- Luke 17:21
Week 11
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The Work
Week 11 Assignments
- Title a page: “What Is” Write down the objective facts of observed situations.
- Title another page: “What Ought to Be” Observe and document all the many ideas the self holds as “good.” Note the conflicts between “What Is” and “What Ought to Be.”
- Disidentify and observe the operations of the self. Witness (without judgement) the behavior of the Not-I’s and their underlying motives, conflicts, emotional responses, etc.
Science of Man
Week 11 Transcript
Two frequent ideas used in the Teaching is that of “what is” – “what is” is whatever one sees as fact – and the other idea that is frequently used is “what ought to be”, or the ideal. This is what one sees as “good.” Now, frequently one sees some fact and decides that it is not good, that it has no value. And, of course there begins then the struggle to change “what is” into something that one would see as good, or ideal, or what ought to be. And of course, this is conflict, struggle and resistance. Now, the Teaching says that “what is” has a value. Now, to be able to see that value, one might see that the self has many ideals, or many ideas of what ought to be, or many ideas of what is good or valuable. And that unless these two – “what is” and “value” – are seen in the same light, one has not seen Truth.
Now, a fact is not what is referred to as Truth. It is a true state of affairs – it may be true what one sees
but is not considered Truth with a capitol “T”.
Truth with a capital “T” means that one sees what is and sees the value of what is.
And that, of course, is the ending of conflict, struggle, and resistance because when one sees what is and sees the value of it, X acts upon that. But as long as one sees “what is” – something as being a fact – and the self suggests that that is not good, that that “what is” ought to be something else, then comes the struggle, the conflict, and the resistance.
Now, suppose that we begin today to write down two sheets of paper: one is headed “WHAT IS”, and the other one is headed “WHAT OUGHT TO BE”. Now, we will see many things today that is “what is” – facts; but we do not see that fact as having any value. We might see it as having a very negative value, a minus; it is something as being bad. Then we will see that the self begins to work as to what that “what is” ought to be. Now, let’s write down under the “what ought to be’s” what we would consider to be “good”. In other words, “what ought to be’s” are considered to be illusions of what was good and we haven’t seen the good of “what is”.
A child in school is given an assignment. And he doesn’t want to do the assignment. Now, he knows “what is” – he’s given an assignment. But he doesn’t see it as good. So he will procrastinate, he will fret, he will complain, he will make all manners of noise. He’ll say it’s impossible, that the teacher is an ole meanie for having giving him the assignment. Another child may see the assignment as being very worthwhile, of having value in becoming proficient in whatever the subject that the assignment concerned. And he will find interest in doing the assignment and very quickly the assignment is done. He has a great sense of satisfaction. X operated upon the assignment because it was seen as, of course, “what is” – which both agree on and very difficult to argue with a fact. But it is very easy to contend as to the value of that fact and, thereby, come to Truth.
Now, under the “What ought to be’s” and the “What should be’s” we are going to write many of the things that we feel would be good.
Now, the first thing we probably would feel would be good – that “I” would always be comfortable. The fact is, the “what is” possibly, one is not comfortable. Now, that has a value because that being uncomfortable is a signal that one is struggling toward an illusion, that one is in some form of stress. Now, there’s four possible ways of being in stress.
One, of course, is from the Environment, that there is sudden changes in temperature, that there is jolts, jars and falls, that there is toxicity in the air or what-have-you. Or that various products in the environment, various substances, are toxic when taken into the body. If one is in a state of discomfort, it is telling one that one is in one form of stress and one can then look for which form it is – from the Environment?
And the other one would be from the Inner Feeling, which accounts for about 97% of the stress.
The other one would be improper Nutrition. One isn’t eating and providing the fuel – or seeing as good the fuel – that is required for the body.
