The Perfect Whole

The Science of Mind, by Ernest Shurtleff Holmes [1926], at sacred-texts.com

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Lesson Five: The Perfect Whole

Chart No. V represents the Triune Unity. The other charts were divided into Spirit, Soul and Body, symbolizing the Conscious part of Existence; the Law through which It operates; and the result of the operation. But those lines were entirely arbitrary. No such lines could exist, for the threefold Universe, with all of Its attributes, interspheres Itself. We find the Spirit, or Conscious Mind, the Soul or Subconscious Mind, and the Body, which is the manifestation of the union of Spirit and Soul, simultaneously present at every point. This chart represents the Indivisible Whole, within which are all of Its parts; the Absolute, within which is the relative; the Uncreated, within which is all Creation.

Creation is the giving of form to the Substance of Spirit. Spirit, being All and Only, there is nothing for It to change into but Itself; therefore, It is the Changeless, within which must take place all change or manifestation of Itself. Change is simply motion within Life.

The Infinite, of Itself, is Formless, but within It are contained all of the forms which are the expressions or the outlines of Its experiences.

Spirit is the Limitless, within which is all space; Spirit is Timeless, within which is all time. "Time is the sequence of events in a Unitary Whole." Creation and experience are eternally going on, but a particular experience is measured by time and has a beginning and an end.

The big circle represents the Universal, within which is the individual; the One Person within Whom are all people. There is really but One Person in the Universe; but within this One Person all people live, "for in Him we live, and move, and have our being." ⁸⁶ It is the Source and center of all Life, Power, Action, Truth, Love, Mind, Spirit, the Ever and the All. It is, of course, God.

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Click to enlarge
Lesson Five: Metaphysical Chart No. V.

This is the Mystic's chart and shows how the Universal becomes the Particularization of Itself through man. Man comes to a point in the Universal, or God, and is the Idea of God as man. The Father is represented as the Whole just back of, or above, or within, man. This is the Indwelling God to Whom we pray and with Whom we talk. The mystic has the ability to consciously talk to God and to consciously receive a direct answer from the Spirit. In this chart it is shown that the Absolute contains the relative, within Itself, but is not limited by the relative. We must remember that the relative does not limit, but expresses, the Absolute. All change takes place within the Changeless. All form subsists within the Formless. All conditions obtain within that which is Limitless; and Creation is eternally going on within that which is Uncreated. All are activities of the One Mind and Spirit of God. All people come to a point of individuality within that which is universal.

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INDIVIDUALITY

The point within the big circle represents the personality and individuality of man, indicating that he is a center in the Divine Mind or God.

Man is the Personification of the Infinite Life; and so we place, just above this point and on the inside of it, "The Son"; and just above this (with no line to divide them) are written the words, "Our Father which art in Heaven," ⁸⁷ taken from the Lord's Prayer. There is no difference between God, the Absolute, which is Our Father in Heaven, and the Son, so far as actual Being is concerned. The Son is simply a point where God recognizes Himself as Personality or Individualized Being. It is within that we find the Unity of God and man; there is no separation.

Man, having his existence in the Unitary Whole, which is Indivisible, is compelled to accept the fact that his life is God or Spirit; but to say that man is God, which is equivalent to saying that any part equals the whole, is to contradict logic and reason, and limit the Limitless Idea. It is enough to say that we are at one with the Whole. It is both within and without. In perhaps a more liberal sense we could say man is in God; immersed in God; saturated with God. God permeates all life, and in man we find that this Infinite Mind or Intelligence comes to a point of Individualized Self-Consciousness.

Theoretically, we believe that the personality which we possess is on the pathway of self-discovery; for everything bears witness to this belief; as fast as we discover any truth, it is there to use. We never create Truth--we discover and use It. We believe, then, that as man continuously unfolds his personality, he will find latent capacities of which he has never dreamed.

