MEDITATION---LIFE IS OMNIPRESENT

‘My presence will go with you … and give you rest’ (Ex 33:14).

‘Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest a while’ (Mk 6:31).

Let’s get still now---and relax. There is only life, and there is life everywhere. Life just is. That much we know to be true. It is more than enough. Life---that is, living things living out their livingness from moment to moment. There is only life---and one spirit of life … in all, over all, through all, and all in all. There is only this one self-existent presence and one power expressing itself, and manifesting itself, in all things, as all things. One presence. One power. One order or level of reality. One way of being. We are an integral part of that life---each one of us--for whatever life is, we are living it, embodying it, and expressing it.

Life, truth, reality---God, some people call it. The word does not matter. Life, truth, reality, God is expressing itself right now---in us, as us, and also in all other people and things. This self-existent life is birthless, deathless, ageless, timeless, boundless, formless, and invisible, even though it is constantly taking shape and form, and putting on visibility, in individual things. Those things wax and wane, they come and go---but life itself, the very life of our own life, forever remains, fills all space, and moves unceasingly ever onward, and it 'doth not yet appear what we shall be.'

Let us enter the silence of this moment---the silence that knows no storms. This silence is a peace that passes all understanding. It abides in the hearts of those who live in the eternal now. This silence is a power---a power for good---the very power of life itself. This silence is a presence---the very omnipresence of life itself as it evidences itself as the all and only presence, as it unfolds itself from one moment to the next … ever onwards. This presence---this omnipresence---of life is all there is, and in this omnipresence we are immersed, and in this omnipresence we live and move and have our being. 

One presence. One power. One life. This omnipresence and stream of life fills all, is all, animates all, and empowers all. Every thing, every person, is an individualised expression of the wellspring of this one life, this omnipresence. One All-in-all. This great stream of life is flowing through each of us right now, and we are one with the abundant life all around us. This life activates our every thought, word and deed---and it unifies, sustains, and gives meaning to all things.

Life, which never was born nor caused, cannot other than be. We cannot be less than life. This omnipresence of life is closer to us than our breathing. It is nearer to us than our hands and feet. It is most fully and personally experienced in the silence---as peace, calmness, rest, tranquillity, equanimity, wisdom … and love---indeed, all things we ordinarily associate with the sacred, the holy, the divine. This omnipresence is holy, and wherever we are, we are always in its sacred centre. This omnipresence always was, is, and is to be---and all we know of it is the practice of its presence.

'Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.' This house is not a house made with human hands. It is nothing material or physical. It is a spiritual edifice, and we are building it in our mind, both by the thoughts we habitually think as well as in the silence. 'Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul!' In this sacred moment, be still and know that ‘I AM-ness’ that is expressing itself in you and as you. Be still and know that ‘I AM-ness’. Be still and know. Be still.

There is only one self-existent life which flows through all creation. That life is our very life---right now! We can never be less than life, for there is no place where life is not. There is only the eternal now, and in that now-ness there is neither past nor future. ‘Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.’ ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.’ ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is within you.’ 

Know this---you express life in and with every part of your being, indeed, with every atom of your being. You are one with all life---with all that is---yes, one with all that has ever been or will ever be. Feel the pulsating, animating, vivifying and stirring reality of that omnipresence in every part of your being---now! Thrill to it! Give thanks for it, and for the truth which makes you free! And so it is.

This meditation, and others very similar to it,
are used by me at many of the services I conduct,
and at workshops and training sessions I facilitate. 
The photos were taken by me on my various trips to Japan.

MINDFULNESS IS THE TREE OF LIFE

The essence of mindfulness, and mindful living, is this---there is only life manifesting itself in all things as all things, and that one life is forever unfolding moment by moment. Everything is forever being renewed, for each new moment in consciousness is a refreshing. So, when we live mindfully, we co-create and recreate for ourselves moment by moment a new heaven and a new earth.

There are two accounts of creation in the Bible. The first account of creation is written from God’s point of view, so to speak. It is an account of life as God, who made it, sees things. If you have a problem with the word God, then simply say that it is an account of life as it really is. What is recorded in this first account is not literally true but it is true nevertheless. The second account of creation is written from our point of view, and it is in many ways a gross distortion or misrepresentation of the real or true. It’s the way we see things, and life, when we are not seeing them as they really are, that is, when we are not living mindfully.

