That was part of the second question. The third question is this. What is the cause of discords and disharmonies? Let me see if Joel writes something about that too.

All power is established within you, do not look to men whose breath is in his nostrils. Do not put your faith or trust  in princes, no matter how high or how powerful. There is no power external to you. Never fear any effect, never fear that which is created, trust the Creator. Shall creation mean more to you than Creator? Shall you love which has been created more than you love the Creator? Can you fear that which God has created? Is there a creator other than God? Is there another creation, a creation apart from God? Lo, this only have I found, that God has made man upright, that they have sought out many inventions. Do not fear what men can think, say or do. Do not fear inventions or imaginations of the human mind. Do not fear any evil thought or deed which is directed toward you or anyone else. Do not fear any person and above all, do not resent or hate him, unless you would bind him to you find a loathsome change of hatred. You must understand that evil can touch only that person who is entertaining it. Therefore never fear evil, never hate it, never resent it, but always respond with compassion.

Joel S. Goldsmith, The Art of Meditation

The last piece of the text that I want to share with you is this. Never look upon the discord and inharmonies of your life, as if they represent the lack of understanding or a lack of demonstration regard these infortunes circumstances as opportunities which will be dissolved when you no longer serve that purpose as spurs to your spiritual involvement. Never look upon the discourse and in-harmonies of your life as if they represent a lack of understanding or a lack of demonstration. This is what we have used last week too and that is this idea, you are dealing with manifestations. You see their reflections, but they are actually not occasions at all. It is always a representation of what you are thinking, that represents itself. That is the answer to the question, what is the cost of discourse and in-harmonies? It is basically your ideas of the possibility that are reflected. That is the only thing. You don’t need to say: Oh my God I am just a beginner and it doesn’t really work that well, all this in-harmony in my life and all these discords, I really cannot take it anymore. No, you are missing the point. It has nothing to do with your spiritual progress or anything. No it has to do with what is it that you see, it just manifest itself for you to remember that it is not an occurrence, it is a manifestation. It is not a real happening! That is absolutely amazing to go through this. It is basically dislodged from materialism, it is dislodged from identification with this place or with this material world. And I hope that this is clear to you when I try to express this.

The main thing that we share and in this chapter that we share together is on a very basic level, but so basic that it’s not so easy to grasp. It just points in one direction, basically in the direct communication with God. That is where it happens, that is where you can be can at rest. That is where all these worldly ideas collapse.  Everything that you think is a reason to be afraid or a judgment about yourself about where you find yourself in spiritual path. All that collapses into this present moment where you discover: Oh my God, this is a forgiving God. There was no judgment at all. The only judgement that I carried with me was a judgment about myself. When I let go of that I have every opportunity to connect it to communicate directly with God. Nothing is in the way. I’m good enough, I did not create myself, all the ideas that I hold about myself are not very helpful to me, for my spiritual development. Because spiritual development is letting go of all your ideas and coming with open hands into the present moment and not listening to the voice of fear anymore. Entering into a whole different place where fear is absent, in that stillness, inward. In the connection with your Kingdom you see that fear dissolves and that you are purely communicating and receiving all the images, all the experiences or revelations. When you see that all is well and that there is nothing to be afraid of, that there is a great Certainty coming with you wherever you go, that is the real comforting message of this chapter Fear Not.  This ‘fear not’, would not be enough.

For example, I have a house, I’m afraid I hear every night I hear the wolves cry out every night, now I’m going to make a fence around my house and see that I keep them outside. That would not take away the fear, it would not bring you into peace because there’s still a threat out there. What Joel is presenting here to us is the opposite. Now there is nothing to fear you’re going to access that knowledge, by coming into the present moment and being in communication with everything that Is. What could possibly be a threat to you if there is nothing outside yourself, if there is no judgment about you that has any reality and so you can be completely vulnerable an open to this Communication.