Читать книгу Miscellaneous Writings, 1883-1896 - Mary Baker Eddy - Страница 6

Man is not annihilated, nor does he lose his identity,

by passing through the belief called death. After the [5]

momentary belief of dying passes from mortal mind, this

mind is still in a conscious state of existence; and the in-

dividual has but passed through a moment of extreme

mortal fear, to awaken with thoughts, and being, as

material as before. Science and Health clearly states [10]

that spiritualization of thought is not attained by the death

of the body, but by a conscious union with God. When

we shall have passed the ordeal called death, or destroyed

this last enemy, and shall have come upon the same plane

of conscious existence with those gone before, then we [15]

shall be able to communicate with and to recognize them.

If, before the change whereby we meet the dear de-

parted, our life-work proves to have been well done, we

shall not have to repeat it; but our joys and means of ad-

vancing will be proportionately increased. [20]

The difference between a belief of material existence

and the spiritual fact of Life is, that the former is a dream

and unreal, while the latter is real and eternal. Only

as we understand God, and learn that good, not evil,

lives and is immortal, that immortality exists only in [25]

spiritual perfection, shall we drop our false sense of Life

in sin or sense material, and recognize a better state of

existence.

Can I be treated without being present during treatment?

Mind is not confined to limits; and nothing but our [30]

own false admissions prevent us from demonstrating this

[pg 043]

great fact. Christian Science, recognizing the capabili- [1]

ties of Mind to act of itself, and independent of matter,

enables one to heal cases without even having seen the

individual—or simply after having been made ac-

quainted with the mental condition of the patient. [5]

Do all who at present claim to be teaching Christian

Science, teach it correctly?

By no means: Christian Science is not sufficiently un-

derstood for that. The student of this Science who under-

stands it best, is the one least likely to pour into other [10]

minds a trifling sense of it as being adequate to make safe

and successful practitioners. The simple sense one gains

of this Science through careful, unbiased, contemplative

reading of my books, is far more advantageous to the

sick and to the learner than is or can be the spurious [15]

teaching of those who are spiritually unqualified. The

sad fact at this early writing is, that the letter is gained

sooner than the spirit of Christian Science: time is re-

quired thoroughly to qualify students for the great ordeal

of this century. [20]

If one student tries to undermine another, such sinister

rivalry does a vast amount of injury to the Cause. To

fill one's pocket at the expense of his conscience, or to

build on the downfall of others, incapacitates one to

practise or teach Christian Science. The occasional tem- [25]

porary success of such an one is owing, in part, to the im-

possibility for those unacquainted with the mighty Truth

of Christian Science to recognize, as such, the barefaced

errors that are taught—and the damaging effects these

leave on the practice of the learner, on the Cause, and [30]

on the health of the community.

[pg 044]

Honest students speak the truth “according to the [1]

pattern showed to thee in the mount,” and live it: these

are not working for emoluments, and may profitably

teach people, who are ready to investigate this subject,

the rudiments of Christian Science. [5]

Can Christian Science cure acute cases where there is

necessity for immediate relief, as in membranous croup?

The remedial power of Christian Science is positive,

and its application direct. It cannot fail to heal in

every case of disease, when conducted by one who un- [10]

derstands this Science sufficiently to demonstrate its

highest possibilities.

If I have the toothache, and nothing stops it until I

have the tooth extracted, and then the pain ceases, has

the mind, or extracting, or both, caused the pain to [15]

cease?

What you thought was pain in the bone or nerve, could

only have been a belief of pain in matter; for matter

has no sensation. It was a state of mortal thought made

manifest in the flesh. You call this body matter, when [20]

awake, or when asleep in a dream. That matter can re-

report pain, or that mind is in matter, reporting sensa-

tions, is but a dream at all times. You believed that if

the tooth were extracted, the pain would cease: this de-

mand of mortal thought once met, your belief assumed [25]

a new form, and said, There is no more pain. When

your belief in pain ceases, the pain stops; for matter

has no intelligence of its own. By applying this men-

tal remedy or antidote directly to your belief, you scien-

[pg 045]

tifically prove the fact that Mind is supreme. This is not [1]

done by will-power, for that is not Science but mesmerism.

The full understanding that God is Mind, and that mat-

ter is but a belief, enables you to control pain. Chris-

tian Science, by means of its Principle of metaphysical [5]

healing, is able to do more than to heal a toothache;

although its power to allay fear, prevent inflammation,

and destroy the necessity for ether—thereby avoiding

the fatal results that frequently follow the use of that

drug—render this Science invaluable in the practice [10]

of dentistry.

Can an atheist or a profane man be cured by metaphysics,

or Christian Science?

The moral status of the man demands the remedy of

Truth more in this than in most cases; therefore, under [15]

the deific law that supply invariably meets demand, this

Science is effectual in treating moral ailments. Sin is

not the master of divine Science, but vice versa; and

when Science in a single instance decides the conflict,

the patient is better both morally and physically. [20]

If God made all that was made, and it was good, where

did evil originate?

