscious receptivity and enthusiastic expectation. Let us no longer limit the future possibility of eternal progress in our own lives and affairs. W e are living in a spiritual universe and we should gain this realization—that the universe responds to us as we respond to it. “ Be firm and ye shall be made firm.” MEDITATION M y Business
M y business is directed by Divine Intelligence . The AllKnowing Mind knows what to do and how to do it. I do not hinder, but let It operate in my affairs. It prospers and directs me and controls my life. M y affairs are managed by Love, and directed by W isdom , and they cannot fail to prosper and expand. M y affairs are in H is hands.
IV P EA C E, P O I S E A N D P O W E R M E R S O N tells us that “the finite alone has wro ug ht and suffered, the Infinite lies stretched in smiling repose.” What a marvelous concept is this; the eternal principle of lif is forev er in repose. W hy? Because it has no adversary. “I will contend with him that contendeth with thee,” is a statement of the law of cause and effect and means this, that harmony overcomes discord. Again it is written that the words of God are “Yea and Amen,” which signifies that for God to know is to be. Suppose one could reach the place where he no longer contemplated adverse conditions, opposing forces or divided powers of good and evil. W ould he not be at peace, his min d tranq uil? Could he ever again be afra id? We lack peace because we have torn the universe into pieces and set one agency against another. The d in and roar of the human conflict has so filled our ears with discord that we no longer hear the heaven ly voices. Our eyes have become so blind ed by selfgrief and selfinflicted wou nds th at we do not even behold the harmony of nature. Power cannot come out of confusion. Power is the child of peace and poise, the union of which must forever give it birth. Let us contemplate strength and forget weakness; let us meditate upon peace and poise forg ettin g the confusion. The first step toward this goal is a realization of the integrity and the eternity of our own being, and of that Universal Wholeness from which we spring and in and by which we live. From such contemplation comes the establishment, not of a selfcentered life, but of a life centered in the Eternal Self— not egotism but egoism. What if our immediate universe does tremble to its very foundations. W h a t if the “slings and arrows of an outrageous fortune” are apparently directed toward us, shall not that armor of faith shatter them in dust at our feet? Who can measure life by one experience, or estimate the possibilities of the soul by th e slight observations of any short
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period of time.
T h e soul knows no limits but finds itself
period of time. T h e soul knows no limits but finds itself eternally merged with the One whose only answer to man is, “Yea.” MEDITATIONS M y Atm osp her e
My atmosphere is attracting the Good; it is constantly on the alert to see and know the Good, and to bring it into my experience. There is that within me that calls forth abundance and happiness from Life. I am surroun ded w ith an atmosphere of Peace, Poise and Power. All who come in contact with that great Calm of my Life are made strong and confident, are healed and blessed. “Bless the Lord, O my Soul, and all that is within me, bless His Holy Name.” I am hid w ith Christ in G od .
Peace, Poise and Power
Peace, Poise and Power are within me, for they are the witnesses of the Inner Spirit of all Truth, Love and Wisdom. I am at peace within me, and all about responds to that Great Calm of the Inner Soul which knows its rightful place in the All Good. Power is born from within me and passes into my experience without effort or labor. I rest in Security and Peace, for the Inner Light shines forth and illumines the way. I rest in thee .
Immortality B y G l a d y s C . L u n d y
The petals have blown from the flower, The calyx seems naked and cold, B u t the seed of Pe rfect ion lies dormant Ready again to u nfold. M a n becomes faded and weary, H i s body is shaken and torn, B u t Christ is en thro ned wi thin h im, Ready again to be born. Tho life may seem purposeless effort, A n d death seem the ul timate goal, I know that God is incarnate, A n d ready to progress my soul. I open my mind to the Spirit, I open my soul to its Ray, A n d I know that God’s in H is Heave n , A n d ready to show me the Way.
The Creative Power
The Creative Power of the Mind By C h r
T
is t ia n
HERE is a power in the mind— in the deeper life of the mind— that is creative; and it works through all the energies, activities, processes, faculties, thoughts, ideas and concepts of the mind. I t works so deeply and so thoroughly, in every aspect of mind and consciousness, that it causes the whole of the mind to become creative. W e may say, then, th at the mind is creative— forming, prod ucing and creating continuously — and in myriads of ways. The mind works, in all of its creative activities, according to a certain law; and to understand this law, and know how to give it definite direction, is to take the creative power of the mind into our own hands com pletely. T h u s we may determine, in every mode and manner, what this power is to form, produce or create , in us; and for us. A gig antic achievement; for the individual who can do this, becomes a creator in his own domain. H e may decide absolutely w ha t this power is to produce in his own mind, in his own life, in his own world. The creative power of the mind is constan tly in action— producin g and creating—whether we give it specific direction or not. I t is there at wo rk — w ork in g acco rding to a certain law; and all that we now are, or have, is the result of what this power has been doing for us— deep in the mind all these years. I t is no t a
D. L a r s o n
power th a t we have to place in action; it always is in action—producing, producing continuously. W h at we seek to know is how it works, and the law through which it works, so that we may direct this power to produce for us w hat we wa nt— and only what we want. W e specify only in small measure, as a rule, what we want this power to produce for us; and we do this indirectly most of the time—having little or no knowledge of the law. W e pe rmit this power, in nearly all of its activities, to be directed by suggestions and impressions from without, by inherited tendencies and im pulses from th e un co nsc ious; and by any dominant emotion, thought or desire. T h a t is wh y this power produces so much that is useless or detrimental; why it produces so much that we do not want; and why only a fraction of its activities, in the average mind, is devoted to the creation of the worth while. This power is very great; so great, in fact, that it can produce anything, in our own domain, that we may desire; but we have not, as a race, given definite and intelligent direction to this power; we have permitted habits and suggestions, and many other im perfe ct agencies, to determ in e w hat this wonderful power should do and pro du ce fo r us. N o t a co mplim en tary situation. W e all may be forgiven.
however; we did not know; but now we do know. This power is great enough to remake our own lives according to the most perfect design conceivable; to remake our own worlds in like manner; and to create for us the future we desire— if we say so. B ut we have not said so; we have not spoken the w o rd ; we have not given this power intelligent direction; that is why it has produced the commonplace, for nearly everyone, all down the centuries. Every individual, however, can take conscious control of this pow er; he can take this en tire situation into his own hands, and cause this power to produce for him exactly w hat is wa nted. And as there is no limit to what this power can do, the possibilities b e c o m e numerous and amazing. *
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H o w T his Power W ork s
The creative power of the mind works through a certain law; a law that we may well designate as the grea t law in hum an life. It is the law that determines what we are to accomplish, what we are to become, and w hat the futu re is to be. And the reason for this can be simply ex plain ed. T h e su mtotal of w hat we are, and wh at w e have— all the issues of life, in fact— these things are the result of what the creative power of the mind is doing; and the great law determines what the creative power is to do, in us and for us; in what direction it is to act; what it is to form, produce and crea te, and to w hat extent. The great law is this: what we place deeply in the mind, this creative po wer w ill w ork for. W h a t we place
therefore, to decide what he is to
deeply in the mind— in the form of a thought, image, picture or impression — this po wer w ill produce, develop, create, bring forth or enlarge u p o n ; and these things are sometimes enlarged upon enormously. An d, also, w ha t is already in the mind— in the form of habit, instinct or fixed belief — this po wer will co ntinue to wor k for, perpetuate and bring forth. W h a t you place deeply in the mind, is received by this power as your “word” of instruction as to what you w an t done. If you place something there th at is good— a good tho ugh t or a good idea— this power will w ork for that idea, and give it increasing life, action and expression. B ut if you place something there th at is im pe rfect, wrong or detrimental, this power will work for that, and produce the wrong and the detrimental in your life. The creative power of the mind will work for that which you place deeply in the mind, no matter what it is— the w orst or the best. T his power asks no questions. I t is there to do what you say; and everything that is placed deeply in the mind is accepted as “y our say.” T h is pow er does not judge in any m atter. I t has no opinion, or advice, to offer as to what should, or should not, be done. It is there to act upon your advice, your purpose, you r desire. I t is ther e to form, build, produce, develop and create; and whatever you give it to work for— tha t is w hat it will produce for you. T h a t is the law. This power can produce illness or health, discord or harmony, weakness or strength, depression or happiness, failure or success— the wo rst of anything or the best of anything— de pending upon w hat is placed deeply in the mind. I t is for each individua l,
continue to expect, the creative power
therefore, to decide what he is to place deeply in the mind. H e cannot leave this vital situation to chance, suggestion, habit, race belief, nor any other irresponsible agency. H e must make this decision himself— the very best he knows— and stand by his decision “ though the heavens fall,” His whole life d e p e n d s upon it ; his achievements, his attainments, his fu ture— everything. *
*
The Use of the Law
T h e re are a n u m b e r of ways through which our selected thoughts, images, pictures and impressions may be placed in the mind— and placed deeply. T h e first is definite purpose. Anything that we purpose to do, learn or accomplish will impress itself upon the mind—provided we purpose with the whole heart, and for some time. And, according to the law, tha t is what the creative power of the mind will wo rk for. I t is the height of wisdom therefore, to purpose, with the whole heart, to achieve and realize the very best that life has to offer. T h e c r e a t i v e power w ithin will, thereby, produce, in us and for us, more and more of the best as time goes on. W e will accomplish more and become more; and a better future will unfold. The second way or method is found in positive expectation. W h a t we continue to expect, deeply and positively, will impress itself in the mind, and receive the full attention of creative power. T h a t is why we usually get what we expect; and why we should never expect anything but the best—both for ourselves and for others. T h e rule is this: wh at we
continue to expect, the creative power of the mind will work for; and what that power works for, will be realized in time—possibly, in a short time. T h a t power is grea t enough to work out anything, or cause anything to come true. Appreciating this aspect of the law, we all should place before the mind, and in the mind, a number of great expectations; and it would be an excellent plan to write out a program of gre at expectations — the best and the most wonderful that we could possibly vision, and fo r all phases of life— present and future. W e should concentrate on this program daily— with tremendous interest and enthusiasm— deeply intent on realizing them all. These expectations w o u l d be worked for, behind the scenes in the mind, and one after the other would come true. A most important fact, in connection with the great law, should be noted here. T h e creative power of the mind works more effectively, more intensely, and on a larger scale for that which is great, or wonderful, or deeply significant. I t is a waste of time, therefore, to expect the small or the commonplace. W e should enterta in only great expectations. W e thereby call forth a larger measure of creative power; and to apply an increased measure of this power, is to secure greater results, and in less time. The same rule should be observed elsewhere in this great work. W h a tever we place in the mind, for creative power to work for, we should place the greatest and the most w onderful that we can feel, conceive or vision. T o learn how to use this law, in the most effective manner, and for
If we could meet threatening situathe greatest good—that is our purtions, at any time, without placing pose; but it is also well to state whe re thoughts of fear in the mind, the this law should not be used. W e creative power within us would not should not permit this law to work work for those fears; and they would with fear, worry, or other negatives. T o e ntertain fear, is to place thoughts, no t come upon us. T h e same is tru e pictu res and impressions of fe ar deep- of all worries, anxieties, and other ly in the m in d ; and the creative negatives. W he n we keep them out power will w ork fo r those things. of the heart — deeper feeling — they This power will work for anything w ill never amount to anything. T o th a t is placed deeply in the m in d ; and be able to do this, would mean inca lwhat this power continues to work culable gain, for fear is our worst for, will come to pass. T h a t explains enemy; and this thing we all can why our fears come upon us. learn to do. (T o be continued in the Ma rch issue)
T A K E C O U R A G E , O H S OU L ! Oh soul of mine take courage and be As firm and poised as the sun above. Shine upon all with good cheer and love A nd thus let thy M a k e r be proud of thee. — A l be r t
