“...the spark which a man may desecrate but never quite lose.”

Ernest Holmes wrote, "Every problem is primarily mental..."

I am not advocating we bring out the Paxil or Lithium...nor the therapist or analyst - though they all have their place. Today, I encourage you to use that Divine Spark that has already been embedded in you.

That spark which is:

1) Within...deeper than your DNA

2) Within…seeped in the ribosomes of every cell

3) Within…enveloping your every molecule

4) Within…supporting every atom floating around inside you

5) Within…enriching every electron and proton that makes you - You

You use it in the morning, you use it in the night;

You use it whether you know it or not,

Ever heard of it or not.

Or conscious of its might.

You may use it to desecrate

or consecrate your life.

But you shall never, ever, no matter the date,

lose it or be out of its sight.

It is that mental power that is present in each and every one of us -

every day, every time and everywhere. It is:

The Power of Belief

Inspiring such phrases as: "thoughts become things" or "what you can conceive and believe you can achieve", it informs the …

Law of Cause and Effect

v. an impersonal Universal Spiritual Law

that takes the culmination of your thoughts,

what you believe about a given situation or condition,

and manifests, into your experience,

that which mirrors or equals the quality of that belief.

… what flavor of experiences to bring into your life.

Get It?

THOUGHTS BECOME THINGS

So what should I do with this Power?

Dr. Holmes finished the sentence that began this article, “Every problem is primarily mental...” with the following:

“...and the answer to all problems will be found in Spiritual Realizations.” These Spiritual Realizations lay awaiting in your Mind in the exact place where that Power resides.

IN YOUR MIND

So how do I get to those Spiritual Realizations?

1) remove your bloated nothingness out of the way [thank you Emerson]

2) take the bs [yes, that bs] out of your BS [Belief System] and

3) use that Divine Spark…

consciously, consistently, specifically and with immediate clarity

…to change your thinking and believing into the most constructive, life-affirming and prosperous ways you possibly can.

But what if I need assistance or I can't quite get one of those elements above quite right?

Then get ye to a Licensed Practitioner. He or she is trained to focus in on the bs in your BS and know the Truth about it. They are:

Consciousness on Demand

And please remember:

They are not there to counsel you or perform miracles or feats of magic

- though that may seem to happen.

They are only there to know the Truth about you.

And with your receptivity to their clarity, the healing occurs.

The practitioner of Mental Science (which means you, too) will facilitate the transforming of the dis-eases of the pocketbook, body, workplace, relationships and spirit into the eases of health, wealth, career and relationships....in other words:

the joys in our lives.

Unlike other forms of treatment, you will notice there is no need for extraneous effort. You need not compel, will, or strong-arm the Universe. This treatment uses no pills, usually no couches, and very little Kleenex. Just calmly, expectantly, and fearlessly know, with a conscious recognition and deep inner conviction, that whatever it is that you need to know, you know and believe is so.

There is no lying, pretending, or faking, only:

1) knowledge, belief, faith in your Divine Power - your God-given resource

2) feeling the embodiment of your requirements - what it is you desire

3) complete connection with the One Mind (i.e. God, Spirit, Love, Light, the Universe, Brahma, Buddha, Jesus, Mother, Father, It, Krishna, Allah, Fred ...)

As it is said:

Change your thoughts, change your life.

Now...

If you don't see results as soon as you like, keep working on it....

IN MIND:

Treat

Use affirmative prayer

Meditate

Vision

Live 'as is'

Talk things through with a minister, counselor or a therapist

Go to the Licensed Practitioner again and get clarity on other beliefs

Belief changing can happen in a moment, day, week or more…

...or less

BUT NEVER FORGET

YOU ARE PERFECT NOW

YOU ARE POWERFUL NOW

(that's the Truth, whether you feel it or not)

THE YUCKY STUFF THAT YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT WHICH SUCK AND ARE STILL MANIFESTING INTO THE FACTS OF YOUR LIFE, ARE EXACTLY THAT...

JUST THE FACTS MA'AM

JUST THE FACTS

(powerful as they may seem)

THEY ARE JUST THE FACTS

Thus treating the Mind to a new set of thoughts, feelings and beliefs will counteract the power of any previous thoughts and beliefs that brought the crappy/yucky stuff, the stuff that does not serve your greatest good, into your life...

And in doing so...

TREATING THE MIND

…you will logically convince yourself of the Truth:

YOU ARE PERFECT NOW

YOU ARE POWERFUL NOW

as being the only Presence in your life...

...turning that into a belief which that Law (of Cause and Effect, remember?) will then generate into experiences equal to your greatest GOOD.

