Fault

What it is

Faults are distortions of our divine, or Higher Self, qualities. They are not evidence that we are bad, but signs that truth has become twisted through fear, ignorance or misunderstanding.

Why it matters

The Pathwork Guide invites us to face our faults honestly—not with shame, but with humility. As we discover the mistaken belief each fault has been trying to protect, the corresponding divine quality naturally begins to emerge.

From Bones

~1~

This path of purification, then, is all about ridding ourselves of the pervasive faults of self-will, pride and fear that obscure our ground of perfection.

We must come to see how these particular distortions comprise the highly unlikable Lower Self and routinely color our life experiences. At some point, we must also discover the special Higher Self quality that lies buried beneath them. (Chapter 13)

~2~

What we can do is have a genuine desire to better ourselves. This, in turn, leads to accepting ourselves as we are right now…

We won’t need to exaggerate how bad we are. But we also won’t need to defend against it and blame others for it. We’ll take responsibility for our faults and step up for the consequences. (Chapter 6)

~3~

It could also happen that we realize we are in love with some of our faults. Often, this is the case. It happens for the simple reason that according to the image, we need these faults in order to defend ourselves.

We think our faults are keeping us safe, so we are unwilling to let them go.

… Our conscious efforts to get past a fault will continue to be fruitless as long as the roots, which are buried in an image, are kept far from seeing daylight. (Chapter 9)

~4~

The first step is to get as objective a picture of ourselves as possible. This involves getting to know both our good qualities and our faults.

It helps to start by making a list. Writing things down in black and white, as it were, helps us organize and condense what we have discovered so far. And this keeps us from losing track of hard-won awareness. (Chapter 12)

~5~

If we want to walk this spiritual path of purification, it’s essential that we sort these three faults out within ourselves. We must see the role that each of them plays. And we must not buy, for one minute, the notion that this trio applies to “everyone but me.” (Chapter 13)

~6~

We are often handicapped by our own guilt. More correctly, we are hampered by a wrong attitude toward our guilt.

The issue is our attitude about our own shortcomings, or faults. Due to having a wrong attitude, we become too depressed to face ourselves…

With the proper attitude though, we will realize that we don’t commit our faults out of malice or because we wish evil things for others. Every fault—every act of selfishness—is nothing but a great misunderstanding.

It’s a wrong conclusion. (Chapter 14)

~7~

God is in each of us. And that divine, godlike part of us regulates things in such a wonderful way that all our wrong attitudes are bound to come to the surface. Some come more strongly at one time or another.

But all are eventually going to come up.

All our inner errors and wrong attitudes will be activated by the apparent faults and wrong deeds of other people. We’re like tuning forks, with one note from one person making the other one sing. So it stands to reason that if we don’t have errors inside us that resonate, we won’t respond. (Chapter 19)

~8~

If we’re going to go digging around in our unconscious, we’re going to find dirt. We’ll uncover errors, faults and unpleasant attitudes. But seeing these requires no guilt on our part. These are our inadequacies that we are perfectly capable of facing and owning up to. (Chapter 19)

~9~

Whenever we’re bothered, we can shine the light of truth in the direction of the real culprits. For as long as we’re ensnared in [the faults of] self-will, pride and fear, we can never be happy.

It’s not possible. (Chapter 13)

Continue with: Distortion • Pride • Self-will