H. L u d z .
A Clinic For Sick Business By C l
a r e nc e
e g a r d l e s s of present success we are all desirous of greater activity. In the midst of tremendous activity we may be experiencing want and anxiety, for even in adversity there is activity. M en tally we are either progressing or retrograding. As we glance over the month’s balance sheet we realize with sorrow or joy that our business is never at a standstill. W he the r this month it represents gain or loss our business manifests activity. H ow to make it ma nifest activity that will keep us “out of the red” is a question of vital interest to all, an attractive subject for discussion. N ow by the te rm “ business” I do not mean necessarily a store, an office or a living room. Business in its largest sense IS activity regardless of whether a man or woman is the head of a great corporation, storekeeper, doctor, lawyer, musician, artist, peanut vender, steamboat peddler or the retired business man with an individual fortune. As we observe nature we see a continue d ma nifestation of activity. All creation is expressing movement; the air even in a socalled dead calm has some slight motion; stately clouds moving slowly or as in the commotion of a st o rm ; animals, birds and
R
M ayer
fish expressing agility, energy, vivacity and alertness. Loo king out into the further reaches of the universe we see evidences of tremendous forces tha t are never still. T h e planets revolve in their orbits with incredible speed; other universes are in the process of evolution or dissolution and all beyond th at man ifestation of hu man confusion resulting in various acciden ts and cataclysms. Perh aps we may some day learn that many of the sorrows we now glibly ascribe to “an act of God” are really the result of accumulated wrong thinking which must burst forth somewhere just as the boiling teakettle does when too full. There can be no question as to the reality of activity. W h a t activity in reality IS, whether or not it is governed by law, how I can align myself with this law and how I can use it in my business, is a question that concerns myself and all men. * * * T o any stude nt of metaphysics it is merely a bromide to say that every prob lem wheth er physical, financial or one of human relationships must be resolved into thou ght. N ow business is but the material expression of the
activity of Universal Mind. This activity is perfect—nothing ever hap pened to it or can happen to it to make it anything less than perfect. N oth in g you and I can ever do or think can magnify or diminish it. Fully to realize this is difficult for most people. Fu rth erm ore this activity of Universal Mind is “none of ou r business.” Somehow I discover the fact that whatever my business is it is not M Y business. T o the average business man this statement will sound like a piece of nonsense and if he has read this article thus far he may turn the pages to new material or throw the magazine into the waste basket, co nclud ing th at ju st s u c h philosophy as this takes away on e’s in dividuality and all incentive. H ow ever insane it may seem, it is the Truth. Man is but the tool of the Infinite, an instrument through which the Eternal Life Force is expressing or ope rating . All th ere is of life as we know it, is expressing through us as individuals and consequently must be true. Ha ving contemplated w riting this article for some time I have today seated myself at my typewriter and through the medium of this blessed in ven tion I am expressing m yself. In the same way an artist with a bit of color paints a cow; the musician with pen or pencil and perhaps a piano composes a masterpiece; the engineer plans a Boulder Dam; the business man plans a gre at ad vertising campaign through the medium of a newspaper or an advertising agency; the philanthropist plans a refuge for suffering humanity, ad infinitum. *
*
*
Everyone may say business is poor. You say your business is “run down”;
there are too many competitors in this particular field of activity; you have just about worn yourself out trying every way your fagged brain can devise to “ make a go of it.” R ecently a certain man said he had not made a penny in the last five years despite the fact that he had never worked hard er. Reaching the end of the rope we are forced to take another inventory—this time not of our business but rath er of ourself. For a long time, you say, your affairs have not been as successful as they should be. Yo u have tried every method you could lay hold of to furthe r your business. You spend the time away from your business in scheming, thinking and planning. You are out of bed early. Yo u go to bed late and lie awake by the hour thinking, thinking until you have grown utterly weary of it all, and what is the use anyway? You are either a success or a failure—you cannot be both at the same time. Possibly you are not a complete failure but certainly things are going badly. Life offers little interest, for you say, “now do not talk metaphysics to me for I have read it and tried to practice it these many moons and it simply does not wo rk fo r me. I help people, loan them money but it does not return to me the way the good books say it wi ll. T he se same good books say there is an Intelligence back of all things but how does it affect M Y affairs?” Have you ever been guilty of such contemplation? I t is common to many people. Exp erienc e has ta ught me tha t it is false reasoning. T o talk about God, to rhapsodize about meta physics, etc., is all very well, but we must connect up with it all. W e sit
about talking of the marvels of elec- intelligence but whatever I am it is nothing short of the law of activity tricity—how it will cook our food, heat our houses, freeze the ice, light w orking through me. T his great Life Force IS expressing through me but ou r rooms and keep us cool. A ll true, it can only ma nifest as I let it. In yet how fantastic these things would stead of storming the universe for have sounded to George Washington the living “they” say I am entitled and his generation! I am sweltering in my office today — wh ew , b ut it’s to, I must acquaint myself with the ho t! In my closet is a perfe ctly good laws that govern life and use them. electric fan and in the room are sev- Jesus knew these laws and used them eral floor plugs. U n til this very mo- better th an any known hu man . W e ment the fan has been forgotten. How express these laws in modern psychosilly! A no the r case of “ou t of sight logical terms. Jesu s being an oriental ou t of m ind.” In a jiffy I have com- and dealing with orientals used the langu age of his day— even now the fort instead of discomfort, the fan has been placed near my desk, I plug in easterner uses a majestic and poetic language which the occidental finds on the electric current and what a transform ation! T h e fan was in the too tedious to fathom. Jesus said, “ Seek ye first the k ingdom of God closet all of the time, the electricity and His righteousness and all things wired in my office before it became shall be added.” W er e he w ith us mine and all of the time I have been today he might voice the same thought acting like an ass! in some such language as this: “If you will seek to know something of * * * the mental laws which govern life in all of its phases and intelligently apActivity always has been and al- ply them , you need not be concerned ways w ill be and is now ! I t is a with the results.” great big perfect activity going on all * * abo ut me. If I do no t make a success of my business, someone else will. John Rockefeller has his millions, Here then is the key to success: John Smith is in the poor house. Both to find out what these laws are, how br eathed the same air, ate pra ctically to use them and begin at once to the same food, had the same amount apply them. Since ther e is an In te lli of brains ounce for ounce. It is no gence back of all things which excredit to my ability to think, to real- presses itself in the perfect harm on y ize that one did something that the of eternal activity (we see it all about othe r did not. I t is unthink able tha t us in nature) this Intelligence must God sat somewhere in heaven giving be expressing harm onious ly th rough the one certain inside information, us except when we, by individual withholding it from the other. T h e w ron g thinking, mess things up. I t is fault lies not with God or the law of the privilege of human beings to activity bu t w ith the individual. I block th e flow of wisdo m and in te llimust learn how to plug in on the cur- gence. It is man’s prerogative to choose rent. In my w orst moments I may and outline. T h is answers the query feel that within me there isn’t much that so often comes as to why we suf
fer and are in so many difficulties, if this perfect activity exists and ex presses in us. T h e G reat Psy chologist recognized this doubt in man when He said, “Knock and it shall be opened, seek and ye shall find.” H er e a grea t law is uncovered. O nly by earnest and thoughtful yearning and seeking for knowledge coupled with expectancy and sincere endeavor, never giving up, can we attain. W e cannot hope to accomplish anything by that false philosophy of inactivity. A cer tain Chinese sage said that all things came to the man who practiced perfect inaction. T h is does not mean tha t we should spend our days meditating upon the glories of God, the laws of electricity, gravitation and what not. It DOES mean that we should plug in on the current and let the flow of intelligence come through without interference— expressed in the individ ual as fear and worry. T his is w hat Jesus meant when he told his followers to tak e no t h o u g h t fo r th e morrow. If I have created in you a greater desire to understand and apply the laws of activity let me close with a prescription (m editation) f o r s i c k business, not signed by an M .D . but by an M .P ., M etaP hysician, not a member of Parliament:— From all of the fears, doubts, worries and confusion of life about me I turn to that Self within which recognizes Itself by my name— th a t place of infinite peace and calm, the same today, tomorrow and forever—the only place of quiet in the universe fo r me. T h is is my point of contact with God for it is the God c o n s c i o u s n e s s w ithin me.
