Return To The Original Level Of Perfection

By The Pathwork Guide

Greetings, my dearest, dearest friends. May this lecture prove a blessing for everyone of you. May it give you the necessary inspiration and may it help you to proceed a step further in your search, in your endeavor towards finding yourself.

Every once in a while it is important to restate what this Pathwork is and what it is supposed to accomplish. And often it is important to see this in a new light, from a different angle. A path such as this should not be considered as anything but a help to fulfill one's life as completely as possible, to fulfill oneself in this life. It is not supposed to be taken as a cure, nor is it to be taken as a luxury indulged in merely because it is interesting, because it certainly cannot harm, and because one's life leaves room for such an interesting pursuit. In reality, it is much more important, much more basic. And if it is a cure, or a healing, then it is that only as a secondary consideration. The true meaning of this Pathwork is to find in the self that which leads to the personal fulfillment of one's personal destiny. If this Pathwork is taken from such a point of view, then much misunderstanding will be eliminated.

Even my friends who are very diligent and full of good will in this work often overlook, or forget, or still do not sufficiently comprehend that everything that one can possibly need exists in man in complete and total perfection. This potential is a reality. This pathwork is all about finding the level where these possibilities become a reality.

On the physical level of man's system this is obvious. The physical system works in absolute perfection when the physical laws are adhered to. The less they are adhered to -- due either to ignorance or to deliberate self-destructiveness -- the more does man move away from that physical level on which perfection is a reality. I deliberately formulate it in this way, for there is a difference between conceiving of physical health and the perfect functioning of one's physical faculties as being absent, and the concept I present you herewith, in which I say: The level on which perfect functioning exists is right here, only you have moved away from it. Gradually, by understanding the laws and how you have violated them, health can be re-established and returned, step by step, to the original level, where the perfect functioning exists. If the usual assumption were correct -- namely that perfect functioning "goes away" -- then you could not possibly regain it. You can regain perfect functioning only because you have been away from it and you have to come back to it. The more you have moved away from this perfect functioning, the more difficult it is to retrace the way back through the various causes and effects, through all the points in the chain reaction. It is easy for anyone to see that as long as the laws of physical functioning are not tampered with, the physical system is arranged by nature in such a way that it works in absolute perfection, giving man strength and well-being.

Strangely enough, this is less obvious to man when it comes to the mental and the psychic levels, where the identical laws operate. By nature, man's body is meant to function in perfection, just as the mental life and the emotional life are meant to function in perfection. When he realizes this original level, then he is home. He has reached that level within him which can give him what life is meant to give to him and what he is meant to give to life -- for the two are really one.

This fulfillment, in its variety and its limitless possibilities for fruitful experience and expansion, is a reality that exists permanently inside. When man is unfulfilled and unhappy, then he has moved his consciousness away from this possibility, away from this potential. It is exceedingly important to conceive of it this way. For then you will shorten the peregrinations that alienate you from the center of your being, which contains every possibility for strength and for wisdom -- as well as a power which none of you can as yet completely comprehend.

Before I come back to why this point is so difficult for you to comprehend, I should like to discuss the following. Let us again, from a different angle, recapitulate what happens when you are separated from this possibility. Each concept, each idea, each thought, and each action is both cause and energy. Each sets in motion an energy which then creates a series of chain reactions. In their nature of being causes, they also create effects. The energy which creates the ensuing chain reactions produces the effects of the original cause, the original nucleus of energy -- whether positive or negative. In the last lecture I discussed the self-perpetuating principle. The sequence of chain reactions caused by any thought, by any idea, or by any action is self-perpetuating. It is a result of the original thought issued forth.

If this original thought, or the original concept, is in accord with truth, then the ensuing chain reaction is bound to be constructive, positive, free of conflict, and pleasing. Therefore, it is are bound to lead to further expansion, constructiveness, and pleasure -- following the self-perpetuating principle. When the original concept is in error -- for at any given instant, in any situation, a human being may formulate a concept or a thought or an intent that is conceived in error -- then the ensuing chain reaction must be negative, confining, destructive, and is therefore unpleasurable.

