The Ten Commandments, in brief:

1 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 
2 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.
3 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
4 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
5 Honor thy father and thy mother.
6 Thou shalt not kill.
7 Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8 Thou shalt not steal.
9 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
10 Thou shalt not covet.

2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.

An important aspect of Pathwork teachings is “images.” The Guide chose this word because an image is like a picture.

Both a picture and an image represent life.

But both are static, or dead.

They are pseudo-reality—an imitation of life.

Although a picture may be very artful, it is nevertheless not real, as something in nature would be.

The images within us are not so different. They are pseudo-defenses, conclusions drawn at a young age about how the world works. We store them in our unconscious and use them to understand the world—based on limited perceptions—and to feel safe.

They are supposed to bring us happiness. But they can never truly do so.

It’s just the opposite, in fact. Because they are based on unreal assumptions.

In Bones, Jill Loree explains that there is a particular kind of image we form about God, which the Pathwork Guide calls our God-image. In this type of image, we overlay our wrong reaction to authority—submission or rebellion—onto God.

Due to our distorted view of God, we assign attributes to God that are actually human failings. Since what we believe about God—usually unconsciously—is not true, we are not in truth.

Living in untruth is what obstructs our connection with our true inner divine self, or Higher Self—which is the true essence of God.

Since the place to find God is heaven—which Jesus taught is within—to create an image of God is to lock ourselves out of heaven.

In the second commandment, it says, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.”

In fact, people cannot create an image of God. It is utterly impossible.

The human brain does not have the ability to conceive of such a thing.

Despite this commandment, people have gone on to create an idea, or image, of God that is tragic and damaging.

We have anthropomorphized God into a person who arbitrarily metes out punishment. That is what happens when we attempt to make an image of God.

With time and maturity, we can come to realize just how limited we are in understanding the greatness of God—the creator.

As we gain wisdom, we develop awe and respect for God. But this is not an unhealthy attitude in which we diminish ourselves.

To do that is to diminish the value of God.

It is only the immature, spiritual infant who criticizes themselves for not grasping that which we’re not equipped to grasp.

God is the great universal mind. To know this is wisdom.

As we grow, we may have bursts of awareness—just a few moments in a lifetime—of just how incapable we are of comprehending God.

In that moment, we become greater than before—closer, in a small way, to God.

 

4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

As always, this statement has meaning on many levels. On the outer level, it had a very different meaning when it was originally said than it could possibly have today.

At that time, people were somewhat crude in terms of their development. If they had not been pointed in the direction of God—toward whom our thoughts and feelings should be devoted at least to some degree—their lower natures would have been more unruly than they already were.

Placing a “must” on us by way of an outer law is, indeed, counter to what spirituality is about. But when primitive instincts were still running rampant, an outer law was really needed.

Going to a deeper level, this commandment is about finding balance in our activities. We should devote part of our lives to our duties, livelihood and responsibilities, whatever they are.

Another part should be devoted to our spiritual unfoldment. And still another part should go to pleasure and enjoyment of life.

We need to relax.

It is important to be harmonious in how we distribute all our activities so that we don’t become one-sided. We want to be healthy in body and soul.

This law can’t have the same meaning today because “I must keep the Sabbath” would create a compulsion. Such an unfree act accomplishes nothing.

For example, it is possible to work too much and still keep the Sabbath. We would then miss the whole point of this commandment.

We need to use our judgment and common sense to find the right balance for us—without requiring rules.

Instead, we learn to use our free choice wisely.

A time of rest

People may want to take the Sabbath—Saturday or Sunday—as their one day a week to rest and relax.

But what does it mean to rest?

What is the only source that we can ever go to for strength?

That source is God. And God is always available.

God gives us strength—if we work to know ourselves—so that we can overcome our weaknesses, misconceptions, limitations and blindness.

We can’t do this in a single day every week.

The God in each of us can only manifest by way of our self-searching—when we are honest with ourselves and working to grow and heal.

