Yes, this is the last week of the Christmas season. If you've long since taken down your decorations, planted your tree and removed your Christmas cards, don't worry - the Christmas season is a lot more comprehensive than that.
As we've seen in previous posts, Christmas is about receiving Light. And for us in the Work, the birth of the Light means a new birth in Essence.
From the end of October through until February 2nd, the Earth's journey round the Sun exposes it to certain frequencies which are received in greater concentration at this time of the year. They originate from far higher in the Ray of Creation, and it is for this reason that the feast of Christ's birth has long been celebrated on December 25th, following the Shortest Day (the Winter Solstice) on December 21st.
From the 21st until the 25th, the Sun appears to stand still - the origin of the word "solstice" - and then, from the 25th, begins its apparent movement to lengthen the days once more. The conscious men and women who created the spiritual festivals knew of these special times, and they placed appropriate feasts and fasts to take advantage of them.
By February 2nd, the increase in solar light is obvious. We notice that the days are lengthening once more, and the first flowers of spring, tiny snowdrops and crocuses, begin to appear. At this time, ewes begin to lactate, giving February 2nd its Celtic name of "Imbolc", or incoming milk.
To Christians, it's known as Candlemass, another festival of light, when candles were traditionally taken to church to be blessed for the coming year.
It's more significantly celebrated as the Feast of the Presentation of the Virgin, because forty days after the birth of a child women would go to church (and before that, to the Temple in Jerusalem) to be "purified".
More than this, however, it is the festival when the infant Christ is shown to the elders of the Temple and makes His first public appearance.
The Bible describes this occasion as the day when Simeon, a man who who had long watched for the coming of the Messiah, realized that Jesus (Yeshua, in Hebrew) was the answer to the thousand-year longings of the Jewish people. His famous "Song of Simeon" may be found in the Gospel of Luke, ch.2, vv 29-32.
What does this have to do with the Work?
You will remember that at Christmas, the entire Earth celebrates the birth of the Divine Child. We've prepared for this event by pondering our own death, and the urgent need for us to work on ourselves, during November; by fasting during Advent in expectation of the new birth in Essence to take place on December 25th; by protecting that new life from Second Force both within and without (Herod, in the Bible); and now by getting ready to show this light to the world at the Feast of the Presentation,
In other words, we continue to watch over our inner Divine Child, to ponder over what we have learned during this season, while readying ourselves for the tests we will have to face in life.
We are still in a special season, and the proximity of the Sun to Sirius and to the most sensitive areas of the galaxy will continue to be experienced through this next feast until the great, triumphant celebration of Easter.
We know that during Lent, which this year begins at the end of February, we will face extra tests and challenges, but by now our understanding will, we hope, be strong enough to withstand temptations and trials.
The season of Lent marks the time of concentrated testing for us, which is followed by the intense concentration of Holy Week. We realize that we must place the Work first if it is to survive the season of tests and trials, which are intended to strengthen us to the point where we are able to sacrifice our Imaginary I, the entity that directs our False Personality, on Good Friday.
Easter marks the victory of the Work in us, the rising to life of Real I, which every year is able to increase in power and influence as long as we work on ourselves.
After Easter, the orbits of the Earth around the Sun and of the Sun around Sirius take us to areas of the galaxy where we are faced with a different set of influences, those that favour the putting into practice of all we have gained from our inner journey during the season of relative darkness.
This rhythm of the Christian year, which is not confined to those who observe the Christian religion but is best understood within that context, has been recognized for thousands of years, from long before the actual religion of Christianity was born. We may trace its symbols in the festivals of the ancient Egyptians, the Essenes, the Greek Mysteries, the cult of Mithras, and others. All foreshadowed the ultimate experience of the Life of Christ, the God-Man, on Earth.
It is a guide to the emphases of our Work life as they vary from month to month, and by understanding the influences which act on us at different times we can take advantage of them to strengthen our inner work and our Real I.
The importance and inner meanings of these seasons were always taught by Dr Nicoll, Mrs Pogson, and my own Work teacher, Marion Davison. Each year we contemplated them anew and different tasks were given which corresponded to the phase of the year through which we journeyed. I continued the tradition in my own groups, and in my inner life I find that each year I become more sensitive to these influences, and better able to plan my own personal work to accord with them.
I hope this series of posts will help readers to do the same.
* * *
This is an appropriate time for me to take a break from this blog, because we are about to move house.
Since my husband retired we have been involved in the lengthy process of selling our old house and purchasing our next - and final - home. The house to which we're moving is more than 80 years old and had been badly neglected, so we've been busy restoring, renovating and improving it so that it's ready for us to live in.
We're moving in next week, on Candlemass, and we're calling our house "Little Walsingham" in honour of the Holy Family and the National Shrine of Our Lady, where we've spent many retreats and holidays.
For a while I'll be offline, as we get settled in, but am planning to resume writing in mid-February, so I hope to see you then!
Wednesday, 25 January 2017
Tuesday, 17 January 2017
What the Work is Not
It's useful to remind ourselves from time to time of what the Work is not.
Newcomers may confuse the Work with other methods of psychological transformation, and we need to remain clear about what the Work is and what it can do, and how it differs from other paths.
So, a brief rundown and comparison of the Work with a few other methods may be useful. I'm sure many readers will be able to add their own definitions here, and I'm offering this post as a starting-point for your own musings.
The Work is not Counselling
Counselling is a psychological process which helps people to overcome their emotional and mental blocks to living a full life. This is just a very rough definition, of course. Perhaps the client is going through a period of depression, or coping with anxiety, or facing a mid-life crisis. Or perhaps the problem is easier to define, such as a fear of open spaces, or an addiction to a harmful substance or behaviour.
For many people, counselling makes it possible to live happy, fulfilled lives in the world. And this is, after all, what counselling aims to do. It does not promise a cure for all life's problems, but gives the client the skills that are needed to cope with a difficult situation or long-standing unhappiness. Freud himself said that the aim of psychotherapy was to change neurosis into ordinary, human unhappiness! In other words, unhappiness is built into life, and impossible to avoid. Gurdjieff said that life on Earth was a pain factory, and no counsellor can remove all suffering.
