The Text - Section 115
115. PERCEPTION, DETERMINATION, LOVE AS ASPECTS OF CONSCIOUSNESS
Greetings, my dearest friends. Blessings for each one of you. Blessed be this hour. May all
my friends continue to grow and develop, for that is the essence of life itself.
Where there is no growth, there is no life. This does not only apply to the physical
manifestation of life, but to the source itself. There are, of course, different stages and manners of
growth. In some instances the growing process is indirect and gradual, the person being unaware
even of the possibility of inner growth. Then the growth can be perceived only much later, in a state
of increased consciousness. If growing stops on any level of life, the respective manifestation of life
ceases. But since spirit is eternal, it must potentially be growth; spirit cannot die. Its growth and
unfoldment can be arrested if its manifest forms are not in the process of growth, and therefore not
alive. Non-life is non-growth. Life, as growth, proceeds in degrees. Between being alive or not
alive, being in growth or not, there are many gradations.
We have discussed life, its meaning, significance, definition and manifestation, from many
points of view. Each time I choose to discuss an angle of life -- or of any other topic, for that
matter -- I adjust my words to the level you have reached in the course of your development; they
are designed to penetrate to a still deeper root of understanding in your soul, according to your
progress. Through your work of self-search, deeper levels of understanding are opened up, so that
words of truth will directly reach those inner levels -- or have at least a chance of doing so. It is
therefore important to discuss the same subjects from different vantage points at specific phases of
your pathwork. What you have heretofore understood in a shallow way will then be more
profoundly comprehended. Always use your new understanding in conjunction with proper
meditation. These lectures can be regarded as meditations.
People sometimes believe themselves to be in a growing process, while they are merely going
around in circles. Undirected or misdirected methods of self-confrontation often bring this about.
In such a case, people may be outwardly convinced of growing, because they are going through the
motions, but inwardly they know that this is not so. On the other hand, those who are truly in the
process of growth may often feel temporarily discouraged, believing they are going around in circles.
Inwardly, however, they occasionally already experience and see their inner growth. They feel it.
First this happens only after periods of apparent setbacks and relapses, after finding the same
aspects, attitudes and distortions over and over again, yet forever discovering new connections,
shedding new light on the same disturbances, deliberating on them in different expressions of
thought. Considering them in different ways fortifies and consolidates the recognitions, widens and
deepens their perception. It links them with other aspects of the personality.
All my friends who are truly on the path have observed the spiral movement it pursues,
coming around full circle, meeting the same problematic area all over again. The second time
comprehension occurs on a deeper level. The tenth time it will be deeper than it was the ninth time
around. The circles get narrower and narrower, until they meet at one basic point of disturbance
that can only then be fully faced, understood, tackled and come to terms with. In principle, the
process is the same as my taking an important concept and deliberating on it from different angles.
This, too, follows the spiral movement according to the capacity and level that you have reached.
One might say there are two parallel spiral movements: one pursues the disturbance, the other
shows the true picture that compliments it. To the degree that you are aware of and properly
evaluate the distortion, the true picture can be assimilated into the deeper regions of your
personality.
Considered superficially, growth and stagnation often seem similar, because both follow
circular movements. Only a closer perception and deep penetration into your self will show you the
difference. True, sometimes the same circle has to be repeated before you can proceed from it into
the next, narrower one. But whenever the transition to the next circle is made, the reality of the
forward movement will fill you to the depth of your being. You will then know that you are not
moving in a stationary circle.
We discussed various aspects and meanings of life. Let us again approach this topic, this time
from yet another viewpoint. Life exists if a number of factors prevail. As I said previously, life is
movement; life is growth; life is consciousness -- and more -- all ending up at one and the same
point. But each of these points is still separate and distinct. The conglomeration of all of them
forms one whole, one organization. An organization is a conglomerate of several particles. The
absence of any of the particles destroys, or at least seriously impedes, the organization as a whole.
