Infinite Way Letter
May 1956
By Joel Goldsmith
Part 5 of 6
A BEHOLDER

Part Three – continued

As long as that doctor was governed by the belief that sitting in a draft or getting his feet wet could give him a cold he was subject to the effects of that belief; but the moment he realized that neither the feet, the lungs, the throat, nor the head can know anything about the weather, he was free of the belief that certain material conditions cause colds, and this belief no longer operated as a law in his experience. Freedom from future colds came with the understanding that he was not faced with a physical condition but that this was nothing but a belief.

Now, suppose we know nothing about the existence of colds, and yet we have all the symptoms. How can such a thing occur if we are ignorant of the fact that there is a human belief that germs, weather, or drafts cause colds? It is our ignorance that is responsible for our plight. One might counter with the corollary that because of our ignorance we are subject to a billion different things of which we know nothing. We are. Tomorrow and the day after, and the day after that, all manner of things will be happening of which we may have had no previous knowledge, and these will happen because of our ignorance. This does not leave us helpless, however, because the student of The Infinite Way always has available the means of preventing these things from occurring.

As we have seen, there is a universal belief that drafts and changes of weather can produce colds. If we accept that belief, if we believe that climate is a law in our experience, we are under that law. We have believed that there is a mental cause for physical disease, that resentment causes rheumatism, that hate causes cancer, that lust causes consumption. Although these beliefs may be held universally, their universality has nothing to do with their veracity or tenacity, for a belief by one or a belief by a million is still just a belief, and is never a power.
Another widespread belief of which most people are victims is that each year makes us older; that our life span is determined by the passing of time as measured by the calendar. This belief will operate in our experience unless we consciously realize the truth in some such way as follows: “Whereas, formerly I believed that day following day was a law of age, now I understand that it is a belief and only a belief. My life and my body are eternal, governed and maintained by a divine Source which is within me. I, therefore, am no longer affected by the passing of time. The calendar is not a law: it is a belief, and a belief cannot operate in my consciousness as law. Within me is the fullness of life.” As this recognition becomes a specific activity of consciousness, the effects of age on the body are nullified.
Now is the time to eliminate such beliefs from consciousness because they are not true and never were true. Once we arrive at the recognition that these beliefs are not laws, are not power, are not cause, we have reached one of the most important moments in our spiritual unfoldment. We are governed either by our consciousness of truth or by our ignorance of truth. Whatever may be the world belief that claims to cause the sin, disease, lack, limitation, or death, it is not cause, it is not power! The knowledge of this fact is our “shield and buckler.” Truth students frequently complain: “Despite the fact that I have been in truth for years, I continue to experience disease, poverty, and inharmony. How can this be?” There is only one answer. They have not been in truth. They have been attending truth centers or reading truth books, but they have not been in truth.
End Part 5