Through this secret place of the Most High cometh my help, the only intelligence and guidance I can ever know or experience. Like fish swimming in the sea I am pure spirit immersed in the sea of Infinity. Th ere fore I am a part of the perfect activity of Universal Mind and that which I call M Y business is but a material manifestation of this activity. In this sense it is no t my business— I am a su perintendent — an overseer of a ce rtain pro vince of activity. I express pe rfect freedom of action. I cannot err in judgment for this perfect business is directed by Divine Contemplation which is expressing Itself as a complete and perfect manifestation of Its own satisfaction. M y recognition of the fact that Infinite Intelligence is manifesting through me gives me true courage which is the Light of Truth, neutralizing and dis pe lling all dou bt, fe ar and adverse thought operating in me to hinder or oppose my progress. This Truth in me destroys all the negative subconscious accumulation of my conscious fear of the fu tur e and of all race, consciousness which would recognize poor business, loss, lack, illness of body or de cre pitude as entities. I arise in the majesty of my recognition of my divine self which knows only success, abundance and the peace of mind which comes from this recognition. “Ye shall know the T ru th and the T ru th shall make you free”— this IS the Truth, I AM free and my freedom is manifesting now in and through every channel of my activity and I am grate-
ful for any glimpse of this T ru th apparen t to me. M y gratitud e is constructive in that I am able to
take a larger view of life with a greater faith because it is the faith of understanding.
A NEW BEGINNING By D
o r o t h y
A W N — and the singing of birds. F ir st a ve ry fa in t tw it te r is heard, then another from a nearby tree. T h e sun peeps over the distant hills, driving away the shades of night and flooding the world with a golden radiance and innumerable little bird voices now join in this morning song of greeting. W h at a lesson we may learn from these little songsters! T h e ir first action on awakening is to praise God. W e , too, should greet each day w ith a song. W e, too, should thank Go d for the sunshine and let it invade our innermost being, driving away all the worries and cares of the previous day and encouraging us to start anew. I f yesterday was n ot a success, we can make today wonderful, if we carry a smile on our lips and joy in our hearts. Each new day is a new beginning. It brings new work to do, new joys to be discovered— an oppo rtunity to make new plans and dream new dreams. W e all “ build castles in the air.” W ha t would we ever accomplish without our dreams? Every magnificent piece of architecture, every wonderful invention, every beauti ful picture, was first a dre am . The builder, the inventor, the artist,
D
M.
As
h t o n
had a vision of the thing he wished to create. He thou gh t about it constantly, pictured it just as he wished it to be, and eventually his dream became a reality. So may all our most cherished dreams come true. Have a vision and make it a big one. Emerson said: “ T he h and cannot execute anything higher than the mind can inspire,” showing us that everything must first originate in the mind. F ill your mind with beautiful thoughts and a wonderful vision and you will do wonderful things! Thank God for the birds, the sunshine, the flowers and the trees, all of which He created for your enjoym ent and wellbeing. Be than kfu l fo r everything. T h e greatest prayer is the prayer of gratitude and it opens the door that leads to happiness and success. By being th an kf ul fo r all that we have, we attract to ourselves other wonderful things and experiences. Open your heart and let the sunshine in. A ll the clouds o f doubt and fear will vanish and the way will be made plain. T h e birds do not worry about tomorrow, they K N O W that their Heavenly Father feedeth them and watcheth over them. W ill he not also watch over you?
Daily Meditations SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1
Every condition has a cause . Every condition, whether it be desirable or undesirable, is the result of whatever causes that particular effect. The ways of God are no t past finding out. T h e declaration, “the ways of God are past finding out,” is usually made by some one who is passing through an unpleasant experience, and who is unwilling or not wise enough to see in that experience the out pic tu ring of a m en tal cause. T o rebel against a condition, or to submit to it, is to perp etuate it. T h e remedy lies in recognizing the fact that every condition has a cause— and then st ar ting a new train of Cause and Effect by co ntem plating the so rt of cond ition one wishes to create.
both pleasant and un plea sant experiences. “T h e fear of the Lo rd, (this creative process) is the beginning of wisdom.” M O N D A Y , FE B R U A R Y 3
Things are the symbols of thought-patterns. Things are not eternal. They are not spiritual entities. T he y are bu t the material forms of accepted ideas. A child playing on the floor with bu ilding blocks depicts w ith t h o s e blocks the idea he has in mind, a bridge, a to wer, a house, or a wall. The finished thing is the symbol of his thoug htpattern. In much the same way we build with invisible blocks our accepted th oughtpatte rn s finding ma terial expression. Fo rm is the garment Thought wears.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4
I create my experiences.
I am the Master of my Thoughts.
O u r conditions may not express our hopes and aspirations, but they do exT o admit tha t we cannot, to some press our men tal concepts. T h a t degree, control our thinking is an which the mind accepts the hands acknowledgment that we are insane. w ill touch. T h e children of Israel W h en a person is insane he is conwere told that they would possess all trolled by a thou gh t or though ts. It the land that their eyes rested upon, is not easy to break a habit of — w hatever the sp iritual eye perceives though t, bu t it can be done. T h is is the feet will tread. Fe ar causes a best accomplished by su bs titu ting opmental acceptance of the thing feared, posites— fo r example the th ought of and it is thereby created. T h e same pros pe rity fo r po verty . W h en the creative process is used for creating thought of poverty again presents it-
self, do as Jesus did and say, “Get thee hence, Satan .” If this is done
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7
self, do as Jesus did and say, “Get thee hence, Satan .” If this is done each time a negative thought comes, you will soon establish yourself as Master of your Thoughts.
W E D N E S D A Y , FE B R U A R Y 5
There is something that does unto me according to my belief.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7
I am the expression of a Divine Idea. There is OnlytheOne. This One has many names— Life, Love, the Spirit, etc., but the name which is allinclusive is God. Go d expresses Himself, (or Itself) for the joy of Selfexpression, because that is His natu re. G od ’s expression of Him self individualized in selfconscious form is M an . I am— the expression of a Divine Idea.
This “something” has been called by many names— the Law , the Lord , the Mind, the Soul, the Holy Ghost, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8 the servant, the unconscious mind, M y thoughts are construc etc. As students of Religious Science tive. we usually speak of this “something” as subjectivem ind. I t is a good name By constructive thinking is meant because it is subjective to the impress thinking that will find its logical outthat is made upon it. Subjectivemind come in a condition that is the out has two outstanding characteristics— pictu ring of some attrib ute of God— first, it is receptive, and secondly, it in other words thinking that will reis creative. It can create only accordsu lt in good. T h e opposite of this ing to the belief that is impressed kind of thinking is called negative or upon it. Jesus was speaking of this destructive thinking. Just as construcreceptive, creative element when He tive thinking results in good, so negasaid “The things whatsoever you detive thinking results in what we call sire, when you pray, believe that ye bad. M y thoughts are constructive. have received them, and ye shall receive them.” SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 9 THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6
A l l that the Father hath is mine. M y sp irit is the individualization of the Spirit of Go d. T h e creative La w of God is mine to use. T h e Substance of God surrounds me and is responsive to me. T herefore I can truly say, “All that the Father hath is mine.”
There is only One Power, and it is mine to use. W e all dislike to see a waste of good material, yet that is just what we are doing unless we are using the One Power to further our own best interests. Some may say, “th at sounds like a very selfish teaching”—but let us remember that each “self” has the same privilege. T h e W ise Virgins could not give of the oil that was in their lamps. L et us let our lights
shine by using the O ne Pow er to create for ourselves the Good Things, the God Things, which it is natural and normal that we should desire.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10
I am wisely empl oyed.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12
Knowledge of makes me free.
the
Truth
Today we do honor to Abraham Lincoln. H e is called the G rea t Ema ncipator. Jesus gave to all m ankind the secret of freedom, “Ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free.” W ha t is T ru th ? That we are One with God, in Spirit, Creative Power, and Substance is Truth.