FURTHER EVOLUTION

Since his whole life is the unfoldment of intelligence, according to law, man can only evolve as he recognizes greater possibilities--there could be no other way. The arbitrary process of

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evolution ceased when man became an individual; and any further evolution will be through self-recognition; but back of him is the whole of Life surging to express Itself. This is what is known as the Divine Urge. It is that Instinctive, Omniscient "I am" in man, always pushing him on and up; but It can only express for him as It flows through him. That person has the greatest power who the most completely recognizes himself to be one with this Infinite Mind. That is why Jesus said: "I speak not of myself" (it is not this individualized point); "but the Father that dwelleth in Me" (that is, God, our Father, Which is in Heaven); "He doeth the works." ⁸⁸

The evolution of man, which is the unfoldment of Spirit through his personality, will be more complete when his objective and subjective faculties are more perfectly balanced; that is, when he has conscious control of the spiritual forces which surge for expression. The psychological nature has to change somewhat, and the subjective tendencies that hinder the Whole from coming to a point of conscious contact must be neutralized. This would produce illumination or the consciousness of his Unity with the Whole.

In treatment, we work until we penetrate the false thought within and break through to Reality. There is no limitation, either in Infinite Intelligence or in Infinite Law. The whole limitation which we experience is not, of itself, a reality or an entity, but is simply one of the forms within the formless which we are outlining.

THE TRUTH IS KNOWN

Our conscious intelligence is as much of Life as we understand. We have stopped looking for the Spirit, because we have found It; It is what you are and It is what I am; we could not be anything else if we tried. The thing that we look with is the thing that we have been looking for. That is why it is written: "I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High." ⁸⁹ We have stopped looking for the Law. We have found It. In the Universe we call It the Universal Subjectivity or Soul; in our own experience we call

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[paragraph continues] It the subjective state of our thought, which is our individual use of Universal Law. We have found the Law and demonstrated It. We find that both the Law and the Spirit are Limitless. What is it that we need for a greater freedom? Nothing but a greater realization of what we already know.

We should never hesitate to say that we know the Truth, because we do; for the realization of the Unity of God and man is the Truth. We simply need a greater realization of this. How are we to get it? Only by penetrating deeper and yet deeper into our own Divine Nature; pushing farther and farther back into the Infinite. Where are we to do that? There is no place except within that we can do it. Who is to do it for us? No one. No one can. People can heal us; they can set the Law in motion for us and help us to become prosperous;--that is good and helpful; but the evolution of the individual, the unfoldment of personality, the enlightenment of the Soul, the illumination of Spirit, can come only to the degree that the individual himself purposes to let Life operate through him. "Let this Mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." ⁹⁰ This is the Mind of God,--the only Mind,--the Supreme Intelligence of the Universe.

THE ANSWER IS IN MAN

The answer to every question is within man, because man is within Spirit and Spirit is an Indivisible Whole. The solution to every problem is within man; the healing of all disease is within man; the forgiveness of all sin is within man; the raising of the dead is within man; Heaven is within man. That is why Jesus prayed to this indwelling "I am" and said: "Our Father Which art in Heaven." ⁹¹ He also said: "The Kingdom of God is within you." ⁹²

Each of us, then, represents the Whole. How should we feel toward the Whole? In the old order, we thought of the Whole as a sort of mandatory power, an autocratic government, an arbitrary God, sending some to Heaven and some to hell; and "all for His glory." Now we are much more enlightened and we realize that there can be no such a Divine Being. We

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have meditated upon the vastness of the Universe of Law, and we have said: "God is Law; there is a Divine Principle Which is God." In the new order, we are liable to fall into as great an error as the old thought fell into, unless we go much deeper than thinking of God simply as Principle. God is more than Law or Principle. God is the Infinite Spirit, the Limitless, Conscious Life of the Universe; the One Infinite Person within Whom all people live. The Law is simply a Force.

GOD--INFINITE PERSONALITY

God or Spirit is Supreme, Infinite, Limitless Personality. And we should think of the Divine Being as such--as completely responsive to everything we do. There should come to us a sense of communion, a spontaneous sense of Irresistible Union. If we had that, we would demonstrate instantaneously.

An evolved soul is always a worshiper of God. He worships God in everything; for God is in everything. God not only is in everything, but He is more than everything He is in. "Ye are the light of the world"; ⁹³--that is, God in us. All that we are is God; yet God is more than all we are.

