Wednesday, July 27, 2011

the 'Presence'

Henry Thomas Hamblin (1873 - 1958) was an English mystic, New Thought author, and founder of magazine The Science of Thought Review, which achieved wide readership.
Born at Walworth, London in 1873, 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. He went on to become an extremely successful businessman and founded Theodore Hamblin (now Dolland and Aitchison) frequented by royalty, the rich and the famous. Yet, far from making him happy, his success gave him a growing sense of depression. 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..."

But the sudden and unexpected death of his ten-year-old-son was to effect him more than his nocturnal experiences. He realized that none of his worldly success had made him happy. This time he knew he had to give that unexpressed part of him a voice.

He had never found any of the answers he wanted in the Church and he realized that, rather than seek the answers outside of himself, he had to look within.

Once again, he made contact with the 'Presence'. And realized 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 early 1920's that he began to write. The words flowed 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. Other books soon followed. Hamblin believed that there is a source of abundance 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 principles of Applied Right Thinking, The Science of Thought Review. 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 [1], Graham Ikin, Clare Cameron [2] and Derek Neville [3], all of them prolific and successful writers and mystics.

Henry Thomas Hamblin worked right up to the end of his life in 1958.
[1] http://pvrguymale.blogspot.com/2011/07/master-christian.html
[2] CLARE CAMERON (1896- ). Mystic, writer, poet and a gypsy soul.
[3] Derek Neville (1911 - 1976) Early in 1932, as a young man, Derek set out from London to walk to Land's End. All he had on him was a little card, on which were written the words, "Derek Neville, in Search of God". His life on the road, nomadic existence and experiences among the homeless and down-and-out's was to have a profound effect upon him as recorded in “Journey of the Heart”. He also contributed many articles to the Science of Thought Review magazine founded by his friend Henry Thomas Hamblin.


If we should find ourselves faced by a state of lack and limitation, we can certainly speak to God about it. We know that such a state of affairs is not according to the will of God, consequently we can ask for deliverance and a state of harmonious adjustment. But we should also pray that whatever there may be in us which is the cause or partly the cause of our lack, that this may be removed or changed.
My Search for Truth by Harry Hamblin

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