Thought is creative, and we are thinking something all the time, therefore we are creating something all the time. “A dam w h e r e a r t t h o u? ” Where is your thought working? How are your mental processes emTHURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13 ployed? A re you employed in the Nothin g can impede my contemplation of your atonement with all Good, with all God? O r are progress. you, like Adam, engrossed in the exProgress is the law of life, thereterna ls? Believing externals to be all fore it is the nature of man to wish is n ot wise employment — it turn ed to progress. W he n we permit the Adam out of paradise. T h e outside thought that something impedes our has its place, and it is necessary, but when we believe it to be all, Eden is progress to gain a foothold in the mind we are likely to find our physino longer our home. cal foothold weakening . T h is is because the feet and limbs are the instruments for progress on the mateT U E S D A Y , F E B R U A R Y 11 rial plane. Do not “tr ea t” the feet and limbs; convince the mind that Health is manifestation of nothing can impede your progress.
right thinking. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 14 One cannot long entertain thoughts which are not in accord w ith T ru th Salvation is of the Lord. and remain well. Fe ar and Ha te are The only salvation we need is salthe two great enemies of Health, and vation from the belief that we need Fear and Hate are the opposite of salvation. T h er e is no lost soul, but tha t which is the T ru th . Fear of there are many who believe that they death, poverty, loneliness, disaster, and are lost, and as long as this is their hatred of those who have something we crave—these are roads that lead belief the y suffer the agonies of the damned. Substitute the word La w to sickness and disease. Th er ef or e we may be reasonably sure that if we re- for Lord (because it means the Law fuse to indulge in thoughts of fear of Cause and Effect), and set this Law in motion with the belief, “I am and hate we shall manifest Health.
One with Life, Love, and Supply,”
a Ce nte r of Go d Love. T h is Love in
One with Life, Love, and Supply,” and already your salvation is assured. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15
a Ce nte r of Go d Love. T h is Love in me is a mag net for Love. I t attrac ts to me lovely friends, lovely situations and experiences. I t creates in me a loving, lovely, lovable personality.”
There is no age to Spirit. W e grow old in body because we measure off our lives by days, months, and years. W hen , thro ug h this men talmalpractice, we have aged the body, the Spirit, kn owing itself to be ageless, frees itself from the wornout garm ent. I am birthless and deathless because the real I Am is God. SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 16
Substance is real, and re sponds to me.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18
There is just the right place for me. N o tw o people are alike th erefo re no one can take anoth er’s place. Each one fills his own place. W e may no t like the place we are filling but it is the right place, and the only one for us at the present time. Ho we ver that does not mean that we cannot better ou r positions. T h e way is a men tal way, namely, accepting mentally the place you wish to fill, th in k it, live it, feel it, love it, and give thanks for it, knowing that there is something that creates your mental acceptance into a condition.
W e have learned tha t that which is held in consciousness has a material result. Acco rding to this same Law , God’s consciousness of his own Being had a material result, and this was the primal, unseen Substance from which all material things are made. Now, we agree that God is Divine WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19 Intelligence, therefore the physical correlative of Intelligence must be in I rejoice in Prosperi ty. telligent. T h e chief characteristic of intelligence is responsiveness. T h e N o norm al person is co ntent to most intelligent child in school is most skimp along not knowing where his responsive to the teacher. T h e Subnext meal is coming from. T h a t is stance from which all material things because there is something instinctive are made responds to M an because in each one of us which knows that M an is the individualization of tha t the re is abundance. No w, we can Cosmic Intelligence which gave rise only bring this unseen abundance into to it. use as abundance fills our minds. The outside is always like the inside, and MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17 if the mental concept is small and cramped the material manifestation I am a Center of God L o ve . w ill be th at way also. “ U nto him Every normal person craves love— that hath shall be given, and from let us then make this impress of our- him that hath not shall be taken even selves upon Subjective M in d : “ I am the little that he hath.”
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23
I declare my own Perf ec tion.
The power of choice is my birthright.
Jesus said, “Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in Hea ven is per fec t.” Em erson said, “ Declare your own perfection.” T he pe rfec tion of God is made manife st in Man in proportion as Man recognizes h i m s e l f to be GodasMan. There is no danger of becoming egotistical for we look ever to the Source of ou r Being. H e is Life, Love, and Wisdom, finding selfconscious ex pression in M an.
God does not force; Love does not compel. W e are made in the image and likeness of Freedom, therefore we have the powe r of choice.
If w e
choose to think in such way that misery results we are unhappy. T hi s is because we are made in the image of Love as well as in the image of Freedom.
Through
suffering
as
a
natural result of our own negative thinking we eventually learn to choose mental concepts which will find their
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21
logical outcome in conditions and ex-
I am one with all L i f e .
periences which are the expressions of
Since there is but the One Spirit of Life, the life of the flower is one with the life of the butterfly and one with the life of the little child who revels in their beauty. T h e more we sense the bond that knits together all creation the more Harmony, Peace, Heaven will be expressed in our lives.
S A T U R D A Y , F E B R U A R Y 22
Godqualities.
MONDAY,
FEBRUARY
24
I keep my tongue from evil, and my lips from speaking guile. Words do not return unto us void, but accomplish th a t fo r whic h they
I deal fairly with my self and others.
we re spoken.
T h e spoken wo rd is
po werfu l, and re tu rn s ladened to the
speaker. All thing s work in circles, I “see in others my other selves.” “Love thy neighbor as thyself”— not and thoughts are no exception. T h e better no r worse. Give to ano th er as guile we speak must first be conceived to thyself, and give to thyself as to as a thought, and that which we anoth er. Le t each know himself as a think determines our own experiences. center of God Life, realizing that this Emerson says, “He who would injure is true of others also— then shall there another but beats his own naked be fa ir de aling in very tr uth . W e honor Washington as one who per- bre as t.” I keep my tongue fro m evil, and my lips from speaking guile. sonified high ideals of fair dealing.
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 25
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 27
I am guided in ways of Wisdom.
I attract that which is like myself.
A ll of ou r affairs express us. If we One can develop the habit of confused thought, or the habit of peace- are not satisfied to be described by ful, orderly thought. “ O rd er is He av- our conditions we must change our en’s first law .” W hen the mind is manner of thinking about ourselves. orde rly the affairs w ill be also. I act wisely and well. I rely upon Infin ite N oth in g happens by chance, and the W isdom to guide me. Divine Int elli- good that comes to us is irresistibly gence is operating through all I think, drawn—and so with that which is say, and do. no t good. W e are con tent only when experiencing good — th at is because “ the real self” is God , Good. T o the W E D N E S D A Y , F E B R U A R Y 26
extent we recognize this, only Good will be manifest in our conditions.
The Peace of God is my Peace here and now. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28 “Beloved, now are we the sons of G od .” Now , righ t here where I am, it is possible to experience that peace of God which passeth all understanding. T h e more consciously awa re we become of our atone m ent w ith the Father, the more fully the peace of God will be expressed in all our affairs. Peace is the Pe arl of G reat Price.
I am complete. Every living soul is a complete spiritual entity. W e are not halves, or qua rters of oth er people.
I am
made in the image and likeness of that which is Whole, Complete, and Perfect—all Good is where I am.
