Introduction to the Study Program

Introduction to the Study Program

To go to the “Recordings and Optional Study Materials” page, click/tap here.

Joel has often said that meditation is the most important practice in The Infinite Way. Why? The goal of The Infinite Way path is to experience God and attain the consciousness of oneness with God. Since “the kingdom of God is within you,” the only place to find and experience God is within you. Meditation is the way to find that kingdom of God within and enter the state of consciousness that Paul described: “I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.”

Yet, while meditation is the most essential practice, Joel also acknowledged that students struggle with it, and even advanced students occasionally have difficulty. We hope this program will refresh and deepen our understanding of meditation and advance our practice.

The program will review Joel’s teachings about meditation in depth. It will address:

  • The purpose and function of meditation in The Infinite Way.
  • The forms of meditation and how to practice each of them.
  • The stages in meditation.
  • Difficulties with meditation and how to handle them.
  • The benefits of meditation.
  • The relationship of meditation to healing work.

Even if you have practiced meditation for a long time and have no difficulty with it, we encourage you to participate in this study program. Your higher consciousness of meditation will be a blessing and a gift to the newer students and help them progress in their meditation practice.

We look forward to sharing this study program with you and trust you will find it beneficial.

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he MEDITATE day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

~ Psalm 1:1-3 KJV

Our Approach to Study

During the program, we will hear a series of nine recordings, provide optional study materials, recommend book chapters, and provide excerpts from Joel’s writings and recordings related to meditation. Occasionally, we will post a supplementary recording that expands on the theme of a particular session.

While we will refer to the book The Art of Meditation, we will not follow it chapter by chapter. Most chapters in that book have many source recordings, and no single recording captures the totality of the chapter. Further, most of the source recordings do not focus entirely on the subject of meditation. For this study program, we have selected recordings in which Joel stays with the topic of meditation throughout the class, except when he might answer a few questions.

Also, The Art of Meditation was published in 1956, so the source material was restricted to recordings made up to that date. However, many later recordings beautifully address meditation, and we have included quite a few of these later recordings in the study program.

After we hear a recording for the first time, we will post that recording in the Study Center and on the telephone recordings line for the duration of the study program and for four weeks after we conclude the program. This will enable students to access all recordings used for the program, regardless of when they begin participating. We are most grateful to Sue Ropac, on behalf of the Estate of Joel S. Goldsmith, for permission to post these copyrighted recordings.

To go to the “Recordings and Optional Study Materials” page, click/tap here.