Now, in the first account (see the first chapter of the book of Genesis), God made man and woman in God’s very own image and likeness such that what is true of God is also true of you and me. Not only that but God saw that his creation----all his creation---was ‘good.’ Note that word---‘good.’ This is a spiritual or metaphysical statement about life per se. It is good in absolute terms, notwithstanding that there is still relative good and relative bad, the latter being variations in degree, but not kind, from the whole, absolute and perfect.

Now, when it comes to the second account of creation (see the second chapter of Genesis) God is presented, or rather seen, by the mythical couple Adam and Eve in crude, anthropomorphic terms. (Sadly, so many conservative Christians still see God in that way.) In the mythical Bible story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the two protagonists were told by God that they could freely eat of any tree in the garden except the ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil.’ As respects the latter, God warned that if Adam and Eve ate of that tree they would surely die. Well, guess what? Naughty Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the forbidden tree, and God expels them from the garden to prevent them from eating of a second tree, the 'tree of life,' and living forever. The disobedience of Adam and Eve is known in traditional Christian theology as the ‘Fall of Man.’

Here’s my take on the story. The tree of life is a symbol of the one presence and power that is life itself---the very livingness and oneness of life, the very ground of our being, indeed the ground of all being. The tree of life is Beingness, or Be-ing, itself. I AM-ness. Oneness. It is the impersonal principle of life that is forever becoming personal as you and me and all other things. True it is that this power of life can be used positively or negatively, that is, either for relative good or relative bad, but it is one and the same power at all times. The power is like electricity---it can be used to light or warm a room or it can be used to kill, but it is the same power nevertheless. Go into a darkened room, and turn on the light. The darkness in the room disappears. The darkness is not a thing-in-itself; it is just the relative and temporary absence of light. So it is with relative good and relative bad. There is only one presence and one power active in the universe as your life and mine and as the life of all other persons and things. This presence and power is 'over all and through all and in all' (Eph 4:6); it is 'life, and that life [is] the light of all humankind' (cf Jn 1:4); it is the medium in which all things 'live and move and have [their] being' (Acts 17:28), and 'there is no other' (cf Is 45:5).

Thus, I do not accept the view, promulgated by traditional Christianity, that there are two warring powers at work in the universe, one good and the other bad. No, there is only one power or principle at work, and it is fundamentally good. ‘Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity’ (Hab 1:13). Unity, not duality. There is one presence and one power for a couple of reasons. First, all things live and move and have their being on the one level or plane of existence. Secondly, a single logic or principle applies to all things and how they are related to each other. If that were not the case, we could not speak meaningfully of things at all. In those two senses, all things are ‘one,’ but not in any monistic sense. If there were two supreme cosmic powers at work in the universe, forever being at odds with each other, one such power would surely counteract, indeed cancel out, the other. The belief---or rather misbelief---that there are supposedly two powers at work in the universe is the so-called ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ the fruit of which Adam and Eve did eat. Our mythical forebears sought to believe that there were two powers at work, and they paid a high price for it. So do we, if we seek to affirm and identify with a supposed power or authority other than life itself.

So, this second account of creation is a parody---a distortion in human consciousness of the real and the good. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is the illusion of duality as opposed to the vision of oneness and unity represented by the tree of life. The illusion of duality is the result of false or erroneous thinking on our part whenever we ‘eat the fruit of the forbidden fruit’ by giving power and authority to that which is false and untrue, and by otherwise acting mindlessly. Every time you identify with some false self---some ‘I’ or ‘me’ in your mind in the form of some like, dislike, craving, or attachment---you are eating the fruit of the forbidden tree. Every time you cease to be choicelessly aware of life as it unfolds from one moment to the next, you are eating the fruit of the forbidden tree. In short, every time you think, feel, or act mindlessly, you are watering and fertilizing the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Now, don’t get me wrong. There really is evil and sickness in the world, but as I see it that is largely due to the widely held misbelief that there are two cosmic powers at work. If all people affirmed the existence of only one power---the tree of life---evil and sickness would in time disappear. However, that will never happen---not in this world at least---because too many of us, including me, still give power and authority in our daily lives to the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Each moment of each day you have two choices. You can choose to live mindfully, or you can choose to live mindlessly. You can live with awareness, and be aware that you are aware---or you can live unawares. The choice is yours---and yours alone. To use the metaphorical language of the Bible, you can choose to eat of the fruit of the forbidden tree---that is, the tree of knowledge of good and evil---in which case you create for yourself a false reality of ‘self’ and bondage to self, or you can choose to eat of the tree of life. God is the tree of life, God is life, and that life is your life and my life---right now! There is no other life. There is only life. Affirm that fact---and mindfully live it!