We are all broken machines, but some are more broken than others. Some machines develop problems as they face different tasks. For someone in the Work, counselling can be a real help to overcoming acute problems in life, perhaps those that have arisen only recently, or perhaps a long-standing psychological block that has come to light after some time in the Work. For some, the ability to continue in the Work depends on overcoming such a difficulty, and counselling can bring more insight that allows the Work student to carry on with his personal tasks.
If counselling is undertaken, the Work student should go easy on their personal work during this time. With the consent of their teacher, they may decide to stop attending meetings for a while, although it's always important to stay in touch with the teacher so that he or she understands what the student is going through. When the goal of the counselling period has been reached, the student may return to Work meetings and personal observations with new vigour.
A Work teacher may be a counsellor or psychotherapist - as my husband and I are - but they don't offer counselling as such to their Work students. Role confusion and blurred boundaries would result, and this would be unhelpful. The Work helps what we might call "typically broken machines" to repair themselves with the help of the teacher and - ultimately - with Conscious Humanity. But machines with severe problems need more time and space than can normally be given in the context of meetings and personal interviews, and the teacher may suggest that a student suspend their work and attend some counselling to help them over a difficult hump.
If someone is psychologically damaged to a severe extent, then he or she should not attempt to work on themselves. Such a person would probably not have Magnetic Centre, but it's possible that they may have acquired one, yet be unable to enter the Fourth Way because of their mental problems. Here, a teacher may work together with a therapist to assess the student's mental state and his or her suitability for the Work. It's possible that, after therapy, such a student could go on to study the Work, but it's also possible that the Work could do more harm than good. This is why a new teacher should always consult his or her own Work teacher before admitting newcomers - a psychologically unstable student would harm themselves and the group, and should be refused, painful though this may be.
The Work is not self-help
There are plenty of books on the market that promote self-esteem, self-worth, and so on. Many of them are admirable, but they have little to do with the Work.
The Work teaches us that we can help ourselves only to a very limited extent. That we don't possess the necessary abilities or insights to advance spiritually on our own. That the input of a teacher and a group are important if the student is ever going to be able to "do".
Self-help, on the other hand, says that we all have the ability to transform ourselves and we don't need someone else to show us the way.
In the Work, we see that this is a fallacy. Someone trying to work on their own will reach only the first few notes of the octave and continually fall back. To progress higher we need energy and shocks from outside ourselves; we can't provide these from our own resources.
To make any progress in the Work, our self-esteem will frequently have to take a beating - not in a cruel, judgmental way, but simply through honestly seeing ourselves as we are, and admitting that we are often mistaken and at fault.
If we cannot accept these painful insights, we have no business being in the Work. Self-help works by fostering "good feelings", often in the False Personality, and on calming feelings of uneasiness when we suspect we may not be in the right. In the Work, we must at all costs face ourselves honestly and open ourselves up to the painful, but healing, remorse of conscience that will result.
The Work is not a religion
The inner teachings of many religions may be found in the Work, but the Work is not itself a religion. The religion which is closest to the Work and which contains most correspondences to it is traditional Christianity, either Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox. This was Gurdjieff's own background, and there are many, many similarities with it in the Work. But you don't have to be a practicing Christian to study the Work; many Work students follow other paths, or none.
Nevertheless, the Catholic and Orthodox branches of Christianity are the religions to which the vast majority of Work teachers belong, and Gurdjieff himself never renounced his own faith. We can also find many exercises from Buddhism, Sufism and Essene traditions in the Work; Gurdjieff drew from many sources to create the system he gave us in the Fourth Way. And he never demanded that his followers attend any organized religion whatsoever - they were free to do so, or not, as they wished.
The Work has in common with all religions that it recognizes a Higher Power than ourselves; it does not take Man as the highest evolved form of life, unlike humanism and materialistic philosophies. If you cannot entertain the idea of a Higher Power - if you refuse to believe you need help from a source higher than yourself - then you will not get far in the Work.
In talking of religions, Gurdjieff remarked that for most people it was best to follow the religion in which they were raised as children. In it, he said, the individual's own conscience would be most easily found. And the teachings of the conscience - the Natural Law - are the same for all.
The Work is not a branch of the occult
We've all known people who've come into the Work mistakenly believing it to be an occult training school. They are soon disabused, or else they are made to leave.
Why? Because the occult - although that term has occasionally been wrongly applied to the Work - is a way of thinking which seeks to acquire magical powers for the sake of the student's own gain. It is a "dirty" path, which builds on the seeker's False Personality, and it is very dangerous.
It's no secret, however, that many saints and pilgrims from different religious traditions have developed the powers of clairvoyance, remote viewing, bilocation, and even miracle working. And it's also true that none of these powers have been sought for their own sake, but are a byproduct of spiritual progress in their tradition.
Christians, Buddhists, Sufis and Jews all warn the seeker against striving for occult powers. If they do emerge - and for most people, they do not - it is because particular "miraculous" abilities were needed for an individual situation, and the person concerned has worked on themselves by purifying their emotional centre. Such a student is free from False Personality, and uses Personality only in the service of Essence. He or she has absolutely no desire to gain any unusual powers, but may discover they can use them in service to others and as representatives of a Higher Power.
If your emotional centre is purified then you are safe to use any such powers that may come to you in a particular situation, especially as a result of prayer. If that centre is not purified, then you may have acquired power by some demonic means. This is a very real danger in the occult. Demons do exist - ask any exorcist! Every Catholic diocese must have at least one exorcist available to deal with such phenomena, because they are quite real and extremely harmful.
Any path which boasts of training people in such abilities, such as those affiliated with the Golden Dawn, are illegitimate and dangerous. They appeal to people who want short cuts to power, but there is no such thing, and the end result is madness, or chronic ill-health, or extreme distress resulting from obsessing spirits. Demonic possession may also occur, although this is more rare.
The Work is not "mindfulness"
Finally, in this brief survey, the Work is to be distinguished from the popular "mindfulness" movement which so many are following today.
The morning exercise does indeed start with very similar observations and techniques. In its initial stages it has much in common with mindfulness meditation, but it goes much further and deeper. The Work teaches us how to become and remain more conscious in our daily lives. It shows us how to observe ourselves in all our centres, so that our observations are truly useful. And then it shows us how to acquire more energy, and more attention, through receiving shocks.
Some of these shocks may be applied ourselves, but others are best given in groups or by the teacher. We will not, by ourselves, give ourselves exactly the shocks we need! We cannot - we are unaware of what they are, and if we do suspect that difficult shocks may be needed, we shy away from doing so because they are unpleasant, at least to begin with.
Mindfulness training does produce positive neurological changes in the brain, as do many meditation techniques. The whole idea of positive brain changes from deep relaxation and observation began to be popularized in the early 1970s, with Transcendental Meditation, and then with the lay-person's version, the "Relaxation Response" of Herbert Benson. These changes are good for us, it's true, and they are produced even more strongly by the morning exercise we learn in the Work.
But, of course, the Work doesn't stop there. It shows us how we may become more and more conscious, and how that consciousness may be extended for longer periods; how to become balanced; ultimately, how to evolve to a higher level of existence. Mindfulness does not claim to do that. Most people would not wish to do so, nor even suspect the possibility exists.
* * *
I'm sure you will be able to think of even more examples of what the Work is not, but most importantly, we need to remember that the Work is a truly unique system for psychological transformation. It is a tremendous gift to all of us who study it, and it is the shortest way to completing this stage of our evolution so that we may be free to live at a higher level. The Way of the Good Householder will one day lead us all there, if that is the way we choose - but the Work is quicker. And, under the guidance of an authorized teacher, it is also safe. May we all remember the uniqueness of the Work, and value it even more.
Newcomers may confuse the Work with other methods of psychological transformation, and we need to remain clear about what the Work is and what it can do, and how it differs from other paths.
So, a brief rundown and comparison of the Work with a few other methods may be useful. I'm sure many readers will be able to add their own definitions here, and I'm offering this post as a starting-point for your own musings.
The Work is not Counselling
Counselling is a psychological process which helps people to overcome their emotional and mental blocks to living a full life. This is just a very rough definition, of course. Perhaps the client is going through a period of depression, or coping with anxiety, or facing a mid-life crisis. Or perhaps the problem is easier to define, such as a fear of open spaces, or an addiction to a harmful substance or behaviour.
For many people, counselling makes it possible to live happy, fulfilled lives in the world. And this is, after all, what counselling aims to do. It does not promise a cure for all life's problems, but gives the client the skills that are needed to cope with a difficult situation or long-standing unhappiness. Freud himself said that the aim of psychotherapy was to change neurosis into ordinary, human unhappiness! In other words, unhappiness is built into life, and impossible to avoid. Gurdjieff said that life on Earth was a pain factory, and no counsellor can remove all suffering.
We are all broken machines, but some are more broken than others. Some machines develop problems as they face different tasks. For someone in the Work, counselling can be a real help to overcoming acute problems in life, perhaps those that have arisen only recently, or perhaps a long-standing psychological block that has come to light after some time in the Work. For some, the ability to continue in the Work depends on overcoming such a difficulty, and counselling can bring more insight that allows the Work student to carry on with his personal tasks.
If counselling is undertaken, the Work student should go easy on their personal work during this time. With the consent of their teacher, they may decide to stop attending meetings for a while, although it's always important to stay in touch with the teacher so that he or she understands what the student is going through. When the goal of the counselling period has been reached, the student may return to Work meetings and personal observations with new vigour.
A Work teacher may be a counsellor or psychotherapist - as my husband and I are - but they don't offer counselling as such to their Work students. Role confusion and blurred boundaries would result, and this would be unhelpful. The Work helps what we might call "typically broken machines" to repair themselves with the help of the teacher and - ultimately - with Conscious Humanity. But machines with severe problems need more time and space than can normally be given in the context of meetings and personal interviews, and the teacher may suggest that a student suspend their work and attend some counselling to help them over a difficult hump.
If someone is psychologically damaged to a severe extent, then he or she should not attempt to work on themselves. Such a person would probably not have Magnetic Centre, but it's possible that they may have acquired one, yet be unable to enter the Fourth Way because of their mental problems. Here, a teacher may work together with a therapist to assess the student's mental state and his or her suitability for the Work. It's possible that, after therapy, such a student could go on to study the Work, but it's also possible that the Work could do more harm than good. This is why a new teacher should always consult his or her own Work teacher before admitting newcomers - a psychologically unstable student would harm themselves and the group, and should be refused, painful though this may be.
The Work is not self-help
There are plenty of books on the market that promote self-esteem, self-worth, and so on. Many of them are admirable, but they have little to do with the Work.
The Work teaches us that we can help ourselves only to a very limited extent. That we don't possess the necessary abilities or insights to advance spiritually on our own. That the input of a teacher and a group are important if the student is ever going to be able to "do".
Self-help, on the other hand, says that we all have the ability to transform ourselves and we don't need someone else to show us the way.
In the Work, we see that this is a fallacy. Someone trying to work on their own will reach only the first few notes of the octave and continually fall back. To progress higher we need energy and shocks from outside ourselves; we can't provide these from our own resources.
To make any progress in the Work, our self-esteem will frequently have to take a beating - not in a cruel, judgmental way, but simply through honestly seeing ourselves as we are, and admitting that we are often mistaken and at fault.
If we cannot accept these painful insights, we have no business being in the Work. Self-help works by fostering "good feelings", often in the False Personality, and on calming feelings of uneasiness when we suspect we may not be in the right. In the Work, we must at all costs face ourselves honestly and open ourselves up to the painful, but healing, remorse of conscience that will result.
The Work is not a religion
The inner teachings of many religions may be found in the Work, but the Work is not itself a religion. The religion which is closest to the Work and which contains most correspondences to it is traditional Christianity, either Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox. This was Gurdjieff's own background, and there are many, many similarities with it in the Work. But you don't have to be a practicing Christian to study the Work; many Work students follow other paths, or none.
