A Dictionary of New Thought Terms

as used by Ernest Holmes

L

Law The invisible mechanics of the universe pertaining to Mind, to Spirit, or to physics. The Law of Mind in action used in mental treatment is intelligent but not volitional. The Law of Mind in action is a mechanical but intelligent reaction to the consciousness which sets it in motion. (See also Creative Law; Divine Law; Generic; intelligent; Karmic; Life Principle as Law; parallel; Spirit inspires; Spirit is form-giving; thought moves.)

Law, the The basic Law of Life is the Law of Unity, of Wholeness.

law (the) and the word The creative power of mental law is set in motion by the word consciously spoken.

Law, changing our position in the See changing our position in the Law.

Law, definite use of We are either using the Law definitely or indefinitely, consciously or chaotically. Scientific practice consists in conscious application of thought for specific purposes.

law, freedom under See freedom under; freedom --- "Within." Law, ignorance of See ignorance..

Law, individualizing See individualizing.

Law, invoking See invoking the Law.

law is, but needs enforcement Laws exist before they are recognized, but must be understood before they can be used.

Law knows no favorites Just as there is neither big nor little in the Law, so there are no important or unimportant people, conditions, or events; It works just as well for one as for another.

Law knows us only as we know ourselves Since the Law of Mind is a reflection from the mental image or cause to physical correspondent or effect, it follows that it only reflects for us, about us, or to us, that which is actually embodied in our thought. In this way every man becomes a law unto himself under the One Great Law.

Law, letter and spirit of the The letter of the Law is the mechanical part of a treatment, our mental statements. The Spirit of the Law is the deep conviction which clothes the statement with life. This is a combination of intellectual and spiritual perception.

Law --- letting Law do the work See letting.

Law, limitation not inherent in See limitation is not. Law, Love and See Love and the Law.

law, mechanical See Subjective Mind as; thought moves. law, mental See mental law.

law (mental) as an infinite medium The Law of Mind is without limit in Its ability not only to produce, but also to adapt means to ends; all processes are involved within It.

law (mental) has no intention of its own The Law of Mind, like any other law in nature, is not personal but personalized. (We must not confuse the Law of Mind with the Spirit of God.) Therefore the Law as force, energy, and creative intelligence responds to us only by corresponding with our mental attitudes. In this way we make up Its mind for us, so far as we are concerned.

Law (Mental), One See One Mental.

law, mental treatment as See mental treatment as law.

Law of Attraction The principle that we attract that to which our thought is attuned.

Law of Averages An impersonal and unconscious acceptance of what the race thought has believed to be true about all people. (See also Averages, Law of)

Law of Belief See Belief, Law of

Law of Cause and Effect, of itself, never moves The Law of Mind, like other laws, must be consciously used if it is to produce a definite result. It is always moved upon by the creative word of Spirit. (See also Cause and Effect.)

Law of Cause and Effect operates automatically Just as the creative soil receives the seed and mechanically and automatically operates upon it, so the Law of Mind acts upon thought. (See also Cause and Effect.)

Law of Cause and Effect specialized To create a new sequence in the Law by reflecting a new idea into It, thus causing It to create a form corresponding to the idea reflected. (See also Cause and Effect.)

Law of Chance Refers to the activity of the collective mind operating in the individual.

Law of Compensation Generally refers to the Emersonian conception of cause and effect. (See also Compensation, Law of)

Law of Consciousness One's consciousness consists of one's entire mental life, both conscious and subjective. The sum total of beliefs in this consciousness are, at any moment, the law of one's life.

Law of Correspondents The subjective world contains an image of everything which is reflected in the objective world. Refers to the theory that the objective universe is projected by an invisible cause which exactly corresponds to it

Law of Faith The law Jesus taught when he said: "According to your faith, be it unto you." By this law, which is the "substance of things hoped for," does man bring into his experience the things which he desires.

Law of Giving and Receiving See Giving and Receiving.

Law of Growth That principle which contains everything necessary to the fulfillment of any idea which has been placed in the creative soil of Mind. As the seed, placed in the ground, must have a definite period of time for the development of the life germ into the perfect plant, so does the Law of Growth require time for the fulfillment of an idea. Man drops an idea into Mind and then remains faithful to it until the Law of Growth delivers to him the manifestation of his idea in form.

