Questions And Answers

By The Pathwork Guide

Greetings. I bring you blessings. Blessed is this hour, my dearest friends.

All kinds of questions are welcome. But I should welcome particularly questions dealing with the subjects I discussed lately. You all need further understanding about these topics. The very fact that you have questions must indicate that your mind is active and searching.

QUESTION: Where is the borderline between compulsion and very strong desire?

ANSWER: The differentiation cannot be made generally. You can find it clearly within yourself only by the work you are doing on this path. But it can be said that when you simply have a strong desire, without compulsion, you can take it or leave it. No matter how strongly you may desire something, you are free to let go, if need be. A compulsion means that you have to do it; you cannot help doing it, even at a very disadvantageous price you are required to pay. This price may be emotional in character. And, if others or circumstances still prevent you from doing or getting what you compulsively need, this loss will seem out of all proportion. Intellectually you may know perfectly well that your desire is unreasonable in its force and subjective importance, yet you cannot help it. The only way to correct such an unfortunate and often very damaging situation is to find out what motivates the unconscious mind in the particular compulsion. Do you have anything particular in mind?

QUESTION: I am reminded of someone who as a young girl wanted very strongly to leave home. It is very difficult for me to find the difference between desire and compulsion in this case.

ANSWER: The desire may be the result of a compulsion. But the compulsion is not necessarily the fact of the desire to leave home. This desire in itself may be quite healthy, at least in some circumstances. This wish may be due to unhappiness, to predicaments one feels hopeless about solving. This creates the desire, which may be partly healthy and partly a means to escape the solution of one's inner conflicts. But the conflicts are never created entirely by others. They are always due to one's own inner disturbances in conjunction with the conflicts of the others. If this is understood, one may or may not leave home in this instance, depending on the circumstances. But one will try to find the inner root of the problem and eliminate the cause. Compulsion enters only when the cause is not understood. It does not apply to the fact of desiring to leave home. A compulsion can never be created by outer conditions alone. The outer conditions may merely bring the inner problems to the fore. The inner wrong condition sees to it that finally a wrong outer condition is also created. Otherwise, it would be too confusing and difficult to cope with the inner situation as long as one does not realize the basic facts of the soul, as you learn them here. The outer conditions are a convenient hitching post. The more unjust and crass they are, the more they can be used as rationalizations. That does not mean that one should never change the outer conditions as well. Rather, it may be that only after finding one's own unsolved conflicts does one have the strength and fortitude to follow through such an outer change. The more one desires something but is unable to follow it through, the more likely it is that the originally healthy wish turns compulsive. This is one form of compulsion. There are other forms, but they are not connected with your question, so we will not go into it now.

QUESTION: We know that often when we are asleep the spirit world teaches or tells us things. Is there any way of remembering them? Is there a way of training oneself to be more open to receive them consciously?

ANSWER: I would not say that there is a particular way, other than the one you are following. This path gradually makes you more aware of yourself and of spiritual truth as such. This increased awareness will bring out all the knowledge that is within yourself; and this includes knowledge that is given to you during sleep. Only by understanding yourself can given knowledge be fruitful. Otherwise, at best, it will have no effect. At worst, it might even harm you. By a systematic method of increased self-awareness there is naturally created a condition in which you are open to knowledge coming from within yourself. Instruction from the spirit world during your sleep is one form -- there are others, too. But you may not necessarily remember the instructions immediately or directly in the form they were given to you. You may not recollect "I was at a certain place and received certain information or advice or teaching." In fact, it rarely happens that way. The way you will remember it, without being aware as to how this new knowledge came to you, will be that sometime after this experience, you will come to certain new insights you did not encounter before. These insights are due to such an experience in the spirit world (but not necessarily all the time), which experience in the spirit world is due to your past good efforts. It is a positive chain reaction.

If your entire attitude and direction in life is geared to self-development, then knowledge will come out of you at certain periods of your life. But it has to come out of your own psyche, whether due to spirit instruction during sleep, or whether your higher self can penetrate and manifest into your consciousness. In a way, they are both interacting; and amount to the same.