Nevertheless, the Catholic and Orthodox branches of Christianity are the religions to which the vast majority of Work teachers belong, and Gurdjieff himself never renounced his own faith. We can also find many exercises from Buddhism, Sufism and Essene traditions in the Work; Gurdjieff drew from many sources to create the system he gave us in the Fourth Way. And he never demanded that his followers attend any organized religion whatsoever - they were free to do so, or not, as they wished.
The Work has in common with all religions that it recognizes a Higher Power than ourselves; it does not take Man as the highest evolved form of life, unlike humanism and materialistic philosophies. If you cannot entertain the idea of a Higher Power - if you refuse to believe you need help from a source higher than yourself - then you will not get far in the Work.
In talking of religions, Gurdjieff remarked that for most people it was best to follow the religion in which they were raised as children. In it, he said, the individual's own conscience would be most easily found. And the teachings of the conscience - the Natural Law - are the same for all.
The Work is not a branch of the occult
We've all known people who've come into the Work mistakenly believing it to be an occult training school. They are soon disabused, or else they are made to leave.
Why? Because the occult - although that term has occasionally been wrongly applied to the Work - is a way of thinking which seeks to acquire magical powers for the sake of the student's own gain. It is a "dirty" path, which builds on the seeker's False Personality, and it is very dangerous.
It's no secret, however, that many saints and pilgrims from different religious traditions have developed the powers of clairvoyance, remote viewing, bilocation, and even miracle working. And it's also true that none of these powers have been sought for their own sake, but are a byproduct of spiritual progress in their tradition.
Christians, Buddhists, Sufis and Jews all warn the seeker against striving for occult powers. If they do emerge - and for most people, they do not - it is because particular "miraculous" abilities were needed for an individual situation, and the person concerned has worked on themselves by purifying their emotional centre. Such a student is free from False Personality, and uses Personality only in the service of Essence. He or she has absolutely no desire to gain any unusual powers, but may discover they can use them in service to others and as representatives of a Higher Power.
If your emotional centre is purified then you are safe to use any such powers that may come to you in a particular situation, especially as a result of prayer. If that centre is not purified, then you may have acquired power by some demonic means. This is a very real danger in the occult. Demons do exist - ask any exorcist! Every Catholic diocese must have at least one exorcist available to deal with such phenomena, because they are quite real and extremely harmful.
Any path which boasts of training people in such abilities, such as those affiliated with the Golden Dawn, are illegitimate and dangerous. They appeal to people who want short cuts to power, but there is no such thing, and the end result is madness, or chronic ill-health, or extreme distress resulting from obsessing spirits. Demonic possession may also occur, although this is more rare.
The Work is not "mindfulness"
Finally, in this brief survey, the Work is to be distinguished from the popular "mindfulness" movement which so many are following today.
The morning exercise does indeed start with very similar observations and techniques. In its initial stages it has much in common with mindfulness meditation, but it goes much further and deeper. The Work teaches us how to become and remain more conscious in our daily lives. It shows us how to observe ourselves in all our centres, so that our observations are truly useful. And then it shows us how to acquire more energy, and more attention, through receiving shocks.
Some of these shocks may be applied ourselves, but others are best given in groups or by the teacher. We will not, by ourselves, give ourselves exactly the shocks we need! We cannot - we are unaware of what they are, and if we do suspect that difficult shocks may be needed, we shy away from doing so because they are unpleasant, at least to begin with.
Mindfulness training does produce positive neurological changes in the brain, as do many meditation techniques. The whole idea of positive brain changes from deep relaxation and observation began to be popularized in the early 1970s, with Transcendental Meditation, and then with the lay-person's version, the "Relaxation Response" of Herbert Benson. These changes are good for us, it's true, and they are produced even more strongly by the morning exercise we learn in the Work.
But, of course, the Work doesn't stop there. It shows us how we may become more and more conscious, and how that consciousness may be extended for longer periods; how to become balanced; ultimately, how to evolve to a higher level of existence. Mindfulness does not claim to do that. Most people would not wish to do so, nor even suspect the possibility exists.
* * *
I'm sure you will be able to think of even more examples of what the Work is not, but most importantly, we need to remember that the Work is a truly unique system for psychological transformation. It is a tremendous gift to all of us who study it, and it is the shortest way to completing this stage of our evolution so that we may be free to live at a higher level. The Way of the Good Householder will one day lead us all there, if that is the way we choose - but the Work is quicker. And, under the guidance of an authorized teacher, it is also safe. May we all remember the uniqueness of the Work, and value it even more.
Tuesday, 10 January 2017
Outfoxing Your Inner Herod: A Cautionary Post
We've followed the birth of the holy child and have seen how, immediately afterwards, the notorious Hasnamuss King Herod moved to slaughter the newborn king. To achieve his aim he butchered every young male in Bethlehem. Warned in a dream, Joseph took Mary and their tiny baby, Jesus, to Egypt, where they were sheltered by friends.
Those who took the family in were most likely members of the Essenes or Therapeuts, esoteric groups which traced their descent from a combination of Jewish mystical thought and the ancient religion of Egypt. That religion had many features in common with Christianity, as Gurdjieff recognized. It existed before the birth of Christ and must have been linked even further back with the Sarmoung Brotherhood, perhaps through descendants of the "Society of Learned Chaldeans" who had made their way from Babylon to On-Heliopolis in Egypt.
We've seen how the story of the nativity may be lived out by each one of us, if we work on ourselves. We also noted, in previous posts, that the period from the end of October (Halloween, Samhain, All Saints and All Souls days), right through until Ascension, is a time when the Earth is exposed to certain energies which emanate from way beyond our Solar system, from much higher in the Ray of Creation, energies which boost and vivify our own personal work on ourselves.
Those energies are at their most concentrated form in the period from Advent to Candlemass.
But with each new birth there comes the danger of persecution by "Herod".