WHAT YOU EMBODY IN MIND

IS WHAT WILL PREVAIL IN EXPERIENCE

Life is a mirror

and will reflect back into the thinker

what he thinks into it.

Ernest Holmes

I encourage you to embody those thoughts that serve your greatest good with feeling! The Universe will correspond with experiences equal to that belief.

This is not just spiritual talk, positive thinking, religion, or some rose-colored- glasses philosophy; it is science, quantum physics - proven anecdotally, experientially and in the laboratories of our greatest physicists. (see The Divine Matrix by Gregg Braden or The Biology of Belief by Bruce Lipton Ph.D.)

THINK IT...FEEL IT...BELIEVE IT...LIVE IT

Zooom!

Namaste

Katy Perry - Firework

Do you ever feel like a plastic bag
Drifting through the wind
Wanting to start again

Do you ever feel, feel so paper thin
Like a house of cards
One blow from caving in

Do you ever feel already buried deep
Six feet under scream
But no one seems to hear a thing

Do you know that there's still a chance for you
Cause there's a spark in you

You just gotta ignite the light
And let it shine
Just own the night
Like the Fourth of July

Cause baby you're a firework
Come on show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby you're a firework
Come on let your colors burst
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"
You're gonna leave 'em fallin' down-own-own

You don't have to feel like a waste of space
You're original, cannot be replaced
If you only knew what the future holds
After a hurricane comes a rainbow

Maybe you're reason why all the doors are closed
So you could open one that leads you to the perfect road

Like a lightning bolt, your heart will blow
And when it's time, you'll know

You just gotta ignite the light
And let it shine
Just own the night
Like the Fourth of July

Cause baby you're a firework
Come on show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby you're a firework
Come on let your colors burst
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"
You're gonna leave 'em all in awe-awe-awe"


Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
It's always been inside of you, you, you
And now it's time to let it through

Cause baby you're a firework
Come on show 'em what your worth
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y

Baby you're a firework
Come on let your colors burst
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"
You're gonna leave 'em all in awe-awe-awe

Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon

as sung by Katy Perry

written by:

Katy Perry, Mikkel S. Eriksen, Tor Erik Hermansen,

Sandy Wilhelm, Ester Dean

Produced by:
Stargate and Sandy Vee

Official music video for Katy Perry's "Firework"

off her album 'Teenage Dream'.

Director: Dave Meyers.

Producers: Robert Bray & Danny Lockwood

Planned Obsolesence

Is it a New Thought or just Ancient Wisdom in modern dress - The Conclusion

Conclusion

Humanity is going to need a substantially new way of thinking if it is to survive![1]

So now we have come to the point of answering the query posed: Is it a New Thought or just Ancient Wisdom in modern dress? And the answer must be yes ... and no.

Yes, it is new: New Thought gathered what had been scattered, brought order from what was chaos, and codified what had been described for millennia by various sects, parties, movements and religions as the Truth – all to bring at-one-ment to the world without the riddles, secrets, mysteries, prejudices, or tales that have too many times confused, confounded, and damaged the spirits and lives of Humanity and, ultimately, the rest of Nature on this planet. New Thought is the culmination, the best practices, you might say, of Ancient Wisdom.

And no, it is not new: New Thought, much like our relationship to God, is an individualization of what we may call Ancient Wisdom. The Truth about how the Universe works, though Ancient, is always reNEWed. Since we live within a creative energy, creating individualizations of Itself to use a creative medium to live a Life of Good, it is an always emerging and evolving journey, always a Now proposition.

This distinction between new and old matters, and orients us within our learning – and it also matters not at all. I believe there never was a secret and the answer was and is always here, not kept from us. This Truth, this Divine Intelligence and Power were never hidden from us – except by ourselves – and have always been available. How we discover (or remember) the Truth and embody it, live by and through it and Be it, consciously and consistently, is the challenge of the ages, old and new. The Universe calls, listens, and answers, but as long as generations refuse to hear and hold on to this Truth, they are destined to require a “new” way to learn to use that which was given at birth. The Over-Soul, as Emerson called it, that Thing Itself which we are in unity with, individualizing and personalizing as the various forms of beings in existence, acts through Love and Law, to have us be Self-Reliant, as Emerson said, and use a Creative Process, as Troward described, to apply a Science of Mind and Mental Healing, the focus of Quimby and Hopkins, for a “life triumphant over loss, pain, sickness, poverty, sin, and [yes, even] death, and the joy that comes from living the Christ [Consciousness] Life.”

