Los Angeles herald., 1909-04-12

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PROFESSOR HEF
that teachingeis accepted we begin to
obtain true view of some of
The wonders of eternal mind
Where sense Is lost in sight
From time immemorial there have
been some who were ready to perceive
and to accept new truths, and through
these, the prophets, poets, inventors,
discoveries ard reformers of the
ages, the world has been making slow
but steady progress.
Regarding Material Causation
Christian Science teaches that mat
ter and material existence are phenom-
ena of mortal mind, concept of ex-
istence obtained through the physical
senses, a misapprehension of reality
held by human consciousness when I'M
instructed by Science, an appearance
instead of an. actually. 1t is simply
an imitation or counterfeit.
Now it is not the appearance but
only the original that has power, in
telligence and substance. The mani
festation of growth, action or being in
matter is but "a material concept of
spiritual facts.
The objects, action and power ex-
pressed in moving picture are not
in the picture and we do not associate
them with the picture, but with the
original which the picture reproduces.
Similarly, life, growth, action, power,
substance, law, ETC., are not in mat
ter, physical existence or the material
consciousness: but in divine Mind, the
only cause and Principle of being, and
should be so thought of,
When we rar0QniZa Cod as the ONLY
Mind, the only cause. Truth is reflected
in consciousness and existence is har-
monious. When we believe causation
to be material or in mortal mind, we
put our trust and dependence in a
shadow, a false belief, and existence
so-called Is discordant, liable to dis
ease, death In order to work out our
salvation we therefore need to under
stand causation.
Consciousness Is Existence,
Consciousness is existence. But what
is consciousness? What is existence?
Our conscious existence is obviously
what we are conscious of. OF our real
existence we may not be conscious
Everything that we know or see or be-
lieve, all our thoughts, acts or expert
ences go to make up our universe, our
sense of existence, our consciousness
We have all noted the mental devel-
opment of child from the first sense
Of mere existence up through the vari-
Gus stages of experience and education
to mature consciousness. At first his
universe is limited, but finally 1t comes
to include all that highly civilized
man can know.
AS we gain our concept of existence
largely through the physical senses, it
is very important that we be able to
weigh and shift their testimony. We
all know how deceptive these senses
are The distant house is not actually
small because 1t seems to be so, neitn-
err does the sun move because 1t APP
pears to move. So also hearing, taste,
touch. and smell are all fallible. In
fact, the impressions received by the
senses and recorded mentally require
explanation and rectification to make
them coherent and ineligible.
Furthermore, we do not perceive
truth through these senses. Not see
ing the solar system rightly with our
eyes, how can we see the truth OF the
solar system save through the under
standing, which judges not according
to the appearance? How do we see the
truth of the multiplication table?
Surely not with our eyes, but through
knowledge of mathematics, that is,
mentally or through understanding.
These senses bring to our conscious
ness only impressions, from which we
form a concept of things. If there
fore the testimony of the physical
senses Is so unreliable and unsatisfac-
tory it is apparent that the conscious
ness gained through these senses cam
not be true and reliable.
Matter a Sense Impression
one of the worlds foremost physical
scientists once said, as he laid his hand
on a table. 1.-THE only evidence we have
of the existence of this table is the
impression it makes upon us through
force of some kind" The most adj
yanced physicists and philosophers
admit substantially that matter is
only objectified sense-impression. The
physical scientists have made radical
changes in their theories regarding
matter, and they now practically unite
in declaring that matter is a form or
energy and that the atom Is an aggre-
CATION of force-centers called ions.
1t is therefore conceded that matter
is not the indestructible substance 1T
has been believed to be, but is the way
sense. Material objects may be de-
fined as objectified mental impressions,
and since material sense is unreliable
and untrue, these, impressions are i
seeming only, that is, counterfeits of
reality. What is the true nature of
substance, or what is back of these
appearances, material sense does not
and cannot determine. Only a sense
that can perceive truth and reality can
declare this. A mortafs universe is a
projection of the concept of existence
which he has obtained through his five
senses and through the educational in
fiuences of his childhood and youth.
If we can see existence as mental