LITMIR.BIZ

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it that Jesus denied himself? By beginning in heart and mind to set aside the fleshly man. He says, "If I honor myself, my honor is nothing;" "I speak not of myself, it is the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." He denied his personality, for he knew that that was not the real Self. He knew Himself to be Spirit, not flesh. "The flesh profiteth nothing," he said. He knew himself to be Immortal, not mortal as he seemed to be. He said, "Judge not by the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." We, too, are Spiritual, not material; divine Immortals, not carnal and mortal. We deny the reality of the carnal mind and body under the name "personality." It is a good term to express all the collective errors that man has held about himself. The word "person" (from the Latin per and sona, to sound through) was originally applied to a mask which ancient actors wore upon the stage. Most personalities seem to hide the real nature of the individual beautiful natures obscured by ugly forms and features, great souls curtained by diminutive bodies. Denial of personality draws aside the curtain, dissolves the imperfect, and reveals the translucent body through which the Spirit shines and works untrammeled.

      The fleshly body is not yourself, and nothing done to it can hurt you. Mentally look at all personality as you would look through darkness to the light. Deny its actions, its foolishness, its sickness, its weakness, its meanness, its wickedness, and these will melt before your true word like mist before the sun.

      To remember to meet every evil claim, suggestion or appearance with the silent assertion, "There is no evil" is to be a light in the midst of darkness, causing the evil to fly and the real good that was there all the time to come forward in all its strength and power.

      You are like one who continually says to false report, "That is not so," and it cannot influence you because you will not believe in it. All evil is a lie, a delusion, and it has power to those only who believe in it. Thus Jesus defines evil and its author : "He was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own : for he is a liar and the father of it." No matter how true a statement may seem to be, if it is not true of God, then it must be known as a relative truth or a lie, and we are not to be deceived by it. One way to lift the mind from believing in evil is to look at the falsities squarely and fearlessly, and say: "You are not real, you are not true. It is nothing. It has no real and true creator, and I will not believe in it any longer." But the most terse, effective, even drastic, denial that one can speak is embodied in those words, "There is no evil."

      If you believe the mirage on the desert is a reality, a real lake of waters surrounded by trees, then you will pursue it as long as you are deceived, and endure many sufferings and hardships through your ignorance. But the traveler who knows it to be nothing, says so, and cannot be deluded into following it nor led out of his way, no matter how fair it may be to look upon. So should we regard all evil and all this dream-world which passes away continually, and which all prophets have pronounced 'Vanity of vanities," and "its nations as nothing in the eyes of the Lord."

      "But can I not believe my senses ?" the mortal cries. Surely not, since the senses are continually contradicting each other, as has been proven both by experiments and natural experiences. Even material science contradicts the senses. For example, the sun seems to rise and set, but astronomy tells us that that is but an appearance, and it is the earth that moves and not the sun. The senses say the moon is a flat disc, astronomy declares it to be a sphere ; the stars seem points of light, whereas it is said that some are suns many thousand times greater than our sun.

      We are not now looking to our senses for Truth, but to the divine Reason within us, and to our Intuition, "that light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."

      When thy senses affirm that which thy reason denies, reject the testimony of thy senses, and listen only to thy reason. Maimonides.

      The mind that is determined to believe in God alone faithfully takes up the denial of all that is not God, and, as he walks along the Way, he soon begins to see that Truth proves itself true. What of is the result of persistently holding, right in the face of appearances, to the thought, "There is no reality to sin; no real power, presence, or law to sin?"

      It is to see vice and impure thinking drop right out of your own mind and life, and not only yours, but out of those for whom you speak the words. Does the denial of the reality of sin cause license, making people more sinful and wicked? Not at all. On the contrary it causes them to see that there is no pleasure in it, that there is no satisfaction in it, and a great realization of the uselessness and powerlessness of sin comes to the faithful student. For the saying is true, and Truth, boldly spoken though in silence, is a living power in itself capable of freeing from every bondage even of sin itself.

      When the mind that dwells in the consciousness of God sends forth its word denying any place or power to sickness, pain, disease, then we see health spring forth as flowers spring up when a crushing weight has been removed.

      The right denial of personality causes egotism to fall from one with its pride and vanity, its sensitiveness and stupidity, and the universal Self to be revealed.

      He who holds to the thought, "There is no real substance to matter, the Spirit is the only true substance," finds himself no longer burdened and limited by material things. His body seems light, the things of the world do not tire him. "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles ; they shall run, and not be weary ; and they shall walk, and not faint." Is. 40:31.

      The effect of right words of denial is like water, for they cleanse, loosen, free, wash away, and dissolve false appearances. The effect of right affirmations is to fill in (fulfill), to make substantial, to build up, to establish, and cause to come into appearance that which is real and true.

      The realization of true denial in thought, word, and deed is called being "born of water," and the realization of true affirmation is being "born of Spirit" This is the beginning of regeneration. He that is continually being cleansed by the word of denial "Now are ye clean through the words which I have spoken unto you" is being baptized with water. Water is the symbol of the cleansing power of repentance, change of mind, conversion, all of which come through the right denial of the world, the flesh, and the devil, or, as we have said, materiality (the world), the personal self (the flesh), and evil (the devil).

      To every suggestion of evil in your daily life mentally declare, "There is no evil." To all talk of people about evil, such as scandals, descriptions of diseases, accounts of deaths, disasters, fears, discouragements and dangers, silently say, "That is not true." Many cases have been healed by that simple, silent message.

      Do not feel obliged to join in conversations that dwell upon the dark side of humanity. Courtesy and good judgment will cause you to reply in ways wherein there is no offense, and yet you make no concession to evil. Silence is better than assent to error. Learn the virtue of stillness.

      Copy and learn the following 1 denials, and repeat them night and morning in conjunction with the affirmations at the close of the preceding lesson :

      1 Since in God there is no evil, I deny that there is any reality to evil at all.

      There is no real power in sin or death.

      There is no real substance to sickness or disease.

      There is no true cause for sorrow.

      There is nothing to fear.

      2 God's world is Spiritual, not material. There is no matter, Spirit is the only substance.

      3 Personality is not the real Self. The true Individual is Spirit, not flesh.

      I am the free and fearless, impersonal, selfless child of God, and what I am so are you, my neighbor, as myself. Amen.

      One

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