Law of Love, under the The true nature of Reality must be love, unity, and peace; hence a consciousness of Its true nature supersedes all other thoughts of consciousness and heals them. (See also Love and.)

Law of Mental Equivalents Whatever is truly embodied in mind finds a corresponding objectification.

Law of Mind confused with Spirit of God See superstition.

Law of Mind in action Mental treatment rightly understood, given, and believed in, because it operates through the medium of Universal Mind, has within itself the intelligence and the power to project a form which mathematically corresponds to its own awareness. (See also servant.)

Law of Mind neither good nor bad We should not confuse the Law of Mind with the Spirit. Mental law, like other laws in nature, is a mechanical force --- a doer and not a knower. We could not speak of any laws of nature as being good or evil; we merely speak of the good or evil use of such laws.

Law of Mind, right ideas enforce See right ideas enforce.

Law of Reversal A belief that either we ourselves, or someone else, can reverse or make negative the action of the mental law toward us.

Law of Self-Approval Mental and spiritual realization that we are one with the Creative Spirit which always approves of us.

Law of Sequence The principle that the fruits of any seed planted (be it seed of thought, plant, animal, or man) will be like the seed. From the time of the planting of the seed there will be a sequential train of events, as growth, until the fruits of the seed are manifested.

Law of Spiritual Demonstration The operation of thought in the Mind Principle is Law.

law of sublimation See sublimation, law of

Law of Tendency The principle of Life Itself to create out of Itself life in form and everything that is necessary for its existence. The tendency is toward abundance, good for all. In man's experience, his bodily health and the conditions in his life will take form according to the tendency of his thought. If the trend be toward the constructive side of life, there will be a forward and upward movement, along the line of abundance, of good. If the trend be toward negativity or destructive thinking, his experiences and conditions will manifest in a downward tendency, as illness, accidents, lack, etc.

Law of Unity The Principle of Wholeness in the Universe, which is the basic Law of Life. In it is contained the Law of Continuity.

Law (the) reacts automatically See treatment is conscious. Law, reversing our use of See reversing our use.

Law (the) says yes when we say yes, no when we way no Since the Mental Law can only react, it follows that It must react to our thought with mathematical precision, whatever that thought may be. Both yes and no are affirmations of some conviction.

law unto itself, treatment is a See treatment is a.

law unto yourself Each one individualizes the Creative Principle in a unique way. Every man's word is his law. This law may be consciously used.

low, we do not coerce it Since the Law of Mind is one of reflection, it is no more necessary to force an image on it that it would be to force an image onto the mirror. The mirror cannot help but reflect the image before it; the Law cannot help but reflect our thought.

Law --- we invoke the Law, the Law evolves the form Like a seed falling into the soil, thought falls into the creative medium of Mind. This is called invoking the Law. That which follows --- the act of the Creative Mind producing a form --- is called evolution, or the passing of the Law into form.

Law which binds can free Just as fire will burn us or cook our food, so the Law of Mind will act upon our images of thought, be these images those of freedom or of bondage.

Law works automatically until we change it Our thought patterns continue to reflect certain conditions until we change such thought patterns. Our use of the Mental Law is an automatic, mechanical, and mathematical reaction to our thought patterns.

laws execute themselves Mental treatment, acting as Law, becomes self-executed; it has within itself everything necessary to propel itself into action.

laws of nature are self-existent and self-sustaining Universal laws were never created; they have always existed. They are co-eternal with Spirit or Reality. Laws and principles always were; we merely apply them.

laws of nature are self-operative All natural laws have the energy within themselves to be self-operative, else they would not be natural laws. In other words, if we had to energize energy, where would we go to get the energy with which to energize it? The proposition becomes self-evident.

left-hand path Symbolic of the destructive use of the creative Power of Mind. Black Magic. Self-will, as opposed to Divine Will, or the Will of God, which can only be of the nature of Good. The path that leads to complete negation, since error destroys itself. (See also black magic.)

let go and let God To surrender all denial of good, all sense of personal responsibility in treatment, and come spiritually to believe that the Law of Spirit meets the need.

let the dead bury their dead We do not arrive at new truths through repeating ancient mistakes, nor do we gain anything through holding controversy with antiquated beliefs.

"Let there be light" Let the consciousness be illumined with love, peace, and wisdom.

