“And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground.” ~ Exodus 3:4-5.
Chapter 12 in I Stand on Holy Ground, “The Ye-Shall-Know-the-Truth-Way,” has two source recordings. The first is Recording 369A from the 1960 Maui Work, titled “Purpose, Method, Attainment of the Contemplative Life.” The second is Recording 364B from the 1960 Hawaiian Village Open Class, titled “Contemplative Way of Life.”
Please note that Recording 364B is not listed in the “Tape Recording References” at the back of the book. This is an error and will be corrected by the publisher.
We heard recording 369A in our sessions. Recording 364B was posted for listening at any time. These recordings are no longer posted on this website. If you subscribe to the Joel Goldsmith Streaming Service, you can listen to them there. To purchase the recording or transcript for 369A, click/tap here. To purchase the recording or transcript for 364B, click/tap here.
To view or download the Optional Study and Practice Suggestions, click/tap here.
Brief Chapter Summary
This final chapter wraps up our study book with a clear focus on the nature of the contemplative, or spiritual, life. The goal of the contemplative life is attaining the conscious realization of the Presence within you. This Presence is within you because the entire kingdom of God is within you.
To live the contemplative life, first you must learn what the truth is, and then live in contemplation of that truth until eventually, an experience takes place that begins to change the outer circumstances of your life.
The truth that you must learn is that the kingdom of God is within you. Whatever you are seeking is already established within you, and therefore, you have to bring it forth from within. The responsibility for this is always on you, because only that which becomes an activity of your consciousness can reveal itself in your experience. No one else can do it for you.
When you have that conscious realization of the Presence within, you are no longer living your own life. Your life is being lived for you by Life Itself—the infinite, immortal, eternal Life. You rest in that assurance, and your whole life is lived in an inner communion with the Father within. You live by Grace, as a branch on the Tree of Life.
Joel uses the metaphor of the Tree of Life frequently and consistently to illustrate the ease with which we can live once we have realized our oneness with God. As a branch, I of myself am nothing, but by virtue of my oneness with my Source, I am showing forth the glory of the Source. I am showing forth the life of God, the supply of God, the grace of God.
Joel also uses the Tree of Life to show the nature of our relationship to others. Every individual on earth is a branch on that same Tree of Life, and the Tree is supplying each one with everything needed for fulfillment. Although we seem to be separate, we are all children of God, which makes us brothers and sisters. Because we are each fed by the Source, we do not need to look to others for our good.
Whatever of error we may have experienced in life has been because of our own ignorance of spiritual principles. We can stop it any time by beginning to lead the contemplative way of life, the way of conscious recognition of our oneness with our Source.
Another Excellent Recording about The Tree of Life
Joel gave another excellent class on the Tree of Life, which was posted for optional listening. This is Recording 368B, also from the 1960 Maui Work, titled “The Tree of Life.” It was used as the basis for Chapter 28, “The Tree of Life,” in A Parenthesis in Eternity. This recording is no longer posted on this website. If you subscribe to the Joel Goldsmith Streaming Service, you can listen to it there. To purchase the recording or transcript for 368B, click/tap here.
Review the Book
Having completed the last chapter in I Stand on Holy Ground, you might find it helpful to review the entire book and notice the major themes. One way to do this is to revisit the page for each chapter in The Study Center. The Optional Study and Practice Suggestions have material that can serve nicely as a review for that chapter.
Images of the Tree of Life
Hundreds of artists have used a wide variety of media to depict the Tree of Life and their interpretation of it. In the pictures below, you can see several images of this artwork. Click on the arrows to browse through the images. As you view the images, reflect on what you learned about the Tree of Life in the chapter and the recordings. Do you see any of that represented in the artwork?
You might enjoy creating your own image of the Tree of Life in a medium of your choice, incorporating elements that capture the spiritual understanding that you have gleaned from your study of this chapter and the recordings.
