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Complete Lectures of the Pathwork: Unedited Lectures Vol.1
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Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5 (1 rating)
Length: 1,045 pages19 hours
- Publisher:
- Pathwork Press
- Released:
- Sep 29, 2013
- ISBN:
- 9781931589468
- Format:
- Book
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This volume contains The Unedited Lectures 1- 51 given by Eva Pierrakos between 1957 and 1979 to Pathwork Communities worldwide. The teachings, profoundly concerned with self-knowledge, self-acceptance, and self-responsibility, are full of wisdom and love.
Book Actions
Start ReadingBook Information
Complete Lectures of the Pathwork: Unedited Lectures Vol.1
Ratings:
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5 (1 rating)
Length: 1,045 pages19 hours
Description
This volume contains The Unedited Lectures 1- 51 given by Eva Pierrakos between 1957 and 1979 to Pathwork Communities worldwide. The teachings, profoundly concerned with self-knowledge, self-acceptance, and self-responsibility, are full of wisdom and love.
- Publisher:
- Pathwork Press
- Released:
- Sep 29, 2013
- ISBN:
- 9781931589468
- Format:
- Book
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Complete Lectures of the Pathwork - Eva Pierrakos
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Pathwork Guide Lecture No. 1
An Unedited Lecture
March 11, 1957
THE REQUISITES OF THE PATH: THE SEA OF LIFE
Greetings! I bring you God's blessings, my dear ones. For the spirit, there is another idea, in form and substance, representing the earthly life of man. This life is a sea, an ocean, and man, or the individual life, is a boat. Often man also sees this picture in dreams. This sea of life offers various aspects. It can be stormy, the sky is grey, and then again the sun is shining, and the ocean is calmer until the next storm comes along. And so it alternates until the boat reaches its destination. The destination is the shore, the world of spirit, which is the true home of man. Thus all depends on how well one can direct his life. One is a trained, experienced, skillful captain who cannot afford to be afraid of danger. He directs his ship well through these storms, and during the calmer and better periods, he gathers strength for the next storm. Another one gets nervous, loses his inner control when a storm is brewing. Yet another one is so afraid that in utter fear he does not direct his boat at all, but lets it drift in the storm of life, not gaining anything. You will already be aware that these atmospheric disturbances, the thunderstorms, the hurricanes are the tests you have to go through, the clouds that build up. A human being who is already trained and a little more sensitive can feel exactly in which direction the boat of his life is sailing.
I will discuss these tests. I dare say, in any group of human beings, be it a family, be it another kind of human gathering, there is at least one being who, in his development, is so low that he is the playball of the forces of darkness. He must not be by necessity a thoroughly evil person, no, but it is often sufficient that he does not want to recognize the validity of certain spiritual laws in his own life, makes no use of them, or that he, in spite of some very good qualities, does not want to practice self-honesty. And the dark world takes the material from these vibrations, this lack of discipline and self-recognition, which are the result of man's disregard for the spiritual laws. This material is like threads, thin, raylike threads—in this case dark colors and substances—which are woven, knotted, and entangled until there is such a confusion that disentanglement is extremely difficult. But not only this one being contributes material for such confusion, also all other people of a group contribute their share, arising from their own mistakes and weaknesses and wherever they do not abide by the spiritual laws. This is more yarn that is spun until even those who are more advanced cannot see the truth readily at first glance, and often it takes much effort to dig up the truth in such situations.
For a human being who is striving for more spiritual recognition it is often extremely difficult to know how to meet such tests because the dark forces use their own tricks to make a lie appear as truth, truth as a lie, good as bad, and bad as good. And thus man gets confused—he who actually would like to be just. He does not know anymore how to act in the right way, and often, unconsciously, his own inner, sick vibrations of which he is not aware add not only to the confusion of the test, but it is also impossible for him to get a clear picture of the situation and thus know how to behave. In order to dissipate these dark clouds and recognize the truth, it is necessary that he acquires spiritual knowledge and develops in the right manner according to his level, his utmost capacity. Because if this is not the case, he will, again unaware of it, become a playball of the dark forces, and his boat will be at the mercy of the storm. He himself is no longer able—at least not as well—to control his boat as it otherwise would be. He cannot dissipate these heavy clouds alone to recognize the truth, what actually is the core of the problem and how he can do or omit in order to benefit spiritually. This is only possible when he walks this path, when he learns discipline to meditate at any time, more so when it is most difficult, when the gales are raging, to establish contact with God and his divine spirit forces, to absorb the inspiration of truth, and to observe himself and all his faults, conquering all resistance.
The spiritual laws can or should be lived in three different levels (the higher the development is, the deeper the level of penetration will be): (1) in the deed, the acting, (2) in thought, (3) in emotions. The emotional level is the highest level and the most difficult one to live because emotions are not only to a great extent unconscious and it needs work, will power, and patience to bring these emotions into consciousness, but they cannot be instantly controlled and not as directly as acting and thinking, and it requires tedious mental/spiritual work, self-analysis, and a thorough absorption of the spiritual laws until the emotions can slowly begin to change.
