Helen M Wright
Christian Science ~ Your Divinity Revealed by Helen M Wright
7 ~ Your Divinity Revealed: The Seven-fold Revelation of Your Being ~ Chpt 4 ~ Mind ~ Subtitles
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| 1 | 154 | Show all | time for thinkers, prejudices rearranged, humorous stories, police officers, hand grenades, lawyer, BMW, Rolex, knowledge, frontier, synchronize, spiritual thoughts |
"The Time For Thinkers Has Come" | Show all | Science and Health tells us that "The time for thinkers has come." But it is not the kind of thinking that many people think they are doing, when they are merely rearranging their prejudices. Or, the kind of thinking two rookie police officers were doing when they found three hand grenades in the street and decided to take them to the police station. "What if one of them explodes?" asked the younger officer. "It doesn't really matter," the other reassured him. "We'll say we only found two." Here and now the divine Mind is our own true Mind. When we shut out all false conceptions and allow the one Mind to be our only source we will never be trapped in a material sense of things, like the Washington, D. C. lawyer who was opening the door of his BMW when a car came along and hit it, ripping the door off its hinges. The police arrived and found the lawyer hopping up and down with rage, complaining bitterly about the damage to his precious car. "You lawyers as so materialistic-you make me sick," a police officer commented, shaking his head in disgust. "You're so worried about your beautiful BMW that you didn't even notice that your left arm was ripped off." "Oh, no!" said the lawyer, looking down and noticing the bloody stump where his arm had been. "Where's my Rolex?" (his expensive watch). We need to turn away from the material, turn away from mortal mind to our real, true Mind. "The time for thinkers has come." Knowledge is the frontier of tomorrow, and whoever wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd. Remember, divine Mind, your true real Mind, knows no material limits. It knows only its own, forever perfect idea and that is what it manifests. |
| 2 | 155 | Show all | manifest, cause, expression, power, action, creator, origin, producer, impartation, mortal mind, channel, place, time, unreal, hypnotic suggestion |
Manifest | Show all | Let's consider "manifest" as an idea characterizing Mind. We are learning method, so we should ask ourselves, "What does manifest have to do with Mind? What does manifestation mean?" Manifestation implies there is a cause at work that wants to express itself, and does express itself, and brings out what it is. This explains why we attribute manifest to the category of Mind rather than to Soul or to Love. The inner nature of manifestation is such that it needs power. Without power there is no manifestation. Manifestation calls for action. Without action there is no manifestation. Manifestation calls for a cause, a creator, an origin, a producer. These are all Mind ideas, therefore it must be Mind that manifests. Again we realize how necessary it is to see that these ideas blend with other ideas, and to see with which ideas they blend. In this case we can see that manifests blends with all the ideas of Mind. Further, Mrs. Eddy speaks of "the power of expression" which means the same thing, and she also speaks of "the impartation of Mind," that Mind conveys impressions, which has to do with Mind bringing out its own expression. Mind manifests itself, expresses itself, and there is no other expression. Mortal mind, the counterfeit of Mind, is not a real power, therefore evil, so-called, cannot manifest itself. It has no channel, no place, no time in which to manifest itself, since it is unreal, hypnotic suggestion only. To sum it up, we see manifestation includes the concept of cause, power, action, and so on, since without cause, without power, without action, there is no manifestation. In this way we see how the tonality is building up, and we are becoming freer and freer of terms. First, cause, power, action, producer, origin, creator, are all embedded and implied in "manifests itself." Little by little we are building up the tone of Mind and finally we just think: "Mind;" and we have everything in it. In this way the infinite is reduced to simplicity. |
| 3 | 157 | Show all | all-knowing, synonymy principle, comprehends, apprehends, perceives, foretells, foresees, informs, all- hearing, information, conceives, reasoning, insight, synonymy principle pages 158 and 165 and 204 and 336 and 509 |
All-Knowing | Show all | All-knowing as a characteristic of Mind brings us to a new category of ideas in Mind: the knowing sense. We saw that what stands behind illumination, light, vision, discovery, and inspired thought, is the fact that Mind is all-knowing. All-knowing is one of the big, important ideas of Mind. Ideas related to all-knowing include comprehends, apprehends, perceives, foretells, foresees, informs, all- hearing, information, conceives, reasoning, insight. But when we say all-knowing we really include all these other terms, and this shows that we only need to know a few typical ideas of each synonymous term. Then, through our own sense of synonymy, we can enlarge the list substantially. Right in the first chapter of the textbook Mrs. Eddy says Mind is all-knowing, so we already have all those secondary ideas included. It is only a matter of feeling the spiritual sense of the term. God, Mind, is all-knowing, all-cognizing, all-recognizing, all-skillful, all-informed. All knowledge proceeds from Mind because all ideas come from Mind. All ideas coming to us are an importation of divine Mind. Ideas are transmitted by Mind. We must turn to Mind to learn about God, man, the universe, and about any condition or problem. |
| 4 | 158 | Show all | intelligence, all-knowing, comprehend, apprehend, perceive, foretell, synonymy, brain, mortal mind, apprehension, perception, comprehension, discover, models |
Intelligence | Show all | Intelligence Intelligence, Mrs. Eddy says, is the primal and eternal quality of infinite Mind. Webster defines intelligence as the ability to apprehend the interrelationships of presented facts in such a way as to guide action towards a desired goal. As a characteristic of Mind, intelligence means that Mind knows all. Intelligence is a quality of being. For Mind to comprehend, apprehend, perceive, foretell, and be all-knowing it must be of the nature of intelligence. Here again we see the synonymy of these terms and how each includes all the others-each reflects the others. Since Mind is all-knowing and the only intelligence, it follows that the counterfeit of Mind, mortal mind and its mediums of intelligence in matter, in brain, are only false beliefs that must eventually give place to divine intelligence. The revelations of the Science of Mind are prov- ing intelligence in matter to be merely a false belief, like believing that the earth is flat. When confronted with something we have never done before and which we don't understand, we must fall back on Mind, realizing Mind knows, and that Mind is my Mind. With the human so-called mind I can do nothing, so I must stay with the divine Mind until that Mind be- gins to manifest itself by emanating ideas. These ideas come to us and form new vision in us, new apprehension, new perception and comprehension; we begin to discover something new. In this way the true intelligence is working in us and as us. We have to work out the human belief of lack of intelligence by knowing we have the one Mind, and this one Mind imparts all information; it gives us all the ideas we need when we rely on it. It gives us new models of thinking about the world. It shows us everything in a new light, which the human intellect cannot begin to equal. |
| 5 | 159 | Show all | nothing is created, intelligence, reality, one creator, all-knowing, intelligent creator, spiritual language, all- seeing, all-knowing, surveys all, comprehends, conceives, programmer, spiritual consciousness |
Nothing is created | Show all | Page 159 Nothing Is Created When we say Mind is intelligence, how does that fit in with the other ideas we have had up to now? What about creator, for instance? The man in the street wouldn't think intelligence and creator are the same thing, but Mrs. Eddy puts them in the same category. In the divine system of reference, that is, in reality, only that which is intelligent is actually creative, yet when we reason in the human system of reference we see-or imagine we see-a lot of things being created which don't make sense at all. On the other hand, when we reason in the divine we see that the creator can only create intelligently, since there is only one creator, an intelligent creator, the all-knowing Mind, that is my real Mind. In reality nothing is created, just as in mathematics, nothing is created. 2x2=4 always was. Harmony in music was not created, it always was. This shows again that we are learning to speak another language. We use the same terms that are used in ordinary language but those terms mean something else to us. If the student of the textbook is not aware of this fact then the textbook won't yield much for him. Page 160 The important point in this present study is to see why a quality such as creator is synonymous with intelligence. Why is intelligence the same as creator? This must become clear to our spiritual consciousness because only then do we get the true spirit of the synonymous terms. Can we have intelligence without creative activity? Intelligence, being the primal and eternal quality of infinite Mind, knows all, and can see how everything links together. This is always creative-to be able to structure everything is always creative. What would intelligence be if it wasn't that which could bring forth something new? A parrot can learn a few words. It could learn the words we have on our list but could it comprehend them well enough to bring forth something new? The parrot doesn't know how these terms fit together. Without intelligence there is no innate creative ability. The parrot might string sounds together, but it would be just noise, just a repetition of terms. Intelligence means seeing the interrelationship of what we know, and this is always creative. It means discovering and newness of insight. For programming a computer we need a program. But who assembles the program? For this we need the qualities of all-seeing, all knowing; we need an overview that sees all angles at one go, in one survey. Mind surveys all, but in addition to surveying all, we need intelligence, or we just have a survey where things don't necessarily fit together harmoniously. Intelligence will see all the interrelationships, and comprehend them. Page 161 Mind is the programmer that constructs the program. We have Mind as that which conceives, as that which has an image in Mind; to be the programmer Mind needs intelligence and it needs creative ability. Thus we can see the idea. Programmer includes within itself quite a few of these Mind ideas or it isn't a programmer. Again we are seeing how all these ideas blend with each other to make the big tone of Mind. |
