might view this law as a great responsibility, for we can’t blame the other person for an unsatisfactory relationship. If we look at this from a positive viewpoint, however, we see what wonderful possibilities it opens to us. For if it is true, we are the masters of our lives and we can create the kinds of relationships with others we truly want to have. To achieve such relationships we must first manifest what we want in ourselves. If we don’t have the kinds of relationships we want, we know we have to do some work on ourselves.
We can intellectually debate whether or not this law is valid, but this seldom resolves the question. To try to apply this law is the only way to settle the question. Many experiences in my life and the lives of others have proven for me the law’s validity. I suggest that you, too, prove it for yourself—try it and see if it works. We need, of course, to be aware that the results sometimes take a long time to manifest and at other times they appear quickly.
APPLICATION OF THE LAW
You can write your own version of this law for whatever you wish to have in your life. Let’s consider how you can apply this law to a particular problem. For example, are you sometimes impatient with others? With the waitress who seems to avoid you? With a slow-moving checkout line? With a seemingly never-changing red light? With a child who has no sense of urgency? Or with the slow pace of an older adult? If so, the Universe is trying to tell you, through the feelings that you experience in these situations, that you are impatient. It is giving you these situations as opportunities to develop your patience. The Cayce readings point out that most of us are here to learn greater patience. You may also wish that others would be more patient with you. They will be if you apply the law.
So, applied to the examples above or to a similar situation in your life, “like begets like” becomes: “patience begets patience.” This can be stated as a personal law to apply such as: “If I am to have patience shown to me I must show patience to others.” (1587-1)P
Patience is an attitude of mind; it is not passive submission. In order for patience to beget patience, your patience must be an active growing force within you.
One of the best ways to show patience is by really listening to other people, to what they are saying without at the same moment thinking about how to reply or how to end the conversation. This applies whether we are talking to an older, slower person or to a child or to our spouse or a friend. Patience requires us to shift our focus from our own thoughts, desires, and concerns to those of the other person for a period of time, whether it be moments or hours.2
The following, based on “like begets like,” are typical of other personal laws you could create and apply to resolve specific problems in your life:
If you do not seem to have joy in your life:
If I would have joy, I must make joy in the lives of others.
If others do not seem to cooperate with you:
If I would have cooperation from others, I must cooperate.
If you feel you do not have enough good in your life:
If I would have good in my life, I must do good to others.
The law, “like begets like,” not only applies in all of our relationships, it also makes us responsible for the ways we are treated by others, as this reading states:
Remember, others will never mistreat you if you never mistreat someone else. It isn’t the nature [of the law], for like begets like. (5354-1) [Author’s emphasis]
A powerful concept! We see that we—each one of us—can determine what happens to us by the way we treat others. For example:
If we dislike others—others will dislike us!
If we are kind to others—others will be kind to us!
If we are considerate of others—others will be considerate of us!
If we are hateful of others—others will be hateful of us!
We could extend this list indefinitely. Let’s be practical now—does it really work? Some years ago I wrote a series of articles on Universal Laws for The A.R.E. Journal.3 Later many readers wrote me about their experiences with these laws. A good example of the operation of “like begets like” came from a woman who wrote:
“I got into my car in a parking lot and, as I was in a hurry, I pulled out quickly without noticing that the car parked next to me was pulled in awfully close. As a result of my impatience, I scraped a thin line, about six inches long, along the door of the car (a Buick). However, since it was not a new car and had a few other small scratches on it, I rationalized in my mind that no one would notice, and drove on.
“Two weeks later, much to my chagrin, our brand-new Opel received a two-inch round dent in the door, which is there to this day. I knew immediately why and that I must mentally forgive the one who did it. Furthermore, I resolved to remember the lesson of the incident.
“It was a year later that I got my ‘opportunity’ to practice the lesson, in the very same parking lot. In a hurry again (we Aries never quit!), as someone was impatiently waiting to take my space, I pulled out at too narrow an angle and put a two-inch double scrape and small dent in a newly painted 1957 Thunderbird! A split-second thought went through my mind to forget it and just go on, until I suddenly remembered the previous incident of the year before. I pulled over, took out a pen and a scrap of paper from my purse, and left a note of apology (I could see it was a well-loved and cared-for car!), plus my name and phone number.
“A few days later, a lady phoned me, absolutely amazed to have received the note. (‘It’s so gracious of you,’ she said!) We arranged for her to have the fender touched up and for the garage to send me the bill. Know what? The bill never came, and I never heard from her again. Perhaps it was enough ‘payment’ to have recognized the situation for what it was and to have acted upon it. Interestingly, her name was Mrs. Kaiser, which means ‘king’ in German. Perhaps it was symbolic of my having had power of dominion over my situation, instead of having let it rule me.”
As we gain control over our lower motives, like selfishness and fear, and begin to manifest from a higher purpose—such as this woman did with her concern and thoughtfulness for others—our experiences begin to change for the better. By this simple shift of motives we move to a higher consciousness.
We could attribute the woman’s series of incidents to chance or luck, good or bad. I prefer to see these, as she did, as a series of incidents brought on by a loving Universe to provide an opportunity to learn a lesson and, thereby, to grow in spirit. She flunked the first test by thinking only of herself. The Universe always gives us a “grade”—the dent in her Opel. When she changed the spirit of her approach from “I can get away with it” to “I will take responsibility for my action,” she was given another chance and passed with flying colors. Her grade was no need to pay. She had learned her lesson!
As we look at the Cayce readings and personal examples, we can see that the responsibility for what exists or occurs in our lives is entirely ours. The kind of a life we are living begets (creates) the life we will have, because “like begets like” is one of the Universal Laws by which we create our destiny.4 It applies in all aspects of our lives, and, as a result, the Universe brings to us actions, situations, emotions that reflect what we have expressed or held in mind toward others. For example:
Our motives beget like motives.
Our