A certain amount of time needs to be devoted to our inner life—to contemplation, reflection and self-observation. That’s the only way we can tune into the divine forces that would otherwise be out of our reach.

The number seven

The word “Sabbath” means rest, and it also means the number seven. Hence, the seventh day, according to Scripture, is the day of rest.

There is also a mystical meaning for the number seven. It is a holy number that indicates something is coming to a close—to a whole.

It’s not an end, for there is no such thing—there is always a new beginning. So it is like the closing of a circle or a cycle. When the circle is complete, there is a state of peace—of rest.

On a spiritual path, we are following the movement of a spiral. It may seem sometimes like we are going in circles, but over time we’ll see this isn’t so.

Unless we’re stuck, a similar-looking cycle is happening on a deeper, or higher, level.

Seven indicates the phase that is most restful and from which we can gain an overall view. We can then see how certain pieces fit and are falling into place.

Having that clarity gives us a certain peace. This is restful.

And then along comes the next ascending cycle when we again become upset or restless. Things seem out of place—again—and then we wonder if that past peace was just an illusion.

This confusion, however, will lead us to deeper insight and peace at the next resting point when the cycle closes again, assuming we are doing the work with some depth and goodwill.

On planet Earth, weeks pass in these seven-day cycles. They are a symbol of the smaller cycles inside the larger ones.

The timing and length of individual cycles is actually variable with each person. One might be long, another short—there is no fixed regularity.

On this plane, the measurement of time is entirely symbolic. But in reality, there can’t be any rigidity.

We can’t force the stages artificially.

They will emerge from the personal work we do, from our own needs and problems and personalities. They emerge based on our own efforts.

Periodically, we can assess the arc of our progress.

Rituals

Yom Kippur is designated as the Sabbath of Sabbaths in the Jewish religion. On this special day a personal inventory should be made.

This, of course, does not mean that this must only be done on this one day.

From this overall viewpoint, we can see where we stand, how far we’ve come, and what remains to be accomplished, as best we can foresee.

Having rituals for this can be an invitation to think about the inner meaning. But we need to always look beyond the ritual for the deeper meaning.

Rituals are only signposts or reminders.

On their own, they do not serve any purpose.

There are two categories of wrong responses we often have to rituals.

Some people will adhere to them to gain an imaginary sense of safety. When we do this, we hope that going through the motions will activate the meaning behind it.

This is the lazy way, and it is wishful thinking.

We want the rewards without paying the price.

Many people belong to this category, and not just those in religious denominations.

In the other category are people who say that ritual doesn’t mean anything.

And to some extent, they’re right.

But they are also partially mistaken.

Because something wise, true and flexible may be living in the practice of a ritual.

When such people close themselves to the possibility of such an experience, they aren’t thinking any more freely or independently than the people who follow rituals without thinking.

Circumcision

Circumcision is an example of a ritual that was introduced during a time when humanity was in a very primitive state.

All over the Earth, blood sacrifice was used to assuage people’s guilt for betraying God. For ignoring truth and giving in to the temptations of the Lower Self.

Then, when the ancient Jews—who worshipped God as being the one and only true God—were instructed by the Lord to stop sacrificing human lives, they had to come up with something else. They needed a modified version of blood sacrifice just to cope with their overwhelming inner guilt.

In no way did this law have anything to do with health or hygiene. That was a superficial rationale that covered the fact that the true meaning could not have been understood.

Because it really made no sense.

As humanity has matured, continuing this barbaric ritual makes even less sense.

Today, people are sufficiently adult to face our guilts directly. We need to apologize for the pain we cause others, which is the origin of justified guilt.

Unjustified and displaced guilts simply need to be done away with. They serve no good.

Suffering, which is the effect of guilt that is no longer connected with the cause of it—justified guilt—also isn’t necessary, appropriate or desirable.

We must learn to address things realistically.

Circumcision really does cause suffering for the male baby. What about the female human being?