The nearer consciousness gets to the Truth, the more Cosmic sweep it has, the more power it has. Angels wait upon individuals who perceive Cosmic Purposes and Powers, because the Whole is crowding forth into expression. Let a man recognize a Cosmic Purpose, which is the expression of Life, Truth and Love; let his thought vibrate to the higher and grander realization of life, and see how--automatically--he becomes more powerful.

The process of healing and demonstration is, at first, mechanical and scientific; then the fire of Spirit is added to make it real. One is technique--the other is the pulsating life and glow. We need the recognition of love, coupled with a scientific understanding of what we are doing. Thoughts are things, and diseases are the direct result of specific thoughts somewhere in consciousness. Poverty is the direct result of a subjective state of thought which binds.

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UNITY

All Manifestation of Life is from and invisible to a visible plane; and it is a silent, effortless process of spiritual realization. We must unify, in our own mentalities, with Pure Spirit. To each of us, individually, God, or Spirit, is the Supreme Personality of the Universe; the Supreme Personality of that which we, ourselves, are. It is only as the relationship of the individual to this Deity becomes enlarged that he has a consciousness of power.

There should always be a recognition in treatment of the Absolute Unity of God and man; the Oneness, Inseparability, Indivisibility, Changelessness; God as the Big Circle, and man as the little circle. Man is in God and God is in man; just as a drop of water is in the ocean, while the ocean is in the drop of water. This is the recognition Jesus had when He said: "I and my Father are One." ⁹⁴ There is a Perfect Union; and to the degree that we are conscious of this Union we incorporate this consciousness in our word, and our word has just as much power as we put in it, no more and no less.

Within this Infinite Mind each individual exists, not as a separated, but as a separate, entity. We are a point in Universal Consciousness, which is God, and God is our Life, Spirit, Mind and Intelligence. We are not separated from Life, neither is It separated from us; but we are separate entities in It, Individualized Centers of God's Consciousness.

We came from Life and are in Life, so we are One with Life; and we know that Instinctive Life within, which has brought us to the point of self-recognition, still knows in us the reason for all things, the purpose underlying all things; and we know that there is nothing in us of fear, doubt or confusion which can hinder the flow of Reality to the point of our recognition. We are guided, daily, by Divine Intelligence into paths of peace wherein the soul recognizes its Source and meets It in joyful Union, in complete At-one-ment.

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HOLD TO THE GOOD

Such is the power of clear thought that it penetrates things; it removes obstructions, the reason being that there is nothing but consciousness, nothing but Mind. The only instrument of Mind is idea. See with perfect clearness and never become discouraged nor overcome by a sense of limitation. Know this:--that the Truth with which you are dealing is absolute. All of God, all of Truth, all there is, is at the point of man's recognition; and every time you give a treatment, and all the way through it, keep bringing this back to your remembrance.

Never struggle; say, "There is nothing to struggle over; everything is mine by Divine Right; Infinite Intelligence is my Intelligence; Divine Love is my Love; Limitless Freedom is my Freedom; Perfect Joy is my Gladness; Limitless Life is my Energy."

Let us BLIND OURSELVES TO NEGATION, as far as we are mentally able to. LET US NOT TALK, THINK, OR READ ABOUT ANYTHING DESTRUCTIVE, whether it be war, pestilence, famine, poverty, sickness, or limitation of any kind. Looking at this from a practical standpoint, there is all to win and nothing to lose. The rapid progress we would make if we should do this would be wonderful.

We are always dealing with First Cause. Nothing else can equal the satisfaction that comes to one when he perceives himself, from the silence of his own soul and the activity of his own thought, actually bringing about a condition without the aid of visible instrumentalities. There is nothing else as satisfying as to heal some disease purely by the power of thought; this shows that we are dealing with First Cause.

We must definitely neutralize confusion and doubt. We should take time, daily, to conceive of ourselves as being tranquil, poised, powerful,--always in control of every situation; as being always the highest concept of the Divine which we can imagine. We should never hesitate to think of ourselves in this way. The Ancients used to teach their pupils to say to themselves--"Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful me!"--until they lost sight of themselves as Mary Smith or John Jones, and perceived themselves as Divine Realities. Then, when they came

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back to the objectivity of Mary Smith and John Jones, they brought with them that subtle power which distinguishes Spiritual Growth,--the Atmosphere of Reality.