Think, for example, of a business firm. Different officers fulfill certain tasks, each taking on specific
responsibilities. If one drops out, he or she has to be replaced, for otherwise the organization could
not function.
The same applies to the anatomy of the physical body. It, too, is an organization. The well-
functioning body requires many working parts. If one is out of commission, the efficacy of the
physical body will be impaired, or physical life will cease, depending on whether the part was a vital
one or not.
Exactly the same law holds true for the inner organization of life. The average human being
does not have all inner faculties in good working order. As a result, the degree of awareness is
below par and the person is only half alive -- often even less than that.
The interaction between consciousness and aliveness, that is movement, is easily observable in
the manifestations of nature. A mineral has a very small degree of consciousness; therefore its
movement is almost imperceptible. A plant's degree of consciousness is higher. This is noticeable
by its obvious response to light, water, darkness or dryness. Therefore its movement is also more
perceptible. And so growth proceeds along the scale, from animal to human.
Now you may say that the human being's movement does not exceed the animal's. This is
true on the physical level, but you will undoubtedly admit that in the movement of mind, thought,
spirit, man is more alive than the animal. The range of the possibilities for the extension and
movement of the spirit by far exceeds that of the body. Once this thought is truly understood in its
full implication, any doubt about the continuation of life must cease. Life's continuity will no longer
be the subject of pleasant or unpleasant assumptions or theories, but will be seen as a logical
sequence of an unbroken chain. There is no reason to assume that the chain would suddenly
terminate.
Your possibility to extend your range of consciousness is, of course, limited because of the
confinement of your spirit. Only after you have fully utilized the range of extension available to you,
will such confinement no longer be necessary. And only when you fully utilize your possibilities will
you be in harmony with yourself and your life. If you view the pathwork from this angle, your
deeper understanding may give you renewed incentive and strength.
Let us now discuss three distinctive, major facets that are part of the organization called life.
These three aspects are direct manifestations of consciousness. They are: determination, perception
and love. The higher the degree of consciousness, the wider the range of life, and the greater the
freedom of determination. Your free will, or determination, will not be hindered by the inner fetters
we are trying to find and dissolve. You all know how your determination, is limited by your
unconscious misconceptions. To the degree you are capable of assimilating experience according to
reality, according to truth, to that degree can you perceive, determine and love.
A living creature is always the product, the sum total, of all its past experiences. How
experience is assimilated and understood in terms of reality determines the character, the thoughts
and the opinions a person has adopted and explains his or her feelings and emotions, attitudes and
inclinations. In other words, it determines the quality of a person's life. The more realistically and
truthfully experience is interpreted and assimilated, the more accurate the perception. The freer the
determination, the greater the scope and ease with which decisions can be made, the greater the
capacity to love, to relate.
It should be easy to see the interaction and interdependence of these three facets. For
example: If you are relatively free of error, of misinterpreted past experience -- that is, images -- you
will have less destructive defenses. Therefore you can be more loving. This, in turn, will create
good relationships, which will afford you a wider range for experience, more possibilities, more
inner and outer resources that give you a greater scope for determination. Even if you experience a
disappointment, you will be able to see other opportunities. The disappointment will not paralyze
your faculties and freeze your feelings into fear and distrust, such as happens with incorrectly
assimilated experience.
To understand the effect of this triadic interaction is of great importance. You will see even
more clearly why it is so important to find your images; to understand why they represent faulty
perception; to see that the faulty perception still governs you, even though it was formed when you
were a child. You will see to what extent you are governed by the faulty perception, how it
continues to impede proper interpretation and assimilation of new experiences. You will understand
how the perpetuated faulty perception cripples your determination and your entire world of feeling.
You are bound by the old images, the faulty perceptions, which make you respond and react
in an automatic way, as though the new experience were identical in nature to the one that originally
caused you to misinterpret a painful condition or occurrence. You saw that in a limited, one-sided
way and generalized its validity for all similar occasions. The result is that you react in a way
inappropriate to the occasion. You are unable to change this unless you bring the misinterpretation
into consciousness and thoroughly understand why and in what way you have misinterpreted the
event. Only then will your responses be more adequate to and compatible with reality. This will
free you from limitation and from frozen feelings.
