The Basic Ideas of Science of Mind, pg. 24
Perhaps you are familiar with the technique of affirmative prayer that Ernest Holmes called a spiritual mind treatment. Perhaps you did not know that Holmes never taught a five step approach to treatment, as it is commonly taught in Science of Mind classes. That was a later suggestion by one of his colleagues, Dr. Orin Moen. The closest one can find to a step by step procedure in Holmes' writings is a passage on page 318 of the Science of Mind text that delineates three steps and then describes what we have …show more content…
That would not be the way to practice a spiritual discipline. After all, our prayer work is for the purpose of establishing a consciousness over time, not getting immediate gratification or demonstrating a control of conditions. “This is really the period in which you clarify your mental atmosphere.”
2) “Be as relaxed physically as you can,” There is no mental force on our part in this. There is nothing to overcome. There is nothing that opposes us. Relax. There is no resistance, no argument with the truth. When praying, we are not trying to make something happen, or in any way force our will upon …show more content…
I am well and successful in everything I do.” The purpose of repetition is consistence, not persistence. While a foolish consistency (resistance and persistence instead of a change of mind) is to be avoided, it is wise to be consistent in our affirmation of the truth. It helps to be single-minded when setting a direction in life. Repetition of an affirmation aligns one's consciousness with the truth; however, the affirmation must be a statement of truth or it is not worth repeating. Repeating what you don't know to be true, what you wish were true, but isn't true, will not make it true. We affirm the truth in order to express and experience it, not to convince ourselves or God of what we think might be or ought to be the case. Repeating our wishes and wants, no matter how positive they may be, is like beating your head against a wall: you'll have a headache that only goes away when you cease and desist.
4) “After this spend ten minutes thinking … or have a quiet prayer time …” Most of prayer is a preparation for listening, for inspiration, for contemplation. Prayer is not the words said, but the realization they bring to mind. How are we to realize anything more than what we've said if we talk our way through it? Even if prayer is only talking to one's self, allow yourself a few minutes to grasp the importance of what you've said. Your purpose is to change your