1953 Portland Open Class
Joel S. Goldsmith
711A – Two Major Principles of Infinite Way Healing

Two of these questions call for answers that ordinarily take up an important part of our closed class work, and I’m going to introduce that this afternoon and tell you that harmony in one’s experience depends upon an understanding of it, and that all spiritual healing work is based on it.
Without an understanding of it, spiritual healing work is impossible. It is true that some little faith healing is possible without it, and also that some little mental healing is possible without it, but mental healing hasn’t been very successful in the history of this country. It began auspiciously, sprouted beautifully, and then died on the vine. There is very little mental healing work going on in this country, and the reason is that the basic principle of truth has been omitted from most teachings. Now let’s get back to the question.
Q. Is it possible to demonstrate perfection in the case of abscessed teeth? Now let us add to that question: Is it possible to demonstrate perfection in the case of broken bones? Is it possible to demonstrate perfection in the case of insanity? Is it possible to demonstrate perfection in the case of cancer, consumption?
A. And the answer is yes. Yes, in all of these. It is possible. It is not only possible, it’s happening every day of the week, but such healings are based primarily on an understanding of the truth of being. Now, there is some healing without it, on the part of the few who are spiritually endowed, those who have by nature, or who have come into this world with a deep, deep spiritual consciousness. They often do wonderful healing work without knowing anything about the truth of being; without knowing the why or the wherefore of it. They merely have this deep inner spiritual sense, and disease disappears in the presence of their consciousness.
There are not too many of these, but here and there you meet them. Then there is some measure of healing work done by those who have studied some of the mental approaches to healing and who, during their study, have developed some spiritual sense.
Now, they may be all wrong in their knowledge of the healing principle. They may be far off the beam in their understanding of the truth of being, but somewhere through their study, through their zeal, through their integrity, through their desire, through their love of God they develop a spiritual sense, and they do some healing work. But actual spiritual healing, which is done through a knowledge of the truth of being, a knowledge which leads to the development of spiritual consciousness, must have an absolute basis in being, and that absolute basis in being must be known and understood.
Now the reason that there is far less healing work going on in the metaphysical world than there was thirty or forty years ago and even much less than fifty years ago—Oh much less than fifty years ago—is due to the fact that it seems difficult for the average student to put aside their personal sense of life, their personal problems, their personal human lives long enough to learn a principle, long enough to study and catch the vision of the principle.
It isn’t an easy thing to learn this principle while one is concerned with problems, with serious illnesses of their own, and more especially, if one insists on catching a glimpse of truth and then running out and trying to heal the world with it. It is far more important that a student do not go out into the world to heal anyone until they have caught the full vision of what they are doing, and then go out and really do the work.
So the answer to this is yes. It is possible to heal, to bring out perfection in the case of abscessed teeth or abscessed bodies or cancerous bodies or tumorous bodies, or any other form of discord if one has the correct understanding of the truth of being and through that understanding develops the consciousness of it.
Now remember, there are two parts to it. I could give you enough in any one afternoon of the knowledge of the truth of being so that you could perform all the miracles that have ever been performed in the history of the world in healing work if that knowledge were enough, but that knowledge isn’t enough. That knowledge has to be carried to the point of realization, and that is where time, effort, and practice come into the picture.
I will tell you this afternoon the full and complete truth of being. It will not make healers of you, but if you will take the truth of being, put it into practice in your own affairs in whatever problems are brought to you, not trying to teach it, no, no, no. Don’t try to teach it. Don’t tell it to anyone, not even your nearest relative or your dearest friend. Keep it to yourself until it has become part of your own being. Until by demonstration you know that it is yours. Then you can do all the teaching you want, but if you attempt it before then, you will be trying to teach something you do not know and both of you will lose. It will be the blind leading the blind.
Now, just to get these out of the way before we come to that: