| Prescribed..................9 | |
| it by one single measure, by a certain prescribed formula, but it is a new way of | 24 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS |
| feel, act and express in a way generally prescribed by your environment. One of the most common | 68 SUPPRESSION OF POSITIVE AND CREATIVE TENDENCIES - THOUGHT PROCESSES |
| insecurity than being egocentric. Egocentricity calls for fixed, prescribed behavior patterns and rules, however subtly and vaguely | 85 DISTORTIONS OF THE INSTINCTS OF SELF-PRESERVATION AND PROCREATION |
| and self-responsibility by forcing man to obey certain prescribed rules. Between these two, apparently mutually exclusive concepts | 105 HUMANITY'S RELATIONSHIP TO GOD IN VARIOUS STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT |
| cannot be imitated or learned through any teachings, prescribed practices, or disciplines. It is the natural outcome | 105 HUMANITY'S RELATIONSHIP TO GOD IN VARIOUS STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT |
| because its messages may diverge from the way prescribed. They wish to avoid confrontation and decision between | 116 REACHING THE SPIRITUAL CENTER-STRUGGLE BETWEEN LOWER SELF AND SUPERIMPOSED CONSCIENCE |
| assume self-responsibility instead of trying to fit into prescribed rules. Your own cosmic attunement can unfold only | 131 INTERACTION BETWEEN EXPRESSION AND IMPRESSION |
| delicate balances cannot possibly be determined in a prescribed way. Yet the outer intellect is an instrument | 138 THE HUMAN PREDICAMENT OF DESIRE FOR, AND FEAR OF, CLOSENESS |
| put yourself into a tight little box of prescribed behavior and values that is not the true | 187 (THE WAY TO HANDLE) ALTERNATION OF EXPANSIVE AND CONTRACTING STATES |
| Present-day.................8 | |
| the Sabbath holy in the face of our present-day obligations? ANSWER: This statement has many meanings on | 63 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS |
| and enslaved in what is called, in your present-day human terminology, a neurotic situation. All neurosis is | 92 REPRESSED NEEDS - RELINQUISHING BLIND NEEDS - PRIMARY AND SECONDARY REACTIONS |
| of identification more directly. To a degree, your present-day psychology has, of course, addressed this subject, but | 113 IDENTIFICATION WITH THE SELF |
| what extent they are influenced in all their present-day dealings by their past. Even among you, my | 115 PERCEPTION, DETERMINATION, LOVE AS ASPECTS OF CONSCIOUSNESS |
| when this shock reaction is recreated in your present-day reactions. Starting from there you will gradually learn | 167 FROZEN LIFE CENTER BECOMES ALIVE |
| even inanimate matter, as you now know from present-day science, has an intrinsic life and incredible movement | 174 SELF-ESTEEM |
| mutual revealing. I might say that the average present-day human being fluctuates somewhere between the two extremes | 180 THE SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIP |
| embodied itself. The most sophisticated computer of your present-day science could never figure out all these details | 216 CONNECTION BETWEEN THE INCARNATORY PROCESS AND THE LIFE TASK |
| Presenting..................7 | |
| spirit world has many ways of working and presenting necessary knowledge to you. Establishing contact is always | 11 SELF-KNOWLEDGE -- THE GREAT PLAN -- THE SPIRIT WORLD |
| when you visualize the three selves I am presenting here. To lie to oneself and not think | 14 THE HIGHER SELF, THE LOWER SELF, AND THE MASK |
| Play a game, imagine your life depends on presenting a convincing case for the other person. The | 48 THE LIFE FORCE IN THE UNIVERSE |
| trend presents the expectations of that environment, thus presenting a double problem. Needless to say, these problems | 65 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS |
| seem justified. For you can always succeed in presenting your life to yourself and to others as | 157 INFINITE POSSIBILITIES OF EXPERIENCE HINDERED BY EMOTIONAL DEPENDENCY |
| the mind to explore the truths I am presenting to you here. For your fear stems from | 226 APPROACH TO SELF -- SELF-FORGIVENESS WITHOUT CONDONING THE LOWER SELF |