It never originated or existed as an entity. It is but a

false belief; even the belief that God is not what the

Scriptures imply Him to be, All-in-all, but that there [25]

is an opposite intelligence or mind termed evil. This

error of belief is idolatry, having “other gods before me.”

In John i. 3 we read, “All things were made by Him;

and without Him was not anything made that was made.”

[pg 046]

The admission of the reality of evil perpetuates the belief [1]

or faith in evil. The Scriptures declare, “To whom ye

yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are.”

The leading self-evident proposition of Christian Science

is: good being real, evil, good's opposite, is unreal. This [5]

truism needs only to be tested scientifically to be found

true, and adapted to destroy the appearance of evil to an

extent beyond the power of any doctrine previously

entertained.

Do you teach that you are equal with God? [10]

A reader of my writings would not present this ques-

tion. There are no such indications in the premises or

conclusions of Christian Science, and such a misconcep-

tion of Truth is not scientific. Man is not equal with

his Maker; that which is formed is not cause, but effect, [15]

and has no power underived from its creator. It is pos-

sible, and it is man's duty, so to throw the weight of his

thoughts and acts on the side of Truth, that he be ever

found in the scale with his creator; not weighing

equally with Him, but comprehending at every point, in [20]

divine Science, the full significance of what the apostle

meant by the declaration, “The Spirit itself beareth wit-

ness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and

if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with

Christ.” In Science, man represents his divine Prin- [25]

ciple—the Life and Love that are God—even as the

idea of sound, in tones, represents harmony; but thought

has not yet wholly attained unto the Science of being,

wherein man is perfect even as the Father, his divine

Principle, is perfect. [30]

[pg 047]

How can I believe that there is no such thing as matter, [1]

when I weigh over two hundred pounds and carry about

this weight daily?

By learning that matter is but manifest mortal mind.

You entertain an adipose belief of yourself as substance; [5]

whereas, substance means more than matter: it is the

glory and permanence of Spirit: it is that which is

hoped for but unseen, that which the material senses

cannot take in. Have you never been so preoccupied in

thought when moving your body, that you did this with- [10]

out consciousness of its weight? If never in your waking

hours, you have been in your night-dreams; and these

tend to elucidate your day-dream, or the mythical nature

of matter, and the possibilities of mind when let loose

from its own beliefs. In sleep, a sense of the body ac- [15]

companies thought with less impediment than when

awake, which is the truer sense of being. In Science,

body is the servant of Mind, not its master: Mind is

supreme. Science reverses the evidence of material

sense with the spiritual sense that God, Spirit, is the only [20]

substance; and that man, His image and likeness, is

spiritual, not material. This great Truth does not de-

stroy but substantiates man's identity—together with

his immortality and preexistence, or his spiritual co-

existence with his Maker. That which has a beginning [25]

must have an ending.

What should one conclude as to Professor Carpenter's

exhibitions of mesmerism?

That largely depends upon what one accepts as either

useful or true. I have no knowledge of mesmerism, [30]

[pg 048]

practically or theoretically, save as I measure its demon- [1]

strations as a false belief, and avoid all that works ill. If

mesmerism has the power attributed to it by the gentle-

man referred to, it should neither be taught nor practised,

but should be conscientiously condemned. One thing [5]

is quite apparent; namely, that its so-called power is

despotic, and Mr. Carpenter deserves praise for his public

exposure of it. If such be its power, I am opposed to it,

as to every form of error—whether of ignorance or

fanaticism, prompted by money-making or malice. It [10]

is enough for me to know that animal magnetism is neither

of God nor Science.

It is alleged that at one of his recent lectures in Bos-

ton Mr. Carpenter made a man drunk on water, and

then informed his audience that he could produce the [15]

effect of alcohol, or of any drug, on the human system,

through the action of mind alone. This honest declara-

tion as to the animus of animal magnetism and the pos-

sible purpose to which it can be devoted, has, we trust,

been made in season to open the eyes of the people to the [20]

hidden nature of some tragic events and sudden deaths

at this period.

Was ever a person made insane by studying meta-

physics?

Such an occurrence would be impossible, for the [25]

proper study of Mind-healing would cure the insane.

That persons have gone away from the Massachusetts

Metaphysical College “made insane by Mrs. Eddy's

teachings,” like a hundred other stories, is a baseless

fabrication offered solely to injure her or her school. [30]

The enemy is trying to make capital out of the follow-

[pg 049]

ing case. A young lady entered the College class who, [1]

I quickly saw, had a tendency to monomania, and re-

quested her to withdraw before its close. We are cred-

ibly informed that, before entering the College, this

young lady had manifested some mental unsoundness, [5]

and have no doubt she could have been restored by

Christian Science treatment. Her friends employed a

homœopathist, who had the skill and honor to state, as his

opinion given to her friends, that “Mrs. Eddy's teach-

ings had not produced insanity.” This is the only case [10]

that could be distorted into the claim of insanity ever

having occurred in a class of Mrs. Eddy's; while ac-

knowledged and notable cases of insanity have been

cured in her class.

