What is Science of Mind?

Science of Mind Child - What I Teach

At Science of Mind Child all spiritual beliefs are welcome and embraced.  The emphasis is on spirituality over religious doctrine to create and foster a loving, connected, happy home and world.  I encourage you to trust in your own inner knowing to engage in this offering as you feel called to.

The Affiliated New Thought Network, with which I am certified as a practitioner of Religious Science and am completing training as a minister allows for Maximum Freedom.  Following in the footsteps of scientific thinkers that laid the foundations for Science of Mind, I claim Maximum Freedom to include and weave together all spiritual traditions (see About Science of Mind Child to learn more).  I believe all paths lead to God and when you come to a crossroads, there is only the right path and the right path. 🤍Karen

The story of Science of Mind

Science is defined by Merriam Webster as "knowledge or a system of knowledge covering general truths or the operation of general laws especially as obtained and tested through scientific method."  When it was first coined, the term "science," rather than being distinct and separate from religion as it is today (and some might say a religion in its own right), it was used liberally in describing religion, spirituality and the truths about the instrument of the human mind.  In the mid-1800's especially, perhaps on the heels of Darwin's 1859 publication of The Origin of Species, religious movements incorporating the word science were very popular.  These included science of mind, religious science, Goethian science, spiritual science, divine science, Christian science, and so on.  People often confuse these various religious thought movements as part of the Church of Scientology, which came much later, in 1953, and was created by L. Ron Hubbard and his wife based on their teachings in the book, Dianetics.  There are certainly similarities in all of these movements, in that each investigates the truth in religion, spirituality and human thought from a scientific perspective.  Some movements, like Science of Mind build upon earlier movements; others, like spiritual science and Scientology claim independent creation.  All of these, except for Scientology, is rooted in Christianity.

Science of Mind, now synonymous with Religious Science, was founded by Dr. Ernest Shurtleff Holmes, after the writing of the tome by the same name in 1927.  It was not originally intended as a religion but as an institution for teaching.  Holmes was Christian and quotes the Bible most often in his teachings.  Holmes never described himself as an original thinker, but as a synthesizer.  His greatest influences were Emma Curtis Hopkins (founder of the New Thought Movement and student of Mary Baker Eddy, founder of Christian Science, or Church of Christ, Scientist), Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Judge Thomas Troward.  Holmes was likely also influenced by Paramahansa Yogananda.  Although not outwardly associated, the influence seems evident by the Religious Science statement of beliefs which are definitively non-dualistic and Eastern (below).  It's also just hard to believe that they never interacted since Yogananda's Self-Realization Fellowship founded in 1920 was very near to Holmes' founding church established in 1932 in Los Angeles, California.  Today, the Founder's Church of Religious Science is less than 3 miles from The Self-Realization Fellowship Temple and Ashram Center in Hollywood established in 1946 where Yogananda regularly spoke.

In the same year that Science of Mind was written, Holmes wrote the statements of beliefs for Religious Science.  It was published in the first Science of Mind Magazine:

WHAT WE BELIEVE

by Dr. Ernest Holmes

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.

More Background on the science of spirituality movement

The lineage of Religious Science

The foundations of the approach of the scientific method to Christianity may be said to stem back to Emanuel Swedenborg (1688 – 1772).  Swedenborg's father, Jesper Swedborg, taught theology and espoused the views of Lutheranism, and the Lutheran Pietist movement, which having just been established in 1521, was still quite controversial.  So, perhaps even it was the questioning nature of the Lutheran movement, that allowed for the incredible mysticism of Swedenborgianism.  Swedenborg's teachings appealed to those that found the revivalism of the early 18th century too narrow-minded, including hugely influential voices in the U.S. like Henry James, Johnny Appleseed, William Blake, Carl Jung, Helen Keller, Ralph Waldo Emerson and W.B. Yeats.  It was Swedenborg that described first the Law of Correspondence, which is a relationship between the natural and spiritual worlds.  This Law was then expanded on by Troward in The Edinburgh and the Dore Lectures (1909), by Mary Baker Eddy in Christian Science Monitor (1908) and Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures (1910), and also by Emerson in his essay, The Over-soul (1851).

Treatment, as a form of prayer, was formerly introduced in Christian Science, but again is rooted earlier. Nineteenth century theologians were fascinated with the miraculous healings performed by Jesus recounted in the Bible. Born in 1802, Phineas Park Quimby, due to life circumstances and ill health in youth, was one of the first to describe and teach mental healings. I do caveat this statement by recognizing here that indigeneous cultures and long-standing and current shamanic practices have always espoused the validity of mental healing. Nonetheless, Quimby was the first to write, practice and teach about his experiences from a western, Christian point of view.  Having overcome tuberculosis in his early life, in 1838, Quimby began studying Mesmerism after attending a lecture by Dr. Robert Collyer, and learning his theories on the brain's ability to visualize thought and the inherent goodness and vitality of the inner self (Poe and Dickens were also among his followers). Mesmerism was developed initially by Dr. Franz Mesmer and described as the vital force of animal magnetism. Quimby further experimented with the help of Lucius Burkmar, who could fall into a trance and diagnose illnesses. Mary Baker Eddy was a student of Quimby's and was cured by him in 1862 after a long bout with poor health. Eddy expanded on his methods of mental healing to continue to heal herself and others founding The Church of Christ, Scientist.

