The Work teaches that the Law of Levels is absolute. I am hard put to describe it myself, but it goes something like this: Anything you do mechanically will be repaid on that level. Anything you do consciously will be repaid on THAT level. Sigh. It’s been a long time since I was a Vernon Howard student, so bear with me.
I am old now and I “met” the Work when I was about 43. Searching for answers, I had a dream that directed me to Vernon’s school outside of Las Vegas, Nevada.
These days I am still walking and talking in my sleep; if it were otherwise, I would not be living on this low planet. Down here there is only darkness. Either you wish to rise above it or you are sinking further and further deep into it. That is why Vernon yelled at us. He knew that we are always working against our better natures. Steeped in evil, thinking that we are better off than we actually are.
At his school I learned things that I could not share with other people, but I knew in my heart that they were true. I studied deeply for decades and have been writing for decades as well. I am still suffering mechanically, for that is the nature of sleeping human beings.
There is no light here on this dark planet, none at all. We can aspire to rise above it, but we continually fall back into the morass, for it is all we know.
So when I am thinking, I am on the mechanical level; when I know that I am thinking I rise to a higher level. But I cannot stay there. This is a back and forth, in and out world that we can only transcend momentarily. Just when I think that I am not suffering, I fall back into it again.
Do not be deceived into thinking that you are better off than you are. God is not mocked. I know that some of you will be offended by this, but that’s okay. Taking offense is on the mechanical level.
The Earth is a giant schoolyard and the bullies have taken over. They are sound asleep and know not what they do. But neither do the so-called “good guys.” They are just on a different side; they have not risen above the opposites yet, either.
Want to hear more? I didn’t think so.
Vicki Woodyard
Whenever I see pictures of Gurdjieff, I recall going to several (about 4 months) of The Fourth Way meetings. These meetings were held in the Unity Church that I often attended in Florida — although not meetings the church itself presented This particular Unity Church also had AA meetings and such to supplement revenue. It had very few members; and I felt both safe and comfortable there. The Fourth Way meetings always talked of us being asleep and being a machine. I believed in most of the talks despite the discomfort — sometimes overwhelming. I stopped attending when I started being pressed to travel to some other location and participate in sacred dances and/or movements. As I recall it was to be for about 4 days to a week; and I knew I would be frozen with excruciating fear so I stopped attending the meetings altogether. When I listened to the 35 dated tapes of Vernon Howard (I bought them over 2 years time) he would mention that people quite often didn’t return; and it was there loss. I was able to listen to his tapes (some quite a few times); but he had died several years before I had learned of him. I did see some scratchy video tapes of him. All that being written, I can also attest that I walk in my sleep (I don’t talk much even during my visits to my brother and sister-in-law); but I happily and care-freely listen to them. I observe and try staying aware; but, it is WORK and called that for a reason. LOL. Much peace and love to you!
Yes, there were sacred dances that the students did; highly intricate movements to piano music. However you participate in your own awakening, it is beyond difficult and usually impossible.