The less developed a person is, the more superficial his understanding of and obedience to the spiritual laws can be. At first, God gave you the Ten Commandments, dealing with man's acting: Thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not lie,
etc. For man of that time, it was already much, and even for certain groups of man at this time, those incarnated from lower spheres. The next step is that man should cultivate his thoughts. He often acts rightly, but his thoughts run quite differently. He acts rightly because he comprehends that, otherwise, he will get into conflict with his surroundings, but it is not easy to control his thoughts, and he desires things which are not in accord with the spiritual laws. He just did not understand yet that his impure thoughts and emotions lead to such conflict because all thoughts and emotions have spirit form and substance and thus bring along consequences and chain reactions even though man cannot foresee the results immediately. This foresight requires spiritual vision which can only come as a result of development. Thus Christ brought you, as an expansion of the spiritual laws and commandments, the teaching that you can also sin in thoughts. At His time, man already started to become open for a further expansion and deepening.
The human being at the middle level, considering it the most difficult to cultivate and purify his thoughts, has already a great advantage over those who have managed the keeping of the laws by acting rightly. But, my dear friends, you must learn to dig deeper in order to touch your true emotions. That which so often remains in the unconscious, which is so easily and frequently covered up with a sweet coat and pretext in self-deceit irrecoverably leads to inner conflicts and sometimes also to conflicts with his surroundings if he does not want to realize the true roots of these conflicts. It is quite a task to purify these thoughts in such a way, and whoever has with great effort reached this step—and all these steps can only be attained with great effort and discipline—knows it does not come by itself, and then it is not so easy for man to realize that his emotions, here and there, deviate from this thoughts and his desires. But it is just this discipline that God requests from everybody. This last step and deepening is of course the most difficult one to acquire. This is the goal which all of you want to reach; it is the true purification. He who is able to bring his inner feelings into his consciousness, is willing to recognize that these feelings are not necessarily parallel to what his thoughts have realized as truth, has accomplished quite a lot. Only those who do this continuously, slowly attaining mastership, will be able to break through to the truth arising from a problem, by dissipating these dark clouds so that the core can be found and one knot after the other can be disentangled. Only those who courageously face themselves again and again—whereby vanity would be an insurmountable obstacle—can gain the true sight of another human being and an outer situation. Those who are blind towards themselves are also blind towards others.
These knots and entanglements are also spirit forms, my dear ones. They are a reality which we can observe in all these human groups. These entanglements are found everywhere, spun from the yarns and the threads of the dark forces. Everybody contributes his share, but often there is one human being who adds especially much to create and tighten the knots and expand the confusion. If there is only one human being in such a group who walks on this high and direct spiritual path, who truly knows himself every day anew, he will be able—again not from one day to the next—to slowly disentangle one knot after the other until none is left and everything is clarified. And thus this human being does not need to deceive himself any longer, which had been most detrimental and burdensome to his progress. Of course, at first the weak human being will resist self-recognition because confusion feeds his lower self which prefers the path of least resistance, of vanity, of self-delusion, and which frequently thrives on discord.
But after a while, this weak human being will have to feel liberated when these clouds disappear from his life although he tried to cling to them. Only when the real truth has replaced an obscure situation will there be no question as to what is the right attitude, what is justice, and what is the right action.
Everybody knows himself sufficiently—or should strive to reach this point—to ask himself the question, What will I be able to do to participate in God's plan of salvation?
For many, it may not even mean to work in public. But each one of you, on a small scale, can and should start to participate. You all have a task in this plan of salvation, even the weakest one. For him, it may be a major accomplishment to overcome one shortcoming; to get on even balance with another human being in this incarnation; to adapt his actions to the laws of God; and to curb his lowest desires. Of another one, more is requested, but each one has to work on what is most difficult for him and what requires most discipline; each one purifies and develops within the capacity of his level and strength.
For those who are more advanced in their development, this purification process is automatically connected with a resulting ability to disentangle knots in his surroundings or clear up a confused situation, etc. Thereby he makes up for past wrongdoing, and thus he also participates in God's plan of salvation, where each actual contribution counts so much! More tasks can be found. All human beings want to be happy, of course; we understand this. If there were not the longing for happiness and perfection in the human soul, there would be no spiritual development. But there are only a few who think, What can I give? What can I contribute to God's plan of salvation?
You only want to receive, maybe not directly by actually praying for the fulfillment of a wish or for happiness, but in your self-will, in your feeling, and often even in your thinking! You want the best for yourself and are unhappy over the problems of life.
But did you ever ask God, What can I do for you?
For he who claims happiness for himself as the final goal (which is usually the case without being really aware of it) interrupts the rotating life force to which the spiritual is subjected. And as soon as the life force is interrupted, it is dead. Even if you are granted the fulfillment of a wish and the benefit you receive from it represents the ultimate goal within you, it is nothing that can grow within you, and thus it cannot keep you happy for a long time. Only he who keeps the rotating life force actively flowing, in that he consciously, at all times, filled with the desire, acts and feels that what he received—help and grace, happiness and fulfillment, divine intervention and guidance—must be spiritually evaluated and is in service of the plan of salvation, will then be enabled to receive truly living inner happiness. To achieve this, you can and should ask for divine guidance.