And the other one would be unusual Activity, seeing as desirable some sudden stressful activity. Like if you’ve been sitting at a desk for many months and suddenly go out and go skiing or mountain climbing or try to run a race with someone – a 100-yard dash. One would find that this would bring about some sort of ache, pain, or misery. However, we have been conditioned. The self sees all discomfort as something “bad” and does not see it as of a value, and begins to look for some way to achieve the ideal of “what ought to be.” So it uses drugs or many other methods to make one insensible so that one no longer receives the signal. One is only interested in what one sees as good.
Now, in beginning to observe the self – I observes the self – one of the more valuable areas is to see what the self has considered to be good.
We have seen that it considers to be good to be totally non-disturbed physically. That it is seen to be good to have attention. Now, one can gain attention by drivin’ down the street at an excessive rate of speed. One can gain attention by doing unusual things, such as standin’ on the corner and eating a piece of coal. One will gain attention.
One can gain approval from certain people by agreeing with them, which may and may not be to one’s advantage. One can gain approval by acts of daring, by performing very unusual feats, or by attempting to do them to show that one is not “chicken”, that one is brave. And sometimes we see people do very foolhardy actions by trying to gain attention and by trying to gain approval.
One may feel important by lording it over other people, by gaining some means of control over others either by suggestion, or by force, or by threats, or by withholding or giving of certain values that the one receiving sees.
As one observes this, one sees that there is many unusual values placed. And that in order to be conscious and to live on a different State of Being, that what one has held out as being good – what one has accepted as being valuable or good – is possibly one of the greatest areas of confusion.
When one sees something as true but some other state as being of value, there is conflict, there is struggle, there is resistance, which is the disintegrating factor.
The struggle toward an illusion, an illusion that “what is” can be changed into fitting what the self has agreed is valuable or good. Now, very little effort is spent on seeing if “what is” is good on an entirely different viewpoint, if one looks at it different.
We have suggested that there are four possible Forces in the world. Initiative – something I do, something one wants to originate. And then there is Resistance always against that – whether it be gravity, whether it be distance, whether it be weather, whether it be someone, whether it is a given event. So, Second Force comes along to obstruct in some way, resist what the origination was. But without this Second Force there would be no strength, no power. It is the same as if you tried to mold a ceramic dish without a mold of resistance to pour the liquid ceramic in so it could harden into the shape one wanted. Then one would have a form. So with Initiative and Resistance comes about a Form. And then the Form provides a use. So, we have Four Forces: Initiative, Resistance – which may be either active or passive – then the Form, and then the Result.
Now, most of us see all Second Forces as something frustrating, something that interfered with the ideal of things being like “I” wanted them to be, like they ought to be, like they should be. And of course, Second Force is seen as misfortune, as evil, as something bad, as bad luck. And of course, the person resists that Second Force and thinks it ought to be without it. And of course, this is one of the things that brings about the idea of what ought to be – the ideal.
Now, another ideal that one would probably have is that one should know the future. And then one could make all manner of preparations and could avoid ever’ unpleasant situation. But if you know the future, the future is complete and includes oneself. You see, then if one could know the future that a given accident was going to occur, one would have to go ahead and do it. Otherwise one only knows probabilities. And don’t we already know probabilities?
There is a probability that if I take up thieving as a means of livelihood, there’s a very high degree of probability that I will be apprehended in thieving and thrown in prison. One would say one knows the future? No, but one has a high degree of probability. Now, if I knew the future – that I would thieve and that I would get caught and that I would be thrown in prison – then that would have to go ahead. I couldn’t stop it. Because otherwise, I would not know the future; I would only know the probability.
Frequently we hear someone in a given situation – they’ve been tied up in a snowstorm on the highway or something – and they say, “If I’d a’ known this, I wouldn’t have left home!” But if they would have known it, they would have had to leave home and they would have went on. So one of the ideals of what is good would be to know the future. But, possibly, if we reevaluated that “good” and looked at it, we would see that to know the future would be the most painful hell anyone could ever experience. From the day you were born, you knew exactly ever’ event that was going to happen, and you knew exactly when it was gonna happen and all the circumstances about it. You could do nothing to stop it, or nothing to speed it up, or nothing to slow it down. You would merely be a movie that you had already seen in advance and the movie was going to be run again. Could you imagine any more horrifying existence?
