A Dictionary of New Thought Terms

as used by Ernest Holmes

D

death See what; "Whatsoever ye shall."

declare for the spiritual idea That is, in mental treatment to affirm, for example, that the bloodstream represents the circulation of perfect Life, eliminating everything which does not belong to Wholeness.

declare that your treatment is law Mentally to realize that the Law of Life operating through your words is absolute.

decree Has no reference to personal will, influence, or compulsion, but refers to the act of self-choice in definitely setting a law in motion for some specific purpose.

decree a thing To announce a desire as an accomplished fact; to establish in thought; to declare in mind; to affirm; to believe; to know; to accept.

decree of human opinion What the majority of people believe in tends to take place in everyone's experience.

deep stillness of the soul The inner mental calm which follows a complete turning from objective confusion to the indwelling Spirit.

Deity, inward The Spirit within us.

deliberately changing our position in the Law Consciously building up new thought patterns which automatically reflect themselves as new conditions. (See also changing our position.)

"Delight in the Law of the Lord" The laws of the universe produce beauty as well as utility.

demand upon the Universe Conscious and definite acceptance of some particular good.

demonstrate, enlarging our capacity to Dwelling on the idea of truth, goodness, beauty, love, wisdom, power, substance, or anything that is universal in its nature, until through an increase in our consciousness we are able to reflect a greater expectancy or receptivity into the Law of Mind.

demonstrating the Truth To produce a definite objective change in the physical body or in the body of one's affairs, as a result of consciously using the invisible Power of Mind and Spirit. (See also Truth known.)

demonstration Any objective manifestation which takes place as a result of conscious inner awareness. (See also prayers; Truth known.)

denial In working metaphysically for spiritual healing of the physical body, or for the healing of conditions, the denial of the reality of the undesired condition is used to help dissipate the negative idea that there can be any reality back of such a condition that could perpetuate it. Denial is a process of building up one's faith in the One Reality, perfect Good, by denying the existence, in Principle, of the apparent evil. Denial has its use in mental treatment, where argument is used in dissolving the condition, but is not needed as the student reaches the higher plane of thought, which is the true Spiritual Realm of Reality Itself, above the plane of so-called illusion where exist the pairs of opposites. Here there can be only affirmation, as the Eternal Perfection, which is ALL in all, is perceived.

denial in mental treatment Affirming that there is no opposite to good, God, and that what ought not to be has no real being.

denial --- the practitioner never denies body The practitioner affirms that the body is an activity of right ideas; it is really universal and perfect.

denying evil Any mental statement, which, in affirming the supremacy of good, denies the reality of any opposite to good.

descending arc of the circle A term used to symbolize the descent of Spirit into matter, as material form. In man it symbolizes his incarnation in the physical universe. The idea is Spirit functioning in and as gross materiality, which is a part of the experience of Life Itself. (See also ascending arc of the circle.)

descent of Spirit Means the passing of Spirit into form.

"desert (the) shall rejoice" The most commonplace things in life and the waste places of human experience are converted into the Garden of God.

desire Irresistible urge toward self-expression. (See also "Whatsoever things.")

despise not the day of small beginnings In making demonstrations we should be grateful for small results at the beginning, provided there is a tendency in the right direction; we must learn by doing.

destroying error Either by a denial of a false belief or an affirmation of its opposite, which is the Truth, we erase the effect of a false conclusion or straighten out a mistake in mind. To destroy error means mentally to perceive that it is neither person, place, nor thing; it is neither cause, medium, nor effect. In mental treatment, the argument of truth which denies and thus obliterates its apparent opposite.

destructive power not in the universe The universe is one indivisible Wholeness; if there were any final ultimate or real element of destruction within this One, everything would cease to function. All apparent destruction is but a temporary derangement of thought processes which produce such action.

determinism (metaphysical definition) The doctrine that the will is not free, but is inevitably and invincibly determined by physical and psychical conditions.

