Comments for The Mystical I transcript:

For all bible verses that I recognized, I tried to remove the quotes and simply allow the italics to be sufficient. To me this is like underlining a book title while italicizing it too. One or the other seems sufficient.

The original typist seemed to like exclamation points and in several cases I have substituted them for periods because Joel did not seem to have that level of emphasis in his voice.

What came to me as I meditated on the format of this transcript in regard to the section where he obviously was in a very deep meditative state was to add an extra line of space at the beginning and at the end of the meditative section and to indent that section to make it very obvious that the reader had just moved into a very sacred consciousness.

In the title for the transcript, I changed the italicized I to a normal I and the I in the word Chicago to a normal I also. I thought that the descriptor, Mystical, explains that the I in the title is not the usual  personality I.

Where there are very short segments of words separated by and’s, I eliminated the commas.

I did not cap: high tower. That sentence is followed by ‘I am your fortress’ and I think they are for emphasis of the level of consciousness not a name for God. 

In a few cases I added commas where I thought they were needed, i.e., ‘I am neither Greek, bond…’ 

or removed the colon and created one sentence, i.e.,  Have I been so long with you, and you have not known me? Have I been so long with you, and you haven’t recognized I am Melchisedec, I am Christ, I am the spiritual Son?

Or broken a paragraph differently than presented due to the flow of the message, i.e., 

But don’t turn away from Me. Lot’s wife did that, she looked back, away from Me—and she was lost. All those who put their hand to the plow, must make up their minds never to turn back, never! The way is straight and narrow, and few there be that enter, but those few are those who attain. And when they attain, what is it that they have attained? Awareness of Me, realization that I in the midst of them am mighty, realization that I am in the midst of them, that I have been with them since before Abraham, that I will never leave them nor forsake them. I will lead you into green pastures. I will make you to lie down beside still waters.  (this sentence was a part of the next paragraph and seemed to be a part of the thought of this paragraph and then the next paragraph, see below,  seems to explain the perspective of the previous paragraph.)

But go back to the 15th chapter of John, and read again that this is only true if you abide in Me, and if you let Me abide in you. And how do you do this? Recognize Me—I. I in the midst of me feeds me and clothes me and houses me. …..

I changed co-exist to coexist.

In the sentence: “I let the infinite invisible I take possession of my life, …” I changed the infinite invisible to no cap because it was a descriptor of the I and not a name of God in this case. This was similar to the following paragraph where Joel refers to “the realization that there is an invisible I.”

On the last page I changed the “still small Voice” to no cap. Just to make sure I went back to The Master Speaks and noticed that was consistent with Lorraine on page 76 of that book. 

Just a point of observation more than anything regarding the word ‘grace’. On the next to the last paragraph of the transcript, Joel says “And so too, you attain through Grace, a point of transition…” versus the last line of the transcript, “I live by the grace of the I that is within me.” Do you interpret the first one as a direct name of God which would require capitalization or are both words similar in meaning which would not be capped? Grace is one of those words that we have gone back and forth with so many times over the years by capping it one place and not another. In this particular situation, I feel that neither of them needs to be capitalized; although I did not change it and decided to just raise the question. I do agree with you that the simpler we can be in regard to what we capitalize consistently, the much better off and much easier it will be to proof the transcripts.    

Other miscellaneous note regarding page setup: 

In regard to page setup guidelines for final copy, I noticed that on the transcripts there was no space allocated for the footer which is where I place to page numbers which led me to think about a standard setup for the documents in general. Some comments that come to mind such as:  

Titles – 

Style - All caps in the first line looked really good to me on The Mystical I transcript heading and then how about bolding entire three lines too? 

Also where there is the ‘side one continued’, do you like it in parenthesis and un-bolded? 

Also ‘dash’ to separate talk number and title, is this what you envisioned? 

Regarding font size and type style for heading and body; I am assuming 12 point, Times Roman based on what I have received, is that your preference? 

Margins – right, left, header, footer, top, bottom, 

Indent - for first line of paragraph? .3” or .4”

I realize that these are all very minor. 

1958 SECOND CHICAGO CLOSED CLASS

Joel S. Goldsmith

#212B - The Mystical I  (Side One Continued)

I then am Melchisedec, I am He that was never born and will never die, I am Self-maintained and Self-sustained. I am the offspring of God, God Itself springing off into manifestation and expression, God Itself appearing as individual being—with individual identity.

