consider for a moment that overall picture of the Universal Laws. Each one of the Universal Laws is like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle, each contributing to a portion of the picture. Taken together, they form a complete mosaic showing how life can be lived to make it more meaningful and to bring peace, contentment, and joy.
There is a right way to put the puzzle together. Four major phases or levels are involved on your path to transformation with the Universal Laws. These can best be represented by imagining that you are building a pyramid (see Figure 1). Each level represents a state of consciousness with the laws related to that level. Higher levels are higher states of consciousness.
Remember, however, that only you can complete these phases for yourself.
FIGURE 1
Start at the bottom with the laws that form the base of the pyramid, the foundation-stone laws. These are the simple but extremely important “Universal Laws of Cause and Effect.” These laws provide a logical basis for understanding why our life is the way it is and who is responsible. These are the laws by which the world, to a great degree, unknowingly operates.
You build the second level of the pyramid with the “Higher Universal Laws for Your Transformation and Attunement.” These are the laws by which you begin to change the nature of your life from what it is today to what you hope it can be. With these laws, you can begin to heal and to transform yourself as you learn:
1. What transformation is, the laws that govern it, and the basic steps to achieve transformation of yourself;
2. Your relation to and the nature of your Creator;
3. Your purpose on the earth and ways to achieve your purpose through the Universal Laws;
4. The master law of manifestation and how you continually build your life with it;
5. The laws of attunement, keys to effective transformation;
6. The laws of guidance and how you can obtain guidance for any condition you face;
7. The laws of self and your true relation to others;
8. The law of balance for your life; and
9. Ways to apply the laws effectively to achieve the highest good for yourself and others.
The third level, “Universal Laws for Transformation of Your Relations with Others,” enables the seeker to heal relationships with others through the master laws of relationships and the laws of forgiveness, mercy, and grace. These will enable you to move from karmic conditions to grace through the Universal Laws.
The capstone of the pyramid consists of the “Universal Laws of Enlightenment.” These represent the crowning achievement of life through which you are able to develop your full potential, which is far greater than you can conceive from any other levels. These Universal Laws lead to the ultimate goal in transformation. This achievement is described in various ways, such as samadhi, God realization, Cosmic Consciousness, or the Christ Consciousness.
In this volume we will work to build the necessary foundation, primarily the first two levels shown in Figure 1.
Most of us will discover that we know little about the laws, even on the first level. We may have heard of them. We may have considered them only as trite sayings, without ever having understood their significance. It is here that we start our work—at the foundation-stone level with the “Universal Laws of Cause and Effect.”
*The statement quoted is from an Edgar Cayce reading given for the person assigned number 3902 for anonymous identification. See “Introduction” and “Usage of the Edgar Cayce Readings” for more information on the readings and their numerical classification.
Part 2
Why Your Life
Is the Way It Is
Chapter 2
Like Begets
THE LAW OF CAUSE AND EFFECT
The law of cause and effect is a master law encompassing several sublaws as shown in Figure 2. The first of the laws of cause and effect we’ll work with is “like begets like.” It is itself a master law with two sublaws: the law of increase and the law of attraction. We shall consider them after we have studied “like begets like.”
One of the most important, basic, and helpful of the Universal Laws that is so vital to our lives is the law:
LIKE BEGETS LIKE
We can readily see the application of this law in nature, by reflecting on the following examples of its operation:
| dogs | beget | dogs |
| cats | beget | cats |
| pine trees | beget | pine trees |
| apples | beget | apples |
| humans | beget | humans |
This law is basic to our existence. Imagine the chaos that would result if dogs were to beget other creatures at random or if we had no idea what would come up when an acorn fell upon fertile soil.
This law, “like begets like,” also operates in our lives and relationships in many important ways, as one Cayce reading states:
FIGURE 2
This is the law, for like begets like; and [you] do not gather olives from thistles, neither apples from bramble bushes, neither [do you] find love in hate. (349-17)
The last phrase clearly links the law to our lives. Hundreds of readings emphasize that our attitudes, feelings, and actions—by this law—determine the attitudes, feelings, and actions of others toward us.
A woman who was having trouble at home and with her relatives asked how she might overcome her difficulties. Cayce, from his trance condition in which he saw her deeper nature and its need, told her that if she wanted to have friends, she must be friendly. If she wanted peace with her neighbor, her relatives, her family, she would need to be peaceful in herself and toward others. She was assured that if she adopted these attitudes, the conditions and circumstances she faced would change and she would come to the real joys in life. What a simple prescription for a complex and disturbing situation and what a wonderful result promised with its resolution!1
The critical point that is evident in this case is that the law, “like begets like,” makes each one of us individually responsible for the kind of relations we have with others! Whether or not you have a friend depends on you, not the other person. It depends on your attitude and approach: you must first be friendly. Likewise, having peaceful relations with your family depends on you: you must be peaceful in yourself regarding them. The law is simple and unchanging: “like begets
