Mind Activity And Mind Receptivity

By The Pathwork Guide

Greetings, all my friends, my beloved friends. The love of the universe embraces every manifestation and every individualization of the Divine Being, especially when the outer self, the separated self strives so ardently to find the truth of being, the truth of self -- and thus the truth of life.

All the pain and all the frustration that the average human being goes through in the course of a lifetime is exclusively the result of not knowing his true identity. And the constant struggle of living is because you unconsciously know that there is something to recapture, that there is some secret key that could open up life. In other words, you know deep within yourself that life cannot possibly be merely what you experience from day to day, that it cannot merely be what it is at the moment. And because of that you strive away from the moment. And because of that you lose the moment. And because of that you lose the meaning of life -- for every single fragment of a moment contains all of life.

The struggle to discover the true self and the acceptance of the Now are not two mutually exclusive opposites. They are interdependent. This lecture deals specifically with the inner attitude of the mind that is necessary in order to find these two apparently opposite ways of experiencing life, that is necessary in order to find the meaning of life, and that is necessary in order to find your true identity.

The mind's activity, or lack of activity, is the key to this. Although it is a subtle process, at the same time it is so distinct and so definite. This is almost impossible to put into words. Yet we have to try to do out best. As far as I am concerned, I have to do my best in finding the right expression so as to explain all of this to you. In other words, to reach you and to communicate to you what I mean. And as far as you are concerned, you can do your best by opening yourself inwardly, with your heart as much as with your mind, so that you will not only understand with your intellect, but intuitively as well. The latter is the much more important understanding.

There are two important forces, or attitudes in the universe, and therefore in each human personality. One is striving, moving, acting, initiating, activating, doing. This aspect includes self-responsibility, independence, autonomy, free choice, and the power of the self. The other is being receptive to and waiting for whatever is to happen. This aspect includes awareness of being a part of a whole, interdependence, trust in the greater life processes, patience, and humility. The former means direct action. The latter means waiting for growth and for the indirect manifestations. This takes place in its own way, and according to its own laws.

When man believes, either consciously or unconsciously, one of these two attitudes to be right and the other to be wrong -- so that, consequently, he cultivates only one or the other -- then distortion and imbalance are inevitable. Since it is impossible to use only one, then the opposite of what the person has adopted as his way of functioning still exists, though in a less overt way. But both function in an inappropriate, ineffective, and even destructive way. I shall go into this in greater detail a little later. It is important for every growing individual to discover the fine interplay -- in the proper balance -- of these two major universal forces. Since there exists no rule on exactly when and how to change over, then the way to do so must be found within each person's own rhythm and inner reality. He must become attuned to his inner life and to his soul movements so as to recognize when and how each is expressed. In other words, when the one is predominant and when the other is predominant; what the different phases of growth require at any given moment. As the self first unfolds and then integrates with the ego, then this becomes more spontaneous and automatic.

These two universal tendencies, or forces, or attitudes might also be referred to as the active force and the passive force. I spoke about this topic many years ago, but on a much more superficial and general level. The way it can be treated now is very different: on a much deeper level and much more specifically, to be used by each person as he follows the path. For you know that the truth of life cannot be found by a philosophy, by understanding something in your brain. The only way you can experience and feel the truth is by applying it to your own self, to your individual problems, thus transcending the problems. Only then can you experience every force of the universe within yourself.

Still another way of putting it would be to talk about the creative masculine principle and the creative feminine principle. I also discussed this in the past in a different context, and more generally. The masculine principle and the feminine principle exist in the psychic life of all the manifestations of life. They are at work wherever life exists. The creative power of their harmonious interplay creates forever new manifestations and individualizations of the Divine Being. This does not merely refer to the fleshly creations, it applies to everything. Growth within the personality is also a creation. Therefore, it must be determined by the same life-giving forces of the harmonious interaction of the male principle and the female principle. Growth cannot come unless the right interaction of initiative, of will, of determination on the one hand, and of passivity, of receptivity, of surrender, of waiting, of unfolding on the other hand exists. The coming together of these two principles, or forces, creates renewal, new forms, and expansion; it bubbles forth more and greater life; it creates intense bliss and supreme pleasure. The disharmonious interaction of these two universal principles or forces -- either over-emphasis or under-emphasis of one force -- thwarts life and results in unpleasure, in frustration, and in restriction. When both men and women have not established the masculine principle and the feminine principle within their own soul life and within their own mind activity -- in their thinking -- then they cannot be full men and full women.

