The Maze of the Work
These are notes (reviewed and organized from a group meeting that asked the question “What is Work on Oneself)?”
The Nature of the Work
The Work is not about behavioral change it is about psychological change, particularly changing attitudes.
Our daily life and our occupation are just dreams we identify with.
Understanding what we are comes gradually as we recognize sleep and our mechanicalness.
We are given knowledge, which serves as ideas and a force to handle mechanical life as well as nourishment for developing new inner life.
Every small effort counts
– The effort to separate from negative reactions.
– Self-remembering whenever possible.
– Sincere self-observation.
– Discovering and recognizing our false personality – our false image of ourselves.
A Day in the Life
The Work is not about behavioral change it is about psychological change, particularly changing attitudes.
Change in oneself manifests as changed reactions to typical daily incidents.
A single moment of conscious behavior can alter one’s future.
Work on self must be willing and voluntary, not forced or done for merit.
Mechanical habits lead to days of complete automatism that contain no new impressions or insights.
Each day is a miniature representation of one’s entire life.
We are our life – that’s all, and at death we will know this for sure.
Procrastination prohibits change.
Working on oneself can only be done NOW.
The events of our day are the scenarios for Work.
Self-observation requires:
– Noticing mechanical reactions to daily events.
– Observing behavior toward others.
– Monitoring thoughts, feelings, and speech.
– Attempting to change these reactions consciously.
Insulation from Life
We must insulate ourselves from life’s effects to enable inner growth.
Life only develops personality, which has no benefit for us.
We must become “hermetically sealed” internally.
Wrong attitudes to life (expectations of every kind) waste force.
We place no faith in the “values of life” that others possess.
Without insulating ourselves, our force leaks through: Negative emotions, Considering, Mechanical talking, Useless fantasies.
Transformation and Consciousness
The First conscious shock involves transforming impressions through:
– Self-observation
– Work on negative states
– Non-identifying
– Not considering
Realizing alternative ways to approach things/people transforms experience.
Task is to imitate higher states of consciousness (to act “as if”) so to attract them.
Work attitudes can increase work’s reality as part of your life.
Each effort to work on oneself, however small, helps prepare our lower centers for connection with higher centers and their guidance.