only to thy reason. Maimonides.
The mind that is determined to believe in God alone faithfully takes up the denial of all that is not God, and, as he walks along the Way, he soon begins to see that Truth proves itself true. What of is the result of persistently holding, right in the face of appearances, to the thought, "There is no reality to sin; no real power, presence, or law to sin?"
It is to see vice and impure thinking drop right out of your own mind and life, and not only yours, but out of those for whom you speak the words. Does the denial of the reality of sin cause license, making people more sinful and wicked? Not at all. On the contrary it causes them to see that there is no pleasure in it, that there is no satisfaction in it, and a great realization of the uselessness and powerlessness of sin comes to the faithful student. For the saying is true, and Truth, boldly spoken though in silence, is a living power in itself capable of freeing from every bondage even of sin itself.
When the mind that dwells in the consciousness of God sends forth its word denying any place or power to sickness, pain, disease, then we see health spring forth as flowers spring up when a crushing weight has been removed.
The right denial of personality causes egotism to fall from one with its pride and vanity, its sensitiveness and stupidity, and the universal Self to be revealed.
He who holds to the thought, "There is no real substance to matter, the Spirit is the only true substance," finds himself no longer burdened and limited by material things. His body seems light, the things of the world do not tire him. "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles ; they shall run, and not be weary ; and they shall walk, and not faint." Is. 40:31.
The effect of right words of denial is like water, for they cleanse, loosen, free, wash away, and dissolve false appearances. The effect of right affirmations is to fill in (fulfill), to make substantial, to build up, to establish, and cause to come into appearance that which is real and true.
The realization of true denial in thought, word, and deed is called being "born of water," and the realization of true affirmation is being "born of Spirit" This is the beginning of regeneration. He that is continually being cleansed by the word of denial "Now are ye clean through the words which I have spoken unto you" is being baptized with water. Water is the symbol of the cleansing power of repentance, change of mind, conversion, all of which come through the right denial of the world, the flesh, and the devil, or, as we have said, materiality (the world), the personal self (the flesh), and evil (the devil).
To every suggestion of evil in your daily life mentally declare, "There is no evil." To all talk of people about evil, such as scandals, descriptions of diseases, accounts of deaths, disasters, fears, discouragements and dangers, silently say, "That is not true." Many cases have been healed by that simple, silent message.
Do not feel obliged to join in conversations that dwell upon the dark side of humanity. Courtesy and good judgment will cause you to reply in ways wherein there is no offense, and yet you make no concession to evil. Silence is better than assent to error. Learn the virtue of stillness.
Copy and learn the following 1 denials, and repeat them night and morning in conjunction with the affirmations at the close of the preceding lesson :
1 Since in God there is no evil, I deny that there is any reality to evil at all.
There is no real power in sin or death.
There is no real substance to sickness or disease.
There is no true cause for sorrow.
There is nothing to fear.
2 God's world is Spiritual, not material. There is no matter, Spirit is the only substance.
3 Personality is not the real Self. The true Individual is Spirit, not flesh.
I am the free and fearless, impersonal, selfless child of God, and what I am so are you, my neighbor, as myself. Amen.
One of the happiest ways of denying for one's self is to begin your sentences with, "I am free," such as "I am free from doubt," "I am free from care," and so forth.
The denial of your personality does not destroy your Individuality, but, to the contrary, establishes it. Fear not; "He that loseth his life [loses the limited personal conception of life] for my sake [the Truth's sake] shall find it [the true Individual life]." Matt. 10:39.
LESSON III. WORDS, THEIR USE AND POWER,
GOD is supreme Intelligence, Wisdom, Understanding, Reason, all of which can be comprehended in the one word, Mind. God is Mind, and since God is the great first cause, therefore Mind is the great first cause. Divine Mind is the one creative power and source of all true manifestation.
What can be predicated of God is true of Man, who is the image and likeness of God. Man's mind is the cause of all that is in his life. Solomon says, "As he thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Prov. 23:7), and the Hindu Dhammapada expresses the same idea in the following words:
All that we are is the result of what we have thought; it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him as the wheel follows the ox that draws the cart. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him like a shadow that never leaves him.
Thoughts are the product of Mind, and the means through which Mind works. The thoughts of divine Mind are pure and good, true, and full of life and health, and they produce heavenly conditions. In the measure that man's mind dwells upon the pure and the good, he enters into health and happiness. The only real thoughts that man has are those from the Mind of God, in which is no evil imagination, memory, or production. "To think the thoughts of God after Him," as the great Kepler said, is to have a mind filled with noble, wise, loving thoughts in which there is no mixture of error or evil.
Discord and disease arise from a mixed mentality in which is belief in both good and evil as real. Pure thoughts result in pure manifestations, but mixed thoughts show forth as a mixture, an adulteration, in the bodies and circumstances of the thinkers.
The mind of man is set in order by the science of God, and all the good thoughts are gathered and ascribed to their divine source, while the beliefs in evil are separated, as the tares were taken out of the wheat in the parable (Matt. 13 : 30), and cast out into nothingness.
Divine Science and logic systematize and arrange thoughts, so that their nature is known, and name and place are given to them.
Life proves to man that a mind filled with good imagery, with peaceful, loving, gentle, trustful thoughts, is in Heaven, while one who dwells upon evil, malice, revenge, injustice, pain, and misery is in hell. For Heaven and hell are states of mind. "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things : and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things." Matt. 12: 35.
All the health and happiness you have is the result of your belief in
