Introduction to the Living Light Philosophy

The Living Light philosophy is the classes, teachings, and sayings that were given through the mediumship of Mr. Richard P. Goodwin, founder of the Serenity Association. The foundation of these spiritual teachings is known as the Law of Personal Responsibility, which states that we are responsible for all the experiences that we encounter in life and that our experiences are governed by the laws we have set into motion with our thoughts, acts, and deeds. The philosophy also teaches that we have the divine right of choice: that at any moment we may choose a more harmonious path and experience greater health, wealth, and happiness.

More than 700 classes were recorded, providing an abundance of spiritual teachings. The Wise One, the teacher who expressed through Mr. Goodwin’s mediumship, spoke on a multitude of topics. Provided below are a number of spiritual quotes from the teachings, on a few of the key points of the philosophy. 

The Purpose of these Spiritual Teachings                                                          

“The purpose of teaching, my good students, is not to tell you the way to grow, but to reveal unto you a way that you may find of awakening the light within you. For when the light is awakened, and by that we mean when the mind is still, the light indeed will shine from your universe and guide you on your paths to return to the source from whence we all have wandered.” Discourse 56

“And so it is our purpose to share with you the light that will bring reason and unite, for the common good, your house, that you may express in peace and harmony; that you may consciously become aware of your purpose for being upon the Earth planet at this time. For the journey has already been eons, and eons yet to be.” CC 145

“Now, our purpose has been, and is, to help you to recognize the patterns that you are the victim of. To recognize them and to help to guide you to making what changes are necessary in your thinking, to broaden your horizon that you may be free from these addictable patterns of past acceptance.” CC 55

“It is not the purpose of this class or this course to show you how to become a millionaire. That is your prerogative by applying the natural laws that are shared here with you. And so in these courses we will attempt to share with you our understanding of bringing a balance into your life. For when we bring balance, friends, then we truly find peace. And when we find peace, we know inside of ourselves what is, in truth, the purpose of our life. Some of us, already, have been giving thought to why we’re down here. Certainly it means more than building a house or buying an automobile or all of those different things and, indeed, it does.” CC 34

“If a person is truly seeking to make some degree of change in their lives that will bring them more happiness and joy and prosperity, then, of course, they recognize how they feel, when they feel, and why they feel how they feel. That is the purpose of spiritual awareness classes: to find the causes of all experiences that we are encountering.” CC 77

“Now the purpose—and one of the main purposes—of your awareness classes is to help you, your perception, so that you will know when you’re on the descent. Not only that you will know it, but that you will have the method necessary to keep you from descending any further. You see, we slip easily, but we work like the dickens to come back up. And that’s the way that it is in this world of creation.” CC 32

“And a fine exercise that was given some time ago—and I’ll be happy to share it again—is, in the course of each waking hour, to make a little note of how many of your thoughts and your motivations were truly self-oriented and how many of them were not. You see, my friends, this will help you to become aware of yourselves. And this is the purpose of this class: to help you, as individuals, to find out who you really are, by your own personal efforts and your own personal demonstration to yourself. I am sure that many will be amazed, if they’ll make that effort each hour of a day, to find out just what it is that is truly motivating their thoughts and their acts.” CC 38

“Now, no one wants to live in a life of failure and disturbance and lack and limitation. And it is only through error that we find ourselves in that kind of a world if that is what we’re in. But that’s what these classes are about—is to show you how to come out of that kind of a world, to show you that you don’t need those kind of experiences to live. That is not why our soul is expressing on this planet. Its purpose is not coming here to suffer and be disturbed. Its purpose in entering this Earth realm is to learn the law known as faith.” CC 79

“And so in keeping with the basic principle established in bringing this teaching to your world—the principle of personal responsibility—it is our responsibility to impress upon your consciousness the grave responsibility that you have incurred by exposing yourselves to eternal truth, for the law is that blessings shall be shared, not sheltered. And the blessings involved are the blessings of the awakening of your own eternal soul that it may follow the Light and the path of peace and joy. And having gained that blessing, the Law of Personal Responsibility demands that you share to the world in need not by word alone, but by deed. And so, my dear students, we have impressed upon your consciousness as firmly and as strongly as has been permitted in keeping with the laws established.” CC 104

The Purpose of Life                                                            [back to top]