This Garden of Eden experience of eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, has resulted in this false state of consciousness which we call humanhood, which Paul tells us we must die daily to in order that we may be reborn of the Spirit.

And in this state of humanhood, we are interdependent—we need each other. We not only need each other—we need things, we need money, we need this, we need that. And all of human experience is a going out and getting it.

Of course in the first stage we are honest, and we’re told to earn it. When earning it doesn’t come easy to us, we develop tricks to earn it legally, but not too honestly. And if that doesn’t work, we get outside of the law, and we steal it. If that doesn’t work, we go out and kill for it.

On a larger scale, after we become united as communities, when we want things, we have a legal form of murder that’s called war. But we just war, we just murder, we take what we want from the other fellow who’s too weak to stop us, but it’s done in the name of the cross, or the red, white, and blue, or the pink and green. That’s humanhood.

To those who are on the spiritual path there is another way. How did those on the spiritual path get there? And there is a part of your history of reincarnation; only in our work we call it unfolding consciousness.

There is the man who is the purely animal man who goes after what he wants with hammer and tongs, using the might of his body, or the might of temporal weapons. And there is the mental man, who goes after things with his mind, and then eventually that mental man starts to rise into the spiritual man. And all of this is taking time. It’s really not a matter of time, it’s a matter of evolution, but in our experience it appears as time.

So it may well have been, that in some time past, some earlier form of evolution, I was the animal man or cave men, and then the mental man, and then prepared to come into this particular time, evolving into some measure of the spiritual man—so with you.

Unless you have been through this experience before, you are not in this room at all. In other words, there are millions of people who never get into an Infinite Way class or any other class of a spiritual nature. And why is that? Because the subject of the Spirit is foreign to them. Why is it foreign to them and not foreign to us? Well I suppose for the same reason that music is foreign to me and not foreign to other people. Evidently I have no background of music, and somebody else came into this world with a background of music.

In other words, it’s an unfolding state of consciousness, and you have been brought into this particular phase of life sufficiently developed to open yourselves to the spiritual approach to life. You’ve lived on the animal plane; you’ve lived on the mental plane; and now you’re approaching this spiritual plane. Don’t forget, all of this time there is still a little of the animal left in us; there’s still a little of the mental left in us, but we’re predominantly spiritual. In others, there might be a tiny bit of the spiritual, and the mental or the physical will be predominant; all a matter of unfolding consciousness.

Now, what we are being prepared for, we will not know until we have left this present state of being and entered into the next phase where we go. Remember with this already developed consciousness, we will never go back to being slaves in Egypt; we will never go back to being slaves in China or India; we will never go back to a ghetto. Not one of us! We have evolved out of that state of consciousness, and we are moving forward into more highly developed spiritual natures, spiritual states of consciousness. Therefore, our lives will be led in countries that give expression to freedom, give expression to individual demonstration rather than the socialistical robot-life where everyone is equal—equally nothing.

We will live as individuals who can say “I.” “I”—and then, “I am a pianist” or “I am a minister” or “I am a physician” or “I am this.” But I am that, and I will be that, because that is my developed, unfolded individuality.

And so now I want you to see something. I want you to see who you are and what you are and how you live the moment that you begin to realize that in your true identity you are Melchisedec or Christ.

And so we are going to start with the word I, and each of you inwardly and silently will say I, softly, gently I—I, meaning my Self, my true identity. My eyes are closed to all outer appearances, I’m inside the inner sanctuary praying, or knowing the truth. I am alone with God. I and my Father are one, not two. I and my Father are one. Son, all that I have is thine, for I am thou, I am thy being. Even your body is the temple of the living God which I am. Your body, your mind, your soul—these are all dedicated to Me, and I have ordained them. I have given to you your mind and your body. I have placed Myself in the midst of your garden, which is your self. I am the tree of life in the midst of you. I, even I, am He. I in the midst of thee am mighty.

Now I say to you, “Son, cease ye from man whose breath is in his nostril, cease from being man whose breath is in his nostril, cease from depending on man whose breath is in his nostril—for wherein is he to be accounted of, while I am here in the midst of thee?”

This I that you have declared, now listen: I am the way, the truth, and the life. I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Look unto Me, to the I of your being and be saved. Don’t look unto effects, don’t look unto persons, don’t look unto fame, fortune, position—look unto Me, for I in the midst of thee am your bread, your staff of life.

You need not earn your bread by the sweat of your brow. Work, but enjoy it, work and love it, but never feel dependent on it for your living—for I am living you. I am your living. I am your being. I am the substance of your body. I am that which beats your heart. I am that which functions every organ and function of your body.