| 6 | 161 | Show all | one Mind, Mind of God, leads, guides, influences, Mind-reading ability, read reality, Mind reading itself, Mind knowing itself |
Mind of Christ | Show all | Page 161 Mind of Christ Mind of Christ is a characteristic of Mind which is based in Scripture and is introduced very early in the textbook. In fact, Mrs. Eddy uses Mind of Christ in the Preface to Science and Health. We have that Mind which was also the Mind of Christ Jesus-that Mind of God, which leads, guides, influences rightly. We have the same Mind God has, therefore we have Mind-reading ability. With this divine Mind we can read reality. What does Mind-reading mean? It means Mind, reading itself, Mind knowing itself. What does Mind know about itself? Mind knows all ideas of Mind, and also all ideas of Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, and Love. We can thus see that Mind-reading fits in with the idea all-knowing. It is practically the same thing except that Mind-reading is specific. With the all-knowing Mind we say, "Mind knows all;" but Mind-reading means that Mind, as the programmer, can perceive specific ideas of Mind. Mind-reading can read the specific ideas of a situation. Mind as the programmer is Mind as the scanner. Page 162 The scanner takes out of the infinitude of ideas exactly those ideas that are adapted to the situation. This is Mind-reading. |
| 7 | 162 | Show all | mind-reading not efficient, erroneous thought of mortal mind, cause of illness |
Mortal mind-reading and Divine Mind-reading | Show all | Page 162 Mortal Mind Reading & Divine Mind Reading What is mortal "mind-reading?" It is reading the human mind. In the world this is considered to be a "higher faculty" because the average person doesn't know mind-reading-isn't efficient at mind-reading, while the so-called "mind-reader" claims to easily read what is going on in the mind of someone else, and says "You are thinking this and that." But this, even if true, is of no advantage. Of what use is knowing the erroneous thought of mortal mind? How can we read error in a certain situation-the error that makes the patient sick for example? Certainly not by mortal "mind-reading." What is needed is divine Mind-reading. In divine Mind-reading we have only our true Mind knowing only true ideas-ideas which are of the nature of Truth when considered in relation to error. The ideas of Mind become the ideas of Truth in relationship to uncovering error. This means we read error via divine Mind-reading and true ideas, whereas mortal "mind-reading" reads error directly, namely, through erroneous thought. We need to be able to read the divine Mind in such a way as to detect the error in the patient's thought-the error that is causing the problem or illness. We need to uncover the specific error, and we can only uncover it through Truth, not through mortal mind-reading. There- Page 163 fore through divine Mind-reading we know the truth about the patient (Mind as Truth), and that truth uncovers, by the law of opposites, the specific error. |
| 8 | 163 | Show all | divine Mind, situation, law of opposites, uncovers specific error, protection, coherency of divine ideas, causative, producing, influencing, manifesting, power, intelligence, illusionary nature, hypnotic suggestion |
How error is uncovered | Show all | Page 163 How Error is Uncovered To repeat: In divine Mind-reading the divine Mind only knows the ideas, the ideas that are the truth about every counterfeit belief; therefore the divine Mind, knowing the truth about the situation, by the law of opposites uncovers the specific error. Doesn't every science do this? Isn't this what we do in music and mathematics? It is the truth we know about a subject that, by the law of opposites, uncovers an error in that subject. It is not that I, myself, uncover a false note in music, but because of my cultured sense of music- because of what I know and understand to be the truth about music-I hear the false note, and this false note is uncovered (Mind as Truth). When we have a cultured sense in any subject we always react when a tone doesn't fit, when something isn't right. It is the same in divine being. It is our understanding of a subject that protects us from believing an error if one should appear. So what is it that uncovers? It is the understanding of the Truth. When we have the same Mind that God has, the Mind of Christ, then we have Mind-reading ability, immortal Mind-reading ability that can read reality and see the beauty of divine ideas, the coherency of divine ideas. We see how these ideas cooperate, how they blend and com- pliment each other, and how they are calculated. Page 164 Jesus could sense where mortal mind was at work and then correct and heal it. In the same way, when we are in tune with the divine Mind, we too can detect what error is trying to accomplish, and can forestall it by knowing that only the divine Mind is causative, is producing, is influencing, is manifesting itself; only the divine Mind has power and intelligence. Being one with this divine Mind enables us to uncover and expose mortal mind's plan. Knowing this, we stay with the divine Mind and let mortal mind fall by reason of its unreality, its falsehood, its illusionary nature, knowing it is hypnotic suggestion only. |
| 9 | 164 | Show all | spiritual senses, synonymy principle |
Faculties | Show all | Page 164 Faculties Now let's look at a different set of ideas, beginning with "faculties" as an idea of Mind. Faculties are inherent in intelligence. If Mind is intelligence, then it follows that Mind, being all-knowing, has all faculties. Intuitively it also makes sense that the faculties of Mind, which have to do with spiritual seeing, hearing, feeling, speaking, are infinite. Nevertheless, as Scientists we need to ask, "Why could Mrs. Eddy use faculties as an idea characterizing Mind?" Saying that Mrs. Eddy was inspired by God isn't enough. If her authority was the divine Mind speaking to her, then the connection between ideas should be divinely logical and we should be able to understand why faculties and Mind are linked together. We are building a whole system and Science on a revelation Mrs. Eddy says came from God. As Christian Scientists we accept this fact, and can build on it, but many Page 165 people will not accept this, so we should find other proofs, other reasons, to show that what we are learning here is the nature of Being itself. If we can show that it is innate in Being itself, and so can be proved from Being itself, we put the authority for Mrs. Eddy's statements back into God, into the supreme Being, and then we shall have an even higher authority. Through the synonymy principle we can prove that in Being we have the authority for what Mrs. Eddy has written. Demonstrating that" faculties" link up with the other ideas of Mind will prove that faculties must be a quality of Mind. Seeing this proof in Being gives us an even greater impact. We too, want to find that higher authority, namely, Being, from which Mrs. Eddy took everything. If we can show that what is meant by faculties has something to do with the other qualities we have found in Mind, then we know that--even if Mrs. Eddy had not said so--faculties belong to Mind, to the nature of Mind. |
| 10 | 165 | Show all | faculties, comprehending, apprehending, creative, power |
What is implied by faculties | Show all | Page 165 What is implied by faculties What is implied by faculties? What attributes does Mind need if Mind is to have all faculties? Faculty means the ability to do something efficiently, expertly, in a masterly way and with authority, so faculty must have intelligence and know-how embedded in its meaning. It also must imply action. Certainly it would need capacity, and power. It would also need knowing and intelligence, or its faculty isn't a faculty. It would need the characteristics of comprehending, apprehending; it must have knowl- Page 166 edge that it is sufficient in itself, and it must have a creative sense behind it. Without these qualities we don't attain the meaning of faculty. These are all terms we have under Mind, and this gives us the authority for listing faculty as a quality of Mind. |
| 11 | 166 | Show all | faculties of Mind, consciousness, calculus, seeing, hearing, feeling, comprehending |
