Confessions of a New Thought Fundamentalist
Editor’s Note: The following is the preface to the New Thought (R)evolution anthology available from Amazon on Kindle: https://tinyurl.com/y25nmnqx and in Paperback: https://tinyurl.com/y3lbryhl
BY DIANE BISHOP
Like many others, I learned about New Thought philosophy not when everything was going great in my life, but when I had reached a crisis point. For me, that was a scary medical diagnosis that traditional medicine said could change everything for my future, including shortening my life.
I was in my 20s and every part of me rebelled against that diagnosis. I began searching for answers beyond what my doctors said was possible. I quickly came upon Louise Hay’s iconic work, “Heal Your Body,” which explains the mind/body connection. I started a gratitude journal and memorized the affirmations to heal what the doctors said was ailing me. My nightstand was covered with books by Hay, Deepak Chopra, Wayne Dyer, and Christiane Northrop. And I didn’t need surgery in five years as the doctors predicted I would.
In the year 2000 I was rereading Hay’s biography and it was the first time I paid attention to the fact that she had been a practitioner in something called Religious Science. Never heard of it. That was also the year I moved to Denver and began searching for a new church home. After visiting a number of churches of various denominations and not resonating with any of them, I decided to try the one with a weird dome-shaped building near my house.
The joyous music and positive message from the pulpit hooked me. My first impression was, “This is a Louise Hay book come to life.” I took home the welcome package and learned I had stumbled upon the largest Religious Science church in the world – Mile Hi.
I attended every Sunday and Wednesday service, volunteered, and took classes that dove deep into the history and philosophy of New Thought. I soaked up the messages: “Change your thinking, change your life.” “The point of power is in the present moment.” “There is a power for good in the world and you can use it.”
In 2008, I followed in Louise Hay’s footsteps and began studying for my practitioner’s license. I believed that I had found my passion and purpose in life. And my life kept getting better. I met the man of my dreams and love of my life and I was smart enough to marry him. I started working for one of the largest New Thought organizations in the world and became editor-in-chief of the magazine that had been created by none other than the founder of Religious Science, Dr. Ernest Holmes. I talked previously mentioned husband into starting a New Thought blog that became the genesis for this book. I was giving serious thought to becoming a New Thought minister. If I had been able to pat myself on my back, I would have gotten a sore arm from doing so. Everything was going great.
Until it wasn’t.
In 2016, I began experiencing a familiar pain and other symptoms that couldn’t be ignored. My first thought was, “What thoughts have I allowed to creep in to create this in my life?” I doubled down on cleaning up my consciousness, and filled my nightstand with books by Ernest Holmes, Joel Goldsmith, and Joseph Murphy. They all had one basic message. Here it is in Murphy’s words: “Your desire is your prayer. Picture the fulfillment of your desire now and feel its reality and you will feel the joy of the answered.”
I believed the truth of this with all my heart. But the pain couldn’t be ignored.
My physician, also a Religious Scientist, told me, “Sometimes, the holistic answer is to remove what is causing the body to suffer. Then the body can heal.”
Though saddened I hadn’t been able to heal the condition myself, I scheduled the surgery. In the days leading up to surgery I focused on my recovery; knowing that I would be divinely guided, guarded, and protected and that healing and full recovery would be quick and relatively pain free. During prayer time I felt the excitement of having a healthy body and began looking forward to that day, post surgery.
The surgery went well, but something wasn’t quite right. My surgeon suggested I stay in the hospital to avoid having me return to the emergency room in an ambulance. I didn’t ask what would cause that to happen because I didn’t want that thought in my consciousness. I focused on healing. Imagine my surprise when my surgeon interrupted me mid-mantra to tell me I had developed a life-threatening complication that required another surgery right now. I was wheeled into emergency surgery at midnight. Two surgeons worked for three hours to save my life.
It would take two more surgeries and a total of six months before my physical body was anywhere back to normal. During my final recovery period, I learned that my job position had been eliminated. And that the company that preached prosperity didn’t offer unemployment insurance because it was cheaper not to and they could opt out as a religious organization. My husband had to sell his childhood home to pay for my medical bills.