I didn’t make your body and then leave it to control itself: I made it in My image and likeness of My substance. I formed it even in the womb. Did you not remember that passage of scripture, “I knew thee before you were conceived in the womb; I formed your very body in the womb, I have never left it nor forsaken it.”

Many times you have left Me, many times you have made false gods, golden gods, silver gods, pill gods, powder gods, and plaster gods, and looked to them for health, for peace, for joy. And yet I am the bread of your life, the very staff of your life.

You have looked outside for pleasures, and yet I am the wine of inspiration. Seek Me while I may be found, and be at peace. I will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Me. I am thee.

Does the creature talk back to the creator? Does the clay talk to the potter? No, no, no! I am the potter, I am the creator—and all creation hearkens unto Me. The heavens declare My glory, the earth showeth forth My handiwork. The birds in the air, the fish in the sea—these testify to Me in the midst of you.

I am the resurrection. I restore those lost years of the locusts. The only reason there were locusts was in your forgetting of Me, and looking to outside sources.

I have no pleasure in your dying, turn ye and live, for I Melchisedec, I the Son of God, I in the midst of thee am mighty.

“Know ye not, that God gave me dominion over everything on earth, everything in the sky, everything in the waters beneath the earth?” I am the law, I am the prophets, I am the way. Live by way of Me; don’t live by way of the world, don’t live by way of form. Don’t believe that your life and safety and security are dependent on effects, on forms, even so great of ones as bombs.

I am your high tower and I am your fortress—hide in Me. Hide in the understanding that there is only one power and I am that, and that nullifies hate, domination, hypnotism, mad ambition. I, look unto Me and be ye saved—not by might, not by power. Put up thy sword. Those who live by the physical sword or the mental sword, will die, but live by My Spirit. Not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit.

Dwell in Me, let Me dwell in you. If ye dwell in Me, if you let Me dwell in you, if you live in the recognition, that I in the midst of you am your true identity, your eternal life, I will draw unto you whatever is necessary for your harmonious unfoldment, be it person, places, things.

Only go into the inner sanctuary and be quiet. Don’t pray in public. Don’t tell man what you need. Don’t tell man what you’d like to be. Don’t tell man what you’d like to do. Live in Me, let Me live in you, and let Me go before you to make the crooked places straight. Let Me go before you, let Me be an invisible presence that goes before you to prepare the way for you. I have many mansions, many mansions. Let Me go before you and prepare the way.

Don’t tell any man or woman, let Me go before you—silently, sacredly, secretly, and prepare a way for you. Don’t be impatient if it takes a little time to reach home; don’t be impatient if we have to take some long way around shortcuts.

“I will bring ye by a way ye know not of.” It won’t always appear to you as a shortcut, it won’t always be without a few bleeding footsteps, or a cross. Because, I am leading you through this world of illusion, back to your Father’s home, which I am.

You have already gotten yourself into places that you can’t leave suddenly, you will have to be led out of, without injury to others, without injury to the life or well-being or comfort of others. You cannot have your life and well-being at the expense of others—that is not the law. “Love thy neighbor as thyself” is the law.

And you can do that. You can do that, if you look unto Me, if you understand that I in the midst of you am Self-sustained. I have meat, be assured of that. “I have meat the world knows not of.”

Don’t let your mind get weary wondering how you’re going to get meat or a home or companionship or supply or health—be assured that I have meat. I already have meat and wine and water—rest here and let it come to you.

Be like Rickenbacker out in the Pacific. Sit quietly with folded arms, and let the birds come to you; let the fish jump up into the boat; let the rain come out of a cloudless sky—don’t try to make them do that. Don’t mentalize, don’t try to attract supply—not mentally, not physically.

Just do your work each day, the work that is given you to do—do it the best you know how to do. But don’t do it for a living, do it for love—let the living be the added thing. For I, your Father which art in heaven, I which am in the midst of you, I know your need before you do; it is My good pleasure to give you the kingdom, if you abide in Me and let My word abide in you.

I give you John 15, for your shibboleth, for your password. “If you live in Me, live in the realization that this I in the midst of you is Me. This I in the midst of you is God, this I in the midst of you is ordained of God—for God is both the Father and the Son, God is both the giver and the gift.”

Trust this I in the center of you, trust it with your secret desires—but don’t let your secret desires be aimed at persons or places or things. Your secret desires must be for rest in Me, peace in Me, satisfaction in Me, joy in Me, to prosper in Me.

