A Dictionary of New Thought Terms

as used by Ernest Holmes

E

Eden This term is sometimes used to symbolize the Garden of the Soul, where man works in the creative soil of Mind to produce the perfect blossoms of perfected being. The Garden of Eden also signifies the Cradle of the human race on earth, where man began to develop human consciousness. The time of this dawn of consciousness is placed in the Mesozoic Age, which may be a reason for the Biblical story of the Serpent in the Garden --- it being the Age of Reptiles.

effect See Cause and Effect; Law of Cause and Effect; nothing but; Spirit is the realm; Truth is both.

Ego From the spiritual viewpoint, the Real and eternal man. elimination See assimilation and elimination; mind as a law. embodiment See we cannot experience.

Emmanuel God with us: the Christ in each one.

energy, vitalizing Stands for the spiritual flow of Life.

engine of the subjective mind Refers to the Law of Cause and Effect, which is dynamic, mathematical, and creative, but which needs an engineer (conscious direction).

"Enter ye in at the strait gate" Gate signifies the entrance of consciousness into the realm of harmony. It is strait and narrow, since it must reject everything which denies the Eternal Good.

entity (general definition) "A portion of Reality which contains Its identity." (Metaphysical) An ego which maintains an individualized relationship with the whole; a spirit; a soul; a person. An individualized stream of God-consciousness in man as man. A form which has individual existence. Sometimes thoughts, which have been so energized by sustained mental attention and strong feeling, acquire actual form and are referred to as thought forms or entities.

equivalent(s) See Law of Mental Equivalents; mental equivalent.

error Any mistaken conclusion; from our viewpoint, that which contradicts the spiritual Reality.

error, impersonalizing See impersonalizing error.

error, to dissolve Refers to the act of mental treatment wherein one seeks to become aware of perfection instead of imperfection. (See also destroying; handling error; Truth dissolves.)

error, uncovering See uncovering.

Esoteric and exoteric The inner and outer teachings of spiritual truths.

essence of being Means that "The Highest God and the innermost God are One God."

establishing Truth in consciousness To change the inner thought patterns until they accept the ever-present and ever-available Spirit of Wholeness.

eternal verities Refers to fundamental truths that cannot change, particularly to the idea that Love, Wisdom, Power, Beauty, etc., are universal qualities accessible to all people --- they are always there and always may be called upon.

eternity See time and.

eternity is here We are now the sons of righteousness just as much as we ever shall be.

ether A term used to designate Original Substance, which is everywhere present, permeating all space.

etheric body The bridge of atomic matter between the emotional and physical bodies. It extends beyond the physical form and is the vehicle for finer vibrations than can be felt in the physical body.

etheric vibrations Vibratory waves of force, in various degrees of intensity. These vibrations are the connecting links between all planes of existence, visible and invisible.

"every plant of the field before it was on earth" This means that the idea comes before the form. The Word of Spirit, as Law, creates form. Form is the effect; the word is its cause.

"Everyone that asketh receiveth" Refers to the Law of Cause and Effect whereby each must receive the full measure of his own consciousness. We are always attracting or repelling according to our thought.

evil A term used to imply the opposite of good. Evil is not a thing in itself, but is an absence of what is felt to be good or pleasing, as darkness is an absence of light, or death an absence of life. The term is usually linked with the idea of negation or destruction, though these forces, in themselves, are not really "bad." What appears to be destruction at times is only a vehicle for change. The term is entirely relative. What might seem evil to one man might be seen as good by another.

evil, belief in See belief in evil creates evil; personalizing. evil, destroying See good, destroying.

evil, dominion over The recognition of good through spiritual awareness automatically overcomes that which denies good.

evil, impersonal nature of Evil of itself is neither person, place, nor thing. The belief that two and two make five never alters the fact that two and two make only four. The belief that two and two make five does not belong to anyone; it is merely operating through someone's ignorance.

evil neither person, place, nor thing That which denies good is not an entity; has no location in Spirit; does not belong to anyone and cannot operate through anyone's experience.

evil, no medium for the operation of A spiritual consciousness does not attract evil thought. Only when thought is tuned to evil does it reproduce it.

evil, no power in Two and two never make five; evil is never a thing in itself, hence it has no eternal law to support it.

evil, origin of See origin.

evil --- overcoming evil with good See overcoming.

evil, resist not See resist.

evil spirits Discordant and chaotic thought patterns consciously retained which tend to influence the conscious faculties negatively.

evolution A gradual unfoldment or development. The progress of a race or a species from a lower form of existence into higher forms, in line with the Principle of Life, which is ultimate Perfection. This does not imply that there will ever be a stopping point, for it is the nature of Life to forever unfold into higher and higher expressions of being.

evolution --- man's future evolution depends upon his cooperation with nature Proven by all advanced in any science; the laws of nature pre-exist our use of them but are never forced upon us.

"Except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God" Our mental vision must be shifted from effect to cause. We must be born into the realization that we are living in a spiritual universe.

"Except the Lord build the house" That which is not of the truth cannot be eternal; that which is opposed to the truth destroys itself.

"Except ye be as little children ye shall not enter into the Kingdom" We should have a child-like and intuitive belief in the eternal goodness.

"Except ye believe that I Am, ye shall perish" Refers to the necessity of recognizing the inner spiritual Principle without which recognition the outward or physical man is not sustained. Has no reference whatsover to hell, devil, punishment, etc.

exoteric See Esoteric.

experience interprets reality to us Each man's life is, at any time, a result of the sum total of all his thought processes, both conscious and subjective. The thought processes are the creator of his experience and continue his present contemplation of God. However, the processes of thought can be changed, hence the experience can be altered.

explanation is the healing power Explaining and realizing that all life is One, complete, perfect, and changeless.

external world is the reflection of our within The sum total of our subjective thought patterns automatically projects itself into our physical bodies and environments, thus, "What man has as well as what he is, is the result of the subjective state of his thought." If this were not true, changed mental attitudes would have no effect.