Both principles or forces have certain common denominators. One of them is the alternation of tension and relaxation, of firmness and softness. The fertile soil of life, of growth, of peace, of pleasure is the resiliency that springs from the pulsation and the rhythmic movement of tension and of relaxation. Only you must not imagine that this kind of tension can be compared with the painful tension that the person experiences when these forces are in a state of disharmony within his inner life. It must be visualized as the kind of pleasant tension that is a springboard from which action flows forth naturally and organically. The same applies to relaxation. It must not be confused with the inertia of lifelessness and lack of energy. In its healthy version, relaxation it is full of life, of inner movement. It is poised in the confident state that natural action follows suit in its own time -- if this word can be used for lack of a better one.

The proper interaction of tension and of relaxation is the pulsation of the universe. It is the breathing of it. If I say of the universe, then it means also of every aspect or particle thereof. For everything that is alive is the universe, it is an aspect of it. Therefore, it must be part of the same principles and laws. The pulsating beat of tension and of relaxation is an expression of the proper assimilation of these two forces: the male principle and the female principle, the active attitude and the passive attitude, the initiating force and the receptive force. Every life manifestation is an expression of this beat, and therefore manifests this principle. The more harmonious the life manifestation, then the more properly has the constant fluctuation of initiating and of receptivity -- in other words, of opening and closing, of opening and closing -- been assimilated.

The more the organism is removed from its source, then the less is the consciousness aware of its real divine identity. Therefore, the more painful must be the alternating rhythm and the pulsation of life. For where there is life this rhythmic movement must exist. Conversely, the higher the development -- that is, the more the individual is aware of his true identity and therefore is connected with his higher self -- the more pleasurable and the more blissful both movements -- opening and closing, tension and relaxation -- must inevitably be. At a certain stage between these two extreme poles is the phase in which the opening, relaxed state is felt as pleasurable -- and therefore as desirable -- while the retracting, closing, tense state is felt as painful -- and therefore as undesirable. This causes the entity to strive away from one state of pulse movement and to strive toward the other state of pulse movement. Yet the more he strives, the more he hinders the natural rhythm. For striving creates more tension -- even when one strives for the open, relaxed state. Hence, there is really no other way but to endure the momentary painful state, so as to allow the natural rhythm to play itself out -- until the entire personality is freed of the shackles that cause a painful cramped state. This does not mean the cessation of the tense closing movement -- for this would mean no life. It means that when the pain is gradually transcended, then it ceases to be pain. Many human beings find themselves in this middle state, where one universal pulse beat is felt as painful and the other universal pulse beat is felt as pleasurable.

The right interaction of these two principles or universal forces from the point of view of your mind activity in regard to your pathwork may be described as follows. The outer ego, the deliberate ego, conscious ego -- with its will power -- must be poised in a firm but relaxed way. The resistant and destructive unconscious must not be given in to, nor must it be anxiously pressured, impatiently pushed, and coerced. The ego faculties -- with their directly accessible will power and immediate effect -- must be alert so as to recognize the signs of the unconscious. That means where it is, what it expresses indirectly, and how it holds back so as to prevent your happiness and your unfoldment. In order to make these recognitions, the mind must be calm, observant, accepting of what happens to be now, and then it must encourage the unconscious to express itself. Once this happens and the unconscious surfaces with all its unreasonableness, then it can be altered in its direction. Then the obstruction will vanish.

You can see that this requires a fine balance between the active, initiative, masculine principle of the mind -- in the firmness of purpose not to follow the line of least resistance toward the unconscious obstructions -- and the receptive, passive, feminine principle in which the expressions of the destructive unconscious are accepted in a waiting and receptive spirit. The identical procedure exists in regard to the unfoldment of the Universal Intelligence. However, the more obstructions fester underground, then the less this will be possible. The ideal approach is to use both alternately. First instruct -- firmly, calmly, but determinedly -- the destructive part of the hidden self to express itself. Then observe what comes forth with interest, with attention, and with non-interference. In order to make this possible, request the Divine Being that you are deep inside to guide you and to help you in this process. The determination and the instruction are the active mind. The waiting for the manifestation is the passive, receiving principle.