Often an inventor or artist wakes up with a new idea or conclusion. The idea is there; he does not recollect clearly how he came by it. He simply has that new knowledge because, in this one direction at least, his soul is open to tap the vast universal or cosmic knowledge at the disposal of everyone, provided the necessary inner conditions are met. It comes out of the depth of his being. In the depth of being is the whole universe. The adoption of a method to recollect instructions would limit, would cast aside, what should be accomplished inwardly. It would not be healthy.

Concentrate on your endeavors to develop yourself. Concentrate in your prayers on finding the truth about yourself, on the realization of what you need to know at any given stage of your path. Everything else takes care of itself. In some ways the help will be given by strengthening the power of recollection of your spiritual experiences during sleep, although rarely as an incident. Or help may be given by making work a little easier for you at times -- when this should be. Or something another person says may lead you to a crucial new insight. There are many ways in which increased self-awareness can come.

The concept of approaching contact with the spirit world -- whether outwardly or in the form mentioned now -- that the spirit world hands out knowledge that should be gained from within, is a great misunderstanding. Such knowledge given must always lead you finally to your own contact with Divine Truth. If help, instruction, and teaching do not have this clearly as the aim, then it is unhealthy. It should be understood clearly by all who seek such contact in any way.

So often contact with the spirit world is also sought for avoiding certain human difficulties that other people, less privileged, do not avoid. This approach also is very wrong. It must not be. The privilege you can gain, however, provided the contact is a divine one, is a more vigorous and constructive help showing you the way out of your prison. You will earn this privilege by your own efforts in this direction, for, as you well know, it is not always easy. But contact with the spirit world must not and cannot be a shortcut to save you from the labor and pain of self-development.

QUESTION: Bearing in mind that Adam and Eve in Genesis stem from the masculine and feminine, that is, the active and passive aspects of the Spirit, why is it that it is the feminine and passive aspect that is shown taking the first step toward the Fall of the Spirit?

ANSWER: There is a very deep symbolism in that, my friends. In a forthcoming general lecture I shall deal with man and woman -- and you will surely find this question answered then. But I may now say a few words on the subject, at least enough to give you some clarification responsive to your question. There is a great error in human thinking concerning the supposed difference between man and woman. For you the difference is so great that it is like a different world. You often feel discouraged because to bridge the gap between the sexes seems impossible. For man the ways of thinking and feeling of a woman are en enigma, and vice versa. They both battle along in their separate worlds. The only way they can at times unify is by their need for each other. However, in actual truth, the difference is not half as much as it is thought. Woman is a "reversal" of man, and man a "reversal" of woman, if I may put it that way. Man manifests an active current, whereas woman is more passive. Where man is more passive, the woman is more active. In both cases, it is the other side of the coin, so to speak. The outer active side is passive inwardly, and vice versa. This applies not only to activity and passivity, but also to other trends that may be thought of as "typically" male or "typically" female.

There is the notion that the male is more intellectual, the female more intuitive. Even that is a misconception, at least originally. If it often works out that way, it is because mankind has lived so long in this mass image that only one side was developed and encouraged in each sex. But I will go into more detail in the lecture on that subject. By nature, both qualities are present in each sex and could and should be developed equally in both.

Even physically and anatomically the male is the obverse of the female, and the female is the reverse of the male. Understanding the anatomy of the body should transfer into a deeper understanding of the emotional side of this question too. For the body is always a symbol for the spirit and the psyche.

Now, to come back to your question: the symbolism shown in Eve taking the active part, thereby being responsible for the Fall, brings several factors to our attention. Activity as such is not wrong for a woman. No more than passivity, as such, is wrong for a man. But if a healthy active current is suppressed, then it will go into a wrong current and become destructive. The same with a repressed active current, where an unhealthy, compulsive activity is superimposed. Both sexes have been afflicted by the long-existing mass images in this respect, to which they adhered out of their own disturbed souls. If both sexes are not allowed to develop freely according to their very own natures, considering the person rather than the sex, then it will have very harmful effects.

