Escape From the General Law (Red Hawk)

The first three “obligolnian strivings” referred to in the Gurdjieff Work are the strivings for what is needed for the planetary body, for perfection of the being (which has two qualities, presence and attention), and for understanding of world creation and maintenance. It is said that we are rigidly governed by 48 laws on Earth, so that almost everything we do is mechanical and automatic. The nature of the General Law is that all beings feed on those levels below them and are fed upon by those above them in scale. There is a great need for organic life to produce mechanical energy. Humans react with negative emotions, which are vacuumed up, consumed, and transmuted by Great Nature to achieve mechanical equilibrium. So what can I do to avoid mechanical death and die more consciously? We are buffered from seeing the reality of our position on Earth when we have the view that thinking about death is morbid, frightening, depressing, pointless. The difference between mechanical and conscious death lies exclusively on the quality and stability of attention. We can radiate a more conscious and finer energy which feeds the being and helps evolution, which goes up the ray of creation back to its source. We work to serve beings higher than us and in so doing can develop a conscious soul. To escape the General Law, we have to remember to bring attention to the present moment by remembering and observing ourselves, which can make us subject to fewer laws. When we remember ourselves we begin at zero. The “me” we believe ourselves to be is composed of identification and imagination. We have a limited range of postures, which promote mechanical unconscious thoughts and emotions. Erect posture is awakening. Breath is always and only present. Reminding factors are discussed. Red Hawk is an acclaimed poet and the author of twelve books, including Self Observation, Self Remembering, The Way of the Wise Woman, and Return to the Mother.