and effectively apply them, you begin to live so as to create more peace, joy, and understanding in your life. Others see the change in you. As a result, you become an example to them.
Third, you come to realize that the Universal Laws are vital to your life, for you see how they determine the conditions you experience. You come to understand how through these laws you make or break your relationships, your career, your finances, your life.
Fourth, as you become aware of the Universal Laws and use them effectively, you transform yourself and your life; you create joy in your relationships, success in your career, and abundance in many forms in your experience.
Fifth and most important, your life becomes a fulfilling one because your actions will be in accord with the purpose of the Universe.
For the above reasons, the Universal Laws of life are as important to us as the air we breathe or the food we eat. Yet these laws are little recognized or understood in today’s world. Relatively few people know them, and even fewer try to apply them in their lives. The laws are rarely taught in our educational systems. Where they are set forth in the world’s literature, they are seldom seen in their true significance and even less understood in their relation to life.
To try to live without understanding the Universal Laws is like your trying to drive a car without knowing how to control it. The results can be disastrous even though you may be trying hard to drive correctly. Likewise, if you do not understand the Universal Laws by which your life operates, you can end up in difficulty, chaos, pain, and confusion without understanding the reasons. Therefore, it is vital to your happiness and that of others that you learn these laws of our lives and how to constructively use them.2
BASIC NATURE OF UNIVERSAL LAW
There is a missing link in the world today: a true, clear, basic understanding of how our lives operate. Understanding of Universal Law is that missing link! It is the fundamental means through which we can consciously take charge of and redirect our lives with the awareness of what we are truly creating.
A key to the great advances in the material world was the understanding of Newton’s laws and quantum physics. In the mental/spiritual world the equivalent to that discovery is the realization and understanding of Universal Law as the fundamental fabric of our lives.
To begin to learn and apply these laws beneficially, we need to come to an understanding of their basic nature. A universal law is not like the laws of a city, state, or nation. A universal law applies throughout the world and the universe. Most important, it applies to each one of us, to everyone we know and don’t know, without exception and regardless of place, economic condition, color, or creed.
An example of a universal law in the physical world is the law of gravity. It applies everywhere on earth. Whether you jump off a cliff in California or Peru, the result is the same—down you go! The law applies equally to all human beings. When you jump off that cliff, the effect is equally certain whether you are a son or a daughter, a janitor or the president—down you go! It even applies to things. If you toss out a rock from the cliff—down it goes!
The law of gravity is in operation night and day, winter and summer, this century as well as the last one. It never rests and never changes! It shows no partiality for anyone. It is available to all. We can use it as we choose. It is completely reliable, always there, and does not change.3
The law of gravity demonstrates some of the basic characteristics of all universal laws, including those of the mental and spiritual. Using these characteristics and my understanding of the universal laws gained from the Cayce readings and other sources, I have formulated this simple definition:4
A Universal law is an unbreakable, unchangeable principle of life that operates inevitably, all the time.
We can define the universal laws as a group as follows:
The universal laws are unbreakable, unchangeable principles of life that operate inevitably, in all phases of our life and existence, for all human beings and all things, everywhere, all the time.
This definition makes clear the universality of the laws and the all-encompassing nature of them in our lives. It also reveals to us, if we think about it, a deep sense of the impartiality, the equality, and the fairness to all as well as the perfection that is inherent in them.
The universal laws are also referred to by others as principles or universal principles, as laws of consciousness or laws of mind action.
We need to recognize that there are multiple universal laws which interact. For example, you know from experience that, if you are in a swimming pool, gravity will cause you to sink. If, however, you apply the law of flotation by using a float of some sort, the pull of gravity can be counteracted. Both the law of gravity and the law of flotation are in full operation. We have not changed the laws, only the results. By effectively employing the laws, results can be dramatically changed.
The great importance of our coming to know and effectively live the Universal Laws in our lives is further emphasized by a beautiful statement from the Cayce readings. It tells us how you and I may use the laws to a greater purpose:
To Spirit, to Spirit’s Universal Laws, must all come; the nearer we apply those laws in keeping with divine love, the greater blessings to self, the greater may be the blessings of self upon others. (2906-1)P5
Each of us has the opportunity to bring “greater blessings to self … greater … blessings of self upon others.” To achieve this goal, we need to understand the meaning of the above statement. Some of us will think of “Spirit” and “divine love” in terms of God, Jesus, the Christ, the Christ within, the Father, or the One. Others may think in terms of the Universe, the Buddha, the Infinite, Krishna, the Universal Consciousness, the Source, the Force, the Creator, Creative Force, Energy, Universal Forces, or some other name. The readings are open to the acceptance of any concept based on the existence of one supreme being, force, power, or spirit regardless of name or concept. We are invited to use the understanding which best fits our particular background, concepts, and spiritual orientation, based on the highest ideal which we individually can comprehend.
Because the power or force or nature of Spirit is not limited to a name, we can feel free to use any name for it or for aspects of it with which we feel comfortable. With that understanding, the above quotation from the Cayce readings explains that as we apply the Universal Laws from the highest consciousness which we individually can achieve at this point, regardless of how we identify it, we can bring greater blessings to ourselves and to others.
The “others” who are recipients of these benefits are far more extensive than we realize. The Cayce readings explain that one reason we are here in the earth plane is to learn and understand the Universal Laws.6 As we do, we not only bring about our own development, but by our growth we also raise the consciousness of the world. What a challenge to know that our individual efforts to grow in understanding and application of the laws can actually benefit the whole world!
TRANSFORMATION THROUGH THE UNIVERSAL LAWS
Each one of the Universal Laws is a law of transformation!
All of the Universal Laws are guideposts to your path of transformation. They give the basic principles involved so that you know what is required of you if you choose to transform your life. Regardless of where you are in your development, they will map the steps you need to take. The laws provide a clear path to follow by which you can progress from one stage to another as you grow in understanding and practice. They are not only the guideposts, but together they form an overall picture—a complete path for your