Claim the faculties of Mind | Show all | Page 166 Claim the faculties of Mind Being Christian Scientists we should claim for ourselves all the faculties of Mind, but how often do we say "I can't do it" or "I don't know how to do it"? To the extent we think we can't do it, etc., we are not practicing what Christian Science teaches. We are not putting into practice the fact that we have the Mind of God, have all intelligence, have all power and comprehension, and therefore have all the faculties of Mind. We must open ourselves up to the divine Mind or else we shut out our ability to image forth all that is in the divine Mind. Whatever the divine Mind has in the way of faculties we have also, since the divine Mind is our present state of consciousness. In reality, there is no other consciousness. Thus we have all faculties of comprehension, all innate ability to act and to do--we have the spiritual faculty of seeing, hearing, feeling, comprehending. Mind bestows the grand human capacities, faculties of Mind, that cannot be lost. These faculties of Mind are infinite and ever-present. Therefore we can do whatever it is right for us to do--we possess sovereign power to think and act rightly. We must free ourselves from all human reckoning and begin to compute divinely, having the divine infinite calculus as our natural state of being. Page 167 The faculties of Mind are ideas of Mind which translate themselves to the human plane; and if they ask us to do something on the human plane we can do it. |
| 12 | 167 | Show all | Being – what is going on, creator, cause, producing, forming, shaping, modeling, image |
What is Going On in Being | Show all | Page 167 What is Going On in Being Let's become quiet within, and ask, "What is going on in Being?" Being says, "The only thing going on is Mind." What does that mean? It means that Mind, Being, is the only creator, the only creator that creates, that produces and brings forth, that makes everything, so Mind is the creative producer, the creative power. Since it is the creator, it is the only cause. There is no other cause besides Mind, so nothing is going on in a creative way but the divine Mind. Mind is producing; Mind is bringing forth; Mind is forming, shaping, modeling everything according to the intelligent formations of Mind--that which Mind has as an idea, an image, in Mind. What is Mind creating? Mind is creating ideas. These ideas are the manifestations of the one Mind. Mind manifests its own ideas with power and force. As it manifests its ideas with power, we get a great sense that Mind is the only action, that everything is enacted by the divine Mind, that behind every action is the restful action of Mind which has all faculties, all abilities. This one Mind emanates all ideas, and it is the only influence in the world. We are never under any other influence since there is only the one influence of the divine Mind which is influencing us with ideas. These ideas are always good. We therefore feel we are in an infinite field of ideas, and nothing but ideas are ever going on. Page 168 These ideas have infinite faculties. Because Mind has those faculties, we have those faculties. We need only to go back to the one Mind, since we have the Mind that is God; it is our present Mind. |
| 13 | 168 | Show all | guidance, leading, steering, directing, outlining, target, aim, power, action, illumination vision, goal, causality |
Guidance | Show all | Page 168 Guidance Next let's consider "guidance" as a term characteristic of Mind. Related to guidance we have terms like leading, steering, directing, outlining. Tone-wise these are all saying the same thing. Because we realize they are all saying the same thing we can finally get rid of terms and just have a sense that Mind guides. Why should Mind be guidance? Why isn't it Spirit or Soul that guides? If we start with the idea of guidance by itself, we immediately see that guidance needs intelligence because guidance must have an aim in view. Guidance must have a point it is aiming toward, therefore its intelligence is channeled into a certain direction. It also needs power because it forces us to go; it doesn't leave us free to choose whether we want to be guided or not. Thus the idea guidance leads us back to Mind. If, on the other hand, we start with the idea that Mind guides then it means that Mind actually does guide, and so needs power and action. It also needs illumination because it has to show us the way to go; it needs vision and a goal. It is goal oriented giving us goal causality. Here again we see that in order for Mind to guide it needs practically all the other ideas characterizing Mind that we have considered up to now! Later on we will see that Page 169 every idea must reflect every other idea in order to be that idea. |
| 14 | 169 | Show all | Guidance Leads to the Goal Love, goal, Love, initiative power, lead thought, ordered way, ordered unfoldment, impulsion, conception, infinite primeval conception, intelligence, primordial conception, fulfilled, action, guides, leads, steers, directs, wisdom, comprehending, knows, purpose, manifests, outlines, achieve, consciousness, accidents, aim, design, view |
Guidance Leads to the Goal Love | Show all | Page 169 Guidance Lead to the Goal: Love We have talked about goal. Goal, as we will later see, is Love. Guidance describes that Mind which right from the beginning has the goal, Love. Mind is therefore that initiative power that will lead thought in an ordered way towards the goal. The subsequent ordered unfoldment is no longer Mind, but the initiative, the impulsion, the conception, is Mind. Mind has an infi- nite primeval conception of what it wants to do. The intelligence of Mind knows what it wants to do and for this reason it must have a primordial conception. It is Mind that says, "I want to do this and this," and thus sets the goal. The goal itself, where it is fulfilled, is Love, but Mind, at the beginning, is that which sets the idea and brings it into action. Mind guides, leads, steers, directs. Thus we have a tone that the intelligence of Mind, the wisdom of all-knowing, all-comprehending Mind is the only power that can guide us rightly. The intelligence of the one Mind knows what, where, when and how it wants to achieve its purpose when it manifests itself. Mind, by manifesting itself, is constantly guiding us aright. Mind outlines what must be done to achieve its aim. Being one with the consciousness of the one steering, leading, all-directing, guiding Mind eliminates the possibility of accidents because Mind knows its aim and design and how to arrive at the aim it has in view, in the most direct way. |
| 15 | 170 | Show all | Unerring, error, death, destroys, suppositional, partnership, matter, mind, human level, mistakes, knows, comprehend, faultless, mistakes, corrects, human mind, law, power, action, guidance, influence, preventative, action, let, situation, interfere, directs, self-will, human planning, human desires, moral, spiritual, plan, sees, possibilities, leave, moral honesty, moral integrity, rectify, remedy, self-supporting, self-maintaining, definite, apathetic, constant, consciousness, universe, power, lawful, intelligent, leading, guiding |
Unerring | Show all | Page 170 Unerring "To all that is unlike unerring and eternal Mind, this Mind saith, 'Thou shalt surely die;'" (S&H 277:2). Science is governed by the unerring Mind which destroys the suppositional partnership of matter and mind. On the human level Mind corrects all mistakes since it knows all, is all-comprehending and faultless. In such an atmosphere, mistakes can't live, so the unerring guidance of the divine Mind corrects the errors of the human mind. The divine Mind is a corrective law, a corrective power, a corrective action, a corrective guidance and influence. If we are quiet within ourself and build up the tonality of Mind, it will take care of all possible mistakes we could make. Mind is a preventative action as well as a corrective action. We just let the divine Mind work on that situation. We don't ever need to interfere humanly, unless the divine Mind directs us to do so. The divine Mind knows how to correct the situation, and will correct it if we get self-will, human planning, human desires out of the way. The divine Mind, which is not only moral but also spiritual, has a much bigger plan, since it sees all pos- sibilities at once, so we should leave it to the divine Mind to correct a situation, and not interfere with our sense of moral honesty, moral integrity--all that the human mind thinks is right. Let Mind rectify and remedy the situation in Mind's own way. Mind is self-supporting, self-maintaining, and definitely knows what to do. This doesn't mean we should be apathetic about a situation, and just say, "Well, Mind will do it." We have to Page 171 have a constant consciousness of Mind's directing power. We must see that the whole universe is an atmosphere of the divine Mind; nothing happens in the universe but the all-powerful action of the one Mind that is lawful, intelligent, always leading and guiding rightly, and it will set matters right in the way Mind wants to do it. |
| 16 | 171 | Show all | Will, synonymity principle, solutions, imagination, power, action, mandate, creative authority, influence, ideas of Mind |
Will | Show all | Page 171 Will Because Mind wants to correct and set straight all problems, all difficulties and mistakes, we come to the will of Mind. The only will is the will of the divine Mind, and it corrects the human will. It works on us until we pray, "Not my will but Thine be done," and we actually do let the will of the divine Mind work and take its course. It is the will of Mind to hold man in a perfect state. Mind can't do other than will to keep every idea intact, harmonious, healthy, and whole. We only have to get self out of the way and let the activities of Mind prosper in their own inimitable way. Mind is matchless in its ingenuity, and its solutions defy the imagination. Mind flows through the situation and fulfils its aim. Will is imbedded in Mind. We are not merely stating that will is in Mind; we see it is in Mind because the term "will" includes within itself other ideas of Mind, and it is because of this that it belongs to Mind. As long as we just say, "Will belongs to Mind: will is a quality of Mind," we make a statement without any reasoning in it. We must see why; we must understand why. We can only understand why will is a quality of Mind by seeing that will implies power, action, mandate, cre- Page 172 ative authority, influence, and these are all ideas of Mind. Will requires power, because a will without power is not will; it is nothing. We have determination in will, determination to do; we have incentive and impulsion, creative impulsion. A will usually has an idea. It is determined to bring out something and has the will to bring it out. It must have within itself creative power, creative action. Reasoning thus, through the synonymity principle, we can prove that "will" is a quality of Mind and not of Spirit or Soul, or one of the other synonyms. |