“The purpose of the soul’s journey is the evolution of the forms in which it expresses itself.” CC 11

“All of nature responds to kindness, all of nature, including man himself. All of nature responds to kindness and to love. And so it is that you are a vehicle that refines whatever enters it. You have that opportunity to be that. That’s what we are designed for, you see: to help this evolution of the form. The purpose of the soul’s incarnation into form is to raise the vibratory waves of form that, in time, in eternity, they will know their Divine Source.” CC 23

“The purpose of life in our present understanding is to awaken mind for it is asleep in its dream state, to awaken it by the light of the spirit‑soul. And that is why, my friends, when you receive the Light, you are duty bound to share its love.” Discourse 22

“You have not been placed in form, my children, to entertain the needs and desires of form at the sacrifice of your divine heritage. This is not the first time your spirit has entered form, nor will it be the last. I do not speak of return, but of eternal progression. For the light within you at this time ever seeks to express itself to fulfill the purpose of its being. There is no way that I know or have found to escape the purpose of life.” Seminar 2

“Be serene and be at peace for you are never, but never, alone. You were brought into this life’s expression to fulfill a purpose, and that purpose is the only reason that you have this life’s expression. And each day you are coming closer to the realization of the purpose of your being.” Discourse 26

The Inward Journey                                                                                     [back to top]

“And the lady has asked an important question: How may man know himself? Man starts on the inward journey to know himself by understanding his own motives, his own motivation. And so it is, in all our getting, we seek to get understanding.” CC 56

 “The inward journey that is taught in this philosophy is accomplished through daily effort to go through the varied levels of the mind, to find within our own self the need for expressing in any particular way. This is not something that is accomplished in a short six-month effort or even a short two-year effort. It is something that is accomplished through a daily effort.” CC 76

“There are many experiences in life, and ofttimes we call those “hurt feelings.” But if we’re honest with ourselves, we can say to ourselves, “Interesting that I should merit this experience at this moment.” My good students, if you want to help yourselves, ask yourselves one question whenever you have an experience that has any import to you: “Why this and why now?” If you will do that with all of life’s experiences, you will start on the inward journey, through your own mind, to find what laws you have set into motion. And, having found those laws that you’ve set into motion, you are then in a position to change them.” CC 47

“Now, one of the most beneficial ways of helping oneself to rise to higher levels of consciousness is not only to become aware of how easily one is upset when certain subjects are discussed, but to take the inward journey when one starts to become emotionally upset on a certain subject or a personal matter. To take the inward journey and find out why they react the way that they do. When we do that, my friends, we’ll become aware of ourselves and we will be amazed at the many things that we have become.” CC 51

“The lady is asking the question on organization in relationship to one’s personal life. Now, I’m sure that we will all agree we cannot organize what we’re not aware of. And so awareness is the first step to organization, because no man can organize something that he has no awareness of. And so it is that we first go to work on the inward journey of awareness: to become aware of our desires, to become aware of our likes, to become aware of our dislikes, to become aware of the causes of those desires, to become aware of the causes of those likes and dislikes. Then, after man has become aware on that inward journey, then he is in a position to organize his life.” CC 55

“And so it is on the inward journey of spiritual unfoldment, many, many, many things will distract you and many, many things will tempt you ever to leave the path that you have chosen to trod upon. But to those who have the courage, the character, and the strength to awaken to their own divine right inside of themselves, those are the souls who will make it through the many distractions and temptations that wait on the path.” CC 5

The Purpose of Your Being                                                                  [back to top]

“Again and again it is spoken in so many ways and so many days: you are free while yet in form. Enjoy that freedom. Use it wisely. Remember that there is no separation in truth. Be not moved with all these things that your minds encounter from level to level: a greater light is truly dawning within your being. Remember, my good friends, we cannot be aware of levels of mind that we have not yet grown to. Our light is constantly moving through these levels of mind. Let it flow upward, that you may truly see the purpose of your being; that you may know that you are this great eternity; that these forms and disturbances are never, good students, outside of ourselves. They cannot be. It is the delusion created by a lack of awareness that we and we alone are indeed the cause of all things. Be a good dreamer and dream a life of beauty.” Discourse 58