New Thought is the best of Ancient Wisdoms spoken in a modern way. It is the truth of truths of how the Universe works, why we are in it and how to be in it for a fulfilling life. The major influences of the influencers – Emerson, Troward, Quimby and Hopkins – were the “ancient” and the not so ancient thinkers that preceded them. Their writings inspired New Thought’s influencers to come up with their individualized version of an amalgamation of the Truths from Eastern and Western philosophies and traditions. It is a New Thought because of these amalgamations of the Ancient Wisdoms into modern verbiage. And yet we must always stay open to optimization by allowing a continuous revealing of this Absolute through current socio-political-cultural rhythms and needs. When the student is ready, the Teacher arrives.

---

[1] Albert Einstein

[2] High Mysticism, Emma Curtis Hopkins

Is it a New Thought or just Ancient Wisdom in modern clothing - Part Six

Emma Curtis Hopkins: Teacher of Teachers

Sell all, let all move aside – let go, and give to the one Poor, the Unencumbered First Cause, the Unknowable Absolute, the Unhindered God, the Unweighted I AM, the Predicateless Being. This is the universal insistence of inspired mystics. We have only one thing to give, namely, our attention.[1]

This Scientific Christian, also called an “inspired mystic,” “the mother of New Thought,” and “New Thought’s forgotten founder”[2] was an “ardent feminist who believed in the goodness and innate spirituality in women … ordained [over] 111 of her advanced graduates (male and female) … [and] another 350 or more … as healing practitioners”[3] at the Emma Hopkins College of Metaphysical Science in Chicago, Illinois. Among her students were many who later became prominent teachers and leaders within the New Thought movement, including Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, H. Emilie Cady, Frances Lord,[4] Annie Rix-Militz,[5] Malinda E. Cramer, New Thought poetess Ella Wheeler Wilcox, New Thought publisher Elizabeth Towne and, considerably later, Ernest Holmes. She was born Josephine Emma Curtis in Killingly, Connecticut, in 1849 to Rufus Curtis[6] and Lydia Phillips Curtis.[7] She married George Irving Hopkins[8] on July 19, 1874. Their son, John Carver, was born in 1875 and died in 1905. Proving her “teacher of teachers” status was entrenched in her DNA, at fifteen years old she entered Woodstock Academy (Connecticut) as a student and because of her genius was soon given a place on the faculty. Little else is known about her younger years, except she had studied and was well versed in many of the great religions of the world and the Greek scholars; even learning Greek so she would not need a translator. So it is here that we will jump to the year 1883 when, at 34, she met Mary Baker Eddy.

After hearing Eddy speak, Emma wrote her saying, “I want to tell you that the beautiful theory you advanced has taken … so firm a hold of my heart … I am now anxious to learn more of the science … directly from your own lips.” Thus began a not quite two year journey into Mary Baker Eddy’s teachings of Christian Science, and a continued study into mental healing,[9] where she became a practitioner in the organization and the editor of the Christian Science Journal. In a rift that was exacerbated by Eddy’s “closed at the top”[10] leadership style – including the claim that Christian Science came to her in a personal revelation - and Emma’s writings on ancient religious philosophy in the Journal, a huge no-no to Mrs. Eddy, these two titans of Thought Science clashed. Emma was kicked out of the organization. When asked about Emma’s claim that Mrs. Eddy teaches mesmerism, Mrs. Eddy claimed Emma “is not qualified to teach Christian Science and is incapable of teaching it.” [11] However, Reverend Marge Flotron[12] had this to say about Emma’s abilities:

When she left Christian Science, Mrs. Hopkins left with a greater and grander view of Truth teachings of the Christ than either Quimby or Mary Baker Eddy had. She saw no separation between God and Man. She saw no two Powers, no duality – this is good and that is non-good. She did not see that. She gave us New Thought which is devoid of guilt complexes, of people developing guilt complexes, for she knew that the true teachings of God, through the Christ, lays no burden on Man and does set free. She said, “God is Good ... Good is God. There is only God; therefore, there is only Good, and there is no evil. There is nothing to fear; there is nothing to hate. There is no power to hurt; there is no matter with its laws.” In other words, matter has no Power: matter has no Law. We give matter power!