Yes, God---that is, life---sets before you in each new moment of each day both ‘life and death, blessing and cursing.’ The message of the Bible, indeed that of all sacred literature and ancient wisdom is this---choose life, that you may live (Deut 30:19).

SEND FORTH YOUR WORD---AND IT SHALL BE DONE

Have you heard of New Thought? It's a self-help movement, and a way of constructive thinking and living. Now, don't get me wrong. I have both feet firmly planted on the ground---well, most of the time---so I am not really into New Age thinking, prosperity consciousness, and the like. However, I have had a long and happy association with a couple of churches that emphasize a metaphysical approach to life and which construe and interpret sacred scripture, not literally, but allegorically and symbolically.

The truth is that all sacred scripture and mythology is written in figurative and symbolical language. Take the Bible, for instance. It's all about you---indeed, every person---and your journey through life. It's all about how you can use your mind to your greatest advantage as well as to the advantage of others. One of the greatest New Thought ministers of all time, Dr Emmet Fox, wrote,  'I wish that every Bible had printed on the cover, “This means ME,” because everything in the Bible is a study in human psychology and metaphysics.' Ditto the Quran and all other sacred books.

In recent times a number of books have been written that espouse the almost heretical view that positive thinking is not the way to go. Rather, we should engage in ‘realistic thinking.’ What these writers don’t seem to realize is that true positive thinking is realistic thinking. I repeat, positive thinking is realistic thinking. The fair dinkum positive thinker does not see the world through rose-colored glasses. No, he or she sees things as they really are, but simply refuses to give power to the negative. Some difficulties and problems in life are insoluble, but there is always a way of responding effectively to them, even if that sometimes means living with the difficulty or problem. Yes, despite what some New Thoughters have asserted, no amount of positive thinking will change some cold, hard facts, but it can nevertheless help you to rise above, or simply accept, the harsh side of life.

In short, I have never found it helpful to engage in negative thinking. As I see it, you can be both positive and realistic at the same time. I will, however, say this. Contrary to what my old spiritual mentor Dr Norman Vincent Peale (pictured above) used to preach, I no longer think it’s necessary to always substitute a positive thought for a negative thought that arises, and as soon as it arises, in consciousness. The regular practice of mindfulness has taught me that it is more often than not sufficient to simply observe and note the negative thought, but refuse to give it any more attention than that---and certainly no power over you. Observe, note, but don't dwell on the negative thought.

Now, when it comes to positive thinking, affirmations, creative visualization, and the like, the really important thing is this---there is nothing to believe 'in', but the act of belief, in and of itself, can be curative and otherwise beneficial. Indeed, without belief in your desire or vision, you will certainly fail. ‘For as you think in your heart [that is, mind], so are you’ (Prov 23:7). We need to rise above our problems and difficulties. Take this Bible verse: ‘And I, if I be lifted up from the earth [that is, the problem or difficulty], will draw all men [the various ‘elements’ that go to make up the solution to your problem or difficulty] unto me’ (Jn 12:32). This ‘lifting up’ takes place in your mind. Some refer to it as getting ‘altitude’ on your problem, others call it ‘expanded consciousness.’ It doesn’t really matter what you call it, it’s simply a reference to the creative process.

Here’s something else that is very important. Only felt thought---that is, believed thought---works. There must be a strong feeling-tone or emotional mood to your thought (that is, your desire, vision or intention) for it to 'work.' True, any thought always induces some feeling or emotion, but in order for your thoughts to be truly creative there must be a strong emotional tone to your thought. The thought must be felt as true if it is to impregnate your subconscious. More than that, thought and feeling must become one. You must feel 'at-one' with your thought. That giant of New Thought, Judge Thomas Troward (pictured left), said, ‘Feeling is the law [of mind] and the law is feeling, the law of perfect creativeness.’ In other words, no feeling, no result.