“Each day in every way, remind yourself that you are the peace that passeth all understanding. For what you are doing, in truth, is telling the mind, for you—the soul—already know. It is the vehicle your soul is using that doesn’t know. Therefore, it is the vehicle that needs to be reeducated, for it is filled with many, many, many judgments that are not serving you well. Learn, my good students, to speak to your mind. Learn to disassociate that which is truly you from that that you are using. You are not what you are using. And what you are using—the mind—must be reeducated in order that you may find the true purpose of being.” CC 189 

The Divine Intelligence Which Does Not Fail                                [back to top]               

“And so I ask you, “What is worthwhile in this life, or any life, to lead or to be responsible to?” Your children are born, they grow and go. And so do your husbands and wives, your brothers and your sisters. Governments rise, to fall again, to rise again. Money comes into your pocket and disappears again. What is the security that man has in Life herself? We all, I am sure, will agree: it is not our jobs; it is not our professions; it is not our bank accounts; it is not our wives, our husbands, our sons, or our daughters, our governments or ever our religions. It is the Divine Intelligence that you are able to be receptive to at any given moment. It is the only thing in life itself that will not fail you, because it is not dependent upon the fickle mind of man. And so does it not behoove us to give some thought to the true purpose of Life herself?” CL 35

Changing Levels of Consciousness                                                 [back to top]

“You see, when we’re in those lower levels of consciousness, they are the effect of uncontrolled thoughts expressing through our mind. That’s what they are: they’re the effect. We have not consciously, you understand, said, “Well, I want to feel terrible now.” We can do that. We have the power to do that, but it has happened without our conscious awareness. Now, the reason that it has happened without our conscious awareness is because we’re not thinking. The thought has passed through the conscious mind, but because we are not truly self-aware, we cannot see the inward journey that the thought is taking, and the next moment we find ourselves feeling just miserable and full of discouragement, etc. So if you will try the process of visualization—choose whatever it is that you desire to choose—you will find yourself still in the magnetic field, but by your own choice, your conscious choice, and from that you will be able to rise to higher levels.” CC 54

Freedom Is the Effect of Self-Control                                              [back to top]

“Freedom is not something that we attain without effort. Freedom is something that comes to us through control. Until man learns to control thoughts that are limiting, man will never be free. So we find that freedom comes through what is known as self-control. Control of limited types of thinking frees our spirit to express itself and serve the purpose for which it has been incarnated into this form.” CC 1 

Service: The Path to Spiritual Illumination                                       [back to top]

“We have spoken many times on the purpose of life and have tried to express, to the best of our understanding, that we are freed from the bondage of creation through the path known as service. And until we begin to step upon that path of service, we cannot and we shall not be freed from the continuous turmoil of our own creations.” Seminar 2

“Many times it has been taught that service is the lifeline to your own divinity. Only through serving, which is the purpose of the soul’s incarnation into this world of form, only through serving are we truly fulfilled. Now, I know that many people feel that they serve in many ways and there is no question: I am sure that they do. But if you are feeling out of harmony, if you are feeling and experiencing discord in your lives, be rest assured that you are closing down. You are not expressing your own spirit, your own soul.” CC 31

 “Man is indeed a dynamo with a great and limitless energy or power. When our thoughts and feelings are united in selfless service or giving, we release from the inner mind a phenomenal amount of pent‑up energy. How often have we experienced the wonderful feeling when we have completed a selfless service. Unless this energy is released, it gives birth, through the idle mind, to many entities in the mental realm. Our thoughts are constantly being created by our emotions and these are the children and the demons that are in our universe. When we selflessly work and accomplish without a thought of return, this energy is released and there is a continuous flow in our universe.” Discourse 15

“Now we shall go further with that understanding. You will recall that Love is the law. Love is power. It is energy. And, my children, how many times have we spoken of selfless service! Selfless service is an expression of love in a channeled and a neutral way, releasing through our being this power or energy. The multitude of difficulties and problems that seem at times to befall us is because our expression of love is not equal to our capacity of it. And this is one of the greater reasons for selfless service. 

“In selfless service you are at the apex of eternity. You are sitting at the peace that passeth all understanding and you are a clear and full channel. Therefore the power known as Love or Energy or God is being expressed. And in so doing, as the water that runs through the pipe leaves its multitude of mineral deposits, so the power that flows through you as a channel deposits its multitude of blessings in your life.” Discourse 2

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