The Way of the Practical Mystic: The Hamblin Spiritual Course

Henry Thomas Hamblin (1873-1958) Founder of The Science of Thought Review Henry Thomas Hamblin was born at Walworth, London in 1873. Born into a poor family, he was determined to emerge from the rut which everyone was destined to fall into without being able to afford proper school and training. After a difficult start working in various jobs and being in debt he decided to become an Optician. Despite lack of money and poor prospects, his determination won him through and he qualified. Known then as the famous Optician, Theodore Hamblin was founder of the well known shop in Wigmore street. He was first and foremost a successful business man. But far from making him happy, his success gave him a growing sense of depression. It was as if something lay inside him that had not yet found a voice. All through his life Hamblin had experienced visionary experiences where he came in contact with a Divine Presence : " ... It is not possible to describe such an experience," he wrote. " All care, anxiety and fear vanished, and I felt that I was cradled in Divine Love... The deep peace of the Eternal flowed through me like a river; yet at the same time it was as though I was being carried along on a stream of Divine Bliss..." Yet, in the heat of his success, not only did these visions stop, but he became haunted by night terrors. Night after night he would waken to the feeling that he was in hell. And the sense of wrong in him deepened, until finally he was forced to give up his business and retire to the country. The nightmares stopped immediately. But the sudden and unexpected death of his ten-year-old-son was to effect him more than his nocturnal experiences. He realised that none of his world success had made him happy. This time he knew he had to give that unexpressed part of him a voice. Although he had been brought up in a very religious family, he hadn't found any of the answers he wanted in the church. He realised that, rather than following, any creed or dogma which didn't work for him anyway, he had to look within himself. Once again, he made contact with the 'Presence'. And realised it held the key to the peace he was searching for. All the time his search was leading him nearer to discovering the way his thoughts affected his performance and outlook. It was around the early1920's that he began to write. The words seemed to flow from him. He found writing clarified his thoughts. One of his first books written in this new phase of his career was Within You Is The Power, which was to sell over 200,00 copies. Hamblin believed that there is a source of abundance within which, when contacted, could change a person's entire life. As long as people blamed their circumstances they were stuck in the 'victim role', but if they moved in harmony with their inner source their life could be full of abundance and harmony. Soon after this Hamblin was to set up a magazine based on the principle of Applied Right Thinking, The Science of Thought Review. Again he wasn't discouraged by the fact that he had no experience of editing or publishing. His experience had taught him that if the mind worked in harmony with the Divine, then everything you needed flowed towards you. Anyone with any business sense at all, knew that to set up a magazine with a first print run of 10,000 copies would be a risky thing to do. But Hamblin was to take many risks and he wanted to put what he believed into practise. Because in the 1920's The Science of Thought Review was the only one of its kind in existence, its readership soon caught on and became worldwide. Among his friends and contemporaries that were to contribute to the magazine were Joel Goldsmith, Henry Victor Morgan, Graham Ikin, Clare Cameron and Derek Neville, all of them prolific and successful writers and mystics. Henry Thomas Hamblin worked right up to the end of his life in 1958 and left a legacy that is still continuing today, its voice as much needed today as it ever was. Hamblin believed that truth is essentially timeless. "There is only one Life and this is Good. That there is only one Power in the Universe, and this is Good. That there is only one Purpose in the Universe, and this, too, is Good. That there is one great Law governing all, and this is Love. That there is no evil in the Cosmic Scheme and the Divine Purpose is infinitely kind and just. That man is the Author of his own troubles; that they are created in his own mind both conscious and subconscious; that the attitude of the mind and soul acts as a transformer changing the Good Force into seeming evil. That abounding health, sufficiency of supply, achievement, accomplishment and joy indescribable are the normal state for man. That this happy condition is possible to all who will change their habit of thought, alter their attitude of soul, and thus by coming into harmony with Cosmic Law, direct the Life Forces into their right channel. That the imaginative mind is creative in that it guides and directs Life's Forces. If the imagination is directed upwards, it will bring into manifestation health, sufficiency, achievement, success and joy. It is therefore possible to transform the life through the renewing of the mind. The object of our teaching is to start men and women on the road which leads them to accomplish this great task. Through it many are learning how to overcome themselves and to rebuild their lives from the center to the circumference. They are learning how to become healthy, happy, successful and useful - how to direct the Forces of Life to produce abundant Good instead of disharmony and suffering."