Tag Archives: Ernest Holmes

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Fourteen years ago I created a workshop called Status Quo or Status GO! Just for kicks and giggles I went back to look at my outline and realized my workshops have changed a bit over the years. This one went deep, as they all do, but I was less focused on spiritual principles and practices back then. That workshop dived into what fears would keep us stuck in our lives, and what we could do about those fears. The premise behind the workshop is that if we address our fears properly, we can better move out of the status quo, the stuckness, and into more creativity, more liveliness, more GO in our lives.

Fast forward to current, and I just finished teaching a 4 week class based on a book by Dennis Merritt Jones called “When Fear Speaks – Listen.” This book talks about seven messengers of fear, and their descendants, and how those fears will keep us stuck in status quo unless we listen to the messages they have to offer.

This morning I was thinking about status quo, because the theme for this month in Centers for Spiritual Living is Unstatus Quo. And then in the daily meditation voice mail I recently received, it talked about superiority and inferiority and how our judgement of others as inferior to us really gets in the way of our good.

Here’s where I tied it all together: according to Jones in his book, judgement is one of the messengers of fear, and superiority and inferiority are its descendants.

Here are the messages we can receive from judgement, superiority and inferiority, if we allow it. Judgment tells us there is something going on within us that we don’t want to look at. And it is that judgment that allows us to feel superior to our fellows. Ironically, it is also that judgement that allows us to feel inferior to our fellows, because superiority and inferiority are two sides of the same coin. So we move through life judging others, an ego maniac with an inferiority complex. I’m sure you don’t have to think too hard to come up with times in your life when you have felt like this, or when someone you are familiar with that has those traits. Being like that causes a lot of trouble for us in our lives. And it keeps us stuck and limited, in the Status Quo.

What if you could move through life without judgement? What if you could move through life with a true sense of what it means to be humble, to know your strengths and your weaknesses and to be able to truly take your place in this life?

To not feel superior to anyone nor inferior. Feeling that way makes us feel separate from, and feeling separate from is a very lonely place to be.

What if we were to, instead, release all that judgement and superiority and inferiority and replace with humbleness, with meekness?

Here’s where our spiritual practices come in, and for our spiritual practice today I want to explore what it really means to be humble. And for that, I first go to what is probably my favorite part of the Bible, the beatitudes. In this wonderful teaching called Science of Mind, we take into account the fact that the lessons in the Bible were never meant to be taken literally, because they taught in metaphor in those days. And just as important, most modern versions of the Bible have been translated so many times that they are inaccurate, at best. I use the George Llamsa bible, which has been translated directly from the original Aramaic language of the day, and I rely on the wisdom of folks such as Llamsa, Charles Fillmore and Rocco Errico to help me get to the true meaning of the words. In true Science of Mind form, I bring you a metaphysical translation of “blessed are the humble.”

What that really means is delighted are those who place more importance on God than they do on material things.

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” Meek means yielding, pliable, flexible, unassuming. And the earth means our outer conditions.

What that really means is delighted are the yielding, pliable, flexible and unassuming, for they shall have control over outer conditions.

As beautiful and powerful as the beatitudes are in their entirety when translated this way, this article is more about moving out of judgement, inferiority and superiority so I’m going to leave the rest of the beatitudes for another time.

Remember, one of the ways out of judgement, inferiority and superiority and all the limitation that those traits cause for us, is to be meek and humble. To be yielding, pliable, flexible and unassuming, as well as to place more importance on god than we do on material things.

We have more wisdom to draw on however. Dr. Bob Smith, the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, had a plaque on his desk. I actually have these words on my desk as well. Here they are: “Humility is perpetual quietness of heart. It is to have no trouble. It is never to be fretted or vexed, irritable or sore; to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am blamed or despised, it is to have a blessed home in myself where I can go in and shut the door and kneel to my Father in secret and be at peace, as in a deep sea of calmness, when all around is seeming trouble.”

It never fails. Whenever I am feeling judgmental or superior or inferior, all I have to do is read those words and they bring me back to being right sized, which is another meaning for being humble.

One way to move from Status Quo to Status GO is to take a look at where we are judgmental, superior or inferior in our lives, and to transform those fears into meekness and humbleness. To being yielding, unassuming, flexible, pliable and right sized. And to do so by placing more importance on our connection with God in our lives than we do on anything else.