The human mind is constantly groping, either consciously or unconsciously, to find the right balance of these all-important attitudes. One of the great difficulties that man encounters on his personal path is how to find this balance and this harmonious interaction. As I said, it cannot be learned by rules. It requires a fine-tuned listening into your soul movements so as to discover when to use one and then stop, and when to use the other of these two complementing forces. You have to see yourself using the wrong way before you can gradually adopt the right one. Often man is lax, lazy, and inattentive to his innermost expressions, in the misunderstood passive principle. He claims, rightly as it were, that things must ripen by themselves, that healthy growth cannot be forced, that it is a spontaneous process. Right as he is, he uses it wrongly and he neglects to go into himself in order to face what needs to be recognized and then make the necessary changes. In other words, to do and to act with his outer and inner mind. By the same token, often man is over-active and tense in his coercive, impatient currents -- toward himself as well as toward others -- in the misunderstood active principle.

When there is one such distorted predominance, then it must be because the other also exists, perhaps less noticeably. The outer impatience with oneself connotes an inner resistance. The outer laziness and letting things be -- in the wrong way -- connotes an inner non-acceptance of the self and a fierce struggle against the self and its effects. This fierce struggle must be brought out, for it is always present where there are unresolved problems, where there is imbalance, where there is distortion, and where there is unfulfillment. The struggle between the self and the self is, for the longest time, projected outwardly, so that it is assumed that the struggle exists between the self and life, or between the self and others. But since there is no difference between you and life -- and therefore between you and others -- then the struggle is basically between you and yourself. When this is conscious, then the imbalance talked about here will become comprehensible. Consequently, a re-orientation can begin.

True change is always this spontaneous process that happens by itself. Or so it seems. Actually, it is the result of the outer efforts of the individual -- unstrained, natural, poised efforts. But when the results are expected immediately, as direct and visible manifestations of the previous efforts, then it means that this process is misunderstood. The person will become disappointed, and therefore he will feel discouraged. As a result, he will use less effort and, consequently, he will fall back into the same destructive patterns of the mind -- of his thoughts -- of the emotions, and of actions. At the same time, he will become more tense and more pushy toward his own process. On the other hand, if a person just waits for results without going to the trouble of investing the best of himself into life, into himself, and into his own growth process -- in the misunderstood knowledge that growth manifests effortlessly and as if by itself -- then he, too, must be disappointed. Therefore, the inner struggle against himself -- against life -- will become even stronger.

The more unconscious man's pains and frustrations are, the more he will strain and grasp for a solution. His mind becomes over-stretched. Consciously he may not be aware of this, and therefore he may explain away the feeling of discomfort with all sorts of other reasons. He may be driven to destructive actions, or to seeking troublesome life situations in order to have a satisfactory explanation for his discomfort. For not knowing the reason why is a pain that is worse than whatever pain you may be conscious of. In some personality types the result is inertia.

Misapplied good will and determined action take the form of over-stretched tension. Where the mind should be receptive -- not only to what comes from the outside, but even more to what comes out from inside -- it often closes itself into a tight knot formed out of the pressure against the self. Conscious and deliberate receptivity toward the inner processes -- so as to receive into the consciousness what wants to work its way out -- is an essential part of the path. You cannot get to know what is within you unless this inner attitude of receptivity is cultivated by you.

When people are over-eager, too much in a hurry, too impatient, then the pathwork is stopped. This is always an expression of having misunderstood the process. It means that the false idea exists that inner blocks can be removed by the direct application of ego will. The ego will has its necessary function, but it is indirectly responsible for the undercurrents -- the various wills of the unconscious. Therefore the outer consciousness must treat the unconscious -- even the destructive, childish, distorted part of it -- with respect. It is the respect that you grant to a being who must not be coerced, but who must find its own way. So your unconscious must find its own way. If it is coerced, then it cannot unfold itself, it cannot respond, it cannot reveal itself. If the outer mind stands there, all tense and anxious, trying to push and force the unconscious, then it is impossible to establish the kind of relationship betwen the conscious mind and the unconscious mind that is necessary so that first the revelation of the latter and then the unification of both can take place.

