Recording 613A, “The True and False Sense of ‘I’,” is from the 1951 First Northwest Series. This recording is one of two used as source material for Chapter 2, “The False and Right Sense of I,” in Consciousness Is What I Am, and Chapter 2, “The Genesis of Identity,” and Chapter 6, “When We Are Tempted to Argue or Fight: ‘Don’t Fight 5!’” in The Government of Eden.
To download or print these study suggestions, click/tap here.
Part 1 of our study program provided an overview of spiritual healing, and Part 2 focused on the core principles of The Infinite Way and their role in spiritual healing. Part 3 of our study program concentrated on the practice of spiritual healing.
Part 4 addresses issues that can arise in spiritual healing. In Session 1, we considered the statement that Joel brought front and center: “You cannot meet a problem on the level of the problem.” Failure to understand this can be a barrier to doing effective healing work. To review the major points in this session, click/tap here.
In Session 2, Joel took us deeply into one factor he believes is responsible for much of the failure to heal: the practitioner does not understand the nature of error. To review the major points in this session, click/tap here.
Joel said of this class, “You will never find any deeper teaching than this . . . There isn’t any.”
He addresses the importance of distinguishing between the true sense of I, which is divine identity, and the false sense of I, which is personal sense, and emphasizes that a spiritual healing practitioner must always be aware of the difference and work in accordance with it.
Chapter 2, “The False and Right Sense of I,” in Consciousness is What I Am is largely a transcript of Recording 613A and would be an effective way to review this class. As always, you can create your own summary of the key points from the class or use our review below. If you choose to use our review, be sure to add any additional points that stood out for you in the recording. Please note that our review may include some personal interpretation of the lesson.
The reason for all discord
There is only one reason for any discord or inharmony, and that reason is a false sense of I. Having the correct sense of I would eliminate every problem—personal, family, community, national, and international. As long as we think and believe that “I,” the human being, must make a living, find a home, or decide what to do next year, just that long will I be facing problems of one kind or another.
“I” is God.
Christ Jesus and other ancient Masters revealed the true nature of I. They revealed that the only I is God, and that God, as individual being, is living Its life as you and as me. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” The Word—God—became individualized as you and every other. But through the years, we have entertained a false sense of that I, and instead of recognizing that the I is God, we have believed it to be ourselves as a person. We built up a false identity and then tried to maintain and sustain it.
This is like a millionaire forgetting he is a millionaire, worrying about how to make a living and pay the rent, and someone saying to him, “But you are a millionaire!” And he says, “Oh yes, in reality I am, but of course, in belief I still….” “Yes, but why have the belief, since in reality you are a millionaire? Why not give up the belief?”
We all like to say, “In reality, I am the Christ, the Son of God, and as a child of God, an heir, joint heir with Christ in God.” Then why have problems? Because we believe we are mortals. Why not give up the belief, then, since it’s only because of belief that we struggle with mortality?
“Show me whom Thou hast chosen.”
When Judas Iscariot committed suicide, there were only eleven disciples left. They met to select someone to replace Judas, and they prayed, “Father, show us whom Thou hast chosen.” Not one of them thought they were responsible for selecting the right disciple. None of them used the word “I.” They agreed: “Father, show us whom Thou hast chosen.”
If I have a decision to make and say to myself, “I must make that decision; I have only until noon to make it.” If I sit down, turn to God, and say, “What decision should I make,” I will probably not make the right one because I am asking what decision I—not God—should make. But since God governs and directs my experience, why shouldn’t I say, “Father, show me what decision You have made, since this is Your life. This is Your universe, Your world. How would You like it run? Show me Your decision. I know that if you show me Your decision, You will even carry it out.”
If I, as a human being, look for a decision, I will try to carry it out, and there will be two blunders. First, I’m making a decision based on a false sense of self, and second, I’m concerned with carrying it out, even though I really had no right to make the decision or carry it out. The I that concerns itself with how this universe—God’s universe—should be run is a devil. But that I is a false sense of I. The true sense of I is God, and any other sense of I is an error.
The false sense of I
There is not God and a devil. There is not a power of good and a power of evil. There is no such thing as a power of evil. There is only the infinite power of good, but we entertain a false sense of that power, called “personal sense.” Personal sense is really the only devil, and when we eliminate the personal sense of I, we eliminate all error. How do we eliminate personal sense? By continually practicing with the attitude reflected in statements like “No, I am not to make this decision. The government is not upon my shoulders. This problem doesn’t concern me. This is God’s universe, and the government is on His shoulder.”
