Infinite Intelligence of Cause and Effect

Continuing from where we left off on our last post attempting to begin the task of answering the question, "What is NewThought?", via online sources I return to the New Thought wiki as a jumping off point. The 3rd major term that we come across after New Thought, and Higher Thought is Infinite Intelligence. This is presented as another wordfor God.

According to Achieve Your Creative Potential (AYCP), Infinite Intelligence is "all the energy that exists in the universe being a single entity and that entity being in total communication with every aspect of itself." AYCP goes on to say that only by quieting our mind can we access Infinite Intelligence. 

At this point let us backtrack for a moment and talk about who Thomas Troward is briefly. The Bio listed on Wikipedia for him is brief so here it is in its entirety:

Troward was a divisional Judge in British-administered India. His avocation was the study of comparative religion. Influences on his thinking, as well as his later writing, included the teachings of Christ, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism.

After his retirement from the judiciary in 1896, Troward set out to apply logic and a judicial weighing of evidence in the study of matters of cause and effect. The philosopher William James characterized Troward’s Edinburgh Lectures on Mental Science as "far and away the ablest statement of philosophy I have met, beautiful in its sustained clearness of thought and style, a really classic statement."

According to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) archivist Nell Wing, early AA members were strongly encouraged to read Thomas Troward's Edinburgh Lectures on Mental Science. In the opening of the 2006 film The Secret (2006 film), introductory remarks credit Troward's philosophy with inspiring the movie and its production.

Troward was a past president of the International New Thought Alliance.

As we see here Troward studied many of the major religions and focused heavily on the topic of cause and effect. Examiner offers this short message about cause and effect along with 2 Emerson quotes:

Shallow men believe in luck.
Strong men believe in cause and effect."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Cause and effect, means and ends, seed and fruit cannot be severed;
for the effect already blooms in the cause,
the end preexists in the means,
the fruit in the seed."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Remember that you have anything and everything you want. You just need to manifest it.

While thoughts are vital to manifesting desires, there’s another component which is also important - the Law of Cause and Effect, also known as karma.

As we did in the last entry let us review what we have discovered thus far. Infinite Intelligence can be seen as a synonym to God. This Infinite Intelligence is all-encompassing and we need to slow down from the tumult of our daily activities in order to contact and make use of it. If we take on this thinking exercise with our mind we can bring about direct effects which may result in manifesting a reality that we desire.

Are you keeping up with this? I will do one more entry along these lines which I dub a "follow the breadcrumbs" form of writing. From there I will do a separate review post, and then from that vantage make a decision about where I would like to take this blog series beyond that.

Non-Theistic Affirmations

I really enjoy the writings of Ernest Holmes known primarily for his Science of Mind book. I do struggle with the belief in God as taught by most religions and common interpretations. This caused me to slightly modify some of the affirmations he suggests in his book How To Change Your Life so that I could be feel more in tune with their message.

This brings to mind a discussion I once had with the deacon at the St. Marks Church where he advised that if you have trouble with the word God then find a word that works for you. He suggested love. You can find that conversation embedded in Episode 5 of Norm Scott's Audio Zine Lo-fi Confessional. All you have to do is scroll down and click the bar to listen. One thing you are guaranteed to find out is that I laugh a lot. There are plenty instances on there of me cackling away. That tape is one of my favorites of his very impressive body of archival works. It captures an important moment in time, the protests surrounding the 2004 NYC Republican National Convention, but I digress.

Another important teacher that brought home the power of a minor semantics makeover is Emma Curtis Hopkins. She is commonly referred to as the teacher of teachers for the string of students that went on to become household names within the new thought movement. In her later years she even taught Mr. Holmes himself. As a matter of fact she forced him to recognize something he had been hesitant to embrace his whole life - that he was a mystic. Although she heavily used the word God in her own work, she also likens it to "good" stating that "God is Love" and also "My Good is my God." It is in the service of these concepts that I began to work with the appearance of the word God I keep coming across in New Thought literature as "My Good" and "Love." Perhaps blasphemy to some but a lifeboat to others. There is no reason why we can't work with the power of spirit even if we have a lot of questions. I now present to you the aforementioned affirmations:

Abundance
I identify myself with abundance; I surrender all fear and doubt. I let go of all uncertainty. I know there is no confusion, no lack of confidence. The Presence of All Good is with me. The Mind of All Good is my mind. The Freedom of All Good is my freedom. The power of All Good is my power. The abundance of All Good fills my every good desire right now.

Success
I know exactly what to do in every situation. Every idea necessary to successful living is brought to my attention. The doorway to ever-increasing opportunities for self-expression is open before me. I am continually meeting new and larger experiences. Every day brings some greater good. Every day brings more blessings and greater self-expression. I am prospered in everything I do. There is no deferment, no delay, no obstruction or obstacle to impede the progress of right action.

How to Attract Good Things
I know accepting only good in my life penetrates any unbelief in my mind, casts out fear, removes doubt and clears away obstacles, permitting that which is enduring perfect and true to be realized. I have complete faith and acceptance that all the worthwhile ideas I now affirm will be fulfilled as I have believed. I do everything with a sense of reliance upon the Law of Mind, therefore I know that my word shall not return unto me void. I accept this word and rejoice in it. I expect complete and success fulfillment of the thoughts of increased good which I now establish.