The relationship between the conscious mind and the destructive part of the unconscious can be established by accepting the premise that perceptions, attitudes, and feelings exist in the self that often are diametrically opposed to each other. Once the destructive, obstructive, and damaging unconscious aspects are allowed to reveal themselves, then the more truthful and constructive attitudes and convictions of the conscious mind can influence and gradually eliminate the stumbling blocks within the soul. By the same token a relationship between the ego faculties and the highest wisdom, the truth, and the deep love feelings of the Divine Self can be established only when the ego self is prepared to receive the latter. This means a waiting, receptive, quiet attitude. Once the divine in you unfolds through new ideas, through new feelings, and through new depths of experience, then your ego self will be instructed, influenced, and suffused by the manifestation of the Divine in you. Thus, the two aspects of growth and of integration presuppose the identical dynamics of active and passive forces, of doing and of waiting, of initiating and of receiving. In one instance the conscious ego is wiser and more constructive than the buried unconscious. In the other instance, the buried unconscious is wiser by far and infinitely more constructive than the conscious mind.

It is necessary to treat the unconscious with respect -- regardless of which aspect of it. In other words, you need to honor your unconscious. This honor and this respect is not being paid to the destructiveness itself, but rather to the process of growth and of unfoldment, to the wondrous laws of the inner reality. In this frame of mind the lawfulness will eventually become accessible to the mind. Thereby the universal laws of creation will also be understood. This is what I mean when I say that life, creation, the universe or the cosmos can be understood only to the degree that man understands his own unconscious processes, both their lawfulness and their dynamics.

Even the most destructive of your attitudes is not evil, but is the result of a misunderstanding. When one fully understands this, then it becomes clear that even the most destructive processes are awesomely impressive, for their principle and their mechanics are based on lawfulness which is identical to the workings of Creation at its best. Since evil is a result of misunderstanding, and since these processes are equally wonderful in and by themselves, then evil can be eliminated only when you learn to be respectful of your unconscious. Let it unfold in its own way and in its own rhythm. Be receptive and be open to what it reveals to you. This attitude is being violated over and over again by a punitive, harried, anxious, and pressing mind force -- a forcing current unto your unconscious. This results -- sometimes alternatively and sometimes simultaneously -- either in over-stretched tension and anxiety, or in inertia, in laziness, in the neglect of active growth -- or in both.

Since you treat the outer world in the same way that you treat your unconscious, then you emanate the same climate onto those whom you are involved with. Often people retract from this onslaught of forcing -- of saying to them, "You must" -- just as much as your own unconscious does. When you do not wish to pay close attention to your unconscious, and therefore you retract from it in horror, or when you do so only only superficially as a mere gesture, then you cannot help meeting others in a similar vein. Then this is resented by them -- again, often unconsciously, for most people are unaware of the mutual interaction of their unconscious.

Every good experience, every beautiful experience, and every creative experience -- in other words, one in which you feel at one with life, at one with yourself, and at one with the creative processes -- is a result of the proper relationship between the active principle and the passive principle. When you think back to those opportunities, then you will see that there existed a combination of poised alertness, of active involvement, of participation and, at the same time, of receptive waiting and a very relaxed, yet pulsating, passivity. When you let these flow out of you, then life can flow into you. Nothing can come to you from life -- which is apparently outside of you -- that you yourself have not made possible.

Let me briefly recapitulate the distortion of this twofold principle, the active and the passive. The initiative, active, masculine principle becomes tight tension -- the tension of impatience, of anxiety, of the pride of the ego which thinks that it is capable of doing it all -- alone and without any divine help -- by sheer outer will. This attitude also implies the negation of the universal powers and of the powers of man's unconscious ability to grow and to function according to higher laws. It implies a distrust of both the universal forces and the personal movements within, as though they had no existence, no lawfulness, no rhythm of their own -- and also a mistrust of their reasoning. This attitude implies the conviction of being merely an isolated ego. In other words, of being without any deeper connections. In this extremely painful illusion, the connection that actually does exist remain unused. As a result, the ego is unable to function according to its best possibility and as is its destiny, as it is supposed to function. The less these inner forces and these inner movements are made available to the personality so that they can participate in the business of living, the less adequately the ego can fend for itself. Therefore, it becomes more harassed. This isolated ego existence is the result of ignorance and of pride in the ego as the highest, the best, and the only reality. In other words, the only one that is able to affect life. This attitude leads to more separation, to more frustration, and to more unhappiness. Consequently, it leads to a tension which is due to unconscious strivings, to trying too hard in an ineffectual way. It is a lonely existence that is beset by fears.