I am sometimes asked if Religious Science and New Thought deny modern medicine.  The answer is no, because all is God, including medicine.  Stories about refusing medical intervention and trusting only in faith healing often come from sects associated with Christian Science and fundamental Christianity.

Today, Science of Mind/ Religious Science is taught by the New Thought Movement (which includes the International Centers for Spiritual Living, the United Centers for Spiritual Living (which combined into the Centers for Spiritual Living in 2011), and Global Religious Science Ministries) and also by the Affiliated New Thought Network.

Spiritual Science

Another branch of spirituality that greatly influences my writing is the one taught by Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925).  He called it spiritual science, a synthesis of science and spirituality and named it Anthroposophy.  So while the expansion of Christian Science was taking place in the U.S., in Germany, simultaneously and independently, Steiner was outlining Anthroposophy. Anthroposophy from from anthropo-, human, and Sophia, wisdom, teaches spiritual discovery through thought independent of sensory experience and verifiable by the scientific method.  Steiner wrote about his beliefs in many books, first in The Philosophy of Freedom, also published as Intuitive Thinking as a Spiritual Path (1894) and later in Theosophy (1904).  From very early life, Steiner had a deep spiritual connection that he wrote of as more real than his earthly, sensory-based experiences.  He studied, quoted and based much of his philosophy on his personal experiences as well as the work of the great German poet, dramatist, novelist, essayist and scientist, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832).  He also worked extensively with Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900).

There is nothing material that did not originate in the spiritual. And so what people have externally as health and illness comes from their mindset, from their thoughts. It is true that what you think today, you will be tomorrow. You must be aware that, if one age has bad, depraved thoughts, the next generation and the next age will have to pay for it physically.

Rudolf Steiner

Goethe was familiar with and perhaps also influenced by Swedenborg. He first became acquainted with Swedenborg’s works as a young student through Fräulein von Klettenberg of Frankfurt. Students of Goethe’s letters and poetry have found evidence of familiarity with both scientific and theological works of Swedenborg, particularly in Part II of Faust.

Ralph Waldo Emerson selected Goethe as one of six "representative men" in his work of the same name (along with Plato, Emanuel Swedenborg, Montaigne, Napoleon, and Shakespeare).  So we see perhaps that Goethe may be the shared connection that gave rise to these two branches of science and ultimately come together here in this modern teaching, Science of Mind Child, where Ernest Holmes meets Rudolf Steiner.

(I include below also this beautifully written description of Science of Mind from the Center for Spiritual Awakening)

What Our Center Believes – Science of Mind Principles

by Dr. Bill Little

Spiritual Director at the Center for Spiritual Awakening

Our foundation is a philosophy called Religious Science developed by an extraordinary man called Dr. Ernest Holmes.  He explained: “The philosophy of Religious Science is nothing new to the world. It is rather a synthesis of the greatest concepts that have ever come to the mind of man. The law of Moses, the love of Christ, the ethics of Buddha, the morals of Confucius, the deep spiritual realization of the Hindus, the mystical revelations of the saints of the Middle Ages, the laws of parallels and compensation of Emerson, the logic of Kant, the spirituality of Swedenborg, the beauty of Browning, and the wide universal sweep of Walt Whitman all find an exalted place in the philosophy of Religious Science.

Religious Science today is practical mysticism. Scriptures are meant to be used in daily life. The understanding obtained from ancient sources is applied to modern problems such as dysfunctional relationships, wealth, physical health and so forth. In the gospel of John it says, ‘If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.’

The Creative Power of Mind

In the beginning of the 20th century Sir James Jeans said, “The universe begins to look more like a great thought than like a great machine.” Perhaps this is even truer today with physicists contemplating super strings and black holes storing all information in a holographic way. The world’s oldest philosophies have agreed that mind is the primal energy in this universe. To put it simply, life is to you what you say it is to you. Jesus said, “It is done unto you as you believe.”

Dr. Ernest Holmes founded Religious Science on this basis -- that our mind is creative, and it can be changed to produce new experience. The implications of these two ideas are powerful and reach into many areas of daily experience. What do we believe about illness and poverty and difficult relationships? Whatever it is, this we will experience. By thinking “outside the box” of our regular opinions we can actually restructure our beliefs, our sense of values and our lives. Ernest said it this way:

“There is a power for good in the universe and you can use it.”

Image Credits

Images are free for commercial use and sourced from Pixabay and Wikimedia Commons.  Thank you to the following image artists

Swing at night -Michele Caballero Siamitras Kassube
Buddha - Patrikphotos
Meditation- Gerd Altmann
Paramahansa Yogananda
Jesus healing stained glass - falco
Universe in a face- Trandoshan
German town -analogicus
Goethe painting by Johann Heinrich Wilhelm Tischbein at the Städel Museum- WikiImages
Buddha Face collage - Glauco Gianoglio