Real reasoning with ourselves to the point of transformation is not easy. Generally we have to give up long standing but unexamined ways of understanding our thoughts, feelings and actions. To follow where real reasoning leads requires a ruthless intensity, courage, honesty with oneself, and a single minded determination to not stop until the end.
That said, here is a ‘relatively’ easy place to start. We can reason with ourselves toward understanding the unity of all being.
One line of reasoning toward this proceeds as follows…
In the online group we are beginning to work with a method of self-development that can fairly be called "reasoning with oneself". In presenting it I wrote:
“...I propose that we take “Reasoning” as our first line of enquiry. Can we reason with ourselves to the point of ‘inescapable clarity’ about our relationship to the Work and to ourselves? Can we reason with ourselves to the point of real transformation with that method alone?”
For over 40 years I’ve tried to understand, apply, and embody the results, of what we call “work on oneself” in the context of spiritual development in general and Gurdjieff’s 4th Way in particular. It’s been a long 40 years, full of many teachers, companions, and experiences along the way.
I can report that many things have changed in me over those years and my gratitude to the 4th Way, to my many teachers, to my fellow seekers, to those who have occasionally found it personally useful to listen to what I had to say, and to innumerable other sources of help grows daily. I can also report that I have a long way to go.
Energies: Everything in existence is held together and functions through the use of energies. From the tiniest atoms to huge galaxies everything runs on energies. Even our feelings and thoughts require energy. Ordinary science hardly makes any study of energies beyond the levels of heat, and the polar energies of electricity, magnetism, and kinetic forces. And yet without understanding different levels of energies and how they work, it's almost impossible to understand what happens in the world, and more importantly, what happens in us.
Creating and maintaining a study group is a difficult, but rewarding undertaking. The chance to develop ourselves while at the same time being able to serve and enrich the lives of others, whether they are our students, comrades or teachers, is both a challenge and a blessing. Everything, from the tiniest insects under our feet to the universe of galaxies above our heads, "all must 'eat' to live and nourish one another". That is to say, we all must take in various kinds of 'food', including knowledge and understanding, and in turn become 'food' for something higher.
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