Circle of Christhood | The Study of Joel Goldsmith's Infinite Way

ERROR

Error Is Not In Your Mind

1960 First London Closed Class,

Tape 340, Side 2, "I"

Beyond Time or Space: "I" – Unlimited Being

"Now, this is a most important point. I'm glad this question came because it gives me still another opportunity. And although I haven't kept accurate count, I would say offhand that this is the 1,796,824th time that I have brought this to your attention.

"When I look out upon the world and see selfishness, unkindness, and false sense, should I recognize that none of this is taking place out there, but is really an image or conception in my own mind?"

"And what is the basic point of the entire Infinite Way? What is its major discovery that sets it apart from every other metaphysical teaching in the world? The fact that no error is in your mind, that evil is not personal.

"This entirely sets The Infinite Way apart from every metaphysical teaching and from every psychological teaching. Because we do not uncover the error within you, there isn't any. You are the Temple of God. God is your mind. So how could there possibly have gotten any error into your mind, which is God?

"And so, unless you recognize that this sin, selfishness, unkindness, hate, envy, jealousy, malice is not out here, is not in you, and is not in me, but that it is the universal or Carnal Mind, an impersonal belief in two powers, unless you see that you have no possible way of doing Infinite Way healing. You can do lots of other kinds of healing, but all Infinite Way healing is based on two major factors – that all evil is impersonal, is in and of the Carnal Mind, the universal belief in two powers, and that this Carnal Mind isn't a mind. It is nothing but a belief in two powers, the Arm of Flesh, or nothingness.

"So that, until you impersonalize evil, and then nothingize it, you have no place to go in The Infinite Way. This is all embraced in the 1959 work, nine months of it, in every single tape that was made in 1959 this point is emphasized over and over and over again. Evil does not exist in me. Or as Paul would say, "I find no sin in me, merely a sense of sin." In other words, I am not a sinner, but I do feel this universal sense of sin tempting me.

"Just imagine, if you were a witness to the Master facing his three temptations in the wilderness, and you were to say, "Jesus, those temptations aren't outside of you, they're inside of you." Think how you would have made the Master feel to accuse him of those three evils. And I would feel just as badly if you accused me of being evil, even if I were tempted at some moment with a sense of evil.

"Now, the first point that every Infinite Way student must learn is this – evil is never personal. You are never sinful. You are never evil. You have no hate, envy, jealousy, or malice in you even if it seems to be pouring out of you, it still isn't in you. It is still in and of the Carnal Mind of which you may at the moment be a victim.

"That is why it is so ridiculous when we have an epidemic of flu, and then some metaphysician says, "I guess the evil must be in me." Here it is so self evident that it's a, an epidemic, spreading all over the world, and some smart metaphysician saying, "I guess it isn't out there in the world, it's in me." Of course not, no evil is in you. All evil is in and of what we call Carnal or Mortal Mind. But this is not really a mind. This is only a universal belief in two powers and it has no law, no substance, no cause, never was ordained of God, and therefore must fall of its own nothingness.

"So never again talk about an image in my own mind. An image in the Carnal Mind, yes, as long as you follow it up with, "Ah, but the Carnal Mind is not power."

"Now in that 1959 work, you will also find that I've traced for you the reason for all of the Error that is on the earth today. It all had its beginning when the word Devil or Satan was first misunderstood. When the word Devil or Satan first came into being in whatever its original language may have been, it meant an impersonal source of evil. It was only in some later generation that Devil or Satan was personalized and became an enemy of God. " - Joel

1958 INFINITE WAY LETTERS, CHAPTER 6, SECURITY THROUGH GOD-REALIZATION

From – The 1958 Infinite Way Letters - Chapter 6

- by Joel Goldsmith

Students of The Infinite Way often ask if there is any specific daily prayer, treatment, or protective work in which they should engage. If they will remember that nothing takes place except as the activity of consciousness, they will understand the importance of a daily, specific practice which may be termed “knowing the truth.” Unless students consciously know the truth, that is, the correct letter of truth, they will never attain the spirit or consciousness of truth.

The Infinite Way is an absolute principle, but The Infinite Way does not close its eyes to the discords and errors of this world. It looks fearlessly at error and realizes that it comes from its father, the devil – hypnotism, illusion, nothingness. One of the most important subjects in our entire work is understanding the nature of error – not looking to find some physical, emotional, or mental cause for disease, but knowing the nature of error, that is, the understanding of what lies behind error.

Never for a moment believe that you can arrive at a state where you can ignore error. You must learn to face the situation which confronts you and, in facing it, realize the nature not only of the specific error with which you are dealing, but the nature of all error, which is nothing more nor less than that ancient knowledge of the tree of good and evil. To the person of spiritual perception, good and evil do not exist as powers in the world – not in men or in conditions. Begin to sit down quietly each day until you can bring yourself to a realization that there is now no condemnation to anything in this world. Through this process of meditation, cogitation, and contemplation, eventually you will come to see that God is all, and this will be not merely a statement but a realization: “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Whether you are faced with sin, disease, poverty, lack, or limitation, whether you are faced with an overwhelming enemy – regardless of what it is – you must learn that the nature of error is nothingness: It is the “arm of flesh”, it is an appearance; it is temptation – anything you want to call it – but it is not power and it has no law to sustain it. It has no cause. That which Scripture calls evil, devil, or Satan is the unillumined mind of man, appearing as minds, forms, conceptions, and opinions: These constitute the world of mind – the world of human creation. From this unillumined mind of man come the changing world pictures – philosophies, traditions, religions, social orders, and theories of government.