When religious teachers preach about the importance of love, they are right, but love cannot
fill your being if you do not detect your wrong perceptions. No amount of knowledge you take in
from the outside can be assimilated if you do not empty yourself of misconception. Therefore, self-
knowledge is the prerequisite to love, to spirituality. There is no way around that. No matter how
much truth you try to imbibe, no matter how hard you try to feel what inwardly you are as yet
incapable of feeling, your inner mechanisms are still geared to faulty, or insufficiently assimilated
material. This, in turn, forces you into reflexes so automatic, so limited, that you cannot perceive in
reality. Therefore you cannot determine as fully and widely as possible, and so you cannot feel the
productive warm feelings of love that create a benign circle connecting the three life-aspects.
My friends, try to see how your images limit your perception, your determination and your
love capacity. Try to see how the faulty perception, responsible for the images, squeezes you into a
very limited mold, no matter what you consciously think and strive for. If you ponder your images
from this angle, you will clearly see how your consciousness is diminished, and how your feeling of
being alive is reduced. The vibrancy of true aliveness is so very rare among human beings because
most do not even search in the right direction.
The significance of misinterpreted material from the past cannot be stressed enough. The
majority of human beings go through life never knowing to what extent they are influenced in all
their present-day dealings by their past. Even among you, my friends, only a few have begun to fully
realize this. You may be aware to some degree that such misinterpretation has taken place, but you
cannot as yet fully grasp its impact.
Parents are the most important influence in a child's life. The relationship to them is of
primary significance. Others, such as teachers, siblings, or anyone closely related, also play a
significant role in forming the original impressions in the child's malleable soul substance. But these
others are only important in relationship to, and as determined by, the original relationship to the
parents. Most of you need to realize to what a strong degree you still carry the original relationship
to both your parents into all your current life-situations. Once you perceive this in all its
significance, you will truly be liberated. But it requires a great deal of work, patience, perseverance,
courage and humility to follow through and arrive at this point.
The best way to experience the truth of these words is to apply them to any of your findings.
Consider how you felt as a child toward each parent, then see how in your present responses you
still react according to the same feelings. Only by working through this lecture on a very personal,
practical basis will you experience the truth. It does not suffice to believe that this is so merely
because it makes sense. A systematic work of self-finding is necessary to understand this
transference in its full measure.
The realization of your bondage to early reactions will free you of it -- nothing else will, no
matter how much knowledge, even spiritual knowledge, you try to collect from the outside. This
awareness alone will raise your level of consciousness and fill you with the vibrant feeling of being
truly alive. Your awareness, and therefore your life, can grow only through these insights into your
self. By becoming aware of your unreality, you live in greater reality. By becoming aware of your
lack of love -- clothed perhaps in what appears to be love, but is not -- you will have more love. The
feeling of strength, of well-being, of fulfillment, of trust in yourself, of security, can grow only by
facing in yourself what you would rather not see. It is always a temptation to look away from
yourself.
Ever since humanity has existed, people have searched for security. The lack of it is, perhaps,
the greatest factor responsible for all the misery human beings have managed to afflict on
themselves. This is so because you look for it in the wrong way with the result that you are
disappointed, and even more insecure, and hopeless of ever finding it. You wish to have your fears,
anxieties and uncertainties assuaged from the outside. But if this ever works, it only does so for a
very limited time, and afterwards you must feel let down.