This understanding came through her never-ending dedication to the analysis and assemblage of the ideas of all the great teachings of the Greeks,[13] Egyptians[14], Spinoza[15], the Zend-Avesta[16] and others, and most noticeably empowered and entrenched in what she called, ‘the twelve doctrines of Jesus Christ’. These doctrines gave a solid foundation to what she called the Science of Life, Health, Strength, Support, Defense or Protection, Truth, Love, Substance, Intelligence, and Spirit[17], Science of Mind[18] and New Thought Movement[19] as described in her magnum opus, High Mysticism:

1. Repentance-The Silent Edict: “All the everlasting pages struck off by men under the white flames of inspiration, have been the result of knowing or unknowing obedience to the Soundless Mandate of the Lofty One inhabiting Eternity: “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.”[20]

2. Remission: “One who had been utterly set free from the might of the flesh and its death, rose, an untrammeled Being, and said, “Preach Remission.”[21] Preach the removal, the putting away of the consequences of the downward vision, which appear as evil, matter, lack, pain, decay.”

3. For-giveness: “I am for-given and governed by Thee alone, and I cannot sin, I cannot suffer for sin, nor fear sin, sickness or death.”

4. Faith: “Faith is man's El Shaddai[22], his risen recognition of himself as Jehovah Soul, seeing the mystery of Divine Obedience everywhere awaiting the kingly rise of his heaven-planted boldness to command, “I will not let Thee go except Thou bless me!”[23] “Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever.”[24]

5. Works: “It was practicing inborn authority over the Universal Servitor, when the wonderful Jesus cried … [and] Abraham was practicing inborn authority over the Invisible Servitor, when he said … [and] David was practicing innate authority over the Universal Obedience, when he said ... “When thou shalt make his Soul an offering . . . the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper.”[25] “For it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”[26]

6. Understanding: “This Sixth Study is a lesson in invocation...Whatsoever we desire we are invoking it, and sooner or later it arrives upon us. Let a man draw himself to himself, and leaving all else choose what he will, and so it shall be unto him...our own inspiration or inbreath of the Breath of Brahma.”

7-12. Ministry: “...recognition of the Angel of God's Presence as the original Self of every man, woman, child .....”Seek ye the Lord and his strength, Seek his face evermore,”[27] will not be a beautiful sentence on a page, but a living fact according to high science .... Practice of the Presence of the Most High, the Great Countenance of the Absolute, the Ain Soph,[28] caused Nahum the prophet to cry out [in 2:1], “Watch the way, make thy loins strong, fortify thy powers mightily!” For the loins do show strength by reason of high watch, and the “l Am Strength” is our giant truth .... Victor Hugo wrote about the mysteries because his hidden Self knew the mysteries as our hidden Self knows mysteries—Mysteries which we may tell forth as new music or new life comes to register on our outer forms; as everything we declare soon registers on our outer forms .... The Eleventh and Twelfth Lessons are the Eschatology[29] of the Mystical Science.”

Evolving from the Mental to the Mystical to the Absolute, she believed, similar to the first two steps of Treatment in Religious Science[30], “We train our realizations first, and then demonstrations follow.”

Whether reading her first book, Scientific Christian Mental Practice, or her other more than two-dozen works, every page is chock full of quotes from the Bible and the other sacred texts of the world, Eastern and Western. She sought to reveal the Truth that runs through all of them by illustrating her translations, interpretations and commentary on the subjects of the Divinity of Man and our ability to use this mystic ability for healing:

My god is working with me, for me, by me, and through me, to make me a living demonstration of the omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient good, in the form of health, prosperity, success, and wealth! There is a sure helper in every man, woman, and child, who will give you and I the desires of our heart, if we turn to no other source but the spirit. Now for you, who have been so good and true, and who have prayed and prayed ... Nothing seems to happen.

Get quiet.

Sit down.

Watch and wait . . .

There will come an hour when the tree of life will burst into flower and cast at your feet the most glorious shower of things far grander than you ever knew! Ye are above the wheel of matter and the net-work of mind. Ye are light of the world--free, flawless, immortal.[31]

---

[1] High Mysticism, Emma Curtis Hopkins, “Remission,” pg 31:6.

[2] New Thought’s Hidden History: Emma Curtis Hopkins, Forgotten Founder, J. Gordon Melton, Institute for the Study of American Religion (Santa Barbara, CA) – paper presented at the American Academy of Religion’s annual meeting in Boston, 1987. Emma brought a focus to the movement in 1886.

[3] Harley, Gail M. Emma Curtis Hopkins: Forgotten Founder of New Thought. 2002, Syracuse University Press

[4] Brought Christian Science to England and author of several books.

[5] Author and founder of Home of Truth, a New Thought spiritual community in Alameda, California. She was the professor of “Scripture Revelation” at the College.

[6] Successful dairy farmer, part time realtor, and Civil War hero (lost a leg in War).

