What is the Science of Mind and Spirit?

The Science of Mind and Spirit, also known as Religious Science,
was developed by Dr. Ernest S. Holmes (January 21, 1887 – April 7, 1960).

Religious Science is a New Thought philosophy that has its earliest roots in the teachings of Hermes and the Ancient Greeks. It draws its Universal Principles from a wide range of world religions and philosophical traditions: the teachings of Jesus, the Buddha, and Lao Tzu, to name a few. Instrumental in the history and development of Religious Science were teachers such as Ernest Holmes, Thomas Troward, Emma Curtis Hopkins, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. As one of New Thought’s earliest and strongest proponents, Ernest Holmes bade us always stay “open at the top”. In the interest of doing so, a large number of modern authors and speakers have joined the movement. From the Christian tradition, Joel Osteen is an enthusiastic voice for the power of thought to change our reality. Franciscan Father Richard Rohr brings Christian Mysticism and the Perennial Wisdom into the mix with his practices of contemplation and radical compassion. Eckhart Tolle, known more as a mystic than a religious teacher, has joined the conversation with his interpretations of Zen Buddhism, Sufism, Hinduism and the Bible. And Master Teacher Adyashanti has come to offer teachings that are free of any specific spiritual tradition or ideology, yet offer the open invitation to “stop, inquire, and recognize what is true and liberating at the core of all existence.”

From the beginning of Religious Science, Ernest Holmes taught that Universal Principles are scientific in nature – they can be tested, and the results reproduced. As we are exposed to more and more of our Spiritual Heritage, scientists are joining the conversation. Theoretical Quantum Physicist Dr. Amit Goswami has set about the task of proving the existence of God using the principles of Quantum Physics. Through his exhaustive research he seeks to validate the use of intuition as evidence of the existence of a spiritual dimension of life. Dr. Joe Dispenza is a lecturer and educator who has a conviction – that each of us has inherent within us a potential for greatness that is only limited by our beliefs. His life’s work has been, and continues to be, teaching people to “rewire their brains and recondition their bodies to make lasting changes.”

Thanks to this amazing group of religious teachers, scientists, and mystics, we are coming to see the Christ, not as a man sent here as the one and only Son of God, but instead, as a Universal Consciousness that resides within each one of us. We are all Divine beings, individual expressions of one Life, one Consciousness, one Infinite Field of Potential. It doesn’t matter what we call It. It matters that we call It.

Declaration of Principles,

Ernest Holmes wrote an essay titled “What I Believe,” for the first issue of Science of Mind magazine, published in 1927. Reworded to the first person plural, it serves as a definitive statement of the philosophy of Religious Science.

What We Believe,

  • We believe in God, the Living Spirit Almighty; one, indestructible, absolute and self-existent Cause. This One manifests Itself in and through all creation, but is not absorbed by Its creation. The manifest universe is the body of God; it is the logical and necessary outcome of the infinite self-knowingness of God.
  • We believe in the individualization of the Spirit in us, and that all people are individualizations of the One Spirit.
  • We believe in the eternality, the immortality and the continuity of the individual soul, forever and ever expanding.
  • We believe that heaven is within us, and that we experience it to the degree that we become conscious of it.
  • We believe the ultimate goal of life to be a complete freedom from all discord of every nature, and that this goal is sure to be attained by all.
  • We believe in the unity of all life, and that the highest God and the innermost God is one God. We believe that God is personal to all who feel this indwelling presence.
  • We believe in the direct revelation of truth through our intuitive and spiritual nature, and that anyone may become a revealer of truth who lives in close contact with the indwelling God.
  • We believe that the Universal Spirit, which is God, operates through a Universal Mind, which is the Law of God; and that we are surrounded by this Creative Mind which receives the direct impress of our thought and acts upon it.
  • We believe in the healing of the sick and control of conditions through the power of this Mind.
  • We believe in the eternal Goodness, the eternal Loving-kindness and the eternal Givingness of Life to All.
  • We believe in our own soul, our own spirit and our own destiny; for we understand that the life of all is God.

At Mystic Heart we believe in
Practicing the Possible Through Prayer