The Pathwork Guide’s call for questions about the Bible

“It would be most helpful and beneficial for you, my friends, if you became more familiar with the Bible. I am most eager and willing to help you understand this great document. To disentangle for you what belongs on which level.

For this great book is a combination of fragments of historical accounts; of symbolic meanings; and of the greatest truths; of distortions deriving from human limitation of consciousness; of existing cultural conditions that were “right” at that time, but are no longer so today.

I would like to lift up the jewels of truth contained in this book, separating the grains from the husks. So that you can appreciate and benefit from the timeless wisdom of these messages. I suggest that you ply me with questions. You have a whole month to prepare. And I promise you that I will give you interpretations. These answers will be most useful and helpful for everyone. This will open a new horizon for you.”

– The Pathwork^® Guide lecture #243

 

BIBLE VERSE question: “He who wants to win his life will lose it. He who is ready to give it up will win it.” What does that mean?

Answer from the Pathwork Guide, in Jill Loree’s words: It means that if we are so afraid of a little pain that we cling to life with our ego—nursing our sensitivity and vanity—we won’t give up our life. Rather, we hold on too tightly.

Therefore, we must lose it.

In a spiritual sense, “losing” means we can’t find peace, harmony or happiness—from within ourselves or from without.

But if we truly give up our ego-selves, we will gain life—in the deeper, spiritual sense.

We will no longer take ourselves so seriously. The creature comforts of our little ego won’t seem so terribly important.

Everyday pains and wounded pride will feel less overwhelming, because we won’t be constantly thinking, “If I let them see my true affection, what will they think of me? I might get hurt, or I might jeopardize something.”

By aligning with this spiritual law, we will find harmony within. We’ll gain the love and respect from others that would have escaped us if we kept holding onto ourselves so tightly.

 

BIBLE VERSE question: What did Jesus mean when he said to Peter, “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it; And I will give thee the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever thou shalt loose on earth shall be bound in Heaven.” (Matthew 16: 18-20).

Answer: Many know that the Catholic church interprets this to mean that from that time on, everything was so settled that nothing the church said could be wrong.

What Jesus meant was that he was entrusting Peter to organize, maintain and spread his teachings. And Peter should spread the teachings just as they had been presented to him.

That included communication with the Spirit World of God. This form of communication was very active during the time of the first Christians.

Jesus was too wise to assume these truths could pass from one person to the next—from one generation to the next—without becoming diluted.

He also understood human fallibility.

So he knew that errors and wrong interpretations would creep in. He also recognized the danger of darker influences inspiring people to distort the truth. This, of course, will happen as long as unpurified people remain on Earth.

So direct communication with God’s world was the only reliable way to possibly stay aligned with the truth.

As so often happens, these words from the Bible have been misinterpreted—sometimes in ignorance and sometimes on purpose.

If these words had been understood in their true sense, exactly as Jesus was teaching and as Peter meant—which included communications with the world of God—many things would have been very different in our history.

This may be surprising—but it follows logically.

There are many instances in the Bible where Jesus’ message really can’t be interpreted any other way. These very messages are evidence that Jesus always intended that we should be in contact with his spirits of truth.

That very message is part of what Jesus asked Peter to spread.

Some of this information was never recorded —or was later removed—regarding how we should go about this. Because certain laws must be followed and certain conditions must be prepared to have such communications with spirits of light and truth.

Also, there are many different ways for this communication to manifest. One of them was the way Jesus appeared to his disciples after he died.

His materialization was one such form of communication.

Later on, it wasn’t Jesus himself who would appear. Rather, he would send his emissaries.

Prior to his death, Jesus said, “There are many things I cannot tell you as yet, but will tell you later.” How do we imagine he could have done so if not through such communications with God’s world?

This was an integral part of Jesus’ teaching that, for a variety of reasons, was not retained or became distorted.

In addition, the Bible quote means that people—then as well as now—who bind themselves to God would also be bound to God in heaven.

We would not be lost again.

We bind ourselves to God by adhering to Jesus’ teachings—which Peter was tasked with caring for.

But if we refuse these teachings, we loosen our grip on God. We will then be lost from God after we die.

Not forever, but for as long as our attitude of resistance prevails.

