Spiritual Mind Treatment is a uniquely American form of prayer which Ernest Holmes based on the teachings of Mary Baker Eddy's Christian Science and Emma Curtis Hopkins' New Thought Movement in the 20th century. It's underpinning comes from several key ideas:

• Oneness -- the idea of Oneness, said another way, "God is all there is." Every created thing that exists, including human beings are ultimately created from a single source-- the mind of God, and come into existence by that Mind becoming the thing that it creates.
• Being in the "image and likeness of God,"we create from our mind by speaking our word. Therefore, prayer is affirming what is already created in our minds. This is a major difference from traditional religion where prayer is seen as a beseeching or begging, and sometimes bargaining for our needs and desires from God. It is important to note that we are not all of God, rather we are a microcosm. The individual cannot contain all of God, but an individual can access any part of God.
• The only "time" is now. Our lives are a series of "now moments." Each moment is a point of choice that leads to the next set of possibilities..
• Faith in the way God works. Faith in the action of an immutable Law of Cause and Effect. Note: Cause is not not precedent. Just because something happened before is not, by itself, assurance that it will occur the same way again.

So using these ideas, and others, Ernest Holmes created a five-step process of prayer. In practicing each step it is important to recognize that they are not incantations. What is important is the level of trust and energy put into each step.. Ernest's statement, "There is just One Life. That Life is God's Life. That Life is Perfect. And, That Life is my life now." is a beautiful and concise example of this idea. It is also, as we shall see the first two steps of the five.

So, let's get to it.

• Recognition: We recognize that God is all there is, there just one source.
• Identification We know we are one with it.
• Realization We state, that which we wish to realize. We state it in the present tense. We call out the name of the person for whom we are treating, using pronouns as little as possible.
• Thanksgiving We express gratitude for our realization as already complete, for the action of the Law, and know as God does for this person, It does for the one treating and for all.
• Release We release our realization to the action of the Law, and know that it is complete and done. We emphatically end with the statement, "And So It Is!"

One need not use flowery language, like what one hears on Sunday morning. It is better to use the language which you understand and resonate with reqardless of whether it would be considered sacred, or profane.

Understand there is just one Mind. When a person treats, he, or she treats for themselves, or another in their own mind. It is by holding oneself, or another in mind, that puts that word, that idea into all of Mind to be incorporated by the mind of the person for whom the treatment is being done. Distance, whether in time or space does not matter. God knows neither distance, nor time.

It is important in treatment to know that a treatment has been requested, but it is unecessary and even counterproductive to know the details of the situation. Anything that would prevent the person treating from holding the perfection of themself, or another person means in the end both will be lost for what would be put into Mind would be a template of a person who could not be healed, could not be successful, be in relationship with another, or whatever was person's highest and best good.

If one completes a mind treatment, and then has doubts, it is a step forward, then a step back. Repeat treatment until there is certainty in the mind of the person praying.

From this short expanation it is evident that the prayer which is Spiritual Mind Treatment is an affirmation wrapped in the Oneness of God and made manifest by the power of belief.

Namasté.