"The world is new to every soul when Christ has entered into it." "We can never perish if we remain in the arms of our Father Almighty." - From the wall of the East Clerestory, Memorial Chapel, Stanford University |
| THE CHICAGO GOLDSMITH GROUP www.infinite-invisible.net
(Mezzanine Level) (Second Tuesday*) UNITY ON THE NORTH SHORE 3434 Central Ave., Evanston, IL (Fourth Tuesday*) 259 Skyline Dr., Carpentersville, IL Conducted by Bob Harper (* Of the Month) Meditation Starts 15 min. Before Meeting Time Conducted by Bob Harper MAIL AND TEL: Bob Harper, P.O. Box 337, Carpentersville, IL 60110 (847)428-4759, (847)710-4759 (cel.), (847)428-4835 (fax) bob_harper@sbcglobal.net |
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| January '08 Study Guide Photo "Sunset At the North Pole," From the Internet |
| STUDY GUIDE AND SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES
JOEL S. GOLDSMITH: THE 1954 FIRST SEATTLE PRACTITIONER CLASS “Meditation On God and the Being, Function, and Activity of God,” Tape 2 Side 2 12:30 P.M. VIRGINIA STEPHENSON: THE 1987 ASILOMAR RETREAT “Healing Meditation On Life,” Tape 1, Sides 1 & 2 ************************************************ TUESDAY, JANUARY 8- at UNITY ON THE NORTH SHORE - 7:30 P.M. VIRGINIA STEPHENSON: THE MONTHLY LESSONS OF 1995 January, 1995 Lesson: “Christ, the Master Builder” ************************************************ SUNDAY, JANUARY 20- at THE INN OF CHICAGO - 11:00 A.M. JOEL S. GOLDSMITH: THE 1955 JOHANNESBURG/ PRETORIA LECTURES “Introduction to the Spiritual Way,” Tape 1, Side 1 12:30 P.M. JOHN STEPHENSON: THE 2007 DALLAS CLASS "The Flaming Sword," Tape 1, Side 1 (No. 0714) ************************************************ TUESDAY, JANUARY 22 - at 259 SKYLINE DR., CARPENTERSVILLE - 7:30 P.M. Class, and Tape: LUELLA OVEREEM: THE 1980 PHILADELPHIA CLASS "Relationships," Tape 1, Side 2 Listen To This Tape ************************************************************************************************************************** STUDY CHAPTERS FOR JANUARY THE WORLD IS NEW, Chapters 1 & 2: “Creative Meditation,” and “Unfolding the Healing Consciousness”; VIRGINIA STEPHENSON: THE MONTHLY LESSONS OF 1995, January: “Christ, the Master Builder”; GOD FORMED US FOR HIS GLORY (‘78 Letters), Chapter 1, “Introduction to the Spiritual Plane”; DEVELOPING SPIRITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS Vol. II, by Luella Overeem: January, 1978 Lesson. ************************************************************************************************************************** ANNOUNCEMENTS JOHN STEPHENSON CLASS, FEBRUARY 15-19, HONOLULU, HAWAII SHERATON PRINCESS KAIULANI HOTEL, Reservations: 800-782-9488 Mention the John Stephenson Seminar for special rate. CONTACT: Kehaulani Coleman; at kehau_coleman@yahoo.com LUELLA OVEREEM TAPE AVAILABLE ON-LINE: You are invited to join us on 1-22 at 7:30 PM (or at your convenience) by listening to Luella’s tape, which is now available as an audio file on infinite-invisible.net. JANUARY, 2008 STUDY GUIDE PHOTO: "Sunset At the North Pole," From the Internet MANY THANKS FOR ALL YOUR KIND GIFTS! Have a wonder-full New Year! ******************************************************************************************************************************************
SUNDAY, JANUARY 6- at THE INN OF CHICAGO- 11:00 A.M.