To make an inner declaration that we are ready to put God first and follow his will in all ways is a decisive step in a person’s spiritual journey. This is sometimes called an “initiation.”

That is the essence of what this passage means.

It didn’t mean that God and Christ would only manifest through one human church. Or that this organization would be immune to human failings and therefore to the influences of the worlds of darkness.

That doesn’t make sense.

But if we follow the real teachings of Christ and work to develop and purify ourselves, “Hell will not prevail.” We do this by upholding the divine laws of God.

This, indeed, makes us immune to the influences of evil. And so we will gain the Kingdom of Heaven.

That is the only way this can happen.

Understanding this passage from this perspective makes much more sense.

 

BIBLE VERSE question: In the Book of Exodus, people were told to collect manna only for one day and on the Sabbath for two days. If they collected for two days on any other day but for the Sabbath, it rotted. But for the Sabbath, it did not. What is the meaning of this?

Answer: Manna symbolizes spiritual strength, truth, and divine nourishment. It represents everything we need to move ahead on our spiritual path of self-discovery.

In other words, it’s what we need to find ourselves—and God.

Even with the best intentions—even as diligent workers in God’s vineyard—we need to have good timing. For instance, we need to have a proper balance between the active and passive forces.

Both forces must operate harmoniously within us, so that each fulfills its proper function. Often, one side of our nature is overactive in the wrong way, while the other side is passive, also in the wrong way.

On our spiritual path, we may tend to hoard what we’re going to need for later—such as strength or knowledge. But this is not possible.

This passage suggests that we must live in the moment—in the eternal Now. We can only meet each moment fully if we are living completely in each moment.

We also should not take on more than we can truly handle.

At the same time, we should preserve some strength for the times when we don’t have enough—for either inner or outer activity.

When we become depleted, we should rest. This may be good for us, spiritually.

The Sabbath signifies, among other things, a day of inactivity—a day of rest.

Whatever we absorb while we’re active, we must digest and assimilate while we’re passive.

We need a little reserve for these times.

When we are inwardly balanced and strong, and are active on all levels—spiritually, emotionally and physically—we will have no reason to hoard.

Yet people often do this, on all these levels.

We are anxious and so full of fear that we don’t trust God. We also don’t trust the harmony of our own inner selves. Since we don’t sense how we fit into the scheme of divine law, we don’t trust letting go and going with the stream.

We feel compelled to secure our future.

This doesn’t mean, of course, that we should become careless. No extreme is ever right.

But we can live in the Now and make the best of each moment.

Then our “manna” will always be fresh. Because we’ll get a new supply every day.

If we learn to live this way, we will relax during the next passive period. We will quietly nurture what we have cultivated during the time of growth, or action.

We will instinctively sense that we have enough.

This can only happen if we are able to maintain a balance between activity and passivity in our personal lives. We can refine our inner awareness to sense what each moment calls for.

We will intuitively know whether it is, metaphorically, a weekday or a Sabbath.

Nestled into this analogy is a reference to the variation in time periods. We will spend more time in the active phase, which needs to be longer than the resting period.

But times of rest must reoccur on a regular basis.

 

BIBLE VERSE question: What did Jesus mean by “the meek shall inherit the earth?”

Answer: The word “meek” refers to people who don’t hate or resent others—who are free of self-will and fear. They will have humility, as well as a loving and understanding nature.

So they do not feel the need to prove they are right.

Many people aspire to being this way but lack the courage to do so. Inwardly, this feels very frustrating.

To live this way reflects a healthy soul. It means having the strength, power and independence to live within the framework of divine law. We are not swimming against the stream of God’s laws and therefore creating disharmonious currents.

When Jesus used the word “meek,” he did not mean we should let the Lower Self of others triumph over us.

Not at all.

Jesus Christ himself did not allow this to happen. He fought many times, and often quite vehemently.

Fighting evil in others—and in ourselves, for that matter—may involve accepting a hurt and learning from it. But neither should we allow another’s lower nature to take advantage of our meekness.

At first, it may seem difficult to find the right balance between these apparently contradictory courses—accepting pain and fighting against evil. But it’s not as hard as it may seem. We just need to test ourselves to see where our ego is involved.

Where do we find pride or self-will?