| 17 | 172 | Show all | Mandate of Mind |
Mandate | Show all | Page 172 Mandate The will of Mind is the mandate of Mind. The mandate of Mind says, "I am the power of Mind and this is what I am going to do; this is the way it will happen." Mind has within itself the all-power and it is determined to do something, knowing it has the action to do it. Mind has the power, the guidance, and therefore it can execute its will. The divine will is the laying down of the law, the divine law, the divine mandate. God's creative mandate rescues us from believing in a counterfeit mind. Remember, in this study we are dealing with Mind as a subject. This means that if Mind" creates," then creates is a quality of Mind. But when we say "Mind creates this and this," for instance, "Mind creates man and the universe," man and the universe are the object of Mind, and have nothing to do with establishing a quality of Mind. When we analyze the text of the textbook we only ask: "Through what qualities is the subject of the sentence qualified? How is Mind qualified?" not, "What is the page 173 object of it?" We must watch that we don't confuse the subject with the object. The object does not qualify the subject. Since the plan of Love must be fulfilled, we have the will of Mind operating as the mandate of Mind. Mind's ideas, obedient to Mind's mandate, are productive, active, powerful, influential and intelligent. They unerringly work and aim for Mind's goal, which is Love. Mrs. Eddy says growth is the mandate of Mind, your Mind; and that Mind, through its mandate, empowers and enlarges man. Man has no choice but to obey Mind's mandate which leads, guides and unerringly steers him until he sees the omnipresence of his present perfection. |
| 18 | 173 | Law | Law | Show all | Page 173 Law This brings us to law as a characteristic of Mind. Why is law concerned with Mind? Why isn't it a characteristic of Principle? To understand this we need to ask, "What is necessary for a law to be a law?" Law would be impossible without cause, without power, action, direction, influence, faculties, intelligence. A law that doesn't embody these qualities is not a law. For a law to be a law it is understood there is a cause, that this cause creates and produces something. By creating an effect it must act, and as it is acting according to a definite aim and design it must be intelligent, not blind. Acting intelligently, this law steers and guides. In this term, "law," we again gather together the main ideas we have seen as Mind ideas. It is another good example of how all Page 174 these ideas hinge together intimately when examined closely. We have seen that law, in order to be law, must have power, intelligence, and the authority to enforce itself. This shows why law is Mind and not Principle. We have law in Mind in order to have government in Principle. Within Mind, we see that a law is only a law when it enacts itself, when it has within itself power to express itself. A law of Mind is unerring since it proceeds from the unerring Mind. Law is intelligence because it knows what it wants to do. Order, which, as we will see in the next chapter, characterizes Spirit, would not show the inner nature of law. However, order does show in which way law expresses itself and thus Spirit, in the next stage, takes law a step further. Law is something that leads from cause. As we have been seeing, a great many ideas are involved in this little term "law." This term offers a good example of why we have to learn without speculation. We can't speculate; we can't say, "Well, law has to do with rule, or with issuing an order, or with government because governments govern through law, etc." This lack of right method leads into a wilderness. We have to stick to the inner nature of a term and see what the qualities are that are necessary for a term to be that term, not what they are going to be afterwards. As we saw in our discussion of "mandate," we always need to ask, "What qualifies the subject?" The object is that which is outside the subject: Mind is the law of health; Mind is the law of government; Mind is the law of all Page 175 being; Mind is the law of order; Mind is the law of identity. The object is outside the subject. We are investigating Mind as the subject and not what it does to an object, or its connection with an object. Considering law we have seen that without power there is no law, without action there is no law, without cause there is no law because the law is cause to effect. " All causation is Mind, acting through spiritual law" (S&H 417:13). Mind operates as a law of perfect cause and effect, thus law is that divinely intelligent force which in unbroken continuity directs the perfect cause unerringly into perfect effect. | |
| 19 | 175 | Control | Control | Show all | Page 175 Control "Mandate" and "law" lead us to control as an idea characterizing Mind. Here we will see that Mind controls and regulates. But why? What does control have to do with Mind? We started out by saying Mind is creator. Why do creator and control belong in the same category? Control needs power, force, regulation, guidance, intelligence, action, comprehension, influence. On the divine level of consciousness these terms intertwine with each other and are synonymous. Control, in order to be Mind's control, blends with and reflects Mind's creative ability in the language of Spirit--that divine language that we are building up, and which we feel, hear, and sense. It is not a language of terms, though terms are a help, a bridge, to gaining this language of Spirit. In the spiritual language all the ideas of Mind come in and blend with each other, reflect each other, and they Page 176 then give us a feeling of control that is powerful and unerring, and which restrains all anti-Mind forces and influences. Therefore only that which is in accord with Mind's images can come to pass. Applying this criteria we see that control can't be exercised without power, without law, without action. It must reflect intelligence or it would be unintelligent control. To be Mind's controt it must be unerring, always operating to regulate, thus reflecting the cybernetic law of self-regulation and self-government. | |
| 20 | 176 | Mind Governs | Mind Governs | Show all | Page 176 Mind Governs "Control" brings us to "governs' another idea characterizing Mind. Here we need to note that later in our lists we will have "government" as an idea of Principle. When we come to Principle we will see more dearly why Principle is characterized by "government” while Mind is characterized by "governs." Governs means to control, regulate, direct, influence, to exercise power and authority, to guide. Mrs. Eddy states that Mind governs all supremely, Mind governs man and the universe, it governs the Science of Mind. This gives us a vital sense of the power of Mind to govern. When we speak about Mind governing we are speaking about that aspect of government that has to do with intelligent government, with the intelligence that can govern. Here we are putting the accent on intelligence, on the leading, guiding, directing, controlling, regulating, influencing characteristics of Mind. On the other hand, when Mrs. Eddy speaks of government to bring out the Page 177 fact that every detail of that which is governed is under one government, then government is an idea characterizing Principle, because Principle governs all ideas and unites all ideas into one harmonious whole. This is the idea of Principle. In Principle we shall see that all ideas are gathered into one system. With Principle's government the relationship of the governor and the governed is brought out, but when we ask, "What is that central intelligence that can lead every part, every phase and facet, in the right way so it makes sense and so it all harmonizes?" then we answer, "It is the governing power of Mind." This governing power of Mind expresses itself in every idea harmonizing with every other idea. There is no situation and no problem outside the government of Mind. There is only an intelligent divine Mind governing, and it leads, directs, and controls every part of our system. When man finally discerns this, he will know that nothing unlawful, accidental, or ignorant can govern; and there is no haphazard government. On the divine level of conscious- ness Mind governs supremely. | |
| 21 | 177 | Mind Heals | Mind Heals | Show all | Page 177 Mind Heals Mind heals. Here again we have a term that fits equally well under another synonym, in this case Truth, and again we need to examine the difference between the two uses, between Mind heals and Truth heals. "Heals" is a term susceptible of multiple interpretation. Why should Mind heal? What would be the more absolute term for Mind heals? Mind maintains. Why? Page 178 Because Mind maintains in such a way that nothing ever needs to be corrected. Mind maintains the ideal status; it maintains its own creation. Thus "Mind heals" would be a translated sense of "Mind maintains." Heals is such an important concept in Christian Science that we should see its relationship to Mind. Exactly how is "Mind heals" a translated sense of "Mind maintains"? Why doesn't Mrs. Eddy say "Spirit heals," or "Principle heals"? Mind is first, and Mind is the creator of all ideas; how is that related to healing? Healing means healing disease. What is disease? Mortal mind. Disease is the objectification of mortal mind. The fundamental issue of the whole textbook is that mortal mind is the cause, the originator, of all diseases. Of course, only Mind is truly cause or truly an originator. Therefore we have mortal mind as the counterfeit originator, the counterfeit mind, and its apparent effect, disease, is merely aggressive mental suggestion, hypnotic suggestion. To solve a negative problem--in this case the problem of disease--we simply replace the counterfeit, mortal mind, with the real, the divine Mind. Thus it follows the divine Mind must be the healer. | |
