The mystics have taught that there is but One Ultimate Reality; and that this Ultimate Reality is here NOW, if we could but see It. The great mystics have been illumined. They have seen through the veil of matter and perceived the Spiritual Universe. They have taught that the Kingdom of God is now present, and NEEDS BUT TO BE REALIZED! And they have apparently sensed that this Kingdom is within.

One of the most illuminating things which mysticism has revealed is that evil is not an ultimate reality, it is simply an experience of the soul on its journey toward Reality. Evil is not an entity, but an experience on the pathway of self-unfoldment. It is not a thing of itself but simply a misuse of power. It will disappear when we stop looking at, or indulging in, it. We cannot stop believing in it as long as we indulge in it, so the mystic has always taught the race to turn from evil and do good.

Furthermore, the mystics have taught the ultimate salvation of all people and the immortality of every soul. Indeed, they have taught that IMMORTALITY IS HERE AND NOW, IF WE WOULD BUT AWAKE TO THE FACT. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God.” Since each soul is some part of the Whole, it is impossible that any soul can be lost! “God is not the God of the dead but of the living.” Damnation has been as foreign to the thought of the mystic as any concept of evil must be to the Mind of God.

The great mystics taught that man should have no burdens, and would have none if he turned to the “ONE.” “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” As Jesus knew that it would be impossible for all men to come to Him as a Personality, He must have meant that we should come into His understanding of Life and Reality. Some day we shall learn to lay our burdens on the altar of Love, that they may be consumed by the fire of faith in the Living Spirit. Man would have no burdens if he kept this “High Watch toward The One”—if he always turned to God.

In mental healing, the spiritual practitioner should sense everyone as a Divine Being, thus causing an awakening of the Divinity which is latent in all people. This spiritual awakening should never be divorced from the mental act, which is to awaken the mind to the realization of Spirit. The Universe is now a spiritual system. The problem of evil does not enter into this contemplation. This does not mean that we can keep on doing evil. It is a personal and not a Cosmic problem and disappears when we no longer contemplate it.

Our individualized Universe is forever complete, yet forever completing Itself, in order that every experience may teach us to transcend some previous one, in ever ascending cycles, upward bound. This is the true meaning of misfortune or vicissitude or suffering, which is never a thing in itself. Our recognition of Truth is Its pronouncement of Itself, and when a man says “I am,” it is God proclaiming His own Being. Emerson said he was often conscious of Jove nodding to Jove from behind our backs.

For a practical application, suppose one is treating a person who is low in vitality. The practitioner must recognize not low vitality but Real Vitality, recognizing the I-Am-ness, the All-Powerfulness, God. IN SUCH DEGREE AS WE CONTEMPLATE THE SPIRIT OF LIVINGNESS, IT BECOMES MANIFEST. A clear idea of livingness personifies itself as physical vitality. Thus our recognition of It becomes Its recognition of us at the level of our recognition of It.

There is a great difference in our reaction when we believe that evil is an entity and when we understand that we merely have the possibility of experiencing it. The Universe does not demand suffering! Suffering is man-made, through ignorance. It will continue until man learns how to make it negative in his experience. Someday we shall decide that we have had enough suffering.

There cannot be a Law in the Universe which demands evil, lack, limitation, and the experience of unhappiness, to provide shades to magnify Its glory. Therefore, the mystics have taught that evil has only the power to destroy itself; that it is not God-ordained. From the viewpoint of Reality, it is an illusion, but they have not denied it as an experience. It is an experience all have had. The great have not failed to recognize the appearance of evil, but they have separated the appearance from the reality. They have done away with evil as a cosmic entity—NO DEVIL, NO HELL, NO TORMENT, NO DAMNATION outside of one’s own state of thought, NO PUNISHMENT outside of that self-inflicted, through ignorance; and NO SALVATION OUTSIDE OF CONSCIOUS CO-OPERATION WITH THE INFINITE. Heaven and Hell are states of consciousness.

Holmes, Ernest (1998-08-24). The Science of Mind: The Definitive Edition (pp. 336-337). Penguin Group. Kindle Edition.