Herod - or Amalek, or the Hasnamuss throughout history - hates Essence. It hates all higher energies, all spiritual progress. Its aim is to drag the student down and destroy her spiritual life. From this hatred comes the ancient story of "selling one's soul to the devil" - and it really does happen.
We can see this in the outside world, which is only too full of destructive, ill-willed, murderous groups of Hasnamusses. At present we see them most clearly in the Middle East; the Amaleks, the Hasnamusses, who hate Jews, Christians and moderate Muslims, and are doing their best to wipe them out. They particularly hate Israel, where all of the region's Jews and many Christians now live, having found refuge there; and also because Israel contains a large and well-functioning Work group linked to the Paris Foundation. Of course, the forces of destruction don't know about the Work, but the spiritual energy of such a group produces a very fine vibration which the Hasnamusses may sense. We must pray for the light of that region to overcome its darkness.
Most of all, we need to remember that we, too, harbour Hasnamuss I's.
These I's cluster around Chief Feature and Imaginary I. Both entities seek the destruction of our Essence, because ultimately, if we succeed in moving to a higher level of Being, both will be eliminated. So they cling on for dear life.
And then there are those pesky little I's in Emotional or Intellectual Centres which sap our energy and deplete our work by causing worry, anxiety, depression, fear or anger. They never really disappear in this lifetime, but can bide their time and lurk until we're less conscious and unable to fight them - and then they can pounce and destroy months of work in an instant.
What should we look out for, then, in this inner struggle? How may we best protect our newly-born inner child from our inner Herod, or from the ill-willed I's in other people?
First, I would suggest, watch your internal and external talking. How do you talk to yourself about the Work? Do you let doubts and anxieties overwhelm you, or do you simply observe them and disidentify from them? Any Work problems should, of course, be discussed fully and honestly with your teacher. We have all gone through periods of testing and even inner persecution from I's which reject the Work, for the reasons I've outlined above. There's no need to suffer alone.
Unfortunately, some students, wanting to avoid exposing their problems to the teacher, discuss them instead only with other students or with people outside the Work. By doing so, they risk losing everything they've worked for.
If you think I'm exaggerating, I'm not. I could tell you many stories from my own experience as a student and a teacher of the Work for the past 45 years. I've seen capable, sincere students talk badly about the Work with their fellow students and with people who aren't in the Work at all, and end up outside the Work and with no guiding light at all.
Sadly, many of those in our lives have nothing in common with us spiritually. And even when they do, even when they too are seekers after truth, they sometimes have their own agenda for disparaging the Work and the teacher. They may envy us our progress; they may wish to dominate us; they may sow seeds of distrust and discord in our relationship with the teacher and the Work.
That's one of the reasons we in the Work must be very careful about whom we choose as close friends, and whom we live with or marry. Jesus warns us about this: he says it may sometimes be necessary to "hate" those close to us, if they threaten our spiritual life. He didn't mean to literally hate, of course, but that we must put firm boundaries in place between ourselves and those who don't share our values. If we don't do this, we risk losing our contact with the Work and with Conscious Humanity.
Sometimes we find that so-called "friends" are really highly controlling people who want to be the main influence in our lives - and our Work prevents them from achieving that goal. So they attack the Work, or at least, that particular group, that teacher. And they can lead the naive student right away from the Work, for ever. Such people are Hasnamusses, even though they may appear well-meaning.
I saw this process take place with a young Work student in an English group, who'd made a good beginning and was starting to purify his Emotional Centre. I'll call him Jim. Jim reached some real points of understanding in the Work, so much so that his own Work teacher thought Jim might one day go on to become a teacher himself. But Jim was friendly with someone more intellectually trained than he was and who was jealous of the teacher's influence. This man could quote various scientists and other "experts" to "prove" that Jim's group was on the wrong track, and Jim began to doubt his teacher and his own inner work.
As Jim fell more and more under the influence of his intellectual "friend" he lost the real gains he had made in the Work. He allowed the false friend to come between himself and his teacher, and to prevent him from working on himself. Jim's "friend" persuaded him that the two of them should start their own group, calling themselves a Work group but spreading non-Work ideas and teachings, even though Jim's teacher, realizing that something was very wrong, had forbidden Jim to teach. Jim went along with his friend's suggestion, deceiving his own teacher and pretending to obey his instructions while secretly defying him.
A colossal psychological and spiritual black hole resulted, a state of entropy in which much valuable work, energy and insight was lost. Such an act is a spiritual crime, a form of corruption that is taken very seriously at the highest level. Jim had stolen precious energy and time from his teacher, and had behaved like a Hasnamuss. Indeed that is what he had become. The result was that Jim had to be expelled from the Work, much to his teacher's sorrow.
This was a particularly sad case. I knew all the people involved; Jim was a likable young man with many good qualities, who had shown great potential. It is a huge shame that he has lost the Work, at least in this lifetime. If he is to make any progress at all now it will have to be as a Good Householder, and even then only after much repentance and making amends. This way is much, much slower than the Work. And, like the Work, it requires moral clarity and the courage to be honest and obey one's conscience. Since Jim had lost these attributes it would be very difficult, perhaps impossible, to regain them and begin again. He will never be accepted in any authorized Work group.
If necessary, we must break with false friends who oppose the Work. Though seemingly well intentioned, out of jealousy they will play the role of Herod in our spiritual life and destroy our work.
All of us in the Work should pray to have the strength and wisdom to guard our understanding as a precious child within us, and to protect it from the harmful wishes of Hasnamuss I's. What's more, we should also pray for those like Jim, who've been deceived in this way by Hasnumuss I's in themselves and in others, that they may think again, or repent, as the Gospels put it, before it is too late.
The Gospels warn that anyone who leads astray a little child - in this case, our newly-birthed understanding in Essence - deserves to have a millstone hung around the neck and to be drowned. .
If we expose that inner child to ill-willed people, to those who don't understand the Work and who may be actually antagonistic towards it, then we are in danger of losing it.