Conversely, he who trusts in God in a way which equals giving up self-responsibility -- in other words, who leaves everything to God in order to justify his inactivity -- must also fail to fulfill himself. He seems to humbly and trustingly let God do it, forever waiting for God. But he is just as disconnected regarding the interaction and the interrelationship between his active, initiative powers and the spontaneous, indirect manifestations of growth. If and when the latter appear -- perhaps as a result of some initiative that he had taken in the past without even knowing it -- then he ascribes them to a power outside of himself, or at any rate to one that is not connected with his own actions and his own attitudes.

You can see how both these extremes and distortions are similar and how they ultimately get you to the same impasse. When man is passive and he lets things go -- instead of accepting his self-responsibility, his task of finding the way, and doing what is perhaps painful for the moment -- then he trusts in a false God. That is, a God outside himself. For his whole being is God. But he can realize this potential only by using his innate faculties. When man is active with the separated ego alone -- instead of living in the rhythmic interplay of first doing and then waiting, of first acting and then listening -- then it means that he believes that this separated little self is all there is to him. Again, he must be disappointed. Man must commit himself to the key to his life, which is finding the truth of himself, no matter how painful or how unflattering it may be. At the same time, he must respect and honor the inner processes and he must allow them to take their own course.

This balance must be found. It is a constantly changing rhythm, or cycle, on each individual's path. Each step harbors both these fundamental movements or attitudes. Their proper interaction is the creative power that brings something new into life. The initiating principle and the receptive principle require both the integrity of selfhood and knowing that one is part of a whole. The latter means respect for the movements that cannot always immediately obey the commands of the mind. It is necessary to first initiate your own creative forces and then to find when and how they are ready to make themselves known to you.

Even the simple act of meditation must be the combination of these two approaches. On the one hand, you actively formulate your thoughts. That means your intent, your attitude, and your goal. Your attitude should be that you want to invest the best of yourself. Your goal should be that you wish to remove your obstructions, that you wish to grow, and that you wish to unfold the best that is in you. Your intent should be that you are ready to face whatever the truth in you may be. Then you must become still and wait calmly and receptively. If the answer does not come forth at once, then the proper way to go about it is to let it be until the answer will be there, possibly when you least expect it. For it is then that your mind is relaxed and thus makes receiving possible. When you are ready to receive both the best and the worst in you, and you are relaxed about both -- neither too over-eager nor too frightened -- then the manifestations can begin to appear. If you are equally receptive to both the best and the worst in you, and you are willing to understand both, then a harmonious, rhythmic, and organic process of growth will increasingly establish itself.

This alternating rhythm of initiating and of receiving, of becoming and of being is the pulse beat of your path. The balanced manifestations of pulsation can follow only after you first have observed and then temporarily accepted -- so as to understand the nature of it -- the unbalanced manifestations of the pulsation of your soul forces. As I said before, this brings you into the state in which tension is no longer painful, so that you do not alternate between pain and pleasure. Then these opposites will be reconciled and the pulsating movements of tension and of relaxation will be two different aspects of bliss.

Perhaps the best way to find your personal inner rhythm in this respect is when you think of the active pulse beat. For example, doing your best to overcome your fear to face something unpleasant; wanting to give the best you have in you so as to find your true identity; your desire to contribute to the process of evolution by your serious and total involvement with your growing process. On the other hand, all such inner acts and actions must be followed by periods of waiting. In other words, of waiting for when it is ready to come.