Let us take an idea that you formulate. Such an idea -- whether truthful or untruthful -- will lead to certain assumptions. These, in turn, will lead to responses and reactions by others, by the world around you. These responses will cause further reactions within you, so that you formulate further concepts, assumptions, and ensuing reactions. And so it goes on and on. The original misconception leads to graver error, to compounded misunderstanding, to further alienation from the truth. It snowballs. Each cause produces an effect. This effect becomes simultaneously a new cause producing a new effect. This, in turn, must become the cause for the next effect. This is the nature of the self-perpetuating chain reaction.

When such a negative chain reaction is activated, then each link -- which is simultaneously cause and effect -- must be retraced, it must be understood, and subsequently must be abandoned, so that the personality finds the way back to the original level, where no conflict exists, and where fruitful expansion is a reality. On this level fearlessness, peace, unlimited unfoldment, stimulation -- all that man could possibly desire -- become a reality. The more you are separated, the more difficult it becomes to find your way back. As with impaired physical health, so it is with the mental level and the psychic level. The more the laws are violated, the more negative chain reactions come into being. The mental laws and the psychic laws are just as exact and as definite as the laws of the physical body. They can be understood in a similar fashion and are not any more difficult to ascertain and to comprehend. The physical system contains an inherent healing force which is always ready to cooperate with man if it is given a chance. When man makes an effort to comprehend the laws, when he trusts this natural healing force, and when he does his best to correct the impairment, then this live power begins to operate. It is exactly the same on the mental level and on the psychic level, which also have their own healing powers. These powers strive toward wholeness, toward constructiveness, toward productiveness, toward expansion, toward fulfillment. If man allows them to operate by sensing their direction and by removing the obstacles which have broken the laws that pertain to them, then these psychic healing forces will become an ever increasing power which will sweep man forward.

The further removed you are from understanding your mental confusion and your destructive emotions, the more difficult it becomes to return to that original level. Correcting each link in the chain reaction fills man with dread. He fears this because doing so it seems to exact from him something which he is unwilling to give. This attitude is unreasonable.

This is the work of this Path reformulated. I think that if you can conceive of it in this slightly different way, then it will activate in you a new energy, a new incentive, a new insight. And it is also important for you to understand that one who wants to live life successfully must be led by these principles. He has to understand the laws governing the physical system, the mental system, and the emotional system; he has to comprehend the perfection of these laws; and he has to adhere to them. In short, he has to to find his way back to his original potential.

What is fundamentally the greatest violation that leads to a chain reaction of violation, of error, of confusion, and of destructiveness? I would say that the most important is ignorance of this process. When man ignores the inherent potentials that he has, the limitless powers that he possesses -- literally limitless -- for exactly what he needs for every contingency, then this is a fundamental violation which inevitably leads to further alienation and to destruction. When man realizes that there is no situation in his life that needs to remain unresolved, unhappy, or frightening, when he realizes that he has within him the possibility to solve any problem that he has gotten himself into -- regardless of what it is -- then he has fulfilled the main prerequisite. This realization affords him the possibility to return to the level of fulfillment that he has gotten away from in the course of many centuries. This separation may exist in certain areas only, while in other areas of his personality he may be closely in touch with this original level of perfection, of dynamic life, and of unfoldment. But then there are those impaired areas that man has brought with him into this life. Not knowing that he does have the possibility of dissolving them is the greatest hindrance. For, strange as it may seem, even though people in principle may be perfectly aware of the facts just discussed here as a theory and as a philosophy, often the very same people ignore, and therefore cannot apply, this theoretical knowledge to their own impaired areas. As a result, they are perplexed, hopeless, and paralyzed because it does not occur to them that they have within themselves the possibility of correcting any situation they are in which is not to their satisfaction.