The 'Father of American Psychology' Professor William James [pictured below right] also understood the vital importance of feeling or emotion. He wrote, ‘Individuality is founded in feeling; and the recesses of feeling, the darker, blinder strata of character, are the only places in the world in which we catch real fact in the making, and directly perceive how events happen, and how work is actually done.’ Yes, it is feeling or emotion that impresses a desire, vision or intention onto the subconscious mind. Indeed, the desire, vision or intention always 'springs' from the feeling or emotion. In the words of the Rev Ike, 'The feeling gets the blessing!' However, it is not enough to simply want something very much. You must believe the object of your desire, vision or intention to be true. So, the thought must be both felt and believed to be true if there is to be any chance of its actualization.

 

Now, this is the real meaning of the Bible verse, 'I have laid up thy word [i.e. desire, vision or intention] in my heart [i.e. mind/especially subconscious mind]' (Ps 119:11). That is where the real power source is located. Then there's this verse---'let it be to me according to your word' (Lk 1:38). Thoughts are creative, and the thoughts we habitually entertain and cultivate  in our minds will to a very large degree determine what happens in our lives. Then there's this gem of wisdom---'by your words you will be justified [a positive or satisfactory outcome], and by your words you will be condemned [a negative or unsatisfactory outcome]' (Mt 12:37). We create our own heaven or hell by our thoughts and mental attitudes, so 'choose whom you will serve' (Josh 24:14). Now, this is one of my favorite verses: ‘he sent forth his word, and healed them, and delivered them from destruction’ (Ps 107:20). All of these verses are about you. You see, the term 'word', when used in the Bible, refers to your inner speech, more particularly, thought with feeling, felt thought, believed thought, awareness, conviction, consciousness, and even mindfulness. After all, a word is simply an articulated thought, whether expressed exteriorly or interiorly.

Here’s another very important word in sacred scripture---‘water’ (or ‘waters’). ‘And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters’ (Gen 1:2). Interpreted metaphysically, this verse of the Bible refers to ‘spirit’---that is, your creative word (namely, felt thought or feeling) passing through your consciousness (‘waters’) and bringing your desire, vision or intention into manifestation. It is the creative process of mind dynamics---working in your mind. In the same way as the Spirit of God is said to have brought the entire world into existence through intention, so we are able to create desired experience in our own lives through our own individualized intentions. The same, single 'logic' (that is, law or principle) applies to all things.

We are because God (Life) is. So, there is one way of being, with thought being creative according to the nature, impulse, emotion, intention, and conviction behind the thought. Now, the Bible says that ‘the words of a person’s mouth [mind] are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook’ (Prov 18:4), and ‘there is a river, the streams of which shall make glad the city of God’ (Ps 46:4). The reference to ‘deep waters’ is a reference to consciousness, in particular, the depths of your mind, especially your subconscious mind, and the term ‘city of God’ refers to a sound mind or state of consciousness.

Having created a positive mental attitude for yourself. live, move, and act in that mental atmosphere as if (the 'act as if' principle of William James [pictured right]) your desire or ideal were already a fact. 'Believe that you have received, and you shall receive' (cf Mk 11:24), says the Bible. And, when it comes to affirmations, here’s a useful Bible verse: ‘Let the weak say, I am strong’ (Joel 3:10).

One more verse from the Bible---'Even the Lord is in the midst of you; you shall not see evil any more' (Zep 3:15). New Thought teaches that there is only one creative Power and Presence active in the world and in our lives. That Power and Presence is the very ground of Be-ing Itself---the All-in-All ... in all things, as all things. The Power and Presence is God (the Good)---and you can use it! Whatever comes to you will be in accordance with your consciousness. So, take charge of your thoughts---and use them wisely.

The Bible verses to which I have referred are misinterpreted by many preachers, especially traditional Christian ones. As I've already mentioned, the Bible is a psychological and metaphysical textbook when properly understood. Of course, you have to study and work hard as well. Positive thinking is never enough on its own. However, without a strong positive mental attitude, you are doomed to fail.

So, send forth your word---and it shall be done for you. The important thing is to accept the ‘it’ … whatever it may be.

NEW THOUGHT---BUDDHIST STYLE

DEDICATION

This blog is lovingly dedicated to the memory of
H Geo Paul (1902-2002)
[pictured below]

whose thoughts were
forever new.

Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny. 

                           - Frank Outlaw, attrib.

One of the most important religious movements in the United States of America in the 20th century was the non-creedal and very liberal New Thought movement, which developed throughout the United States and, shortly thereafter, Great Britain towards the end of the 19th century in the form of a revival of Neoplatonism.