| 22 | 178 | Show all | Medicine of Mind, healer, eminence of Mind, contemplating Mind’s ideas, true conception, healing not from matter, prescription is medicine of Mind, remedy is Truth |
The Medicine of Mind | Show all | Page 178 The Medicine of Mind Because Mind is the healer we speak of the medicine of Mind. Why is Mind the medicine? Because "when thought is lost in the eminence of Mind," as Mrs. Eddy once said, "the healing takes place." Going to Mind and contemplating Mind and Mind's idea is the medicine. All true conception is medicine. Medicine is Page 179 true conceptions, true ideas. Therefore healing at that point has to do only with Mind knowing its own ideas. That's the medicine. If I turn to Mind and contemplate what Mind knows about itself--that Mind knows only ideas--that's the medicine. Therefore in a treatment we prescribe the medicine of Mind. This means we go out from Mind, we see what Mind has to say. We stick with Mind and contemplate only ideas. It is Mind contemplating the ideas of Mind, the ideas of Spirit, the ideas of Soul, of Principle, of Life, Truth, and Love. The disease came from mortal mind contemplating its own illusions, so the medicine of Mind is letting Mind contemplate its own ideas. If the medicine is Mind, why is the remedy Truth? A medicine is only a remedy when the right medicine is applied. If a doctor just pulled out of his drawer any kind of medicine it might not be the remedy. It is the remedy when he pulls out the right medicine (or pills). Truth is the remedy, because Truth means knowing exactly the right idea, the specific idea. That's Truth; that's not Mind. From this we can see how restricted Mind still is. At this point in our study, Mind is still restricted to one-seventh of the whole cake. Mind says, "I am the first, the first conceptual idea of being; I am only that which creates initially; I am the initiative of everything." |
| 23 | 179 | Show all | What is the remedy, power, activity, intelligence, influence, medicine, remedy, truth, experience, human mind, cause, ideas, give up beliefs |
What is the remedy | Show all | Page 179 What is the remedy The power, activity, intelligence and influence of Mind is the medicine of Mind, but when we ask, "What Page 180 is the remedy?" then Truth-knowing the truth--becomes the focus. The moment we ask, "Which truth? Which specific truth takes care of the situation?" we have Truth-healing. Every Truth-healing needs Mind as the medicine, as the true medicine. The ideas of God are the active, operative elements of healing. Mind, being first and foremost, the only cause and creator, the only activity, the only power, it must be our only medicine. We must let the ideas of the divine Mind come into our experience and use us; then we will realize that the power of divine Mind supersedes all other healing methods, and that the medicine of Science is the divine Mind. Since we are never dealing with a person, place, thing, disease, accident, loss, or inharmony of any kind, but are always dealing with mortal mind, with illusion, with animal magetism or hypnotic suggestion, every problem or discord must first be traced back to this realization. We must see that the medicine for it is Mind's divine ideas, since Mind-healing rests on an understanding of God's, infinite good's, ideas, the ideas of Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, and Love. We must first be convinced that Mind creates everything perfectly. This conviction then acts on the limited, imperfect human mind, and causes it to give up its erring beliefs and illusions. It forces mortal mind to acknowledge the divine Mind as the only Mind. Thus we realize our perfection, and erring thought loses its grasp on us. |
| 24 | 181 | Show all | Mind saves, intermediary action, Word investigates, Christ translates, Christianity elilghtens, Christ Mind function, hypnotic suggestion, Mind corrective, Mind, Word, Christ, Christianity, translated forms |
Mind saves | Show all | Page 181 Mind Saves Related to Mind heals we have another set of ideas: Mind saves, Mind cares for, Mind is a present help, etc. These are translated forms, for, of course, Mind never needs to be saved or helped, but they are different from the translated forms we had when we took up divine thoughts, divine desire to know God, vision, enlightenment, which we said are qualities in the way that divine Mind comes to us, and wells up in our consciousness as these qualities. Here, in the case of Mind healing, caring, helping, aiding, saving, we have an intermediary action. This falls between the idea characterizing Mind and the translated form of the idea--like vision, enlightenment, true desire to know God--because with saving, helping, healing, caring, aiding, Mind comes and does something to the human without bringing about another quality in the human. Qualities like caring, saving, and helping, don't awaken and establish in the human a higher quality like vision, or enlightenment, or true desire. Here we begin to see the difference between the operation of the Word, the Christ, and Christianity, the first three elements of the four dimensional calculus, which we introduced briefly in Chapter I. As long as we are investigating the synonymous terms we are at the point of the Word. When we come to Mind healing, aiding, saving, and helping we are touching the Christ Mind. Then, at the point of Christianity, Mind enlightens, gives wisdom, new vision, new insight. Page 181 Why is it Mind that heals, saves, cares for, aids, helps? Why isn't it Spirit or one of the other synonymous terms? Just as when we took up "Mind heals" and "Mind-healing," we can here again say that the corrective is the divine Mind. The divine Mind corrects everything that the human mind does wrong. Everything that is of the nature of discord--sin, sickness, disease, death--is always the effect of mortal mind's hypnotic suggestions. Since it takes the divine Mind to correct the inharmonies of mortal mind, therefore divine Mind acts as healing, saving, aiding, caring for the body, etc. |
| 25 | 182 | Show all | Mind maintains, reasoning method, Mind qualities all required |
Mind maintains | Show all | Page 182 Mind Maintains "Mind maintains," "Mind sustains" and perhaps we could add "Mind supports." Why are these terms found under Mind? Why not under Spirit or Life? A point in method: In trying to determine which synonym a term like "maintains" belongs to, start with the term "maintains" and not with the term Mind. Start with the tone of maintains, sustains, supports. What do they mean? What kind of a feeling do we have when we feel something is maintained, sustained? Do we get a sense of power? It takes a sense of power to keep something maintained in its present state, in its perfect state. We have a sense of control at work, an active sense, a sense that Mind is always alert, aware, alive, awake, never off guard for one second. Mind maintains that which it has created. This is the way we must reason: "What does the term maintain imply? What does it mean that Mind, God, Page 183 maintains?" Next we have to get a feeling of what "maintains" implies. We see that in order to maintain, Mind must be aware, awake; it must be intelligent, must have power and ability, must be unerring in its action. In this way we find that in order to maintain properly, the term maintain implies all the ideas we have listed under Mind. Then we know Mind maintains. This way of reasoning tells us that "Mind maintains" should be the last sentence in our reasoning instead of the first sentence. |
| 26 | 183 | Show all | Mind is limitless |
Mind is limitless | Show all | Page 183 Mind is Limitless Mind is limitless, and here we need to be careful, because this is a term which also characterizes Soul. The limitless quality of Mind is through terms like fetterless, unsearchable, unfathomable. Limitlessness as a characteristic of Mind shows Mind to be limitless knowledge, limitless intelligence, limitless creative ability, limitless action, power, will, influence, etc. Limitless Mind includes all; it is within and without all things. We can see that limitless is a term (among many others in the textbook) where we have to use judgment in deciding which kind of limitlessness is meant by the statement in the textbook. If the statement speaks of limitless substance, that would be Spirit or Life. In Soul we could have the limitless capacity of Soul. Truth is limitless while error is limited, nothing. Mrs. Eddy speaks of the limitless glories of incorporeal Life and Love. Mind, likewise, is always limitless with reference to the qualities we studied under Mind, but in general the term "limitless" does not uniquely imply the qualities of Page 184 Mind, and for this reason limitless is not really typical for Mind. Looking at the synonym Life, for example, we have limitless Life, not limitless intelligence. Unsearchable, on the other hand, is typically Mind. Why? Because unsearchable has to do with knowing. We don't talk about unsearchable substance, or unsearchable Life. Unsearchable has to do with seeking more "knowing," therefore unsearchable is typically the limitlessness of Mind. "The unfathomable Mind is expressed." Unfathomable also has to do with knowing, discovering, to have knowledge of. Such terms are geared into a qualified sense of limitlessness, the limitlessness of knowledge, and because knowledge is an idea of Mind, unfathomable and unsearchable are clearly Mind terms, while limitless probably belongs to Soul as much as to Mind. |
