We believe it is best explained by the founder of Religious Science and the author of the Science of Mind text, Ernest Holmes:
“There is a Universal Wholeness seeking expression through everything. We are calling it simply Life. The religionist calls it God. The philosopher calls it Reality. Life is infinite energy coupled with limitless creative imagination. It is the invisible essence and substance of every visible form. Its nature is goodness, truth, wisdom and beauty, as well as energy and imagination. Our highest satisfaction comes from a sense of conscious union with this invisible Life. All human endeavor is an attempt to get back to first principles, to find such an inward wholeness that all sense of fear, doubt and uncertainty vanishes.
Could we but comprehend the fact that there is a Power that makes things directly out of Itself—by simply becoming the thing It makes—could we but grasp this greatest truth about life; and realize that we are dealing with a Principle, scientifically correct and eternally present, we could accomplish whatever it is possible for us to conceive. Life externalizes at the level of our thought.”
Building on this idea, he offers the “Science of Mind” as
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"the study of Life and the nature of the laws of thought; the conception that we live in a spiritual Universe; that God is in, through, around and for us. There is nothing supernatural anywhere, on any plane; that which today seems ot us supernatural, after it is understood will be found spontaneously natural.
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Based entirely upon the supposition that we are surrounded by a Universal Mind, ino whch we think, This Mind, in Its original state, fills all space. It fills the space that man uses in the Universe. It is in man, as well as outside him. As he thinks into this Universal Mind, he sets a law in motion, which is creative, and which contains within Itself a limitless possibility.
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Not necessarily creat[ing] a new religion or sect, for it may be added to any spiritual system of thought since it is a complement to all.
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Not a personal opinion, nor…a special revelation. It is a result of the best thought of the ages. It borrows much of its light from others but, in so doing, robs no one, for Truth is universal."
"…Taking the best from all sources, Religious Science has access to the highest enlightenment of the ages. Shorn of dogmatism, freed from superstition, and always ready for great illumination, Religious Science offers the student of life the best that the world has discovered.
In its practice and teachings, Religious Science endeavors to include the whole life. It is not a dreamy, mystical cult, but the exponent of a vigorous philosophy applicable to the everyday needs of life, and this accounts for its rapid growth. Men and women find in it a message that fits in with their daily needs.…Religion, if it means anything, means right living, and right living and right thinking wait upon no future but bestow their rewards in this life—in better health, happier homes, and all tat makes for a well-balanced, normal life.”
These are the actual words of Ernest Holmes which have been carefully put together, maintaining accuracy and intent, by Reverend Jesse Jennings in ‘The Essential Ernest Holmes’, published by Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, New York, 2002.
This book is an excellent addition to the library of every person interested in spiritual matters of all traditions.
Rev.
Rhoberta Shaler, Founder & Pastor of YSH