THE INFINITE IS PERSONAL TO ALL

Undoubtedly the power of Jesus lay in His recognition of the Infinite Person as a Responsive, Conscious, Living Reality; while, on the other hand, He recognized the Law as an arbitrary force, which was compelled to obey His will. He combined the personal and the impersonal attributes of Life into a perfect whole. The Infinite is Personal to every soul who believes in the Infinite. It is a mistake to so abstract the Principle that we forget the Living Presence; it is the combination of the two that makes work effective.

THE CHRIST

Who is man? He is the Christ. Who is the Christ? The Son, begotten of the only Father;--not the only begotten Son of God. Christ means the Universal Idea of Sonship, of which each is a Member. That is why we are spoken of as Members of that One Body; and why we are told to have that Mind in us "which was also in Christ Jesus." ⁹⁵ Each partakes of the Christ Nature to the degree that the Christ is revealed through him, and to that degree he becomes the Christ. We should turn to that Living Presence within, Which is the Father in Heaven, recognize It as the One and Only Power in the Universe, unify with It, declare our word to be the presence, power and activity of that One, and speak the word as if we believed it; because the Law is the servant of the Spirit.

If we could stand aside and let the One Perfect Life flow through us, we could not help healing people. This is the highest form of healing.

We have gone through all of our abstract processes of reasoning and have found out what the Law is and how It works; now we can forget all about It, and know that there is nothing

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but the Word; the Law will be working automatically. We must forget everything else, and let our word be spoken with a deep inner realization of love, beauty, peace, poise, power, and of the great Presence of Life at the point of our own consciousness.

REALIZATION

We do not dare to throw ourselves with abandonment into a seeming void; but if we did, we would find our feet planted firmly on a rock, for there is a place in the mentality, in the heights of its greatest realizations, where it throws itself with complete abandonment into the very center of the Universe. There is a point in the supreme moment of realization where the individual merges with the Universe, but not to the loss of his individuality; where a sense of the Oneness of all Life so enters his being that there is no sense of otherness; it is here that the mentality performs seeming miracles, because there is nothing to hinder the Whole from coming through. We can do this only by providing the great mental equivalents of Life, by dwelling and meditating upon the immensity of Life; and yet as vast, as immense, as limitless as It is, the whole of It is brought to the point of our own consciousness.

We comprehend the Infinite only to the degree that It expresses Itself through us, becoming to us that which we believe It to be. And so we daily practice in our meditations the realizations of Life:--"Infinite, indwelling Spirit within me, Almighty God within me, Perfect Peace within me, Complete Satisfaction within me, Real Substance within me; that which is the Truth within me." "I am the Truth," Jesus said. He said: "I am the way; I am the Life; no man cometh unto the Father but by Me." ⁹⁶ How true it is! We cannot come unto the Father Which art in Heaven except through our own nature.

Right here, through our own nature, is the gateway and the path that gradually leads to illumination, to realization, to inspiration, to the intuitive perception of everything.

The highest faculty in man is intuition, and it comes to a

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point sometimes where, with no process of reasoning at all, he realizes the Truth intuitively. So we should daily meditate, particularly if we are practicing right along.

MEDITATION

Any practitioner should take a certain time every day to meditate within himself, to realize that the words which he speaks are the words of Truth. Being the words of Truth, they cannot fail to be fulfilled; they are a law unto themselves within the Great Law. They know themselves to be what they are. They are immutable, irresistible, unassailable; they are eternal and complete, having intelligence, knowledge and understanding within themselves.

Every treatment must be a complete thing within itself. It is an unqualified statement of Being and pays no attention to appearances. If it did, it would not be efficacious. It rises above all appearance and may contradict every experience the human race has ever had; but it is real just the same. The treatment begins and ends within the mentality of the one giving it; and the demonstration takes place within the mentality of the one giving it; and, to the degree that it does take place there, it is a good treatment and will be a good demonstration.

If you have a patient who says: "I am sick," and you are able to neutralize your belief of that man as being sick, or any man as being sick, and can see him perfect, he will come to you and say: "I am healed." The practitioner must know within himself. He never thinks of projecting his thought, sending it out or holding it. He simply takes the whole condition and brings it into the great realization of Life.