Let Me be your meat, your wine, your water. Take no thought what you shall eat; take no thought wherewith you shall be clothed. Take no thought about your housing, or your companioning. Tabernacle with Me, for I in the midst of you am your very life. I am that which prospers you. I am that which draws unto you all that is necessary for your spiritual development and unfoldment.

Oh, if there be forty years of wilderness before you reach the promised land, be patient, be patient. You have made this wilderness through which you must be led.

If there is the experience of the cross, take it. You’ve brought it upon yourself, and it’s just another way out. For I in the midst of thee will never leave thee nor forsake thee, whether you make your bed in hell or in heaven. Even if you’re the thief dangling on the cross, I will take you with me this very night into paradise. Do not fear effects; do not fear outer conditions.

I, the I of your being, I am that part of you which was never born. I brought you into this experience, and I will carry you through this experience, and I will carry you on into the next experience—even unto the end of the world.

Have I been so long with you, and you have not known me? Have I been so long with you, and you haven’t recognized I am Melchisedec, I am Christ, I am the spiritual Son?

When you’re far enough along, you’ll understand that I am God, the Father, as well as God, the Son and you’ll understand oneness. And you’ll understand why I, being infinite—there are no evil powers.

The evil pictures which you witness with your five physical senses, which you see and hear and taste and touch and smell—do not fear them, for they are made of the fabric of nothingness, the fabric of hypnotism, the fabric of suggestion. They have no entity, they have no identity, they have no real being. Just understand them to be made of the fabric of mental illusion, nothingness. For I in the midst of thee am the only power and the only presence. Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

And I am He; I in the midst of thee am He. Love thy neighbor as thyself  by knowing that I am thy neighbor. I in the midst of you am the I in the midst of your neighbor. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these neighbors, ye have done it unto Me—for I am he, even as I am thou.

Inasmuch as ye have not done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have not done it unto me. For anything that you have withheld from anyone, you have withheld from yourself—for I am yourself, and I am his self, I am thy self, and I am its self.

Watch sometime, when you are around your pets, dogs, or cats. And you’re silently meditating and realizing: I am He. I in the midst of me is He. Watch how these pets come right to your side and rub you and sit by your feet and refuse to leave you as long as you’re pondering the great I that I Am. For the I that I Am is the I that he is or she is. I am neither male nor female—I am I. I am neither white nor black, I am neither Jew nor Gentile, I am neither Greek, bond nor free. I—I am the universal, supreme divine I, the true identity of all individuals regardless of what form they have assumed in this incarnation.

And each has formed for himself a body, a home to be brought up in, a business to function in, which will suit the purpose of developing consciousness to the point of recognition, of realization. Every experience of your childhood, the good ones and the bad ones, were necessary to your unfoldment up to this minute. Every experience in your business life or your home life has been necessary to bring you to this unfoldment.

Don’t ever believe the psychologists, that your early childhood spoiled you or harmed you. Some day they’ll wake up and find that you were functioning at the particular level necessary for your spiritual development, because the purpose of our being here, is to unfold spiritually, in some measure, progressively.

Awake thou that sleepest. Awake! And when you awaken you will see Him as He is, and you will be satisfied with this likeness. For I am He: I-God am your neighbor; I-God am your pet; I-God am the substance and intelligence of your life. That’s why I promise you that  I will never leave you nor forsake you.

But don’t turn away from Me. Lot’s wife did that, she looked back, away from Me—and she was lost. All those who put their hand to the plow, must make up their minds never to turn back, never! The way is straight and narrow, and few there be that enter, but those few are those who attain. And when they attain, what is it that they have attained? Awareness of Me, realization that I in the midst of them am mighty, realization that I am in the midst of them, that I have been with them since before Abraham, that I will never leave them nor forsake them. I will lead you into green pastures. I will make you to lie down beside still waters.  

But go back to the 15th chapter of John, and read again that this is only true if you abide in Me, and if you let Me abide in you. And how do you do this? Recognize Me—I. I in the midst of me feeds me and clothes me and houses me. I in the midst of me carries me all around the world with this message. I in the midst of me has never been limited. I in the midst of me has provided me with everything necessary, and even the audiences necessary to hear the message. Even in far away Fiji, I in the midst of me gave me 300 high school students to talk to. I in the midst of me has carried me around the world, for I is not dependent on man whose breath is in his nostril. I in the midst of me need not advertise Itself. I in the midst of me dwells secretly, sacredly, silently, abiding in me, and I in It—and together we two, which are one, walk this earth.

