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Group
work:
Man is hypnotized to believe that he is awake (Gurdjieff) Awakening is possible even in a single moment. In that single moment, one can explode into the divine. That is possible, but generally it never happens. One has to struggle for continuous lives, because the task is arduous and one cannot awaken himself. It is very much like this: if one is asleep in the morning, there is every possibility that one can dream he is awake, though he will not be awake. A group of persons decide collectively to make some effort. Then it is more possible that sleep can be broken. So awakening is really a group work. It can happen individually, and each individual is capable of doing it alone, but it never happens so. The actual working is different, because we never work to our utmost capacity. We never work beyond a ten percent part of the mind. Ninety percent remains just potential; it is never used. There is no difference in your dreaming whether you are asleep or awake, dreaming goes on inside. This awakening, this awareness which we all have, is only superficial. Deep inside there is a dream, and that continues. So one can have two things: either individual work is possible or group work is needed. The whole order of sannyas was created as group work. Awakening becomes more possible if there are ten thousand people working in a group, so even if one is awakened, he can create a chain of awakenings. Buddha created a group order, Mahavira created a group order. Their orders were really an outward phenomenon; they were sannyasins, an order of sannyasins. Inwardly they were doing a group work, and that group work continues for lives. For example, there are still persons alive of the Buddhist group of sannyasins. And they have an inner understanding and an inner oath a promise to the group that whenever someone is awakened, he will do his utmost to awaken the others, particularly those belonging to the group. Why those belonging to the group? Because every school has a particular technique. If you have worked with a particular technique in your previous lives, you can work easily in this life. So, there are many persons who belong to me since their other births, their other lives. And that group of persons is more capable in many ways. It has worked something, it has done something, up to a point; it is not just a beginning for them. Otherwise, with every new person, you have to do more unnecessary and unessential work. For example, intellectual work is needed for beginners. Those who have worked in their past lives with a particular technique, they will not need any intellectual work now. You tell them the technique, and they will begin to do it. There will be no intellectual work, they will not ask superficial questions. That curiosity will not be there, and that curiosity takes much time and much energy. So one can work with beginners if one has so many lives ahead. But if one has no life ahead, he cannot work on beginners. He has to confine his work to the old ones who are somehow on the bank. They do not need any intellectual philosophy; they have no superficial inquiries. They will just go deep, directly. The old requirement, the requirement that one should have faith, is really a trick. It is just to distinguish between the old ones and the new ones. With the new ones, faith is impossible; only doubt is possible. Only with the old ones is faith possible, and doubt is impossible. So faith is just a technique, a trick, to choose between them and to know on whom more work can be done in less time. It is not that those who can have faith are in any way different than those who have doubts. It is only that those who have faith have worked somewhere, so intellectual curiosity is not there; it has been fulfilled. They have passed; they are not just entering the school, they have passed the entrance. So to ask for faith is to ask, "Have you worked in your past lives?" If you have worked, only then can you have faith; otherwise you cannot. And in today's world doubt seems much more prominent, easier. Faith is very difficult. The reason is not that the human mind has been changed, the reason is only this: that the old traditions are running narrow. Really, since Nanak there have been no new traditions. Now all the religions are old. They have been going on, the river is narrowing every day. With every new day, the tradition has fewer persons with it. Since Buddha there are now twentyfive centuries the tradition is so old that almost all who were connected with the living master are liberated! And all those persons who have remained are really very third rate. They have had twentyfive centuries of continuous work. All the traditions and their continuity are, in a way, so old now. That is why faith is less. There were so many living traditions and so many persons who have worked in their past lives. Faith was the root for each one, doubt was very difficult. If you ask me, I am doing many things. One is working for those who have been in any way connected with me and there are many. Another is to create a new continuity which we will be living in the coming days, because no old thinking is of use now. And I would not like to change someone from his own continuity, because if we cannot liberate a man in a long tradition of twentyfive centuries, it is useless to change him now. It is better to let him go deep in his own tradition. It is better not to change him, but make his own tradition a living one. He can go deep in it. He will be another continuity with the old. But previously, I was working for the new ones, so my emphasis was on doubt. I will always be concerned with doubt, because only through doubt can you attract the new one, never through faith. Faith attracts the old one. He has been doing something in his past lives. My emphasis has been on doubt only because I should work for a new tradition which will be living. Now my emphasis will be on faith, and there is no contradiction. This is only changing the entrance and nothing else. When I was emphasizing doubt, no one came. Now I will emphasize faith. So I will work for those with whom I was connected in past lives. So there will be no difficulty, because we never go deep in anything. We cannot go deep. There are levels. When I say doubt, when I say faith, this is inconsistent. Only the labeling may be different, only different words will come now. Whatsoever I was doing will continue. Now my emphasis will be for those who have worked for something. That is why this order of sannyas because with doubt it cannot be created.
