Aquarius workshop

Acknowledge your cruelty courageously 

“Cruelty is hard to face. But when you do face it, then relief and liberation must follow because nothing further bars the way to being totally in truth with yourself. As long as the cruelty within yourself is not fully faced, as long as you run away from it, you cannot be clear and comfortable, unafraid and relaxed about yourself.”

Quote from Pathwork Lecture 139: Deadening of the live-center through misinterpretation of reality

Duality or conflict arises from misconceptions, but misconceptions would have no power if there were no mixture with positive forces, with pleasure. This mixture originated in our childhood. During painful or sad experiences, as a child, in order to make the suffering bearable and to survive, we have in an unconscious automatic reflex linked pleasure to those hurtful cruel experiences. This connection between pleasure and cruelty – the negative pleasure – is the cause of all difficulties, strife, war and every undesirable situation of humanity. It is this penetration of the positive force into the negative force that actively and passively creates evil in the world. We have great resistance to facing our cruel traits. The urge to punish and inflict pain exists in every human being. And whoever that cruelty is directed against, it ultimately takes its toll on all concerned. We (unconsciously) crave cruelty to numb our feelings of fear, pain and guilt, but at the same time cruelty numbs our natural life stream of spontaneous and positive feelings. Whether we give in to this cruel desire or not and as compensation do extra much for other people, in all cases we will feel guilty and therefore deny and suppress these emotions. Some will be more aware of their fears, but not of the other side of fear, namely their inner cruelty. Free from cruelty we will never again be afraid of others, of life or death. In this workshop we will explore with a loving curiosity three themes of the Pathwork Lectures regarding our cruelty.

1st theme: The connection between cruelty and pleasure

Cruelty can exist because destructiveness is imbued with pleasure (an element of the life force). This association of cruelty with pleasure has its origins in childhood. As children we alleviate experiences of pain, sorrow and suffering, which are too unbearable for the undeveloped ego, by attaching the element of pleasure to the hurtful experience. We repeat this negative enjoyment of hurting or being hurt until we take responsibility for our cruelty. Only then does the life force unfold and are we capable of true love.

“When you realize, after having become aware of this process, how many, many people, regardless of their outer action, can experience the pleasure principle only in fantasies of cruelty, you will understand that this is the actual nucleus of war — of cruelty as a whole. This should not make you feel guilty. It should rather enlighten you and free you so as to allow the inner processes to grow. For it is a misapplied and misunderstood hurt that has created this condition. Cruelty without the pleasure principle could never have real power.” (Quote from Pathwork Lecture 135)

2nd theme: Your level of fear as a yardstick

To the extent that we fear cruelty from others, to that extent have we not yet recognized the cruelty in ourselves. The resistance and fear to face ourselves are maintained by our cruel sides. Recognizing fear first helps to find the cruelty. Then we will discover that this cruelty is the result of wrong interpretations of what has been ‘done’ to us by others and by life. 

“It is a reliable gauge to determine the still unrecognized existence of cruelty within yourself when you consider the amount of fear you have left — fear of other people (generally or of specific ones), fear of life, fear of death, fear of the unknown. The more you are afraid of ruthlessness and separateness, of rejection and humiliation, of physical and mental cruelty, the more must these exact same aspects slumber within yourself, as yet not fully acknowledged.” (Quote from Pathwork Lecture 139)

3rd theme: Facing your destructiveness

Many people have developed so far that they no longer vent their destructiveness on others. Out of fear, they suppress and camouflage their cruelty. They have not yet learned how to deal with their negative emotions and desires and they hold back to prevent abuse. This self-alienation blocks the life force and creates conflict, because only when cruelty is acknowledged does it lose its power.

“You all experience on this path the necessity to contact hidden cruelty, brutality, sadism, vindictiveness, malice, etc. As you learn to see, understand, and accept these emotions, you can subsequently truly come out of these feelings. For only then do you become genuinely convinced that there is no need for destructiveness. As long as it is not squarely faced, this conviction is lacking, and the holding back is motivated almost entirely by fear of retribution and consequences. Only when you have the courage and honesty to fully see and accept these damaging emotions and desires, only when you totally comprehend and evaluate them, will you see, without a shadow of a doubt, that they are superfluous as a defense and serve no other purpose either.” (Quote from Pathwork Lecture 169)

The workshop lasts 1,5 hours. We will start with an introduction meditation. This will be followed by  the opportunity to discuss your experiences on this subject and to ask questions.

The last part of the workshop consists of a guided meditation and the sharing of received inspirations.

The free workshop will be held on Saturday at PST 8.00-9.30, EST 11.00-12.30, GMT 16.00-17.30, CET 17.00-18.30.

After you have registered for the free workshop (s.hontele@hetnet.nl), you will receive a zoom link.