Declare:--"Perfect Life within me, God within me, Spirit within me, Good within me, Almightiness within me, Loving Intelligence within me, Peace, Poise, Power, Happiness and Joy within me, Life, Truth and Love within me, Omniscient Instinctive I am within me, Almighty God within me." It is not enough to say that God is. The concept must be brought home to the mentality of the individual and unified with it, in order to have it expressed through him.

If we need financial healing, we should say: "Infinite Substance

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within me, Infinite Activity within me, flowing through me into everything I do, say or think, quickening into action all those things that my mentality touches; Infinite Activity within me, unerring, never mistaking, always doing the right thing at the right time, always knowing what to do, knowing how to do it and doing it; Infinite Executive Power within me, the Great Executive, the great I am, the All-Knowing and All-Seeing, the All-Wise within me; Infinite Substance within me, forever expressing Itself through me; Infinite Supply flowing through me and flowing to me;--irresistible supply, unassailable supply, limitless." As you say this, stop and think of the things you want--seeing them as realities--much as one would look at pictures on the wall.

Repeat:--"Infinite Substance within me, Infinite Supply flowing through me and to me, Infinite Activity around me and within me, Infinite Intelligence within me, directing me, guarding me, governing me, controlling me; the One and Only within me and through me, that is, Almighty God within me. There is no other, or beside which there is none other. Infinite love within me, seeing all, knowing all, loving all, One in and through all." Carry this concept out until you see that you live in everybody and everybody lives in you. Then continue: "Infinite One, comprehending, seeing, knowing, understanding, living in and including the All, within me." Realize what this means. "I am One with all people. There are no enemies. There is only the One, in all and through all."

If we would spend half the time making such affirmations that we spend complaining, finding fault, fussing, being sad and sorry for ourselves, we would soon be healed. "Infinite Wisdom within me"; stop and think what this means,--the Intelligence that operates through everything, visible and invisible. "Infinite Wisdom within me; Infinite Intelligence within me; Infinite Power within me";--feel what this means: The Power that holds the planets in place; a power to which the united force of the human race is as nothing. "Infinite Intelligence and Infinite Power within me, the great Executor; Infinite Energy and Wisdom within me,--the All-Knowing, the Unerring Mind of the Universe;--Infinite Peace within me, Infinite Peace, undisturbed and unalterable; Infinite Life, Infinite

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[paragraph continues] Peace within me"; that means there is no disturbance, no commotion, no trouble. There is only Infinite Peace; the power that stilled the waves and told the winds to be calm is the Power with which we deal. "Infinite Peace within me, Infinite Joy within me, the Joy that causes the leaves of the trees to clap their hands." It is the Joy that sings in the brook, the music of the spheres, the Joy of the sense of completion. "Infinite Joy within me, not somewhere else, but within me"; It is the Good which is urging Itself forth through every act which we call human or humane. We see it in the hand that gives and in every human act. That is the "Infinite Good that is within me,"--Infinite everything, whatever the need may be. Meditate upon the abstract essence of the thing; then bring it to a concrete point within your own mentality and see what it means as it manifests, declaring that it is.

This great teaching plainly shows the way to liberty and freedom. It is a pathway continuously unfolding from a Limitless Source to a Limitless Source. "Arise, shine, for thy light is come." ⁹⁷ "I am that I am." ⁹⁸

Note: Read and study "Cosmic Consciousness," Bucke; "Twelve Lessons in Mysticism," Hopkins; "The Impersonal Life" and "Creative Process in the Individual," T. Troward; "Bible Mystery and Meaning," T. Troward; "Sayings of Jesus," Red Letter Testament.

Footnotes

216:86 Acts. 17:28.

218:87 Luke 11:2.

219:88 John 14:10.

219:89 Ps. 82:6.

220:90 Phil. 2:5.

220:91 Luke 11:2.

220:92 Luke 17:21.

221:93 Matt. 5:14.

222:94 John 10:30.

224:95 Phil 2:5.

225:96 John 14:6.

228:97 Isa. 60:1.

228:98 Exodus 3:14.