Questions and Answers Answers
by
Er n e s t
Getting New Start Q u e s t i o n — A fe w years ago we lost a
great deal o f mon ey. Since the n it has been hard to ge t a go od start. N ow we have become interested in a business which looks good but we need some help to overcome fear. Please tel l us how to pr oce ed to fe el ass ured o f pro sp er ity an d righ t action in this business.— G lenda le, Calif. A n s w e r — I sh ou ld w ork to kno w
that the Spirit of Truth within me, which is God, and which is perfect intelligence as well as right action, is directing every move and compelling right action in every instance in my life. W ork to remove not only the sense of doubt but also the sense of loss. T h e m ind should come to sense that there has been no real loss, since the Spirit of wholeness can never lose anything. T he w hole endeavor in mental treatment is to bring to the mind a realization that this Spirit of wholeness is our ow n active spirit rig ht now producing right results in everything we do. Sh ift the burden of any sense o f load or any p ersonal responsi bility ov er into the sense th at th e law is both willing and able to direct your actions and bring affairs into perfect harmony with itself. Overcoming Irritation Q u e s t io n — Pe opl e
no t only ir ri ta te me but I much p re fe r to be alone. A condition over which I worry lately is, that I do not trust my fellow beings. It used to be simply a desire to be left alone. N ow it is an actual fe ar o f w hat this one
H o l me s
mig ht say or that one migh t do. Ho w can I overcome this? — Los Angeles. A n s w e r — Per ha ps
you need to treat yourself in a manner similar to that outlined in the question just prece ding . K now th at ther e is noth ing in people which can irritate you and nothing in you, which can irritate people. T r y to gain a br oad gau ged , tolerant attitude toward life. A fte r all, no one has yet completely attained perf ec tion an d we are all ch ildre n in T ru th , all travelers on the road. W e all make mistakes and most of these mistakes should be overlook ed. Someday we shall learn n ot to be con fu sed ; we shall see through the outward differences to the inner unity of all life. In this way we join forces with the best th at is in people an d thereby bring the good to the surface. T ry this for awhile and see what effect it will have. W ants a Home Q u e s t io n — Please
te ll me ho w to overcome fear, jealou sy and hatred. I want a home of my own. W e are living with m y husband’s people. Please tell me how to get my home and all I have asked for.— Arlington, Calif. A n s w e r — Y ou shou ld seek to find
your right place in the Divine Mind. Put away all sense of jealousy or hatred, which perhaps, has arisen from misunderstanding, confusion and suspicion. K no w tha t you are now living in a perfect universe peo pled w ith perfect and fr ie ndly beings. Try to bring the whole condition into
a state of harmony and unity and no not mean, however, that we create
a state of harmony and unity and no not mean, however, that we create God, which of course we do not do, doubt you will find yourself located but it does mean that through the unin a happy environment. foldment of our own consciousness Tenseness in Th roa t we gain higher and higher concepts Q u e s t io n — H o w m ay I overco me a of reality and this is the meaning of fe eli ng of tenseness in the throat? It is evolution. Go d m ust be Infin ite conmore of an aching sensation than of desciousness, and the physical universe cided pain.— Glendale, C alif. must be what we might term the obA n s w e r — T h is co nditio n may re jectiv e body o f this In fi nite conscioussult fro m several causes; one o f which ness, including all individual bodies might be sensitiveness, another might either of plants, animals or men, that be, m enta l strain or fear. T r e a t to which is anim ate a nd th at w hich seems know tha t you are relaxe d in the Spirit inanimate. o f T ru th ,— that there is no fear, nor W he n Business is Poor. hu rt, no r sensitiveness, no r doubt. I believe i f your m in d can sense a co mQ u e s t i o n : H ow w ould you handle the idea of poor business?— Los An geles. plete peace the trouble from which When the volume of busi Q u e s t io n : you are suffering will entirely disness in a certain line is limited and there appear. D efinitio n o f H eaven Q u e s t i o n —O n page 6 o f th e bo ok let,
“ W hat W e Believe and W hy W e Believe It, ” I find this statem ent: “ If Heav en is the abode of God, and if the Kingdom of Heaven is within, then it follows that Go d is w ithin .” From this, I surmise that each body is in Heaven, (or a part of it) and that all physical bodies together constitute Heaven. Do I get the correct idea?— Liberal, Mo.
are several companies after it, how do you dispose of the reality of competition?— Los Angeles.
W e w ould handle the idea of poor business thro ug h the counter realization that the Divine M in d is ever op eratin g in our affairs and that there can be no inaction in this Mind. If our thought rises to the place wh ere we perceive tha t there is no competition and no mono poly, it w ill eith er prov e to us, in our A n s w e r — I t is a very an cie nt immediate business, that we have no teaching that the body is a microcosm, competitors whom we need to fear or a little world within the macro- or, the result will be that we shall cosm, or the big w orld . Fro m this be bro ught into some field of action sense each being is a heaven within where there will be no need to think himself but, of course, we are dealing of competition. with an Infinite universe and no one Is Personal E ff o rt N eed ed ? person comprehen ds In fin it y, nor ever w ill. In this lies the hope o f eternal Q u e s t io n : If the mind is everything unfoldment and limitless expansion. and controls our circumstances should it be necessary for us to take any steps our Meanwhile, the only God we can know is the God which our minds rec- selves to bring about the desired result? ognize. Hence, God to each individ - —Los Angeles. A n s w e r : When we say that inual is always an indwelling as well as an ove rdw elling presence. T h is does telligence governs all life we are not An
sw e r
:
denying the objective world, for the lower form of intelligence is included within the higher and where there is intelligent guidance there will also be intelligent direction in objective affairs. W he n one is seeking to demonstrate the supremacy of spiritual thought force over apparent material resistance he should not hestitate to take such action as seems compatible with good judgment, declaring that the intelligence flowing through him, which is Divine, will not let him make a mistake. M u s t M e n W o rk O u t God 's Ideas? Q u e s t io n :
Are there idea s of a supreme power that must be worked out by human beings?— Los Angeles.
That we are surrounded by an Infinite Intelligence seems to be an inevitable conclusion and one arrived at by most of the deep thinkers either in the field of religion, science or philosophy. T h a t the tend ency of this intelligence in the material world is to further unfold itself through the evolution of objective life, is accepted by nearly all peo ple, hence, it seems necessary to conclude that certain ideas are being being worked ou t, chief of which is the experience and continuous progression of the individ ual life. W e might look at the proposition from a different angle and say that since every normal being loves there must be in the unive rse an impulse to love, which impulse we would call a Divine idea of a universal urge apparent in all things. Hence man would come into the fulfillment of this idea only through the existence of it in his own consciousness. T he re fo re the man whose love would be the most complete would in this way be most An sw e r :
and worry. He has too little confidence
pe rfec tly man ifes ting a Divine idea of the Supreme Intelligence. Taking Time to Meditate . find it very helpful to spend a little time every day in silent meditation, but the trouble is my life is very busy and I can’t seem to get into a regular habit of it. Do you recommend regular meditation each day?—Los Ange les. Q u e s t io n :
I
T he re is no question bu t daily m ed ita tio n produces a direct result. It is advisable to spend a certain time every day in the silent contemplation of our own being and its relationship to the universe which is one of unity. It is necessary to find time each day silently to recognize and definitely state that Divine Intelligence governs our affairs and that an immutable law of good controls our destiny, bringing into our ex perience th at which is happily pros perous and of the natu re of w ell being. Such m ed ita tio n ca nn ot fail to produc e sa lu tary effects. In additio n to these moments of intellectual seclusion where the thought turns entirely from the objective to the spiritual wo rld there should gradu ally come to us the habitual mental attitude of the affirmative life, thus producing in time an affirmative sub jective reaction. W hen the subjective state of our thought and action shall be, and in such degree as it is, in accord with Eternal Reality we shall find the corresponding action in our objective world to more nearly measure with our hearts. An sw e r :
M eeti ng Obligations. M y husban d is fine, honorable and lovin g, but witho ut a back ground of belief in orthodox religion. He has been trying to apply New Thought Q u e s t io n :
principles, but suffers from fear, anxiety
B ett er and H appie r L if e.
B ett er and H appie r L if e.
and worry. He has too little confidence in him self to drive a car, w hich is a hand icap in his business. W e hav e con siderable excellent vacant property which we cannot turn to meet our honest ob ligations, something we have always met. How may we demonstrate freedom from these lim itations? — Los A ngeles.
I should work to know that everything in my life and affairs is controlled by Divine Intelligence and by this I mean to take a definite time every day to declare that the Spirit of Intelligence is guiding and contro lling everything in my life meeting all my needs and supplying every desire which is legitimate. When this kind of work is consistently done and when the mind actually accepts it demonstrations will follow. I should not worry about my hus band’s religion but leave him in te llectually and sp iritually free. W e are all individuals and each must light his own particular path to the City of Perfection. A n sw e r :
Selling a House. Q u e s t io n :
H o w c a n I solve this prob
lem? Over five years ago we bought our house and improved it to sell, but no body ever looks at it and the upkeep is more than w e can afford.— Los Angeles.
I should treat to know that there is someone who will be happy in this house and who really desires it; and that the intelligence in them, being the same intelligence which is in me, will bring us together. This is not hypnotic suggestion since no particular person should ever be held in mind, but th e aspiration should be sent into the universal consciousness with a definite acceptance that the persons who will be happy in this home will be brought to it and the way made possible for them to purchase it. A n sw e r :
Q u e s t io n :
to
this
earth
you believe we return again years after passing
Do
from this life or is our sojourn here just a preparation for a better and a happier life?—Hu ntington Park, C alif.
I do not believe in any return to the earth if by that you mean being born in the flesh and going thro ug h the same experiences which we are now going through. It seems to me more reasonable to believe in a straight progression. However, many excellent and able people have believed in physical reincarnation. T o me the idea of reembodiment is more attractive and more logical and I accept this position in its entirety,— a straight progression of the soul,— und oubted ly passing through many planes but never for a moment losing consciousness of itself. A n sw e r :
Change in Conditions. Q u e s t io n :
After
experiencing
much
help from mental work my husband’s business seemed to go backward again. W e we re so happy and hopeful, please tell us the cause of this change in con ditions.— Hollywood, C alif.
T rea t to know that there can be no backward steps, no reversal of construc tive conditions and nothing in you to believe in any. Reaffirm the truth and reestablish all the peace you have ever experienced as being a continuous activity in your life. Know that the word which you speak is the T r u th and th at there is nothing in you which can hinder it from operating. A n sw e r :
Age L im it in Business. Q u e s t io n :
I have no business and no
employment. I hav e sought diligently for weeks but everywhere have been met with the age limitation (m y age being 53
years)
and
als o with
the
bond
require-
ment and other conditions wh ich I could not meet. How can I solve this problem?
method but rather seek to convince the mind of the reality of spiritual existence here and now.