Therefore, our particular task at this point in the year is to watch for the inner Hasnamuss I's, the inner Herod, which seek to destroy what we have so recently gained - and which is still so fragile. And we must remain on our guard against outside influences that are hostile to the Work, the Hasnamuss I's in other people which seek to corrupt and suborn us in order to attack that child.
If necessary, take flight into Egypt. Don't discuss the Work with anyone except those whom you know to support it, and who share your aims. Your teacher is one, of course, and so are those long- time fellow students whose attitudes and efforts are proof of their own good will towards the Work.
Don't run the risk of losing all that you have so painstakingly worked for now. Nourish your inner holy child with your understanding so that it may grow into maturity, and your Essence may eventually direct your entire life.
It is for this purpose that you were born.
Those who took the family in were most likely members of the Essenes or Therapeuts, esoteric groups which traced their descent from a combination of Jewish mystical thought and the ancient religion of Egypt. That religion had many features in common with Christianity, as Gurdjieff recognized. It existed before the birth of Christ and must have been linked even further back with the Sarmoung Brotherhood, perhaps through descendants of the "Society of Learned Chaldeans" who had made their way from Babylon to On-Heliopolis in Egypt.
We've seen how the story of the nativity may be lived out by each one of us, if we work on ourselves. We also noted, in previous posts, that the period from the end of October (Halloween, Samhain, All Saints and All Souls days), right through until Ascension, is a time when the Earth is exposed to certain energies which emanate from way beyond our Solar system, from much higher in the Ray of Creation, energies which boost and vivify our own personal work on ourselves.
Those energies are at their most concentrated form in the period from Advent to Candlemass.
But with each new birth there comes the danger of persecution by "Herod".
Herod - or Amalek, or the Hasnamuss throughout history - hates Essence. It hates all higher energies, all spiritual progress. Its aim is to drag the student down and destroy her spiritual life. From this hatred comes the ancient story of "selling one's soul to the devil" - and it really does happen.
We can see this in the outside world, which is only too full of destructive, ill-willed, murderous groups of Hasnamusses. At present we see them most clearly in the Middle East; the Amaleks, the Hasnamusses, who hate Jews, Christians and moderate Muslims, and are doing their best to wipe them out. They particularly hate Israel, where all of the region's Jews and many Christians now live, having found refuge there; and also because Israel contains a large and well-functioning Work group linked to the Paris Foundation. Of course, the forces of destruction don't know about the Work, but the spiritual energy of such a group produces a very fine vibration which the Hasnamusses may sense. We must pray for the light of that region to overcome its darkness.
Most of all, we need to remember that we, too, harbour Hasnamuss I's.
These I's cluster around Chief Feature and Imaginary I. Both entities seek the destruction of our Essence, because ultimately, if we succeed in moving to a higher level of Being, both will be eliminated. So they cling on for dear life.
And then there are those pesky little I's in Emotional or Intellectual Centres which sap our energy and deplete our work by causing worry, anxiety, depression, fear or anger. They never really disappear in this lifetime, but can bide their time and lurk until we're less conscious and unable to fight them - and then they can pounce and destroy months of work in an instant.
What should we look out for, then, in this inner struggle? How may we best protect our newly-born inner child from our inner Herod, or from the ill-willed I's in other people?
First, I would suggest, watch your internal and external talking. How do you talk to yourself about the Work? Do you let doubts and anxieties overwhelm you, or do you simply observe them and disidentify from them? Any Work problems should, of course, be discussed fully and honestly with your teacher. We have all gone through periods of testing and even inner persecution from I's which reject the Work, for the reasons I've outlined above. There's no need to suffer alone.
Unfortunately, some students, wanting to avoid exposing their problems to the teacher, discuss them instead only with other students or with people outside the Work. By doing so, they risk losing everything they've worked for.
If you think I'm exaggerating, I'm not. I could tell you many stories from my own experience as a student and a teacher of the Work for the past 45 years. I've seen capable, sincere students talk badly about the Work with their fellow students and with people who aren't in the Work at all, and end up outside the Work and with no guiding light at all.
Sadly, many of those in our lives have nothing in common with us spiritually. And even when they do, even when they too are seekers after truth, they sometimes have their own agenda for disparaging the Work and the teacher. They may envy us our progress; they may wish to dominate us; they may sow seeds of distrust and discord in our relationship with the teacher and the Work.
That's one of the reasons we in the Work must be very careful about whom we choose as close friends, and whom we live with or marry. Jesus warns us about this: he says it may sometimes be necessary to "hate" those close to us, if they threaten our spiritual life. He didn't mean to literally hate, of course, but that we must put firm boundaries in place between ourselves and those who don't share our values. If we don't do this, we risk losing our contact with the Work and with Conscious Humanity.
Sometimes we find that so-called "friends" are really highly controlling people who want to be the main influence in our lives - and our Work prevents them from achieving that goal. So they attack the Work, or at least, that particular group, that teacher. And they can lead the naive student right away from the Work, for ever. Such people are Hasnamusses, even though they may appear well-meaning.
I saw this process take place with a young Work student in an English group, who'd made a good beginning and was starting to purify his Emotional Centre. I'll call him Jim. Jim reached some real points of understanding in the Work, so much so that his own Work teacher thought Jim might one day go on to become a teacher himself. But Jim was friendly with someone more intellectually trained than he was and who was jealous of the teacher's influence. This man could quote various scientists and other "experts" to "prove" that Jim's group was on the wrong track, and Jim began to doubt his teacher and his own inner work.
As Jim fell more and more under the influence of his intellectual "friend" he lost the real gains he had made in the Work. He allowed the false friend to come between himself and his teacher, and to prevent him from working on himself. Jim's "friend" persuaded him that the two of them should start their own group, calling themselves a Work group but spreading non-Work ideas and teachings, even though Jim's teacher, realizing that something was very wrong, had forbidden Jim to teach. Jim went along with his friend's suggestion, deceiving his own teacher and pretending to obey his instructions while secretly defying him.
A colossal psychological and spiritual black hole resulted, a state of entropy in which much valuable work, energy and insight was lost. Such an act is a spiritual crime, a form of corruption that is taken very seriously at the highest level. Jim had stolen precious energy and time from his teacher, and had behaved like a Hasnamuss. Indeed that is what he had become. The result was that Jim had to be expelled from the Work, much to his teacher's sorrow.