So we have seen that “what is” – that we do not know the future. But we have seen that as bad – that we ought to be able to know the future. And then, of course, only giving it a casual look we felt we could change the future. But if one could foresee a given event and then change it, one was not knowing the future.
So, “what is” is living by reporting “what is” to X and seeing “what is” as good, or valuable, or worthwhile and X operates upon it. In this way, man recognizes his oneness with X, with Spirit.
If he could foresee and could change the future and change all the events in it, he would have no comprehension of X. He would never realize his oneness with X, that he was a function of X.
So, “what is” is so designed by an almighty, loving Creator that one would be given every opportunity to discover one’s oneness with X.
Because one never knows the future.
But regardless of what happens, if one sees what is and sees its value, X operates upon it and one has then seen that one does not need to know the future, that everything is an ever-changing, ever-loving panoramic of change. And one could be comfortable with change, comfortable with the unknown and recognize the oneness with X, the union with X.
If one could do what the ideal says – the “what ought to be”, what one has valued – one would be in a horrible state of existence. The most boring, the most tedious, the most fretful form anyone could be in. One would see the whole panoramic future and see everything and know that it was coming. You’d know on a given day you’re gonna get burned, you’d know on a given day you’re gonna receive news that a loved one has passed away. Nothing you can do – you know the future. Wouldn’t that be horrible?
So, as we begin to observe, we begin to re-evaluate what the self has said is good. Now, the self is based upon the Four Dual Basic Urges that the whole purpose of living is to be non-disturbed, to avoid all pain. But pain is the great signal that tells us we are not reporting accurately to X and that we’re walking into something that is destructive to the entire state of being, destroying the organism, the Awareness, the whole union of X, Awareness, and Body, and Function… casting it asunder. And pain is the announcer that one is headed on that way. It would be – without that pain – one would be totally insensible to everything that is destructive to the body, to the Awareness, to the State of Being, to existence, even. So, one begins to see that the self has accepted as good something that would be very damaging. And this is called “re-evaluation”.
Another thing that the self has set up as good is that one should never be ignored or rejected. But one of the great Teachers in the Scriptures says that one should “leap for joy” when one is falsely accused and mistreated by other people. Now, if one sees this… that it gives one the awareness to see where one is, to see what one is valuing, whether one is caught in the valuing of “what ought to be”, the illusion, has set up an ideal of what is good and sees no value practically in “what is” but only in the illusion.
And as one follows this, one sees that a certain amount of disapproval is also very wonderful.
And that isn’t it wonderful we can’t control people? Because if we did, what kind of a creature would we be? That if we had the power to control every other person we would be setting self up as a god.
And it has set itself up as a god – the god of darkness, mammon, that says what ought to be. The ideal – being what the self from the infant decision, the Four Dual Basic Urges from mammon, has said is good.
Now, when one sees “what is” is Truth, is a fact, and that one feels that “what ought to be”, what would be good, would be for a different fact to be in existence, one is in a state of mental conflict, mental struggle, mental resistance, emotionally all torn up. And of course reporting to X that things are in a terrible shape, that one is in an emergency. X prepares the body to fight or run. And, of course, that is nothing to fight or run from. It is only because the self says “what is” is not good and that “what ought to be” would be; so what we’ve got to do is to change “what is” into something that will be what “I” call good. And this is the work of the self.
And I observes this and sees that it is necessary to totally dis-identify from the self and to begin to see value – for I, the Observer, begins to see the value in “what is”. Now before I can begin to see value in “what is” and remotely begin to operate the self entirely, it must be cleansed as we have seen. So, the first thing that it will do is to write down all the things that the self reports as being “good”.
