Centers for Spiritual Living™ is a global community comprised of spiritual communities, teaching chapters, societies, study groups and other ministries around the world. These communities teach a New Thought philosophy that brings religion and science together and offers spiritual tools to transform personal lives and help make the world a better place. This is done through the study and practice of Science of Mind®, also known as Religious Science®, which holds that all life is sacred—that each human being is an expression of God. We believe in Cause and Effect and teach that “It is done unto you as you believe.” In essence, an individual’s thinking and expectations create their reality. Our teachings incorporate the ancient wisdom of spiritual traditions through the ages. People of all spiritual paths – Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, New Age and others – are welcome in our communities.
Vision
Awakening humanity to its spiritual magnificence and creating a world that works for everyone.
Founded
1927 by Dr. Ernest Holmes
What We Believe
That God is a Loving Intelligence, operating in and through all life, never separate from anyone or anything. Through study and spiritual practice, we can come to understand our oneness with this Divine Presence.
Dr. Ernest Holmes (1887 – 1960) is an internationally recognized spiritual leader, teacher, and writer. His work in Science of Mind is recognized as one of the leading viewpoints in modern metaphysics and New Thought. He named the teaching a science because he believed that its principles were scientifically provable in practice. He wrote, “I would rather see a student of this science prove its principle than to have him repeat all the words of wisdom that have ever been uttered.” Dr. Holmes wrote his seminal book The Science of Mind in 1926 and revised the text in 1938 to create an edition that has since been published in several languages. Dr. Holmes is also the author of numerous other books on metaphysics and originated the international Science of Mind magazine, which has been in continuous publication since 1927.
Born in Maine, Holmes was largely self-taught, seeking out the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Christian D. Larson, Thomas Troward, and Phineas Quimby. Holmes moved to Southern California in 1914. He founded the Institute of Religious Science, which became United Church of Religious Science in 1953 and is now Centers for Spiritual Living.