Essential Zen

The Work

Lately there seem to have been several comments by a variety of folk talking about The Work. And not only The Work, but the consequences of not doing The Work, rather like Christian admonitions to follow the Ten Commandments or else risk going to Hell. In the case of those interested in don Juan's teachings, you become obliterated by the Eagle - similar ending, I suppose.

What I find of interest is that no two people seem to agree what The Work is. In most cases, it appears to be the exercise of self-discipline to force oneself to meditate, in one form or another. (I find it of interest that don Juan, to my recollection, never said squat about meditating, even though he did have CC sit and stare at rocks, and plants and streams from time to time.)

Maybe The Work is learning lucid dreaming, exploring other worlds and other beings, although to what end I'm not sure. It appeared the net result of Robert Monroe's extensive explorations was to relieve him of the fear of dying.

Zen itself confounds when it demands meditation and at the same time declares no one can become a Buddha by meditating. (Perhaps the real goal is not to become a Buddha, rather like don Juan's real goal is not to become a Nagual.)

What then, might be The Work?

I believe there is a major, albeit perhaps too subtle hint in the teachings of don Juan. In my opinion a major goal is dealing with the items of the tonal. The main reason for that is that without a properly arranged or cleaned tonal, true access to the nagual is not available. This of course assumes there is some purpose for accessing the nagual in the first place. (Maybe a topic for later...)

Everyone who has read Castaneda I'm sure recalls the scene in which don Juan sits Carlos at a table with various items and likens that to the efforts of arranging items of the tonal. Removing all the allegory, what he's talking about is no different than psychotherapy, and in my opinion, this is the thing most folk appear to choose to avoid. Recapitulation deals with many issues, however, without the assistance of an able facilitator, I believe it is impossible to overcome those issues within the tonal that stand in the way.

Instead of repeating myself, here's a link to a series of essays on this same topic:

http://www.yetanotherway.com/edhd

Removing all the allegory, what he's talking about is no different than psychotherapy, and in my opinion, this is the thing most folk appear to choose to avoid. Recapitulation deals with many issues, however, without the assistance of an able facilitator, I believe it is impossible to overcome those issues within the tonal that stand in the way.

Because it is work. Therapy is damned hard work as is recapitulation and autolysis. It appears to me that we humans are not huge fans of work. Utopia, Buddha nature, Christ nature, enlightenment...all seem to be popular analogies of not having to do anything else. They have arrived! Done, they can rest now. Ummmm no. Buddha worked till his death, Christ's path certainly didnt end well, and Utopia has never happened...soooo what does that tell us? We are born human. In order to get the most from this human experience we must shed our unhuman crap that we hold so tightly to. What do I mean by unhuman crap? I mean the beliefs that are untrue about ourselves, the good the bad and the ugly. The only way to do that is through ruthless examination, breaking the spine of our beliefs, and finding what is true for self.

I have been finding my true self, the weird part is I hang on to the negative more than the positive. For example: I am dumb, I cant do _________ as well as ___________ therefore I am a big fat loser. I need I want I cant....why is that so hard to let go of? Again my boss said "you dont realize it yet but you have limitless possibilities..." I snapped back with "that is so daunting! Stop saying that! What if I do something wrong? What if I do not use this unique opportunity correctly? I have never been in this situation before!" My boss (who I NEVER expected this from) quietly looked me in the eye and said "are there any wrong decisions? Really? Can you do this wrong?" BUSTED!!!! I got wholly and completely caught with both hands firmly gripping the tiller. Well there. another lesson from the universe! Another lesson for me. Here's the lesson, we always in every breath have unlimited possibility. Our own tonal crap is what keeps us from what is true about ourselves. that little voice that tells us that we are not really amazing beings with limitless possibilities...even to entertain the thought is not humble...not spritual somehow. We have been so conditioned to be humble, allow others to excel, not get "full" of oursleves, that we have lost our true self. Lost in a miasma of lies and half truth. With which we are wholly and completely comfortable. why are we so comfortable with mediocrity? Why are WE so very comfortable with absolutely hating oursleves? Putting ourselves second, third or not even in the picture? To appear humble? To appear Godly? To whom? Who are we really trying to impress? Our Self? No, not our Self. Which leads me to a rant much better suited to my blog...have a nice day!

Good topic G. The work, or I should say The Work, varies from person to person, and what their goal is. If its freedom to pass by the Eagle, you recapitulate, work on your SI, and use your death as advisor. If you're a buddhist, you meditate as much as you can, and follow the eightfold path. If your a magi you use magick as your tool and walk the tree of life. There are so many methods of work, it really depends, but your 'work' might be grafting in from various sources and making it your own and thats okay too, as long as its in alignment with the goal you have for yourself. Mine is to sneak on by and cheat death, thats my goal, if possible how about you?

datura wrote:Good topic G. The work, or I should say The Work, varies from person to person, and what their goal is. If its freedom to pass by the Eagle, you recapitulate, work on your SI, and use your death as advisor. If you're a buddhist, you meditate as much as you can, and follow the eightfold path. If your a magi you use magick as your tool and walk the tree of life. There are so many methods of work, it really depends, but your 'work' might be grafting in from various sources and making it your own and thats okay too, as long as its in alignment with the goal you have for yourself. Mine is to sneak on by and cheat death, thats my goal, if possible how about you?

Mine has changed a few times. Before I encountered Zen and CC, my goal was to get out from under the crush of self-hatred. I won't go into details. Zen presented enlightenment, and in my interpretation, so did CC, when don Juan said the true goal was to achieve the totality of oneself. When I found it impossible to adhere neither to the disciplines of formal Zen nor to the disciplines of the teachings of don Juan, for a while I despaired. At the bottom of that despair I encountered Michael King and as I've stated elsewhere, my work with him in his role as a facilitator proved vital.

So, my goal has essentially come back to where it was...my goal is to understand, and I believe the models of behavior and being as presented in essential Zen as well as in CC serve as examples of how one might possibly live their life and enjoy the process.

Gonzo wrote:

datura wrote:Good topic G. The work, or I should say The Work, varies from person to person, and what their goal is. If its freedom to pass by the Eagle, you recapitulate, work on your SI, and use your death as advisor. If you're a buddhist, you meditate as much as you can, and follow the eightfold path. If your a magi you use magick as your tool and walk the tree of life. There are so many methods of work, it really depends, but your 'work' might be grafting in from various sources and making it your own and thats okay too, as long as its in alignment with the goal you have for yourself. Mine is to sneak on by and cheat death, thats my goal, if possible how about you?

Mine has changed a few times. Before I encountered Zen and CC, my goal was to get out from under the crush of self-hatred. I won't go into details. Zen presented enlightenment, and in my interpretation, so did CC, when don Juan said the true goal was to achieve the totality of oneself. When I found it impossible to adhere neither to the disciplines of formal Zen nor to the disciplines of the teachings of don Juan, for a while I despaired. At the bottom of that despair I encountered Michael King and as I've stated elsewhere, my work with him in his role as a facilitator proved vital.

So, my goal has essentially come back to where it was...my goal is to understand, and I believe the models of behavior and being as presented in essential Zen as well as in CC serve as examples of how one might possibly live their life and enjoy the process.

Yes, definitely we should enjoy the process! And love the learning involved! There's a whole world out there to explore spiritually speaking, and it offers a way of exploring ourselves. Thats good you got over your self loathing G.