At first, we approached the Work with a desire for enlightenment, knowledge, understanding. But over the years of practicing the Work teachings in our everyday lives we gradually discover that we no longer wish for anything for ourselves. We already have everything that we need. Our Work becomes a response to the inner call to "lighten the sufferings of God", as we have seen in the previous Striving, and our own aim is to become able to respond to that call in every possible way.
Gurdjieff advised his students to practice conscious love first of all on animals, as they would respond better. Thus, animal welfare and the informed stewardship of the Earth are basic duties for Work students. We've seen in the previous strivings that unless we take better care of the world in which we live, we will end by destroying the planet, and with it, the whole of humanity. For our own sake, as well as that of the plant and animal world, we must heed the call to evolve in consciousness and enable other beings to reach their highest possible state.
In the Work, we speak of working on the First, Second and Third lines of work. The first line is our own personal work, the attempt to remember ourselves, the purification of the Emotional Centre, the withering away of False Personality and the correct use of the Personality in order to allow Essence to direct our actions.
In the Second Line, we work with others in groups, assisting one another under the guidance of an authorized teacher.
In the Third Line, our efforts are for the good of the Work itself, by contributing to its growth and enabling it to be known by more and more of those able to respond.
Sometimes this can be carried out by becoming a work teacher, and cooperating with other teachers in assisting students. But sometimes this is not possible, and it may be that we can serve the work by writing, as in this blog and many others, or by writing books which bring the ideas before the public.
But even if these types of Third Line work are not available to us, we are still, I think, serving the Work itself by living out its principles in everything we do.
We externally consider other people, for example, treating them as we ourselves wish to be treated. We refuse to trade insults or become angry when we cannot have our way; we accept our limitations; we no longer place requirements on anyone or anything. We realize our own powerlessness, as the Twelve Step Programmes say, and we don't try to impose our will on any person or situation.
By acting thus, by remembering ourselves in the midst of our everyday life, we help other beings in the gentlest and kindest way possible. We place no blocks in the path of their own evolution. If people ask for our advice or seek our teaching, we willingly give it.
We don't mind whether people view us as wise or foolish. Other people's opinions are of no concern to us. We don't want to be powerful, or famous, or the object of anyone's excessive admiration. We take our cue from Jesus, who was meek and compassionate to the point where he returned good for evil, and from Gurdjieff, who, if he felt someone was becoming too dependent on him, could consciously shock them into sense.
We treat anyone who crosses our path with kindness and consideration. But we don't make them dependent on us; we want to foster their own growth and independence, and to help them to find the path that is right for them, the way which may lead them to become conscious and eventually to serve God.
By not reacting mechanically, by becoming aware of our own addictive I's, our own habitual thoughts and emotions, we gradually gain the ability to live more consciously.
If we are addicts or alcoholics, we put an end to the generations of suffering that have culminated in our own addiction. We free our parents, our grandparents and all our ancestors from the sorrow and concern they have surely felt as they watched us live our own addicted lives and were unable to help us.
Gradually, imperceptibly even, by accepting our own share of suffering and by our conscious efforts to live out the Work teachings, we are assisting the perfection of all other beings.
And we are living according to our Essence, our Fate.
We are now approaching Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, as Gurdjieff would sometimes say to his American students. Philadelphia, the state of living in love and harmony, begins to become a real possibility for us. We see that "hand washing hand", another Gurdjieffian saying, is the only way for three-brained beings to live, and we strive more and more to achieve that state.
In the Five Strivings, Gurdjieff offers us an encapsulation of his teachings that covers every stage of our conscious existence and shows us the way to help others.
They contain the essential teachings of all the world's true religions. It is now up to us to live them.
In the Work, we speak of working on the First, Second and Third lines of work. The first line is our own personal work, the attempt to remember ourselves, the purification of the Emotional Centre, the withering away of False Personality and the correct use of the Personality in order to allow Essence to direct our actions.
In the Second Line, we work with others in groups, assisting one another under the guidance of an authorized teacher.
In the Third Line, our efforts are for the good of the Work itself, by contributing to its growth and enabling it to be known by more and more of those able to respond.
Sometimes this can be carried out by becoming a work teacher, and cooperating with other teachers in assisting students. But sometimes this is not possible, and it may be that we can serve the work by writing, as in this blog and many others, or by writing books which bring the ideas before the public.
But even if these types of Third Line work are not available to us, we are still, I think, serving the Work itself by living out its principles in everything we do.
We externally consider other people, for example, treating them as we ourselves wish to be treated. We refuse to trade insults or become angry when we cannot have our way; we accept our limitations; we no longer place requirements on anyone or anything. We realize our own powerlessness, as the Twelve Step Programmes say, and we don't try to impose our will on any person or situation.
By acting thus, by remembering ourselves in the midst of our everyday life, we help other beings in the gentlest and kindest way possible. We place no blocks in the path of their own evolution. If people ask for our advice or seek our teaching, we willingly give it.
We don't mind whether people view us as wise or foolish. Other people's opinions are of no concern to us. We don't want to be powerful, or famous, or the object of anyone's excessive admiration. We take our cue from Jesus, who was meek and compassionate to the point where he returned good for evil, and from Gurdjieff, who, if he felt someone was becoming too dependent on him, could consciously shock them into sense.
We treat anyone who crosses our path with kindness and consideration. But we don't make them dependent on us; we want to foster their own growth and independence, and to help them to find the path that is right for them, the way which may lead them to become conscious and eventually to serve God.
By not reacting mechanically, by becoming aware of our own addictive I's, our own habitual thoughts and emotions, we gradually gain the ability to live more consciously.
If we are addicts or alcoholics, we put an end to the generations of suffering that have culminated in our own addiction. We free our parents, our grandparents and all our ancestors from the sorrow and concern they have surely felt as they watched us live our own addicted lives and were unable to help us.
Gradually, imperceptibly even, by accepting our own share of suffering and by our conscious efforts to live out the Work teachings, we are assisting the perfection of all other beings.
And we are living according to our Essence, our Fate.
We are now approaching Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, as Gurdjieff would sometimes say to his American students. Philadelphia, the state of living in love and harmony, begins to become a real possibility for us. We see that "hand washing hand", another Gurdjieffian saying, is the only way for three-brained beings to live, and we strive more and more to achieve that state.
In the Five Strivings, Gurdjieff offers us an encapsulation of his teachings that covers every stage of our conscious existence and shows us the way to help others.
They contain the essential teachings of all the world's true religions. It is now up to us to live them.
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