| 27 | 184 | All-in-all | All-in-all | Show all | Page 184 All-in-all Because Mind is the limitless creator of all ideas, Mind is that which initially establishes the whole realm of being, the realm of ideas which has no realm besides itself, and therefore Mind is All-in-all. All-in-all is the climax of Mind. This definition says, "I am All," plus "I am All-in- all." It means Mind is All as an infinite All, but it also means Mind is all, Mind is everything, manifested. All is infinite Mind infinitely manifested. The" All" is in everything. It is the All of all qualities, of all situations, of all opportunities, of all faculties, and so on. We get the tone of Mind as All-in-all. When we come to Spirit we will give that All-in-all another touch, because there it becomes the only. | |
| 28 | 185 | Show all | The One Mind, source and manifestation, retranslate, freedom |
The One Mind | Show all | Page 185 The One Mind In Science, Mrs. Eddy says, Mind is one, including noumenon and phenomena, and this Mind dwells in the realm of Mind. From this one Mind proceed infinite ideas, qualities, attributes, and identities, since Mind is the Soul of all. But these identities do not constitute separate entities; they reflect the infinite many-sidedness of the one creative Mind that is All-in-all. Each one of us has that one Mind that is God, and this is why Mind is All-in-all, in each one of us, and in all situations. "The kingdom of God is within you" -Jesus. (Luke 17:21) As we become convinced that there is only one Mind we free ourselves from the hypnotic suggestion of the Adam-dream of mind in matter, and retranslate ourselves into our true being, the one Mind that is All-in-all. |
| 29 | 185 | Translated Qualities | Translated Qualities | Show all | Page 185 Translated Qualities Before we conclude our examination of the terms characterizing Mind, let's briefly return to those qualities we touched upon which we called translated qualities of Mind. Why are they translated qualities, and what does that mean? Mrs. Eddy always teaches the aim--reality--and the way to reach the aim. She doesn't just teach the aim, just reality. If she taught only reality as such she would have had to write the textbook exclusively on divine Science and not on Christian Science. She wrote on both, namely, on reality--what reality is--and also how to reach reality. Page 186 She had to translate reality to the point of human thought, to the human level, so that from the human level--where we are, before we are illumined--we can build a bridge to the one and only reality there is. A mystical type of metaphysics will not show the way. Mystics might show reality, and therefore be able to write wonderful books. They show the oneness of being, the wholeness of being; there is nothing incomplete in the wholeness of being, hence it is like being on cloud nine. | |
| 30 | 186 | Show all | Textbook Shows the Way |
The Textbook Shows Us the Way | Show all | Page 186 The Textbook is Full of Showing Us the Way But the Christian religion is Christian; it has a saving effect. Jesus said, "I am the way." The Christian religion shows the way, the method. Jesus wanted to show the way so that the human could be awakened to the point where the human accepts the divine. This is why Mrs. Eddy's textbook is full of showing the way. It shows how the divine translates itself to the human, and how the human has an approach to the divine, and this is why the textbook is the" Comforter" Jesus prophesied. The textbook starts with Prayer. Well, God doesn't pray. The chapter Prayer, and the chapter Atonement and Eucharist, and the chapter Marriage--the first three chapters--all start with the reader, start where the reader is, in his ignorance, his imperfection. To that state of thought Mrs. Eddy says, "I am showing you the way, the best way to find reality, to find your true identity, your true oneness with being." This is the “Comforter" Jesus prophesied. Page 187 In studying the synonymous terms we therefore come across many statements where we might feel Mrs. Eddy doesn't say anything about the synonymous term. We might not, for instance, see any quality brought out that characterizes Mind. But many of these statements will show what qualities we need to have, to enable us to be at one with Mind. These statements show the translated qualities of Mind as a human motion, so that the divine as the human is shown forth-so that the divinity of humanity is shown forth, meaning that the divine is the human. Mrs. Eddy shows us that this is what builds the bridge to our oneness with Mind. In the beginning of the textbook she doesn't say much about Mind but just about what qualities are needed or are required of us in order to approach Mind, to be one with Mind--the qualities we need in order to reach Mind. All through Prayer she gives the approach-to-Mind qualities. Therefore many of the qualities we have on our Mind list are not actually ideas qualifying Mind, and yet they have something to do with Mind; they still are characteristics of Mind because they are translated forms of Mind. For example, Mrs. Eddy says she had to be a willing disciple. We can hear the tone in this statement; being a willing disciple is a quality we need. Mind is not a disciple; Mind is not "willing"; Mind is the will. And yet we feel these are qualities that have to do with Mind, based on how they appear in the human. Are we willing? Are we willing to lay down the human will? Are we willing to investigate, willing to be a disciple, willing to learn, will- Page 188 ing to study, willing to reason? All this is Mind, isn't it? Mind has to do with intelligence, with reason. Mrs. Eddy brings out such qualities over and over, showing how the divine is reflected as human qualities which are opening up the door for the divine. This is why we must give heed to these qualities. We are Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth and Love, but the first death, meaning human birth, has pulled the wool over our eyes, so we have to work, work, work, watch and pray to learn what we are in reality, before the dream of life in matter overtook us. In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed, "And now, Oh Father glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory I had with thee before the world was [before this dream overtook me]." (John 17:5) Let's look at another example. Mrs. Eddy says she was waiting all her life for the Mind of Christ. What is this waiting? Well, we know Mind doesn't wait--waiting is not an idea--but the attitude of waiting within us is an attitude that is receptive for understanding what Mind is. It is that constant attitude that says, "I know that I don't know, but I am willing to learn." It is the attitude Jesus urged when he said, "Blessed are the poor in spirit." The right attitude--waiting--builds up those qualities within us that we have to culture constantly in order to be in a position to be touched by the one Mind. We can see that these translated qualities are all concerned with "I don't know, but I want to know. I know that I don't know but I want to search." These translated qualities are all about the willing disciple waiting for the Mind of Christ. We have to be a student, one who thinks Page 189 correctly, investigates correctly, one who longs to have Mind mold his desires. Desires are the longing to know, so desire is a positive quality, but it is still a human quality. It is a necessary quality insuring that the divine Mind can come to us, making us receptive for the divine Mind. Thought must be in rapport with the divine Mind. This again has a Mind sense because to be in rapport means to be acquainted with something, to know something. We see at once it has something to do with Mind rather than with Spirit, or Soul, or Life. Mrs. Eddy says we have to commune with Mind. What does "commune" mean? It means to be in rapport, to be acquainted with Mind. It again means studying, investigating, being in a state of receptivity. We have to investigate the Science of Mind. These human terms all have the same Mind tone. They don't change very much. Spiritualization of thought is again that acceptance of the Mind of Christ; it means to let in the light of Mind. It too is saying, "I don't know, but I will let the light of Mind come in." It is showing the touch of Mind. |
| 31 | 189 | Show all | Go Through All References Often |
Go Through All References Often | Show all | Page 189 Go Through All References Often At the end of this chapter is a list of all the references in Science and Health related to Mind. We should go through all these references to Mind at least once a year, and as we go through them we should watch for these human qualities that must be cultivated. In this way our study begins to sort out things. It begins to structure our tone of Mind, and to show those qualities that are a translation of the ideas of Mind, ideas that are translated to the Page 190 phenomena of the human, but still are Mind. It is just a matter of the level the qualities are being viewed from; it is just a matter of which plane, which dimension they are being viewed from or considered from. Studying these terms often brings us to an expanded understanding of who and what we are.* As students, as learners, we can see that the ability and the willingness to study, to investigate, to search, to be open, are all Mind. They are not Spirit or Soul. When we come to Spirit we will find very different qualities that are necessary, in the human, to be open for Spirit. The same is true of Soul, and of Principle, Life, Truth, and Love. Openness to each synonym requires different qualities, but being open to each is vital, for always remember, in the first edition of Science and Health Mrs. Eddy tells us repeatedly that we are Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth and Love. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> *Mary Baker Eddy Letter No. 12 described how, using a Spanish-English edition of Science and Health, the author of this book marked all the references to Mind, and what Mind deals with. Using another 6 such Science and Health's the same was done for Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth and Love. If you wish a copy of these seven books containing the marked pages from S&H please use the order form at the end of this book. Students are urged to order these as a wonderful help in their study, or to compile their own. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Page 191 While we shouldn't mix up the human qualities which open us to Mind with the qualities characterizing Mind, we should see they are concerned with Mind. They tell us, for instance, if we don't seek we don't find. If we study the synonymous term Mind without the seeking thought it can't reveal itself. If we don't study, if we don't let our thought be molded by the divine Mind, we will never find our oneness with it, we will never realize that this divine Mind is our Mind, our only Mind. We can therefore see the great practical value and importance of these qualities, even though they are not ideas of Mind itself. |
