What Charles Fillmore Said About Dominion Over Thoughts
§9 We believe that the original authority and dominion given to man was over his own thoughts, emotions, feelings, and passions, and that, in the lawful exercise of this authority, he will harmonise all discords within and without, and restore the kingdom of God on the earth.
Meditation in the Silence
1. Choose a time and a place where you will be alone and undisturbed for at least 20 minutes.
2. Assume a comfortable position so that there is no feeling of tension or strain in your body.
3. If sitting, place both feet flat upon the floor. Put your hands comfortably in your lap with either both palms up to receive blessings, or with the left palm up and the right down to receive and give a blessing.
4. Close your eyes, be still, and relax.
5. Focus your attention upon your head and begin to relax the muscles in your scalp, face, and neck. Say softly or silently:
In the name of Jesus Christ relax, relax, relax. Peace, be still; wait upon the Lord only.
6. When you are ready, move your attention to trunk, arms and legs and repeat:
In the name of Jesus Christ relax, relax, relax. Peace, be still; wait upon the Lord only.
7. Now being your attention to the throat and the power center where the creative Word is forming to give life, substance, and intelligence to your declared word of faith. Affirm sofdy and then several times silently:
I have authority and dominion over my own life and affairs; I choose to shape my life according to the Jesus Christ standard of Absolute Truth.
8. Rest in the silence letting the affirmation reveal its Truth to you.
9. When you are ready, return your awareness first to your physical body, and then to your surroundings as you re-enter your world.
This gift of “authority and dominion” was recorded in Genesis 1:26: “And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” This dominion belongs to each of us. Our earth is the human consciousness in which we have established beliefs in “good” and “not good.” The various forms of creatures in the Bible passage represent our thoughts, emotions, feelings, and passions. In order to exercise our real power over our lives, it is important to recognize that we are God’s representatives on earth—the image-likeness or I AM.
We “lawfully” exercise our creative power by conforming to the one true standard of thinking and that is the Jesus Christ standard based on absolute Truth. As we approach the “perfect consciousness which Jesus Christ exemplified” in his use of divine ideas, our thought is not clouded by doubt or fear but is enlightened by faith and love. Free will is our birth-right and we can use that freedom to build or destroy as we choose. We have the power to choose thoughts; we do not have to let thoughts “think us” as they seem to do when we believe that we are powerless over the thoughts that pass through the mind. Thought control is a necessary part of soul growth. Denial and affirmation are the tools that we have to align our thinking with Truth and harmonize our experiences. Jesus reminded us that, “the kingdom of God is at hand,” (Mark 1:15) or that all God’s good is available if we rethink our error beliefs and replace them with Truth.
In the no longer published Unity Correspondence Course material it says:
Man, a spiritual being, is free spirit, unfettered and unbound... When man learns that he is a spiritual being having all power and all dominion, that knowledge frees him from the belief in bondage to anything.... All is Mind, and the belief in any other power controlling man is to be overcome by understanding of the truth that man in his real nature is the son of God, Limitless and free.
—Series 2, Lesson 7, page 2-3.
The one true standard of thinking is the Jesus Christ standard, based on Absolute Truth, patterned after the perfect consciousness which Jesus Christ exemplifies in His righteousness (right use of ideas). The Jesus Christ standard of thinking is thought that is unclouded by doubt, fear, or distrust, but is luminous with belief, love, and faith.
—Series 2, Lesson 5, Annotation 6.