This was a particularly sad case. I knew all the people involved; Jim was a likable young man with many good qualities, who had shown great potential. It is a huge shame that he has lost the Work, at least in this lifetime. If he is to make any progress at all now it will have to be as a Good Householder, and even then only after much repentance and making amends. This way is much, much slower than the Work. And, like the Work, it requires moral clarity and the courage to be honest and obey one's conscience. Since Jim had lost these attributes it would be very difficult, perhaps impossible, to regain them and begin again. He will never be accepted in any authorized Work group.
If necessary, we must break with false friends who oppose the Work. Though seemingly well intentioned, out of jealousy they will play the role of Herod in our spiritual life and destroy our work.
All of us in the Work should pray to have the strength and wisdom to guard our understanding as a precious child within us, and to protect it from the harmful wishes of Hasnamuss I's. What's more, we should also pray for those like Jim, who've been deceived in this way by Hasnumuss I's in themselves and in others, that they may think again, or repent, as the Gospels put it, before it is too late.
The Gospels warn that anyone who leads astray a little child - in this case, our newly-birthed understanding in Essence - deserves to have a millstone hung around the neck and to be drowned. .
If we expose that inner child to ill-willed people, to those who don't understand the Work and who may be actually antagonistic towards it, then we are in danger of losing it.
Therefore, our particular task at this point in the year is to watch for the inner Hasnamuss I's, the inner Herod, which seek to destroy what we have so recently gained - and which is still so fragile. And we must remain on our guard against outside influences that are hostile to the Work, the Hasnamuss I's in other people which seek to corrupt and suborn us in order to attack that child.
If necessary, take flight into Egypt. Don't discuss the Work with anyone except those whom you know to support it, and who share your aims. Your teacher is one, of course, and so are those long- time fellow students whose attitudes and efforts are proof of their own good will towards the Work.
Don't run the risk of losing all that you have so painstakingly worked for now. Nourish your inner holy child with your understanding so that it may grow into maturity, and your Essence may eventually direct your entire life.
It is for this purpose that you were born.
Monday, 2 January 2017
Making Aim for the New Year
Most people make New Year resolutions.
In the Work, however, making Aim is our particular task for this time of year. Although the New Year is basically a secular holiday centered on a change in the calendar, it's still a significant moment in which to pause to evaluate ourselves, to look at what we'd like to change and what we wish to encourage in our personal work.
The New Year celebration is actually a part of the Christmas season, which extends from the beginning of Advent until February 2nd (Candlemas). Only habit and commercial pressure, which hurries us on from one spending splurge to another, stop us from fully experiencing the richness of this season.
What has this to do with making Aim?
Everything!
For a start, looking at the season in a new way, and appreciating how it extends in time from Advent through to the beginning of February, is a form of metanoia. Dr. Nicoll was clear about the need for metanoia in every area of our life. Society has forgotten the real Christmas season, but in the Work we wish to understand and enhance its unique potential for our personal growth.
With this attitude we can begin to see the entire annual cosmic and spiritual calendar in a different way. We can look back and appreciate how, at the start of Advent, we began to prepare ourselves for the new birth in Essence which would take place on Christmas Night.
Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the following few days are an especially concentrated time for us in our personal work. There's much joy and celebration, but also the danger that the new energies coming to us at this time may prove too much for our limited understanding, and may turn to negativity.
So, to maintain the inflow and to make the greatest use of this potential, we make the effort to stay positive amidst all the various events around Christmas - the present-giving, the family reunions, the parties, the extra food and drink most of us will consume - and to resist the commercial interests that try to push us to burn up all this fine energy in an orgy of shopping.
The new birth must be watched over, safeguarded.
Immediately the Wise Men told King Herod that they had learned of the birth of a new king, Herod plotted to destroy him. To make sure that he would dispose of the tiny rival, he ordered all the young boys in Bethlehem to be slaughtered.
For us, Herod is a symbol of all the Hasnamuss forces, both within and without, that seek the destruction of Essence, of that sacred place within each of us where the new birth takes place.
Today, these forces include not only the commercialization I've already mentioned, but also the many threats to peace that invade our inner and outer worlds. Externally, we've seen so many atrocities this year - including right in the midst of Christmas celebrations - that we almost become resigned to them; we can become wearied of trying to fight what seems to be the inevitable destruction of so many Western values, of our whole way of life.
It is really a cosmic battle of good versus evil that is taking place.
It is not simply a clash of cultures, of civilizations, or even of religions, as the media present it. It is a basic struggle between the forces of good, led by Conscious Humanity, and the forces of evil, of mechanicalness, of the destruction of all real values. The Will of the Absolute cannot reach so far down the Ray of Creation, and it is our urgent task to fight this battle on the side of Consciousness. If evil - mechanicalness - prevails, only darkness and chaos will result. And in this tremendous battle, God needs our help.
The opposing forces today are exactly the same as those during World War II. Only their names have changed. Their aim is the same; to eliminate everything good, everything holy, all that comes from God.
We know we cannot avoid this struggle, which will become ever more intense at crucial times of the year, when the cosmic energies are available to all, for good or ill. We must do everything we can to combat external evil, by speaking out against terror, by writing to power-possessing beings, by emphasizing peace and goodwill in our own personal circle.
Faced with the huge scale of evil that exists today, the most powerful weapon we have are our prayers, our own personal work on ourselves, and our refusal to imitate our enemies in hating others and wishing to destroy them.
If we all redouble our efforts now to become more conscious, we will increase our own supply of higher hydrogens, and we will produce a surplus to offer to Cosmic Humanity as they guide the future of our planet and of humankind. They need our efforts. The whole Catholic and Orthodox Christian faiths recognize this fact, and urge us to offer up our suffering, to make extra efforts, to increase our prayers and devotions at this time so that good may overcome evil.
The new birth within our Essence, so precious and sacred, must be kept safe from all the external forces that would injure and destroy it.
