“The unconscious truth is that there is Good for me and I ought to have it. Nothing can kill that unconscious feeling. It is indestructible. It is omnipotent.”
Emma Curtis Hopkins, Scientific Christian Mental Practice
We inhabit a realm, a field of familiarity, where everything we know coexists with what we acknowledge we do not know.
The things I know that I don’t know, include the Russian language or the experience of living in downtown Dhaka (the capital of Bangladesh), for example. I do know about these ‘unknowns’, and I may or may not aspire to add them to the list of ‘things I actually do know’ through experience, but nevertheless, they exist within some part of the framework of my ‘known’ reality.
What about the things I don’t even know that I don’t know? There is a world of possibility beyond any idea I might currently be able to consider. I feel as if my life has been a testament to better and better days, so I know that ‘greater good’ is always possible… I just may not always know what that good is… yet. (How could I, if it exists outside the boundaries of my current lived experience?)
Master Metaphysician, Ernest Holmes, addressed this state of the ongoing availability of ‘greater good’ when he said, “Here and now, we are surrounded by, and immersed in, an Infinite Good. How much of this Infinite Good is ours? ALL OF IT! And how much of It may we have to use? AS MUCH OF IT AS WE CAN EMBODY.”
My capacity to fully embody Infinite Good is restricted only by my limited thinking.
During an open dialogue recently, I had an experience of stepping just outside my realm of ‘known’ existence. It was fleeting inspiration, which left both of us in the conversation somewhat awestruck. Grabbing our pens, we scrambled to recreate what the line of thinking had been that had created this moment of pause for us, and… it was gone. Our minds were not quite ready to retain the new idea… yet.
Expanding into ‘the new’ is an ongoing process. We are continually evolving. For instance, my younger self devised many coping mechanisms to secure the love and safety I desired as I grew. However, as an adult, I have come to understand that these responses are no longer effective for me. So, the time came when I was drawn towards putting old ways aside, in order to learn new approaches to being in relationship with others and the world.
To move forward in life, I must be willing to step into the field of the unknown and trust that there is a better way for me. I must be willing to shed the old and take a leap of faith. This is where the philosophies outlined in The Science of Mind play a vital role in my life.
In her introduction to an edition of the Science of Mind textbook, Jean Houston, co-founder of the Foundation for Mind Research, articulates it this way:
“The Science of Mind gives us the passion for a new possibility, along with precise and clear directions for building a new matrix of mind and manifestation. It shows us how to activate the constructive imagination, and how to hold in thought and feeling the intention and energy for healing, ‘wholing’, and co-creation. It shows us how to stop boring [Life] by waking up to the fact that we are here in [the School of Life] to learn the principles of world-making, and the evolving of self and society.
“Evolution is seen to follow involution, wherein we discover that our minds are star gates; our bodies celled of mysteries that give us keys to the emerging phase of our existence. Ernest Holmes was one of the first to direct us to what is to be found in the vast ecology of inner space. In his scope of understanding and application, he anticipated and prepared the field for the revolution in mind and brain research that was to come. The patterns of an emerging sacred psychology are offered in the knowing that, as we go within, we can access the depth structures of our being, and build bridges to the great archetypal realm wherein lie the dynamic designs that form and reform our reality.
“The Science of Mind shows us how to be active and creative citizens in a Universe (and ‘Innerverse’) richer than all previous imaginings. Written in what some may believe to have been a simpler time, this work speaks to a future, more complex time as well. Although Holmes’s use of language belongs to the 1920s and 1930s, the ideas expressed remain larger than the constraint of words, and even more relevant to today’s necessity.
“Holmes seemed to anticipate the world of the new millennium, with its compounding of factors unique to human experience. How can we deal with a world in the throes of whole-system transition… in which everything that we have known is changing at so rapid a pace that we are caught between the dangers that threaten us and the opportunities that beckon us?
“Educated for the demands of a different time and culture, we are called to be reeducated; to use much more of ourselves in meeting the many new challenges that confront us. We have no choice, then, but to democratize greatness and utilize the whole continuum of human and divine potential.
“The Science of Mind says that this is not only possible, it is what is expected of us. Indeed, it is that for which we have been created. The Infinite, knowing that it cannot contract, has coded ourselves for expansion into Itself. For the first time in human history we are required, as a species, to extend ourselves into radically new ways of being. The tasks that are now ours, the tasks of virtual creation, compel the revolution in consciousness that tells us that we are part of the great unfolding of Spirit in flesh.
“These are the times. We are the people. This is the book that can help us do it.”
For 26 years, I have immersed myself in the philosophies of The Science of Mind, as well as those from other, like-minded wisdom teachers. I trust Jean Houston’s wisdom. Like her, I lean in to a Life of uncertainty, willing to “boldly go where no one has gone before”. I aim to bring these life principles to our modern era; awakening and inspiring individuals to embrace their uniqueness, in order to heal our troubled world. I envision humanity soaring together, creating a legacy that is rich in possibilities and greatness for all.
I will forever hold aspirations beyond my current knowledge, because I believe in ‘greater good’.
As Boyd Varty's companion, Rennias, proclaims in Varty’s book, The Lion Tracker's Guide to Life, "I don't know where I am going, but I know how to get there."
This simple wisdom echoes the essence of philosophies like those outlined in The Science of Mind. Ernest Holmes, laid out the steps that I have learned to know, and I continue to embody. Like Rennias, I may not know my ultimate destination, but I do know how to journey towards it. This much, I do know.
ACTIVITIES for TRANSFORMATION
~ Each night, as your head touches the pillow, make the decision to fill your dreams with discovery. It's time to dream.
~ As you awaken, whether in the middle of the night or in the morning, take a moment to ponder your dreams. Jot them down, and keep an eye out for any insights they may hold.
~ Maintain this practice for at least a couple of weeks. Our dream world is less inhibited than our daily lives, and valuable wisdom messages often hover just out of our familiar sight lines.
~ Jill