A human being who acts in this way is truly embedded in the divine order, and his happiness will never become shallow, nor will it dry or die out, but it will always be pulsating, actively renewing itself continuously. Moreover, only such a human being can be found worthy of special help and intervention. Yes, my dear ones, this idea has been recognized by just a few human beings. The others pray to God, wanting, requesting, but not willing to give anything to God's world as a tribute for this battle which is so important. Think about this! If you go to God in this way, you will often receive more enlightenment and help to disentangle the knots, and strength will be added to safely direct the boat of life in the storm so that he finds his way, strengthened and illuminated, as it should be.
Now I will shortly discuss a further subject before I turn to your questions. It frequently happens that a human being who is blessed with making contact with the world of spirit tries to test the spirit or the connection in the wrong way. Of course, man should test the spirit (I have advised you previously how this has to be done and that you have to take the time and the effort to get acquainted with this sphere because you cannot test that which you know nothing or little, especially a complicated field as this). I have also said that you have to test the spirit openly, not by tricks and underhanded questioning. There are fixed laws in the field which should become evident to you if you think about it.But man sometimes does not think profoundly enough and approaches this subject with a wrong concept. We must often realize that people come here with specific thoughts, assuming that If spirits are really here, they will be able to answer these questions without my asking them aloud,
or, similarly and this frequently not because the questions are such that they could not be revealed in public, no, but simply because they want to test the spirit. You know that many times a question has been answered without having asked it aloud, but not when it serves the purpose of proving the existence of spirits and their connection with man. No, my dear ones, in this way, God's spirit world will not allow itself to be tested. This is not real testing (I have given you hints how this should be done!) because it is possible that, for example, an evil spirit may take pride to answer such a thought-question in order to catch man in its net. God's spirit world will not let itself be forced to give proof. Divine spirit gives ample proof, much more than man needs but only when man has proven to be worthy of it by his own discipline or other credits. And some friends will gladly confirm that they have received more proof than they needed, but God's spirit world decides to whom proof will be given, when, and in which form. Some who are asking in such way in ignorance, but in general meet the requirements to receive proof, will not receive the answer to their tricky questions, but proof will come at a later time in a different way and when he least expects it, but just as much representing proof!
You should also realize that such a connection is the greatest gift that man can receive—not that man is doing God a favor to cultivate this connection, but rather that God gives this gift to man. Man must always take the first step, again and again in each new phase, and then he will be given accordingly: help, inspiration, strength, and also proof, which strengthens his faith and trust. But here too, man must be humble and patient, and he must surrender to God, always asking himself the question whether he is worthy again for proof or for more proof because something strange happens with proof—after a while it is forgotten in a way, floating nebulously away, its form disintegrating. Only after the inner recognition is all pervading, by his own development, is it that this is no longer the case, and man does not require new proof
constantly.
I would like to ask you to study my words carefully. Each word contains a lot that will benefit every one of you. Now I am ready for your questions.
QUESTION: Actually one should never ask God to fulfill a specific wish, but one should say, Send me what is right at this point of my spiritual development. Give me the strength that I need.
Should one never have specific wishes?
ANSWER: It depends what these specific wishes are. You may have specific wishes, for instance, in that you ask for recognition, for the strength to walk the spiritual path, for the strength to live your life in the right way. These are specific wishes. Or you want to know how to open yourself or overcome certain faults or resistances in the search for self and the vanity connected therewith. You may also ask for self-honesty to gain true sight of yourself and your neighbors. You may also ask for help that your unconscious emotional reactions be revealed to your consciousness. You should ask for the necessary will power to walk this path. You should also ask for recognition of the divine will in all details of life and for guidance and for understanding of God's language and signs. All these are specific wishes.
But it is not enough just to pray, but you must be really open. Your whole inner attention must be directed to recognize God's answer to your prayers, and then you are able to solve all earthly problems, my friends, but only with this attitude! Otherwise you will never be able to solve them, and you will again and again stumble into similar situations until you have learned to see that the core lies in your own spiritual development. And then you should pray, Father, show me how I can serve Thee.
This is the way you should pray.
QUESTION: Well, there I still have to learn something.
ANSWER: Yes, my dear, dear soul. You all have to learn a lot in this area, all of you!
QUESTION: I would like to ask if, in general, physical death of closely related persons such as parents and children, friends, man and wife cuts off the connection, or if there is hope that these persons or beings can get together again in another world?
ANSWER: Of course, of course! This connection by no means is cut off. It may be the case under very special circumstances that the connection is interrupted for a while, I mean not only for the time one part is still living on earth, but maybe even for some time in the spirit world, perhaps if one has yet to reach certain levels, meet certain conditions because one part is not yet in the same sphere as the other, but this is only temporary. Our time element is different from yours. And where the bond of love exists, it cannot be disconnected because they are the spiritual forms, which are imperishable. Only your earthly things perish, but nothing is as strong and imperishable as a bond of love. It does not dissolve. It is really there so that the souls can be brought together again to unite in love.
QUESTION: The question is whether that which is called consciousness is present on both sides, I mean man and spirit, but probably less in man?
ANSWER: Here I cannot tell you it is this way or that way because it depends entirely on the level of development. There are spirit entities who are on such a low level that their degree of consciousness is far below that of the average human being, but the spirits that are already immersed in the divine order have a much higher degree of consciousness than most human beings. I also want to say, when a human being, such as in your group, enters the spirit world, he will, as soon as he has left the body matter, automatically have a higher degree of consciousness than before. Much that is in your unconscious now will, in the moment you leave the body, enter your consciousness, maybe not entirely and 100 percent—it also depends on the level of development—but at any rate you will be more conscious than while burdened with the density of matter.