If all that is mortal is a dream or error, is not [15]

our capacity for formulating a dream, real; is it not

God-made; and if God-made, can it be wrong, sinful, or

an error?

The spirit of Truth leads into all truth, and enables

man to discern between the real and the unreal. Enter- [20]

taining the common belief in the opposite of goodness,

and that evil is as real as good, opposes the leadings of

the divine Spirit that are helping man Godward: it pre-

vents a recognition of the nothingness of the dream, or

belief, that Mind is in matter, intelligence in non-intel- [25]

ligence, sin, and death. This belief presupposes not

only a power opposed to God, and that God is not All-

in-all, as the Scriptures imply Him to be, but that the

capacity to err proceeds from God.

That God is Truth, the Scriptures aver; that Truth [30]

never created error, or such a capacity, is self-evident;

[pg 050]

that God made all that was made, is again Scriptural; [1]

therefore your answer is, that error is an illusion of

mortals; that God is not its author, and it cannot be

real.

Does “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures” [5]

explain the entire method of metaphysical healing, or is

there a secret back of what is contained in that book, as

some say?

“Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures”

is a complete textbook of Christian Science; and its [10]

metaphysical method of healing is as lucid in presenta-

tion as can be possible, under the necessity to express

the metaphysical in physical terms. There is absolutely

no additional secret outside of its teachings, or that gives

one the power to heal; but it is essential that the student [15]

gain the spiritual understanding of the contents of this

book, in order to heal.

Do you believe in change of heart?

We do believe, and understand—which is more—

that there must be a change from human affections, de- [20]

sires, and aims, to the divine standard, “Be ye therefore

perfect;” also, that there must be a change from the be-

lief that the heart is matter and sustains life, to the

understanding that God is our Life, that we exist in

Mind, live thereby, and have being. This change of [25]

heart would deliver man from heart-disease, and ad-

vance Christianity a hundredfold. The human affections

need to be changed from self to benevolence and love

for God and man; changed to having but one God and

loving Him supremely, and helping our brother man. [30]

[pg 051]

This change of heart is essential to Christianity, and [1]

will have its effect physically as well as spiritually,

healing disease. Burnt offerings and drugs, God does

not require.

Is a belief of nervousness, accompanied by great mental [5]

depression, mesmerism?

All mesmerism is of one of three kinds; namely, the

ignorant, the fraudulent, or the malicious workings of

error or mortal mind. We have not the particulars of

the case to which you may refer, and for this reason can- [10]

not answer your question professionally.

How can I govern a child metaphysically? Doesn't the

use of the rod teach him life in matter?

The use of the rod is virtually a declaration to the

child's mind that sensation belongs to matter. Motives [15]

govern acts, and Mind governs man. If you make clear

to the child's thought the right motives for action, and

cause him to love them, they will lead him aright: if you

educate him to love God, good, and obey the Golden

Rule, he will love and obey you without your having to [20]

resort to corporeal punishment.

“"When from the lips of Truth one mighty breath

Shall, like a whirlwind, scatter in its breeze

The whole dark pile of human mockeries;

Then shall the reign of Mind commence on earth, [25]

And starting fresh, as from a second birth,

Man in the sunshine of the world's new spring,

Shall walk transparent like some holy thing.”

Are both prayer and drugs necessary to heal?

The apostle James said, “Ye ask, and receive not, [30]

because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your

[pg 052]

lusts.” This text may refer to such as seek the material [1]

to aid the spiritual, and take drugs to support God's

power to heal them. It is difficult to say how much

one can do for himself, whose faith is divided be-

tween catnip and Christ; but not so difficult to know [5]

that if he were to serve one master, he could do vastly

more. Whosoever understands the power of Spirit, has

no doubt of God's power—even the might of Truth—

to heal, through divine Science, beyond all human means

and methods. [10]

What do you think of marriage?

That it is often convenient, sometimes pleasant, and

occasionally a love affair. Marriage is susceptible of

many definitions. It sometimes presents the most

wretched condition of human existence. To be normal, [15]

it must be a union of the affections that tends to lift

mortals higher.

If this life is a dream not dispelled, but only changed,

by death—if one gets tired of it, why not commit

suicide? [20]

Man's existence is a problem to be wrought in divine

Science. What progress would a student of science

make, if, when tired of mathematics or failing to dem-

onstrate one rule readily, he should attempt to work

out a rule farther on and more difficult—and this, [25]

because the first rule was not easily demonstrated? In

that case he would be obliged to turn back and work

out the previous example, before solving the advanced

problem. Mortals have the sum of being to work out,

and up, to its spiritual standpoint. They must work [30]

[pg 053]

out of this dream or false claim of sensation and life [1]

in matter, and up to the spiritual realities of existence,

before this false claim can be wholly dispelled. Com-

mitting suicide to dodge the question is not working

it out. The error of supposed life and intelligence in [5]

matter, is dissolved only as we master error with Truth.

Not through sin or suicide, but by overcoming tempta-

tion and sin, shall we escape the weariness and wicked-

ness of mortal existence, and gain heaven, the harmony

of being. [10]