[7] Emma’s mother (1828-1920) bore four children, three of whom died before the age of 13.

[8] A high school teacher who divorced Emma in 1900 claiming abandonment (they hadn’t lived together in 15 years).

[9] Mary Baker Eddy was once a patient of P. P. Quimby’s. Though she eventually disavowed his influence on her work, it is quite evident and has been proven that her beliefs were based on his work with her. We will not go into the facts of that here nor do we desire to belittle her contributions to Mental Science.

[10] References Ernest Holmes’ intention that we stay “open at the top” for revelation and the Divine Emergence of the teaching.

[11] Eddy, Mary Baker. Christian Science Journal, April 1887, “Questions Answered,” p. 25

[12] Rev. Marge Flotron at the INTA Congress in July 1989. She founded Ministry of Truth International, which was dedicated to keeping the works of Emma Curtis Hopkins alive and spreading the “Good word of God” through her books and teachings.

[13] For example, Plotinus and Porphyry.

[14] She knew that the Denials and Affirmations came out of the Egyptian teachings and that Moses’ "I AM THAT I AM" came out of the Egyptian Book of the Dead.

[15] Baruch Spinoza, later Benedict Spinoza, (1632 – 1677) was a Portuguese Dutch Jewish philosopher. In his magnum opus, Ethics, he opposed Descartes' mind–body dualism. He is considered to be one of Western philosophy's most important philosophers.

[16] Ancient Persian texts of Zarathustra of Zoroastrianism (600 BCE), which teaches there is one universal and transcendent God and that active participation in life through good thoughts, good words, and good deeds is necessary to ensure happiness and to keep chaos at bay.

[17] Emma Curtis Hopkins, Scientific Christian Mental Practice (Cornwall Brige, CT: High Watch Fellowship, 1958), p. 12.

[18] A term she uses within her books.

[19] A reason why she was considered the “forgotten founder” of the New Thought Movement.

[20] Isaiah 45:22

[21] Luke 4:18

[22] One of the Judaic names of God, translated as God Almighty.

[23] Genesis 32:26

[24] Matthew 6:13, also known as The Lord’s Prayer

[25] Isaiah 53:10

[26] Luke 12:32

[27] Psalm 105:4, 1 Chronicles 16:11

[28] Translated from the Hebrew as “no end,” “unending,” “there is no end,” or “Infinite;” it is the divine origin of all created existence

[29] A branch of theology concerned with the final events in the history of the world or of humankind.

[30] As defined by Ernest Holmes in The Science of Mind, it is “the time, process and method necessary to the changing of our thought.” Also described as an affirmative prayer.

[31] High Mysticism, Emma Curtis Hopkins, DeVorss & Company

Is it a New Thought or just Ancient Wisdom in modern clothing - Part Five

Thomas Troward: The Influencer

Far and away the ablest statement of philosophy I have met, beautiful in its sustained clearness of thought and style, a really classic statement.[1]

The final nineteen years of Thomas Troward[2] – Late Divisional Judge of the North Indian Punjab, Honorary Member of the Medico-Legal Society of New York, First Vice-President International New Thought Alliance, lecturer, painter, author, and father of six – was dedicated to writing and painting. His writings were a major influence on Ernest Holmes,[3] Frederick Bailes,[4] Joseph Murphy,[5] Emmet Fox,[6] and the Alcoholics Anonymous organization. Ernest Holmes said of Troward’s writing: “This is as near to my own thoughts as I shall ever come.” The two most famous of his writings were the “Edinburgh & Dore Lectures on Mental Science,”[7] and The Creative Process in the Individual.[8] Multi-lingual in English, Hindi and Hebrew, Troward was able to read many of the holy texts of the world in their original languages, especially the Bible[9] and Hindu scriptures. He was raised in Church of England and was a daily Bible reader from boyhood. Though his writings have a clear Christian bent at times and tend towards the scientific jargon of his time, the clear judicial weighing of evidence and logical manner he composes his words about the matters of Man’s Divinity and the Law of Cause and Effect, delivered through a Western-filtered intuitive oriental mysticism, accomplishes what he had envisioned he would do: develop a system of philosophy that gave peace of mind and the practical results of physical health and happiness to the individual.