We must be clever as well as wholehearted in this struggle.
Saint Joseph, in the Gospels, plays the part of the Sly Man. When he learns of the evil intentions of Herod in a premonitory dream, he takes the Divine Child and His Mother, Mary, and escapes with them to Egypt. The location is significant, because many elements of the Christian faith were found in the Essenes and the Therapeuts in Egypt, and in the monotheistic religion of Akhnaten. There were many ready to help the Holy Family in Egypt, and the tiny child was blessed and protected.
As Saint Joseph protected Jesus, so must we protect our own understanding and insights in the Work.
But threats come not only from outside, but from within us, from our Chief Feature, which wishes to destroy all that's good and true in us, in order to reign supreme in its own hellish world.
So, all our negative thoughts, negative emotions, anxieties, worries, deceptions, vanity, and so on will be exacerbated now unless we stay attentive.
Watch and pray; that is what all the Gospels tell us, and it applies especially to critical nodes in the year, of which Christmas is among the most important.
Protect your new birth; carry it into the New Year; and formulate an Aim which will give your Essence the best chance of growth, and of your whole understanding to be increased during the year to come.
In the Work, however, making Aim is our particular task for this time of year. Although the New Year is basically a secular holiday centered on a change in the calendar, it's still a significant moment in which to pause to evaluate ourselves, to look at what we'd like to change and what we wish to encourage in our personal work.
The New Year celebration is actually a part of the Christmas season, which extends from the beginning of Advent until February 2nd (Candlemas). Only habit and commercial pressure, which hurries us on from one spending splurge to another, stop us from fully experiencing the richness of this season.
What has this to do with making Aim?
Everything!
For a start, looking at the season in a new way, and appreciating how it extends in time from Advent through to the beginning of February, is a form of metanoia. Dr. Nicoll was clear about the need for metanoia in every area of our life. Society has forgotten the real Christmas season, but in the Work we wish to understand and enhance its unique potential for our personal growth.
With this attitude we can begin to see the entire annual cosmic and spiritual calendar in a different way. We can look back and appreciate how, at the start of Advent, we began to prepare ourselves for the new birth in Essence which would take place on Christmas Night.
Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the following few days are an especially concentrated time for us in our personal work. There's much joy and celebration, but also the danger that the new energies coming to us at this time may prove too much for our limited understanding, and may turn to negativity.
So, to maintain the inflow and to make the greatest use of this potential, we make the effort to stay positive amidst all the various events around Christmas - the present-giving, the family reunions, the parties, the extra food and drink most of us will consume - and to resist the commercial interests that try to push us to burn up all this fine energy in an orgy of shopping.
The new birth must be watched over, safeguarded.
Immediately the Wise Men told King Herod that they had learned of the birth of a new king, Herod plotted to destroy him. To make sure that he would dispose of the tiny rival, he ordered all the young boys in Bethlehem to be slaughtered.
For us, Herod is a symbol of all the Hasnamuss forces, both within and without, that seek the destruction of Essence, of that sacred place within each of us where the new birth takes place.
Today, these forces include not only the commercialization I've already mentioned, but also the many threats to peace that invade our inner and outer worlds. Externally, we've seen so many atrocities this year - including right in the midst of Christmas celebrations - that we almost become resigned to them; we can become wearied of trying to fight what seems to be the inevitable destruction of so many Western values, of our whole way of life.
It is really a cosmic battle of good versus evil that is taking place.
It is not simply a clash of cultures, of civilizations, or even of religions, as the media present it. It is a basic struggle between the forces of good, led by Conscious Humanity, and the forces of evil, of mechanicalness, of the destruction of all real values. The Will of the Absolute cannot reach so far down the Ray of Creation, and it is our urgent task to fight this battle on the side of Consciousness. If evil - mechanicalness - prevails, only darkness and chaos will result. And in this tremendous battle, God needs our help.
The opposing forces today are exactly the same as those during World War II. Only their names have changed. Their aim is the same; to eliminate everything good, everything holy, all that comes from God.
We know we cannot avoid this struggle, which will become ever more intense at crucial times of the year, when the cosmic energies are available to all, for good or ill. We must do everything we can to combat external evil, by speaking out against terror, by writing to power-possessing beings, by emphasizing peace and goodwill in our own personal circle.
Faced with the huge scale of evil that exists today, the most powerful weapon we have are our prayers, our own personal work on ourselves, and our refusal to imitate our enemies in hating others and wishing to destroy them.
If we all redouble our efforts now to become more conscious, we will increase our own supply of higher hydrogens, and we will produce a surplus to offer to Cosmic Humanity as they guide the future of our planet and of humankind. They need our efforts. The whole Catholic and Orthodox Christian faiths recognize this fact, and urge us to offer up our suffering, to make extra efforts, to increase our prayers and devotions at this time so that good may overcome evil.
The new birth within our Essence, so precious and sacred, must be kept safe from all the external forces that would injure and destroy it.
We must be clever as well as wholehearted in this struggle.
Saint Joseph, in the Gospels, plays the part of the Sly Man. When he learns of the evil intentions of Herod in a premonitory dream, he takes the Divine Child and His Mother, Mary, and escapes with them to Egypt. The location is significant, because many elements of the Christian faith were found in the Essenes and the Therapeuts in Egypt, and in the monotheistic religion of Akhnaten. There were many ready to help the Holy Family in Egypt, and the tiny child was blessed and protected.
As Saint Joseph protected Jesus, so must we protect our own understanding and insights in the Work.
But threats come not only from outside, but from within us, from our Chief Feature, which wishes to destroy all that's good and true in us, in order to reign supreme in its own hellish world.
So, all our negative thoughts, negative emotions, anxieties, worries, deceptions, vanity, and so on will be exacerbated now unless we stay attentive.
Watch and pray; that is what all the Gospels tell us, and it applies especially to critical nodes in the year, of which Christmas is among the most important.
Protect your new birth; carry it into the New Year; and formulate an Aim which will give your Essence the best chance of growth, and of your whole understanding to be increased during the year to come.
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