These quotes from Pathwork Lectures can be used for personal reflection — one quote or reading to be with for a day or a week. I shall be adding to them regularly. They are a page or two in length. Open them by clicking on the title. Enjoy. Remember, go to the entire lecture to get the full teaching. (Note the downloads are in PDF format)
(Note: All Pathwork writings are copyrighted by the International Pathwork Foundation. Please honor said copyright)
You Have What You Long For
This quote from Pathwork Lecture 172 The Life Energy Centers reminds us that we already have what we long for. It is part of our essence waiting to manifest.
The Central Purpose of Pathwork
This beautiful quote from Pathwork Lecture 167 Frozen Life Center Becomes Alive succinctly states the central purpose of Pathwork. Enjoy.
Being Happy for the Purpose of Making Happy
These words from Pathwork Lecture 39 Image-Finding and 166 Perceiving, Reacting, Expressing, we see that happiness is not our goal in life but rather a byproduct and a means by which we contribute to and enable the happiness and fulfillment of others.
Necessity of Pain and Disharmonies for our Awakening
This quote from Pathwork Lecture #84 Love, Power, Serenity as Divine Attributes and as Distortions helps us understand, accept, and even to welcome the pain and disharmonies we experience in our lives. We come to realize that pains and disharmonies are lessons key and necessary for our growth, enabling us first to see life more truthfully and then motivating us to give up our old strategies of escape. Growth and awakening happen as we organically grow through the pain, seeing our role in creating it through our old pseudo-solutions to life’s pains.
Getting to Know Our Real Values
This quote from Pathwork Lecture #84 Love, Power, Serenity as Divine Attributes and as Distortions helps us discover our real values underneath the layers of our idealized Self Image defenses and their concomitant false values. This quote also speaks to the slow process of our growth.
Self Mastery
This quote from Pathwork Lecture #84 Love, Power, Serenity as Divine Attributes and as Distortions speaks to self mastery.
Facing Real Needs
The popular Non-Violent Communications program developed by Marshall Rosenberg is based upon understanding how one’s needs affect emotions. When needs are met, life is good, emotions positive. When needs are not met, life is bad, emotions negative. This quote from Lecture 100 Meeting the Pain of Destructive Patterns distinguishes mature needs from immature needs and is a complementary teaching that looks more deeply at our needs as human beings. It invites us to inquiry concerning our needs.
The Path of Pathwork
Pathwork Lecture 204 What Is The Path is the standard lecture used to explain Pathwork. However I found this passage from Pathwork Lecture 100 Meeting the Pain of Destructive Patterns to be very helpful for laying out some of the realities of the path of Pathwork. It speaks to the time and pain of crossing the threshold into emotional adulthood. For me it is the Grail myth version of Pathwork, speaking to Parsifal’s life experiences in his quest for the Holy Grail.
Soul vs. Spirit
In this quote from Pathwork Lecture 50 The Vicious Circle, a clear and concise definition of the Soul is given. It is described as a subtle body, our feeling body, our true inner personality, as distinguished from Spirit (our Divine Spark or Essence) or our physical body. It also describes our Soul leaving our body during sleep.
Desirelessness, Healthy and Unhealthy
Desirelessness can be very tricky, sometimes healthy and at other times life-and-love-denying, and hence unhealthy. This quote from Pathwork Lecture #39 Image Finding provides some helpful perspectives on this topic.
Happiness, Selfishness, and Prayer
This beautiful quote distinguishes happiness from selfishness and suggests the way to healthy unselfish prayer that inevitably leads to happiness, but happiness as a byproduct rather than as a direct answer to a prayer for happiness. It is from Pathwork Lecture #39 Image-Finding.
Ups and Downs in the Spiritual Journey
This helpful quote from Pathwork Lecture #39 Image-Finding gives us perspective for facing the vicissitudes of our spiritual life, times when we feel close to God and our Essence and times when we do not.
Pain of Unfulfillment
Quote from Pathwork Lecture 100 Meeting the Pain of Destructive Patterns. When we see areas in our lives where we are unfulfilled, this lecture invites us to feel this pain and trace it back to where the defenses against feeling this pain got set in our young lives. By releasing these defenses – patterns, images, wrong conclusions, etc. – slowly, over time, more fulfillment can emerge.
