by Pamela Cook
Recently NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams ran a special series called “The Mind-Body Connection.” It’s not hard to find evidence of a widespread desire to understand this connection. A Google search yields 47.1 million hits on “mind-body,” including 105 news stories in a single month (April 9 — May 9, 2008), and Amazon.com lists 6,641 books on the subject.
Christian Science stands apart in its view of the “mind-body connection.” While other systems of medical treatment or the healing arts acknowledge that the mind and body are intertwined, Christian Science declares: (from Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, by Mary Baker Eddy)
- “Mortal mind and body are one.”
- “Disease is an image of thought externalized.”
- “Because the so-called material body is a mental concept and governed by mortal mind, it manifests only what that so-called mind expresses.”
- “Your body would suffer no more from tension or wounds than the trunk of a tree which you gash or the electric wire which you stretch, were it not for mortal mind.”
In other words, Christian Science teaches not that our minds affect our bodies, but rather that our bodies are the outward expression of our thoughts.
This concept was pretty radical when it first appeared in print, in 1875, and it wasn’t easy for Mary Baker Eddy’s contemporaries to embrace it. It may still seem hard today for people to wrap their arms around these ideas. I know it was for me, initially. In 2007 I had a personal experience that illustrates what she wrote.
The scene: lunchtime at a bustling café. I was headed toward a table carrying a large cup of just-boiled water when a man plowed into me from behind, spilling scalding hot water all over the floor—and my hand.
The burning pain was pretty intense, but I made a conscious choice not to look at my hand. I knew that whatever I saw would not tell me anything real about me. In my daily practice of Christian Science, I affirm that I am made in the image of God, who is Spirit, which means I am, right now, a spiritual being. Because I am a spiritual being—and not a human being in a vulnerable material body—I am not susceptible to accidents or pain. God is constant good, indestructible Spirit, not subject to chance or circumstance.
As I continued to affirm the spiritual facts of my existence and refute any suggestions of discord, I regained a sense of calm.
A couple of hours later I found myself mentally returning to the scene, ruminating over it and getting irritated, thinking, “What about the man who bumped into me? He didn’t even say he was sorry.”
Then I realized that all day, before visiting the café, I had been feeling uncharacteristically impatient with almost everyone I encountered. With that it dawned on me—I didn’t bump into another individual; I bumped into my own impatience. Oh my gosh, I thought, the entire incident was a mental collision, not a physical one.
Immediately, the pain completely vanished. I was awestruck. One moment, intense burning, the next moment, nothing.
I understood at that moment that the accident (including any pain or after-effects) was not really physical. It was a manifestation of my thinking. When I let go of impatient, irritated thoughts, my outward, material expression followed suit. The pain stopped immediately, and my hand was restored to its normal condition, with no lingering effects of a burn.
Through this experience, I glimpsed more of Mary Baker Eddy’s radical view of the mind-body connection. This radical view and its rewards form the basis of a reliable form of health care, available to everyone, right now.
177:8 (only)
Mortal mind and body are one.
411:23 (only)
Disease is an image of thought externalized.
376:18-21
Because the so-called material body is a mental concept and governed by mortal mind, it manifests only what that so-called mind expresses.
393:21
Your body would suffer no more from tension or wounds than the trunk of a tree which you gash or the electric wire which you stretch, were it not for mortal mind.
Really enjoyed this article. I’ve been thinking a lot about the mind body connection recently and it’s great to have such a spiritual perspective on it.
I have just scraped the skin off my elbow after a nasty falling over,
I went here to see what I could find and this wonderful article popped up,I read it and its really nice telling even convincing me that mind controls body and not vice versa.
Very Nice…….
Sorry Pamela,
This is a rather confusing article for me! Especially your statement……
“In other words, Christian Science teaches not that our minds affect our bodies, but rather that our bodies are the outward expression of our thoughts.”
Can you clarify how these two statements are different?
Thanks,
as a man thinks, so is he -proverbs 23:7
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks for your question. As I said, these are pretty radical concepts, and I don’t pretend to understand them all fully. The experience I described above was an illustration of this concept for me, and it gave me a new insight into what Mary Baker Eddy explained in S&H — a book I continually study to understand better.
That said, let me try to respond to your question. The starting premise is different: Common belief would say that the body exists, separate from the mind, but that it is affected by the mind. Christian Science says that the body does not exist.
Perhaps the scientific statement of being, on page 468 in S&H, might hold the key here. It states, in part, “All is infinite Mind and its infinite manifestation, for God is All-in-all.” If all is Mind, there is no body.
Is that helpful?
Lovingly,
Pamela
Ooo, I’m really glad you asked this question! Thank you. I just had a flash —
Common belief says: The body is affected by thought.
Christian Science teaches: The body is thought.
: )
Pamela
I think what is helpful to me, at this stage, is that Mind controls the body or man or man-ifestation or universe or compounded idea & this Mind is God & this Mind is my mind & the only consciousness there really is….. I am learning that S&H offers solutions to that age-old custom of thinking body, conditions, people, events or the universe are objective instead of subjective.
Thought precedes universe or body or experience, not the other way around…
the quote from above where you said…”Christian Science says that the body does not exist” is not how I interpret divine metaphysics….
the quote …..”the body is thought” seems like a more progressive thought & is helpful!
Thanks for your story..