Original Iwihub.com transcript, proofread by Zane Maser

1960 New York “25” Practitioner Class
1960 New York Private Class for “25”
Joel S. Goldsmith
Tape 362A

pdf-49px  362A 1960 New York _25_ Practitioner Class

Good morning.

Ordinarily, these two meetings, this morning and Thursday morning, would be for our “25 Group,” and we would be taking up the subject of our world work. But, we already have the “New York 1959 ‘25’” tape, which we are going to continue to use as the basis for our world work. And, in addition to that, we have made a one-hour tape in London of the “25 Group,” which goes a step beyond the New York tape in that it takes up a further step, or higher step, in the realization of true identity. So that between this New York 1959, which is absolutely complete from the standpoint of our world work, and this 1960 London one-hour tape, which is complete of its nature, we will not need anything further for not only the balance of this year, but unless some other unfoldment comes, we will carry these two into next year. Therefore, there was no need for a meeting of the “25.” Before we get into our subject, I can tell you, however, that the group, the groups of “25” are meeting regularly wherever they are established, and they are not only studying these tapes but applying the work to the situations that arise in the way, of course, with which you are already familiar.

And so the only word that I would like to add to that is this. Throughout all of the centuries, the world has sought to find its peace, its harmony, its good through the use of power. It has used that power in wars, threats of wars, or defenses against the possibility of war; and it has used it in commercial ways—in boycotts, in threats, in strikes, even as bribery in trade, all with the hope of eventually establishing peace. In our present age, we have added a new thing to that, and that is the “give-away programs” in the hope that by just giving away enough to enough people that they will be so grateful that they’ll be peaceful. Any of you who have had experience in giving away to people will readily realize what possibility there is in arousing gratitude in that way or peace.

Now, if there is ever to be a peace in your individual experience—physical, mental, moral, financial peace, or peace in your human relationships—you already know that the only way you’re going to establish that is not by power but by the opposite of power, by a non-power, by not resisting evil, and, of course, not resisting evil through the recognition of the non-power of evil. So it is going to be in these wider experiences that, as we apply the principle of non-power, you are going to find the tremendous response that comes in the affairs not only of yourself but as we have seen in capital and labor relationships, in management and union affairs, in phases of weather, and in other aspects to which this work has been applied. We have already witnessed in some measure the success of realizing the non-power of that which is threatening us, the non-power of that which appears as form, as especially destructive form.

All of this, of course, you have on these tapes, and so I will merely remind you that with the world in its present aspect, it would certainly be well to continue to be faithful with that work, also to bear in mind that you are really not being faced with evils in the world today, for actually none of these so-called destructive conditions are evil. They are actually the breaking up of evil. The evil conditions existed while the world thought we were at peace. In other words, it was a “peace, peace, where there was no peace.” As long as there was no strife in Africa, open strife, we thought there was peace there. But, how could there have been peace there while one race was dominating another, one nation was robbing another? How could there have been peace? There was just the hidden aspects of what was going on, just as in our own south land. Whenever there is no Ku Klux uprising, whenever there are no lynchings, we imagine there is peace down there. But, how can there be peace while there is the degree of illiteracy, the degree of lack of opportunity for education to the Negro. How can there be peace? There never was peace there, and the Civil War settled nothing except the selling of slaves on a block. That’s all it ever solved, and I know that that would have been solved without a war.

So that there was no peace there, and these uprisings now are the breaking up of the evils that existed so that peace will be established. So it is in our economic system. When there are these strikes, when there are these depression periods or boom periods, these are not evils. These are the breaking up of the evils. I have said before that I believe that Capitalism is beyond all doubt the finest economic system that has yet been devised, but that does not gloss over the fact that there have been terrible sins and evils in Capitalism. And, while there was no strife about them, that was not peace. That was a “peace, peace, where there is no peace.” And, therefore, this breaking up by the New Deal and the True Deal, and whatever it is that follows it is not actually an evil but a breaking up of the evils that existed in Capitalism, until there will be an overturning and an overturning until Capitalism works fairly, justly, rightly for capital and for labor. And so we are not to view these world situations as if they were evils, but rather let us understand that this is the natural breaking up of the hidden evils that existed, and that actually these conditions would not be today if the Christ, the spirit of God, were not functioning in human consciousness to break up the evils that have heretofore existed.

Actually, the evils would go on and on and on forever, because the stronger power has always been in control and the weaker ones could do nothing about it. But when the activity of the Christ comes in, even the minorities, even the weak can overthrow the strong “until He comes whose right it is.” And so be assured that these very conditions of upheaval that you witness in the world today are actually evidence that the Christ is operating in human consciousness. That is, there is a spiritual impulse that has been loosed in human consciousness in this 20th century. It was predicted by Steinmetz that in this century the truth about spiritual power would be revealed and revealed for the first time on earth, except for that brief period of the Master’s ministry. And, of course, it is true that this is the century in which spiritual power will be revealed.

But, it will not be revealed as a great, big power that’s going to come down and do terrible things to material powers or mental powers. It is going to be revealed as the realization of the non-power of that which has been called “evil.” And the reason is that God really is not a power in the sense of an overcoming or destructive power. God is not a power in the sense of doing something to evil. God is a power only in the sense of a creative, maintaining, and sustaining principle, and then it becomes necessary that “Ye shall know the truth,” in order that the truth shall make you free. And the truth that you must know is, of course, the infinite nature of God—Omnipotence, Omnipresence, Omniscience, and because of these the non-power. So that we can say to any form of Pilate, “Thou couldst have no power over me. Thou couldst have no power over this world. Thou hast no power; therefore, we need not fight.” We need only stand in this Word, and then watch the enemy destroy itself, as in the experience of Hezekiah and his people.