A: There is but one power, and as far as I know, there may not be anyone else in all the world who believes in two powers. At one time I completely believed in it. By degrees I have lost that belief until at the present time, that particular belief in two powers has far less operation in my consciousness than before I came into this awareness. And so I must bring to your light this: There is a transcendental consciousness. There is a consciousness beyond that which is your human mind or mine.
Now, there is no spiritual power in your human mind. There is no spiritual power in what you know or what you learn. Spiritual power is embraced in a “something” that was called “that mind which was also in Christ Jesus.”2 It was called transcendental consciousness. In India, it is called Buddhi, or the Buddha mind. In Japan, it is called satori. And once the state of satori is attained, or once the state of Buddhi, or Buddha mind, is attained, or once the Christ mind is attained, you will find there are not two powers operating.
Therefore, all that we can know is that we entertain that which is called a human sense of mind and that it is composed of two powers, and that the only origin for it is revealed in the second chapter of Genesis, where we are taught that the acceptance of the belief in two powers brought about this human mind with its woes.
How it could have happened when there is a transcendental mind, which really is infinite and all, can only be explained on this basis: that in and within the scope of the transcendental mind there is but one power, and whatever exists outside of that scope exists only as maya, or an illusory sense, and actually has no existence. Having no existence, it cannot be explained.
I would cite this illustration. The city, the nonexistent city that you sometimes see out in the desert cannot be explained, for it has no existence. The body of water that is sometimes seen out in the desert, the nonexistent body of water, cannot be explained, for it has no existence. Everything that constitutes this “vale of tears,” this earthly existence that has birth and death, is the product of an illusory sense that has no existence, and for that reason, it cannot be explained.
Now, this idea that because the spiritual consciousness is infinite and all, there cannot be an illusory sense, is based primarily on the superstitious concept of God as being some kind of a super papa with a big club that won’t allow anything else to have existence. If you will think of God as Consciousness, you will then understand why it is possible for an individual to believe that two times two are five, even though there is no such thing in existence, never has been, never could be.
As a matter of fact, there never was a flat world. There never was a square world, and yet you can see how in our ignorance we could accept appearances through illusory sense and behold that which never existed. And now try to explain what happened to that square world, what happened to that flat world, what happened to all those biblical passages that the church fought so hard to retain; that caused them even to imprison and murder all those men who claimed that the world was round.
So it is. I can’t personally see how to explain the non-existent. I do not know how to explain that which I have already seen has no existence. If something more satisfying to the human mind comes along, I’m sure we’ll all be happy to know about it. At this moment, let me say this: there is a transcendental state of consciousness which is something beyond your thinking, reasoning mind, and it is this that not only is our salvation on the mystical path, but it is the reason for our persecution in our present state of existence.
A short time ago the Attorney General of the United States, one of the President’s cabinet, set out on a tour of prosecution. What he actually wanted to achieve was the closing up of these diploma mills, these organizations that sell you a title of Doctor or Reverend for seventy-five dollars, or a hundred and fifty dollars, or for three months of study, or something of that nature. And the people who worked hard for their titles of Reverend or Doctor didn’t enjoy this idea of thousands of people walking around calling themselves Reverend and Doctor because they happened to have seventy-five dollars or three months’ time to spare. And so finally the Attorney General started on a campaign to close up what he named “diploma mills.”
Now, as far as that goes, he was all right. He was on very solid ground. But in doing this, he started to attack the basic premise of metaphysics, and he wanted us all thrown into jail, and he cited this as his reason: that metaphysicians claim that disease isn’t real, and so we’re endangering the whole world, and we really ought to be punished.
But now, you see, from the standpoint of the human mind, isn’t he correct? Isn’t it right that disease is power? Don’t the cemeteries all over the world testify to the power of disease—in the human mind? Certainly! How can you deny the power of disease in the human mind, where there is a belief in two powers? But look at the miracle that happens the very moment you bring that disease into the realm of one with transcendental consciousness. Let us take Jesus Christ, who said to a crippled man, “What did hinder you? Pick up your bed and walk,”3 and to a blind man, “Open your eyes.”4
Now, remember this: to the Attorney General, you know that that must be foolishness, for “the things of God are foolishness with man,”5but to transcendental consciousness—aren’t we healing these diseases? Aren’t we lifting people out of lack and limitation? Aren’t we doing more to heal sin than any other known form of religious practice? Well, certainly. The whole world in this generation is opening itself. All of the churches are investigating spiritual healing. Why? Because we have demonstrated for ninety years that those with transcendental consciousness can make unreal that which the human mind considers real.
1This excerpt is from Recording 347A: 1960 Manchester Closed Class, “The Invisible.” It is posted with kind permission from the Estate of Joel 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.
2 Philippians 2:5.
3 See John 5:8.
4 See John 9.
5 1 Corinthians 2:14.