Deva Angel, or Shining One. In Eastern philosophies, a Stream of Life separate from humanity.

devil Anything which denies the unity of good, the allness of Truth, or our oneness with Spirit.

diagnosis, mental To uncover or bring to light and to correct any and all thoughts which contradict the Divine Presence as complete and perfect. (See also menial diagnosis.)

difference between God and man is not in essence but in degree The Mind Power of the universe is in everyone, and it is the same Creative Genius which projects everything. Our mind is this Mind functioning at the level of our realization of life. As much of It as we use, that much of It we become.

differentiation That quality known as individuality in persons and things. It is a splitting up of the One Originating Spirit as It manifests in form. Differentiation is that which makes one unit of life different from every other unit, from the atom to an archangel, and beyond.

directing power The starting of any manifestation, from the creation of a solar system to man's smallest creative impulse, is in the word he speaks, which clothes his thought in form. "In the beginning was the Word . . . and the Word was God."

directing your treatment Stating what or who your treatment is for. Treatment should always be directed.

discarnate spirits Refers to the continuation of the ego after death; the continuation of the individual entity or stream of consciousness after physical death.

discipline of truth The will and the willingness to think in accord with the nature of our True Being.

disciplining consciousness Bringing our mental reactions under control; not holding thoughts, but rather consciously deciding what thoughts shall be loosed.

disease Lack of manifestation of health, or belief in such a lack.

disease as a claim, a belief, a supposition In spiritual mind healing, any discord is treated as though it were neither person, place, nor thing; it is treated as though it were merely a representation of false thought.

disease --- destroy belief that it must operate Healing the thought of the belief that disease is either person, place, or thing, or that it has any channel for operation.

displace evil with truth For every belief in an opposite to good, provide a realization which affirms the presence of good.

dissolve your troubles In mental treatment we seek consciously to become aware that since God is All there is, negation has no real existence; in thought we seek to dissolve it into its native nothingness.

Divine Consciousness God-perception.

Divine Forgiveness Neither the consciousness of Spirit nor the laws of the universe hold anything against us; wherever we turn to them in recognition and acceptance, they immediately flow through us, imparting the Divine Givingness into our experience.

Divine Freedom See personal choice.

Divine Givingness The outpouring of Life in everything, on everything, and through everything.

Divine Incarnation Christ in us. The Spirit of God in man as man.

Divine Influx The surge of Spirit into self-expression through all people.

Divine Inheritance Every man inherits the entire kingdom of good; "All that the Father hath is thine."

Divine Law While embodying all laws, this phrase refers particularly to the Spiritual Cause and Effect. (See also obedience.)

Divine Love The Spirit is forever imparting Its life to us; the complete givingness of Spirit.

Divine Mind A consciousness of Wholeness.

Divine Mother Symbol of the feminine or receptive aspect of the Creative Principle.

Divine Nature The true nature of all things. (See also "Thy will"; Will of God; "Ye ask.")

Divine Plan Refers to the nature of the Divine Being; that is, if God is Love, then the Divine Plan is Love. The inevitable necessity that the Creative Spirit shall project Its own Nature into experience in order that It may know Itself.

Divine Potential That Spark of the Divine Flame of Life, within us, through which we may develop into a perfected human being --- the Christ man, or the illumined one. The God-in-us that is mighty to do for us all that we can conceive ourselves to be. Through this infinite Potentiality for Perfection, in us, all things are possible.

Divine Principle Spiritual causation operating through Universal Law.

Divine Reality The truth about God.

Divine Science* An orderly and organized arrangement of the facts known about mental and spiritual law. The same as Spiritual Science. *Used in a generic sense, and not in reference to the Divine Science movement and teaching. --- Ed.

Divine Urge The incessant demand toward self-expression. Psychologically referred to as the Id.

doctrine and dogma Ecclesiastical beliefs; a definite tenet; a code of such tenets.

Doctrine --- "If any man shall do His will he will know of the Doctrine" This has reference to the proof or demonstration of the Creative Principle; when we comply with It, It always manifests in our experience.

door --- "I am the door of the sheep" Sheep refers to the Spiritual Principle in man, and door, like gate, to the entrance of this Spiritual Principle into salvation through a recognition of the "I Am."

doorway of opportunity always open New creation is eternally taking place uninhibited by ancient causation.

"Draw nigh unto God and He will draw nigh unto thee" The Principle responds to us by corresponding with our mental attitudes.

dream state Any belief which denies our unity with good.

drop the burden of the intellect There is nothing wrong with the intellect itself, but it is burden when it acts independently of a belief in a higher source of power.

duality A belief in more than one power back of things. Theologically, a belief in God and a devil. In philosophy, any belief that unity and multiplicity produce division. In Science of Mind, any belief that good has an opposite, such as good and evil, heaven and hell, etc. (See also Oneness can; philosophic.)

duality --- to affirm the truth and deny the negative does not mean that we practice duality An affirmation of Truth and a denial of its opposite are the same thing, since each affirms the supremacy of the good. We never deal with duality but merely with the dual use of Unity.