Eva was born in 1915 in Vienna, the daughter of the well-known Austrian novelist Jakob Wasserman. Driven by a private curiosity and a desire for deeper understanding of her world, Eva began to develop the gift of accessing an inner voice, at first through automatic writing and later by speaking in a trance state. In time, the inner voice took shape as the authoritative, insightful and loving persona of the Pathwork® Guide.

Eva came to the United States in 1939 and continued her work in New York, giving Guide sessions and an ongoing series of trance lectures. She was a beautiful, vibrantly alive woman with a keen intelligence who enjoyed life in all its aspects. She loved people and animals, and enjoyed food, skiing, swimming and dancing.

Eva Pierrakos died in 1979, leaving behind her the rich legacy of more than two hundred Guide lectures and thousands of students and followers of the teachings.

I actually gave a lot of thought to how I should refer to myself relative to this body of Question and Answers. As we know, the author herself, Eve Pierrakos, didn’t claim to be the author. The author of these answers is the Pathwork Guide.

So while I have created this way of organizing this material, it is not my material. This material belongs to the Pathwork Foundation, a non-profit organization charged with disseminating and caring for the Pathwork Guide’s words.

I completed my assembly of these Q&As—which involved reading them, sorting them by topic, and editing them lightly for easier reading—around Christmastime. At the time, I was listening to the many different arrangements of Christmas music offered by so many different artists. Which is when the word “arrangement” popped into my head.

I didn’t create the “song”, but I crafted it this way so that others could enjoy it. If you are interested in exploring what else I have crafted to make these teachings from the Pathwork Guide easier to access, please visit Phoenesse.

—Jill Loree

Pathwork Helper

Founder of Phoenesse

Read more about how Jill Loree created The Guide Speaks.

• How should we think of God?

• How does a person go about re-establishing an emotional experience about God?

• Would you explain further about the state of being and how to achieve it?

• You close all your sessions with, “Be in peace. Be in God.” My question is about God. Recently it has been in the public press that many in religion are beginning to question the meaning of God. Can you comment on that?

In this teaching from the Pathwork Guide, we are shown that finding God is not about belief, doctrine, or searching externally, but about self-discovery and inner experience. God is described not as a person, but as a universal intelligence and living power present within all life—and within ourselves.

Rather than clinging to inherited ideas or rejecting God out of confusion, we are encouraged to remain open and begin with knowing ourselves honestly. True understanding of God arises naturally as we develop self-awareness, responsibility, and inner truth.

This teaching also emphasizes that trust in oneself is inseparable from trust in God. Seeking God as an external authority often reflects fear and dependency, while genuine spiritual experience comes from inner strength and authenticity.

Ultimately, the path to God is the path to the Real Self. By facing inner conflicts without self-rejection and recognizing both our limitations and our deeper goodness, we come into contact with the divine presence within.

Ultimately, we find God not by searching outward, but by knowing, trusting, and aligning with our true inner being.

________

The Guide: I leave you all with the message that you please trust in the goodness of life and in your own goodness at the bottom of your heart. Bank on it. Pray for it. It is there. It is there. Focus on it, without overlooking the negative. Look at the negative and recognize it as a temporary, unreal, partial state. Take responsibility for it.

See it squarely, but never lose sight that that part in you that is capable of this self-confrontation and honesty and openness and exposure—that part that is capable to choose the proper attitude—is the God that is eternal. It is so near. It is your choice—the choice in which way you direct your thinking.

Do you direct your thinking into an abysmal hopelessness and self-defeat because you are imperfect, or do you direct your thinking into acknowledging your divine nature, even though there are imperfect parts in you? They’re only parts. Know your beauty. Know your eternal greatness. You are God.

Be in peace. Be in God.

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• Do mantras, such as repetitious prayers, help in the development of your own soul, and especially the phrase “I am?” And in what way does it help?

In this teaching from the Pathwork Guide, we learn that repetitive mantras or phrases—such as constant affirmations—have limited value for true spiritual growth. While they may create temporary calm or even trance-like states, they often become automatic and lose their meaning over time.

Without genuine awareness, they function more like self-suggestion than transformation.

Real development comes from self-understanding and honest inner work. Even a few minutes of deeply examining your reactions, fears, and inner conflicts is far more powerful than hours of repetition.

Growth requires conscious engagement—seeing where you are in truth, rather than bypassing difficulty through soothing words.

That said, mantra-like practices are not entirely without value. They can help build concentration, which is an important skill on the path. But this focus should ultimately be directed toward meaningful inner exploration.

Bottom line: True spiritual progress comes not from repetition, but from awareness, self-honesty, and the willingness to face and understand your inner reality.

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