But I am my neighbor, and so I am I in the midst of you, therefore we be brethren. We are of one spiritual household, we have one common Father. This is true of us, whether we think of ourselves as Jew or Gentile, bond or free, black or white, yellow or pink. Remember, I am my neighbor, and everything that I do unto my neighbor, I’m doing unto myself. Those things that I do not do unto my neighbor, I am not doing unto myself, and they’re being left undone.

I, I in the midst of me is the spiritual son of God, the Christ, Melchisedec—he who was never born, who will never die, and who will always be invisible. No man hath ever seen Me. I am the invisible Presence within me. I am the invisible Presence that goes before me to make the crooked places straight. I am the invisible Presence that walks beside me as protection. I am the invisible Presence that comes behind as rearguard.

I am the life of friend, and I am the life of my foes, we are one, yet each individual in expression, one in essence, I, infinite and individual in forms and modes of expression.

I am the author in one and the composer in another. I am the healer in one and the minister in another. I am the painter in one and the poet in another. I am the inspiration in everybody who seeks inspiration. I am the inspiration unto my life.

I can close my eyes at any time of the day or night, and turn to this Infinite Invisible within me and receive new illumination, new light, new health, new strength. And so can you, for I am you. I in the midst of you am mighty… Cease ye from man whose breath is in his nostril.

Remember that My kingdom is not of this world. You do not have to manipulate this world to attain your good. You do not have to physically or mentally manipulate it. Abide in Me, and let My word abide in you. Let My promise abide in you, that I will never leave thee… where thou art, I am… all that I have is thine… the place whereon thou standest is holy ground… whithersoever thou goest, I will go.

Learn to live with this I in the midst of you, learn to love It, learn to look to It for all inspiration. If it’s an idea for a book or a painting, if it’s an idea for business, an idea for law; regardless of what it is, learn that I encompass it, and this I is within you.

And then, if it’s necessary to find a textbook, if it’s necessary to find a teacher, if it is necessary to find a publisher, whatever it is, turn within—and I will appear outwardly as that form. Don’t go out looking for the forms, turn within and look for Me, and I will appear outwardly as that form necessary to your unfoldment at any moment.

That’s who Melchisedec is, that’s who Christ is. That’s how we know that I have pre-existed this existence. But even more than that, I coexist with God, and I am as ancient as God—but I am as newborn every day as the newborn day. Every day is a new day, a God day. Every day we are renewed with His Spirit, the Spirit that I am, so that we are never old, we are never aging—we’re as ancient as God, we’re as young as every newborn day. Because we look, not to a calendar for our youth, for we look unto Me, the I within me.

We let the body be governed by the presence and the power of I. We recognize that I is the very bread of life, the substance of my bones and blood and marrow. I am the water of life that springs up every day, into newness of life, into everlasting life. I in the midst of me is all that. I in the midst of me is the very meat. The world calls it “protein,” we call it I. I is the very meat of my being, I it is that feeds me and sustains me, I it is that supports me and maintains me. I in the midst of me maintains my infinite individuality unto eternity, drawing to me my talents, my art, my skill, my joy, my peace, my dominion.

Humanly I exercise no power over man or thing, but in complete silence, in meditation, I let the infinite invisible I take possession of my life, my body, my business—and It becomes a power in my outer world. I do not mentally manipulate, I do not mentally try to establish anything. My procedure is to rest, rest in the word. Rest in the word “I Am,” and let “I Am” be my secret password that enables me to travel in far places, and always command a master’s wages.

Without ever saying it, without ever voicing it, without ever letting anyone out on the street know my secret, I walk always secretly and sacredly in the realization that there is an invisible I. It is the I of me and the I of my neighbor, the I of my friend and the I of my foe. This is the secret of the spiritual life, this is the secret of the mystical life, and this is the secret of the experience called death. We never discard our form—our concept of form… well, you remember the one we discarded when we were 3 years of age, and then one we discarded when we were 13 years of age, and one we discarded when we were 21 years of age, and another we discarded when we were in the forties. So we keep on discarding these concepts of form, and yet I go on forever—and I always have form. I am always embodied as form. I can never lose my form any more than I can lose my identity...

Let us stop for a few minutes.