Christmas
The Pathwork Lectures began with Number 1 on March 11, 1957. The first Christmas lecture was Lecture #19 given on December 20, 1957 and for the first time introduces Jesus Christ into the Pathwork. The second Christmas lecture was given on December 19, 1958 and was titled Christmas Blessings – Objectivity and Subjectivity. Lecture #19 and sections from #42 make for an interesting Christmas reading.
Seeing Grave Faults in Others
A beautiful and practical quote from Pathwork Lecture 42 Christmas Blessings – Objectivity and Subjectivity. This applies to situations when I see a grave fault in another. This quote also gives a useful practice for working with such energy within oneself.
Listening to our Higher Selves
This quote from Pathwork Lecture 11 Self-Knowledge – the Great Plan – The Spirit World speaks to listening to our Higher Selves or to our Spirit Guides, the difference and purpose for each channel to God
Personal Spirit Guides
An interesting quote from Pathwork Lecture 11 Self-Knowledge – The Great Plan – The Spirit World on one’s personal Spirit Guides
Living in the Jungle of Life
This quote from Pathwork Lecture 36 – Prayer gives an interesting overview of Life
The Practice of Prayer and Meditation
This excellent 7-page overview of the practice of prayer and meditation is from Pathwork Lecture 36 – Prayer
Facing Painful Situations
A helpful and balanced quote from Pathwork Lecture 58 – The Desire for Happiness and the Desire for Unhappiness. Yes, as we mature Pain and Pleasure increasingly become one, but do not strive for this state. Rather focus on lessons that are there for us in each painful situation. This is the world we are in just now, and the purpose of pain.
Spiritual Tests and Warfare
Quote from Pathwork Lecture 33 Occupation with Self — Right and Wrong Faith
A Challenge in Early Stages of Enlightenment
Quote from Pathwork Lecture 33 Occupation with Self — Right and Wrong Faith
Facing Doubts, Faith by Grace And Work
Quote from Pathwork Lecture 33 Occupation with Self — Right and Wrong Faith
Modeling Change to Effect Change in Others
Quote from Pathwork Lecture 33 Occupation with Self – Right and Wrong Faith for using self-change as a model to help others change.
Right Use of Time
This quote on the right use of time is from Pathwork Lecture 112 Humanity’s Relationship to Time. Exercise: During events of the day keep a journal of moments of frustration, anxiety, anger, depression, disharmony, and the like. Then do your personal work of getting to the roots of these negative moods and emotions in your life. This, the lecture says, is the right use of time.
Patience Required in Transforming Lower Self
Quote from Pathwork Lecture 31 – Shame. It shows the long time, patience and humility required for true transformation of entrenched and stubborn Lower Self faults that block the emanations from our Higher Self.
Key to Happiness
An interesting quote on the key ingredient in one’s pursuit of happiness from Pathwork Lecture 31
Ambition and Productivity
As an Enneagram THREE-type (Achiever), I take in these words (in both their positive and negative sense) from Pathwork Lecture 32 Decision-Making
Multiple Deep Relationships
This is a quote from Lecture 106 Sadness Versus Depression — Relationship
When I See a Shortcoming in Another
This is a quote from Pathwork Lecture 32 Decision-Making.
Opening to Change and Movement
This set of quotes from Pathwork Lecture 203 was part of the basis of a Sevenoaks Helper Retreat on October 18, 2009. It builds on the opening line: Movement is one of the essential byproducts of aliveness, of the unitive state.
Facing What We Cannot Change
This set of quotes from Pathwork Lecture 51 is the complementary set to the quotes from Pathwork Lecture 203 above and was also used in the Sevenoaks Helper Retreat on October 18, 2009. It deals with facing what we cannot change.
Relating and Relationship
Quote from Pathwork Lecture 106 Sadness Versus Depression — Relationship. Establishes that Living is Relating. Even negative relating is more alive than not relating and being in isolation.
Decision-Making
A helpful quote on making decisions from Pathwork Lecture 32 Decision-Making
Personal Relationship with Jesus Christ
A beautiful quote from Pathwork Lecture 258.
