How to Claim Your Freedom
Ernest Holmes

What do we mean by being free?  The truth that makes us free, enabling us to claim our freedom, must of necessity be a truth that does not deny the Unity of Good. Our freedom cannot be at the expense of others. We do have a freedom to love and be loved....We have a freedom to express all there is, but no freedom to rob someone else. We can be free of superstition and free of fear....You and I are individualized centers in God. No two persons are alike....That is why Emerson said, “Take yourself for better or for worse. Imitation is suicide.” Now since God is One, there is only one God....All of God is everywhere.

You and I are surrounded by a Presence, which is God the Spirit, and a Power, which is God the Law, and these are the two great realities. The Presence we may talk to, and It will answer: there is a communion. The Power is like every other law in the Universe: It obeys, It follows our word: It does unto us as we believe. And that is why affirmative prayer works. It is a statement: there is a Power greater than we are, and we can use It consciously. We can use that Power in Its greater sense only as we use It in love, in givingness, in peace, in joy, and only as we use It constructively.  I believe all the Power there is in the Universe is delivered to each one of us for individual use. Now that is quite a thing to say.

Excerpted from Ideas of Power, Holmes Papers Volume 3, DeVorss Publications.

Finding Peace in the Noise
A Meditation with Rev Kusala Bhishu

In “Finding Peace in the Noise: Rev. Kusala and His Urban Dhrama”  by Lisa Napoli, Science of Mind readers learned about the work of an unusual Buddhist monk who helps spiritual seekers to find inner peace, feeds feral cats, and entertains with ukulele and harmonica. Now you can experience the joy that Rev Kusala shares.

Click here to experience a meditation with Rev Kusala.

Click here and enjoy harmonica blues with Rev. Kusula.

How Losing a Swimming Pool
Led to Finding a Sanctuary of Inner Peace
—Lisa Napoli

If it weren’t for the two broken swimming pools, I might never have discovered Rev. Kusala, Urban Dharma and an important part of who I am.

First, the pool at the YMCA went mysteriously and suddenly out of commission. My friend Crickett called the day before Thanksgiving to tell me the news. In fact, when the phone rang, I’d just been putting together my swim gear.

 “No one knows what’s wrong or how long it’ll take to repair,” she reported.

A month or so later, the water had been drained out, with just a tiny spit of it at the bottom, and a rope hung over the door to it to keep people out of the glass-enclosed area. The prognosis was dire, said the staff; it seemed beyond repair, and much money needed to be raised to replace it. It was a sad and eerie sight. I cheered myself by imagining the fun of having a party in the bottom to celebrate its years of happy service.

Then, I trundled down to my backup pool, the one behind my apartment building. The reason I’d chosen this place to live was its proximity to two pools. Swimming had become an essential part of my life when my life had fallen apart seven years earlier; what might have seemed like an indulgence before that now was a necessity. 

To read more click here.

Religious Science Minister Receives Unity Award

Dr. Roger Teel, spiritual leader and senior minister of Mile Hi Church of Religious Science in Lakewood, Colorado, was recently awarded The Light of God Expressing in Society Award from Unity World Ministries. Each year, this award is given to a distinguished individual who has benefited humankind and enhanced the spiritual quality of life through one or more of the following: en­lightenment, service, healing, teaching, speaking, writing, leadership, world peace, science, human relations, media, and the arts. This individual’s contributions to the world are compatible with the teachings of Jesus Christ as interpreted by the Unity movement.

This is the first time that this honor has been given to a Religious Science minister. Dr Teel is also a visionary and cofounder of the Association for Global New Thought, an organization dedicated to “consciously bring forth the evolving human and an awakened world through the practice of universal spiritual principles and the energy of unconditional love.” This recognition is a powerful demonstration of the spirit of oneness that is the guiding principle of the New Thought Movement.

Click here to listen to a powerful talk from Dr. Roger Teel.

Listening Deeply to Our Bodies

More and more people are turning to alternative forms of healing for chronic illness, especially as Western medicine has become more invasive.  The search for a mind-body connection is the very foundation of New Thought, dating all the way back to Phineas Parkhurst Quimby.  This is full circle to the roots of New Thought, where people went to healers like Quimby in the era before modern medicine.  Author Judy Morley, Ph.D., RScP, used the principles of New Thought to overcome lymphoma, and has since written a book to teach others to do the same.  Recently, she was featured on “The Drs. Inn,” an internet radio show about wellness and healing. 

Click here to hear the complete interview.