Whenever
there
is
doubt,
one
can
be
alone
and
can
never
work
in
a
group.
With
a
technique
of
doubt
you
can
never
work
in
a
group,
never.
Doubts
make
you
an
island.
But
when
you
become
a
continent,
then
you
are
joined
with
others.
Then
there
is
no
separation,
and
you
can
work
in
the
group. As
far as man is concerned he is so weak that we cannot
rely upon him individually.
He
cannot
do
anything,
he
can
only
deceive
himself.
So,
if
we
are
going
to
work
on
individuals
we
have
to
create
mechanical
helps.
For
example,
you
are
asleep,
and
no
one
is
there
to
awaken
you.
You
will
have
to
use
an
alarm
clock,
that
is
the
mechanical
device
to
help
you. I have given mechanical devices also, but they have become accustomed to them and then a new fallacy arises. That is the greatest fallacy in spirituality: one can dream he is awake. That is the most fatal disease, the most dangerous: we can continue our sleep and we can dream we are awake. Then there is no need for devices, and you are in your dreams alone.So my emphasis from now on will be on group work. So even if one is awakened just for a single moment, he can create shocks for others. He can shake you. And this order of sannyas will be just a group with inner faith.When you feel, even for a single second, awareness coming to you, help others. And they will help you when the need is there.
Gurdijeff had paid lot of importance on group work. Gurdjieff had created a group of seekers to work together and to impart the teachings to them. P. D. Ouspensky have introduced the teaching of his Master Gurdjieff in his remarkable Book "In search of Miraculous". Ouspensky talks about the importance which Gurdjieff had put on Group work in the book. Essence of what Ouspensky says about group work is in front of you. Man is hypnotized to believe that he is awake but in reality man is sleeping even in the waking moments. As during the waking hours also man is dreaming about past or future. There are two types of sleeps. First type of sleep is during the night and second type of sleep is our dream state in the waking hours when we continuously drift to past and future yet doing our day to day activity mechanically. To fully awake means living in present moment all the time. One needs to be aware or present in all the action one does. Practically man is sleeping all the time. Man needs a good shock to awake from this dream like state. But man is so fast asleep that one shock is not enough. Man needs to be shocked continuously then only he can be awake. But who will provide this shock to man. As man is asleep he needs help from someone else to wake him. But at the same time another sleeping person also needs help for himself. So one sleeping man can not provide shock to another sleeping man. Man needs the help of some one who is awake and is ready to help sleeping people in their awakening. But the man who is awake may not like to spend his time in waking up sleeping people as he may have much more important work to do. More over those who can help, they wont prefer to spent energy on one single person as one who can help put a great value on their time and they would prefer to help when there are groups of people lets say twenty, or thirty people. So one who is interested in awakening should look for other people who also want to awake and work together with them in an organized way. It may happen that one of them gets awake and then that person can help in awakening others.
This
whole
group
work
should
be
organized
and
it
can
be
only
done
by
one
who
knows
the
problems,
aims
of
such
a
group
and
he
himself
has
passed
through
the
group
work.
Every
member
of
Group
is
chosen
by
the
teacher
with
some
specific
aim
and
group
should
work
according
to
the
aim
of
the
group
as
specified
by
the
teacher.
No
group
is
possible
with
out
a
teacher. |
