Scio-Spiritual Work

Different paths divide the work up differently. This is how I am dividing it. I consider sharing this with you a part of the collaboration aspect of my work. So if anyone sees something that could be improved, has something to add or share, or sees something that needs to be corrected please post it.

1. Exercises: We all know this one well. Most of my experiments will start with some exercise that I set time aside for. Each exercise is practice toward achieving some skill. I was never a good soccer player because I never practiced as diligently as the other kids. Some kids were naturals and didn't need practice to be "good", but had they practiced they could have been better. Anything can be an exercise if it includes certain elements. Picking up my drinking glass and pouring the water on my head 100 times would just be silly. Yet if I did it with mindfulness, focus on achieving an aim, dedication to the point completion and beyond; then no matter how silly it would be an exercise. Imagine a man of power walks up to you and pours what on his own head. You saw what he did but there was something amazing about it, some sort of power, a seemingly transendent skill. He put more awareness into pouring what on his head than you ever put into anything important. Then the master says: "Now you try." And, you do it but you realize though the action is the same, the QUALITY of the action is NOT the same. It is that quality, that comes with dedicated practice that I seek to infuse every action with, but it all start with that dedicated practice.

2. Pondering: This is when we set time aside, we pick something we wish to understand more deeply, and using various special techniques we think about the subject. The aim is understanding. It is difficult to understand what it means to understand. I could say though that understanding requires us to become deeply aware of something from almost if not all angles. We know were it came from, its origin, what caused its origin, its history, its qualities and attributes, objects connected to it or related to it, we know how to use it; to apply it or how it actually works, its results and effects, we know if it is true or false, what it explains or proves, its potential end and future, and lastly your opinion and the causes and motivations of this opinion.

Some of the key aspects of this are: stimulus; this is what we take in that stimulates the process. Books you read, movies you watch, objects you choose to think about. Imagination gives us the capacity to combine various images and aspects of our inventory to create something seemingly new or to see something in a way would not have seen it before. Penetration is taking your awareness to the depths of something you are thinking about. I used to all this piercing it. I find the deeper you penetrate into something the more of your being becomes involved in the process. Penetration of a thought leads to penetration of our perception of reality and everything in it including our idea of self. Lastly expression, writing poetry, writing, singing, this is the finished product, it could just be the final thought you have in your head at the end-how you sum up several ideas as one, and your mood level....

3. Daily world-moral development: Steiner said: "for every step in spiritual perception, three steps are to be taken in moral development."
"To be capable of helping others, it is necessary first of all to learn to help oneself [...] When a man really sees himself as he is, helping others does not come to his mind -he is ashamed of this thought [...] Only an egoistic consciousness can help others." Gurdjieff
I have experienced what Gurdjieff means. It is an altered state of consciousnes, you see yourself more clearly. All your behaviors thoughts, emotions, and motivations are seen from a new perspective, suddenly you see it all together as a unit much more clearly than normal. It is almost as if you should have always been able to see it, and maybe on some level always new it, but never consciously thought about it till now. You realize that you are not this morally upright person you might have thought you were. You realize that when this state of consciousness fades you will go back to your ugly ways. I know this sounds critical and maybe mean, but we all walk half awake through our daily lives unwittingly hurting the people we believe we love, we say we love but we don't really know what that means, you help a snail across a road to save it only to realize it probably needed to do that on its own, and one minute you are nice because you are happy and the next you lash out because you are angry. You say you stand for peace but you wage war with those who disagree with you. Until we know the central core of our being, the place where we are true, we are not "the good guy". Consider this consisting of: Waking up (awareness, attention, focus, remembrance), learning to make sober clear choices, and developing the the right mood.

4. Recording and Collaboration: This is involves journaling what we are doing at each step. We don't have to journal everything, that would be tedious and time consuming. Pick certain aspects of your work, your exercises, and keep a journal of what you consider most important. It is easy to miss something of value so set aside time to review, reassess, and reconsider how you are approaching things. I have been mainly keeping record of what I do in my one main exercise that I am trying to master (my own version of Mantac Chia's Inner Smile meditation). I am doing other exercises but this one is done most consistently so it is easiest to record. I record either during or immediately after depending on the experiment. Usually immediately after as it is too distracting to do so during most experiments. Physical and mental condition and state should be recorded. If before you begin an experiment there is some detail of physical or mental condition that is apparent at the on set that you know you will have to note at the end record it right away. I.e, I am going into this experiment with a broken leg, or I am depressed and have been depressed all day. The depression is making my body tired etc, these are examples. Note them ahead of time so you don't forget to note them at the end. Be succinct, clear and to the point, and intelligible so others can benefit from your record. Note the time and place of the experiment and the weather. If there are other conditions that you feel might influence the outcome of the experiment then note them as well. In any situation an infinite number of variable could influence an outcome, just briefly but clearly note a few of the most important ones.
Collaboration comes in by sharing what you have been recording with others who might have something useful to add or say. Others might try what you have done, and get a different result and share that with you thus adding valuable perspective to your own work. The experimentor should use his or her own intelligence, verify everything for yourself first, and don't simply take something on faith. This is a mood or attitude the spiritual scientist should cultivate; a kind of belief in the possibility of everything with a drive to question everything, and an attitude that doesn't accept something at face value. This work might lead to a deeper skeptism that isn't founded on a limitation of what is and isn't but on a knowledge that nothing is what it seems to be. The average skeptic says that he doesn't believe it because he can't see it. This skeptic says he doesn't believe it because he knows there might be much more to it than meets the eyes.

Tentative divisions

All of the above aspects of the work can be divided into five points:

Awareness: They all involve an aspect of awareness, this is crux of much of what we do. We focus attention, remember ourselves, learn to be present, and to wake up.

Naturality: This comes with time, but there are ways to develop it as well. The esoteric Daoist is big on this, it is all about balance, yin and yang. Learning the proper flow for everything. The fish is the ocean and the ocean the fish, they move together in harmony. Like a great martial artist who moves effortlessly, stresslessly, yet exerts great force and power. Somehow everything we do and are becomes intimately connected. We can see how one action influences the others and visa versa.
This is the depth and quality aspect of everything we do, feel, think etc.

Effectiveness: This is our ability to put it into practice in our spare time and or in our daily life, to follow through till completion and beyond. If you haven't done it you can't say you know what you are talking about. But to do you have to be (be: naturality and awareness).

Validity: Knowing the truth, being the truth, doing what is true, and or purity. Objectivity as discussed in a previous post. The true self, etc.

Completeness: Comes with time as well, everything comes together, seperete things become one and you know what is missing and what is not, or you realize nothing has ever been missing. You see the whole of yourself at once. etc