Work

Two snippets from my teacher. Both written in May 2001. He's moved on a lot since then, but they're still unsettlingly accurate. Those who know him will attest to his uncanny ability to hit the nail on the head.

The skill of the teacher is to uncover the beginning of the process of understanding so the student realises he is already plugged into its swirling spiral - all he then has to do is honour it by putting forth his best effort.
In fact there is no other kind of effort.
Much comfort is taken in words, but there is no element of comfort or discomfort in the work.
Becoming one with the work is everything.
Everything is becoming one with the work.

Work is the vigorous training of all our energies.
We begin with purely physical energies.
Pushing back the barriers of pain with a correct method, the senses are noted to be working together: emotional, physical and mental.
The thinking rational mind is relegated to a specialised role, to be laid aside soon after the start of each cycle of communication, with a resultant expansion of understanding.
The external is the path to the internal and the internal becomes the path for the external.
The internal and external are never apart, focus on either and the other is activated.
But the internal cannot be described or defined by words, and is the foundation of the external.
The words you can use about the external only have meaning when imbued with the internal.
For this to happen, the internal must be woken up.
A good student is restless until he gives expression to what is buried out of sight to most people.
He must believe when most do not, when some may laugh at his obsession to uncover his "destiny".
He will find a teacher when he is prepared and qualified to do so.
With sufficient dedication he will reach this new world directed from within, the internal, wherein his spirit or essence reveals itself slowly, and reveals its connection to all other spirits.
Those who know are always doing, those who don't know think they can stop and start.
When work has squeezed out all that is not work, then the doing is natural, and you are one with knowing.
This knowing may be called understanding.
This understanding is continual doing without a conscious (thinking) awareness of doing.
This knowing takes the movement of other entities into account and makes way for them.
This means no fight or flight and may be termed "yielding" or "the knowing of communication".

John Kells