Only after material security has been attained do people discover that there is a type of
insecurity they were not able to recognize as long as they were preoccupied with the material side of
life. For a while you may succeed in disregarding the gnawing feeling of insecurity that clamors for
alleviation. You may drown out this voice by all sorts of evasions, pleasurable or painful,
constructive or destructive. But eventually the moment must come when you can no longer avoid
confronting your inner uncertainty. You must raise questions you have never dared to face. You
must bring out exactly what it is you are so insecure about. But until such time, you will find ways
of stilling the clamoring voice by outer, and therefore inadequate, illusory means. The only realistic
way of meeting your insecurity is by facing it, admitting it, accepting it. That is the start. Then
comes finding the inner answers through the understanding of the inner errors, misconceptions,
faulty perceptions. Only this will bring true security, resting on firm ground, that will withstand the
storms of life.
As I implied before, finding illusory security from the outside need not necessarily be a
worthless pursuit. You may try to escape from yourself by doing good for society; by performing
valuable scientific, artistic, or ethical work. Such pursuits are, in themselves, constructive and can
help others. They go under the heading of escape because security cannot be found outside the self.
A person may, while performing such tasks, drown out his or her inner insecurity. But you will
readily admit that this is not a real solution. It is precarious and can fail when something goes
wrong. To find inner security in the real way does not mean to cease doing good works. They can
surely be continued while establishing the center of gravity within.
How can you love if you are insecure? It is not possible. Again, of course, there are degrees;
it is not a question of either/or. There are areas in which a person is secure and therefore may be
capable of love. But to the degree insecurity permeates the soul, complete capacity for loving is
absent. Let us now connect inner security with love and evaluate various stages on the scale of love-
capacity.
The basis of loving is healthy self-love. We have discussed this extensively in the past. But I
will add this: If you are insecure, you cannot trust yourself. If you do not trust yourself, how can
you love yourself? So you see, healthy self-love and inner security are directly linked. And since
love for others is dependent on healthy self-love, the former is equally dependent on and connected
with inner security.
Let us now consider other stages of love. Lowest on the scale is surely love for inanimate
objects. There are many whose inherent need to display love does not dare go any further than
loving inanimate objects. That is their sole outlet. Objects do not oppose. They do not require the
complicated mechanism of perceiving the feelings of another. They do not disapprove or criticize.
They demand a minimum of personal sacrifice or consideration. Objects will make no demands.
Next on the scale is love for abstract ideas, principles, art, nature. The love for one's
profession can also fall into this category. Love for abstract ideas evades personal involvement with
the accompanying apparent risks, but, at least, it moves the mind, soul or spirit in some measure. It
may also require some personal contact, confrontation with others of different opinions, while love
for objects may not necessitate this in any but the most rudimentary form. Love for ideas and
principles is certainly more outgoing than the isolating pursuit of loving mere objects.
Next on the scale is love for living creatures other than humans: plants or animals. They
require a certain amount of sacrifice, consideration, putting one's immediate selfish comfort aside --
at least occasionally, if the love is active and not merely theoretical. It does neither require the risk
of rejection, nor taking the trouble of pondering what the other's needs are, or the effort to establish
mutual understanding. Though to a very minor degree this may apply to keeping and caring for an
animal, but certainly not to the degree required in a close relationship with another human being,
where one's senses have to be alert to the other person as well as to oneself.
Next on the scale is love for humankind as a whole. This may still relieve a person from
intimate personal involvement -- the most taxing form of love, and therefore the most fulfilling one.
But it does require effort, thought, the willingness to sacrifice, activity, and many other attitudes that
are highly constructive. Again this applies only if such love is followed through in practice, rather
than remaining a theory only.
Highest on the scale is the love for individuals in close, intimate relationship. I do not have to
repeat why, for I explained it in connection with the lower degrees of love. If you ponder this
question, you will find many other reasons for it to be by far the most constructive and the highest
on the scale. The fact that you, and those you are involved with, may often demonstrate love by
turbulent manifestations that have nothing to do with genuine love but indicate immature needs and
dependency and thus often bring rupture and disharmony, does not alter the truth that even such
intercommunication furthers your general development and capacity for love. A life of turbulent
relationships may be infinitely less harmonious than the life of a hermit or a recluse, but the process
of inner growth cannot be gauged by apparent outer harmony.