| is the greatest joy. Only when you risk presenting whatever is in you now, will you know | 252 PRIVACY AND SECRECY |
| Presently...................6 | |
| of any importance to discuss? ANSWER: No, not presently. Perhaps at a later date. QUESTION: In the | 24 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS |
| force is badly needed but where you are presently too weak. Why? Not because less strength has | 29 THE FORCES OF ACTIVITY AND PASSIVITY -- FINDING GOD'S WILL |
| of wanting to be more perfect than you presently are, you have begun to face yourself in | 47 THE WALL WITHIN |
| of fear and distrust, but are simply one's presently active potentials in this respect. Your present readiness | 122 SELF-FULFILLMENT THROUGH SELF-REALIZATION AS MAN OR WOMAN |
| reconcile and complement each other. I shall explain presently how these apparent opposites are all true. Let | 197 ENERGY AND CONSCIOUSNESS IN DISTORTION: EVIL |
| lives to a much larger degree than you presently realize. Here and there you see some of | 215 PSYCHIC NUCLEAR POINTS CONTINUED -- PROCESS IN THE NOW |
| Presents....................29 | |
| often experience this analogy in dreams. The picture presents various aspects of life: the sea can be | 1 THE SEA OF LIFE |
| ignore a good part of them, and this presents a great hurdle, even for those who have | 11 SELF-KNOWLEDGE -- THE GREAT PLAN -- THE SPIRIT WORLD |
| at least in some respects. This mask self presents to us a very ugly color, my dear | 14 THE HIGHER SELF, THE LOWER SELF, AND THE MASK |
| be difficult not to steal. For another, this presents no difficulty whatsoever, while not losing her temper | 18 FREE WILL |
| -- your fears of life as it actually presents itself, your fears of pain and disappointment. To | 36 PRAYER |
| Blessed is this hour. The material world constantly presents you with obstacles that prevent you from seeing | 39 IMAGE-FINDING |
| expectations of a particular environment. Thereby each trend presents the expectations of that environment, thus presenting a | 65 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS |
| superior. The co-existence of these mutually exclusive ways presents a particular hardship for the psyche. Needless to | 83 THE IDEALIZED SELF-IMAGE |
| want to repeat that what I say here presents only a general outline. The pseudo-solution has to | 86 THE INSTINCTS OF SELF-PRESERVATION AND PROCREATION IN CONFLICT |
| others fall in with it. But if life presents certain obstacles, not permitting one of these attempted | 86 THE INSTINCTS OF SELF-PRESERVATION AND PROCREATION IN CONFLICT |
| the benefit of this kind of daydreaming? It presents symptoms from which much insight can be gained | 98 WISHFUL DAYDREAMS |
| great need for fulfillment and love that non-fulfillment presents a special fear and threat. Their remedy is | 107 THREE ASPECTS THAT PREVENT LOVING |
| a few examples of how life on earth presents itself in two-way splits. Humankind thus expresses a | 118 DUALITY THROUGH ILLUSION -- TRANSFERENCE |
| but realistic hope, justified because a clear way presents itself, a concrete possibility, for choosing liberation. Knowing | 127 EVOLUTION'S FOUR STAGES: AUTOMATIC REFLEXES, AWARENESS, UNDERSTANDING, KNOWING |
| the more you break through the barrier which presents reality as much harder and harsher than it | 129 WINNER VERSUS LOSER: INTERPLAY BETWEEN THE SELF AND CREATIVE FORCES |
| And you must repeat the process. Each juncture presents different roadblocks to recognize and eliminate. Each time | 137 BALANCE OF INNER AND OUTER CONTROL |
| live in manifests the positive, the negative, and presents a combination of the two. All these exist | 140 CONFLICT OF POSITIVE VERSUS NEGATIVE ORIENTED PLEASURE AS THE ORIGIN OF PAIN |
| but it is much more than that. It presents itself whenever a person is in flux, when | 141 RETURN TO THE ORIGINAL LEVEL OF PERFECTION |
| may strike you as cliched. Perhaps the answer presents itself that you are more vulnerable to hurt | 146 POSITIVE CONCEPT OF LIFE-FEARLESSNESS TO LOVE-BALANCE BETWEEN ACTIVITY AND PASSIVITY |
| never taken away from another. The dualistic misconception presents innumerable problems. It not only creates envy, but | 148 POSITIVITY AND NEGATIVITY: ONE ENERGY CURRENT |