It is unlikely that the government of God will come collectively to the world as long as there is a personal sense of I. But the government of God does come on earth every moment of every day to somebody. Somebody is saying, “Why, the government is on Its shoulder! Let It run Its own universe.” At that moment, they bring the kingdom of God to earth in their individual experience. They can’t bring it to others because giving up the personal sense of “I” is an individual thing.
Someone can tell you, “You are a child of God, joint heir with Christ in God, and that makes you heir to all the riches in heaven and on earth. Why should you take thought now for next month’s supply?” They can say that to you, but that’s all they can do. They cannot stop you from saying, “Yes, but I must meet the rent!” or “Yes, but I don’t know what to do,” or “Yes, but I have such pain,” because the entire problem involves that word “I” and giving up the use of the word in that personal sense.
The real meaning of the word “I” is God. It never means [your name]. True, it means God appearing as [your name]. and therefore, [your name] is always God-governed, God-maintained, and God-sustained. God is maintaining Its own identity as [your name], just as nature maintains its own identity as a rose, an orchid, a tulip, a violet, and a lily. But it is always nature maintaining its own identity as.
There is only one I, and that I is always God. There is only one error: entertaining a false sense of I. When we entertain a false sense of I, we have a personal sense of I, of me, and we have to maintain, sustain, and feed that personal sense of I, which poses a problem. Or, we have an “I,” called “your child,” and you fear for it. But if you give up that false sense of the child’s identity and entertain the true sense of I, you would then say that I, God, is appearing as that child, and you would trust God to maintain and sustain Its own integrity and identity as that child.
How to “die daily and be reborn of the Spirit.”
We must die daily and be reborn of the Spirit. But it is not enough just to say those words. We must contemplate the idea of dying daily, asking, “What does it really mean? How do I die daily? What is the process of being reborn of the Spirit?” Through such contemplations, we will find that there is a way to die daily, and that is to take the attitude of the eleven disciples.
Whenever a problem arises, recognize that it is not your problem and ask within, “God, what is the solution? What is Your decision? Where do You go from here as my form?” Whether you have to make a decision or take some action, you will find release when you realize, “Thank you, Father, the burden for this decision or action is not on my shoulder. Show me the action You have chosen, because it’s your decision made manifest as my choice. Show me what my action is to be, because it is the activity of Your being that is shown forth through my action.” There is a miracle of rebirth in this, IF you can drop the word “I” as meaning “me,” the personal human sense of self. Probably we cannot do that all in one grand burst because there is always some trace of the personal sense of I left. Nonetheless, we do our best.
The solution to our problems, individually and collectively, is gaining the correct sense of I, knowing God as the I of my being, but also the God of every individual’s being. But do not be disappointed with yourself if you are not able to see the divine in some individuals. Simply recognize that you cannot change them; the change must come from within, just as healing in your own life has to come from within your own being.
Healing in our national and international life, too, must come from within, not from without. Even in our elections, we will only have good candidates when a majority of people take the attitude, “Father, show us whom Thou hast chosen.” When we live in spiritual truth, the Word “becomes flesh” in every aspect of our existence—our politics, our family life, our business, our financial life. The knowledge of God must govern every department of our existence. If the world is in turmoil, you can attain only a certain amount of peace within yourself because that turmoil affects your individual experience, in that you cannot be happy while someone else is unhappy. As long as we see sick, suffering, and oppressed humanity anywhere in the world, we can’t have our complete freedom.
Most of us have a strong enough sense of humanhood that we will not be able to wipe out personal sense in one blow. But we can begin to die daily in this way: We can bring to mind a problem facing us, look the problem squarely in the eye, and ask, “Would there be such a problem if there wasn’t a ‘me’? Would there be such a situation if the only ‘I’ involved in this were God, and the entire thing were up to God?” Gradually, we will see that there is no problem except that which concerns the false personal sense of “I”. If you take that away and let I be God, what happens to the problem?
Release the personal sense of I.
Right now, take one of your problems and see to what degree it involves the personal sense of I, that sense that is so limited in power and wisdom that it can’t solve the problem. Then, ponder what would happen to the problem if there were no personal sense; if the only “I” involved were God.
[Pause for contemplation.]
If you can be silent for half an hour, dropping the personal sense of I and contemplating the I that is God, you would have the kingdom of God on earth in your human experience.
The true and false sense of I is the deepest teaching.