In fact, there is a meaning behind the great suffering that women have endured—up until fairly recently—in the process of childbirth. This has also been a displaced “blood sacrifice”—the female version of atoning for guilt in the soul.

Once humanity became ready to deal with guilts in a more direct and effective way, medicines and natural techniques have been developed. These have made it possible to avoid unnecessary suffering during childbirth.

There is an undesirable effect on our entire being when we perpetuate customs that are no longer appropriate.

It truly blocks the harmonious flow of evolution.

 

5. Honor thy father and thy mother.

This commandment has been so misunderstood. A great deal of harm comes from these misunderstandings and superficial interpretations.

If we use guilt and force a person to love and honor someone, it becomes compulsive. That destroys real understanding—which destroys love and honor.

We cannot blindly love and respect, when what we see and experience is largely not deserving of one’s love and respect.

When we squash our early impressions of our parents and then superimpose an artificial and compulsive version of love and honor, we move even further from true love and respect.

Over-honoring

Another harm caused by the misinterpretation of this commandment is the over-honoring a parent—in their actions and deeds—in a way that is self-effacing and self-destroying.

This covers up the guilt we feel for our resentment, hate and hostility that smolder under the surface. Only by facing these hostilities and making peace with them do we reach a real understanding and forgiveness of our parents’ shortcomings.

But not through an enforced or superimposed remedy.

Then we can find the right middle way. We can do what’s best for them—possibly putting our own advantage to the side—but honor ourselves as well.

To honor another does not mean we give up our own life.

Nowhere in the Bible, or in any other Holy Scripture, does it say that we shouldn’t honor ourselves.

But many of us live our lives in a way that constantly shows dishonor toward ourselves. We put everyone and everything ahead of ourselves. And we often honor our parents for the sake of disregarding our own growth and right to live.

When we do this, we can be sure that the very opposite feelings are smoldering underneath.

But we don’t dare to look at them.

We can’t give, however, what we don’t have.

We can’t honor a parent—or anyone else for that matter—if we are disregarding our own life.

It doesn’t work to operate from blindness and just hope for the best. We need to see the truth.

When we do, we can come to respect the basic humanity in everyone—our parents included—regardless of their blindnesses or deviations from the truth.

From a spiritual perspective, one person gaining inner truth—as happens when one does the work of self-knowing—will have infinitely greater influence on the development of the entire cosmos than do millions of people in error.

This may sound incredible, but it is the utter truth.

 

6. Thou shalt not kill.

We can apply all of the commandments on all levels of our personalities.

So this commandment is not just about the act of physically killing someone. The terms “life” and “death” apply to more than just the body.

From this viewpoint, this commandment takes on a different meaning.

There are destructive thoughts and emotions that negatively affect others—effectively killing them. We also do this to our own life force.

We can go even further and consider how we darken life itself.

For we’ll discover as we progress on this path, that all our unresolved problems and conflicts—which are based on deviations and images—affect us and our surroundings.

Therefore, we deaden life.

Emotional killing

What does “emotional killing” look like?

When we feel rejected and insecure, we tend to try to please the very ones whose acceptance we crave but don’t have. Often, we do this by despising anyone despised by the one whose attention we want so badly.

This might be subtle, but it’s not uncommon.

Such a betrayal hurts and rejects others while bringing us the opposite of what we originally wanted. This may not manifest through our words or deeds, but may lay hidden in a well-camouflaged attitude.

We might even bend over backwards to hide it.

Nevertheless, it remains within us, causing damage.

We cannot fill our being with love and truth unless we uncover all these areas where we are not being loving.

And we aren’t in truth either.

That’s the doorway that leads to real salvation.

The only way to get there is through this work of fully understanding ourselves.

There are no shortcuts, no magic formulas, no mantras, no miracles, and no easy ways to do this.

Only utter self-honesty in everything we do—major, minor and seemingly insignificant—will get us there.

Next Chapter

Return to Bible Me This Contents