"Meditation On God and the Being, Function, and Activity of God," Tape 2 Side 2 "In the world there is tribulation" for this reason: we have been taught that there is some power in you for good or for evil, or that you can look out and find in others some power of good or some power of evil. Just as you’ve been taught that you are breathing billions of germs, some of them good ones and some of them bad ones. Always comes this good and evil. Now, the secret of life is this, that you have no more power for good or evil than the electric bulb up there has a power for light. All the power for light is in the electricity. The bulb is only an instrument through which electricity appears as light. You and I and all the men and women in this world are but instruments through which the presence of God shines forth. When we get in trouble through people or circumstances, it is because we have accepted this material belief that there is power for good or for evil in man. Now, the Master says, "Why callest thou me good? There is but one good, the Father in heaven." And the Master says to Pilate, "Thou coulds’t have no power over me." Even to Thomas and to Peter, and to Judas, "Father, forgive them! They know not what they do." They haven’t any power: all power is in God. If there was any power in evil, then Pilate and Judas and Caiaphas would surely have shown forth an awful lot of power of evil, but they never stopped the Master from walking the earth. There is no man, no woman, no child, no law, no presence, no power, that has jurisdiction over you, except in proportion as you invest them with the power. If you, yourself, say, "Medicine can do this to me, poison can do this to me, weather or climate can do this to me, this evil person can do this to me, this dominating soul can do this to me, then you have empowered them, and you suffer for that which you, yourself have done. The moment that you take a stand through this inner meditation in the great truth, "Thou coulds’t have no power over me …". You could even say that to your practitioner and your teacher. "Thou hast no power over me, all power is in God. Thou hasn’t even a good power over me! Only God is power. Then you’ll see the rightful function of a "good" practitioner or teacher, not to be a "healer," not to be a "teacher," but to be an instrument through which God can reveal health, harmony, wholeness, and spiritual wisdom. And all you have to do, once in awhile, is just think of an electric bulb, and just realize how powerless it is to give light or withhold light, and then you’ll know that we, as men and women, are just as powerless to give good or withhold good. Never, never will you look to man or woman for your good. Never will you fear the harm that man can do you. Why? Because all power is in God. "Is there any beside me, saith the Lord? I know not any. All power is in Me, God. For Meditation: "Material living is placing power, value, peace, life, in form. Spiritual living is enjoying the form while recognizing the Invisible as the essence of form, as the all-in-all of form." – Joel For Study: THE WORLD IS NEW, Chapters 1 and 2; THE ART OF MEDITATION, Chapter 8.
VIRGINIA STEPHENSON: THE 1987 ASILOMAR RETREAT "Healing Meditation On Life," Tape 1, Sides 1 & 2 Living between the world of material sense, the appearance world, this world, [which] isn’t a real world, it’s a mental projection, it’s an illusory projection; but it seems so real to us, so vivid, that often we are caught in the delusion of the senses. So, we have what is called "the nature of error" to understand this world, know how to deal with it intelligently; and then, we have the "the nature of God," "My kingdom … ." The Middle Path is walking between these two apparent states of consciousness. The real Consciousness is always present. It underlies our sense perception. Sometimes when it appears very beautiful, the appearance world is very good, we get caught in appearances, and we forget that "My kingdom is not of this world." And so, a circumstance will come along that will remind us that this world of appearances has two sides of the coin: the good has the bad and the bad has the good. So, the more fascinated [with] and the more intensely we love the good forms of this world, the more intense is the illusion of the senses. We can only develop that inner freedom and inner peace by continually turning to the world of Spirit, and turning to it when there are no problems, turning within many, many times during the day and realizing the truth. Joel has said that we are often more safe when we have problems, because we don’t get smug or satisfied with this world, that the most dangerous period in our spiritual development is when things are going very very smoothly in this world, and there is no effort for us, we don’t have to make the commitment to "die daily," to experience freedom in harmony and wholeness, because the material sense of freedom, harmony, and wholeness seems to be so satisfactory. For Study: Virginia's Monthly Lesson For January, 2008; Subscriptions