What is Pathwork?
The Pathwork is a guide to the heart. It is a spiritual journey of self-discovery and transformation. The collection of teachings provide a map of how the psyche works on various levels. Everyone has a divine essence that is covered by layers of defense, negativity, and misconceptions. As we bring these layers into consciousness, they are accessible to bring into their original divine truth.
The Guide says in Lecture #256, Inner Space, Focused Emptiness, “These teachings do not want to take you out of your world. The aim is to be in your world in the best possible way. You do not require outer conditions of absolute seclusion in order to reach inner space. You instead go right through what seems the greatest obstructions: the imperfections within and around you until they lose their fearsome aspect. This is your Path.”
You can also read a longer introduction to Pathwork — as well as a sample lecture — on our blog.
Great Lakes Pathwork
Great Lakes Pathwork has members from the Midwest United States and Southern Ontario. The body of the members and Helpers are located in the larger Detroit area and Ann Arbor. The Great Lakes Pathwork has been in existence for 40 years. Many of its Senior Helpers have moved and established other Pathwork communities across the United States.
Mission Statement
Great Lakes Pathwork is a spiritual community that is part of the International Pathwork Foundation. We are committed to the study and practice of the Pathwork Lecture materials. Our mission is to provide guidance for personal transformation and support for the soul’s journey to unitive consciousness. We offer educational programming along with spiritual counseling and provide a safe, inclusive and vibrant environment for growth and development.
Community Agreements
We practice self-responsible communication.
We ask “What is the truth?”
We use genuine inquiry, to understand.
We risk exposure and challenging each other in a loving way.
We listen actively and deeply.
We practice the spiritual laws presented in the Pathwork lectures.
We honor confidentiality of personal issues.
We stay kind, curious and open.
We honor time agreements.
We hold personal and collective purpose.
We bring concerns and disagreements directly to each other, rather than maligning and gossiping.
We honor one another’s and GLP’s name and reputation.
Lecture Excerpt
#250
The grace of God is. It exists at all times, penetrating all that is. It exists in the very nature of ultimate reality, which is thoroughly benign. Grace means that all must work out for the best, no matter how evil, how painful, how tragic things may appear at the moment.
Our Logo
The Great Lakes Pathwork logo was designed by Dean Rivard, who was a student of the GLP in the 1980’s. He was an artist and glass worker. We are grateful for Dean’s inspiration, talent and offering.
The center expresses the glory of the Real Self.
The stylized flower in the middle of this logo embodies the traditional idea of the 1,000 petalled lotus. Some say it looks more like a rose of love depicting the layers we need to travel to awaken this Core Beauty.
The connecting lines are literal two-dimensional representations of “never-ending” swirls which give the illusion of contraction (going into oneself) and expansion (going out); therefore pulsating, vibrant, alive, creating, and eternal.
The “Escher” triangles tend to appear three-dimensional, but cannot actually be made that way. The linking sides in our work represent the Higher Self, Lower Self and Mask and also the three personality types that we each hold in varying degrees of Reason, Will and Emotion.
The outer encircling rings hold wholeness and unity.