A: Well, I suppose the best way that I know of is to realize their source. If you can think of carnal mind or mortal mind, without setting up an antagonist, I don’t know of any better way than that—to realize that these emotions that are being expressed through me are not mine; that is this carnal or mortal mind, which is not an enmity against me, but which is the arm of flesh, or a tempter.
And of course, if it is a tempter, we can say, “I’m not having any.” You see, the most important part of The Infinite Way message is this: When you are confronted with a false appearance, you do not attempt to refute it or combat it, or fight it, or overcome it, or argue against it, but you instantaneously recognize it as mortal mind or nothingness, the arm of flesh.
That is really the entire treatment secret. It’s kind of an open secret—I mean it’s in all the books, but it is a secret among us. That is it—the ability to look at the appearance with the unconditioned mind, and not judge that it’s good or evil, but have no judgment, and then it falls of its own nothingness.
The very moment that a mental defense goes up, you are in the second chapter of Genesis, and you have made mind and its thoughts a power, and now you’re going to fight them. You are never going to win. But the moment you recognize something coming into your thought, then without fighting it or combating it, which would mean without judging it, and recognize it merely as this universal mind projecting itself, and recognize that this is the devil that tempted Jesus, you can do the same as he did: “Get thee behind me, Satan. I’m having none.” That’s the only way I know. Heaven knows it isn’t easy!
1This excerpt is from Recording 291B, from the 1959 New York Closed Class, “Prayer of No-Power.” It is posted with kind permission from the Estate of Joel S. Goldsmith, which holds the copy protection on the recorded classes and the copyright on the transcripts. The full transcript of this recording is available at www.joelgoldsmith.com or by calling 1-800-922-3195.