Healing Physical Illnesses
A Quote from Pathwork Lecture 14 on healing physical illnesses — showing this temporal goal of being healed to be of secondary importance to the process of growth and the true purpose of personal and spiritual development in its own right.
What is a Human Being?
A quote from Pathwork Lecture 101 on the complexity and intricacies of each of us as human beings.
Eastern and Western Spirituality and Philosophy
Quote from Pathwork Lecture 14 regarding the differences and importance of both Eastern and Western modes of spirituality
Role of Making Affirmations
Quote from Pathwork Lecture 56 describing the possible usefulness of affirmations as well as their limitations when it comes to deeper issues. (My take on this)
War and Capital Punishment
This quote from Pathwork Lecture 29 speaks to the role and present inevitability of war when humankind, in its current state of duality, is so filled with lower self aspects. The solution to war is not to not go to war but to heal those aspects of the souls of humankind that lead to war in the first place. We do this by raising the consciousness of the planet over time.
Following Truth, Not Charisma
This quote from Pathwork Lecture 30 speaks to personal freedom when following truth rather than charismatic leaders or organizations. It relates to my Pathworker’s Blog for October 20.
Attitude for Being In Service
This quote from Pathwork Lecture 27 gives some pointers to those of us who feel a calling to be in service to God and the planet.
Dealing with Disagreeable Circumstances and People
This quote from Pathwork Lecture 51 offers guidance for dealing with people and circumstances that are challenging for us, people who seem to always hurt us in some way or circumstances that are simply not fair in our book.
Facing Fear
This quote is from Pathwork Lecture 168 and deals with facing fear.
Death
This quote if from Pathwork Lecture 168 and deals with attitudes toward Death
Competition
These quotes are from Pathwork Lectures 148 and 219 and deal with competition among members of a Pathwork community
Living Spontaneously from our Core
Quote from Pathwork Lecture 155, fearlessly living from our core, experiencing our pleasure, our love, AND our anger
Preparing for Conflicts and Battle
Pathwork Lecture 203 gives us excellent counsel when we are facing challenging situations, conflicts, or people. I have applied this and found it both practical and helpful. Just go into a potentially bothersome situation asking, “So how, specifically, will my PRIDE, SELF-WILL, and FEAR show up here?” Consciousness and anticipation of one’s own defense structure is very helpful in preventing unconscious reacting. One can then have alternatives in mind and use them, as this quote suggests.
Prayer
This quote from Lecture 105 is a beautiful summary of the evolution of our prayer life as we pass through our own development, including our possible stages of conscious or unconscious atheism. (This material is also illustrated in a presentation in the Presentation section of this website — under “Personal Support”)
Daily Review
The daily review (sometimes called inquiry or daily log) is a powerful and necessary practice by which we come to know our true selves. These quotes from Pathwork Lectures 27 and 29 beautifully describe this process and its purpose.
Where to Begin Our Pathwork
This quote from Lecture 27 suggests that the place to begin our Pathwork is with our problems and areas in our life where we are not fulfilled or satisfied. We then come to see how our attitudes and behavior have contributed to our problems and take responsibility for them.
Accepting What Is, Without Resignation
How do we accept what is without resignation? This quote from Pathwork Lecture 29 speaks to this.
So It’s All God’s Fault, Right?
Oh how we like to blame God for problems in our life and the lives of others and on the planet! This quote from Pathwork Lecture 29 puts this in perspective.
Making Decisions in Life
This quote from Lecture 29 helps us make decisions in life by sorting out our pure motivations from our many false motivations.
Importance of Forming Independent Opinions
This is a long quote from Pathwork Lecture 51 by that same title. I include it all because it has been important to me. It speaks to all that clouds our opinions, the stakes we have in them and how our emotions sometimes play an important role.
Living Life Between Dropping Fake Love and realizing Authentic Love – Learning True Love
This quote from Lecture 51 (¶44-46) gives us very practical advice on how to live our lives between our early growth stage of recognizing and dropping our Love Mask (unsustained by inner authentic love feelings) and then, much later, free from much of our Lower Selves, living our True and Authentic Love from our Higher Selves. The lecture shows that this is how we learn to love from our hearts!