To close, I bring you this definition of humility from Ernest Holmes, in the Glossary of the Science of Mind textbook: “True humility does not mean self-abasement, but is rather that attitude which Emerson tells us is willing to get its “bloated nothingness out of the way of the Divine Circuits.”

Today, I move from Status Quo to Status GO by nurturing and strengthening my connection with God.

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Ernest Holmes: “Perfection: The real state of being; complete so that nothing is wanting. Ideal faultlessness; the divine attribute of complete excellence.” Science of Mind textbook, glossary.

Meister Eckhart:  “If the only prayer you ever say in your life is thank you, it will be enough.”

Gratitude 

Relaxation 

Altitude 

Peace

Excellence 

Eat your grapes today!

Grape is a wonderful acronym, standing for Gratitude, Relaxation, Altitude, Peace and Excellence

Today I am embodying gratitude.  Gratitude for all that is. For the miracle of the power of our minds to create our reality.  For my surroundings, my life, my beingness. And I further embody relaxation, simply being still, and knowing. I also reach high, into great altitude, knowing that there is always something greater in store for me.  Always higher.  I feel that grand glorious sense of peace flowing through me.  I know excellence as an attribute of spirit and I can embody excellence in all my affairs.  Excellence in living through and because of spiritual principle. Excellence in living.

Today am thoroughly enjoying my grapes!

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Today I pay tribute to Dr. Ernest Holmes, the founder of Science of Mind, the teaching of Centers for Spiritual Living.  You know those questions that ask about the one person you would love to be able to speak with, or the one person who had the most effect on your life?  It’s this guy.  Dr. Ernest Holmes, and today was his birthday.  I was a child when I first became acquainted with the teaching he presented to the world in the form of a textbook in 1926, called the Science of Mind Textbook.  I had some other things to do in life, mainly drink, but when it came time to move to the next stage of my personal development when I was about ten years sober, I came home to that teaching and began seriously studying it and applying its principles in my life.  Each class I took, each workshop I attended changed me from the inside out and this teaching continues to do so as I live its principles.

I was unable to find out how many books Ernest Holmes wrote, but at one source I found 49 listings.  I own 21 of Ernest Holmes’ books and have read and continue to use every single one of them in my own studies and research, and for my own reminders of the truth when I need refreshers.  I read lots of other books, but I always begin and end with Ernest Holmes.  He called Science of Mind the study of spiritual psychology and that is where my heart is, in spiritual psychology.

There is a web site called the Science of Mind archives that has a wealth of information and this quote is in the bio of Ernest Holmes:  “Once, when asked to provide a concise definition of the Science of Mind teaching, he replied that it is a “correlation of laws of science, opinions of philosophy and revelations of religion applied to human needs and aspirations.”

So for his birthday I want to present to you some of my favorite Ernest Holmes quotes.  This is by no means all of them.  There are far too many to include.  And these are just from the Science of Mind textbook, and more specifically, the Introduction.  The text book itself is almost 600 pages long, and mine is filled with highlights and notes.  I didn’t include any quotes from his other books.

“To learn how to think is to learn how to live…”

“… trained thought is far more powerful than untrained,….”

“… the very air is vibrant with power.”

“The answer to prayer is in the prayer. But what is a prayer? A prayer is a movement of thought, within the mind of the one praying, along a definite line of meditation; that is, for a specific purpose.”

“We do not will things to be done; things are brought into being, not by will, but by the power of the self-assertive Truth.”

“It has been said that we can know God only in so far as we can become God.”  (See my podcast episode titled What It Does for my take on this quote.  You can find my Fearlessly Feral Living podcast wherever you listen to podcasts) 

“One of the great difficulties in the new order of thought is that we are likely to indulge in too much theory and too little practice.”  (This one quote is why, if you work with me, I tend to nag a bit about spiritual practice.)

“ We should learn to control our thought processes…”

“ A new light is coming into the world. We are on the borderland of a new experience.”

Happy Birthday Ernest Holmes!  I am so grateful for your contribution to the world, and to my life.

