FAQs About Who We Are
Frequently Asked Questions about United Centers
for Spiritual Living
What is United Centers for Spiritual Living?
United Centers for Spiritual Living is a community of people that provides
spiritual tools to transform our personal lives and help make the world a better
place. At United Centers for Spiritual Living, we teach powerful principles for
personal and global transformation, honoring all paths to God. We help people
experience a personal relationship with the creator; promote a community of
tolerance, understanding and respect; provide classes, programs, prayer and
meditation; and advocate a safe spiritual community of like-minded people
interested in living a spiritual life.
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Who is the founder of United Centers for Spiritual Living?
Dr. Ernest Holmes founded the spiritual movement that started Centers for
Spiritual Living. Born in 1887 on a small Maine farm, Dr. Holmes spent his
teenage years out-of-doors, asking himself "What is God? Who am I? Why am I
here?" This questioning led to his 1926 book, The Science of Mind, which
outlined the foundational viewpoints of modern New Thought.
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What is Science of Mind?
Science of Mind (also referred to as Religious Science) is the core teaching of
the United Centers for Spiritual Living. Science of Mind is a philosophy that
integrates spiritual truths with science and physics. Simply put, Science of
Mind teaches the unity of all life. Intentions and ideas flow through a field of
consciousness, which actually affects and creates the world around us. This idea
is common to most major religions and is supported by the teachings of
psychology and quantum physics. In Science of Mind, we believe that the secret
to living a successful life is to consciously choose positive and productive
thoughts. Put another way, "As you think, so you become." It is the intention of
the United Centers for Spiritual Living to use Science of Mind principles as a
force for good in our world by transforming personal lives.
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Are Science of Mind and Religious Science the same?
Religious Science is the name of the church Dr. Ernest Holmes started before he
died. It was the precursor to Centers for Spiritual Living. Dr. Holmes'
comprehensive book of teachings is titled “The Science of Mind.” Members of
Centers for Spiritual Living use the phrases Science of Mind and Religious
Science interchangeably.
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Is Science of Mind a real science?
In Science of Mind, we believe the fields of religion and science are
complementary, and that science will prove what mystics have said for thousands
of years about the nature of God, human beings, and the Universe. These beliefs
are being proven even now by many quantum physicists who have found the universe
is made up of energy that cannot be destroyed and is infinitely intelligent.
Science of Mind is also scientific in that it uses laws of nature to prove
spiritual principles. Any person can experiment with the principles and measure
the results.
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Is United Centers for Spiritual Living related to or connected with Scientology?
No. Religious Science and Centers for Spiritual Living are in no way related to
Scientology.
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Is United Centers for Spiritual Living associated with Christian Science?
No. Centers for Spiritual Living are a unique and separate entity from Christian
Science. Ernest Holmes, the founder of Centers for Spiritual Living, studied
with many of the spiritual leaders of his time, including Mary Baker Eddy, the
founder of Christian Science, but he was not a member of that group.
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Do people who practice Science of Mind go to doctors?
Yes. In Science of Mind, we believe healing comes in many forms. God is
expressed through doctors and medicine just as it is expressed through the
entire physical universe. In short, we believe in both prayer and modern
medicine. Our ministers and practitioners often work in conjunction with doctors
and other physical and mental health practitioners to facilitate healing.
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Is United Centers for Spiritual Living a Christian organization?
Yes and no. The Science of Mind philosophy derives from Christian tradition with
a belief that the teachings of Jesus are accessible to all people. Dr. Ernest
Holmes, the founder of Centers for Spiritual Living, grew up in the Christian
tradition. Additionally, he was a prolific reader who studied all the world's
religions and synthesized the truths running through them all, free of any
particular dogma. Honoring all paths to God, he developed his philosophy with
the intention that all churches, especially Christian ones, would embrace the
philosophy and incorporate those teachings into their own.
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Does Science of Mind believe in Jesus Christ?
In Science of Mind, we believe that Jesus of Nazareth was a loving, powerful man
who walked the earth two thousand years ago. Jesus was a Master Teacher and a
great example of how to live the individual expression of God. In Science of
Mind, the phrase Christ Consciousness is used to refer to a universal principle
of God expressing through humanity. Jesus was the great example, given to us
all, of fully living our divine potential, our Christ Consciousness. According
to our founder Dr. Ernest Holmes, Science of Mind does not deny the divinity of
Jesus; but it does affirm the divinity of all people. It does not deny that
Jesus was the son of God; but affirms that all beings are children of God. It
does not deny that the Kingdom of God was revealed through Jesus; but affirms
that the Kingdom of God is also revealed through you and me.
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Is United Centers for Spiritual Living a “New Age” organization?