'New Thought' is not to be confused with the 'New Age' movement, with which it has some features in common. (I have a fair bit of respect for New Thought because it has a strong, solid philosophical underpinning. I have almost total disrespect for the New Age movement because it contains so much irrational silliness and superstition. Some of its silliness is little better, and may even be worse, than that of traditional religion.) 

Now, the term 'New Thought' came into vogue in 1895 and was used as the title of a magazine published for a time in Melrose MA to describe a 'new thought' about life. Finding the space for ‘alternative religion’ the New Thought movement was particularly strong in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s and had an enormous influence on religion and religious thinking in the United States. Indeed, there are still lots of New Thought churches and centres in many countries including Australia. (I was for a time a chaplain and the president of a Unity centre in metropolitan Sydney and I have also been a member of other New Thought groups.)

New Thought, which has no creed or dogma, has been defined by one of its leading exponents Dr Ernest Holmes (a Divine Science minister and the founder of Religious Science) as ‘a system of thought which affirms the unity of God with man, the perfection of all life, and the immortality and eternity of the individual soul forever expanding.’ New Thought constantly re-invents itself, thus remaining forever 'new,' even if its message remains substantially the same. New Thought author and attorney Abel Leighton Allen had this to say in his book The Message of New Thought:

New Thought is not, as many believe, a name or expression employed to define any fixed system of thought, philosophy, or religion, but is a term used to convey the idea of growing or developing thought. In considering this subject, the word 'New' should be duly and freely emphasized, because the expression 'New Thought' relates only to what is new and progressive.

Even those who are not familiar with the words 'New Thought' or the 'New Thought Movement' as such have generally had some exposure to its ideas and teachings in one form or another. Recent bestselling books such as The Secret [also a DVD] and The Power, as well as the continued popularity of self-help authors and personalities such as Louise Hay and Dr Wayne Dyer, prove that there is still quite a strong interest in the ideas promulgated by the ‘New Thoughters.’ Yes, there is something eternal in the thought, 'What we think, we become [or are]' (cf Prov 23:7). Even actor Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher offers us some New Thought wisdom (more-or-less the words set out above attributed to Frank Outlaw) in the recent film The Iron Lady:

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Unitarian and Transcendentalist, who wrote, 'A man is what he thinks all day long,' is regarded by many as the spiritual father of New Thought, although the roots of New Thought go way back to Buddha and Plato. (It was the latter who said, 'Take charge of your thoughts. You can do what you will with them.' I will get back to the Buddha later on.) Actually, New Thought is as old as humanity. In the words of New Thought poet Ella Wheeler Wilcox, ‘This is the "new" religion; yet it is older than the universe. It is God's own thought put into practical form.’

Idealism asserts that everything exists in or to minds ... or as 'Mind.' New Thought, at least in most of its incarnations, is a form of what is known as 'objective idealism.' The latter postulates the existence of an objective world (so-called ‘matter’) but which is mental (that is, non-materialistic). Unlike ‘subjective idealism,’ objective idealism asserts that the objective world is independent of the human knower, because it belongs (for want of a better word) to one Absolute Mind (‘Mind’), the absolute knower. All individual minds are simply manifestations of the one 'Master Mind.' In the words of Ernest Holmes, 'Man lives in a mind that presses in upon him from all sides with infinite possibilities, with infinite creative power.' That being the case, says Holmes, 'To think is to create.' (New Thoughters assert that 'the Word' (in the form of our thoughts and images) is always 'made flesh' (that is, made manifest in our daily lives) [cf Jn 1:14].)

The system of religious thought known as Christian Science  – which has a fair bit in common with New Thought (having a more-or-less common origin) – is a form of subjective idealism. Most of the New Thought denominations and systems of thought have their philosophical underpinning in objective idealism. 

However, if any one person may be said to have been the founder of the movement it was Phineas P Quimby (pictured left), a Maine clockmaker, inventor and hypnotist. Yes, Quimby is generally recognized as the ‘Father of New Thought.’

Known as a metaphysical healer, Quimby's experiences and practices of mental healing were the real beginnings of and foundation for New Thought. Perhaps even more importantly, Quimby was, in the words of the nondenominational New Thought minister and renowned Quimby scholar Dr Ervin Seale, 'the modern world's first true psychoanalyst.'