Therefore you will better understand how important it is to raise the unconscious into consciousness so that you then would not have any unpleasant surprises,
if I may say so. And with this, you have touched a very important point because the degree of consciousness is actually the yardstick of development. A plant is certainly less conscious than an animal, an animal less than a human being. And the more developed a human being is, the better he can render an account to himself of his emotional life. And thus he really lives, in the true sense of the word, more consciously and not drifting along emotionally.
QUESTION: But it can happen that with a less developed person, say, love may be developed to an especially high degree relatively stronger than other features. Will such a spirit then be punished by having to wait for meeting his beloved one again because in other areas he is less developed?
ANSWER: One, that is not so. It is difficult to answer your question with just a few words, but I will try to make it as clear to you as possible. I have often said that a being can be developed in different degrees in different areas. Only the highest beings are harmoniously, evenly developed. This is part of man's disharmony which necessitates this development. In the spirit world, judgment is very exact, like an equation. Equalization is of necessity. Everything will be taken into consideration, and that which is needed will be given accordingly. Punishment is thus actually not the right word, but that has to be done which, so to speak, consequently results from being in the law, which must be right because God's laws are without fault. Thus, at any rate, all will tie in so that for others concerned, for their own lacking development, it will match favorably. This is just the equation that equalizes. There is always enough leeway that everything can be taken into consideration. But one can never say it is this way or that way, the same with everyone. Each case is different.
If, for instance, there is true love, it means a lot and brings a lot of credits, maybe to such an extent that, in fact, as a whole and in comparison, the development is not even less than that of the other being who may be more advanced intellectually but does not have love. Of course, it is assumed that this love is genuinely pure. But usually love is not really pure and genuine as long as the development as a whole is of a lower degree because the impure vibrations pollute the other aspects of love. In such cases, it is more appropriate to say that the love capacity is there, but it cannot fully operate. It is selfish, directed toward self, or otherwise ill. And if it is really the best for one soul or for both souls not to meet for a while in the spirit world, it is only for a certain time, if I may use this word, and it is not being considered a punishment because, if there is just some spiritual sight, all necessities can be well comprehended by both concerned; they will understand that it is for their own best. And everything is guided with such immense mercy that these beings will be allowed to meet at least at certain intervals. They will be together most of the time unless there is a special debit that involves this area, at least together from time to time and not entirely cut off until the time arrives for being united for a long period in order to serve together in the divine plan of salvation.
QUESTION: You have already answered one part of a question in the lecture. But now I would like to ask you here, it is said, Love your neighbor as yourself.
If, for instance, one family member cannot be loved by another one of the family by making it so difficult for the other one, then it is not right to hate that member, even not dislike him or her. On the other hand, we learn that we should not deceive ourselves about our emotions, that the soul will get sick if we do so, and we should learn to face the truth. How should we behave in such a conflict?
ANSWER: This is so. If man is caught in such a conflict and he discovers on this path of self-recognition that he truly in fact does not love a person at all, that he just persuaded himself, bothered by his conscience, but his feelings cannot yet go along, then he must clarify the following points. Nothing can be gained by pretense. By deceiving himself, he cannot learn how to feel true love because genuine feelings, even though unrecognized, slumbering within, have their form and substance which exert their effects. Love cannot be forced, and the more you want to force the feeling of love, the less you will be able to feel it. Therefore man must first discover the truth, be it ever so unpleasant and even if it is a terrible shock to uncover the fact that one in reality does not love a person at all and that it was self-deceit, pretending love. The truth is the basis for everything, truly everything. You cannot build anything on lies, and such self-deceit is building on a lie! This is the first step.
Even if you discover hate in your soul, you must first construct the truth before you can reach out for the goal of love. All pretenses, all masks, all cover-ups, all that is false even if it seems to feel so good at the present time, giving the appearance of loving kindness—all this must be torn down with an iron claw! With courage and honesty remove all that is false in you. It is the most dangerous weed, which cannot grow together with the fruit of real love. First you have to evaluate and accept what your search reveals is in you. There is good will in man if he gets to the point of coming at all close to the truth in his soul. Therefore he will make the next step toward acquiring love, but this first and fundamental step must be taken. You should not be afraid to meet this truth. Even if you dig out the lowest feelings, you still are able to control your actions. And in order to control and guide the emotions, you must first be aware what these emotions really are. When you walk on the fertile ground of truth—presently you are not yet that far, and you will yet have to learn to accept this truth—then comes the next step. Today I will only say, pray for the grace of love because this is grace. Furthermore, the strength that is generated in you from your work of self-recognition will enhance your further development in such a way that you will be able, to a growing extent, to gain true sight of another soul. Then you will see man in his totality, as God has created him, in his whole truth, realizing his low self without fear.