His books quote Plato, Swedenborg and the Bible, illustrating his judicial logic from sources Buddhist, Hindu, of the Koran and Raja Yoga.[10] Like Emerson before him and many others after him, notably Ernest Holmes in The Science of Mind, Troward combined the Ancient Wisdom of the Orient and India with a Christian mysticism. He then placed a judicial robe around it and brought the concepts of The Unity of Spirit, The Subjective and Objective Mind, and The Law of Growth;[11] Principle is not bound by precedent[12]; The Divine Ideal,[13] The Personal Factor (Nature unaided fails), The Denouement of the Creative Process,[14] and The Hidden Power (the Power for Good in the Universe which is in each and every one of us)[15] to all. It is a life-affirming treatise on Love and Law, head and heart, the Divinity of Man and The Law of Cause and Effect – the very essence of New Thought.

---

[1] Troward, Thomas. The Edinburgh and Dore Lectures on Mental Science. 1904 & 1909, DeVorss & Co. edition, 1989. Back cover. From William James (1842-1910) who was a pioneering American Psychologist and philosopher trained as a medical doctor. He wrote influential books on the science of psychology and pragmatism.

[2] Born in Punjab, India of British parents who, at the age of 18, graduated from college with gold medal honors in literature and then decided to study Law. At age 22, he returned to India and took the difficult Indian Civil Service Examination. One of the subjects was metaphysics, and Troward surprised everyone with his answers because of their originality. He became an assistant commissioner and was quickly promoted to Divisional Judge in the Punjab, where he served for the next 25 years.

[3] He claimed that twenty five percent of The Science of Mind came from his studies of Troward.

[4] Dr. Bailes (1889-1970) served with Ernest Holmes as the Assistant Dean of the Science of Mind Institute, wrote five books, broadcast twice-weekly on the radio, and lead the largest Science of Mind church of his day.

[5] 1898-1981, Divine Science minister in Los Angeles (to 1300-1500 attendees), daily radio broadcaster and author of over two dozen books including the multi-million sellers The Power of Your Subconscious Mind.

[6] 1886-1951, popular Divine Science minister in New York, author of ten books, healer, mystic, knew Troward, became an important resource to those in the AA organization.

[7] Edinburgh Lectures given at Queen Street in 1904. Dore Lectures given at London’s Dore Art Gallery in 1909

[8] Originally published in 1915, DeVorss & Co. Edition, 1991

[9] His studies in the original Hebrew provided the foundation for his book, Bible Mystery and Bible Meaning.

[10] Primarily concerned with the mind and its relationship with the body. Swami Vivekananda described the process as follows: “When the mind has been trained to remain fixed on a certain internal or external location, there comes to it the power of flowing in an unbroken current, as it were, towards that point. This state is called dhyana. When one has so intensified the power of dhyana as to be able to reject the external part of perception and remain meditating only on the internal part, the meaning, that state is called Samadhi.”

[11] Troward, Thomas. The Edinburgh and Dore Lectures on Mental Science, 1904 & 1909

[12] Defined as “the working out of an idea to its logical conclusions in spite of the accumulated testimony of all past experience to the contrary ... “, Troward, Thomas. Creative Process in the Individual, “The Starting Point,” pg.1-2

[13] An Individuality which recognizes its Source...to open up itself a channel by which that Source can flow in uninterruptedly

[14] The Creative Process in the Individual, 1915

[15] The Hidden Power and Other Papers on Mental Science, 1921

Is it a New Thought or just Ancient Wisdom in modern clothing - Part Four

Phineas Parkhurst Quimby:

The Pioneer

He had a very inventive mind, and was always interested in mechanics, philosophy and scientific subjects. During his middle life, he invented several devices on which he obtained letters patent. He was very argumentative, and always wanted proof of anything, rather than an accepted opinion. Anything which could be demonstrated he was ready to accept; but he would combat what could not be proved with all his energy, rather than admit it as a truth.[1]

In order to study Dr. Quimby[2], considered either the father or founder of New Thought[3], we first must review a bit of the history of his prominent influence – Franz Mesmer.

Born in 1734, Mesmer was an Austrian physician practicing in Paris. He believed that when the ebb and flow of the fluid within a human organism was disturbed through being out of harmony with the universal rhythm, a mental or nervous illness could result.[4] Using conventional methods along with the placing of magnets and lodestones onto the affected area of the patient’s body, Mesmer was able to effect remarkable symptomatic relief. He called it magnetism.[5] He later discovered that the same effect occurred when using any other object during the sessions, changing his views and calling it “animal magnetism,” a force that comes from the healer[6]. For many years, he continued curing patients to fame and fortune and quite a bit of ire from the more orthodox medical practitioners.

