Science Of Mind Charlottesville is a Science Of Mind study group. We were meeting twice monthly, but with the COVID restrictions we are meeting weekly via Zoom – see the News page for details. Our licensed Science Of Mind Practitioner Kathy McConnin.
We are now affiliated with Centers for Spiritual Living, the organization that was started by Ernest Holmes. Our official name is now Center for Spiritual Living Charlottesville Teaching Chapter Inc.
Our goal for this Center is to bring Science of Mind philosophy into the Charlottesville VA area. There are no other Centers in this area and we are seeing there is a yearning of the people here to learn and grow spiritually. Our intention for this group is to increase in size and consciousness and to attract a Minister and have a very active Center for Spiritual Living Charlottesville.
Science of Mind is a practical spiritual philosophy that incorporates mystical truth found in virtually every major religion. It contains neither dogma nor decree.
Science of Mind offers a simple set of spiritual tools that any person can apply to his or her life resulting in vibrant health, abundant wealth, loving relationships and greater spiritual expression.
It is based on the principle that one omniscient Divine Presence creates the physical reality of all life and form through a system of predictable spiritual laws that we can consciously apply to our lives.
Science of Mind and its benefits are accessible to everyone on equal terms without any need for ritual, investment, or formal affiliation. Anyone, regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, age, or any external factor, being aware of spiritual law, has the ability to improve the quality and conditions of his or her life.
Science of Mind calls us to apply to our lives a spiritual principle known as the Law of Cause and Effect, which through our thoughts and beliefs (cause), creates a corresponding physical manifestation (effect).
This means that what we think and believe about ourselves and about life becomes the reality that we experience each moment.
So when we worry and entertain fears in our mind, we are calling into our reality the things we claim not to want. Conversely, when we whole-heartedly believe that we are healthy, prosperous, joyous and successful, these states of being become the reality of our lives.
The Law of Cause and Effect is impersonal and works exactly the same for everyone.
Philosophers, priests, shamans, humanitarians and empire builders have all had some sense of this celestial Truth and each has spoken in his or her own tongue this language, which is universal.
Science of Mind in its broadest and truest sense includes the best of science, religion and philosophy.
Science of Mind is not a personal opinion, nor is it an extraordinary revelation.
It is universally available to all and to be effective in our lives requires only that we pay attention to our thoughts and consciously claim the best for ourselves and one another.
Science of Mind does not find fault in the sciences of medicine and psychology, but complements them by recognizing the natural health and wholeness that is everyone’s birthright. There can be no permanent healing of one’s body without a correspondingly clarity and balance within that person’s mental and emotional life. If we are to experience optimal health, our mental life must be creative, peaceful and happy.
This is the essence of how Science of Mind works.
Religious Science is a worldwide spiritual movement that aligns scientific, philosophical and religious principles to bring forth a greater understanding and application of healthy living for all people.
The science in Religious Science is a method that can be used to resolve personal challenges and improve conditions in daily living.
This method is as accurate and dependable as any techniques used in other scientific disciplines. It is something that is available to any person regardless of race, creed, religion, educational credentials, social standing or professional status.
When this science is used correctly, by applying the knowledge and understanding gained through Religious Science principles, affirmative outcomes result.
The philosophy of Religious Science is a practical, down-to-earth way of thinking about the nature of the universe.
It considers our significance in the cosmic nature of life and how, through greater understanding, we can fulfill our purpose for being the powerful creative spiritual beings we have come to be on planet Earth.
The religion in Religious Science is both something in which we believe and the original name of our international organization.
With the reuniting in 2012 of two factions that had separated in 1953, the organization officially became Centers for Spiritual Living.
What we believe is not a rigid creed that is demanded of Religious Scientists. Our faith is not about being in lockstep with a dogmatic philosophy. It’s about how to think and make choices that improve our perceptions of life and ultimately the qualities of our daily experience.
Religious Science is different from other faiths in that it offers a scientific method for eliminating health disorders, establishing meaningful human relationships, resolving financial challenges and identifying and engaging in fulfilling forms of self-expression.
It is no one’s natural state to be physically ill, to dwell in chronically challenging circumstances or to live a joyless existence.
No one is ever made more spiritual through suffering, poverty, failure or a diminished sense of self.
These undesired conditions become our reality, not because we have done something wrong but because we have not come to understand our true nature.
Challenging experiences aren’t a sign of failure; they exist to help us learn to use our creative power more effectively.