Now the philosophy that had sustained me and filled me with hope and promise sounded empty. The quotes that I loved and lived by turned to ash in my mouth. And the one question that I kept returning to was this: What had I done to create this new reality?
Just as I had thought every success was solely due to my efforts and connection to the Divine. (Law of Attraction at its best), I also believed that every failure was a failure in my own consciousness (New Thought fundamentalism at its worst). I found myself once more at a crisis point in my life.
Again, my reading list expanded. This time to Mitch Horowitz and others writers featured in this book who believe is isn’t necessary to embrace dogma to find the best New Thought has to offer. I started developing a new, more mature way to think about this philosophy.
The original teachings, for all their beauty, could sometimes overpromise results. To be clear, the problem was also in my rigid interpretation of these teachings. And I found that I wasn’t the only one who had unwittingly taken the lofty ideals taught by Holmes, the Fillmores, Troward, Quimby and others to fit my own idea of God and my place in the world.
Holmes himself exhorted Religious Scientists to be open at the top, meaning be open to new ideas and interpretations of how life works. He didn’t consider himself the last word in New Thought, but I did. I clung to teachings like “disease is fear made manifest in the body” (Mary Baker Eddy). I took this as absolute truth because it made me feel as though I could control my body by controlling my emotions. And I like being in control.
I glossed over the obvious: that we are housed in physical bodies that decay and eventually die. And this very fate had occurred and is occurring to every New Thought enthusiast, even those who spent a life-time preaching that perfect health could be had by all.
I ignored the shadow side of New Thought that I had witnessed, in which some adherents become smug once they’ve experienced success in one area or another. This smugness leads them to believe the poor, sick, and disadvantaged among us could change their situation in an instant if they only changed their stinkin’ thinkin’. Such arrogance effectively absolves them of all responsibility for others and at the same time allows them to feel righteous about their own lives.
Slowly, my strict fundamentalist ideas, such as every thought creates my reality, began to fall away. Revelation: The world doesn’t revolve solely around me and therefore, I do not create every reality I experience. Politics, the economy, race, gender, and other people’s choices have a little something to do with it as well.
Instead of rigidly following formulas for manifestation (for example, I was taught there are five steps to prayer), I began to experiment with being open at the top. Harv and I began to experiment together to find out what works best for us to manifest our best life as a couple. Prayer, affirmations, visualizations, and gratitude are still part of my life. But so are sigils, Transcendental Meditation, Chaos Magic, and Hindu chanting.
Together, Harv and I have learned to hold our goals lightly. To act on our inspirations and adapt when we hit a roadblock. The results have been beyond our wildest dreams. In 2018, we spent the entire year in Europe exploring cities like Paris, Vienna, Barcelona, Florence, and London.
Life isn’t perfect. It never well be. But I no longer spend one minute wondering what I did wrong when life doesn’t happen according to plan. I experienced a New Thought evolution that revolutionized my life.
Perhaps you, too, have fallen into some New Thought fundamentalist ideas that have limited your life instead of expanding it. Maybe, like me, you’ve wasted time on guilt and shame because your life wasn’t unfolding exactly as you wanted it to and therefore you weren’t doing New Thought the right way. If so, the ideas, discussions, questions, and debates found in this book will give you a new way to think about New Thought. One stripped of dogma, but firmly rooted in principle. One that can be used to bring your best self forward. Then you, too, may revolutionize your life.
DIANE BISHOP is an award-winning writer and editor who is passionate about helping people live meaningful lives. Along with her husband, Harv, she is the founder of A New Arising Publishing, a multi-media company devoted to exploring new ideas in spirituality and society. In 2018, during a year-long trip to Europe, Diane and Harv created SlowStrollTravel.com to teach people how to enjoy the most beautiful cities in the world on a budget.
A beautiful and important piece. I don’t have answers to many of the questions which arise from Diane’s experiences. One statement that comes to mind is from one of my teachers: “Don’t judge Religious Science by Religious Scientists.” The community in which we study and practice goes a long way to influencing how we interpret the teachings.