There is no deeper teaching than the true and false sense of I. But because of its depth, it has not been maintained over the ages. A Master might reveal it, and a few disciples might grasp it, but when the Master and the disciples leave, the teaching dies. Few people are willing to set aside the personal sense of I.
Gautama Buddha and Jesus Christ both discovered this truth and taught it to their disciples, and some of them caught it. Both masters tried to give it to the world to set it free, but the teachings did not last long because the personal sense of I came in. Someone wanted to know who would succeed the Master or who would handle the finances. Jealousies surfaced. The same thing happened to Mrs. Eddy. She did not want an organized church, but the law forced her to found one, and the same thing happened—the personal sense of I crept in and created many problems.
Personal sense and spiritual healing
Miracles can happen in the healing work if the personal sense of I does not enter. When someone calls on you for help, if you realize there is no such person, you have started them on the way toward healing. But if you take “I” to mean the person and wonder how you will heal them, improve them, or enrich them, you have lost your effectiveness as a practitioner because there is no such I. The only I is God, and It doesn’t need healing, improving, or enriching. One with God is a majority, and the moment you know that, you permit the principle to come into expression and manifestation.
The only way that the healing ministry can be conducted from a high spiritual level is to agree that there is no I apart from God. There is no selfhood apart from God, because if there is, there is no God. You cannot have God and a mortal being, sick, sinning, and dying. You have one or the other.
In our work, we wipe out the person who has the problem and realize their true identity. We do not take a human being and make them healthier and wealthier; we reveal God as infinite, individual being. That is how healing work in The Infinite Way differs from that in other traditions. We are interested only in seeing the God of the patient’s being come into permanent manifestation, and so we “die daily” to their humanhood and are reborn every moment to their spiritual identity. Whenever anyone calls for help with any condition, our immediate approach must be “There is no such I. There is no such person. There is no such condition in all of God’s kingdom. There couldn’t be any such thing.” By maintaining and sustaining that attitude, harmony begins to appear.
We can use the same approach with our family and friends. If someone seems to be experiencing discord, instead of being concerned about how to help them, we can sit down and say, “I’m not even going to believe there is such a person. God is infinite individuality; God is the infinite one, and beside God there is no other.” We can only help them as we learn to die daily, and dying daily to personal sense can begin with a discipline of what we might call “not I,” meaning “This problem does not concern me. It has nothing to do with me.” We hold to that: “Not I [meaning personal sense], but that I [meaning God as I].” For example, “This person and this problem do not concern me; they have nothing to do with me. How does God want to solve it?”
Never take a person or a problem into a treatment.
Develop the habit of never taking a problem or a person who has a problem into contemplation and meditation. Leave persons and problems outside, and only contemplate God and God’s world: “What is God? What is the kingdom of God? What is the government of God? What is the result of the kingdom of God on earth? What is the meaning of divine love? How can I live the commandment ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself’?”
If you, as a practitioner, have given help in response to a request, the individual may come back to your thought later. That probably means the problem has not been met. In that case, simply say, “All right, let’s get back to God.” Then get back to the God that has no problem, no physical body, no finite life, and no age, and stay there. If the individual or the problem tries to come in, do not let it: “Get thee behind me, Satan.” Do not let the false concept of I come in. Recognize and tabernacle with the real I of the patient’s being, which is God. As you hold fast to the patient as a joint heir with Christ in God, you gradually bring their true identity to light, and harmony begins to appear.
In the writings, there are many chapters on treatment, and it may seem that the treatments vary, but the underlying principle is the same. The treatment starts and ends with the word “God,” and at no place in the treatment does anything but God get in. No human being and no problem ever gets into a treatment. Your immediate response to a request for help is something to the effect of, “God. Does God need help? No. God is life, eternal life, but God maintains and sustains Its own life. God doesn’t need my help. Life doesn’t need my help. Life is Spirit, and Spirit is immortal and eternal. It does not decay, age, or change. There is no room in it for aches or pains. God, Spirit, is the substance of all form.”
All that exists in is God-formed, a formation of Spirit, Life Itself, governed by the eternal laws of God. Nothing can get outside the realm of God any more than two times two can get outside the realm of mathematics and be other than four. That is where your treatment remains. If the issue is inactivity, know that since God is the source of all activity, there could be nothing other than perfect activity. God is the activity of being. If it is an issue of strength, remember that Scripture says, “God is my strength.” God alone is strength, and no person has strength of their own to increase or decrease. If someone seems to be in danger of dying, your response might be, “How could it be if their life is God? The life of God is not in danger of dying. That can’t be.”