Man cannot activate, and therefore use, this limitless power that I mentioned for purposes outside of himself if he has not mastered himself first. This means that first he has to correct the impaired areas of his own being. In other words, he must use his power in order to return to the point of departure from the original level of perfection. He must use his power to switch from destructiveness to constructiveness, to change from a state of separation to one of inclusion. He must use his power to become aware of where he impairs his integrity and therefore violates the psychic laws. He must use his power to let go of the pseudo safety of hate and cruelty, and to change his personality into that of love for others. When he uses his power first to determine where he finds himself in an illusion about himself and then to uncover where he is not as decent and as loving as he thought -- or would have liked -- and then uses his power to change this condition, then he makes appropriate use of the power at his disposal. Once man has mastered himself in such a way, then the power will automatically expand and extend. Through such mastery, the realization that he and everyone else are one will not be merely words, but will have become a living reality within himself. But as long as man has not mastered himself, then these will be just words at best, and at worst they will mean nothing. As long as the self and others seem separated, there must appear to be a conflict of interest between the self and others, which forces man to be destructive -- either of the self or of the other. And since they are one, destructiveness towards either one must ultimately also affect the other. Hence the power cannot be used, for in order to do so there must exist a free, happy, unhibited feeling, which cannot arise out of conflict.

The first prerequisite to return to this original level of perfection, of limitless possibilities, of meaningful expansion, of greater experience, and of pleasure supreme is knowing that this level is intact and that it merely has to be activated by the consciousness. But just reading it and then vaguely thinking it is not the same as deeply knowing it. This deep knowledge must be cultivated. The awareness that your immediate problem can be solved and the realization that you have within you everything you need in order to do this must be the first step in any given phase.

Often man does not even want to acknowledge this possibility. For this possibility, once it is truly met, must reveal where and how man himself has violated the appropriate laws and where and how he must correct the situation. In reality, this is never undesirable. In reality, it always proves to be eminently good, from every conceivable point of view. It never deprives, but it requires courage and integrity. It appears as though this correcting process imposes a heavy toll. But in reality the heavy toll is exacted by shying away from meeting the total situation in total integrity. In fact, the longer this is done, the further man removes himself from all that is good and peaceful, hence the heavier becomes the price that he inevitably pays. Man foolishly talks himself into a hopeless situation because he thus hopes to avoid the correction, which only seems a sacrifice.

When you look at your life, then question yourself: where could you expand more? Where could you experience life more deeply and more fully? Where could you give more, and therefore receive more? When you precisely acknowledge these empty areas or these destructive areas, and when you then acknowledge the possibility that within you lie the tools with which to correct the situation, then you will do what is purposeful and constructive, what is, indeed, necessary. Everything else will follow suit. Then it will become possible for you to retrace the various negative chain reactions, to find the laws in question, and to change both your attitude and your behavior regarding these laws. Now you will work with them, instead of against them. But as long as you gloss over either your difficulties, your emptiness, or their cause, and you pretend that the cause has nothing or little to do with you -- at least with you now, the way you are now -- then you cannot go back where you have to be within yourself.

The next violation of the mental law is that of false ideas. We have often talked about this in many different forms. Any false concept that man has is always somehow directly related to not wanting to accept a truth about himself. Here we must distinguish between general areas of life, of science, of philosophy, which either have no direct bearing on an individual's personal life, or which are still way beyond his present possibility of comprehension. It goes without saying that in his present general, overall state of development man cannot possibly know everything. But when we speak of areas that man is essentially capable of understanding -- provided he is unblocked and honest with himself -- then any untruth that he abides by in his beliefs must affect both his inner life and his outer life, since this false belief is a product of his inner attitude. Therefore, we cannot say that a person's spiritual beliefs are unrelated to his emotional attitudes. Whether or not man believes, what and how he believes, the attitude in which he decides to either believe or not to believe in a superior power, all this is directly related to his innermost integrity, to his honesty with himself, to his full desire to be truthful with himself on all matters. Therefore it is entirely correct to state that any misconception in his psyche, which creates negative chain reactions, is a result of his not wanting to be in truth. For one reason or another, he believes that not being in truth is better for him than being in truth. This then results in one of those self-perpetuating negative chain reactions.