— Los Angeles.
The Mental Equivalent . Form ulate your trea tment so as to make it independent Q u e s t io n : Can you give me a clearer understanding of the term, “Mental of the belief in age or of any other Equ ivalent?”— Seattle, W n. condition. The treatment should be the thing since it is the cause of that By me ntal equivalent A n sw e r : which is to be created. Place ab- is meant the subjective embodiment solute reliance upon your treatment of an objective desire. T o fu rth er exand let it be free from any sense of pla in ;— when the subje ctive state of limitation. Allow the treatme nt to our thought no longer denies our ob be an absolute entity in the men tal jec tive concepts, and in so far as these w orld. Speak it into consciousness objective concepts are in accord with with the full expectancy that it will reality, then will our demonstrations accomplish and with a complete re- be made. ceptivity to the result which your Alertnes s in Business. mind now agrees will be forthcoming. Q u e s t io n : M y husband is trying to A n sw e r :
Avoid in g Dep ression. Q u e s t io n :
The doctor told
I
w as
a “prize winner” on account of my rapid recovery. A feeling of great peace and content comes to me, but at times it is replaced by depression. How can I help falling back into this feeling of depres
overcome the smoking habit and seems unusually irritable. He seems in a lacka daisical frame of mind as to his business and is not alert in his business affairs. How can I meet this problem?—Long Beach, Calif.
Personally I should not consider smoking a problem but sion.— La Verne, Calif. the general theory of practitioners reT h e sense of depresAn sw e r : lative to any undesirable habit is to sion which comes to us is a subjective treat to know that the mind is free throwback which means that the subfrom this particular desire. Perhaps jective mind is not en tirely fre ed in this specific instance it would be from a sense of unease and uncerwell to treat for the realization of an tainty. Just continue in your good alert consciousness and a keen comwork and you will eventually be free. prehension of life and affairs. Seek to sense mental alertness in the one Den ials or A ffi rm ations? whom you are helping. This includes Q u e s t io n : In mental work should one right physical activity. use denials or is it better to affirm only? — New York, N. Y.
: Denials and affirmations are really the same thing. In the last analysis the mind can only affirm since its denial is an affirmation in the form of a denial. I should not worry much over the particular A n sw e r
A n sw e r :
A Professio nal Problem I am unable to attract busi ness in my profession. I have tried con sistently and earnestly to “Be still and know” that all is well. I sincerely wish to se r v e; I do not think first of the money . I have prayed that I may have an aver Q u e s t io n :
age of 20 patients a day. Is this unscien tific? I f so, how shall I work ?— Seattle, W n.
I would not treat to have any particular number of people come to me for this is a sense of limitation, but I should work to know that the continuous activity of the Sp irit is manifest in my life and affairs and that those people whom I am able to help will be consciously and definitely directed to me and that there is nothing in me which can hinder my word from accomplishing. An
sw e r
:
mind and in spirit in unity with your desire and stay there until it objectifies. Subconscious Communication Q uestion:
Is
it possible for the sub
conscious mind of one person to communi cate with the subconscious mind of anoth er?—Los Angeles.
I t is possible for the subconscious mind of one person to communicate with that of another. In all probability there is a continuous subjective conversation going on between those who are sympathetically Changing Professions . inclined toward each other, and unI am in the business world, Q u e s t io n : questionably the subjective reactions but have been trained for and love the of the race consciousness constitute artistic in the realm of music and drama. what psychology calls the collective How may I get back into work that I unconscious, what we call the race love?— Los Angeles. mind, and what the Bible calls the A n s w e r : T rea t to know that carn al mind, which exerts a very you are now in the place which will great influence over all people. The best express you, which w ill br in g to fact of subjective communication is you the greatest degree of happiness easily proven by the simple experiwhich will the most perfectly express ment of sitting with someone who is through you Divine Wisdom, Intel- grief stricken and receiving the subligence and Love. Plac e yourself in jective atmosphere of his thou ght. An
sw e r
:
Do You Believe In Prayer? B y R. B. Page
“You do not believe in the efficacy of prayer?”
Universal and need but watch the Law unfold— manifest. I do not “ No. I have prayed and prayed pray fo r de finite m ate rial co nd itions or things— I pray that I m ight have and prayed for things and I have the understanding so to synchronize never received them . Go d is cruel my functioning in the material, menand unmerciful!” tal and spiritual that I may be in Thus spoke the woman whose attune with the Etern al Law — that brow was w rin kle d and har den ed by my thoughts will so reflect this synadverse contact with life — whose chronization that they will manifest head was bowed in bitterness, not its perfection— that my deeds may contrition — whose shoulders were stooped with anxieties and perplex- be but a utili zati on or ap plication o f ities, not honest to il— whose eyes this perfect manifestation in order that all might blend in one accord. were dimmed, not by comforting If I can grasp this understanding tears of repentance, but by burning there is need of naught else, for it tears of hatred towards “Life and brin gs peace an d jo y and hap piness in Fate,” as she had said. its wake— this in itself incomparable “ W ha t do you mean by prayer or wealth! Pray for this und erstandrather what does prayer mean to ing, dear, and you will lift your head you?” I asked. towards the stars and your back will She quickly answered, “It means unbend as your head is so uplifted asking God for something that you and your eyes will be bright with a want.” Light far brighter than that of the “Perhaps you are right, dear, stars because through them will shine maybe we mean the same thing— the Em anating Light Divine— that only say it in diff ere nt words. I ’ll lifts the veil of dark, discordant mistell you what prayer means to me: understanding. Prayer is simply desire directed into “Maybe you will like this little Universal Consciousness— and when pr ay er th at came to me man y years in sincere desire or quiet meditation ago: Supreme Intelligence, grant me we invoke the assistance or coopera the understanding of Thy Immuttion of this Omniscient, Omnipotent able Law that I might overcome all Universal Intelligence, we are but imperfections and influences of the attuning our individual consciousness flesh; making of my body, mind and with the Universal. W he n we do spirit a harmonious whole, thereby this sincerely, unselfishly and trust- demonstrating the Truth of Eternal ingly we become as one with the W isdo m !”
That State Called Health B y L. B. C r o z i e r
H A T is H ealth? H ealth is Accordingly then, it is necessary the natural state of being. It that the individual intelligently realis the manifestation of Infinite ize Per-his contact w ith this Creative fection, realized in the individ ual Principle in order to experience and consciousness. Its manifestations par- manifest, through the law of “Cause take of and reflect the Cosmic quali- and Effect”, the qualities therein emties of its causation. T o the degree bodied. I t is a natu ral reaction. An th at M an realizes and embodies these un ders tand ing of this principle, is elements and principles, does he mani- essentially vital either to successful fest and enjoy this Godgiven herit- living, or to realization of health and age. The Law of Health In Ope- happiness. ration serves one to the degree that The Law does not heal. It is but he obeys it. the “way” that the Divine Idea be“The Kingdom of Heaven is hind it works. Spiritual Laws exeW ith in Yo u.” M an, as an individual, cute themselves. T h e perfection of does with himself as he wills. “God Infinite Causation then, is individualhas made man upright, but he has ly realized at M an s’ highest point of sought out many inventions”. Behind intelligent contact with this Causathe M an Fo rm we see, is the Divine tion, or God Idea, which he Image, or God Idea, regardless of the represents. nature of man’s manifestation of his It is a potential, inherent quality, concept of this Image or Idea. It is or entity, of the fabric of M a n ’s bethe embodiment and realizatio n of ing, for Man is a Divine Idea, manithis God Idea, with its consequent fested in form. manifestations and experiences, that W e face the fact, however, th at is the purpose or reason for man’s the original, perfect “Model” has not existence. The qualities and nature been closely studied by M an, if we of this Perfect Principle, exist in re- ju dge the natu re of his concept, or lative proportions, w ithin the con- understanding , by the natur e and sciousness of each individual. It is quality of his manifestations, or re“the Kingdom of Heaven W ith in ” produ ction of this “ M odel.” In co mreferred to by Christ in his teachings. plete, unpleasant “effects” , are the
W
beneficial, or otherwise . It has ex pressed a Cre ative Idea in “fo rm ” , at “causes”. the point of its contact with “CausaIn the socalled “vegetable world”, tion”, or upon its relative plane of or “natural world”, as some term it, which is but one of the many mani- vibration. The most important condition to festations or “effects”, of the created, a complete understanding of this exexisting whole, there is one fact that stands out preeminently; it is, that perience, is the individu al realiz ation upon a given plant no two parts ap- of the “part” to the “whole”. Only pe ar to be at the same point, or de- at this point of contact will the ingree of developm ent at the same dividual receive the benefits, and see Causation in its true proportions. time. For example, no two leaves are exactly the same shape, size or color, Cause and Effect demon strate pernor is the fruit in the same condi- fect balance. tion, simultaneously, in regard to deLife evolves from spirit. gree of ripeness. Just as all life is the result, in Since lifeforms, manifesting upon form, of Spirit’s contemplation of Itthis plane, possess no apparent voli- self, this form partaking of the qualtional powers, or self conscious facul- ities and nature of Its causation, so ty of selection or rejection, they can will man’s life manifest to the dedo naught but conform to and obey gree that he not only realizes, but the conditions of the Law governing actu ally embodies, the elements of the expression of the Divin e Idea this Div ine Cosmic Consciousness, they represent. and then standing out of the way, logical
result of
like
concepts,
or
It is significant, this example of evolutional change, with its constant birth, developme nt, and final discard ment from the parent stock, of the leaves, blossoms, fruits and seeds, when they have matured, or served their purpose. N atu re holds no brief for th at part which, ha ving fulfilled its p ur pose, drops to the ground; fo r aft er all it falls in her ow n lap. The paler, sunhungry leaf, formerly overshadowed by its fallen mate, now has room for growth and ex pansion heretofor e denie d by circum stances.
allows It to express Itself, unhindered, through him. W e are dealing primarily with M an ’s relation to Cosmic Consciousness. Man, the evolved, instinctive, intuitive, volitional expression of God in Form. Man, manifesting upon the highest plane of vibratio n which human perception can realize, possesses the potential power to realize his atoneness with the Infinite.