We may be tempted to believe that there are bad drivers on the road. But there’s only one mind, and that mind is infinite intelligence, and it is the mind of individual being. So we do not acknowledge any other mind. Appearances will suggest that there are many minds and that there are other minds on the road. We do not accept that belief; we hold to the truth that God is the mind of individual being, and therefore, there is only the infinite intelligence of God being made manifest.
God manifests as individual being.
Man has no intelligence of his own. He can’t be smart or dumb, good or bad, sick or well. Only God is infinite intelligence; only God is good; only God is immortal life. So do not acknowledge that your patient, as a human, is spiritual, perfect, good, or anything else. Acknowledge only that God is good and God is life, love, infinite wisdom, and intelligence. There is no “you,” except as a manifestation of that God. So do not credit a person for good, and do not condemn them for evil. Hold to the truth that God is the only “you” of an individual, and only God can be made manifest through you. But it is God manifesting Itself as you. You are not manifesting God; God is manifesting Itself as you. There is no personal glory or personal condemnation.
Whatever of evil we see has no existence; our acceptance of it causes the trouble. Whatever of good we see is God manifesting Itself. If you ascribe that good to a person by saying, “You are healthy,” or “I am healthy,” or “You are wealthy,” or “I am wealthy,” you are denying the truth that only God is healthy and only God is wealthy. God is health, and God is wealth. You don’t express that health, or reflect it, or manifest it, because there is no “you” in that sense. There is only God manifest as you.
The evolving message of truth
Are you beginning to see how we die daily to the personal sense of I, me, and you? Do you see this difference between the Infinite Way and other teachings? The Infinite Way is not another form of Christian Science, Unity, or New Thought. Joel was raised without religious training. He had no theology or church teaching and was never a part of, nor did he study, any mental teaching.
With that background, he could choose what resonated with him as truth, without being influenced by past experiences. Joel’s original entry into the work was through Christian Science, and he was able to pick out the very absolute of absolute in Mrs. Eddy’s writings and drop everything else. From there, he received revelations from within and caught something beyond even Mrs. Eddy’s absolute.
God cannot be limited to one individual’s unfoldment, so teachers with more highly evolved messages will continue to appear. Joel makes the startling statement that the best teacher will be the one who has no horror whatsoever at the evils of the world, who believes that the greater and deeper they are, the better for the world, because the sooner it will force the world to wake up from complacency and satisfaction in the personal sense of good into the great realization that there is no such I; that the only I is God.
Contemplate the idea of “dying daily.”
In a spiritual context, to “realize” something means that it becomes real in our experience. Joel says that if we are to realize true identity, we must “die daily and be reborn of the Spirit,” but that it is not enough just to say or repeat those words. He tells us to contemplate deeply the idea of dying daily, pondering questions such as:
Take some time for those contemplations.
Practice “dying daily.”
In this lesson, Joel gives us a practice that helps us “die daily.” It reflects the attitude of the eleven disciples when they had to replace Judas Iscariot:
Release the personal sense of I.
From time to time, during the study period for this lesson, repeat the exercise that Joel gave in the class to support our understanding and realization of the true and false sense of I:
Explore how you and others use language.
Joel teaches that the language we use can either reinforce the illusion of a separate self or serve as a discipline that points consciousness back to the one I. If we use language that implies duality, it can strengthen the hypnotism of personal sense. For this reason, it can be both enlightening and profoundly helpful to observe our language and notice how it reflects either the true or the false sense of I.
Over the years, many people have come to Marty for help with problems, and he has keenly observed that one common barrier to the dissolution of a problem is the tendency to use language that belies the truth of individual being. For example, a person may say, “I have [name of disease or condition].” With those words, the person may unconsciously be taking ownership of the condition, rather than recognizing that it is not, never has been, and never can be in them or of them. It has often proven helpful to the individual to rephrase such language to reflect spiritual truth with more fidelity.
Based on his experience, Marty has prepared a valuable companion piece for the current lesson that explores this issue of language more fully. He has included some helpful practices, as well as a table of links to relevant excerpts from the classes in our spiritual healing study program, which enable us to hear Joel himself specifically address the use of language.
To access the companion piece, click/tap here.
Recording 531B, “The Two Ways of I,” from the 1963 London Work, is a superb complement to our study on the importance and language of true identity. We have excerpted the relevant portion of that recording and posted it on the same page as Recording 613A. We highly recommend listening to this recording.