The Undefended Self: Living the Pathwork

The unitive level is the experience of the ground of being, the state of cosmic consciousness, an awareness that all of life is truly one, that there really is no separation. It is all one gigantic pulsating energy-consciousness. It is all God.

Most of our longings can be expressed as a desire to love (self, another person, work, nature, or God) and to be loved (by self, another person, our environment, or God). The first step is to learn to love, and be loved by, ourselves. In this way we establish a foundation for fulfilling all our longings. We learn to identify with a part of ourselve

The common denominators of such patterns always point the way to some false ideas we are cherishing, usually unconsciously. These ideas then need to be crystallized into clear, concise expressions, however irrational they may seem. Such expressions may begin with generalizations such as: “All men are,” or “Love is,” or “Work is.” Other false conclu

All spiritual work is a matter of gradually learning to shift our self-identification (who we believe we are) to the higher self and to learn to identify, but not identify with, the mask and the lower self.

"When you muster the courage of becoming your real self, even though it would seem so much less than the idealized self, you will find out that it is much more. And then you will have the peace of being at home within yourself. Then you will have security.

We gradually shift our identification away from the observed aspects of self and toward the observer who identifies these aspects.

The process may at times seem unbearably slow; at other times dizzyingly rapid. For a while we will expand toward greater fulfillment; and then we will temporarily contract. Our personal spiritual evolution moves in a spiral form. We circle around the same inner issues and difficulties, but each time at a deeper level, as our ability to learn from

Every time we relax into the feared or denied part of ourselves we go through a kind of “death”—of our idealized self-image, or who we thought we were—which leads us to a new, deeper level of inner life. Each such “death” prepares us for the great death, the death of the ego’s separation from God, where we come to the center of our own being, the p

Practice identifying with your objective observer-self during some daily routine act, such as brushing your teeth, every day for five days. Practice simply being present to your experience at such times, noticing what is going on inside and outside you— calmly noting and accepting whatever occurs. Then see if you can also stay identified with the c