The more you find your own balanced rhythm in this respect, then the sooner a new vision will grow. This vision, this realization, will be that you live 95% of your conscious life not responding spontaneously, directly, and independently to what is, but that you react according to conditioned reflexes. At first this will be shocking. Then it will be liberating. For in this instant of recognition you will know that both life and the world begin to open up. I am not referring merely to opinions and views that you unknowingly or blindly echo because you are afraid of the responsibility of being true to your own opinions and your own views -- perhaps because you need the approval of others more than you believe you need your own approval. I am going beyond this more superficial level which we have discussed sufficiently in the past. I am referring to something deeper, and therefore more subtle. What I mean is that every life experience is not approached freshly. In other words, you are conditioned to think how you should feel about it. Let us assume that you see the color red. Most of the time you do not see it according to your own perception and to your own experience. You see it because you are indoctrinated with how you should see red. In other words, you have a preconceived idea. Or let us say that you see a tulip. The word -- the concept -- tulip is already a reflex. As a result, you do not experience the tulip as though you were being confronted with it for the first time. You can multiply this and you can compound this multiplication infinitely. Every aspect of life, every second of life, without exaggeration 95% of your experiences -- not only conceptual, but also sensuous experiences -- are not your own true reactions, which are free and spontaneous. They are preconceived reflexes. These are not only the results of what you picked up in this life, but also in many previous existences. In short, your psyche is filled with a collection of predigested experiences.

Most significant of all, and relevant to our topic here, is the experience of pain and of frustration. You are indocrinated for centuries -- nay, for millennia -- with the conviction that any frustration is painful. This is why it is so difficult to make the transition from the pleasure/pain pulse beat (tension/relaxation) to the liberated state, in which both tension and relaxation are different aspects or versions of pleasure. Unless frustration can be divested of its threat -- namely the false belief that it is dangerous, and therefore to be avoided at all costs -- so that the personality no longer cramps up and shrink into itself, then the free-flowing beat of the universe cannot be detected.

You are convinced that frustration is painful, that it is a threat, and perhaps even a danger. This belief makes you react to it in a way that actually produces a painful and dangerous state. My suggestion is that as you begin to observe yourself, and you thus learn to be receptive to what comes out of you, experiment with any frustration that comes along the next time. Say to yourself: "Here is pain. I will let myself feel this pain. Is it really as painful as I pretend?" I mean "pretend" in a deeper sense. When you convince yourself that this experience is painful, then you produce waves of pain by your reaction to it as if it were painful. Thus the tension becomes more painful than the pain itself. Once you watch your reaction from this point of view, then some strange experiences will come to you. You will learn to let the pain and the frustration be. You will let the movement of it be by itself. Little by little, you will experience how the pain turns into a pleasurable movement of pulsation. You will be capable of experiencing this only when you first let yourself be calm, observant, receptive to what is within you and then you accept what is within you. Usually the mind makes such frantic, struggling movements against the pain and the frustration that it is impossible to come to this experience. Usually you are too busy following your habit-bound conditioned reflexes in which you go on responding in one way to what you believe is good and responding in another way to what you believe is bad that you never experence life independently -- just as you never experience the real you, this individualization of the Divine. In other words, you never experience things as they really are. That means without any preconceived and predigested ideas, as well as without any preconceived and predigested sense reflexes. These are the illusions. These illusions can be penetrated only when you become active, initiative, and receptive to your own innermost being. Then you will alternate between knowing new material about yourself and about the world, and feeling both yourself and the world in a new way. You will come to know your true divine identity more and more. First it will reveal itself as an apparently "other self," manifesting from somewhere in you; then it will manifest by enlivening you more and more. Eventually you will know that it is you and that you are it.

May this lecture be the next guiding light for you to find your way into your hidden unconscious and learn to accept it as it manifests, so that the proper relationship of tension and relaxation in your whole approach to yourself can take place. This will make a big difference in your attitude to yourself. For example, it may teach you to accept yourself as you are. By having this basic acceptance, you will gather new momentum and new strength for surging forward even more. Your inner soul movements have to live this. It is never sufficient to merely know these principles, although knowing them is necessary and helpful in order to lead you into the inner climate where living them becomes possible. Calmly let yourself be and let yourself unfold.

Be blessed, my dear friends, in all your undertakings for your continuous growth. Each step forward that you take brings you nearer to the realization of who you really are and of what life really is -- a continuum that need never know the fear of death, a continuum of living and of rejoicing. Be in peace! Be God!

May 10, 1968