THE SCHOOL OF TRUTH LECTURE TRUE SELF

Fear is one of the most negative and destructive elements that enters into the

consciousness, into our thoughts and feelings, and it holds us back. If you look at

the life of the average person, you find just about every action and contemplation

of the future in some or other way tinged by fear. "Will my health enable me to

live as I do now when I am old?" or "When I or my loved one passes away, one of

us will be left alone" or "Will I have enough supply to see me through my life?"

There is always, particularly in these times, the fear of losing your job, your home,

whatever.

Yet the Master's disciple John teaches "Perfect love casts out fear." How are we as

ordinary persons going to reach that stage of perfect love? We find it very difficult

to love even in ordinary relationships, find it hard to get on with certain

personalities. What hope have I got of ever reaching this perfect love? I want so

very much to be able to tune into the Love that looks at every circumstance or

personality - past, present and future - and says "What is that to you?

Follow Me!" I long to be swept along by the guidance of the inner Self - the Christprinciple, or Love within me.

Yet, if you consider what fear truly is, you will realise it holds tremendous

advantages for you. Ask yourself "Why am I interested in Truth teachings - I

don't have to come and listen to lectures or read books on Truth?" Somewhere

along the line there were outside conditions or circumstances of which you were

afraid, and those very things drove you to look for lasting security.

A less curious person may look for security in other people, in money or "things".

They may feel "If I can accumulate enough of these, they will give me the security

I need, and with that security I won't have to fear, because these things are

valuable." But they are wrong, because in a moment new circumstances may arise

that wipe their new-found security away. But there is one sure place I will find

enduring security - within the true Self. While I dwell outside my true Self I am

just a personality, while as my true Self I am the Soul. The personality always

gathers and hoards because it judges by appearances whereas, if there is a shift in

consciousness to Soul, you stand steady at the Centre and live from that central

Self, through the personality and through circumstances and conditions. Then truly

you understand "What is that to you? Follow Me!" You have nothing whatever to

fear, even death itself.

At one time I had a tremendous fear of death - that was until I came into the

understanding that this personality-life is life unfulfilled. Yes, certainly

circumstances and conditions can be threatening and fearful - there is no use

denying it - but if a person is centred in true Self he learns to act like a true

disciple. He accepts fearful appearances for the time being but says to himself

"What is the Soul, my true Self, teaching me through this experience?" However

unpleasant it may be at the time, the true disciple on the path of Truth comes to

understand that he himself has invoked it.

At first that may be difficult to accept: Every experience, everything that happens

to me, I am responsible for - not my wife, not my husband, not my boss, not this

circumstance or that condition. Somewhere along the line I have invoked this

opportunity to prove Soul. Now I have understanding. I do fear the circumstances

but know I can turn within and there convince my conscious mind that it is lovingly

embraced in Soul. Then I may release the problem into the universal Mind of God.

In my inner silence I say to Soul "This circumstance, this condition that I fear, I

turn over to You, my true Self, the Christ-principle, Love within me. I give thanks

that You direct me in the right direction, the right thinking, and that I already have

the answer to this problem." You cannot see it but it is there. The answer comes to

you and through you, and you recognise it when it appears. You have nothing to

fear.

So fear has this advantage - it motivates you onwards. Nicol Campbell, founder of

The School of Truth, often declared that his greatest blessing was fear, because it

drove him ever onwards and ever inwards to seek the presence of Love within him.

There comes a stage in every disciple's life, a point along the path of Truth, where

fear must be superseded by wisdom and love. You enter the silence within you and

simply accept that Soul is there. You feel It and acknowledge It. You calm your

outer self, even when circumstances are frightening.

The Bible and other great spiritual books are not about history. They are about true

Self now, this moment. "I will never leave you nor forsake you. I am with you

always. Fear not, I, perfect Love, cast all fear from your consciousness." Come to

accept this, and know that it is about you, now. "Ask and you shall receive." Ask

for understanding and then acknowledge the fact that you have received it. Then go

about your business, get going with your daily activities. Each day, as you turn

within for a few moments, acknowledge the Presence of Love within you.

Ask. Acknowledge. The moment you ask, you invoke the energy of Soul, call It

your own Soul, and it is a great spiritual law that Soul has no option but to respond.

There is always a response. This is why it is said that every prayer is answered. As

you enter the silence within, say to true Self the highest prayer you can offer: "Thy

will be done." And Soul unfolds through you all that you previously looked for

outside of you. Fear is superseded by Wisdom and Understanding.

When you arrive at this point in consciousness you can say truly to outside

conditions and circumstances "Right, I accept you. Come. I accept you because

you are part of my growth and my understanding. You are motivating me ever

onwards, ever inwards on my path of true unfoldment. I do not fear you now." It's

hard because personality, conscious mind, reacts "No, no, this is too much for me

to bear." But, as you constantly go within to the Presence of Love, of Soul, the

Christ-principle, you experience a shift in consciousness. You become aware of

yourself as Soul expressing through personality: "I am living Soul, one with my

heavenly Father, the Source of all good."

You may ask "Why, if I am truly one with Soul, Love, God, must I first experience

the loneliness of unfulfilled personality?" Am I not truly the precious child of my

heavenly Father, deeply beloved of Him? The Master answers very simply: You

were born blind that the works of God might be made manifest in you. Soul creates

free will and longs that free will should choose It. You are the instrument of Soul's

fulfilment. Know that God acts out of necessity alone, that great work has been

ordained for you, and only you can accomplish it.

Psychologists, when they talk about unpleasant circumstances that we have to face,

sometimes say that you can do two things - either fight or flight. I can fight the

condition or flee from it. Those are the choices I have. But if you are living in the

Centre of consciousness, no matter what the circumstances or condition, there is no

choice - you face it.

You say to it "I welcome you. What are you teaching me now?" However

unpleasant it is for personality, it is only a temporary thing. It will pass away. As

you maintain a mind open to Wisdom and Understanding, all external

circumstances and conditions pass away. What remains are qualities of Soul, which

cannot be destroyed.

Develop within yourself Love and Joy and Peace and Fulfilment. These Godqualities cannot be destroyed. You take them wherever you go, in this life and

beyond. You unfold them more and more as you move along this great path of

Truth. When you come up against problems which frighten the personality, move

to the inner levels of consciousness and draw on the energy of Soul. There you find

the Power within you that is greater than any circumstance outside of you.

When I am confronted by a negative circumstance, do I keep saying "Oh my

goodness, what's going to happen? This? That?" Do I continually visualise the

negative aspect? In effect I am feeding the condition by depriving it of positive

energy, and its influence on me grows. Then my true Self says to me "What is that

to you. Follow Me." And I find I have been given the Power to create, first to

visualise and finally to bring forth the exact opposite of the negative condition

previously before me. If lack and limitation invades my consciousness and I find

myself saying "I am too poor. I can't do it. I cannot afford," I turn it around and say

"I give thanks for God's abundance now manifesting Itself through all creation

throughout the world" and I centre my consciousness on prosperity. Or, if it's illhealth, I centre my consciousness away from the condition and acknowledge the

Power of Love within me.

You have the means to visualise the exact opposite of any negation, to focus your

consciousness on Good alone. If your eye, the spiritual eye, the mental vision, is

single to the good picture, your whole body is filled with Light. Soul's knowledge,

Soul's light fills you. It takes time and effort, but it is the only way. You will not

find the solution out there. You find it within, where you find the Presence in your

own Soul, of God. "I will never leave you nor forsake you."