2-25-98 JOEL S. GOLDSMITH

The interpretation of scripture is an art structured in consciousness and Joel Goldsmith has interpreted many key passages of the Bible in a way which not only inspires, edifies and instructs, but also creates a radical new understanding of the nature of God, Christ, humanity and the world.

Goldsmith was a Christian Scientist who, one day, opened to a whole new state of consciousness and spent the rest of his life speaking and writing about this transformation and its consequences for Christian living. He called his teaching "The Infinite Way" and wrote many books espousing its principles and practice.

The amazing thing about his teaching is that its language and methods incorporate characteristics of both eastern and western approaches to God. It is Christian to the core and, at the same time, includes terminology familiar to anyone versed in the Vedic, Buddhist, or other eastern traditions.. The key principles of "The Infinite Way" are quite compatible with the eastern Vedanda. Goldsmith keeps emphasizing the falseness of the belief that "two Powers" exist in the universe. This is the same as the Vedantic adage that duality does not exist except at the level of conventional knowledge. He also emphasizes that healing of oneself or others does not take place through doing, but through being, which reminds us of the Vedic adage: "Established in Being, perform action." Christ's saying: "I and the Father are one" can be interpreted as a confirmation of Shankara's principle that Atman is Brahman.

However, this does not make Goldsmith's teaching Vedic as much as universal. Whatever religious tradition a person comes from, he will find a ring of familiarity and truth in the words of Goldsmith. I would suggest that this was only possible because Goldsmith was a living representative of Truth rather than one who merely parrots a tradition of knowledge.. To use an eastern term, he was a true "Guru" who refused any titles or accolades and just wanted to be called Mister Joel Goldsmith. A real Guru is more interested in giving than receiving, an ideal quite contrary to the behavior of many of the self-styled gurus parading around the west today who demand much before they give little.

"The Joel Goldsmith Reader" offers the best selections from his many books with the repetition of a key theme, namely, that every person is capable of experiencing the same sublime truth that Christ himself experienced: "I and my Father are one." When this truth dawns, then we are entitled to be called "Sons of God."