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And so it is the end of the month.  A momentous month! If you are just tuning in, November is the month during which I do a deepened gratitude practice. This practice consists of, every day, making a list of ten items for which I am grateful. Without repeating anything on the list. Which means at the end of the month I have a list of 300 things for which I am grateful.  Doing the deepened gratitude practice this month was a bit different than in previous years.  I remember my first few years of doing this practice, my gratitude lists all consisted of things:  I was grateful for items in my life that either gave me joy or made my life easier.  Things like kitchen appliances and vehicles, coffee pots and Instantpots and slow cookers.  Hay, delivered and stacked for me.  This year was different.  Yes, I did list the things.  But more importantly, I also listed inner awarenesses and shifts.  Things like my confidence and inner peace and communications skills.  Things like compassion and courage. This is important because when you believe in a teaching that says it all begins within, all those things are inner things, and I am happy to say that if I were to count the items there would be more inner than outer.  And for that I am very grateful. Spiritual practices such as this are powerful, and when one takes the time to do the same practice each day for an entire month, it shows.

I’m working on a book about spiritual practices and principles. It’s called How to Live Fearlessly Feral. It’s going to be a bit like a daily reader, only instead of daily, it will be monthly. There’s a description of spiritual principles, and also of spiritual practices, and then for each month there will be a combo pack of practice(s) and principle to concentrate on for the month. A deep dive.

In anticipation of that, I’ve decided to start that right now. Tomorrow will be December 1. I hope you will join me in the spiritual practices of mindfulness and contemplation, all based on the spiritual principle of love. With a practical twist: clearing the clutter.

As you go through the month, pay attention to what occupies your day. This is basically what mindfulness is. As you pay attention, you may discern that there are some things that you wish occupied less of your day, and some things you wish occupied more of your day. You may see things in your home that seem like they are in the way, or that seem like they give you more joy than others. The key to this is to move towards having more things and activities that bring you joy, and less of the things and activities that don’t.

There are two things to consider here: there may be some activities that you don’t enjoy but can’t get rid of. Like a job. The key here is to change your perception. Surely you can find something about that job you enjoy, like perhaps the paycheck? If you have to be doing something you don’t enjoy but you have to do it, there is no sense in just putting up with it. You can change your perception of it by finding things to be grateful for about it. And if you can’t do that, perhaps it might be time to consider a different job.

The other thing to consider is that if you release things you don’t enjoy, there is a void. As they say, nature abhors a void. Which means that void is going to be filled. Here is the beautiful part: you can fill it, or let nature do it. It’s up to you. Personally, I like filling voids myself. I’m at choice as to what I want to fill it with. And here is where daydreaming comes in. I like to play a game I call “what if?” when it comes to daydreaming. I dream of possibilities, and then I fill voids with things that make it possible for good things to manifest.

So, for December: mindfulness and daydreaming. Based upon a foundation of love. Love what is happening now in your life, and find ways to love it all. Love the possibilities. And because it is holiday season, love everything and everyone. Find things to love!

In this way, you will set yourself up for a wonderful new year and enjoy the holiday season!

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Calls for change come in many forms.

We may be presented with a health challenge. Or our spouse asks for a divorce. Or we experience a loss. Or we switch jobs. Or some person place or thing really just pisses us off, on a regular basis, and a pattern emerges.

These are all calls for change. These are all nature demanding that we change in order that we may advance.

The reason for the call then becomes irrelevant. The story: the health challenge, the divorce, the loss, the job switch, or whatever is pissing us off, it is all irrelevant. What is important is the call for change resulting from those things. What is important is that we heed that call. It isn’t an invitation. It is, as Holmes calls it, a demand.

In heeding the call, we do what is necessary to change our own thinking, our own beliefs. The action will then seamlessly follow. And healing will occur. And then we will become grateful for the call to change.

This is how life works. It has been proven to me over and over again.

So when I read words of wisdom such as these, from Ernest Holmes, found of Centers for Spiritual Living, I take comfort for I know that I have taken advantage of all the calls to change, and I have. I hope you have as well.

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Today I’m thinking of the joy of living. What makes it possible for us to live joyfully? And what do we do when things would attempt to get in the way of joyful living?

Ernest Holmes says in his book called 365 Science of Mind: “I know that in my true self I am joy, for I am God-Life.“

So joy isn’t something we experience. Joy is something we ARE. And yes, we know we are joy when we have that feeling of experiencing it.