What so often happens is that you close your eyes to the low self of the other one—and that just is not possible because some of it leaks through—for fear that you might no longer be able to love him. And then you will consciously tolerate the low self of the other one; and then first glimpse, then see clearer and clearer, more and more of the other one's high self, even though it is hiding behind the edges of his low self. When you see another soul in such a total view, true love can grow as time goes on. Thus your insight will expand. You will be able to differentiate your neighbor's low self from his high self and genuinely build on his higher self without being blind of his low self. All possible hate will be directed only toward his low self, knowing that it is not the real genuine nature of the other one, and so you will slowly pass, on the path, from one transition stage to the other. But you can only recognize another soul at the ratio of your own self-recognition and discrimination between your low and your higher self. This is the procedure.
QUESTION: I would like to ask another question with regard thereto. It is said, You shall love the good and hate evil.
This, of course, might add conflict, for it is said that one should not hate.
ANSWER: I would like to clarify some points. First I would like to tell you, naturally, man should not hate another living being, but the evil you may hate. It is quite a difference to hate the evil or to hate a being. This answers your other question at the same time because if you are able to differentiate the two, there will be no conflict. You should imagine that the pure spirit core is in each human being even though covered by that crust and hard to detect. As soon as you are able to behold this picture as it is in reality, that this crust is only a foreign body which quite certainly will fall off one day and which has nothing to do with the true being as created by God, then it will be much easier to approach this problem from the right angle. Of course, this does not mean that there could not be cases in which it is advisable to break any contact because only burden and disharmony might result from it, but you do not have to hate. You may hate the foreign body, the crust, thus the evil within him, but not the being as such. And as your insight grows, you will increasingly be able, even in cases where it appears to be most difficult, to find a loophole in this crust through which you can see the light of the true spirit core, giving you an inkling of what the being was and again will be and what God loves in him. It is your task to find the true essence of another one (where a contact should not be cut off), that which is worthy to be loved and which you cannot recognize due to your own blindness. Do you understand this? No conflict should arrive from this. It is a matter of recognition, of development. As long as you think that the evil is as much a part of man as the good, there will be conflict. But if you imagine the true facts as I have described them now—the crust, the foreign body that falls off—you will find everything much easier to cope with. But it takes time to learn this, and it is difficult to remember it, especially when angry. We spirits understand how difficult it is for you to learn this, and it can only be done when you walk this path of self-recognition of which I always speak and which I point out to you again and again. You must recognize your true self before you can recognize it in another one. You cannot start with the other one, you will never succeed. Only when you are able to see your own self, pierce through your own crusts, learn to distinguish between your low and your higher self, your eyes will gradually be opened for your surroundings. But you have to start with yourself.
QUESTION: I presently undergo psychotherapy and told the psychiatrist that I cannot even kill a mosquito, and when I go through the woods, I try not to trample any living being. I just cannot kill knowingly any living creature. The doctor told me that this is not a normal but a sick reaction. One must be able to kill a mosquito. Can you tell me what he wanted to imply?
ANSWER: I cannot tell you what he wanted to convey. I can only tell you what my opinion is from our point of view. Generally speaking, it is not that bad if a little creature like this is killed aslong as you do not torment it because the development of such animals, especially such little creatures, can thereby be sped up and one incarnation quickly succeed another. As far as you personally are concerned, I would like to tell you that in this point you are not consistent, because if it were your principle, you would not eat meat.
QUESTION: Yes, but I don't kill such animals myself.
ANSWER: This makes no difference. If it is love, idealism, or a noble principle, it really makes no difference whether you kill the animal personally or someone else does it. Thus your ego is involved in this. You don't want to see it. You shudder at it, but as long as someone else does this unpleasant thing, you not only don't care, but you also make it a real treat. There are unhealthy parts in you. (1) There is this shifting, of which you do not quite honestly render an account to yourself. You make believe that your I can't kill an insect
is goodness, and that is not true. You are caught up here in some kind of self-deceit. (2) It is often self-defense to take upon yourself such an unpleasant act. If you are approached by a dangerous animal, for instance, a poisoned insect, you are forced to kill that creature if nobody else is around who does it for you. If a human being runs away from life's necessities, there is a grain of self-pity in it, also a grain of indolence, and that is not healthy. Furthermore, you project something. Unconsciously you see yourself in each animal and are afraid life could trample you. All this plays a role in it. I will say that your attitude regarding animals is not especially important, but it is a reflector, a symptom for a few misprints
in your soul. I could tell you more about it, but this is not the place to go into more details about your soul.
QUESTION: I would like to ask, I can see quite well that, for instance, man can be obedient to the spiritual laws in acting, thinking, and feeling, but how can man attain clarity whether his actions are right or not? Personally, I certainly am of the opinion that acting out of feeling, the emotional action, is always the right one. Who can be the judge of what the right action is?
ANSWER: God's world is the judge, and each one can be judge within himself. But first I will tell you that you are not right in saying that acting out of emotions is always the right action. Man has also his low self which has the same emotions as the higher self. Look how many crimes are committed for emotional reasons, not as a result of thinking and mind action. And if such crimes are prevented which are dictated by the lowest emotions, it is the result of thinking. Human beings who have reached a certain level in their development will not even commit a crime through their low self although their low self contains faults, weaknesses, egoism, vanity, the urge to walk a path of least resistance, and whatever else is contrary to the spiritual laws; and this is just as wrong for this human being as comparatively a crime for a being on a very low level. All this is relative. Of course, man can always somehow rationalize his low instincts, often even find noble reasons and deceive himself, but this does not change the action as such because this is suspended immovably in the spirit realm where no deception exists.