It may be comparatively easy for you to cope with the difficulty of interacting with certain
people, but you may dread relating to others. If so, do not fail to question whether you do not run
from the very area in which you most need growth. Beware of a quick, superficial evaluation. Only
when you question your fears and insecurities, your reactions to those aspects of love that you wish
to avoid, will you begin to sense a truthful answer. This will not harm you, even should you decide
to postpone exposing yourself to what still seems threatening to you. Then at least you will not
deceive yourself about the level you have reached.
Some of you may wonder about the scale of love I have established. You might think that the
love for God would fall under the category of love for abstract ideas and principles. You may also
wonder why I did not mention the love for God as the highest level on the scale. You see, my
friends, love for God can be healthy and genuine. It can as well be an escape. If it is healthy and
genuine, it manifests through the love for others with whom one is able to communicate and relate.
This, in turn, cannot happen unless you overcome your fears and vanities; unless you find and
dissolve the obstructions in you that cause inability and unwillingness to love. Humans need not
preoccupy themselves with speculations about the inconceivable and incomprehensible existence of
the Creator of all beings. Have the humility to admit the limitations of such understanding and turn
your attention to the things human beings can learn, namely to give to and love other human beings.
So it is possible, as I often said, that an avowed non-believer is in fact closer to loving God than a
professed believer. The former may not shy away from taxing involvement and mutual growth
through it, while the latter may hide his wish to escape under an unhealthy preoccupation with an
abstract God-idea that could anyway never be really understood through mental processes. The
only way to come closer to an experience of God is through inner growth and liberation of feelings,
perception and determination.
If God is not an inner experience, derived through self-development, but the pursuit of an
idea or ideal, it falls under the category of love for abstract ideas or principles and is, as such, of
lesser value than the intimate relationship of human love that requires practical involvement, the
flexibility of putting one's egocentric aims below the needs of the other person. To love God as an
idea does not require any of this, but to love Him through a fellow-creature does. Through the deep
understanding of the self, the understanding of others grows, and through that a perception of the
divine.
An intense relationship that is often turbulent because of blind egocentricity, selfishness, or
possessiveness may certainly appear to be the product of a less evolved human being than the
apparent serenity of a person who does many good works for humanity, but who lives a life
secluded from personal involvement. It may indeed be true that the latter is actually more
developed in general, but in the area of close involvement he or she surely needs to learn. It may be
true that people whose immaturity shows in stormy relationships are indeed more immature and
may indeed have a troubled soul. But such people, at least, are truly in the midst of life, not avoiding
its lessons even if they cannot, or will not, understand them yet. Nevertheless, in the end the
experience itself will be what counts, because then the way will be open to properly evaluate and
assimilate it, to sort out error from truth, proper perception from misinterpretation.
How can you perceive that there is something amiss, if you do not expose yourself to
experiencing what you may perhaps fear, even while you also desire it to some degree? How can
you raise your perception, how can you free your scope of determination, how can you purify your
capacity of loving, if you do not go through and face the impure, self-centered form of love you are
now capable of? By avoiding it, you do not grow out of it.
All of you who persevere in the pathwork know that you indeed do what is most essential.
Go on searching, even though at times you feel discouraged. You will not regret it, provided you do
so wholeheartedly and not because you fulfill an unpleasant duty.
Those of you who have not, as yet, ventured onto this path, think about your anxieties and
your insecurities and realize in what ways you try to assuage them. See how you run away from
yourself. This may perhaps induce you to seek a more reliable remedy for what really ails you. The
most beautiful prayers, the loftiest thoughts can never replace utter self-facing and making conscious
what heretofore slumbered in the hidden recesses of your soul.
And now, my friends, to your questions.
QUESTION: Is the introverted person someone who withdraws from life, or do you
consider the introverted person normal?
ANSWER: You see, my dear, here we are dealing with terminology. Some terms have a
different meaning for different people or different schools of thought. The word "introverted" may
mean to some people introspection, looking within. To others it may mean withdrawal from the
outer world. As to the latter case, I do not have to elaborate further.