W hy then should M an experience disease and unhappiness whe n the Causation is Perfect? The “Idea” he represents, if carried to the relative Ultimate, contains all the elements Bound by the Law, the instinctive he needs to experience this Divine nonvolitional life expresses its idea Good, proportionately in his own of God, in unfoldment and reproduc- consciousness. I t seems paradoxical, tion, according to the laws of Crea- but it is true , th at man is freed by tive life. Its relativ e degree of per- the same law that binds him, and fection is conditioned by environment, bound by the same Law th at frees
faculties it will recreate in form or him, (f o r ther e is only one L aw ): eithe r experience depends upon experience. L et us be wise in our choice of pattern. whether he uses or abuses the Law. Logically, we know that the ultiThere are not tw o laws, one governing health, the other disease, as mate possibilities of humanity evolving to a point of conscious contact before stated , there is only one Law in operation— the Cosmic La w of with Infinite Causation and the corCreation. Health, then, is condition- responding reactions, point the way to realization of the absolute comed only by the individual capacity to realize and embody his proportionate pleteness of the Unconditio ned Life. At that point of realization, those so heritage of the Cosmic elements of far evolved will experience and mani this Law within his own personality. fest naught save the nature and qual“As a man thinketh in his heart, so ities of that which has been contactis he." O u r present and past experiences ed, resulting in manifestations and experiences of health and happiness are but the natural reactions to our understanding of God. Man there- as well as material welfare. B ut in the meantime there are fore, is the exact reproduction of his me ntal equivalent of T h a t which is those “on the way”. Judgment, im plying rules of conduct fo r them , is A ll. “T ru th is the same yesterday, to- not in our jurisdiction. Eventually T ru th will find Itself. W e should day, and forever”. T h e true faith that is born of individual realization not attempt to condition the Law of of M a n ’s unity w ith his Infinite T r u th in operation. It is futile, and reacts unfavorably upon our own deCausation, is the natural sequence of velopment. Nor does the “time elehis realization of the fact of this m en t” figure. T im e is “ bu t the measunity. “The body is not conscious of ure of an experience.” Spirit is an life, but thought is conscious of the bo dy ” , and opera ting th rough it pro - unco nditioned, all perm eating, all duces “effects”, according to the na- embracing element, ru nn ing “like quicksilver, through Creation’s ture of the thought held, or “cause”. veins” . I t is T h e Idea behind all “By your faith are ye healed”. And that exists. There is no limitation, or the best part of it is that faith can be in te llig ently re alized , not blindly, belief in lim itation in Spirit. Whatsoever is good, whatsoever is but prove n w ith “ logic ab so lute” . right, whatsoever is of good report, Let us learn to sense the presence of the thing desired. It is within our- let us think of these things; they are Spiritual elements, and will reproselves, aw aiting self discovery. T h e Law once set in motion, will repro- duce their prototype in our consciousness, to the degree that we embody duce the equivalent we give to it, the pattern we expose to its sensitized the lifelight of their substance.
Summaries B y K a t h a r i n e
i n d , m a t t e r . S piritM ind is origin, source, primary being, everywhere existent. The activity of SpiritMind is thinking, thought andfeeling. Go d is a name for Spirit Mind, an unpersonalized intelligent harmonious power or force. SpiritMind according to selfinher ent laws and by Its very nature puts Its activity—thoughtandfeeling— into embodiment. This embodiment of SpiritMind activity—of thought andfeeling— is called m atter. All forms, including human beings, are the result, the embodiment, of SpiritMind activity, of thoughtand feeling. They are individualizations of the original SpiritMind, shaped or formed according to Its ideas or patterns. SpiritMind is one and indivisible. Yet to understand better and classify Its operations, men find convenient a hypothetical separation into two great phases, conscious and subjective. Because of the foregoing facts, thoughtandfeeling in human experience cannot but be creative, efficient. And therefore the working of cause and effect is inescapable.
M
M e r r ill
circumstances. But right thoughtand feeling has back of it the power of the inherent laws of SpiritMind energy. Hence right thoughtandfeeling, even though not fully aware that it is right, yet insofar as it is right, corrects wrong thoughtandfeeling and results— th at is, it heals mind, body and circumstances.
T H O U G H T C O M M U N IC A T IO N . Th ere is only one universal Sp iritM ind. It is an atmosphere in which all thought operates, and in which men, since they are composites of thought, live. T he refo re communing through thought between original SpiritMind and Its individualizations of Itself is part of the basic men tal ac tiv ity in the universe. In the human being this community takes specific forms, one of which is often called the B ette r Self. Co nscience is an othe r name. I t is who lly ethical, and is an urge within a man of SpiritMind toward a fuller ex pression of Itse lf, to w ard the high and the good. There are also less spiritual forms, of thoughtcommunication which exist between men and men. These forms are possible because the uniH E A L IN G . Hum an capability in versal subjective is a medium common thoughtandfeeling is not unlimited. to all men (like the air), and in it Hence there is ignorance of laws of men inevitably place all thoughts and SpiritM ind energy. Right human thoughtandfeeling is in harmony feelings, ethical or not. One such form of thoughtcomw ith t h e s e l aw s . W r o n g h u m a n munication, which may have good rethoughtandfeeling is out of harmony with them or ignorant of them. Both sults and motives, is hypnotism; yet right and wrong thoughtandfeeling even so, as a method, hypnotism is embody themselves in human experi- never abstractly right, because it robs ence— in conditions of mind, body and the one hypnotized of his divine priv-
ilege of thinking and acting for him- erations. He nce the whole gigantic self. It arrogates to the human sender structure reared around death is on a of the influence the power, control false foundation, and must eventually and responsibility that are in truth pass out of hu man belief. bestowed by SpiritM in d separately Each man is a distinct idea and inon each of Its individualizations. dividualization in SpiritMind, differMental telepathy is another form ent from every other. B u t his perof though tcomm unication. I t is one’s sonality is the result of his compreread ing of somebody’s subjective m in d ; hension of that individualization— or it is the sending of messages from comprehension modified by race thought and dependent on his own one mind to another without external contact. T h e ethics or unethics of thou ght. T h e personality is a clouded this lie in the conscious use made of image of the individualization. The clouded image is what does evil and the information subjectively obtained. SpiritMind is not a fixed mechan- suffers evil. T h e consciousness includes both the inherent idea and the ized thing; It is alive, It is primordial being, life. It is expansion, growth, pe rson ality or clouded image. T h e creativeness. N or are Its embodi- “immortal soul” is the inherent idea ments fixed and mechanized. They ex- of SpiritMind — Its individualization in the man. T h is is perm anent, being press th eir origin, they possess the power of growth , transform ation, de- a pa rt of the original Source. T h e clouded image— th at is, the external velopment. form or body and the particular conD E A T H . No atom or portion of sciousness associated with the inherSpiritMind energy is ever lost or ent idea in its huma n phase— is not wasted. I t cannot pass into nothing perman en t, because fu ll selfrea liz aness, for there is no nothingness; all tion is prevented as yet by clouds of space and time being ideas or modes i n c o m p r e h e n s i o n . J u s t how much of activity of everpresent SpiritMind. change, either in the consciousness or And no embodiment or bit of matter in the embodiment, occurs with the either is ever lost or wasted. F o r emleaving of the earthbody, we do not bo dimen t or m atter too is idea, is know. Perhaps tha t varies w ith the spiritualmen tal. E mbodim ent und erdegree of inner spiritual attainment. goes expansion, transformation, but This seems reasonable, since the connot destruction. W h at seems like desciousness contains the most direct exstruction is a humanly limited con pression of SpiritM in d. I t can hard cept of grow th or change. T h e hu ly be correct to say that at death the man belief in destruction is very inherent idea is absorbed in God and strong. W he n applied to rusting iron loses individu ality. By its very na ture or greening copper, it is known to be an idea cannot lose its individuality, chemical change. W he n applied to for ideas are not made of losable plants, animals and hu man beings it stuff. Besides, an idea or “im mortal is called death, and is often felt to be soul” cannot ever be more immersed mere extinction. B ut since in Spirit in God than it is now, since the only Mind energy there is no destruction, the human concept of death is an ig- life it can have is its being held in norance of SpiritMind laws and op- the unforgetting SpiritMind.