I will also explain to you how to know what the right action is. Man, different from the animal, has the possibility of getting acquainted with the spiritual laws, study them profoundly, thus being enabled to utilize his thinking capacity as a bridge to his emotions and instincts, which he then can start to control and change once he becomes conscious of his most secret and hidden emotions. Of course, this needs will power, patience, untiring search, and pushing aside all self-flattery, self-deceit, all resistance. It has to be attacked from two sides. It has to be attacked from the outside by studying the implications of the laws, and God has given many faculties to do this. And he will make way for all who are willing to do this. And it has to be attacked from within by continuous self-search in that man opens himself time and time again to the recognition and to God's will, willing to accept what seems to be the most difficult for him.
Only in this way can you solve all your problems and be a just judge of what should and what should not be done. When you walk this spiritual path, keep your meditation hour daily, then you will always know what you have to do, my dear friends. This is exactly what God requires of each one. No other human being can pass judgment over you but yourself—of course with the exception of civil laws, but we are not talking about them here and now.
We are discussing the problems of life, everything that is subject to a decision in his life—and there he can only be his own judge and only when he walks this path. He will then know exactly when he reaches the point of decision, and there will be no question that he has found the right answer. But to attain this happiness, this peace, this safety, this security, and this solid ground requires much effort. It does not come by itself. Is this an answer to your question? Do you understand everything?
My dear ones, I have given you enough for today. Contemplate what I told you. Each one may find a key in it. And don't forget, my dear, dear friends, when God incarnated you into this life and permits that certain problems, events, also needs, burden you or that certain desires cannot be fulfilled as quickly as you expect, it has a reason! He also wants that you learn more.
Try to tackle it from this view, and I can truly promise you, you will experience the great happiness of realizing what your life, from a spiritual viewpoint, really means, its purpose, and where to start. And offer your service to God for the plan of salvation. God will never request more of His children than they are able to give, and what they are able to give will never bring conflict into their daily life. On the contrary, you will be able to cope with your daily life much better. Ask that you will be able to give, and you will find more happiness from it than, maybe, from the fulfillment of all personal desires.
Go in peace. God's blessings penetrate you. Be God's children in the true sense of the word. Be blessed, my dear ones. God be with you!
Pathwork Guide Lecture No. 2
An Unedited Lecture
March 25, 1957
DECISIONS AND TESTS
Greetings! I bring you God's blessings.
My dear friends, God's love penetrates the entire creation. It is a living energy field, which rotates in circular movement, as all spiritual od must move in circular completeness. All creatures are searching for this energy field, consciously or unconsciously. The longing for this love will push, pull, spur man and spirit, and according to the knowledge man has, he will understand this longing and, consequently, adjust his desires and thinking, or he will not interpret these feelings correctly and act upon these stirring impulses in other ways and thereby often slide into mistakes, not realizing actually what this propelling force, the true meaning of these feelings, this search, and thus frequently wrong findings, are. But he who has already advanced in his development as to understand what these yet inexplicable feelings of longing are has gained a lot because he will also know into which direction he will have to move these feeling currents, and then there will be less mistakes, less misunderstandings about the soul's energy, which had just been misinterpreted.
The love for God, the longing for God is the propelling force in each human being, and even those who have not yet found God or think they don't believe in God feel the same powerful currents in their soul. Whoever experiences this absolute transformation in his spiritual development, recognizing God in consciousness, steps into, I will say, a completely new life. All this can take place within one and the same incarnation. Once you have passed through this door, you will live already in a world of more illumination, but there are still many, many other doors to pass through.
Most human beings, as a matter of fact, do not understand life on earth. They cannot comprehend its meaning and purpose because they can only see what they can behold with their physical eyes and cannot yet bring their spiritual eye into focus. Therefore all seems to be meaningless—their sorrows, their trials, the loneliness, and many other things. Only he who understands that this earth life is one of many learning periods, one link of a long chain, will, in the beginning, only be able to surmise the coherence, but gradually he will understand life's full meaning so that his goal will no longer be immediate happiness over the fulfillment of his desires, but his goal will be directed towards the totality. Thus it will be easier to carry eventual burdens of this life, thereby passing tests and conditions which enable him to enter a higher existence and continuous happiness which cannot be taken away by outside sources.
Now I would like to talk about that group of human beings who has already passed through the first doors, has already recognized the fundamental truths. Even there we notice that they sometimes do not progress as well as would be possible. Of course, much depends on the free will of the individual whether progress is made at a rapid pace. One just drifts along and may have to reincarnate many, many times in order to overcome or fulfil the same thing, experiencing the same all over. Another one who has realized these fundamental truths will work out the consequences within himself and will aim at and strive for his spiritual progress, which does not at all mean withdrawal from earthly problems—on the contrary! Earthly and spiritual problems are quite closely connected, and an earthly problem is actually the expression of a specific spiritual problem. The only difference is that the solution of a problem is sought from another viewpoint. Only if a problem is solved on the spiritual level can it find a true solution on the earth level.