Science of Mind is a New Thought philosophy that incorporates spiritual tools of
affirmative prayer, healing and creative visualization to transform lives and
make the world more peaceful, harmonious, and prosperous. The New Thought
tradition dates to the 1880s and has its roots in the Transcendentalist Movement
of the 1830s. New Thought has a long and respected history, and includes
luminaries such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Walt Whitman, Phineas Quimby, and Emma
Curtis Hopkins. The Centers for Spiritual Living does not consider its teachings
to be New Age, but rather incorporates the ancient wisdom of all the spiritual
traditions through the ages. People of all spiritual paths (Christian, Jewish,
Buddhist, Hindu, Islam, New Age and others) are all welcome in our communities.
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Are United Centers for Spiritual Living communities a place for healing?
Yes, Centers for Spiritual Living spiritual communities are places where amazing
healings and life transformations take place. The Science of Mind philosophy
promotes the idea that God is all-powerful, omnipresent, and benevolent, true
human selfhood is divine, all sickness originates in the mind, and "right
thinking" has a healing effect.
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What is the role of prayer within United Centers for Spiritual Living?
United Centers for Spiritual Living honors all forms of prayer. In addition, we
teach a unique and scientific form of prayer called Affirmative Prayer. This
powerful, affirmative method of prayer was developed by Dr. Ernest Holmes. It
involves a five-step process that harnesses the creative process of
consciousness. This type of powerful, scientific prayer allows new levels of
health, wealth, love, and wholeness to become a reality in our lives.
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What is the role of meditation within United Centers for Spiritual Living?
United Centers for Spiritual Living encourages meditation as a spiritual
practice because it strengthens our understanding of the power of our inner
being and allows us to experience the unity of all life. By being still and
quiet, we are able to hear the inner voice and follow its guidance.
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What is the role of affirmation within United Centers for Spiritual Living?
United Centers for Spiritual Living encourages affirmation as a powerful
spiritual tool. By consciously choosing to speak about our good as a present
reality, we set a powerful intention. When we speak it, feel it, and act it,
affirmative thought becomes the creative force for good in our lives.
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Does Science of Mind believe in miracles?
Yes. The Science of Mind teaches that everything is possible in God. Everything
that occurs in our lives is simply the manifestation of our consciousness.
Events that seem to be miraculous are actually the metaphysical laws acting at a
level beyond our awareness. As our consciousness evolves, what previously seemed
miraculous becomes a natural, normal and understandable way of life.
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Is United Centers for Spiritual Living a cult?
No. At the United Centers for Spiritual Living we teach that each individual has
influence over, and responsibility for, his or her own life. We support personal
responsibility and strongly discourage the "following of" any one person,
including founder Ernest Holmes. The philosophy taught by Centers for Spiritual
Living challenges people to think for themselves and only believe what feels
true to them. This is the essence of what the leaders and members of Centers for
Spiritual Living believe and practice throughout the world.
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Does Science of Mind believe in heaven and hell?
Because Science of Mind views all life as God, there can be no hell. The terms
"heaven" and "hell" are symbolic of what each individual creates in his or her
own life. We find heaven when we live from our hearts, know our oneness with
God, and are true to ourselves. This deep inner peace, which has been written
about through the ages, is heaven. Hell, on the other hand, is the inner pain we
feel when our lives and experiences seem to be against us. In reality, nothing
is against us when we understand the basic unity of all life. We always have the
power to change our thinking, and this alone lifts us from any hell-like
experiences into heaven on earth.
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Does Science of Mind believe in the devil?
The Science of Mind philosophy states that there is only one power and that is
God. Because there is only one power, the devil cannot exist. There is only the
manifestation of falsely held beliefs, which produce the appearance of some
sinister invisible force acting in our lives. To blame unpleasant conditions and
circumstances on the devil, or anyone else, is a way of avoiding responsibility
for our own life decisions.
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Does Science of Mind believe in sin?
The original meaning of “sin” was simply to miss the mark of spiritual
perfection. In Science of Mind, we believe there is no sin in the traditional
sense of that word. We can choose behavior that produces an undesirable effect
in our lives, thus creating hardship or suffering. In other words, we are
punished by our sins, not for them.
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What does Science of Mind believe about death?
Science of Mind teaches that life is eternal. As Teilhard de Chardin, we do not
believe we are human beings having a spiritual experience, but rather that we
are spiritual beings having a human experience. We accept that our physical
bodies operate within a natural cycle of birth and death. However, even though
we have a body, we are more than our body. We are the Life animating our body.
And that Life is infinite and immortal. As we become increasingly identified
with our divine and eternal nature, our underlying fear of death dissolves and
our experience of life becomes more joyous.
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Does Science of Mind believe in reincarnation?
In Science of Mind, we neither endorse nor reject any particular theory or
concept of reincarnation. Because life is eternal, there are an unlimited number
of possibilities for its evolvement after physical death.
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