To remedy such situations, we need only to turn away from unfulfilling conditions and place our attention and intention on experiencing vibrant health, abundant prosperity, loving relationships and heartfelt success.
When we do, our daily experiences match the intentions we set in our lives.
Mental and Spiritual Healing is the foundational teaching and practice of the Science of Mind philosophy.
Our fundamental principle states that there is only One Infinite and Absolute Presence, from which everything in the physical universe is formed. Some call this Presence Spirit or God. It is the essence of all Life, Love, Health, Wholeness and Prosperity.
All disease and discord is simply a masking of our true nature. Challenges faced by human beings have no life of their own.
It doesn’t matter whether the problem is physical illness, financial challenges, relationship issues or any other condition. It is only through repetitive fearful thoughts and worrying about our problems that we keep them active in our lives.
Spiritual and Mental Healing is the process through which we return to our inherent state of wholeness and our true spiritual nature. Healing occurs when we realize that the Truth of our lives is absolute vibrant health in our bodies, in our finances, in our relationships and in all of our affairs.
We can achieve this state of well-being through diligent self-reflection and a heightened state of consciousness, or we can engage the assistance of a licensed Science of Mind practitioner.
The practitioner knows the spiritual nature of each client, which allows that state of wholeness to be revealed in their client’s life. Once Truth is known, it must demonstrate into physical form.
By knowing health, wholeness, prosperity and success through the application of Science of Mind Principles, we erase all evidence of previous experiences and new expressions of life manifest in their place.
5
Steps of Spiritual
Mind Treatment
The Purpose: In clarifying the purpose before
beginning treatment, you create a course or theme
for the steps that follow.
Science of Mind founder Dr. Ernest Holmes declared that the ultimate goal of life is to be a complete emancipation from all discord of every nature, and that this goal is sure to be attained by all.
These spiritual principles are life-affirming and life-changing and have returned health and wholeness to millions of people across the world.
Mental and Spiritual Healing is the revelation of Truth in our lives. Spirit as each of us is powerful beyond measure and rich beyond our wildest dreams. We are all, have always been and will always be the essence of Love — Perfect, Whole and Complete.
We encourage you to explore this path to an extraordinary new way of life, founded in Love, Peace and Joy for all.
As Science of Mind fast approaches its first 100-year milestone, one must go back to the ancient wisdom of Greek philosophers and Asian mystics from thousands of years ago to find our roots.
Our movement has also evolved as part of what is known as the New Thought spiritual movement, which originated in the 1800s.
From these beginnings, we have traversed generations of changing cultures, communication styles and technologies, all of which call us to be adaptable as we seek deeper understanding and application of Science of Mind principles.
As time passes, we as human beings change the way we learn and communicate. The technologies of Ernest Holmes’ time were by means of handwritten manuscripts, typewriter produced letters, and typesetting machines to create printed books.
Today, we communicate largely through electronic means such as email and instant messaging. Many of us read books on battery-powered devices, and we keep the vast majority of our information on “clouds.” It’s a different way of sharing knowledge in the information age.
We also use language differently than people who spoke and wrote a hundred years ago. Differently enough that when we peruse books and articles in our archives, we find writing styles of great thinkers such as Judge Thomas Troward, Emma Curtis Hopkins and even Ernest Holmes that are not as familiar and easy to consume as most writers are today.
This is nothing compared to reading ancient writings such as Beowulf, but it still takes a little extra effort to be completely comfortable with the writing styles of these early teachers.
Some words were spelled differently, some phrases need a little extra effort to fully understand and the word he is used to represent people in a non-gender specific way. No one writes that way today.
Nonetheless, the teachings in Truth principles offered by these pioneers of modern day metaphysics remain as true today as the day they were written.
For example, on the Ashville website www.CSLAsheville.org, you can find a posting under the FREE Ebooks/Audio tab entitled “The Edinburgh Lectures on Mental Science” by Judge Thomas Troward. In it, Troward writes,
“There is an inner and an outer side to everything; and the quality of the superficial mind which causes it to fail in the attainment of Truth is its willingness to rest content with the outside only.
“So long as this is the case, it is impossible for a man to grasp the import of his own relation to the universal, and it is this relation which constitutes all that is signified by the word ‘Truth.’ So long as a man fixes his attention only on the superficial, it is impossible for him to make any progress in knowledge.