"Let this mind be in you" Permit yourself to believe that all Power, Truth, and Goodness operate through you.

letting the Law do the work It is the business of the practitioner to make his statements in Mind with clarity, conviction, and sincerity, after which he must completely let go of his treatment; it is now in the Law of Cause and Effect.

liberation Freedom. When liberated, one is free from the pairs of opposites.

libido and the Divine Urge Libido may be defined as an emotional craving toward self-expression which is in everything. This psychological term has its correspondent in the Science of Mind in what is called the Divine Urge, or the necessity that the Life Principle shall be expressed.

Life, Fountain of See Fountain. Life, God as See God as Life. Life, inner See inner Life. Life, living See living the Life.

Life Principle Has the same meaning as the Law of Spirit.

Life Principle as essence The Divine Spirit; Reality; warm, colorful, personal; God the Spirit; God the Infinite Person; our Father which art in heaven.

Life Principle as Law Law is not a person but a mathematical manifestation. We are surrounded not only by the Universal Spirit but also by the Universal Law. This is the Law of Cause and Effect; unthinking, unfeeling, it knows only to do. Thus it follows our patterns of thought.

lift yourself out of your limitation This means to transcend old thought patterns.

Light See inner Light.

likeness of God Man's spiritual nature is God; the difference is not in essence but in degree. (See also image and.)

limitation and freedom are identical Limitation, being merely a way of using the Law, is never a thing in itself. A less limited use produces what we call greater freedom. This freedom is never a thing in itself. These are merely two ways of using the same Law.

limitation is not inherent in the Law Like the law of electricity, the Principle of Mind is neither big, little, good, bad, high, low, etc. It is merely something to be used. It must reflect the images of thought imposed upon It.

listening, spiritual See meditation without.

living affirmatively Continuously expecting good, happiness, joy, etc.

living the Life Continuously embodying the spirit of Good, of Wholeness, of Harmony, of Love, and of Perfection.

livingness Animate existence, as distinguished from inanimate existence. Conscious existence. Vigorous, active, animated. The power of motion. Since Life Itself is Intelligence, the livingness in any individual expression is estimated according to the degree of intelligence it displays. Spirit is Life, so the livingness in anything is its spiritual essence.

Logos The Divine Creative Word. Probably had a meaning to the ancient Greeks similar to that of Christ to the Christian philosophy.

loneliness healed A recognition that there is one infinite Person in whom all live in a state of cooperative unity heals loneliness.

"Look unto me and be ye saved" In such degree as our thought deals with absolute Unity it automatically provides salvation.

loosing thoughts Refers to the necessity of mentally letting go of one's spiritual treatment after one has given it.

Lord See "I am the Lord."

"Lord (the) is in His holy temple" Temple refers to the inner sanctuary of the heart: The Lord is both with man and within him.

"Lord (the) is the light of my life" Spiritual thought, faith, and conviction are like a light shining in the darkness.

Lord of hosts A symbol of the Higher Self.

Lord (the) our God is one Lord There is but one creative Causation; one Power; one Presence; one infinite Person. This One is individualized in everything.

"Lord (the) will go before you" Refers to the word of Truth making straight the way.

Lord's Supper The bread and wine representing the flesh and blood, or form and circulation. It represents the solid and the liquid in the universe.

Love The outpouring of Spirit. The givingness of Life. In its lesser sense, the affection one has for another. The Principle of Love is not to be confused with mere sentimentality, although all forms of love are aspects of It. It is the great transforming Power, which brings everything into harmony. It is the unifying Principle, the creative element, the motivating Power of all that is fine and noble in life. In metaphysical treatment it is the healing force. (See also Divine Love; God as Love.)

Love and the Law The impulsion of the Spirit or the Originating Cause is Love; the operation of Its action is through Law. (See also Law of Love.)

love as a solvent An inner realization of Love dissolves that which seems opposed to Love.

Love, God as See God as Love. love, science of See science of love.

lower and higher self The lower self is that part of our psychological nature which deals only with external facts, which appear to be separated from that which is good, perfect, and holy. The Higher Self means the Christ; the realization of truth; the Spiritual Man; that which is conscious of Its union with goodness, truth, and beauty; that which is always constructive.

lower worlds See higher.

lulled to sleep by the race mind The almost hypnotic power of thought patterns which have been believed in throughout the ages.