We observe frequently that human beings know this or that, but they do not see the connecting point within themselves. They are still searching for God and recognition through more accumulation of outer knowledge, which in itself is good but not sufficient. There must be a continuous momentum of equalization. Knowledge that is acquired must be applied, digested, and evaluated on a personal level within to attain harmony. Real progress requires attacking from two sides. Outer knowledge should be acquired at the same ratio as that which has been previously taken in and that has been digested and assimilated within. It should not remain theory; it must be the practice that takes roots in the personal life. Yes, man needs knowledge about the truths of creation, the spiritual laws, etc., but this is only one part. Don't stop there. Without the other part, digestion within, there will be no harmony in your progress, no real fulfillment, and thus, as a matter of fact, no true progress.
Therefore you have to get acquainted with yourself, have to devote time to yourself, search yourself, discipline yourself, which seems to be very difficult in the beginning. You have to revise all that which flatters you and which is a subject of self-deceit, and rid yourself of it, something special and different for each one, yet much is similar or the same. Nevertheless, when we speak again and again of spiritual progress, it means something very individual for every one of you. And you, my dear ones, search, What is hidden within me where I do not yet react in correspondence to the only reality, i.e., the spiritual laws, even if ever so deep within me? Where do I lack clarity about certain things within?
Such self-search should be made at all times. Then man will slowly be able to eliminate that which is not yet right about him. By the same token more happiness can descend, but first he has to realize where his inner blocks are. And for this realization, he needs the search in this direction, the will, yes, the true will and the effort. If you lack happiness in this or that area, you may be sure that it is, directly or indirectly, connected with such a personal inner block. If all your wishes could be granted just so, without having removed these inner blocks, they would never make you really happy. No, you could not build lasting happiness; it would disappear again. Only when you have achieved inner happiness, when the relationship to God is really harmonious in that His laws are met within, the soul is enough matured to experience happiness and harmony.
Man often asks himself: Yes, I believe that such a connection to God's world is possible, but what do I need it for? For what purpose?
Here I would like to say that such connection can give that one part which is necessary for the further development, i.e., the intake from outside sources. Furthermore, it gives hints, help, and points out the direction for the search, for the finding and the application of the outer knowledge for inner benefit, i.e., the second requirement for development. For this, man always needs encouragement, strength, blessings, besides the concrete help which may also be given. Very rarely, there are some great human beings who have this knowledge, and man will be guided to them, but also in such cases, as well as with a medium, God's world is at work, and the human being involved is more or less an instrument of God's world. In the one case, it is inspiration; in the other, it is more direct. But help from the outside, this way or that way,
work with, enabling you to use and evaluate your life to the best possible extent.
In my last lecture, I briefly touched the subject that man has to make decisions during his life. I was asked how man will possibly know what the right action is. I would like to discuss this now. Among other things, it is just that which man has to learn in life even if it sometimes appears to be difficult. Many human beings are able to make a decision outwardly. Some cannot even do this, but a great number of human beings cannot do it inwardly. They are absolutely unable in their emotional currents, in their inner, emotional reactions, to make a decision. They are not even aware of it because all is covered up. Only after they begin to search for their innermost motivations and emotions will they have to realize what their inner attitude had been up to that point, then they can start making decisions from within. This lack of inner decisiveness does not only express itself at all times in problems apparently involving other people, but sometimes just per se, in inner attitude, feelings, and reactions.
It is not possible, right now and here, also due to lack of time, to outline the effects, but there will also be an opportunity so that those friends will understand this better who are not in personal healing contact which enables them to recognize these inner currents through the help given on a personal level. Those among you who cannot very well imagine what these emotional decisions are should wait. The knowledge will be provided in time to come. I will now continue to give a few more details about the subject of being able to make a decision.
Sometimes, especially a human being who is striving his best trying to be just, hesitates to do something that might not please God for fear it could be a wrong decision, and thus he does not decide at all. It is obvious that he does not understand that not deciding is a decision in itself because somehow this attitude will be of some effect since the world and that which you call time does not stand still. Everything moves on in this flux of life, and whatever you do, even your not doing, is consequential. And if man shies away from deciding, it means that in his own soul he has not found as yet a certain key. He lives, maybe not always conscious of it, in a fear. He does not steer the ship of life and believes, hopes—again not conscious of it—that God or fate will make the decision for him. Once in a while this may be the case, but in general, God's world is not permitted to interfere then because man must learn especially this, among other things. He must learn to bear the consequences of his decisions. He must learn to make the effort of breaking through such a dark, confusing, truth covering cloud by his personal spiritual endeavors, by increasing self-recognition and discipline, which alone strengthen his spiritual sight. Only then can he uncover what is buried in his own soul as he will also be able to see what is going on outside himself. It is essential for him to learn to look over the whole, be it the most complicated situation, including all that which is at stake for him or others. He must learn to extract the maximum of spiritual development and purification from solving such pending problems.
All this requires a tackle-the-problem-with-courage attitude, not one that is evasive, postponing, stick-the-head-in-the-sand. If after careful contemplation, man finds that he is not yet able to make a decision because the right direction is not yet quite clear, it is something quite different. Then he should continue to ask God for more recognition and be willing to accept it and then act accordingly when recognition has been granted through personal effort.
