I believe if Goldsmith was familiar with the 12th century Persian Sufi poet, Rumi, he would totally comprehend his verse about that transcendent space of love within us all:

“Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there; when the soul lies down in that grass, the world is too full to talk about.” (5)

Since Goldsmith sees the fruits of happiness in inner peace, freedom, and joy, here are some of his reflections on these spiritual values.

As to inner peace, he highlights this spiritual quality in a talk in Seattle in 1952. At the beginning of the gathering, the audience was restless and troubled because of events in the Korean War and threatened railroad and telephone strikes. Sensing

tension in the room at the start of the talk, he spoke of the need to strive for inner peace even when turmoil which disturbs the outer world brings about either doubt or fear.

As a result of the content of that talk and the high consciousness of Goldsmith, the atmosphere of the room palpably changed to one of deep calmness. The essence of the speech was set forth in the gem of a pamphlet entitled “Deep Silence of My Peace”. (6)

Among his observations about freedom are freedom from false concepts of God, especially a punishing and rewarding God; from the bondage of thoughts; from judgments of appearances of human sickness, evil and lack; from the belief in a separation from God; from the human belief in two powers of good and evil; and from the suffering caused by following one’s own self-confirming beliefs rather than the will of God.

Here is a sample from his works on the important freedom from thought:

“What is freedom? Freedom is life living itself. Freedom is joy and peace.       Freedom is the song of the soul I am free and you are free, but not while we are attached to the wheel of human thought the world has ever sought for freedom, peace, and plenty...the human mind, falsely educated through the centuries contains within itself all the fears and failures of the humanrace. All the anguish of passion, greed, lust, ambition, fear and domination is found in human thought and there is the race for lawless possession and voracious acquisition. The result is not freedom but enslavement to the senses”. (7)

Goldsmith relates the experience of a man who came to his spiritual healing office in New York City. The client was miserable and unhappy with his life. Though the gentleman was earning lots of money, Goldsmith saw that he was enslaved by overwork. He claimed that he had no time for leisure. Goldsmith decided to escort the client around the City over a weekend. They went to places like central park, the zoo, and the museums As a result of his experience with Goldsmith, he was dramatically moved to see the importance of giving prime time to cultivating inner peace, freedom, and joy. (8)

It is not my habit to memorize songs. But for some reason, as a youth, I memorized the song “The Best Things in Life are Free”. The lyrics and melody captivated me. I was drawn to its simplicity, identification with nature, and hopefulness.

Since I have been exploring Goldsmith’s works for many years, you can imagine my surprise and delight about five years ago when I discovered that this favorite song of mine was written by this student of Goldsmith out of gratitude for transforming his life! 

For those who may be too young to be familiar with the lyrics:

“The moon belongs to everyone.
The best things in life are free.
The stars belong to everyone.
They shine there for you and me.
The flowers in spring;
The robins that sing;
The sunbeams that shine;
They’re yours, their mine.
And, love belongs to everyone.
The best things in life are free.

As to joy, Goldsmith talks of the joy of the spiritual life:

“If the world but knew it, there are pleasures in the spiritual realm that far transcend anything in the human-pleasures, joys, and harmonies; there are friendships that transcend any type of human relationship that has ever been known. It is worthwhile to stick to this path; it is worthwhile to set sail for uncharted seas, for the wide horizon, for the places that the average human being will never find, those things that he will not give up material comforts, for which he will not surrender his human dependence on, and attachment for, family life(9)

Goldsmith is clear as to how to move in the direction of happiness by reaching the depths of inner peace, freedom, and joy. It is by reading spiritual literature, by hearing spiritual wisdom, by associating with those on the spiritual path, and by practicing meditation.

Of all the modalities, Goldsmith emphasizes meditation as the most important practice for achieving spiritual discernment and awareness. He recommends a type of meditation that he calls contemplative meditation. The first part is to contemplate the nature of God. The second part is to move into silence to be receptive to aspects of “the still small voice.” (10)

For those who may be inclined to study his teachings, he recommends that the beginner read the following books in this order: LIVING THE INFINITE WAY, PRACTICING THE PRESENCE, ART OF MEDITATION, ART OF SPIRITUAL HEALING, THE INFINITE WAY, and SPIRITUAL INTERPETATION OF SCRIPTURE.

There is an excellent biography of Goldsmith: THE SPIRITUAL JOURNEY OF JOEL S. GOLDSMITH, written by Lorraine Sinkler.

Some readers may be reluctant to pursue Goldsmith’s teachings because they feel at times that he comes off as too preachy. For example, at times he refers to Jesus as “Master” and uses the term “the Christ”, “sin”, and “God” at times. Many seekers have negative associations to this terminology. In my opinion, it is worthwhile for those in this category to try to overcome these associations in order to open up to learning universal truth principles, meditation tools, and in-depth healing.

There are tape groups where one can hear his talks from 1952 up to 1964, the year that he died. And there are retreats given by several senior students throughout the country. These leaders can also serve as practitioners for spiritual healing.

Information about his writings, tapes, and groups by Joel Goldsmith can be found at www.infiniteway.com and www.joelgoldsmith.com 

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