The incident of Adam and Eve is not to be taken as historical fact but as a symbol. Now, Eve symbolizes the idea that activity becomes destructive if not allowed to function openly and healthily. By the same token, Adam too was as much at fault by being too passive in a wrong and destructive way. He was passive where he should have been active, while Eve was active where she should have been passive. This symbolism does not show that men should be entirely active and women entirely passive. This is a gross misunderstanding, and is also illogical. For, Adam and Eve symbolize original human entities, the first ones with all basic qualities present before the Fall. If before the Fall activity were present in the woman and passivity in the man, then it was meant to be that way, and it is only a question as to how these forces work and manifest. If mankind had properly understood this deep symbolism, it would not have suppressed a valid part of the personality in each sex. It merely regarded Eve's activity as wrong and then concluded that activity as such is damaging for womanhood. The symbolic incident with Adam and Eve shows that active and passive currents are present, to begin with, in both sexes, but harmful when misdirected.

You understand? Does that make sense to you?

QUESTION: Yes, it does, if I think of Adam as the symbol of man and of Eve as the symbol of woman. But I thought that the actual symbolism represented was not a symbolic man and woman, but the symbol of the active and passive elements as such.

ANSWER: No. Adam and Eve represent much more than merely the active and passive elements. They actually symbolize manhood and womanhood, with all their various aspects. The explanation I just gave is one of many interpretations. It exclusively referred to activity and passivity. But many other interpretations of this symbolism can be given on other levels, dealing with other aspects of the two sexes. So Adam and Eve represent much more than merely activity and passivity.

QUESTION: Now, may I put it this way? To me Eve seems to be one step closer to the Fall. Why is that?

ANSWER: This is not due to activity, but due to other trends. Woman has always emphasized her intuitive forces and neglected her intellectual capacities. Inquisitiveness and intellectual curiosity is considered a male element, manifesting constructively in the activities of a scientist, for instance, while woman is more spiritually inclined. This has been built up by society. But both elements exist in both sexes. When Eve was found to be more immediately responsible for the Fall, it was again shown that intellectual curiosity exists in woman too. Only when this is suppressed, and thereby mischanneled, can it be harmful. If curiosity can express legitimately and combine with the intellectual faculties, in both sexes, then something creative and constructive can evolve. Now, I know it is not shown clearly that activity and intellectual curiosity were suppressed in Eve. But it is shown that they were inherently present. And when something is present by nature, then it must be valid, provided it is properly channeled.

And then there is something else. Just because woman is more intuitively inclined, she is more open to the spiritual forces. Therefore she can attain greater heights, but, just because of that, she can also reach greater depths.

QUESTION: Communism, particularly as taught and practiced by the Russians and Chinese, seems such a terrifying threat, also for spiritual development. Would you discuss the place of such Communism in the Plan of salvation? And also, how should we feel towards the threatening Russians and Chinese?

ANSWER: The most important preliminary is the understanding of cause and effect. If you view any phenomenon in your world as an isolated happening, separated from other events that have led up to it by reaction and counter-reaction, through cause and effect, one extreme calling forth an opposite extreme, then you will never gain true insight. This applies to general world conditions or events, as well as to man's personal life. In order to eliminate an evil, one first has to see what wrong brought on this evil. For, it cannot be otherwise. Evil can only be created out of evil. It cannot be created out of good. One wrong condition breeds another, unless it is corrected. The same can be observed in a great many other aspects of life.

Just about all you can do about it is to gain a true outlook and understanding. This will help more than you think. If you wish to correct the evils of this world, you can do a great deal by first changing yourself. Only then will success come upon certain outer actions any individual may undertake in order to contribute to the good of mankind as a whole. Otherwise, they will not be successful, that is, lastingly and profoundly successful. If the heart of man does not change, nothing will ever be accomplished for mankind as a whole, no matter what mass measures will be taken. This applies particularly to those who are instrumental in bettering the world: whose task it is to lead nations. The greatest evil of earth life is always and always the individual's over-emphasis on outer actions, while ignoring and neglecting the inner motivations and reactions, thereby being a prey to his own immature and selfish nature.