Not knowing that all the possibilities, that all the perfection, that all the fulfillment are already a reality deep within the nucleus of the self is directly connected with a deliberate misconception about one's personal life. Now I come back to a point made at the beginning of this lecture: that man often wants to ignore the possibilities and the powers within him. He does this partly because he derives pleasure from complaining and from unhappiness. Partly because he truly fears these powers. He fears the possibility of happiness. He fears that he may not be able to handle it. He fears the ecstasy of a perfectly lived life, as he fears death, as he fears all the great experiences that take him out of himself. It is this vague, unformulated fear which makes man deliberately embrace negativity, and to deliberately, though unconsciously, violate the very laws which afford him the unfoldment we speak of here. It is only when he has involved himself to a considerable degree in such a negative chain reaction -- with all its painfulness and frustration -- that he will long to go back to the point of departure, step by step, one by one through the links of the chain reaction, until he reaches the level of origin, with all its potentials and powers. Finally, he will no longer shy away from the ecstasy of a life lived in reality, where abundance, truth, love, and the unlimited possibilities in every direction of his being exist. But he still has to acclimatize himself to a new air to breathe. Such acclimatization is possible only when he becomes truly willing to give up his negativity and his destructiveness.

In the last few lectures we have discussed the fact that many of you are now beginning, little by little, to discover your deliberate destructiveness: how you want to be destructive, how you wallow in this desire to be destructive. And this is great progress, my friends, for if you do not know this, then you are further away in the removal of yourself from the level of your being where all good exists, and you need to find this essential link. Not knowing what you feel, what you want, and what your aims are makes it impossible to go in any direction. It puts you in the famous trap, in which you are paralyzed, numb, and lifeless. So, first, all your aims, all your desires, and all your wishes -- constructive or not, no matter how unconscious until now -- must be acknowledged. This is an essential part of the work which we are doing together. Once this has happened, then you can ascertain that in the areas in which you are unhappy you are deliberately destructive. When you are aware of this, then you are no longer so far removed from the original level. But the majority of my friends, even those who have found this deliberate destructiveness, still have to come to this realization. I would urge you to look at yourselves in this light. You will find that you have not yet come to the point when you truly issue the desire to give up this destructiveness and to turn from this destructiveness to a constructive, including, friendly attitude towards life and towards others. You still do not wish to give up your self-centeredness and your isolation, and accept a new way of life in which you include others, in which you build instead of destroy, in which you want to contribute, even if this means that the importance of the little ego has to be relinquished. The desire to be with others, instead of against them, has to be expressed. This entirely new attitude and way of life has to be actively wanted, embraced, cultivated. It does not happen otherwise, it does not come by itself, unless the ego wishes it.

Only then can all your fears and your sense of worthlessness vanish. And yet, the destructiveness claims to become less worthless by being destructive. That is the error in which most of you still find yourselves now. That is the level on which you have to work. When you make this essential decision to give up your destructiveness, then you will find a battle in you. You will find a greater fear of constructive unfoldment, of happiness, and of fullness than of confinement and pain. This may appear preposterous, yet when you test your feelings, then you will find this to be so. Issue the following thought into your psyche: "My deliberate destructiveness is specifically -- whatever you have found it to be in your personal work. I truly desire to give it up. I want to be constructive. I choose this, not by any force or obligation, but because I wish it to be so." At that moment you will find a fear. It is this tiny nucleus of fear -- still vague, hazy, unpronounced -- that we have to bring out into focus. This is the point of the chain reaction at which the majority of you now stand -- or will shortly come to if your work proceeds according to the possibilities you have available at this time. Either you are already there, or you are about to discover and bring into focus your destructiveness.

Then the next point is this: why do you like to hold on to it? Why do you actually find it safer than the limitless expansion of good that opens up when you let go of your destructiveness, of your negation, of your denial, of your negativity? What is this fear? I am afraid that I cannot elaborate on this now, for it is a lecture in itself. But we shall go into it at another time. Perhaps some of you have something to contribute to this topic, or a question to ask, that will lead, or help lead all of you into this next phase, to this next link in the chain reaction, this next point I indicated here. When you understand the fear that you have of the good, a fear which causes you to cling to the negative, then you are no longer far from that original core where all you need exists; where you can be in touch with this center of yourself that gives you all the powers to master your life and to unfold your best to the best of its possibilities. But many hazy, foggy, unclear areas have to be cleared up before this point can be reached. When you do not want to see the destructiveness -- in other words, the deliberateness of it -- then you are stuck. This is basically the most important point of this work. All the others are side issues, details that have to be gone through in order to become acutely aware of the deliberate destructiveness and the avoidance of productive, positive unfoldment.