| an open attitude whenever the opportunity in life presents itself -- and this always happens, again and | 151 INTENSITY: AN OBSTACLE TO SELF-REALIZATION |
| conscious attitudes, opinions, thoughts and feelings. This discrepancy presents a major block, for the unconsciously held material | 151 INTENSITY: AN OBSTACLE TO SELF-REALIZATION |
| least. It contains everything. However, this wonderful immediacy presents problems at first, because you believe that all | 175 CONSCIOUSNESS: FASCINATION WITH CREATION |
| It is never a destructive impulse itself that presents the real damage and harm, but always the | 184 THE MEANING OF EVIL AND ITS TRANSCENDENCE |
| millennia -- not just decades. Each life incarnation presents the task of cleansing yourself by experiencing and | 190 IMPORTANCE OF EXPERIENCING ALL FEELINGS, INCLUDING FEAR - DYNAMIC STATE OF LAZINESS |
| straightened out. As you know, human language itself presents difficulties and limitations, so that misunderstandings can easily | 193 RÉSUMÉ OF THE BASIC PRINCIPLES OF THE PATHWORK: ITS AIM AND PROCESS |
| through each alternation, each fulfills a purpose and presents a lesson. This constitutes a third spiral within | 225 EVOLUTIONARY STAGES OF INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP CONSCIOUSNESS |
| this in every issue that comes up, that presents a problem inwardly or outwardly, in your feeling | 242 THE SPIRITUAL MEANING OF POLITICAL SYSTEMS |
| is greeted with rebellion against the authority that presents you with what seems to break the tradition | 246 TRADITION: ITS DIVINE AND DISTORTED ASPECTS |
| Preservation................10 | |
| static principle in its positive aspect stands for preservation. At first sight it may seem the same | 55 THREE COSMIC PRINCIPLES: THE EXPANDING, THE RESTRICTING, AND THE STATIC PRINCIPLES |
| applying it properly to the self; and rest, preservation -- gathering of new momentum for the preparation | 55 THREE COSMIC PRINCIPLES: THE EXPANDING, THE RESTRICTING, AND THE STATIC PRINCIPLES |
| the exception of the healthy instinct of self- preservation, are based on illusion and misconception. When you | 75 THE GREAT TRANSITION IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT FROM ISOLATION TO UNION |
| this is not so. The instinct of self- preservation, if unblurred by all layers of ignorance, would | 76 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS (Compiled from Private Sessions and Earlier Lectures) |
| typical example of how the instinct of self- preservation shifts into a wrong channel and manifests erroneously | 85 DISTORTIONS OF THE INSTINCTS OF SELF-PRESERVATION AND PROCREATION |
| activity. Yet when the distorted instinct of self- preservation operates, inner or outer action that in itself | 85 DISTORTIONS OF THE INSTINCTS OF SELF-PRESERVATION AND PROCREATION |
| character distortions that the distorted instinct of self- preservation ordinarily brings in its wake. I discussed this | 86 THE INSTINCTS OF SELF-PRESERVATION AND PROCREATION IN CONFLICT |
| too, it was first a question of self- preservation rather than a matter of inner feeling. The | 120 THE INDIVIDUAL AND HUMANITY |
| social conscience developed from the instinct of self- preservation. But mere expedience dictates this kind of conscience | 165 EVOLUTIONARY PHASES IN RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN REALMS OF FEELINGS, REASON, AND WILL |
| subterfuges and excuses are very necessary for the preservation of the ego. But failure in the relationship | 185 MUTUALITY: A COSMIC PRINCIPLE AND LAW |
| Preserve....................29 | |
| have to give up insisting that you must preserve your dignity at all cost, but exactly because | 4 WORLD WEARINESS |
| will honor the grace of this communication and preserve the teachings in their cleanliness. Do not ever | 54 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS |
| may relate the work on the path to preserve and further the health of our bodies. Would | 70 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS |
| and happiness when in fact you struggle to preserve your separateness, were cleared up it would make | 75 THE GREAT TRANSITION IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT FROM ISOLATION TO UNION |
| erroneously. Your soul believes that in order to preserve its life and safety, you have to fight | 85 DISTORTIONS OF THE INSTINCTS OF SELF-PRESERVATION AND PROCREATION |
| the psyche falsely believes that being self-centered will preserve its safety, or satisfy its craving. Nothing can | 85 DISTORTIONS OF THE INSTINCTS OF SELF-PRESERVATION AND PROCREATION |
| danger, you use all your defense mechanisms to preserve your status as a lovable human being. You | 101 THE DEFENSE |
| unconsciously imposes. They will let go and quietly preserve their integrity. Only when both are fighting as | 106 SADNESS VERSUS DEPRESSION -- RELATIONSHIP |
| it. Such an attitude discloses an attempt to preserve the false picture of saintliness by extreme distress | 110 HOPE AND FAITH AND OTHER KEY CONCEPTS DISCUSSED IN ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS |
| is behind it and why you wish to preserve it. You have a right to maintain it | 110 HOPE AND FAITH AND OTHER KEY CONCEPTS DISCUSSED IN ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS |
| whole nucleus does not work out. When you preserve this constructive element, you do not recall each | 120 THE INDIVIDUAL AND HUMANITY |
| happen in an ever so subtle way. Please preserve the questions that come up spontaneously after these | 124 THE LANGUAGE OF THE UNCONSCIOUS |
| from the false negative conviction that they must preserve themselves if they are not to be annihilated | 138 THE HUMAN PREDICAMENT OF DESIRE FOR, AND FEAR OF, CLOSENESS |
| and preoccupy the psyche. Therefore, in order to preserve one's individuality, the only available way appears to | 138 THE HUMAN PREDICAMENT OF DESIRE FOR, AND FEAR OF, CLOSENESS |
| one a sense of identity and seems to preserve one's individuality. Yet only in a negative context | 138 THE HUMAN PREDICAMENT OF DESIRE FOR, AND FEAR OF, CLOSENESS |
| millennia denied the instinctual life in order to preserve itself from its dangers. But by doing so | 174 SELF-ESTEEM |
| At times, outer changes must be undertaken to preserve the wholeness of the person. At other times | 186 VENTURE IN MUTUALITY: HEALING FORCE TO CHANGE NEGATIVE INNER WILL |
| Often it is a child's only way to preserve its selfhood. If the child's inner resistance to | 195 IDENTIFICATION WITH THE SPIRITUAL SELF TO OVERCOME NEGATIVE INTENTIONALITY |
| of self-preservation. The ego misuses this instinct to preserve its present awareness. Fear always distorts truth and | 199 THE MEANING OF THE EGO AND ITS TRANSCENDENCE |
| is also part of the ego's trickery to preserve your present limited state. Whatever the specific negative | 199 THE MEANING OF THE EGO AND ITS TRANSCENDENCE |
| pleasure nor pain. You often want to painstakingly preserve this state of grayness without knowing that you | 210 VISUALIZATION PROCESS FOR GROWING INTO THE UNITIVE STATE |
| truly joyful and creative and happy unless they preserve also their childlikeness. Childlikeness means the capacity to | 219 CHRISTMAS MESSAGE -- MESSAGE TO THE CHILDREN |
| always make that apparent sacrifice in order to preserve decency, kindness, and constructive behavior because such action | 227 CHANGE FROM OUTER TO INNER LAWS IN THE NEW AGE |
| understand the truth, and where you want to preserve your case and go on hating. You need | 229 WOMAN AND MAN IN THE NEW AGE |
| authority, in order to avoid self-hatred and to preserve your dignity. But this is not true dignity | 245 CAUSE AND EFFECT ON VARIOUS LEVELS OF CONSCIOUSNESS |
| from the misunderstood message of the soul to preserve the truths, the beauty, and the values that | 246 TRADITION: ITS DIVINE AND DISTORTED ASPECTS |
| it more than to anything else. Wanting to preserve your secret, on the other hand, clearly indicates | 252 PRIVACY AND SECRECY |
| self-esteem you so desperately try to create and preserve by hiding. If your self-revealing seems to elicit | 252 PRIVACY AND SECRECY |
| Do not rationalize such projections by pretending to preserve your privacy. Look at the real reasons why | 252 PRIVACY AND SECRECY |