The founders of New Thought did not have access to the deeper understanding of human psychology which has emerged in the late 20th and early 21st Centuries. Their experience, it seems to me, was that when one practiced the revolutionary idea of thinking affirmatively and expecting the best, one’s life got better. But it never worked every time for any person – and we don’t really know why. Admitting this might imply doubt, and we are encouraged to avoid doubt in the healing principles. That leaves doubting ourselves and the only option, doesn’t it?
We know that there are many important influences on our physical bodies beyond our own conscious thoughts. Subconscious patterns can be inherited, or picked up through the influence of others – parents, culture, etc. – and lead to illnesses which never entered our mind.
I do think that we can do much to limit our receptivity to negative things, including illness, by creating a belief system which is more positive and optimistic. But there are no absolute guarantees, no matter what anyone says.
It sounds like Diane and Harv responded in an appropriate manner to the situation and that in many ways, New Thought teachings were helpful. Perhaps that is the best that we can or should expect.
Love and Light,
JIm
I think it’s nice being an Omnist with an open mind. Studied SOM as well.
Now medical challenges and alcohol over consumption. Low self esteem. And shame related self talk. ( ACIM) . Stage 2 colon Cancer. What books do you recommend?
Many blessings to you and your husband Harvey who I have followed over the decade! So delighted you were able to enjoy Europe. Congratulations on your new health, you’re a bright shining spirit for sure!!!!!
Hello, Jacque, Diane here. Thank you for following our story and sharing a bit of yours. It is such a shock when a doctor is talking about a scary medical diagnosis and they are talking to you. Disbelief, anger, fear; so many emotions come up. I’ve given some thought as to what really helped me when I was in the midst of the unknowing, the pain, and the fear. One was meeting with a minister who had undergone a battle with cancer. The doctor told her she had a 50/50 chance to live. She wanted the odds more on her side, so in addition to chemo and radiation, she spent 15 to 30 minutes a day focusing only on what life would be like when she was completely cured. She would envision her doctor saying “You are cancer free” and let her body be flooded with feelings of joy and happiness. A year later, she was told she was cancer free. It was only then her doctor told her the rest of the story. Her odds of going into remission were really much lower than 50 percent. But this doctor understood the importance of giving a patient hope. He always told his patients with low odds that the odds were 50/50 because as he later explained, she ultimately would live or die and that’s a 50/50 proposition. She also reminded me that if even one person had successfully had the surgery I was about to have, then the possibility existed that my surgery could be successful too. And it was. We know that thousands of people that had been diagnosed with Stage 2 colon cancer are now walking around cancer free and I am knowing with you that you can be among them. I want to tell you about my friend Audra. Two years ago she was diagnosed with Stage 2 pancreatic cancer. Even when I tell this story to medical professionals they cringe when they hear “pancreatic” because that used to be a death sentence. She was able to have surgery, followed up with chemo and radiation. Even with that, her odds of still being alive today were low. But not only is she alive, she is in radiant health, and her scans show she is 100 percent cancer free. If it was possible for Audra, it is possible for you. Regarding the alcohol over consumption, that’s not the problem. The pain you are attempting to drown with the alcohol is the problem. If your health care plan includes behavioral therapy, I encourage you to talk to someone who works with addictions. AA might be helpful to you as well. You may find support at a nearby spiritual center. Many now offer groups like AA but with a more spiritual spin. And one of the best pieces of advice I ever received comes from a dear friend who was born with a myriad of medical problems. By the doctors’ best guesses, he should not have survived past the age of 40, but he is now close to 70 and thriving. He reminds me to hold life lightly, focus on helping others, and keep the mind as engaged as possible on things unrelated to the illness as a way to manage the unavoidable stress. For reading, Mitch Horowitz’s The Miracle Club us a must, as is New Thought (R)evolution as they reflect a more mature New Thought that can help without self-blame and shame for illness. While I can’t give medical advice, I have found Donna Eden’s free energy medicine routine videos on YouTube helpful. You, too, are a bright, shining spirit, Jacque. Know that my prayers join yours.