for Virginia’s Monthly Lessons: Leslie Lewis, 240 Makee Rd, #10A, Honolulu, HI 96815 (808)779-9817 llewis002@hawaii.rr.com *********************************************************************************************************************************** TUESDAY, JANUARY 9 - at UNITY ON THE NORTH SHORE - 7:30 P.M. VIRGINIA STEPHENSON: THE MONTHLY LESSONS OF 1995 "Christ, the Master Builder, January, 1995 Monthly Lesson The mission of the Christ is to unveil in each individual the perfection of being. This Spirit of God in us, which is spoken of as the Son of God, but in reality is the emanation or the offspring of the totality of God, is expressing Itself in each of us individually, and we show It forth to the extent of our receptivity and of our developed spiritual discernment. All of us try to become good humanly, and this is a step in the natural order of human evolution. But the perfection of being is not something that we can add to ourselves. It is that which unfolds from within us as we surrender the personal sense of self and the personal sense of goodness. Then the Christ, "whose right it is to come," [See Ezekiel 21:27] reveals Itself, bringing to fruition what we could never accomplish for ourselves. It reveals facets of our being that we are never aware of through the human mind, for It reveals our Soul. With the door opened to the Soul realm, we have the necessary spiritual faculties to recognize and understand the kingdom of God which is within us and to bring it forth into expression. Every time we go within for the spiritual activity of meditation and come to that place where we have nothing personal for which to pray, the Christ is being released into human consciousness. This is the secret of spiritual healing, the secret of answered prayer. As long as we have a goal to achieve in prayer, we will be frustrated, but when we have no goal, our prayer then is the surrender to the Christ within, so that we may be fashioned anew, so that the Lord may build His house, His temple, according to his perfect plan. "For we are his workmanship …." [Ephesians 2:10] The Christ is saying to us, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." [Revelation 3:20] In meditation we are opening the door of receptivity, the portals of our awareness, to the Christ. Our prayer is: Welcome, Master. A place have I prepared for you, a place of receptivity and stillness. I ask only that Thy will be done and be made known in my experience. When we know that God’s will is working in us, performing "the thing that is appointed for me," [Job 23:14] we live without fear of the challenges that are presented to us. Having no will of our own, we acknowledge that God’s will is our will, that what God wills for Himself, He wills for us. Divine Love Itself is fulfilling Itself and showing forth the perfection of Its creation. You can see why our meditations must not have in them any personal goal, such as to make a marriage happy or to make a body well or to get a job. All of those human desires may be very good at that level of awareness, but we are leaving behind "this world." [See John 18:36] We have only the one desire, and that is to know Him aright, to experience this gentle Presence, to be so attuned to It that we know Its will and the direction that we are supposed to go. The first requirement for this grace to operate in our lives is to understand that God so loved the world that He gave Himself to the world that through this divine Presence and Power, each one of us may be saved. To be "saved" means to be perfected. When we are saved, we fulfill the plan that God brought us forth into expression to fulfill. Our life is no longer one of continual searching, but one of realization. We know who we are, and we know why we are here, and we know what our purpose is. Our spiritual purpose is far grander than any human purpose, and yet the spiritual life, in a sense, requires so little of us. "Take no though for your life…." [Matthew 6:25] However, if we have a very strong ego, a strong personal sense, then the spiritual way of life requires much of us, because we must lay down the concept that we have a life of our own, a will of our own, a mind of our own, and realize: I have no life of my own. "I can of mine own self do nothing…." [John 5:30] The Life that is living me is God. For Meditation: "Joel Goldsmith said that disease could never operate if we understood that we have no life of our own. Think of that! Likewise, poverty or discord of any name or nature could never operate if you would just surrender this false belief that you have a life of your own. How simple it is, for if you have no life of your own, then the living of life is God’s responsibility." - Virginia For Study: THE JANUARY, 1995 MONTHLY LESSON, by Virginia Stephenson SIGNPOSTS "You can outdistance that which is running after you, but not what is running inside you." – Rwandan Proverb ~~~~~~~~~~~ "… the effort and the result are not two different things, the means and the goal are not to be separated, the finding occurs in the