8 The Law of Self-Perpetuation

LAW #8

Every attitude strengthens itself through repetition.

Whatever we continually choose becomes easier to choose again, until a circle—constructive or destructive—forms around us.

Creation never happens just once. Every choice becomes the beginning of a pattern, the strengthening of an attitude, the evolution of an entity.

The process of evolution follows the movement of a circle closing. It starts with an outward movement and ends with a return to perfection. Along the way, we often go in circles that are not so perfect. The Pathwork Guide calls these vicious circles.

It all starts with a misunderstanding—a mistaken belief or misconception. Every misconception creates a split in consciousness—a duality. Each of these splits creates an inner conflict, and our inner conflicts turn into vicious circles.

For example, our childish misunderstandings lead us down a road to false guilt. We feel guilty for the fact that we are nursing a wrong belief. Our false guilt, however, produces unpleasant feelings that cause us to defend ourselves unnecessarily.

In defending ourselves, we pretend that we are somehow other than we are. Such pretenses lead to justified guilt because they violate spiritual law. This drives us to make choices that pull us further astray. Eventually, we find ourselves trapped in unhappiness, but don’t know how we got here.

We don’t feel trapped because change is impossible. We feel trapped because all our choices create circles that build momentum. Regardless of whether they are vicious or benevolent circles, they follow the principle of self-perpetuation.

We don’t feel trapped because change is impossible. We feel trapped because all our choices create circles that build momentum.

Creating more love

When we are at one with reality and functioning in an autonomous way, we create positive self-perpetuating circles. The only way to change such a self-perpetuating force is by deliberately setting something new into motion. This principle can be found in practically every area of science.

When a person chooses to pursue a negative direction, they create a new sphere—a psychic sphere—that covers the original positive one. Rather than follow the truth, such destructive creations spring from the root of misunderstanding.

That’s what evil really is.

It’s actually quite impressive the way destructive processes follow the exact same mechanics as constructive ones. Everything runs on the same basic lawfulness that drives all of creation—at its best and at its worst.

Every thought and every action becomes a cause that sets energy into motion. That energy produces effects. So every cause creates another effect, setting off chain reactions.

Over time, rather than petering out, thanks to the principle of augmentation, the force and momentum of the circles we set into motion becomes stronger, as do the attitudes that spawned them.

So the more we love, the more love we’ll have in us and the more love we’ll attract to us. Ultimately, whenever we are troubled, we are breaking the law of love, in some way.

Positive circles strengthen themselves exactly the way negative circles do.

The source of our problems

We are the ones who originally opted to kick off a negative chain reaction.

Now, if we want to unwind a negative chain reaction, every link in the chain—each of which becomes a new cause creating new effects—has to be retraced. We must understand where we veered off course. What is the hidden misunderstanding?

Then we must find our way back to the original truthful point where there aren’t any conflicts. That’s the point where positive fruitful expansion can take off from.

That’s the level where there’s no fear. Instead, there is only peace and stimulation, and an unending unfolding of all we could ever want. Such a place really exists.

There is a healing force that is poised and ready to help us out, if we’ll just give it a chance. We see how it works on the physical level as our bodies naturally begin to heal after they’ve been hurt. It works the same on the mental and psychic levels.

This healing power will begin to operate in our lives as soon as we make an effort to understand these laws and to correct our impairment. We can trust this natural healing force to lead us in the direction of wholeness and fulfillment, expansion and constructive living.

Our first violation happens when we are ignorant that this process is taking place. Our next violation is that we hold onto false ideas. And that is always directly related to our not wanting to see and accept some truth about ourselves.

Too often, we attempt to fake life by creating outer appearances that don’t match our inner reality. That outer shell is going to have to break. It might look good, but if it’s not in sync with divine reality, it’s a false cover that must eventually come down.

Only after the outer form has cracked and crumbled, and our inner chaos has been exposed and eliminated, can we put our pieces back together again.