In that moment, we can learn to humbly accept that our ego is preventing us from seeing the truth.

Until the ego is sufficiently neutralized, we need to curb our fighting spirit. But after a while, we will be able to develop impartial judgment and objectivity. As the ego gradually fades, we won’t need to be the center of the universe anymore.

Then we will be able to stand up for the right principles. And we will know how to fight in the right way.

This can’t happen, though, when our emotional reactions are affecting the way we behave. If our small ego plays a central role in our lives, it will color our judgment about everything.

Until we can clearly recognize this, we have more personal work to do. It will take a while before our views, reactions and feelings are no longer tainted by the ego’s stake in maintaining its position.

On the other side of this egocentric way of living lies true humility.

That’s the meekness Jesus was talking about.

This kind of humility gives us strength for staying still when we’ve been hurt, so we can quietly forgive. We’ll also know when to stand up to injustice and fight against evil forces—regardless of whether it personally touches us.

Such discernment requires that we become skilled detectives in seeking out our most hidden feelings.

We must come to know their true nature.

We need to become as well trained as we possibly can in this powerful and important task of self-observation.

BIBLE VERSE question: What is the true spiritual meaning of the statement, “To those who have, more will be given, and to those who have not, what they have will be taken away?”

Answer: This passage refers to all divine qualities, including faith and love. For example, to those who have love, more love will be given.

This is the nature of love—and of all spiritual qualities—to generate more of itself.

So if someone has love, more love will come to that person. And then they will be able to give it freely to others.

But if we lack love—and what little we have is diluted by impure currents—we’ll lose that too.

It will waste away.

Our work is to break this vicious circle. For everything—positive and negative—operates in cycles.

As long as we continue to violate spiritual laws, the negative cycles will continue to operate. When that happens, the negative currents become increasingly stronger and we lose whatever positive qualities we had.

If we can break this negative cycle and start up a positive one, then the positive quality is going to become inexhaustible.

Then the more we give, the more will come out of us.

 

BIBLE VERSE question: What’s the deeper meaning of, “All things work together for the good for those who love God.”

Answer: The phrase “those who love God” does not merely mean believing in God, or saying we love God and reciting some prayers.

Having true love of God means we work spiritually to develop ourselves. We discover how divine laws work and how they pertain to us personally—in all their psychological aspects.

Through our work, we come to know ourselves so thoroughly that not only do our thoughts, words and deeds comply with spiritual law, but our emotions do as well.

We come to love God in our emotions.

And this requires a significant investment of time and effort. So only someone who actively works on a path of spiritual development can truly love God.

Then what does it mean that “all things work together for the good?”

Is this even true?

Indeed, for anyone walking a spiritual path of self-development and purification, everything that happens ultimately serves the good.

When we reach a certain stage in our development, we will see that this is true.

If we demonstrate our love for God through our sincere efforts to walk this path, then every tragedy, mishap or seeming misfortune will carry some benefit for us.

So many of us do not yet realize this.

Instead, we live under the delusion that this is a world of coincidence and chance—even of injustice. We may not think this is true, but we feel it is.

This is a great error and a tragic illusion.

On the other hand, for someone who is not on a spiritual path—who doesn’t love God above all else—even the best things in life won’t turn out for the good.

They will end up creating difficulties and tests, and might only work for the good in a future incarnation—the moment we set foot on this spiritual path.

Until that point in our personal development, nothing will ultimately work for the good. But from then on—when our soul reaches a crucial turning point in our evolution—our lives will change.

Then everything that happens—past, present and future—serves the good.

 

BIBLE VERSE question: What’s the explanation for the saying of Jesus, “Come as a little child?”

Answer: Jesus is referring to having a lack of prejudice—to adopt a childlike attitude.

This is essential for approaching this spiritual path.

A prejudice is a wall of darkness. A child, on the other hand, is like a blank sheet of paper—an unwritten page.

Children are without prejudice in the way they interact with the world. All the influences that will later form their images—and therefore prejudices—haven’t yet caused them to build up such walls.

This is why children often have a clearer view of truth than adults.

The problem of prejudice is widespread, causing many who are the receiving end of prejudice to suffer.

But we suffer from the prejudices of others only when there is a corresponding element within us. Chances are, then, that a person harmed by a prejudice has, in themselves, a great prejudice, just in a different way.