very seeking itself. For ultimately, what is sought is the wholeness of the seeker, and this emerges only in the wholeheartedness of the seeking. – Bernard Phillips *********************************************************************************************************************************** SUNDAY, JANUARY 20- at THE INN OF CHICAGO- 11:00 A.M. JOEL S. GOLDSMITH: THE 1955 JOHANNESBURG/ PRETORIA LECTURES "Introduction to the Spiritual Way," Tape 1, Side 1 Now, "The place whereon thou standest is holy ground;" or, "The kingdom of God is within you;" or, "Son, thou art ever with me," I am ever with thee, … "all that I have is thine." If we accept this, we are able to agree – oh, yes, here comes the poet, "Closer than breathing is he, nearer than hands and feet … ." The moment we begin even in a slight measure to perceive this, we never think outside of the radius of our own being. We begin, then, to realize that, "nothing can be added to me;" and there is the destruction of material sense. The very moment that an individual perceives that nothing can ever be added to him, and therefore, there is no need to ever desire anything, no need to want anything, no need to demonstrate anything, no need to do anything but stand still in the realization that the Kingdom is already fulfilled within me, and, as Mr. Browning has told us, "we must open out a way for the Imprisoned Splendor to escape." Now let us assume that we have a problem of health or companionship or supply or home, the first question we must ask ourselves is, "Where will I find these things?" And the answer has to come back, "Within me! They do not exist external to my own consciousness. They cannot come to me." In our class work, in referring to this, I have said that if you had a fruit tree outside in your garden, and you went up there and hung a ton of fruit on it, you would not have added to the supply of the tree, because supply doesn’t come to trees that way, and even the ton of fruit that you hang on it doesn’t belong to the tree, even after you hang it there. The only thing that belongs to that tree is the fruit that comes from within and appears without. Scripture tells us, "Cast your bread upon the waters … ." Another way of saying the same thing. The kingdom of God is within us, and whatever it is we are seeking in life, we must stop seeking anywhere in the world and come into agreement that it already exists within our own being. Then, as we begin to live from that premise, and begin to let It out, then we find that as in the experience of "the cruse of oil," the cruse never runs dry. Even though in the beginning we perceive with material sense that we only have a few drops, but the master with spiritual sense says, "Begin to pour;" and the pouring never stops, because the spiritual master sees what the materialist can never see, and that is the infinite, unfailing source of supply, once we start to let it flow. This is not only true of money, this is true of forgiveness. Let nobody in the world expect forgiveness, because there isn’t any "God" to give it to them. Forgiveness has to come from within your own being, and then it comes back to you: "Forgive us our debts as (in proportion) as we forgive our debtors." There it is, clear as a bell, for everyone to see, to read, to hear. Our debts, our sins are forgiven, in proportion as we have learned to forgive. Do we need companionship? You can’t get it! There is no way under the sun of demonstrating companionship. Why? Because it doesn’t exist anywhere, except within you and me. When we begin to express companionship, we find companionship on every level of life. And sometimes, if we are abandoned on a desert island, it might be necessary to express companionship with clams and oysters and eggshells, or whatever we find around on that island: trees, coconuts, whatever it is there, we have to share companionship with until that flow of companionship from within us results in someone else being washed up on that same island. For Meditation: "Begin your spiritual life [your New Year!] with the understanding that all conflicts must be settled within your consciousness." - Joel, Wisdom #1 For Study: GOD FORMED US FOR HIS GLORY (1978 LETTERS), Chapter 1. SUNDAY, JANUARY 20, 12:30 P.M. JOHN STEPHENSON: THE 2007 DALLAS CLASS "The Flaming Sword," Tape 1, Side 1 (No. 0714) "Wrestle with the problem, until the consciousness of the principle is attained." – Joel. … That is a very potent statement, if you think about this. … If we’re having a physical problem, or we’re having a supply problem, or a relationship problem, and we look at that problem, we "wrestle" with it. Now, Joel is really referring to a very Biblical sense here, Jacob wrestling with the angel, and he would not let go of that spiritual sense, that angel, until he was blessed. He was wrestling with that problem of identity, because in that story, when Jacob was finally blessed by the angel, his name was changed to Israel. When we wrestle with a problem, what are we doing? We can’ t wrestle with a problem from a