As a human being, we are the tomb in which Christ is buried. All that the world sees is this corpse that we’re walking around in. Within us in this tomb of human selfhood is the Christ. And in certain moments of our lives, such as can well happen this evening, an experience takes place, and then in the morning when we look in the mirror, we will recognize, I am not here anymore, I am risen; I’m no longer buried in the tomb of a body. I am no longer subject to its limitations. I might even lay my wallet out or my checkbook, and realize, “Just think, I was living inside of you, limited by your dimensions. Verily, even my wealth was a tomb in which I was buried—now I’m not there, I am risen.”

And this form now is a vehicle unto me, just like my automobile. And this money, this is a tool or an instrument, a medium of exchange—something given to me to use, like streetcar transfers. For I’m no longer circumscribed or limited by what looks like a bank account or a finite body. Now I’m outside of these... I have risen. I’m no longer in the tomb of finite belief, I’m no longer entombed in a body of matter, I’m no longer entombed in a checkbook.

Now these are my servants; now these are the tools given me for my everyday life. For I know myself now, I am He: I am the child of God, heir of God, joint-heir to all the heavenly riches. I have been given dominion over this body, and over every body under the sea and on the sea and on the land and in the air. I am free—I have found my freedom in Christ, in my Christhood. In the realization of my true identity as I, I am free.

As the child of God, I am free, and I no longer live under the law, but under grace. I’m no longer under the law of limitation, I live under grace. Thy grace is my sufficiency. And now I understand what it means.

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Where is the Spirit of the Lord? Wherever I am comfortably seated, realizing the nature of my true identity, there is the Spirit of the Lord. And then as I get up and walk and carry with me the realization the Lord in the midst of me is mighty, I in the midst of me is mighty, there is the Spirit of the Lord. And Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

Make a transition tonight, from living under the law, to living under grace. Consciously remember, “I am not under the law.” This means all kinds of law: medical law, infection, contagion, heredity, theological law, punishment for sins of the past or the present, or sins of the parents or the grandparents, theological law that tells us of a predestined punishment in time to come.

We no longer live under the law of matter, we no longer live under the law of mind, we no longer live under the law of theology or mentology—we live under grace. Thy grace is my sufficiency in all things. Thy grace!

Don’t talk about money, don’t talk about hearts, livers, or lungs. Thy grace is my sufficiency in all things. In health, in supply, in companionship, in freedom, in joy, in peace, in dominion—Thy grace.

I no longer live under the law, I am Melchisedec. Everything that has form must pay tithe, honor unto Me. I no longer even pay tithe unto Abraham, and he was the father of the race. For I am greater than the father of the race, for I am I. I am Melchisedec, the unborn, the undying. I am the Spirit of God in me, I am true identity, I am Spirit. I am the very soul of my being, the very life of my being, I am under grace of God.

I live, not by taking thought, For who by taking thought can add to his stature one cubit. I do not live by taking thought for supply, for God’s thoughts are far greater than my thoughts, and I live by every thought that proceeds out of the mouth of God, every word, which is grace.

I live my life, listening to that still small voice. I need not hear it audibly, I just receive impressions, “This is the way, walk ye in it; this is the time, make your move. I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.”

Do not fear to step out on the waters of Spirit. Remember, you can only fail, and there’s no disgrace in failing—there’s only disgrace in not trying.

Everybody stumbles a little bit as they go on. Even Jesus Christ was subject unto temptations right up to the last moment. Don’t be ashamed of the temptations that assail you. Don’t tell them to everybody that comes across your path. Have one secret spiritual confidant, either to your teacher, or a student on your way, but only one to whom you can unburden yourself, if necessary, knowing that they will not take it in personally or humanly or ever condemn you, or judge you or criticize you, but will understand how it is, that the way is straight and narrow. And if needs must be that we stumble and fall, and that we be subject unto temptation, for each of these strengthens us, in our ongoing—until we reach the mount of transfiguration, and there having died, we are reborn of the Spirit, and those of our disciples who have risen sufficiently, behold us as we are in our pure spiritual perfection, even of body.

And so too, you attain through grace, a point of transition, and then your friends and your relatives say, “You have changed, something wonderful has come into your life.” But you don’t tell them yet, it is I. You have learned that I am in the midst of you. You have learned that the very I of your being is your wine.

And what they feel is that you are no longer looking to them for anything—and therefore, you have set them free of yourself. You have no physical hooks on them and no mental hooks on them. You set them free the very moment you know that I live by I. I live by the grace of the I that is within me.

And so it is, and so it is!

Thank you.