Some 150 years ago Quimby, who was not a formally educated man, taught that 'the explanation is the cure,' and he demonstrated that the human body moves as it is moved upon by the mind. That is, the body acts as it is acted upon, and becomes, in effect, a mirror of one's mind – a most important discovery. Quimby's system of healing was, at least in part, a metaphysical form of insight-oriented psychotherapy (together with autosuggestion), and he paved the way for the whole field of modern psychosomatic medicine.

As a sidelight, Quimby used the phrase ‘Christian Science’ as early as 1863. In fact, a Presbyterian minister by the name of William Adams had previously used the term ‘Christian Science’ before Quimby in his book The Elements of Christian Science (1st ed, 1850; later ed, 1857). Mary Baker Eddy [pictured right] (of Christian Science fame) claimed to have ‘discovered’ Christian Science in 1866---by a strange coincidence less than a month after Quimby's death. The matter went to the courts, the suit being won by Eddy but only because Quimby’s son George would not permit what were later published as The Quimby Manuscripts to be taken to court because the other party to the proceedings (a former student of Eddy’s) was impecunious. However, when the Quimby manuscripts were eventually published it became perfectly clear – to almost everyone except Christian Scientists – that Eddy not only got all of her essential ideas from Quimby (a 'very unlearned man,' in her later revised assessment of the man) she was also guilty of ... (gulp) plagiarism. Eddy also copied extensively from the writings of the German idealist philosopher Hegel. In fact, in the 1875 edition of Eddy's Science and Health there are 33 pages verbatim and 100 pages in substance from Dr Francis Leiber's manuscript entitled ‘The Metaphysical Religion of Hegel’ (written in November 1865, and copied in April 1866) to which Eddy had access.

Consistent with their peculiar system of mental practice, adherents of Christian Science simply refuse to accept as reality the objective truth of the foregoing, for even to speculate about the matters---the bona fides of Mrs Eddy and the authenticity of Science and Health---would be to attribute to 'error' an authority which, for Christian Scientists, it does not actually possess. Know this. Christian Science is dying, but its followers, not believing in death, will never admit it---at least not publicly. However, more than a few of them have acknowledged it privately to me in conversations I've had with them about their system of healing and their Church. That reminds me of a joke of sorts ...

The First Reader in a Christian Science church was talking to a member of his church. ‘And how is your husband today?’ ‘I'm afraid he's very ill.’ ‘No, no,’ corrected the First Reader, ‘You really shouldn't say that - you should say that he's under the impression that he's very ill.’ The woman nods in agreement, ‘Yes, I'll remember next time.’ A few weeks later the First Reader saw the woman again. ‘And how is your husband at the moment?’ ‘Well’, she replied, ‘he's under the impression that he's dead.’

All jokes aside, there is a very real connection between Mrs Eddy (whose wise admonition to 'stand porter at the door of thought' is worth remembering forever) and the New Thought movement in that much of New Thought filtered down through Eddy by reason that one of her former pupils, Emma Curtis Hopkins [pictured left] (known as the ‘Teacher of Teachers’), after breaking from Eddy, then transmitted her ideas and methods to certain students who would later become the founders (and 'teachers') of all of the major New Thought denominations, centres and schools. Hopkins wrote, 'When we are spiritual, we do not try to bring great things to pass, yet they come to pass. The most wonderful achievements of mankind have been brought to pass by confidence in some wonder-working unseen power.'

New Thought affirms the 'original goodness' of human beings as opposed to the traditional Christian ideas of 'original sin' and 'total depravity.' Yes, each one of us is the 'Son,' or the manifestation of God, and as God is All-Good, we cannot be otherwise. New Thought also affirms that the mental conditions ('state of Mind') always precedes the material order. Heaven, then earth. 'Mind before matter.' That is said to be the 'Law of the Universe' ... a universe founded by Divine Intelligence upon Principle (Law, Order and System) ... and the Divine Life is the power and energy that sustains and maintains the universe's boundless, amazing operation.

