The Science of Mind, by Ernest Shurtleff Holmes [1926], at sacred-texts.com
Limitation and poverty are not things but are the results of restricted ways of thinking. We are surrounded by a Subjective Intelligence which receives the impress of our thought and acts upon it. This Intelligence is a natural Law in the Mental World, and consequently It is neither good nor bad. It can only be said of It, that It Is, and that we may consciously use It.
The Law is a Law of Reflection; for life is a mirror, reflecting to us, as conditions, the images of our thinking. Whatever one thinks tends to take form and to become a part of his experience.
The Medium of all thought is the Universal Mind, acting as Law. Law is always impersonal, neutral, receptive and reactive.
A sense of separation from good causes us to feel restricted; and a sense of our Unity with Good changes the currents of Causation and brings a happier condition into the experience.
Everything in the so-called material universe is an effect and exists only by virtue of some mental image behind it.
Man's individuality enables him to make such use of the Law as he desires; he is bound, not by limitation, but by a limited thought. The same power which binds him will free him when he understands the Law to be one of Liberty and not one of bondage. The power within man can free him from all distasteful conditions, if the Law governing this power is properly understood and utilized.
The Law of Mind, which is the Medium of all action, is a Law of perfect balance; the Objective World perfectly balances the images within the Subjective World. Water will reach its own level by its own weight; and, according to the same law, consciousness will externalize at its own level by its own weight. Cause and effect are but two sides of the same
thing, one being the image in Mind and the other the objective condition.
The manifest universe is the result of the Self-Contemplation of the Lord. Man's world of affairs is the result of his self-contemplation. He is, at first, ignorant of this, and so binds himself through wrong ideation and action; reversing this thought will reverse the condition.
There is neither effort nor strain in knowing the Truth. Right action will be compelled through right knowing; therefore, when we know the Truth, It will compel us to act in the correct manner.
Attraction and repulsion are mental qualities, and may be consciously utilized for definite purposes. Man, automatically and according to Law, attracts from without the correspondences of his inner mental attitudes. Inner mental attitudes may be induced through right thinking and correct knowing. The subjective state of thought is the power always at work; it is the result of the sum total of all beliefs, consciously or unconsciously held. The subjective state of thought may be consciously changed through right mental action. The conscious thought controls the subconscious, and in its turn, the subconscious controls conditions.
Visualizing, or mentally seeing right action, tends to produce the picture in external affairs.
Since the Law is mental, one must believe in It, in order to have It work affirmatively for him; but It is always working according to our belief, whether we are conscious of this fact or not.
Demonstration takes place through the field of the One Universal Mind; we set the Power in motion; the Law produces the effect. We plant the seed and the Law produces the plant.
One should never allow himself to think of, or talk about, limitation or poverty. Life is a mirror and will reflect back to the thinker what he thinks into it.
God's plan for man is a perfect one, and when we harmonize with it we will become free from all bondage. The more spiritual the thought, the higher the manifestation. Spiritual
thought means an absolute belief in, and reliance upon, Truth; this is both natural and normal.
All is Love yet all is Law; Love is the impelling force and Law executes the will of Love. Man is a center of God-Consciousness in the great Whole; he cannot deface his real being, but may hinder the Whole from coming into a complete expression through his life. Turning to the One with a complete abandonment and in absolute trust, he will find that he already is saved, helped and prospered.
There is One Infinite Mind from which all things come; this Mind is through, in and around man; It is the Only Mind that there is, and every time man thinks he uses It. There is One Infinite Spirit, and every time man says, "I am," he proclaims It. There is One Infinite Substance; and every time man moves, he moves in It. There is One Infinite Law, and every time man thinks he sets It in motion. There is One Infinite God, and every time man speaks to This God, he receives a direct answer. One! One! One! "I Am God and there is none else." 73 There is One Limitless Life which returns to the thinker what he thinks into It. One! One! One! "In all, over all and through all."
Talk, live, act, believe and know that you are a center in the One. All the Power there is; all the Presence there is; all the Love there is; all the Peace there is; all the Good there is and the Only God that is, is Omnipresent; consequently, the Infinite is in and through man and is in and through everything. "Act as though I am and I will Be."
205:73 Isa. 45:22.