Does that answer your question?

QUESTION: There was just one other thought in my mind. The great materialism of this tremendous power might be a block to the spiritual development. It might hinder the Plan of Salvation.

ANSWER: Nothing can ever stop the Plan of Salvation from coming to its fulfillment. It is only a question of time -- and from our view the difference of time, called forth by the free will of man, is rather unsubstantial. It is calculated into the overall Plan of Salvation that man is bound to create negative circumstances by his limited view. But the very result of this limited view -- the negative circumstances -- are most instrumental in waking man to the truth. Sometimes he cannot wake up and even wish for truth, unless he has gone through the hardship he himself created by his ignorance or distortion of truth. In order to be happy, you have first to be in truth. But you cannot be in truth unless you know you are not, and then desire to search for it. This knowledge that you are not in truth, and the consequent desire to search for it, cannot come to man unless he is left to taste the result of his ignorance. The same applies to the individual. All this is taken into consideration in the Plan of Salvation.

The fear that damage can come to you by the wrongdoing of others is a basic misunderstanding of life. Yes, passing disadvantages can come to you. That is true, but even these must have a corresponding element within yourself. Otherwise, you could not even be affected superficially. As far as your spiritual nature is concerned (and this includes the overall Plan of Salvation), nothing can ever happen to you. The personal knowledge and experience of this truth is bound to come to you as you enter upon this path. We shall deal with this question more conclusively in the near future.

QUESTION: I have a question from a friend who wanted to know about the newly discovered Gospel According to St. Thomas. Are you willing to answer that question? He wants to know whether it is genuine, whether it is a real Logos Jesus, or whether it is any kind of apocryphal copy.

ANSWER: I would say, from out vantage point, that this does not make any difference. This would be interesting only from an historical point of view. With that we are not concerned. Our aim is to further light and life. Your determination and judgment should be governed as to its truth, its value, regardless of by whom said. There are many who have and have had access to divine wisdom. You should question, rather, whether the sayings are in the spirit of Jesus Christ. It is not necessary that it be actually said by Him. This would be important only historically, and possibly for the scholar, but spiritually it has no importance. From a point of view of growth and personal independence, it should be encouraged that you learn to evaluate something as to what is said, rather than who said it.

QUESTION: There is one point to it, however, which has merit. And that is, there are a few statements allegedly spoken by Jesus which are very cryptic and which do not correspond to the other Gospel statements.

ANSWER: I will be very happy to discuss such statements.

COMMENT: All right, I shall bring three or four along. There are a dozen or so which almost sound paradoxical. This raises the question of authority as to whether or not one should go into it.

ANSWER: That can never do any harm. Since, as I understand, you will arrange sessions for questions and answers exclusively, such questions may be very good material. Let us discuss it together.

QUESTION: In accordance with the teaching we receive, I wonder how it is possible that the world is now in fear of excessive growth of population, of population explosion?

ANSWER: If mankind would manage better with the planet at its disposal, there would be plenty of room for all to come. Perhaps the very fact that more and more people are coming is a measure to teach mankind to fully utilize all it has. If man would learn to live in peace with his neighbor, he could exploit boundless resources that he now uses for unnecessary and destructive purposes. Moreover, he would discover many resources and possibilities that are still closed to him and which would give many, many more people the possibility to live on earth. That is the lesson to learn. If it is learned properly, it will bring benefit to all. If it is not learned, then man will have to go through added hardship before he can find the solution that lies right in front of him if he turns in the right direction. Let me assure your that Planet Earth could nourish and accommodate many, many more people than you now have. All could live in a much happier state than now prevails.

Let me extend divine blessings to all of you. Receive the light and the strength that we want to give each one of you for the fullness of life and to help you overcome your inner obstacles. Be in peace. Be in God.

The Guide
by Eva Pierrakos
February 19, 1960

Back