| 32 | 191 | Show all | Counerfeits of Mind |
Counerfeits of Mind | Show all | Page 191 Counterfeits of Mind Another important set of terms which relate to Mind, but are not themselves ideas of Mind, are the counterfeits of Mind. At the end of the alphabetical list of terms pertaining to Mind, given at the beginning of this chapter, the reader will find a list of these negative terms which are opposites to Mind and Mind's attributes. It is very important to become familiar with such a list of negatives because the negative or counterfeit will always tell us what positive idea we must use to offset the negative. By reversal, the counterfeits lead us to the truth. If we know the negative it gives us an easier way to know the fact about the negative, namely, its nothingness. We investigate the counterfeit so the error can be handled by the facts of the case, the spiritual facts. Naturally every idea we have identified with Mind has a counterfeit, so there are as many counterfeits as there are ideas. If I have the idea action, I know the counterfeit Page 192 is inaction, false action, irritated action, apathy, etc.. If we contemplate the counterfeits of the various ideas of each synonymous term, we can come up with myriads of counterfeits, because there are dozens of counterfeits for every idea we have been studying. However, the simple counterfeit of the synonymous term itself is usually quite enough for the text analysis of the textbook in this initial study. In our study, therefore, we shall be mainly concerned with the counterfeits of the synonymous terms themselves, and not so much with the counterfeits of the ideas characterizing the seven synonymous terms. |
| 33 | 192 | Show all | Mortal Mind refers to human mind, carnal mind, negative mind, self mind, minds many, animal magnetism, mesmerism, hypnotism |
Mortal Mind | Show all | Page 192 Mortal Mind A primary negative of divine Mind is mortal mind, because mortal mind is precisely the opposite of divine Mind. Other counterfeits Mrs. Eddy uses in connection with Mind are ignorance, illusion, human mind, carnal mind, negative mind, a mind of one's own, many minds, animal magnetism, mesmerism, hypnotism, and so on. If we look closely, we see mortal mind behind all of them. Mortal mind is ignorance and is the source of all illusions and of all that is the opposite of the divine Mind. Mortal mind implies something untrue, unreal; it implies that which has no real existence but is hypnotic suggestion, and only seems to exist. Mind is the root, the basis, the noumenon of all the ideas of Mind, and the ideas of Mind, our true Mind, are the phenomena of Mind or the way Mind expresses itself. As we said, the noumenon, Mind, also has its counterfeit--in this case mortal mind--and the phenomena or Page 193 each of the ideas has its counterfeits, but the noumenon counterfeit is the most important because from it can be deduced all the other counterfeit phenomena. |
| 34 | 193 | Animal Magnetism | Animal Magnetism | Show all | Page 193 Animal Magnetism Animal magnetism is a noumenon counterfeit of Mind because animal magnetism is the belief that mind is in matter and that mind can be both good and evil. Animal magnetism is the belief that there is sensation in matter. It is a name for the operation of error. Evil thoughts are effect, not cause; it is not wrong thinking that gives animal magnetism so-called power. It is the evil animal nature, the evil "heart." It is the carnal, sensual nature, the unspiritual, the brute instincts, the mythical serpent that pushes the claim of sin "with the glittering audacity of diabolical and sinuous logic." (Un. 54:27) The only way we can free ourselves from animal magnetism is through" self-renunciation of all that constitutes a so-called mortal, and the acknowledgment and achievement of [our] spiritual identity" (Mis. 185:7). We can change our thoughts at will. We can think one thing one minute and something quite different the next minute. But changing our disposition is quite another matter, and is not so easy; here we are not dealing with thought or mental magnetism, but with animal magnetism. This is why ordinary metaphysics, which operates in the mental realm, can be misused by sensuality, by animality. The Science of Spirit, however, cannot be so misused because Science, in contradistinction to metaphysics, proceeds from God, not from men and their thoughts. For this reason animal Page 194 magnetism loses its supposed power in proportion as we give up our own ego and think, feel, and act from the I AM, out from the I AM that I Am. | |
| 35 | 194 | Matter | Matter | Show all | Page 194 Matter We often have matter as a counterfeit of Mind, but here again we need to be careful, because Mary Baker Eddy uses matter as a counterfeit of both Mind and Spirit. When Mrs. Eddy speaks of substance matter she is using matter as a counterfeit of Spirit but when she uses matter as the objectified sense of mortal mind then she is using it as the counterfeit of Mind. When we come to Spirit we will find our big counterfeits to be "matter" and "flesh," so the moment Mrs. Eddy deals with matter as flesh she uses matter as a counterfeit of Spirit. She also uses matter as a counterfeit of Spirit when she is exposing matter as only a counterfeit of reality, of purity, of understanding, of true substance. On the other hand, when she speaks about matter's claim of intelligence in matter, or of matter's ability to do something, or the claim that matter has power, that matter is self-sustaining, that matter's sensations can create human offspring, can reproduce man, or that matter has law within itself, claiming to act lawfully--all these claims are counterfeits of Mind. In this case she is using matter as the counterfeit of Mind. We have to use spiritual sense to determine when matter is a counterfeit of Mind, and when matter is a counterfeit of Spirit. Language is inadequate to express spiritual ideas so we have to use spiritual sense to discern the Page 195 true meaning. In the textbook we will see statements like, "sin, sickness and death do not belong to the divine Mind," but this does not indicate sin, sickness and death are counterfeits of Mind. If I said, "This car does not belong to me," the car wouldn't be a counterfeit of me. If something doesn't belong to divinity or to reality that doesn't make it a counterfeit of the synonymous term it happens to be used with. Sin, as we know, is a counterfeit of Soul; death is a counterfeit of Life; sickness is a counterfeit of Truth. When we come to Life it will be brought out that Life overcomes death, but it won't say that Life overcomes sin. It has to be the fact about something that overcomes the counterfeit belief, and Soul is the fact about the counterfeit belief of sin. Sin, sickness and death do not belong to divine Mind, nor are they counterfeits of divine Mind. They belong to mortal mind and it is mortal mind that is the counterfeit of divine Mind. We see negatives such as the human mind, erring mind, carnal mind, negative mind, migratory mind, a mind of one's own, many minds, the theoretical mind. These various minds remind us we must switch over to the spiritual system of reference which starts with the divine Mind and which alone has all ideas. The human mind wants to say, "I have the qualities of the divine Mind; I have intelligence; I have creative abilities, I have the faculties of mind, I can correct something." The human mind usurps the prerogatives of the divine Mind--what the divine Mind is and does. We must watch, therefore, that we continually go out from the divine Mind. Page 196 It would be wonderful if we could always keep the tone of the divine Mind like a musician keeps the tone of his music. A musician never deviates, never diverges. A musician might hear a wrong tone but he himself has the right tone, so he instantly supplants the wrong tone with the right tone, supplants the false note with the true note. An artist adheres to his artistic point of view. We, too, should go through the day steadfastly clinging to the standpoint of the synonymous terms without continually backsliding into the false frame of reference. | |
| 36 | 196 | Show all | Knowing what is right corrects the wrong, ignorance counterfeit of intelligence, drugs counterfeit of the medicine of Mind, brain counterfeit of the intelligence of Mind, nerves counterfeit of information, nerves the counterfeit of influence, fatigue the counterfeit restful one Mind |