In 1777, during his military adventures in the U. S. Revolutionary War, The Marquis de Lafayette,[7] one of Mesmer’s fans, mentioned this healing method to George Washington. In 1784 Louis XVI established a committee of some the most famous doctors and naturalists of the time, including Antoine Lavoisier[8] and Benjamin Franklin, to investigate the feasibility of magnetic phenomena. Despite the fact that the committee conducted its research with a disciple of Mesmer’s, and not Mesmer himself, they reached the conclusion that the magnetic rays were nonexistent and any beneficial results from such treatment was due to self-suggestion. They also concluded that magnetic treatment was especially dangerous for women since it might destroy their inhibitions. With his reputation destroyed, Mesmer left Paris for London to start up his practice again. Failing there too, he moved to Switzerland, where he died in obscurity in 1815.

Returning to early 19^th century America, we find the young Phineas Parkhurst Quimby had cured his own pulmonary tuberculosis by filling his days with intense excitement that “took possession of my senses” and outdoor physical activity, such as carriage rides and running. This event prompted his interest in the mind’s ability to affect the body.

Though not schooled formally, Quimby was a successful watch- and clock-maker, and holder of several mechanical patents. An avid reader with an extraordinarily inquisitive, perceptive, and inventive mind, this interest in self-healing led him, years later in 1836, to a public demonstration of mesmerism by Charles Poyen St. Sauveur, a French disciple of Mesmer. According to Quimby’s son, “it is not strange that … Quimby should feel deeply interested in the subject. Here was a new, to him at least, phenomenon; and he at once began to investigate the subject; and on every occasion when he could find a person who would allow him to try, he would endeavor to put him into a mesmeric sleep.”[9] Soon the future philosopher and Healing Physician began studying mesmerism, reading everything he could. While experimenting with two of his friends, Quimby discovered he too, could mesmerize. Of this first experiment he writes:

So we sat the subject in the chair, the gentleman stood in front of him and I behind him, and the gentleman tried to draw him out of the chair; but he could not start him. Then we reversed positions, and I drew the subject out of the chair. This showed that I had the greater power or will. This ended the first experiment.

Particularly receptive to Quimby's mesmeric influence was Lucius Burkmar, an uneducated 19-year-old who was particularly susceptible to being in the mesmeric sleep. In it, he reportedly could clairvoyantly travel through time and space, see objects at a distance, read other minds, and diagnose and prescribe simple herbal remedies for treating diseases. Lucius even diagnosed and cured Quimby of a horrible kidney condition, in two days. However, their work was being called “a deception, a fraud, and a humbug; Mr. Quimby was vilified and frequently threatened with mob violence, as the exhibitions smacked too strongly of witchcraft to suit the people.”[10] They traveled throughout Maine and New Brunswick giving public demonstrations in the early to middle 1840s. It wasn’t long before Quimby discovered that many of the no-nos that he read about mesmerizing, such as not working during a lightning storm or in the vicinity of a woman wearing a silk dress, were “humbug.” In addition, he realized that he too possessed this independent sight Lucius had, and did not need to go into a trance. He felt he no longer needed Lucius nor the limitations of mesmerism, and that there was a deeper spiritual science at work.

He was absorbed in developing his theory, or “the Truth” as he termed it, so that all could understand and practice it. He told his son: “Wait till I get my theory reduced to a science, so that I can teach the Truth to others, and then I can make money fast enough.”[11] Over the next almost two decades, while ridiculed by the whole medical profession, each step in opposition to all the established ideas of the day, he experimented with his healing ideas. “In the sick and suffering he always found staunch friends, who loved him and believed in him, and stood by him; but they were but a handful compared with those on the other side.”[12] He soon concluded that disease is what follows the disturbance of the mind or spiritual matter, what follows an incorrect opinion or when mind was diverted by error. He realized that Truth is the destruction of this opinion whether the disease is something made by belief or forced upon us by our parents or public opinion. And finally, he knew what he had was a science because he could teach it.

Quimby never claimed to be the founder of this science of healing; that he credited to “Jesus Christ.” Though he used that name, he also distinguished between Jesus and the Christ: “Jesus was as any other man, but Christ was the Science which Jesus tried to teach.” He also said “Christ is the God in us all,”[13] and that “Man’s belief is his heaven and hell.”[14] Those identifications led Quimby to coin the term “Christian Science” in an article:

The leaders of the medical schools, through the hypocrisy of their profession, deceive the people into submission to their opinions, while democracy forges the fetters which are to bind them to disease. Science, which would destroy this bondage, is looked upon as blasphemy when it dares oppose the faculty, and religion has no place in medical science. So in the church the religion of Jesus’ Science is never heard; for it would drive aristocracy out of the pulpit, and scatter seeds of freedom among the people. Nevertheless, the religion of Christ is shown in the progress of Christian Science, while the religion of society decays as the liberal principles are developed.[15]

