Way, the

The Way is a one-way street…due to the fact that each step forward on the Way irrevocably modifies whoever has started walking on it. It follows that he will become more and more of a stranger to his surroundings; that he will lose more and more interest in exterior life in which only yesterday he participated fully. The appearance of things and especially of beings undergoes a deep change in his eyes.

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The more the man progresses on the Way, the more his feeling of being a stranger is intensified. Soon he will become boring: later he will become unbearable, and finally odious. That is why ‘the prophet is despised in his country, among his close relations and in his own house.’ …He who wants to start esoteric studies is invited to think it over twice, and weigh it all before he rushes to cross the moat-threshold…it will not be possible for him to return to exterior life and to find his place, his pleasures and his satisfaction there as in the past.

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We have spoken of the Way as if it were already open to us, and as if it were at our door, so that we must take only one step to enter it. In fact this is not so at all.

We must first be penetrated by the idea that exterior life is s true Wilderness where “A” influences reign; but that there exists, in fact, a Way marked out by “B” influences. We must also understand that the Way is unique: that there is no other way outside the Way. The we must realize tat as we are, we do not and cannot possibly find ourselves on the Way. To attain it we must first find, then follow a path of Access. Serious and objective reflection will lead us to the logical conclusion that we not only find ourselves off the Way, but equally off the path of Access. We are in fact, in the midst of the Wilderness, with only one trump card in our hand: our desire to reach the Way.

If this desire is sincere and strong enough, we will with very little difficulty find a track leading to a path of Access by which we will finally reach the Way.

Boris Mouravieff, Gnosis, Vol.I, 1961/1989 Praxis Press.

Go out one clear starlit night to some open space and look up at the sky, at those millions of worlds over your head. Remember that perhaps on each of them swarm billions of beings, similar to you or perhaps superior to you in their organization. Look at the Milky Way. The earth cannot even be called a grain of sand in this infinity. It dissolves and vanishes, and with it, you. Where are you? And is what you want simply madness?

Before all these worlds ask yourself what are your aims and hopes, your intentions and means of fulfilling them, the demands that may be made upon you and your preparedness to meet them.

A long and difficult journey is before you; you are preparing for a strange and unknown land. The way is infinitely long. You don not know if rest will be possible on the way nor where it will be possible. You should be prepared for the worst. Take all the necessities for the journey with you.

Try to forget nothing, for afterwards it will be too late and there will be no time to go back for what has been forgotten, to rectify the mistake. Weigh up your strength. Is it sufficient for the whole journey? How soon can you start?

Remember that if you spend longer on the way you will need to carry proportionately more supplies, and this will delay you further both on the way and in your preparations for it. Yet every minute is precious. Once having decided to go, there is no use wasting time.

So not reckon o trying to come back. This experiment may cost you very dear. The guide undertakes only to take you there and, if you wish to turn back, he is not obliged to return with you. You will be left to yourself, and woe to you if you weaken or forget the way – you will never get back. And even if you remember the way, the question still remains –will you return safe and sound? For many unpleasantnesses await the lonely traveller who is not familiar with the way and the customs which prevail there. Bear in mind that your sight has the property of presenting distant objects as though they were near. Beguiled by the nearness of the aim toward which you strive, blinded by its beauty and ignorant of the measure of your own strength, you will not notice the obstacles on the way; you will not see the numerous ditiches across the path. In a green meadow covered with luxuriant flowers, in the thick grass, a deep precipice is hidden. It is very easy to stumble and fall over it if your eyes are not concentrated on the step you are taking.

Do not forget to concentrate all your attention on the nearest sector of the way—do not concern yourself about far aims if you do not wish to fall over the precipice.

Yet do not forget your aim. Remember it the whole time and keep up in yourself an active endeavour toward it, so as not to lose the right direction. And once you have started, be observant; what you have passed through remains behind and will not appear again; so if you fail to notice it at the time, you never will notice it.

Do not be overcurious nor waste time on things that attract your attention but are not worth it. Time is precious and should not be wasted on things that have no direct relation to your aim.

Remember where you are and why you are here.

Do not protect yourselves and remember that no effort is made in vain.

And now you can set out on the way.

G.I. Gurdjieff, Essentuki 1918, from “Views from the Real World.” 1973.