Excerpt:

THE word metaphysics, as its composition indicates, denotes something above the physical, "meta," meaning "over," and "physics" referring to forms of matter. So that to work upon the metaphysical plane means to employ laws that transcend physical means or agencies. It is, then, to push our way back of the thing that we see, which we call "the manifestation," until we find the cause of the manifestation. It is the search for the Ultimate Cause and the law by which the Spirit creates a world, and brings material objects and physical life into manifestation.

Our study of applied metaphysics is designed to make clear these facts: In the beginning there is only Mind or Spirit. Whatever is made, therefore, must be made out of Mind. Mind can act only by thinking; therefore it is thought that takes the substance called mind and moulds it into form. God makes a world out of himself. As everything in the cosmos starts in thought and manifests in form, creation is the process by which the activity takes place. We may call it evolution or we may call it law. By law we mean the method Spirit follows in making things, This is the law of cause and effect whether it be in the making of a planet or a man; the thought is the cause and the manifestation is the effect. Even the so-called laws of the physical universe are simply the activity of this one law in some form.

What It Does.

Metaphysics, therefore, teaches us how we may govern our bodies, our world, and our happiness by the thoughts we think; for it declares that man reproduces the creative method and that what is true in the macrocosm or universe is true in the microcosm or individual, that thoughts become things. And it claims that by acquiring the knowledge of the law, and by working in harmony with it, man can be freed from limitations of all kinds.

Our subsequent studies will reveal that the creative mind in man, and the creative mind in the universe are not two, but rather essentially one. The value of this understanding is that we may use universal creative forces to secure the good we desire, without feeling that we have to create. We do not make the law, we use it, and it does our work for us. All healing accordingly, is divine. "It is done unto us even as we will," it is not done by us. Human will originates its own ideas but Divine Mind creates. The healer is not the source, but the channel; not the light, but the window; not the electricity, but the wire. He is the teacher who will guide to the truth until the patient learns the way for himself. So all metaphysical healing is based on the principle, that the body of man and his affairs are created by the mind which can either build or destroy, and that this mind is controlled by thought. Jesus was the Supreme Metaphysician because He could speak the word of authority to mind so positively that when He said, "Rise and take up thy bed," the paralytic did as was commanded him to do.

It is evident that Jesus used a law that is open to the use of everybody. The constitution of man has not changed nor his essential nature, and so today men are demonstrating this power. I count it as the greatest work that today engages the attention of mankind — not the mere healing, but the advancement of the knowledge of these things in a world of need.

Metaphysics, a Science.

For it is a knowledge, or as we say, a science or philosophy. And it takes a real mind to understand it. Metaphysics engages the mind. We must think, and rich and fruitful are the results of logical thinking. By it we move back along the path of history and science and logical deduction into the realm of Original Causation. We find ourselves entering into the field where all is Spirit in the beginning of things. We see the Spirit or Cosmic Mind taking the initial step in the creation of the universe. We are at a period before Substance or matter is in existence so that we know that the All-Originating Mind could have but one mode of activity — that of thought. By the process of thought Spirit projects a substance as universal as itself Which we call ether. By Acting upon Ether the Creative Mind brings into being planetary systems, earth and all its myriad forms and life. To test this we may reverse the process of our thought and begin with science. We take so-called matter and analyze it into its constituent elements, to the molecule, then to the atom, then to the aeon, then to the electron, and finally to primary ether, which science declares to be the ultimate source of matter. Now science cannot tell whence came this ultimate substance, nor how it received its energy. That is the task of metaphysics and metaphysics meets the problem squarely by declaring energy to be the thought of the Creative Mind.

The Underlying Unity.

So that whatsoever way we approach our subject we find an underlying unity to all things — ether, from the material standpoint; mind, from the mental. Back of all things then is the Divine Mind or Spirit through whose concept the world springs into existence. We thus find ourself living in an idealistic universe, a universe which in its essential nature is purely spiritual and therefore subject to the Control of Thought Alone. This is the underlying unity which relates all parts to the great whole — man and nature to the Divine Mind which brought all into existence. It was the great achievement of Moses to discover this underlying unity, or rather to learn it from the Ancient Egyptian priesthood and reveal it to the Israelitish people. It is the greatest fact or precept of the Old Testament, which led Jesus when asked which was the greatest commandment to quote these words, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God, the Lord is one." It is the work of metaphysics to show that man can put himself into harmony with this One Originating Source and work in unison with the Creative Purpose, and thus be able to accomplish all things.