I love these words of Dr Ernest Holmes: 'There is a Power for Good in the Universe greater than you are and you can use it!' He would say those words in every one of his radio and TV broadcasts. For me, those words capture the essence and wonder of New Thought. The 'power for good' is a 'power-not-oneself' ... and it is a power which makes all things new! Here is a YouTube video of Dr Ernest Holmes taken from a 1956 episode of his program This Thing Called Life:

New Thought is not so much an organization as it is a point of view. As such, New Thought is a practically oriented metaphysical spirituality that promotes fullness of all aspects of living, through constructive thinking, meditation and various other ways of practising or realizing the presence of God, whilst affirming the possibility of curing disease by purely mental means. (Unlike Christian Science, New Thought does not renounce the very existence of disease. Also, whereas Christian Science has a central authority and is absolute in doctrinal form, New Thought has no central authority and is of a free and individualistic spirit.)

As respects the idea of ‘God,’ H Emilie Cady (pictured right), a Unity writer and teacher of great renown, writes:

God is not a being or person having life, intelligence, love, power.  God is that invisible, intangible, but very real, something we call life. God is perfect love and infinite power. God is the total of these, the total of all good, whether manifested or unexpressed.

Then there's this. Unity cofounder Charles Fillmore said, 'God is the silent voice that speaks into visibility all the life there is.' Well, I don’t know about you, but these ideas certainly make a lot more sense to me than the traditional theism of the three major Abrahamic religions. As mentioned, New Thought has no creed, but if it had one, it would be this: 'There is only One Presence and One Power active in the universe and in my life – God, the Good, Omnipotent.' Powerful words ... with life-changing power!

Now, the essence of mindfulness is stay fully awake and fully present from one moment to the next. New Thought (Divine Science) minister, Dr Joseph Murphy (pictured left), saw God as the ‘Eternal Now’ – a concept which I find very appealing. Another famous New Thought (also Divine Science) minister, Dr Emmet Fox, referred to that loving and strengthening Presence as the ‘All-ness of God.’ Again, that makes sense to me, as does the idea that each one of us – indeed, every thing – is a channel of Divine expression. There is only Life, and all things are interconnected parts of Life's Self-Expression. Yes, New Thought affirms the unity of all life.

Call it what you will, there is only One Presence, and that Presence is forever manifesting itself as your life experience. So, the action of the present moment, from one moment to the next, is the very Ground of Being in which we all life and move and have our being (cf Acts 17:28). In addition, there is a 'Pattern' (or 'Divine Ideal') in every person – yes, hid in every man, woman and child – a Pattern woven in wisdom, its threads ages old, its life lying in the eternal. This Pattern is ... the 'Perfect Me.'

New Thought affirms the so-called ‘Law of Cause and Effect’ – that is, as we sow, so shall we reap (cf Gal:6:7) – and, in that regard, asserts that ‘thoughts are things’ which manifest as our experience. In the words of the great New Thought writer James Allen (As a Man Thinketh), 'Every thought you think is a force sent out.' Further, 'Mind is the arbiter of life; it is the creator and shaper of conditions, and the recipient of its own results.' Personally, I think that can be taken too far. I would like very much to think that we are made or unmade entirely by ourselves, but I think the late Allen Saunders made a valid point when he (allegedly) said, 'Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans.' (Yes, John Lennon later wrote almost the very same words.)

In other words, despite what New Thoughters assert, our 'environment' is not entirely – or even substantially – of our own making. Bad things still happen ... even to the 'best' New Thoughters. Take, for example, the Divine Science minister, teacher, international lecturer and writer Dr Harry Gaze (pictured right). Now, Dr Gaze had written a book called How to Live Forever, which states, 'There's no mystery about long life in the flesh – only ignorance.' Well, Dr Gaze lectured frequently on his favourite subject – that is, living forever. The apocryphal story concerning Dr Gaze's passing goes something like this. In 1959 he agreed to give two lectures on physical immortality at Robert H Bitzer's Hollywood Church of Religious Science. He didn’t show up for the second lecture. The attendees were all waiting and wondering where their esteemed lecturer was. Unfortunately, there had been a motor vehicle accident, and Dr Gaze, who had been a passenger en route to the church, would die in the aftermath of that accident. He never gave that second lecture. Quite ironic ... but still very sad. 

The true position is slightly different, but not that much different. So far as I can ascertain, Dr Gaze's last talks at the Church were on Sunday, August 30, 1959 (on the topic of 'Living Youthfully Forever') and Sunday, September 6, 1959 (on the topic of 'Concentration, Meditation and the Silence'). At the time of the automobile accident on October 25, 1959 -- he died on November 4, 1959 as a result of the injuries he had sustained -- he was being driven to the Church where he was to talk on the subject of 'Mind--Medicine and Spiritual Vitamins'. His talk had been advertised in the Los Angeles Times the day before, but it never took place. Despite the sad circumstances of Dr Gaze's passing, I do not disagree with this statement from his book How to Live Forever:

'Given proper care in the proper environment and the body should maintain perpetual youth. There's no mystery about long life in the flesh -- only ignorance.' 