Does anyone here have any inkling, any realization, of this fear of letting go of the destructiveness? The fear of the good, in which destructiveness feels more safe? Does anyone have a question in this regard?

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COMMENT: I had an experience along these lines where I made the decision to give up my destructiveness and cruelty and enlisted my divine self. I was going along nicely until the test came up, and then I just ran the other way. I couldn't face it -- and all the old negative, destructive emotions returned. I suffered and suffered. I couldn't stop it. I didn't know until now, when you mentioned it, that it was fear.

ANSWER: There you are exactly at the point I discussed now. Anyone else who has something to ask or to contribute?

QUESTION: This is a subject with which I have struggled for a long time and I am well aware of this fear. The only thing I can contribute here is to say that the only way I can work with it at the moment is through constant awareness of it and by meditation on the subject and the realization of the tremendous fear of joy and of relaxed happiness. Everything tenses up when things go well and I am happy. My whole body becomes almost incapable of relaxation, I get into too much activity. Even though it is outwardly constructive activity, it is destructive to happiness. And I would like to know if there is any other thing I can do at the moment to get out of this.

ANSWER: When you issue into yourself the desire for constructiveness, for happiness, and for fulfillment, then you should also express the knowledge that this possibility exists in you. At the same time it is necessary that you become more acutely aware of your deliberate destructiveness. For there is a direct tie between the two, as I have indicated in this lecture. To the extent that deliberate destructiveness is unconscious, and therefore cannot be given up, to that extent happiness cannot be embraced. When you comprehend the deliberate destructiveness, and in what form it exists -- not necessarily in action, but perhaps predominantly in hidden emotions, which can only lead to corresponding indirect actions, as well as to vague thoughts and to half-conscious wishes -- when this is concisely crystallized in your consciousness, then you will understand what blocks you. Then the next step we are coming to will be available to you. As I have said, I will go more fully into this topic in the next lecture. We may also have some more preparation in our session devoted to questions and answers. We shall go into an entire lecture about this fear, but under no circumstances can this fear be comprehended when the deliberate destructiveness is not conscious. This is what I advise you to work on, my dear.

QUESTION: I have become aware of this destructiveness quite recently. It is very clear to me that this destructiveness is directed against my mother. I sabotage the positive aspects of life because I want to spite her and, in a way, prove to her that whatever she expects of me I am not going to fulfill. Now, this is quite clear. At the same time there is a resistance to change it. When I find myself in a situation when I can choose to no longer wish to adhere to this irrational, senseless pattern, something stops me. I feel that I am afraid of giving up something which I am not able to pinpoint, except that I know that I cling to it tenaciously. It is the same kind of hope which would be some kind of a magical transformation of my life. Maybe you can give me a little illumination about this fear.

ANSWER: Let me say only this about this fear now. It is a fundamental fear of dissolving. You might call it the fear of death, but it is more than that. It presents itself when man is in flux, when the personality is truly vibrating in the harmony of the cosmic forces, which might be in what is called death. It also occurs in other instances, but it does not always occur in so-called death. This depends on the state of development. The fearful person feels this as a terrifying dissolution of the self. This fear also applies to union between the sexes. It exists in any creative state in which the ego is not very strongly tied to the inner being. It is this dissolving and unifying with the universal stream of being which man fears. Such dissolving and giving up of the little self also happens in unhealthy states through sickness, through drugs, etc. When the ego is lost because it was too weak, then it is unhealthy. But when man has gained a healthy ego, then he must come to the point when he can let go of it. This letting go appears frightening. It is a question of trust. As long as man does not have a deep trust in himself, then he cannot trust the universal forces. By letting go of the little ego, he will become more of an individual and will re-find himself. This trust in the self grows commensurately with the giving up of the destructiveness. Before man can let go of himself, he first has to give up the destructiveness. When he understands this fear, then it will be easier to do it. This is, roughly speaking, the deep, inherent fear.

