IN the realm that God, Mind, creates, all is spiritual and all is good; there can be no suggestion of evil. Man, Mind's spiritual, perfect manifestation, has never been, is not now, nor ever will be, touched by evil in any form.
In the state of human experience in which an individual entertains both the thoughts he accepts from the one divine Mind and the thoughts of mortal mind that lodge in his consciousness there seems to be the presence of evil, which must be dealt with and seen as unreal.
The forms of evil, or error, Mrs. Eddy calls collectively animal magnetism. She writes in Science and Health (p. 103): "As named in Christian Science, animal magnetism or hypnotism is the specific term for error, or mortal mind. It is the false belief that mind is in matter, and is both evil and good; that evil is as real as good and more powerful."
Animal magnetism must be seen as unreal if one wants to enjoy the full fruition of his labors and study in Christian Science. For evil in its many facets is the direct opposite of this Science and must be conquered. Demonstration of the truth occurs in one's experience when one's consciousness is free of error and one realizes clearly his inseparability from God, divine Mind.
In Science one demonstrates the presence of the good, spiritual qualities of God. This demonstration is the result of improved thinking, which in turn is manifested in improved health, happiness, harmony. Thus it can be clearly seen that error which is allowed to remain in thought undestroyed can seem to hinder the clear realization of God's presence.
God is infinite Spirit. All that He creates is spiritual and good. Man is His image and therefore is wholly spiritual and wholly good. Animal magnetism is evil. It cannot exist in the realm of infinite good. Therefore it cannot exist in the consciousness of one whose thoughts express only Mind.
As one reasons in this way, identifies himself as spiritual, realizes his inseparability from Mind, sees that in reality he can have in consciousness only good thoughts from God, he will correspondingly free himself from beliefs of animal magnetism—evil or mortal mind. With their removal he can expect to see improvement in his human experience. Establishing one's spiritual identity is most important. The more one holds on to one's spiritual identity, the more he'll find himself free of the beliefs of evil.
Our Leader writes in the paragraph following the one from which the above quotation is taken, "In reality there is no mortal mind, and consequently no transference of mortal thought and will-power." One of the aggressive phases of animal magnetism is the belief that a mortal mind can transfer its thoughts to another mortal mind and therefore control this mind. However, Mrs. Eddy discovered that there is no mortal mind in the real universe. If in Truth there is no source for mortal mind transference, there is no transference or manipulation going on and consequently no hypnotic effect.
If one should feel that his consciousness is being touched by evil, let him not be afraid or concerned, for this is only a belief, not an actuality. He can take it merely as a sign saying to him, "Look, you're allowing yourself to think of yourself as a mortal with a mortal mind." Receiving this sign, he can turn to God with joy and claim his true identity.
As one sees that this identity is the reflection of the one divine Mind, God, he realizes that this Mind, being the only Mind, is all that can send thoughts to the reflection and that any thought in the reflection must exist first in Mind. Thus one separates himself from the false belief in a mortal mind which can influence another. If this belief is destroyed in consciousness, there can be no effect of it in one's experience. One can only experience what he is thinking.
In the Manual of The Mother Church by Mrs. Eddy there is a By-Law which tells us, "It shall be the duty of every member of this Church to defend himself daily against aggressive mental suggestion, and not be made to forget nor to neglect his duty to God, to his Leader, and to mankind" (Art. VIII, Sect. 6). The reason one needs to do this daily is that the belief that suggestions have power and can influence one is so strong in certain elements of society that one must be continuously alert not to be taken in.
In order to defend oneself effectively, one must claim his spiritual identity. If one tries to defend himself against suggestions while believing himself mortal, he is on the same plane of belief as the suggestions trying to fend off something he believes to be real. But the spiritual child of God is not in the realm of mortal belief, and we can claim sonship with God as the reflection of Spirit. As we do so we cannot be touched by evil belief.
Jesus had to learn to unsee the claims of animal magnetism. It is recorded of him in the fourth chapter of Matthew's Gospel that when he went into the wilderness and fasted forty days and nights the devil came to him and tempted him three times with false suggestions. But each time Jesus rejected the temptation that evil was trying to present to him. Matthew records that after the third unsuccessful attempt (verse 11), "then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him."
Every Christian Scientist must learn to see the suggestions of mortal mind for what they are and reject them so that his consciousness can be filled with the ministering angel thoughts of God.
When one learns how to identify himself properly as the spiritual likeness of Mind, to reject the false concepts called animal magnetism, and to see this evil in any form, either seemingly from within his own consciousness or from without as strictly illusion, without power, presence, or reality, then he is ready to make great progress in Christian Science.
One has so much to find in the land of infinite Truth that he has no time to fool around with error. Let us learn to throw it off as illusion and thus destroy it.
