What is the light of presence?

Hearing about “the work,” I typically get intimidated. Images of great toil and suffering come to my mind. I imagine carrying heavy loads or having to cover very rough terrain. It is always a relief to remember that esoteric work means simply to be present to whatever the machine is doing. It is simply to shed light on the darker parts of ourselves.

This is still difficult work because it is hard to remember to do it. I typically already imagine I am awake, just to discover there was so much more I was missing. There is also significant denying force in the machine whenever I attempt to be present. The many ‘I’s do not cease when presence emerge. Their volume may be lower, but they are right there, ready to tempt me back into identification.

As Gurdjieff said, “As soon as a man awakens for a moment and opens his eyes, all the forces that caused him to fall asleep begin to act upon him with tenfold energy and he immediately falls asleep again, very often dreaming that he is awake.”

Creating Light

Over our long human history, schools have devised ways to inspire and encourage presence. The inner meaning of prayer is a methodical way to call presence to appear. A repeated mantra or a sequence of intentional syllables are intoned to achieve this. By developing intentional emotions through art, impressions, and work with others, school work results in the development of a steward. The steward can observe the mechanical manifestations of the machine and obtain relative control over them. Through its control over mechanicality, the steward can concentrate energy for more frequent efforts to promote presence. Once presence appears, the steward’s role changes from being an active driver of effort to a quieter role. It now recedes to give space to higher centers, keeping the many ‘I’s at bay. While the steward can control the frequency of effort, it cannot control the duration of presence nor its depth.

Uncreated Light

The steward is rooted in the intellectual part of the emotional center, and as such it has an emotional intelligence. This is what allows the steward to discern what could support and promote presence and what is less likely to do so. For example, it distinguishes more refined impressions as opposed to coarse ones. The sword of discrimination is the tool with which the steward cuts out negativity, judgment, or identification. This delicate emotional sensitivity is what allows the steward to recognize a higher state when it occurs spontaneously. This recognition–of the light of presence–is perhaps the steward’s most significant role, as so much is at stake. If the divine call is ignored, there is no telling when it will come next. If the steward recognizes the call, it immediately switches duties. Instead of making efforts to create light, it submits in silence and makes space for uncreated light. 

Ernst Newman has written several articles for FourthWayToday.org, including: https://fourthwaytoday.org/platos-ideal-state/, https://fourthwaytoday.org/right-location/ and https://fourthwaytoday.org/forging-ones-being. For more, see http://beingpresent.org.