Though an avid Bible reader and with “a deeply religious nature,”[16] he wasn’t too keen on religion or conventional men of medicine: “It is necessary to say that I have no religious belief. My religion is my life, and my life is the life of any wisdom that I have. The two most dangerous to the happiness of man are those of the medical science and priests.”[17]

Working in person or through letters, he described his method of treatment in this way:

A patient comes to see Dr. Quimby. He renders himself absent to everything but the impression of the person’s feelings. These are quickly daguerreotyped on him. They contain no intelligence, but shadow forth a reflection of themselves which he looks at. This [mental picture] contains the disease as it appears to the patient. Being confident that it is the shadow of a false idea, he is not afraid of it. Then his feelings in regard to health and strength, are daguerreotyped on the receptive plate of the patient … The patient sees … the disease in a new light, gains confidence. This change is daguerreotyped on the doctor again … and he sees the change and continues … the shadow changes and grows dim, and finally disappears, the light takes its place, and there is nothing left of the disease.[18]

From 1847 until his passing in 1866, Phineas Parkhurst Quimby devoted his life to healing the sick, treating over 12,000 patients during those years. Most notable of his patients were Warren Felt Evans, a practitioner and author of mental healing;[19] Julius and Annetta (Seabury) Dresser,[20] early organizers of New Thought; and Mary M. Patterson (Mary Baker Eddy), founder of Christian Science.

The last five years of his life were exceptionally hard. He was overcrowded with patients, greatly overworked, and could not seem to find an opportunity for relaxation. At last, nature could no longer bear up under the strain; completely tired out, he took to his bed, from which he never rose again. While strong, he had always been able to ward off any disease that would have affected another person; but, when tired and weak, he no longer had the strength of will or the reasoning powers to combat the sickness that terminated his life.

It is clear that, although his practice was originally based in mesmerism, his final methods came from the teachings and example of Jesus of Nazareth, and through intuition versus through academia. An hour before he breathed his last, he said to his son:

I am more than ever convinced of the truth of my theory. I am perfectly willing for the change myself, but I know you all will feel badly, and think I am dead; but I know that I shall be right here with you, just as I always have been. I do not dread the change any more than if I were going on a trip to Philadelphia.[21]

His death occurred January 16, 1866, at his residence in Belfast. He was sixty-four. George Quimby felt his father’s epitaph should have been:

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. For if ever a man did lay down his life for others - that man was Phineas Parkhurst Quimby.

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[1] George Quimby (Dr. Quimby’s youngest son and later his assistant), from New England Magazine

[2] Not an academically trained or licensed physician, his patients called him this.

[3] Many scholars regard him as the “Father of the New Thought Movement” because of his connecting the powers of the mind and physical healing. Braden, in Spirits in Rebellion, called him the “Founder.”

[4] Successful Hypnotherapy Diploma Course, Copyright © 1984-2009 International Association of Pure Hypnoanalysts (IAPH).

[5] In 1766 his thesis, “De influxu planetarum in corpus humanum,” revived (possibly plagiarized) the Newtonian idea that the planets exude invisible rays that affect the human body and disease. He had earned two doctorates: medicine and philosophy.

[6] It was later described as a mental suggestion. In the later 19^th century, Scottish surgeon James Braid coined the term “hypnosis” or “sleep of the nerves,” to avoid the stigma of Mesmer’s reputation.

[7] Marie-Jean Joseph Paul Yves Roche Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, 1757 – 1834, a French aristocrat and military officer who famously befriended and served under George Washington during the American Revolution.

[8] 18^th century French chemist, called the father of modern chemistry, found and named oxygen (1778) and hydrogen (1783), who helped construct the metric system and put together the first extensive list of elements.

[9] George Quimby, New England Magazine, 1888

[10] George Quimby, New England Magazine, 1888

[11] Ibid

[12] Ibid

[13] The Quimby Manuscripts. “The World of the Senses”

[14] The Quimby Manuscripts. “God and Man”

[15] P.P. Quimby. “Aristocracy and Democracy,” February 1863

[16] George Quimby, New England Magazine, 1888

[17] The Quimby Manuscripts: God and Man

[18] George Quimby, New England Magazine, 1888

[19] Wrote six books, two of which, The Mental Cure and Mental Medicine, came out before Mrs. Eddy’s Science and Health.

[20] Their son, Horatio, wrote extensively on Quimby and edited and compiled his manuscripts and journals.

[21] George Quimby, New England Magazine, 1888