But Holmes tells us that we can only receive as much as we will allow, and we can’t be joy unless we allow it. The truth is that we are joy all the time, we just allow life stuff to get in the way of that knowingness sometimes.

So if we aren’t feeling the joy, what do we do about it? I believe a clue exists in what Holmes said, we ARE joy. So if we are joy but are not feeling it, then maybe the place to begin is in knowingness. In believing that what he said is true. The we are inherently joy. Then the task becomes to go within and examine what within us is getting in the way of that. If it is physical, perhaps a lifestyle change is in order, in what we eat or how much we exercise. If it is in relations with another human, since we cannot do anything about them and their behavior, we look within to our own stuff and examine what within us is asking for change? If the block to joy is in a lack of faith, a lack of knowingness, if we simply do not believe that we are joy, then the invitation is to examine that. If we aren’t joy, then what are we?

As for me, today, I needed to remind myself of joy and the reminders showed up freely in my life. This morning I got to see the sky change color as the earth tilted to allow the sun to greet us. It’s a beautiful warm spring day here in Northern Nevada and after the long challenging winter, that right there is enough to allow me to experience joy. And when I get right down to it, I need no outer “joy fixes” because I do believe that I am joy. There is simply no other way to be. The outer joy fixes are simply evidence of that, because I would not be able to see and appreciate them if that quality were not already inside of me.

So today, I affirm: Today, I am joy. I know this because I see it and I feel it and I would not be able to do so if it weren’t already inside of me.

About the photo: this is a cell phone shot of the inside of a tulip. I found this little guy nestled in a perfect place, open shade, with light bouncing off the wall to give it “pop.” It was growing at a friend’s house and I was filled with joy to see these tulips lining the walkway to her front door. I did a bit of editing and cropping in photoshop to focus on the details of the inside of the flower. Sometimes mother nature’s intricacy fills me with awe. As well as with joy. Feel free to share the meme, but please do not alter it in any way.

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Ernest Holmes quote, lake showing reflection of background

My ortho doc asked me to write a review, which I did as a gesture of gratitude for him. But I don’t really believe much in reviews because I know that any review speaks more to the reviewer than it does the reviewee. Really. What we see out there in the world is a direct reflection of who we are. What we see in others we have in ourselves. This can work to our advantage. For example, we can’t see beauty unless we have that beauty in ourselves, even if we have hidden it under layers of low self esteem. I remember once seeing such talent and skill and other good yummy stuff in some of my peers, while simultaneously feeling a bit less than. And a mentor pointed out to me that I wouldn’t be able to see that in them unless I had it in myself, and that my job was to reveal that part of me, to bring it out into the light so that it would illuminate that shadow of feeling less than. This is a law, this thing that says what we see in others we have within ourselves. And it also works to our advantage because if we are looking out at the world with suspicion, anger, bitterness or hatred, guess what? We have it within ourselves and if we can acknowledge this, we can bring all those negative feelings to the light of day and heal them, replacing them with trust, acceptance, sweetness and love. Why would we want to? Because I don’t know about you, but I don’t like feeling that way. My teaching says that heaven and hell are states of mind and I can tell you from personal experience that living in suspicion and anger is living in a state of hell. I’d much rather live in a state of heaven. Another reason for changing those feelings is because those negative feelings will make us sick. They turn inward and cause all sorts of havoc in the body.

Our consciousness is a holistic system that consists of our emotional, mental, physical and spiritual selves. In other words, all those pieces of us co-exist together. If one part of us is experiencing a malady, the entire system experiences it. So if we are feeling those feelings of anger or hatred, sooner or later the body will express those feelings. And because we ourselves are simply a small part of a whole, what we think and feel and believe does indeed have an effect on the whole of humanity. So not only do we have a responsibility to ourselves to heal ourselves and replace those feelings of anger, bitterness and suspicion with acceptance, sweetness and love, when we do so we contribute to the goodness of all of humanity. It’s a win win!

Self awareness is a spiritual practice that can and will allow us to reveal that which wants to be healed. So today I look at the ways in which I view the world, and I ask myself if it is good for me to view the world in the ways I view it, and change my views, my thoughts, my feelings and my beliefs if necessary.