I am called to write again on the topic of awakening, but the dilemma is the only thing I know for certain is that I am not awake but that I am still trapped in the labyrinth of existence with almost all of humanity. So, what business do I have writing about awakening if I am not awake? I suppose I have pierced through the veil of illusion and the false perception that I am free and governed by free-will. I know I am in a prison, not one made of concrete and steel, but one made of unconscious patterns, dogmatic beliefs and societal conditioning. I am a prisoner of my own mind, trapped in a loop of repetitive thoughts and behaviors but I AM AWARE of my captivity, and I seek to escape. C.I. Gurdjieff taught that the journey to freedom begins with the moment of awakening, a realization that we were never free despite our once great convictions, that we are. Once we become aware of this our further awakening becomes the only meaningful objective for the rest of our lives.
“If a man could understand all the horror of the lives of ordinary people who are turning around in a circle of insignificant interests and insignificant aims, if he could understand that there can only be one thing that is serious for him – to escape from the general law, to be free. What can be serious for a man in prison who is condemned to death? Only one thing: How to save himself, how to escape: nothing else is serious” – C.I. Gurdjieff
But this is not an awareness that most people have any interest in attaining. Rarely do we ever want to recognize the reality of a situation if it is “a horror”; particularly if it is our entire lives. I certainly wasn’t looking for it or searching it out. This moment of awareness almost always comes out of desperation. When there is no way forward but to embark on a journey of self-discovery to find out why we keep sabotaging or destroying ourselves and others. Within that journey we find the key to liberation and through self-observation and self-awareness, with courage, perseverance, and unwavering commitment we develop a faith that we can break free from our confinement and into the infinite potential of what true freedom really is. But this is not a crowded path and for most, these have all been meaningless words.
“The crowd neither wants nor seeks knowledge, and the leaders of the crowd, in their own interest, try to strengthen its fear and dislike of everything new and unknown. The slavery in which mankind lives is based upon this fear” – C.I. Gurdjieff
Gurdjieff’s message was always a call to action to embark upon a journey of self-discovery to break the chains that bind you into life after life of perpetual slavery. I suppose that is why I am writing this too. It is a call to action to all those who have become aware of the horror of the situation. A call to action for us to continue to find one another so that we can trudge the road to happy destiny together. For outside the confines of our minds is the key to infinite possibility and ultimate freedom. And a reminder that this path is impossible to walk on your own and a warning to be mindful of Western Psychological Institutions - they train the prison guards of the mind.
“Real love is a cosmic force which goes through us. If we crystallize it, it becomes the greatest power in the world” – C.I. Gurdjieff
“Believe nothing, not even yourself” – C.I. Gurdjieff
The Way
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