But if you mean the word in the former sense, I have this to say: It very much depends on the
how, never on the what. If we are preoccupied with the what, we will surely run the risk of
misunderstanding and of erroneous, confused, unclear thinking. If we remain focused on the how,
we will gain clarity. If introversion leads to facing oneself and then utilizing the material to become
more whole, better equipped to deal with feelings, with others, better able to expand, then
introversion is healthy.
In other words, if introversion leads to healthy extroversion, it furthers true growth. If self-
preoccupation is fruitless, not constructive, and revolves around the same pointless thoughts,
complaints, self-pity, self-deceptive ideas and subterfuges, it will, of necessity, result in drawing a
wall of isolation around the person indulging in such a destructive activity of the mind. It is, indeed,
escapism. But, by the same token, the extroverted person can escape and run from facing the inner
truth as well. This kind of extroversion will never take the form of true relating. The extroverted
person can also be introspective. Any healthy person creates a balance between these two directions
of being. A preponderance of one is surely a sign of imbalance. Introspection must lead to
outgoingness, to spontaneity, to reaching out to others. This, in turn, must be assimilated, digested,
evaluated, so as to enrich the soul and learn the lessons life has to offer. This period will enable the
person to cope even better with the outer world and to become joyfully involved in life. The
alternating rhythm is truly an expression of life, of harmony, of the entire movement of the universe
that you can find all through nature. It is in the breathing of the body, in the movements of the
planets, in the waves of the ocean. It is in the physical manifestation of the cosmos, as well as in the
mental, emotional and spiritual waves of being.
Genuine self-searching will never make a person self-centered and withdrawn. If this is the
effect, the work of self-confrontation is somehow off. Then the person needs guidance to get on
the right track.
QUESTION: Would you have a special message for our friend W.?
ANSWER: I cannot add anything to what I have already told him. He is blessed and guided.
I can only repeat and emphasize that he has grown more than he may realize. There is much in him
that he can utilize, but in a relaxed way, with no pressure and strain on the thought process. Rather,
he should release all the material of growth that has accumulated in him. It will bring him joy, more
and more.
And I say to all of you: Humans so often have a very distorted view about the essential issues
of life, such faulty perceptions, such wrong values! Often what you consider "bad" is the best from
a wider spectrum, from a point of view of reality. And what you consider favorable and "good"
may, in reality, be the most unfavorable occurrence. Only gradually will your view readjust to a
more appropriate perception of life.
Often, you are potentially ready to gain a glimpse of reality, to experience its beauty and
wisdom, but the fetters of your habits in thinking and feeling prevent you from shedding these
shackles. You may even feel somewhat guilty when you do so, because are burdened with a
mistaken concept that only heavy thoughts and feelings indicate a depth of personality. It may seem
frivolous to rejoice in the brighter aspects of reality in which all is as it should be. If you would only
allow the growth that has taken place in you to manifest! These new perceptions are so much more
reliable than your often superimposed "good" obsolete reactions and responses. Let the gathered
inner maturity come out, instead of pushing it back because you cling to false concepts without
realizing it. Part of the work on the path is finding the unpleasant, faulty aspects of yourself that are
painful, humiliating and unflattering. You have by now learned that this unpleasant moment need
not last long if you proceed further. The other part of the pathwork is finding the true values,
constructive inclinations, thoughts and feelings that you hold down artificially because you
erroneously believe them to be wrong. Accepting your self's inherent value is sometimes as difficult,
or even more so, than facing your destructiveness. This may be so for a variety of reasons we will
look into some other time. For now, suffice it to say that you should be on the lookout for what is
positive in you.
You often jeopardize your inner security by pursuing wrong values and by fearing uncertainty
that need not be feared. You often artificially encourage negative feelings, though the real you is
free of them. This real you may be, at times, quite far away. But at other times, it may be much
nearer than you make allowance for.
