Rising in Consciousness is the first in a trilogy of books that includes Consciousness in Transition and Consciousness Transformed. All three books present some of Joel Goldsmith's lecture series. Rising in Consciousness and Consciousness in Transition illuminate his early class work, while Consciousness Transformed records the last years of his work. Together the trilogy presents a holistic overview of a living message.

In Rising in Consciousness, readers can study the formative work of one of the great mystics of the 20th century in the 18 talks he gave in San Francisco at the beginning of his teaching ministry. The book presents truth as Goldsmith did – in clear, practical, and real terms. The reader can virtually sit in on an actual class experience, where the motivation and yearnings of the seekers who were present elicited the message that Joel brought through in each lesson. "Don't look up to me, the lecturer on the platform," he would say. "Use what I tell you, take a hold of these principles that are emerging in this living lesson. Listen, hear me, absorb and practice these principles. Then you will discover that source within you. Always within you."

In these talks, Goldsmith works from the framework of principles that he called the nature of God, the nature of prayer, and the nature of error. "If you understand these principles," he maintained, "you have it all." As the foreword to the book says, "In these times of external uncertainty, there is no greater gift of love and peace for humanity than the message found within these pages."