It is one thing to shy away from a decision, cover up all which is connected with it, and then turn away from the problem altogether, and another thing to reach out for the truth, contemplate it, and then fully aware, as an act of will, to decide not to make a decision as yet until, after more personal effort, recognition of the right decision is granted, which is truly the right decision, leaving no doubt whatsoever within, thus increasing inner peace and happiness of the soul. Man is able to find the pure truth of a situation, the right decision resulting from it but only if he removes all self-flattering cloaks as well as everything that nurtures his indolence, the path of least resistance. Only he who has liberated himself in such a way has removed the obstacles blocking the truth. It is especially this that is expected of man. He is able, of course, but not without effort, not without the sincere willingness and stamina.
If man goes through life avoiding certain decisions, it creates reactions and chain reactions, resulting in a new form, a mark, and in his next life it will be more difficult yet to solve this knot and to learn making decisions. Contemplate these words! Even from your shortsighted human viewpoint, not deciding is of greatest detriment, not only spiritually but also plain earthly speaking, yes, even from your purely selfish viewpoint if you try not to be quite as shortsighted. You have to build your happiness yourself in that you learn to be fully obedient to the spiritual laws. Without that, there is no gain.
Are there any questions?
QUESTION: Since early youth, I am suffering from not directly depressed but decreased energy and cheerfulness during the month of March. This month I also felt it very strongly. I felt that my spiritual friends were not close. Can you tell me something about it, also about the Ides of March,
known since Caesar's death?
ANSWER: First I would like to say that each human being has his own individual currents. You also call this planetary constellations or the horoscope. It is a certain rhythm which, as it may seem to you, could be interrupted once in a while. However, since your view behind the veil is limited, you cannot see that this rhythm is not at all broken but continues in its own way, according to a system, if I may say so, which you cannot yet see in its totality. Man, according to his horoscope, experiences favorable as well as difficult periods, both of which have their special meanings. When you feel the less favorable planetary currents, it is the period of trial, which for the spiritually developing human being is the most important period of learning. Without these difficult periods, no progress could be made.
As to the general idea involved here, also called the Ides of March,
I will say that, from the viewpoint of spirit, this is the time of rebirth, of the year, of the season. Spring is the symbol of early youth, winter of old age. Giving birth is painful, always, even spiritual birth. When man creates for himself a new spiritual life, advancing to a higher degree, it cannot be without pain. It needs discipline and self-recognition, which alone is spiritually painful, as any healing process involves pain. It is the same with nature. The entire earthly creation experiences labor pain, not only such as the gales of early spring but also spiritual currents.
QUESTION: Is it possible that this beginning is connected with the Resurrection of Christ?
about, from the exact time to the last detail.
QUESTION: If man experiences the low tide and the high tide, must the low tide be the time where there seems to be no spiritual protection?
ANSWER: Of course, that may be so. When you go through a trial, you must learn to attain with the protection that which you are aiming at. Then the protection steps a little aside, and you are left to yourself, standing, so to speak, with equal distance between the divine forces and the dark forces, and you have to stand the test in such a way that you act right by will. Then when this is learned, the dark forces will at times get close (but divine protection is always near to see that no harm is done!) so that you will prove, by withstanding, your advancement. Only then you are strong enough that God can depend on you; only then you can be sure that you have mastered self in those weaknesses which needed such testing. This is the procedure, and in periods where you seem left to yourself, where the dark currents touch you, you feel the low tide.
The so-called favorable periods serve to replenish your inner strength for the next trial and to enjoy the results of spiritual acquisitions, to get stabilized in them. I want to say here that when dark forces touch you, they know how to play the violin
of your faults and weakness because they are specialized in the particular field. The dark world, as the divine world, has experts in all areas. A dark current can never get hold of you in an area which is not in your emotional make-up, nor if you resist strongly enough its evil influence.
QUESTION: What I don't understand here is that it frequently does not even involve a problem or weaknesses, faults being tested at that time from the outside. No, it is just a feeling that spiritual protection is absent; one is tired, listless, or depressed.
ANSWER: It is not even necessary that new problems and faults have to be tested. It may always be the same problem that has to be tested and tested again to give you certainty. If you are going through such a time and the heavy feeling does not subside, it very frequently is just a sign that you have not yet recognized the very special meaning of the test, regardless whether the specialty
is new or already known to you. Because whenever the full reason of a test is recognized— and each difficult time represents such a test—then the heaviness will automatically decrease to a considerable extent, merely by the full realization of the meaning of such test. This is a rule which is very important to be remembered because it may, so to speak, serve as a yardstick as to what should be searched for in meditation. And it is impossible that at each time of trial all weaknesses and faults are involved. It will always be a certain area, then in the next phase, another area, etc., until it starts all over again from the beginning in order to fortify and deepen that which has already been more or less accomplished. All who walk this path with profound effort will be able to confirm this.
It does not depend on you personally what area is aggravated because outside events which you have to face activate a weakness or a fault in you for testing purposes. You will feel exactly what the spiritual world brings before you when you consider the outer event from this viewpoint and when you keep your daily reflection in the right way.
QUESTION: But concurrently in such times, health decreases, there is lack of physical resistance, and somehow one does not see clearly.
ANSWER: Of course, one is closely connected with the other. It is a negative circle which can only be broken by your discipline and will power. As soon as it is broken by tackling a spiritual problem, physical well-being and resistance will increase. There is no physical illness that does not originate from the spiritual, whatever physical explanations there
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