language. In order to make these easier to understand, I have received A.R.E. approval to substitute modern English language equivalents for the archaic words. These substitutions do not change the meaning of the message. In these cases the reference reading number is followed by the designation AR for “Archaic Revised.”
In some cases I have, for clarity, paraphrased a reading. The reading number in this case is followed by P for “paraphrased.”
Part 1
Universal Laws:
Keys to Your Life
Chapter 1
How the Universal Laws Affect Your Life
Imagine with me for a moment that every aspect of this world is operated by laws—laws that are created out of kindness and love; laws that result in your having exactly what you need when you need it, that always work for the highest good of all; laws that are completely impartial, that apply to everyone equally everywhere throughout our world; laws that work without prejudice, without bias, without judges and courts and trials and lawyers, without bribery; laws that are just and beneficial for everyone at all times and in all places.
What a wonderful world that would be!
The great and exciting news is that this vision is a true one—this is the way our world is right now. There are such laws in operation in our lives—each day, each hour, and each minute. They are the Universal Laws, the vital laws of life!
You are probably asking yourself, “How can this be? My life is chaotic, unpredictable, filled with uncertainties, problems, and difficulties. When I watch the nightly news, I see a parade of the world’s failures and problems. I see no good answers and few satisfactory solutions. How can we claim that the laws of the universe are just and beneficial for everyone?”
It is indeed a strange and disturbing world because both conditions exist and co-exist. This paradox of a world of law, beauty, and order co-existing with an ugly world of chaos and suffering can be confusing if we don’t understand how and why such conditions exist.
The great joy, the great hope, the answer to this paradox lies in coming to an understanding of the Universal Laws, for they produce both conditions. They create chaos and suffering when we misapply them. They create beauty and harmony in our lives when we use them in the highest way. Therefore, these laws are the keys by which you and I can make our lives and our world what we would like it to be.
We can make this transition by coming to know and understand the Universal Laws and then by constructively applying them in our lives. As we do this, we will transform our own personal world from the uncertain, chaotic, and traumatic one we have been living in to one of understanding, peace, and constructive growth—no matter what may be going on in the world around us. This is the great potential that the Universal Laws offer each of us. In addition, when we begin to understand these laws, we begin to realize why our life is the way it is, why the world is the way it is, and how we have helped to make them so.
The Universal Laws are fundamental laws of mind and of spirit, of which most of us are not aware. They are not mind-control or positive-thinking techniques. They are, rather, the basic principles by which life operates. You and I experience daily—minute by minute, hour by hour—the results of the operation of universal laws in our lives. We normally don’t associate these experiences with laws or realize they are governed by law. So, for a moment let’s consider a few examples of the operation of universal law in the physical aspects of our lives.
Join me for a while as I sit here by the window. Notice the prism on the ledge which breaks the rays of the sun into the beautiful array of colors, which move across the ceiling of my room as the sun moves from east to west. The universal laws of optics and of light are operating right here. A jet trail, like a finger, traces across the sky; the plane flying by its use of the laws of aerodynamics. Minutes later a cloud moves in from behind the mountains, and snow starts falling. The moisture in the clouds precipitates into snow at a precise temperature and condition, by law, and the snow falls in accord with the law of gravity. Trees and a meadow in the distance display their autumn and winter colors through the operation of the laws of nature.
Night falls, and we see the stars and planets in their stately movement across the heavens, their positions governed by the laws of planetary motion. A satellite, following the same laws, is on its way to an empty point of space millions of miles away. When it arrives in that particular area, a planet will be passing through at that precise time in accord with the laws. The satellite will transmit pictures and data back to us over these millions of miles, all possible because we know and use the laws of radio transmission.
We come back into the room, flip the light switch, and light fills the room as the laws of electricity operate precisely and predictably. The laws of hydraulics provide water for our showers at the turn of a spigot, water that is heated according to the laws of thermodynamics.
Our cars, our telephones, our television sets—everything operates in accord with the universal laws that apply to each. If it were not so, these instruments could not be designed to function reliably. Realize that the universal laws by which these devices operate have been in existence from the beginning of time. Humankind has only recently discovered them and learned how to put them to use.
For the purpose of this book we are interested in these laws of the physical plane only to realize that they truly are laws and that they are evidence of the fact that “Everything in the earth is ruled by law.” (3902-2)* We are included in that “everything,” for the universal laws are operating in every experience of our lives, no matter who we are or where we are or what we are doing.
THE PURPOSE OF UNIVERSAL LAWS
You may have a negative reaction to the thought that you are subject to Universal Laws; most of us prefer to be completely free of any sort of restriction. There is no need for concern. These laws are not restrictive. They are truly laws created out of love which will produce every good in your life, if you choose to work with them in the right way. Not only are there laws governing everything at all levels—spiritual, mental, and physical—but they are guided, guarded, watched over, and kept in accord with divine love.1
The essence and purpose of all universal laws and the reason for their existence is to manifest the infinite love of the Universe to you and to me.
(Universe here is synonymous with God and Creator and Creative Forces.)
Consider the comprehensive nature, the extent, and the importance to us of the physical universal laws, such as laws of electricity, chemistry, hydraulics, atomic physics, radio transmission, planetary motion, nature’s laws of growth and reproduction, and many others. It seems only reasonable that the Creative Force which provided those laws for us would likewise provide laws of mind and spirit that we could equally rely on to effectively function in our lives. Many sources, ancient and modern, including the Bible, other sacred texts, and seers throughout the ages from Hermes to today’s psychics, assure us that that is the case. It would not have been logical or consistent for the Creator to provide precise laws for the physical world and to have left the functioning of the mental/spiritual world of humankind to chance or worse.
YOUR GROWTH THROUGH UNIVERSAL LAW
As you first begin to work with the Universal Laws of mind and spirit, you will learn how to meet and resolve the problems or traumatic conditions that you face.
Second, as you come to know these
