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"People
work so hard to bring health to their bodies; to bring
prosperity, to bring happiness, to bring success into
their lives; to bring artistic or literary gifts or talents
within their grasp, to bring great new ideas from the outside;
and, of course, they continually fail, because we cannot
"bring" a single one of these things from the without to the
within. The actual development is just the very reverse - they
have to be released from the within that they may appear on the
without. In short, we have not to build on from the outside; our
task, as Browning says, is "to set free the imprisoned
splendor." –
Emmet Fox, Your Heart's Desire
Dr. Joseph Murphy has
stated over and over again in his writings that the sub-conscious mind
is not influenced by idle words or statements, but by what we really
feel to be true; our dominant idea or belief. He has written that
the sub-conscious mind is represented by the heart, the storehouse of
our feelings about our life experiences. Also referred to as
subjective mind, the sub-conscious is not influenced by what appears in
the physical, but by our intuition and thoughts about what appears in
the physical. And this is never more true than when it comes to
expressing love. The words in Ernest Holmes' spiritual treatment
are mighty and marvelous, but we must clear our sub-conscious of all
that contradicts them for us to receive the full benefit from them.
And ... we must believe them to be true.
In the book, "A New Design for
Living" written by Ernest Holmes and Willis Kinnear, the authors
write: "The action of love in and
through us must be universal in all of our experience. We cannot
love in one direction and hate in another. Once we cut ourselves
off from the beneficial action of love in any respect we cut ourselves
off in every respect. We cannot survive by liking the Joneses that
live to the east of us and not the Browns to the west. We have to
include both. This does not mean that everyone has to be very
intimate and chummy, but that we cannot afford to have dislike and
hatred gnawing at our minds and bodies. It is just plain common
sense."
If we have stronger feelings about those we
dislike compared to the feelings about those we like, hate becomes our
dominant thought and becomes dominant in our sub-conscious mind.
If not corrected, we will even find fault with those we like as our
dominant thought of dislike will bring forth criticism and ill feelings.
And as we know that there is mind-body connection, our physical health
will also be diminished.
This duality of thought is not limited to those
who lack spirituality or religion, as many of those who consider
themselves spiritual or religious continue to foster and nurture both
likes and dislikes ... even hate. Those who hate will never
consider that their hatred is poisoning their own sub-conscious mind and
creating barriers to happiness, health, friendliness, kindness,
generosity and love. The News Media this week reported that Elton
John gave an interview to Parade magazine in which he gave his opinion
about Jesus: "I think Jesus was a
compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human
problems," John told the Sunday supplement. "On the cross, he
forgave the people who crucified him. Jesus wanted us to be loving and
forgiving. I don't know what makes people so cruel. Try being a gay
woman in the Middle East -- you're as good as dead."
As I read the "reader comments" on
the online news sites, I was amazed at the number of people who stated
they were Christian that wrote grossly negative comments directed at
Elton John. Even a few people who stated that they weren't
religious slammed him nonetheless. Were they justified? No.
Did they believe they were justified? ... probably. Yet, Elton
John was only stating his "opinion" ... and one that, to him,
was not negative in the least. Were these readers validating the
teachings of Jesus? ... no. Were they validating the automatic
action of the sub-conscious mind? ... yes. A sub-conscious filled
with love and all the qualities that are a part of love, would not react
to these words from Elton John with hate, no matter how much someone may
disagree with him. There would be an understanding that from his
perspective these words did not diminish Jesus in any way ... he has a
right to his opinion, even if it differs from our own. Love is
always generous in Its understanding and compassion ... judgment comes
from fear, fear of being wrong or fear of facing up to something that
makes us uncomfortable.
We can become aware of the dominant ideas and
beliefs contained in our sub-conscious mind by paying attention to our
reactions to the people and things that come to our awareness. Are
we friendlier to the people we admire than we are to those who we don't?
Do we see both inferior and superior classes of people in our minds?
Are we friendly to waiters? ... to the policeman or policewoman that
gives us a ticket? Do we treat everyone with respect no
matter what race, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, or language
they may speak? Do we act and react with patience and kindness
even when we are having a "bad-hair day"? Just kidding
about the "bad-hair" but we all know what I mean. These
are important questions for us to ask ourselves, and no one else can
answer them for us. There is a principle involved in this:
"Love G-d and love your neighbor as your self" ... in other
words, we must love the Divine in everyone we meet and love our
earthbound conditions, the things we have and the world in which we
live.
Every person we meet is part of the Divine ...
we must consciously recognize this. There is a part of G-d in all
of us ... no matter what our earth-bound experience may appear to be.
Our sub-conscious will only express love to the measure that we make It
the dominant thought and idea in all things and in all ways. As
Ernest Holmes writes: "All
the good I can embody is now mine. I have only to open the portals
of my soul and accept that which is ready to express through me."
... but we won't believe this is true, unless our sub-conscious is free
of dislikes and hate.
AND
SO IT IS!
Keep
the faith!
Rev.
Dr. Henry Lee Bates
Visit Rev. Bates BLOG: Living
the Science of Mind
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Bates on the Radio
