New to the Work? Some Things to Know (part 2)
Photo credit: Brian Orner
Ancient teachers, right up to the modern day, like to remind us that everything we need is in the present. Maybe someday we can each make this statement part of our understanding. Until then, isn't it interesting that the ups and the downs of life have a way of triggering old roles, thoughts, and emotions about "me" which constantly lead us farther away from what we would call the present? We come under the influence of circumstances, we become the roles they trigger, and we're sucked into our own world, miles away from “here and now.”
This is happening all the time. The changing ups and downs of life never stop. Does this mean we need to retreat from life to have any hope of learning what these teachers are pointing to? Most of us can’t drop everything and take refuge in some ideal hermitage or monastery -- we wouldn’t escape from life’s challenges there anyway, there would only be a different set of circumstances.
In the Work we're learning how to find an anchor to hold onto amidst these choppy seas. We're even learning to make use of our circumstances. What is required, at first, is figuring out what in ourselves we can trust. We begin to see that our thoughts and emotions are not really that interested in this "present" after all. In fact, they can come up with lots of reasons why it's not worth the effort, especially when there are so many other pursuits with more immediate payoffs.
Working Together
To be clear, there is no one anchor against the endless pull of influences and associations that dominate our ordinary lives. Learning to resist their allure is a Work that each of us will ultimately need to discover for ourselves. But there is help. Each week we meet as a group, and in time we begin to take on special Work tasks that can help strengthen these capacities. Tasks are designed as invisible exercises that only you and the others in your group practice from week to week. This brings me back to the main point: the necessity of working together. Attempting this type of Work on your own will always feel safer and more comfortable. But in terms of real, achievable inner growth, it will never be the most effective because it lacks sufficient demand.
What a Work community adds is accountability for our efforts, and literal “skin in the game” since we meet in person. It also gives everyone an opportunity to hear first hand accounts from other people Working on themselves within their own life circumstances. We find we can encourage each other simply by making efforts in this direction. If I forget the task for a week, I'm helped seeing that others found a way not to forget. If I share my struggle with maintaining awareness over some aspect of myself one week, it can inform someone else’s struggle the next. This is often the help we need to keep going.
Something New
What can come from these shared, sustained inner efforts is a taste for something new, something perhaps more real than what I normally experience. Then the reality of my life situation, my inner world, my relationships, my limitations, and what I call myself are suddenly fresh and open for new exploration. By what? By a part of myself that I’m learning to develop. This new role is developed consciously through inner tasks and efforts which help me stand up to the old habits, preferences, and the urgent need for comfort that drive my ordinary roles. This evolving Work role is less tied to all that. It can see the world with a new set of eyes. Maybe just for a few moments, but it’s a start.
Getting back to the ancient teachers, we come to find that the way toward this type of experience of myself is also the way toward the present. Both require serious efforts of Work. But once we glimpse how deeply the rut goes that I find myself in, the quest for the present takes on a different meaning.
A Step into the Unknown
Each year the Rochester Gurdjieff Center welcomes a group of courageous people new to this Work and willing to take that first step into the unknown. Comparatively speaking, this tradition is demanding. It requires commitment week to week and the ability to put aspects of myself into question. Therefore, it's not for everyone. Or rather, everyone is not for the Work. But for those individuals interested in exploring what may lie beyond the ruts that normally confine us, the Work might offer something of real value. And because the Work is by nature reciprocal, you might offer something of value to it as well.
Starting October 16th we're offering open talks in Pittsford. No prior experience required. If you're interested in learning more, connect with us here.