The Mind Cleansing Process By C h i t t e n d e n T u r n e r
A T L E A ST a periodical necessity for mind cleansing is commonly recognized, but few persons, are dilige nt cleansers. T h e process is more often perceived as recreation from care than as the correction of w rong thinking. As the forme r it commands a fairly diligent observance; there is plenty of recreation. But when it comes to mental sanitation, an actual purification, this as a rule receives a casual or spasmodic attention, especially among those di lettants whose avowed regard for truer living exceeds their willingness to take pains. Considering the fact that the value of mental rehabilitation is so readily demonstrated, it is astonishing that so many individuals are conten t with superficial results. W e may blam e ro utine ha bits, lazine ss and the lack of seclusiveness, but psychologically the fault lies in the misinter pre ta tion of teachings. W e have seen that instantaneous healing is possible, and the Bible has taught us that we have but to acknowledge God to become immediately in harmony with him and forgiven o f all sin. Ergo , many a dilettant in mental science is prone to assume that the briefest affirmation alters him in the twinkling of an eye.
The truth is that the status and the burdens of no two persons are the same, and the achievement of concentration or pure thinking, as the case may be, is vastly more difficult fo r one than anothe r. In any case a clean mind is the prime requisite to faith. On e may reply that cleanliness is relative and that which would be an immaculate condition for one mind would be for another utterly squalid. Fu rthe rm ore , it is contended that the very contemplation of evil, the presence of the unconsecrated, of unworthy motives, of ma terialism itself— tha t such as these registered in apperception operate against purity and spiritual strength. The answer is that the conscious mind has room for but one dominating thought or purpose at a time. “Man cannot serve two masters." Therefore, the clarification process is the same with all persons irrespective of their individual difficulties, and its success depends not only upon recognition of truth but willingness to apply it and be a part of it. The diligent cleaner is not content with opening the windows and hastily dusting a few objects. I f the dirt is not removed from the corners, from beneath the davenport, from behind the pictures every little d ra ft
will distribute it over the newly job do esn’t look good to you— stan d swept surfaces. A nd it is because of back and look at th e trim m in gs. the need for thoroughness and con- Take a general view of the whole stancy in order to grow in the knowl- situation from the outside. T h e job edge of the spirit that daily contact is all right and you are all right, but with the One Source is so earnestly you are getting too close to your advised. A pe rfunc tory three m in- w ork . D on’t be so serious. Business utes reading is of little avail, but a is just a plaything for grownups. completely consecrated twenty min- Stand back and look! let’s play! utes daily tends to establish and — G l e n n N e l l is . maintain that contact without which divine providence is seldom truly manifested. Some of us do not wish to live “in the spirit” in such a way that we may become impractical, humorless or unsociable. W e have inh erited old ideas about spirit. I t is no t a holy aloofness, a perpetual detachment; to live in the spirit is to live in proper motivation, where our higher pur poses an d abilities coordin ate in the work and play of life and yield the better fr uit s, not alway s w it hout stress but always with the consciousness of right and a sublime faith. The clean mind is not merely consecrated, but keeps working and prog ressing in the clean th in gs o f life.
P L A Y M O R E , W O R K L ESS Does the other fellow’s job look good to you? I ’ll say it does! A nd does yo ur job look good to him? I ’ll say yes! A nd why? Because you are only looking at the trimmings on the outside o f his job. I f y our own
AN AFFIRMATION A dynamic affirmation in contrast with the potential (T o know, T o be and To do): I kn o w I A m , hence I do the T r u th .
I am creating now in my consciousness my real tendency, or perfect Law of being; thereby growing out of my past state of negative thinking, with its diverse limitations, through false belief in the resistance to my progress of material things with their associated effects. I am made of the stuff that created all material; therefore by The Self contemplation, I rise above the bond ag e o f th in gs, and as a natu ra l sequence, now find that all material effects mould themselves in orderly fashion and harmonious form about me; and I see them in their true light as secondary causes, and myself as a center of creative “ Pow er that knows Itself.” W . Ca r l W r i g h t .
Department of Healing M a in ta in e d by
T H E I N S T I T U T E O F R E L IG I O U S S C IE N C E A
E x t e n d in g
u g u s t a
E.
R
u n d e l
I t s L o v in g
,
D epartm ent H ead
Se r v ic e t o A l l W h o
S e e k
“He that believeth on me, t h e w o r k s t h a t I d o shall he do also: and greater works than these shall he do." Jo
h n 14:12.
Cheerfully giving of their time and effort, over one hundred trained prac titioners, divided into Healing Groups, meet daily to do this part of the work of the Healing Department. This service is lovingly offered by the Institute for the benefit of those who, at the moment, are unable to procure the services of a special practitioner. Universal Law is a law of harmony, hence one of reciprocity, or equal balance. If we g ive, you must receiv e; according to your receptivity w ill it be giv en unto you. In accepting this service fro m us, we expect that you shall g i v e to us your complete confidence and co-operation. A free-will offering is all that is asked or received for this service.
Fear—a Monster EAR is a state of mind, a state of consciousness, which is so subtle in its influence that it wraps itself about us, befogs our reason, clouds our vision, and dulls our hearing, rendering us unable to get the proper perspective of life. W e are told th at w ha t we fear comes upon us, but we are not shown that what is known as fear produces a mental pattern or mold, which creative mind fills, producing on the physical plane that which we have so perfectly pictured on th e men tal, and th at, since th oughts manifest, we th us de feat our purpose. W e wou ld not set out a copper kettle fo r the milkman to fill w ith milk, knowing that the copper would pollute the milk and render it unsafe for use. And yet this is exactly the thing th at we do mentally— we put out a mental mold of failure and expect success to manifest. As long as Fear remains intangible, it is illusive and goes on with its destructive force w ithou t our realization of its power. Le t us make a mental effort to drag this subtle thing out of its subjective hidingplace and focus the ligh t of ou r objective reasoning upon it. L et us me ntally create an embodiment, picture it as a monster, big and weird, with numerous claws, devouring all the sweetness and vital force within us and depleting our vitality. Having been brought to a realization of its deadly power, we could then, in our imagination, take a mental club, drive out this grotesque apparition, close the gate of understanding against it, and thus rid ourselves of it for all time.
F
Each month there will appear in this space a suggestion for the treatment of a specific condition.
M E D I T A T I O N F O R T H E S A LE O F P R O P E R T Y Sense that there is someone to whom your property will be a blessing, someone who wants it and needs it; that this person is known in Infinite Mind and will be made known to you. Place a constructive thought on it by declaring that this piece of property is a blessing to you, a great inspiration, something which is bringing joy to you and will wo rk out to your advantage. A negative attitude serves to destroy the value of the property because you have really destroyed the value of it in your own mind by your anxiety to be rid of it and your sense of burd en concerning it. Since th oughts become things, you can, by glorifying the prope rty, create a value fo r it in yo ur mind, a love fo r it, which will be reflected in the mind and consciousness of the customer who comes for it.
D I R E C T R E S U L T S o f the W O R K D one by the
HEALING DEPARTMENT “A short time after making ap plic atio n to yo ur departm ent fo r help, I was called by the Nurses’ Registry to go on duty, my first work in seven mon ths. I am employed in a lovely home where I was needed, and strength has been given me to carry on my duties.” — P .O . Berkeley, Calif. Pasadena, Calif., April 28, 1929 Five years ago, while working on a building, I fell three stories. . . . About a month later I began to have pains in my back, th en my neck go t stiff. . . . They put my neck in a cast and I was all right for about four months, but then my legs began to stiffen and soon my hips and knees stiffened completely. June 6, 1929 Four days ago I sat up on the edge o f my bed. T h is is the first time I have sat up for over a year. I sit up every day for about ten minutes and hope to be much better soon. — P. L. C. (Since writing the above, this patient has gone fo r an au tomob ile ride and seen his first tall buildings.) “ I bring you good tidings. As you will recall I asked for help from your Healing Department and desire to say that I am experiencing the be nefit o f th at help. T h ere is still a swelling in the ankles, though it disappears during the night and does
not appear again until late in the day. I experien ced no sense o f discomfort from it, however. “ M y business— taking pupils in a business course — is sh ow in g much greater activity, and I have a greater sense of freedom f r o m financial wo rry. I also fee l a sense o f peace.” — H. V. M . Los Angeles, June 9, 1929 I have been a student at a local university for three semesters but, due perhaps to too intensive studying and the fact that I was obliged to earn my way through school, I finally suffered a mental breakdown. For approximately one year I have been in this cond ition. I am no t w hat one would call insane, but, unless I obtain relief soon, I fear that I may become so. October 2, 1929 I just want you to know how happy I am and how much I have improved du ring the last month. I feel that I will soon be able to take up my work at the university, although, on account of my eyes, will not be able to do much reading. Nov em be r 24, 1929 I am now perfectly well in every way. M y eyesight is stro ng er and better th an it ever was and I have discarded the glasses enti rely . Before long I will be out in the great outside wo rld again. I have more to give thanks for this Thanksgiving Day than ever in my life before. — V. L. S.
Textbook of the Institute of Religious Science
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The
SCIENCE OF MIND 2.50 per Year
Magazine
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