The League for the Larger Life was an early New Thought

New Thought

New Thought promotes the ideas that "Infinite Intelligence" or "God" is ubiquitous, spirit is the totality of real things, true human selfhood is divine, divine thought is a force for good, sickness originates in the mind, and "right thinking" has a healing effect.Although New Thought is neither...

 organization based in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, with a chapter in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

. A locally-focused organization, several of its members were influential across the United States and around the world. The League was was uniquely composed of thirty metaphysical

Metaphysical

Metaphysical may refer to:*Metaphysics, a branch of philosophy dealing with aspects of existence and the theory of knowledge*The supernatural...

 societies in the city.

Mission and activities

The mission of the League was "to spead a knowledge of the fundamental principles that underlie healthy and harmonious living" and "to assist the individual in the solution of personal problems." The League operated Sunday services, classes throughout the week, and provided lecturers and teachers places to provide their services at their headquarters, 222 W. 72nd Street in New York City. The League's classes focused on The Bible, health, and music, and provided a daily Prosperity Fellowship. It was also identified as an antiwar organization in the 1920s.

Notable members

Orison Swett Marden

Orison Swett Marden

Orison Swett Marden was an American writer associated with the New Thought Movement. He also held a degree in medicine, and was a successful hotel owner.Marden was born in Thornton Gore, New Hampshire to Lewis and Martha Marden...

, an early New Thought writer, was the first president of the League. Dr. Julia Seton and many others were involved in the League, as well. Eugene Del Mar, a noted chess champion, was a leader in the League at one point. Fenwicke Holmes

Fenwicke Holmes

Fenwicke Lindsay Holmes was a religious author and brother of Ernest Holmes, widely recognized for being an important factor in the establishment of Religious Science and the founding of the United Centers for Spiritual Living...

, the influential brother of Religious Science

Religious Science

Religious Science, also known as Science of Mind, was established in 1927 by Ernest Holmes and is a spiritual, philosophical and metaphysical religious movement within the New Thought movement. In general, the term "Science of Mind" applies to the teachings, while the term "Religious Science"...

 founder Ernest Holmes

Ernest Holmes

Ernest Shurtleff Holmes was an American writer and spiritual teacher. He was the founder of a Spiritual movement known as Religious Science, a part of the greater New Thought movement, whose spiritual philosophy is known as "The Science of Mind." He was the author of The Science of Mind and...

, was heavily influenced by his stand speaking at the League at the behest of Dr. Seton.

History

Founded in 1916, the League held it's first conference that year. According to The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

, more than 1,000 people at the Forty-eighth Street Theatre. Several organizations were represented at the conference, including The Vedanta Society, which Swami Bodhananda

Bodhananda Swamikal

Sree Bodhananda Swamikal was saint, disciple and Guru-nominated successor of Sree Narayana Guru, even though he died three days after Narayana Guru’s death, in 1928. He was an ordained sanyassi before he became Sree Narayana Guru’s ardent disciple...

 led; the Higher Thought Centre, led by W. Frederic Keeler; the First Church of Divine Science

First Church of Divine Science

The First Church of Divine Science, also called The Church of the Healing Christ, was founded in New York City, New York, in 1906. Affiliated with the Divine Science denomination of the New Thought movement, the church has been home to many notable ministers and attendees, including Emmet Fox.-...

, where W. John Murray was pastor; and the Freedom Fraternity, headed by Miss Mary Allen.

The organization had disbanded by 1959.