QUESTION: Would the acceptance of reality be a prerequisite for love?
ANSWER: Yes, indeed. I think this very lecture dealt with this very point. I would say, it
works both ways: If you can accept reality, you are surely more capable of loving. And if, through
your inner growth, through facing yourself in complete candor, through dispensing with all defenses
and resistances, you reach a point of love-capacity, you simultaneously become much better
equipped to accept reality. Your resistance to accept what seems to you unpleasant reality is the
same energy-current that, if released, is the power of love. Negative emotions are a result of closing
the door to reality and to loving. That they are interdependent is evident for they are really both the
same.
Faulty perception means not being in, or not seeing, reality. Warm, outgoing feelings of
affection, concern, understanding are an outcome of the true perception of reality-factors, and they
simultaneously lead to an increase in perceiving reality in an ever-widening circle in width and depth.
The more this is the case, the less can such productive feelings be replaced by a false and weakening
sentimentality. When fear of true deep feelings vanishes, the psyche no longer needs to produce
falsely positive feelings. Such fear is a result of self-centeredness which is the opposite of love. And
the same self-centeredness is therefore responsible for creating false, unreal "good" feelings. This is
another angle that shows you how the equation has to come out, from any way you look at it.
One of the most important aspects of faulty perception of reality is the belief that one may be
quite healthy in one respect, while one is in conflict and has problems in another area of one's
personality. This is quite impossible. One affliction must, to some degree, affect other personality
areas. One thing is intimately connected with another. If you have, for instance, difficulty in
making decisions, believing yourself very limited in scope, while perhaps overestimating your
possibilities in other respects, such an impaired determination must definitely affect all other
personality traits and attitudes. If you have difficulty in relating and coping with certain types of
people, avoiding them will not remove the problem, because the difficulty, expressed in your
discomfort, affects all other manifestations and expressions of your life. It is for that reason that
you should heed all discomforts as warning signals, rather than avoiding them. Avoiding discomfort
proves that you are still convinced that your psyche, your entire personality in fact, is divided into
little compartments, some of them healthy and fine, others distorted and conflicted. This faulty
perception surely shows how limited your view of reality is.
The connection and interdependence has to be established if you want to grow out of your
blindness and enslavement. Of course, in some aspects of life you function relatively well, but you
do not realize how the obvious problems affect even the healthy areas, because the only way you can
judge is by comparison with sicker areas. You cannot imagine the feeling of joy, peace and security
that is the result of a full and thorough will to face oneself. Then the interconnections will gradually
afford a clearer view of reality as it concerns you. And this is the only way you can begin.
All this should not be misinterpreted to mean that you have to reach a stage of utter health
before you can function well, love, perceive and determine. You can reach a stage of relative
advancement in this respect by recognizing your problems in their entire significance; and that, of
course, is not easy. This realization must not be confused with a quick, glib formulation of a part of
the problem you have found. It must be a deep awareness, a transcending experience of
comprehension of all your outer problems, hurts, unfulfillments, frustrations as a result of your
inner misconceptions and subsequent faulty responses to other people and to life. When this goal
has been achieved, the building-up process can begin. But long before you have truly shed the faulty
reactions that are so ingrained, you will be in control of your fate because you now really and
profoundly perceive yourself in relationship to your life. By such understanding, you bring fresh,
clean air into all the channels that have been clogged up for so long with error and confusion. This
is the real security I am talking about.
Offhand, tonight's lecture may seem a repetition and a consolidation of some of the material
from the past. And yet, when you look deeper into this topic, you will surely realize a new depth in
understanding yourself. You will then see that this lecture is new in the sense that you would not
have been able to understand this material and to apply it to yourself only a little while ago. Those
who do not succeed now will certainly do so later. But some of you are quite ready now, if only you
will take the trouble to meditate about it.
May these words take root in you. May the new friends also have found something that may
eventually become a seed in their soul. A stream of love envelops all of you. May it revivify you.
Be in peace. Be in God!