Now, to be “good” we put in the general terms to be non-disturbed, to have pleasure and comfort, and to escape pain… to it’s good and “what ought to be” for that “I” would have approval and escape all disapproval; and that “I” would have lots of attention and escape being ignored or rejected; and that “I” am important, that everybody is controlled by “me” and “I” am not inferior because nobody fails to obey “me”. And then, of course, that complainin’ would change “what is” into something that would suddenly be “what is” would be true and good, would be good of what the one sees. That stickin’ up for rights would change “what is”. And that pleasing people would change “what is”. And that believing and doing what “I’m” told by authority would change “what is” into something that “I” knew ought to be. Or that appearing to be different on the surface, putting on a different mask would change “what is”. Or that by blaming something that it would change “what is”. However, “what is” is the fact. And a fact is very difficult to argue with. But you see that the person wants to be a magician and change “what is” into something different that one would call “good”.
And as one observes, one knows very little about what is good and valuable in living experiences. One sees challenges as bad and sees lack of challenge as good. But if those are looked at, all challenges are good. And ever’ “what is” is a challenge and one would appreciate “what is” – the ever changing. Each one is a challenge or an opportunity for one to be more conscious and more aware and to further show up the fallacy of the self, the “what ought to be”. And as we have seen,
When we see something for an illusion we no longer are tempted to involve or to identify with that illusion.
When you were a little child you probably heard the story that there was a pot of gold at the foot of the rainbow. And if you ever lived in certain areas, you possibly the foot of the rainbow looked like it was just a few feet away and you could rush out and get the pot of gold. And wouldn’t that be wonderful? But if you ever tried to chase a rainbow, you find it’s always a little further on the next hill. When you get to the next hill, it’s on the next one and very shortly the whole thing disappears. And if one should ever see that all the ideas of the self, of “what ought to be”, are just as illusionary as that rainbow, one would cease to be tempted to identify with the ideas of the self – that “what ought to be” is good and that “what is” is bad, that it should be changed so that it would be good.
Now, the attempt to change a fact is the most impossible thing man knows. But it is very possible to re-evaluate the value of that fact. And one which did see the fact as being bad and wrong – and then everything concerned with it – can suddenly begin to see that it is good. It is a challenge. It gives me an opportunity to evolve, to grow, to be more conscious and to arise in Conscious Awareness, and that to be more obedient to one’s nature, to report “what is” and its value. You see
X doesn’t operate upon anything just because you say it is. You also must see its value. Then you are reporting the Truth to X.
Now, if one reports that something is but that it’s bad, X of course doesn’t operate upon it. And then one reports that what would be valuable would be to attempt to change “what is” into what it ought to be. And that, of course, is the struggle, and conflict, and resistance that most everone is in.
So, in our sheet of paper we will see “what is” and then we’ll see on the other side what the ideal, what would be “good”. And as we observe these written out where we can look at them and see them, you’ll find the re-evaluation begins to come about very easily. In fact, very apt one is to begin to see the humor in the whole situation and begin to laugh at all the ideals, all the “what ought to be’s”, all the struggle that has been gone through, through the years trying to change “what is” into something that “I” could say that is good and valuable. “I” don’t see the challenge as being good – the self is totally upset with “what is”.
Now, most everone sees what is true or a fact that a given event is taking place. But let’s observe that the self immediately begins to evaluate that event and then very frequently says, “It is bad. It is not good.” And then becomes the struggle to change that “what is” into “what ought to be”. We can also see that it’s in a constant state of expectation that it will be what it calls “good”. And then when “what is” comes along to give one an opportunity to evolve, immediately there is the self – judging it as bad. I will observe this and we will write and carefully observe all through the week, how “what is” is so frequently seen as something bad and how seldom it’s seen as valuable or good.
And only as a man sees what’s true and what’s good does he see the Truth. And they’re always in agreement. There is never a conflict in Truth. “What is” does have a value when one is awake and sees it.