Knowing what is right corrects the wrong | Show all | Page 196 Knowing What is Right Corrects the Wrong To the extent we are one with the seven synonymous terms we cease hearing mortal mind's suggestions; we don't notice them anymore. We become spiritual mathematicians, instantly replacing a false calculation with a right calculation. It becomes automatic. Why can divine Mind-reading uncover mortal mind's tricks? As we saw earlier it does so through the law of opposites, just as a mathematician uncovers and corrects false calculations with right calculations. Because he knows what is right in mathematics he can detect what is false. It is understanding harmony that exposes and brings to light what is inharmonious. Only harmony can unmask inharmony; nothing else can. One who has never known harmony is not in a position to unveil inharmony. The more we know concord, the more we can detect and correct discord. It isn't that the divine Mind knows discord, but that we, having cultured within ourselves the divine Mind, can detect seeming discord. When we do Page 197 detect error we should be happy about it because the only reason we could detect it was because we knew the truth. If we know the truth about an error we have begun to solve that error, since" error, when found out, is two-thirds destroyed, and the remaining third kills itself" (Mis. 210:5). Anything that bases itself on the belief that there is intelligence in matter is animal magnetism. Everything that bases itself on the human mind or the techniques of the human mind is animal magnetism. When confronted with these mental isms always ask, "What is the cause? Is the cause the divine Mind or the human mind?" Only what is based on the spiritual, on divine Mind, is true, real, eternal. We recognize "ignorance" as the counterfeit of intelligence, "drugs" as the counterfeit of the medicine of Mind, "brain" again as the counterfeit of the intelligence of Mind, and "nerves" as the counterfeit of information, the counterfeit of influence, because we believe messages are carried on nerves. Thus, treatment of nerves must be handled through knowing the omnipresence of the restful one Mind. So it is also with "fatigue;" for fatigue, too, is the counterfeit of the restful one Mind. The more consistently we stay with these ideas of Mind the more easily we can build up the tonality of Mind. The key is doing it over and over, like a musician practicing his finger exercises everyday. He doesn't insist that when he has done it three times that he has done it enough for the year. Similarly, in order to build up the tonality we must go over and over these ideas at the beginning. Our analysis of terms characterizing Mind started with creator, but it didn't need to. We could have started Page 198 with any other term. We could, for instance, start with "manifests itself;" in which case we would reason that in order to manifest itself, Mind needs power; then in order to manifest itself through power, it would need action; then it would require law. Then we would see that in order to manifest itself it must have a cause, and so forth. How to structure the ideas was unknown fifty years ago. Only in recent years have we seen how we could structure the ideas. The more we spiritually understand our textbook, the more we will structure our consciousness, and Mind will become more and more a structured concept. So far we have only been building up the general tone of Mind with no structure in it although we did try to put some logic into it as we went along, by seeing the combinations and the leading of one idea to the next idea-seeing how they demand each other, how each one functions with the others. As we go on in Science, in our learning process, we will get a structured sense, and then gradually the beauty of the synonymous terms will come into focus, but concept building and tonality building is the first step. Later we can take the synonymous terms through the four-fold calculus of Word, Christ, Christianity and Science and the four levels-Science, divine Science, absolute Christian Science and Christian Science and see that a synonym like Mind has a different value at each place on the chart. In the same way we can also take up the structuring of each of these ideas, and every idea will find its place value. |
| 37 | 199 | Show all | References from Science and Health |
References from Science and Health | Show all | Page 199 References from Science and Health At the end of this chapter we have listed all the references in Science and Health dealing with Mind. Some of these references were quoted at the beginning of this chapter, in our list of what Mind is, does, and deals with and how Mind interprets itself. Before proceeding, the reader may wish to review that list. Then, to refine our understanding of Mind, let's now look at some of the more difficult references to Mind. We will begin with references that use "power" with synonyms other than Mind, showing Mind blending with the other synonyms. (Note: because of these blendings, some of our discussions will draw on terms charaterizing synonyms we have not yet studied. Students may wish to return to this section after reading the chapters on the other synonyms.) S&H 316:7 states, "Christ, Truth, was demonstrated through Jesus to prove the power of Spirit over the flesh ... " To understand why power is used with Spirit in this statement, rather than with Mind, we need to ask, "What is the main proposition in this sentence? Is the main proposition Spirit over the flesh, or is it that there is power?" The main proposition here is "Spirit versus flesh;" this is the key to this sentence; this is what we have to remember. We must read the textbook not as words, but as stated subjects, as stated themes. We must be able to distinguish what is in the sentence, in the hierarchy of a sentence. What is the highest hierarchy of a theme, what is the secondary, the third, etc. Page 200 In this statement the highest hierarchy of the subject is Spirit versus flesh. Secondary is the idea that in order for Spirit to overcome the flesh it must have power to do so. Here power is secondary; it is not primary. It is always the primary subject that rules the use of a synonymous term. The statement answers the question, "What can I do to overcome the flesh?" Here we see the necessity of knowing our counterfeits. The fact about flesh, (as we will see in the next chapter) is Spirit, so it is the power of Spirit that is necessary to overcome the flesh. We could just as well have the law of Spirit to overcome the flesh, or the authority of Spirit. The secondary term isn't critical; it could be the indestructibility of Spirit, the eternality of Spirit. The main interpretation is flesh vs. Spirit, and that rules the use of the synonymous term. A right understanding of the synonymous terms gives you the first clue for scientific interpretation vs. inspirational or mystical interpretation. The text itself dictates the interpretation of the text. S&H 109:32-2 tells us, "The three great verities of Spirit, omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience-Spirit possessing all power, filling all space, constituting all Science-... " Up to this point in this statement we might think what is between the dashes should be Mind. Yet power is used here with Spirit. Why? In this case the primal subject is what is outside those dashes. The primary theme is that the three great verities of Spirit "contradict forever the belief that matter can be actual." Always ask, "What is the primal proposition?" Page 201 Here we have the verities of Spirit vs. the actuality of matter, so between the dashes Mary Baker Eddy has to use Spirit; she couldn't go back to Mind. She is saying that Spirit, not matter, is the verity, and as a sub-tone she is saying that Spirit has all power, fills all space, and constitutes all Science. If what is between the dashes were the main subject, and Mrs. Eddy were actually asking, "What is it that is all power? What is it that fills all space?" you would have to answer, "Mind," but here that is not her main question or proposition. Here her main question is, "Here are the verities of Spirit; what do they contradict?" The answer, of course, is, "They contradict the belief that matter can be actual." You can see that a sentence like this can't be interpreted at random, just as we happen to feel about it, or as inspiration might flow to us. We must depend on the structure of the subject to tell us what the primal proposition is and what the secondary proposition is. As we go on in the textbook, we find very few statements where only the intrinsic characteristics of a synonym are used. The synonyms are usually in combination such as this one, "Spirit possessing all power" and that is what makes it difficult at first sight, until we realize we can say, mentally, "Spirit possessing all Mind power." |
| 38 | 201 | Show all | What the Three Great Verities Are |
What the Three Great Verities Are | Show all | Page 201 What the Three Great Verities Are Note that in the statement we are considering, Mrs. Eddy also explains what the three verities are. "Omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience" characterize Page 202 Word, Christ, and Christianity. These terms are in the category of the operation of God, which is different from the category of the nature of God. When we analyze what is meant by the Word, we analyze it just as we analyze the seven synonyms, through their qualities. Thus in this statement we have further categories intertwined. This is why in the first reading we can only have an approximation. Let's consider S&H 232:16, "In our age Christianity is again demonstrating the power of divine Principle, as it did over nineteen hundred years ago by healing the sick and triumphing over death." The question we need to ask here is, "What can demonstrate?" We didn't have demonstration under Mind. It is the nature of Principle to demonstrate itself, to prove itself, (though under certain circumstances we also get demonstration with Truth.) However, in order to demonstrate something you need power, so we have "the power of divine Principle." (Divine is typically a quality of the Christ, describing the Christ). |