An important aspect of the work on this path involves resolving our images. These are wrong conclusions we make about life at a young age that color our view of the world.

One way to search for our images is to look for our prejudices. As we identify them, we can come to understand their origins. We can then discover the defenses and rationalizations that made us adopt them.  

People have an emotional response to the word “prejudice” itself. We’re each different, in this regard. But we tend to react most strongly to what we’re most sensitive about, often overlooking how prejudice exists within our own minds. Ours may be even stronger than what we encounter in others.

If we feel constantly affected by others’ prejudices, we can search to find the pattern in ourselves. It’s very likely that there is an image in our soul that magnetically attracts the prejudice. As a result, we are projecting onto others what we actually feel inside ourselves, in a different way.  

Another clue is to explore what constantly occupies our thoughts. For one person, it might be rejection. For another, it’s prejudice. A third might fear that someone will steal their possessions.

We each have our own pet concern.

We need to get clear about ours. Once we’ve clarified our emotions, we’ll have a good idea of what to search for.

For example, many people are walking around feeling rejected. If we notice this in ourselves, we can say to ourselves, “Perhaps I’m the one always rejecting others in one way or another.”

Maybe it’s done out of fear.

Or we might be so afraid of rejection that we reject others first, before they can do the same to us. Then, when they react to us, we get our feelings hurt because we feel so rejected.

It takes great maturity to not react in kind. Our shared sensitivity to rejection locks us into a vicious cycle.

This is how we continually hook and affect each other with misunderstandings, hurt and rejection.

It’s very painful.

The only way to break the cycle is by not waiting for the other to do it first—to “turn the other cheek.” One of us must reach out, despite the distorted picture that our emotional storms create.

If we set aside our vanity, even briefly, we can lay down our insecurity, open our arms—and then see what happens.

In other words, we can follow the example of a child.

 

BIBLE VERSE question: What can you say about the true meaning of “turn the other cheek?”

Answer: This passage is about breaking the vicious circles between people. These negative interactions go on and on, with one person’s destructiveness hooking another’s. Back and forth we go, each seeing the other’s faults as the primary cause for their own response.

To “turn the other cheek” means we stop doing this.

When we interrupt this vicious circle by taking responsibility for ourselves. When we look with fresh eyes, we can see a different approach.

This is the way to dispel destructiveness—and create unity. Through understanding and love.

Christ can then reign as the Prince of Peace within us as we let this sort of light shine.

This phrase also means the same thing as “do not resist evil.” But don’t confuse this with submitting when we should stand up and fight for what is right.

Turning the other cheek mean using discernment about when we should fight back. Or when it would only perpetuate aggression—and play into the hands of evil—but have no chance of unwinding a difficult struggle.

We can use positive assertion in a helpful way only when we have clarity and a single-pointed motivation. Then our goal is to do the will of God and further his plan.

At times, our work may be to express the Christ that shines through us, exposing ourselves and standing up for the truth without worrying about personal gains.

The key is to ensure we are fighting for something—like truth or justice or a good cause—and not against someone who has made us angry. Our motivation should be God’s cause, rather than our self-will or pride.

Then we will feel strong and secure—not held back by guilt.

Turning the other cheek can also mean letting go of our self-righteous case and looking inside ourselves.

Where are we contributing to a negative interaction?

How are we provoking the other person?

This kind of inner shift is a habit we can work on—a spiritual muscle we can develop.

It’s tempting to stand in our self-righteous position, rationalized by our focus on the other’s wrong-doing.

And sometimes the other person really is wrong.

Or it might just be our wishful thinking and distorted perspective. After all, we may not wish to take responsibility for our own Lower Self.

When we fight like this, we do damage.

We perpetuate evil.

On this path, we learn that the one who is the victim is often just as responsible as the one who acts as perpetrator. There is great freedom in this realization.

By living from this understanding, our self-esteem grows. We gain the strength to fight—when it is good and right to do so. It’s when we know we should fight, but we go about it the wrong way, that we feel shackled.

We become shackled by victimhood mentality.

We insist we are right yet won’t look into ourselves.

We need to adjust our stance.

Next Chapter

Return to Bible Me This Contents