QUESTION: Would you say that over-emotionalism is destructive?

ANSWER: Of course, everything that is "over," exaggerated, implies an imbalance, a disturbance.

QUESTION: How can you fight it?

ANSWER: Fighting implies a forceful disciplining away by suppression, and this is not real development. Real development must produce a personality that does not need to be on its guard all the time, that can afford to be relaxed, and that is confident in its own inner processes. This state can be attained by investigating in what particular way this over-emotionalism exists. It probably manifests only in certain ways, while other emotions are impoverished in proportion with the overflow of emotions in other respects. When the personality does not dare to invest natural, spontaneous feelings in certain areas -- out of fear, out of alienation, out of a deliberate and false defense mechanism -- then there is an over-emotionalism in other areas, as always happens in the human personality. When the natural order is disturbed, then nature tries to re-establish balance. This balance must be re-established for the personality to be in harmony and in peace. When the under-emotionalism has been corrected and the individual is allowed to fill this void, then the over-emotionalism will cease. Both manifestations are painful: the emptiness, as well as the too much. When harmony has been attained, then both these pains will turn into pleasure.

QUESTION: I stick to a guilt feeling because I get a negative, destructive pleasure out of it. If I would let go of this, I would feel (perfectly irrationally) that then, being happy, I would fear death. I feel that death does not matter when I am unhappy, so I do not permit myself to be happy.

ANSWER: The moment you can recognize such a thing, then you have the power to give it up. Again, this amounts to the fear of death. In other words, to the fear of having no individuality, no consciousness. This fear can be met only when trust exists -- primarily trust in the self. But this trust cannot be established as long as the personality plays such magical, childish, bargaining, and dishonest games.

My friends, when you want to find your way back to this inner center, to this inner motion, then it finally always comes down to the point at which you say, "I let go." Whether this letting go means giving up your destructiveness, giving up your cruelty, giving up your evasion, or giving up any other unproductive way of life, or whether this letting go means entrusting yourself to the flow of life, it must finally come to this ability to let go. As long as you stem against it, you produce a disharmony between your life flow and the cosmic flow, of which you are a part. It is like a river which is disturbed in its quiet flow by obstructions and by strong counter-currents. The disturbance created in this universal flow can be eliminated only by first finding this flow and then by entrusting yourself to it. It is necessary to entrust yourself to it and then to wait for what comes. It is not a giving up of your personality, of your individuality, of your consciousness -- not by any means.

But you can find the truth of this statement only when you try it. When your consciousness is a tight nucleus, then this harmony cannot be established. The outer ego has become too strong and too much trust has been placed on it -- in a distorted way -- while insufficient trust has been given to other levels of the personality which function autonomously when given a chance and with which the outer ego must eventually integrate for this harmonious functioning to occur. When over-emphasis is laid on the outer ego, then the result is a separation from this autonomously functioning center, which is constantly at one with the universal stream. This is the separation we have discussed in this lecture. When you let go and you entrust yourself to this life stream, to this cosmic reality of being, when you give yourself up to it, then your ego will not cease to be. It will truly be a relaxed part of that greater consciousness within you. This will mean a security in yourself such as you have never known.

This finally amounts to an act of entrusting yourself. This final act must come. Occasionally it comes earlier on this path, at least to some degree. With others it comes later, but come it must. And when I say "on this path," I mean much more than merely this particular work, in this particular group. I mean a way of life, your life as such. If a life is lived rightly, then it finally comes down to this. It comes to all these awarenesses, to all these inner actions, and to all those transformations. It comes to the giving up of all the negativity which we discuss here from many different angles.

Now I bless all of you. May these words help you to go the way within that needs to be trod. May they help you to realize that everything that you can possibly desire is within yourself. May they help you to realize that there is nothing to fear, that letting go and entrusting yourself to the life stream, to the good, and the unfoldment you cringe away from, is nothing to fear.

Be blessed, everyone of you. Be enveloped in the strength, in the love, and in the truth that can transcend you, if you let it. Be in peace. Be in God.

March 18, 1966