Recording 496A, “Mind Is a Transparency,” from the 1962 London Special Class, is the source material for Chapter 3, “Mind Is a Transparency,” in Consciousness Is What I Am.
To download or print these study suggestions, click/tap here.
Joel begins this chapter by saying, “One of the steps to living by Grace rather than by taking thought is to keep the mind imbued with truth.” At first, we hold to the letter of truth intellectually, but as we continue to fill the mind with truth, our old self “dies”— the self that entertains a selfhood apart from God, that fears negative powers, that does not acknowledge its own divinity. As that old selfhood dies, the Self that knows Its oneness with God is revealed, or reborn. By imbuing the mind with the letter of truth, we are “remolding” our consciousness, and eventually, we will not have to do this, because the letter of truth will become so much a part of us that we will not have to consciously think it.
Joel reminds us that the mind cannot operate on its own any more than the body can. Mind and body are instruments, and we are the ones who direct and control these instruments. We can think good thoughts or evil thoughts, destructive or constructive thoughts. Our mind cannot stop us from thinking any thoughts we want to think, because we are in charge, and our mind has to let us use it for whatever purpose we decide to use it. I decide what the mind will entertain and what it will reject, and my outer life is going to show forth that with which I fill the mind. In other words, my experience is a function of what is held in mind. If I hold a belief in a power apart from God, that will externalize as error, or evil—disease, lack, limitation. But if I fill the mind with truth, that will externalize as health and harmony.
CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING
Joel always teaches that knowing the letter of truth is NOT the same as having the realized consciousness of truth. But he often says—as he does in this chapter—that knowing the letter of truth is an essential stepping-stone on the journey.
In that spirit, we offer some questions to consider on the lesson in our study chapter and in the source recording. Taking the time to ask and answer these questions will help you assess how well you have absorbed the letter of truth presented in this lesson. As you answer the questions, include any new insights that may have come to you.
We offer some possible answers to the questions, which you can review in this document if you wish. But it will be most helpful to you if you work with the questions yourself before looking at those answers. Answers will vary according to each individual’s interpretation of the lesson. You may include points in your answers that we did not, and vice versa.
PRACTICES
In this lesson, Joel gives us practices that help remold our consciousness by raising it out of material sense. Once again, we suggest that it can be more helpful to work with one practice at a time and not try to work with all of them at once. One practice may be more relevant to your life than another, and you might choose that one. Or you might be drawn to one because something tells you that it is an area in which you need practice.
Practice: God As One Power
The mind is an instrument for our use, and it will accept anything we give it. Keep the mind filled with the truth of one power, so that with every suggestion of another power, we hold our ground and say, “No, I accept God, Spirit, as the only Power.” As we abide in this principle and practice it faithfully, we are dying to the belief in two powers and being reborn into the consciousness of one power.
Think of something in your own life that is tempting you to believe that there is a power other than God. This could be a health issue, an issue of finances, an addiction, the government, the weather, the climate, or any one of many other things. Face it directly and practice: “No. This has no power. I accept God, Spirit, as the only Power.”
Practice: There is One Self
There is only one Self. God is infinite Selfhood. God is my Self; God is your Self. Imbue your mind with this principle of the one Self. Then, every time there is an appearance of an evil, dangerous, or insane selfhood, come back with, “There is only one Selfhood, and I am that Self.” Hold to that truth against every appearance of a male or a female self, a poor or a rich self, a sick or a well self. In doing so, you die to the belief of many selves and are reborn into the consciousness of one Selfhood.
Practice: I Am Supply
The universal belief is that supply is outside in the world and that we must struggle to get it. But the truth is: I am supply. “I have meat to eat that ye know not of.” The mind is ignorant of this truth until you keep the mind imbued with the truth that I am supply, I am the Way, I am the meat, the wine, and the water.
Whenever you are tempted to believe that you do not have enough, answer the temptation with “I am not judging by appearances. I am judging by the truth, and the truth is that I have meat the world knows not of, and I have twelve basketsful left over.” As you continually imbue the mind with that truth about supply, you die to the belief of lack and are reborn into the consciousness of omnipresent abundance.
Practice: All Law Is Spiritual
God is law, and all law is spiritual. But in “this world,” there are legal laws, material laws, and mental laws that contradict spiritual truth. For example, there is a medical “law” that says some diseases are incurable. Certainly, some laws are needed in the material realm, such as the “rules of the road,” but Joel is not referring to these. “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
When you are faced with a so-called law that contradicts spiritual truth, stand fast: “No! I do not accept this law. I accept God alone as law.” In doing that, you are dying to your fears about laws and will be reborn into the consciousness of spiritual law.
Practice: All Discord Is an Appearance
Look on all discord as an appearance, and not as a thing or a condition to be overcome. Treat every appearance as a suggestion or temptation, whether it is unemployment, insanity, cancer, consumption, or any other of the myriad of appearances that present themselves to you.
Hold to the truth and do not battle the appearance. Let it hit up against your mind, which is imbued with truth, and the appearance will dissolve. If you try to do something to it, you will become enmeshed in it, because you are accepting it as real when it is not real. If it were real, it could not be healed. If God made it, you could not unmake it. God never made sin, disease, or lack, so you can know that these are going to disappear out of your life in proportion as you maintain spiritual principles in your consciousness, hold them in your mind, and let yourself be reborn of Truth.
ADDITIONAL STUDY
Engaging in the practices that Joel recommends in this chapter is the best way to work with the lesson. Because we have such a wealth of resources from Joel, there is always a temptation to read more, hear more, and find more. Sometimes that is appropriate, but sometimes we use reading and listening to avoid real practice. So just be cautious and self-aware. As with anything, the key is balance.
Having said that, if at this point, you are led to work more deeply with the subject of mind, we recommend these resources:
Book Chapters
Recordings