“He is denying that principle of ‘Growth,’ which is the root of all life, whether spiritual, intellectual or material, for he does not stop to reflect that all which he sees as the outer side of things can result only from some germinal principle hidden deep in the centre of their being.”
“He is denying that principle of ‘Growth,’ which is the root of all life, whether spiritual, intellectual or material, for he does not stop to reflect that all which he sees as the outer side of things can result only from some germinal principle hidden deep in the centre of their being.”
Chances are you or I would have never said it this way, but the message is brilliant; we must look past the surface of the situations we face to find the higher reality of Truth where all things fit together perfectly.
When we apply this principle to every aspect of our lives, we have risen above mystery to the
attainment of meaning. What a gift!
Most of us were raised to think that there is a God that has dominion over our lives and our eternal destiny. What if that were not the case? What if God was something else, something much greater and much closer?
Science of Mind does not subscribe to an understanding of God as a deity from which we must seek favor through a submissive relationship.
Instead, as students of the Science of Mind, we seek to know this Divine Presence that transcends the limitations of time and space, yet It is as close as our breath.
With this perspective, we are not bound to a name or to any limiting descriptors for this Presence. We simply know that it is perfect, whole and complete, now and always.
We know that this Presence is all-powerful and all-knowing, existing infinitely at every point including the point of us and of everyone, everywhere.
This Presence is the supreme cause behind all physical form and action. We do not seek to prove the existence of God, but rather to demonstrate this Presence through our ability to impress Spiritual Law with our thoughts and as a result, demonstrate outcomes according to those thoughts.
This Divine Presence at the core of your being is the source for all that you choose to know and create. It is what gives you the strength, the power and the knowingness to be who you have come here to be.
There is but One Presence through which we all have our being. We appear as separate entities, but the highest reality is that we are One.
Regardless of our differences, the God that dwells at the point of one person is the same God that dwells at all points throughout the entire cosmos.
This is not a new idea, but a reality with roots in ancient wisdom. Jesus, answering the Pharisees who had challenged his claims of God’s universal presence said: “Neither shall they say, Lo here! Or lo there! For behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”
Jesus’ whole ministry was a lesson on how to recognize Divine Presence on a personal level.
Science of Mind teaches what all people of great faith know; God’s presence, power and knowing are constant. Science of Mind is an actual science because it is provable.
So, how does this science work? Dr. Ernest Holmes has said that “the wisest man living does not know why,” but we can learn the way it works, what it does and how to use it for the betterment of our lives.
If you can accept the idea that God is within you, you have taken the first step in creating your new and improved life. Holmes said, “The highest God and the innermost God are One God.”
Through thought and reflection on this single idea, the mystics have discovered the great mystery of Divine Presence, and so can anyone who is open to a greater understanding of God.
Although realization of Divine Presence can come in a blinding flash, more likely you will build on a growing awareness, an expanding consciousness over time. With this higher consciousness and deeper awareness, your life will change exponentially. This is not an intellectual process, but something that emerges from the core of your being.
May your journey of divine revelations be abundant, clear and richly rewarding.
WE BELIEVE in God, the Living Spirit Almighty; one, indestructible, absolute and self-existent Cause. This One manifests Itself in and through all creation, but is not absorbed by Its creation. The manifest universe is the body of God; it is the logical and necessary outcome of the infinite self-knowingness of God.
WE BELIEVE in the individualization of the Spirit in us, and that all people are individualizations of the One Spirit.
WE BELIEVE in the eternality, the immortality and the continuity of the individual soul, forever and ever expanding.
WE BELIEVE that heaven is within us, and that we experience it to the degree that we become conscious of it.
WE BELIEVE the ultimate goal of life to be a complete freedom from all discord of every nature, and that this goal is sure to be attained by all.
WE BELIEVE in the unity of all life, and that the highest God and the innermost God is one God. We believe that God is personal to all who feel this indwelling presence.
WE BELIEVE in the direct revelation of truth through our intuitive and spiritual nature, and that anyone may become a revealer of truth who lives in close contact with the indwelling God.
WE BELIEVE that the Universal Spirit, which is God, operates through a Universal Mind, which is the Law of God; and that we are surrounded by this Creative Mind which receives the direct impress of our thought and acts upon it.
WE BELIEVE in the healing of the sick and control of conditions through the power of this Mind.
WE BELIEVE in the eternal Goodness, the eternal Loving-kindness and the eternal Givingness of Life to All.
WE BELIEVE in our own soul, our own spirit and our own destiny; for we understand that the life of all is God.