Living the Path: Reflections on the illusory fences we put up

Greetings Pathworkers,

It’s Amy here. I found April’s Living the Path lecture both particularly provocative—and helpful. In Pathwork Guide lecture #128, The Fences Man Puts Up through Limited Illusory Alternatives, the Guide starts out describing spiritual reality. Here is a taste:

“In reality, the universe is wide open, and man could move freely in it. This means that the universe is truly at man's disposal, with all its infinite rich varieties of fulfillment, of forces, of energy, of experience, of supply—in any possible way man can think of—and more than he can fathom at this point of his evolution. He could make use of all this. He could indeed be master of this wonderful world in which he can forever expand into more blissful experience, into greater wisdom and power, into wider scopes and depths of being.”

But we don’t see this reality. We assume a limited world in which we are fenced in.

What are these imaginary fences that close us off from “wide open spaces containing all the beauties of the world?”

They consist primarily of our belief that we can’t have what we might very easily have. And we feel shame around this unnecessary deprivation. So we pretend we could have it even though we believe we can’t.

This is where we don’t realize our “far-reaching sphere of influence.” We don’t see the connection between cause and effect: how this belief causes us to act in ways that bring about or create the deprivation.  

For years when I was younger, I believed I couldn’t have financial abundance. I felt intense shame around this and pretended I had abundance through a tight insistence, racking up credit card debt that my father would take care of for me.  As the Guide says, my thoughts and actions were all geared to the belief that abundance wasn’t possible for me—maybe for others, but not me.

“All energies are geared to appearing as though what you want exists in your life. But deep down, you are convinced that you cannot really have it, but you are ashamed to admit this. So you pretend you possess what you might easily possess if you believed you could and if you spent your energies, not on make-believe, but on truly obtaining it.”

How did this shift?  How did I remove this imaginary fence of lack?  By making what the Guide calls “a simple gesture” – “a simple decision with a clear declaration.”  I decided not to turn to my father for help with the next set of debts.  I declared I would take responsibility for them. From that point on, my financial life transformed.

“All you need is the forceful assertion that you and you alone determine the choices of your actions, your behavior, your decisions. The moment you do assert this, something begins to happen within, and heretofore unused faculties begin to manifest, first by giving you still deeper understanding, then by strengthening you so that you begin to act differently, in a new and more productive way geared to accomplish the goal you wish.”

This highlights just one portion of this amazing lecture. Come learn more about the illusory fences that limit our life experience, the difference between giving our best and giving a good impression, effortless effort, different kinds of misconceptions, how to start questioning our assumptions and taboos and much more!

Join in April’s Living the Path free lecture discussions!

About Amy Rhett

Amy began studying Pathwork in 1996 and became a Pathwork Helper in  2012.  Her many years of meditation give her a facility for helping others explore their dreams and inner landscape. She leads classes, workshops and multi-year programs, as well as individual sessions.