material perspective, because in this overcoming, we realize that it is the I that I am that is removing the concept. And we are part of this: you cannot separate – I don’t have an "I" over here, and a personality over here, and a body over there, and a mind out there. This is all within us; but that spiritual faculty, that spiritual sense, just like our sight and our hearing and our smelling, that spiritual sense, that other sense, it knows when we are in tune with that I, and when we are in tune with that I, we can wrestle with any problem until the principle is realized. So, it’s not getting rid of the appearance of the problem, … it’s not getting rid of an illness or pain or rid of an inharmonious relationship, or it’s not getting rid of a sense of lack. What it is, it is realizing the spiritual principle of wholeness, … oneness, … freedom. For Study: LIVING THE ILLUMINED LIFE, Chapter 3. *********************************************************************************************************************************** TUESDAY, JANUARY 22, at 259 SKYLINE DR., CARPENTERSVILLE - 7:30 P.M. Class and Tape: LUELLA OVEREEM: THE 1980 PHILADELPHIA CLOSED CLASS "Relationships," Tape 1, Side 2 Listen To This Tape! This is really the whole of the Infinite Way, there isn’t anything left out, Luke 12:22-32: "Therefore, I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on." The "taking thought" is what we don’t do. The taking thought is taking responsibility, taking concern or anxious thought, taking thought, trying to make something fit the human standards. This is what we are not to do. "The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment." And so, even if we get all these things humanly – and you hear that all the time: "All these people, they’re not on the spiritual path at all, and they have all these things … ," and it’s hard to explain it to somebody who would ask it, because they’re at that level where they think that’s the goal of life, to have human good. However, you see, as we get deeper in consciousness, these things, they just simply aren’t of interest anymore; and when they are not of interest to you, then you have an abundance. But it is the holding on, the wanting of forms, thinking you need these forms that stops the flow, that freezes it. As long as you are focusing on the forms out here they are stopped. "And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest? … And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you." It’s the seeking of the things and the trying to get rid of the things that we don’t want is what stops us. And you have to know what the nature of appearance is. This is the definition of evil that I copied out of the Metaphysical Dictionary, and it is true! "A thing is only seen to be evil when the capacity for good is present and unsatisfied. Evil is not a principle or law at war with good. Good is Being, and evil is not-being. Evil is a negative, not a positive term. It denotes the absence rather than the presence of something." And that’s right out of a dictionary! You see, it’s just like darkness. You see, it’s an absence of light. It’s not a "thing." You don’t get rid of it. You can’t bring it in, and you don’t get rid of it. You don’t deal with it: you deal with the Light, you deal with the Truth, you deal with the only thing there is, God, your awareness of God, and you let the appearances go. "Resist not." And if we could just learn this one thing, that we don’t have to "take thought" for peace on earth or health, … . And in [a Capetown Class] Joel says people ask this: "What’s wrong with desiring peace on earth?" Well, what’s wrong is the desiring. There’s nothing wrong with having peace on earth! The "wrong," all wrong, dead wrong, 100% wrong, is the desiring. … What’s wrong is wanting it, and it’s just as wrong to want something as it is to want to get rid of something else; because, you see, in either case, you are denying the truth. … We have to go through God in order to have peace with individual being. And so, it’s just like asking God for anything else in the material realm, when you ask for some kind of harmonious relationship with a person. When you have God realized, then you have oneness with all spiritual being. Whoever is in your consciousness, there is peace, just the same as with health. You can’t go to God and ask for health, because that is saying that it is something separate from God, and that’s wanting something "out here," separate and apart from God. We have to drop the patient, drop the appearance, the condition, the suggestion; makes no difference whether it is good or it is bad. There’s no way that you can have some reconciliation with someone through asking for help for that, going to God for that. We have to go to God just for God, and when we have God, we have all of infinity. And we don’t outline as to what form it will take. |
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| by Luella Overeem: DEVELOPING SPIRITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS, Vol. II: January, 1978 Lesson |