No matter what happens to us, we are still the sovereign of our own thoughts, and we can control our thoughts. Further, our thoughts need not control us. Also, I agree with the old Oriental maxim, 'What we think upon grows.' In other words, it is, in the words of James Allen, 'in the nature of mind to create its own conditions, and to choose the states in which it shall dwell.' Yes, we are powerless over much that happens to us in life ... but we can still choose our mental states. Never forget that!

Now, I embrace what I refer to as ‘Buddhist New Thought.’ New Thought is an idealism. Buddhism is realism. I think you need both. At its cheery best (or worst), New Thought has an air of unreality about it. When I read something to the effect that evil, sickness and disease 'have no reality in Ultimate Reality' or 'have no reality, in reality, but have an existence in unreality' (the latter being the choice words of the English New Thoughter and mystic Henry Thomas Hamblin), I cringe---indeed, I despair---and I am reminded of what Shopenhauer thought of optimism – 'not merely absurd, but also [a] bitter mockery of the unspeakable suffering of humanity.' Hmmm. At least Shakyamuni Buddha recognised, as the very First Noble Truth, that unsatisfactoriness (or suffering) is part - and often a very big part - of our lives. New Thought has one foot on the ground. Christian Science has none. It can't even admit the real existence of ground ... or feet!

What, you may ask, is ‘Buddhist New Thought’? Well, the Buddha was quite a New Thoughter himself---perhaps its first leading exponent and apologist. He said, 'We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make our world.' (Very much New Thought!) More specifically, the Buddha also said this:

Whatever suffering arises

Has a reaction as its cause.

If all reactions cease to be

Then there is no more suffering.

It’s like this. We experience a ‘sensation,’ which may be physical or mental. If we react to that sensation with ‘liking’ or ‘disliking’ – that is, with craving, attachment or aversion – that is karma. The word karma means 'action' – in this case, mental action in the form of a mindless, involuntary reaction to some input. The result? Pain, suffering or distress. However, if, on the other hand, we simply allow ourselves to be dispassionately and choicelessly aware of the sensation, then there is no ‘cause’ to produce any pain, suffering or distress. In other words, no reaction, no cause … and no effect. 'Like attracts like.'

So, Buddhism takes the cause-and-effect process back one step earlier. In traditional metaphysics (especially New Thought), the primary emphasis is on avoiding negative thinking and the like. In that regard, it is asserted by New Thoughters that as negative thoughts lead to negative results, so positive thoughts will inevitably lead to positive results – an obvious but debatable proposition. However, if we go back a step, and when something happens we simply do not allow a reaction (eg disliking) to arise in the first place – in other words, we simply let the sensation (input) be – then there will be no opportunity for any negative thought to arise at all.

That is the way the so-called 'law' of karma really works ... and Buddhism makes that very clear. That is the way to mindfully ‘work’ the Law of Cause and Effect (or 'sowing and reaping').

I call this system of thought and practice ‘Buddhist New Thought,’ but the same basic ideas can be found in 'mainstream' New Thought as well as in other spiritual and metaphysical philosophies. This, in the words of James Allen, is the truly important thing: 'Put away self-delusion; behold yourself as you are.' Both Buddhism and New Thought teach that happiness inheres in right conditions of mind, and unhappiness springs from a wrong condition of mind.

The 'good news' is that if you are painstaking about 'working' this system of mental cultivation you can, by virtue of your buddha nature (or innate potential), achieve enlightenment in this very lifetime.

Now, that is a 'new thought' ... even if it's not all that new.


P.S. For those who may be interested, there is a Japanese New Thought organisation Seicho-No-Ie, which has drawn from New Thought, Christianity, Buddhism and Shintoism. Here is its website. New Thought ideas and teachings (along with numerous other ideas from the above mentioned religions as well as elements of Theosophy) can also be found in the Happy Science movement which has also come out of Japan in recent years. Here is its Oceania website. IEJ.

Ernest Holmes Video Courtesy of United Centers for Spiritual Living
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