Doing the “Work”

In physics, work is defined as a force causing the movement—or displacement—of an object.

People talk about “spirituality” as “Doing the work” or not having done the work.

But really, there is no work to do.

But because it “seems” like there is, there is.

(All “awakenings” happen through paradox)

It is quite a paradox and the mind isn’t ever going to fully get it.

We do need to do is invest the time to understand what the heck is going on (this is the first stage), and in the next stage, we have to integrate that understanding – which ultimately only means letting go of old understandings.

It is definitely a rat race/hamster wheel of a process. The “work” is simply wearing out the part of us that absolutely believes we need to do something and to accomplish something to get somewhere. It’s true, but only because the condition of the human psyche makes it true. It’s not actually true in totality. Seeing this paradox can be a source of great compassion for our process.

The full truth simply cannot be understood – and ironically that is the understanding that needs to be understood.

So, “Doing the work” is not actually about doing any work, but because our minds (and therefore our bodies) are habituated to an old understanding, it “feels” like work to experiment with and to “try on” the new understanding that there is nothing to be understood.

There is no conclusion to arrive at, but arriving at the understanding that nothing to be understood gives us access to an ever-evolving flow of language descriptions that “sounds like” we understand something, when in actuality these words are never, never going to suffice because the actual understanding is letting go of the need for understanding.

This elegant system [universe] that we live in lacks duality, and yet the human psyche is deeply veiled and masked by a nefarious system that has deeply convinced us that we need to understand. We think we need to fulfill the dualistic need of understanding, the need to “get it right”, the evolution is something we need to “strive” for. Actually, we just need to wear ourselves out in the process until we finally give up on what’s clearly not working.

Striving is a program.

Accomplishing the truth is a program.

Thinking we need to understand is a program.

Attainment is a program.

Student/Teacher is a program.

Thinking we need Training or Help is a program.

Thinking we are stuck is a program.

Confidence/Insecurity is a program.

Meaninglessness/Meaningfulness is a program.

Visualization is a program.

Spirituality is a program.

Ironically, thinking we need help also makes us create a genuine need for help. I am not invalidating this as a real need (I feel the need for guidance sometimes also).

The interesting thing about all of this – the way this plays out in the world – is the people who “reach” this understanding are the most suited to offer “trainings” to “help” other people.

This is not wrong, but it is not what it appears to be.

Humility is power, and the people who have really “done the work” are the ones who know there is not really “work” to do and they are the ones who “help you do the work”.

“I am” one of those people, and people pay me for this, and it is literally “my job” to NOT believe them (without invalidating them) that they “need help” and then to “help them” in owning that at a very deep level. It is hilarious.

Having an indestructible sense of humor is truly the only “place“ we are going.

There are only very limited ways to describe things with language.

Notice how some words need to be in “quotes” because there is not an “understanding” to

“reach”. This is because the English language is created by the program.

We can “know” but the knowledge simply cannot be verbal. I am not an expert in any other language, but I understand that languages like Sanskrit, Hebrew, and Mandarin Chinese contain built-in ranges of meanings for each word and there is more of a collective agreement about linguistic openness and the necessary grey area of defining words.

The only thing we are ultimately searching for is opening ourselves up.

Finding permission for opening our hearts and minds.

All of the studying, the music, the fasting, the pursuing, the communicating, the trying, the failing, the organizing, the depression, the grieving, the pushing – everything is just seeking to reclaim our natural state of openness which we never actually lost but we very convincingly closed ourselves off from.

We didn’t realize that we were tricked into it.

We were innocently misled into thinking the world is “something” (because of the meanings we gave it) when actually it’s more like “nothing” (because releasing meanings gives us the freedom to be who we are).

Concepts and meanings can certainly be permission slips to “get” where we need to “go” but we cannot attain or “be” the only thing we have ever been. Concepts can be helpful but they are only reflections of what is real.

Trauma is “real” in the sense that everything is real to us until we outgrow it. Imaginary friends are really there if we think they are – they are aspects of our consciousness that feel separate from us and we cleverly design coping mechanisms to wear out the energies from these ideas in whatever ways we can.

Compassion for ourselves in this process is absolutely essential.

Our species is rapidly growing, we’ve hit puberty.

There is no going back. It’s definitely not comfortable, but it’s incredibly sweet to observe how badly we want to grow up.

Big love,

Joshua