Making the Work Your Own (VJ Fedorschak)

"Live and learn" is part of the design of a human being which comes naturally to us as children. Messages we receive in our family and society lead us to abandon our instinctual freedom and to develop habits about how to be. But the ability to live and learn remains dormant, and we may learn how necessary a spiritual path is and how we need to make it our own in order to realize its possibility. The Work refers to a system taught by G.I. Gurdjieff but also—in a broader way—to transformation which is available through different traditions or streams of the Great Work. Both effort and surrender are needed on real paths. We are all blind in some areas and, if we are honest in our self-observation, there are parts of ourselves that we don’t like. Being asleep can be considered as seeing only a sliver of reality since we are focused on ourselves. Also, we relate to the world through filters which overlay reality. The Work isn’t about being saved. Despite our insignificance in the universe, it (or God) needs our help. If we simply admire those who have served the Work in the traditions, we will not take responsibility for it. Making the Work our own is discussed in terms of practice with the details of life, strengthening the container until at some point we have majority vote to serve that which needs us, working with childish parts of ourselves and our weakest link, putting ourselves on the line, loving what we do not love, being in relationship to everyone, supporting others in their work, holding our seat without being territorial, dealing with pride and vanity, following the spirit of the law over the letter of the law, not separating life in the world from the Work, keeping agreements, and cultivating emptiness. The Work is about relationship between God and us. VJ Fedorschak is the organizer of the Western Baul Podcast Series and author of The Shadow on the Path and Father and Son.