As Yogi Berra once said, “If the world were perfect, it wouldn’t be.”
Diane…you are an amazing human being. A soul with great wisdom. You are a soul sister to me.
loving support to you and Harv in all that you do.
with light, JoAnne
Diane – thank you!
This is the most thoughtful piece on the challenge of, as well as the solution for “surviving” a New Thought Fundamentalist experience.
I suspect many will read it and experience a similar reaction/response.
Knowing Love, Light, Peace & more for you on your continued journey.
Rebecca Harmon
I recently became acquainted with new thought. I’m thinking if attending the 2 Manhattan centers.
Should I not go? In what direction would you suggest for a newbie to avoid all the stuff you discovered is false?
Hi, Jeff, Diane here. I would suggest you absolutely go and explore and see what resonates with you. You will most likely find people just like you seeking a more fulfilling life. I also suggest you hold lightly the absolutes you might hear, such as the perennial favorite, “All things are possible.” Now, I do believe all things are possible for God and I do believe that you and I are one with God. So, are all things possible for you and me? Probably not and for a myriad of reasons. One being the skills and talents we came into this life with. God can play a perfect Mozart concerto on the piano, but me and my stubby little fingers, not so much. And no amount of practice, positive thinking and affirmations would likely change that. Although the story is told that Myrtle Fillmore (founder of Unity with her husband Charles) successfully used prayer to lengthen one of her husband Charles’s legs, because it was shorter than the other. That some miracles, but not all are possible is a conundrum I don’t know the answer to. My best advice is to follow Mitch Horowitz’s guidelines: honor the great mysteries, experiment and test all these ideas yourself, and accept nothing that you haven’t verified in your own experience. And test every thing you hear against the Golden Rule. Does believing that you or others create their own misfortunes make you a kinder more ethical person? Centers also vary widely in their approach. Are they open or dogmatic? Then in terms of the teachings always ask does it work in my experience and comport with ethics and compassion? That will allow you to take the best these centers have to offer and in the words of 12-step groups leave the rest behind.
All is possible for he who understands ALL. Please keep your limited beliefs to yourself. You’re saying (thus thinking, thus vibrating) “I’ll never be able to” Then wondering why you haven’t been able to do so. Do you understand the concepts at all?
You appear to understand all as you define it, If that works for you that’s wonderful. Why do you fear honest and sincere questions? By definition if you understand ALL you are self-contained and shouldn’t feel the need to vibrate judgement and try to demean others who have the courage to ask questions.
Excellent answer. Thanks so much.
Light & Love!
Hi Diane. So I went last night to one of the three local New Thought places. This was located in a major city.
The first hour was meditation. The next 90 minutes was a class led by the leader on Louise Hay’s book “Heal Your Life”.
The meditation & class were good. I liked the leader.
However, since it was Halloween, he told me they had about half the regular amount of attendees there.
Out of the dozen people there, three of them were extremely needy and interruptive. Their vibe, comments & questions severely affected the sessions.
Are most New Thought groups populated by a substantial percentage of reactive & somewhat maladjusted people? I am looking for a group of people where I can perhaps make a few friends and share intellectual ideas, thoughts and dreams about what I’ve been learning from Harv & Mitch Horowitz.
Seemed a bit cray cray if you ask me:-)
This in no way is turning me off to New Thought. I will check out the other city one soon as well as the suburban one this Sunday.
Hi, Jeff,
Diane here.
I can only speak from my experience. There are typically a few students who are more needy and attempt to keep the focus on them. Hopefully the teacher will be able to keep that in control.
There are progressive churches that have much to recommend them, but the perspective of Mitch and Harv is at the very cutting edge. It would be a bit like trying to find a Christian church who would be willing to debate whether Jesus really died on the cross.
Good luck with your exploration. It may be a matter of finding one that meets many even if not all your needs.
Hi Diane. I went to the LI Spiritual Living Center this morning. Wonderful people. Great message. The singing & holding hands I can do without though:-)