The Inner Kingdom Course-Merchandising the Message

"The Inner Kingdom Consciousness™ Study Course was designed by Joel S. Goldsmith, and set aside with specific instructions. This work was not revealed to us until the late summer of 1997 when we found it in our office archives."                         - from www.joelgoldsmith.com 

The course consists of a tape and transcript for which you will pay double the value of the recording. All of the tapes come from the general tape catalogue, but you will not be able to find out which numbers they are  unless you buy the lesson.  So, rather than pay $20-25 for a lecture, you will pay $45. The difference is that you will be sent a matching transcript which you have been charged $20 for.

One reason this bothers me is that I long ago brought the idea of tape  and matching transcript to the office. It was around 1996 when I worked for them. I proposed this as an idea, suggesting that the transcript be helpful to students hard of hearing or who did not respond well to tape recordings.  A fair fee, in my opinion, was around $5.00 per lecture.  One lecture usually came to 9 typed pages. The Monthly Letter, at the time, was made of transcripts and was about 18 folded pages.  The fee, $1.50.  It seemed a bit unfair to charge so much more for a matching transcript of equal length.

It was at this time that the office and I parted company.

Do beware that if you own a tape that is part of the Inner Kingdom, you will be required to buy it again.

"The Inner Kingdom Course" is not what it appears

Before explaining my reservations about this course, I will underscore the fact that ALL of Joel's tapes are gems. Each and every tape contains the whole Infinite Way message, lessons on The Nature of God, The Nature of Prayer and The Nature of Error. (Joel teaches that every teacher must incorporate these in each of their classes.) So, any and every tape of Joel's is recommended. True, one has to know the principles sometimes to realize they are IN the lesson, e.g. when Joel talks about "nothingizing" he is using the Nature of Error. Nevertheless, all the tapes are of great value.

That said, The Inner Kingdom Course has been advertised as a very special course and new students to The Infinite Way are taught that it is something unique in the Infinite Way. Many think that when they complete this series, they know the message and have little more to do.

There are private, invitational meetings at Ropac's annual class just for these students; and it is implied thereby, that these are a special category of seeker. Many students have reported that these elite classes are no more instructive than the day class offered by Madams Ropac. Thus, the student is cautioned to not get mesmerized into thinking this is an advanced study with secret instruction.

In my teaching experience, it is a hindrance to think that The Inner Kingdom is ALL that a student needs to understand The Infinite Way. Far from it. (The secret nature of The Inner Kingdom creates a confidence/arrogance in the student that they know more than they do. This ultimately works against their progress)

There are many other ESSENTIAL tapes to study. Many mentioned throughout this site.  Joel did not keep things from his students. He shared them widely when it had to do with learning the principles. Joel's instructions for new students were to study the 1955 Kailua and 1959 Hawaiian Healing tapes before any other. This is on tape and it is an established fact confirmed by any teacher or practitioner who has been properly taught. Madams Ropac know this as well.

Further, students do not realize that by studying this course, they become the students of Ropac. It is to them they should go for teaching and healing as they study. It is not clear that this is the understanding. Since they invented the course, it is their consciousness that the student is connecting to. Most importantly, Infinite Way classes are meditation instruction, tape work, lessons on the principles and how to live them.

Ask For the Proof

For over a decade, we have been asking Ms. Ropac for proof of this discovery. 

"We found it in our office archives." This implies a letter or document with Joel's instructions. Repeated requests to see a copy are ignored. It seems there may not be a document after all.   Recently, a student reported that Joel "told" Sue to do this in 1997.  This means the instructions were given orally and since Joel left in 1964, it also means that Sue receives channeled messages from Joel.

Tapes a Secret

When the Inner Kingdom Course first began, we asked for a list of the tapes in it so that those of us who had many of the tape collection would be spared duplications. Ms. Ropac said that this was not possible. The list of tapes is only for the students in the course. Further, if you owned the tape already, you would have to buy it again. To date, this is still the case. The order page only lists the tapes by chapter number, not by tape. 

For those of you interested here are the tapes we know about:

329, 227, 268, 269,270, 258, 259. (We welcome any other information you might want to share with other students.) 

We can see that these are not new tapes, or tapes just discovered. These are tapes that are part of the original collection. In fact, some are from the  '59 Hawaiian Healing series (268, 269, 270). And, 329 is called Inner Kingdom.  So, there is really very little mystery except what has been created by the office. Again, how valuable it would be to actually SEE the letter by Joel that was "found" in 1997.  

The right to ask questions

When a business is no longer run in an open and honest way, it becomes dangerous.  The IW office has been reluctant to answer student questions about their creation of The Inner Kingdom and about many of the historical issues surrounding events of the past.

It is very dangerous to foster a closed atmosphere where no questions are entertained and business practices are not transparent.   This is an image inappropriate for Joel's legacy.