A question addressed: is the Work dangerous?

This is a question that has been hovering around various discussions and one that I should have (and could have) answered long ago: is something like Work practice condemned by mainstream Chrsitianity because it is playing with fire, in terms of the spiritual world (demonic world)?

I think the answer to that is yes.

When you are able to do the Work you put yourself on spiritual ground; the ground where the forces of light and the forces of darkness come into direct conflict.

But notice I wrote 'when you are able' to do the Work.

Work type practice that is short of real Work is generally termed occult or mysticism associated activity. One can see that when Man #1,2,3 engages in practices to contact something higher they become a victim easily to dark spiritual forces, if they have no defense.

The problem is this: when you do things that disintegrate personality it is dangerous when you have nothing to take its place. A Work person has Work personality (which is everything to do with prior development culminating in magnetic center and the basic level of internal presence called Observing I). Even at first, when you just have connected with Work ideas and practices and you do them you are such a novice it is really almost demonic how you react. Like you're possessed. Imagine how this would effect a person who didn't have magnetic center (and Observing I) and Work knowledge for understanding and so on. This is why mainstream Christianity runs for the high hills when even just a person they vaguely associate with such things shows up in their midst.

But if you can handle it, i.e. if you have magnetic center and Observing I and you have the Work knowledge, then you need to force and provoke that spiritual battle. And you can do it because you're ready for it.

This too is why a Gurdjieff never mentioned mainstream Christianity and those types; because he knew the Work just wasn't for them. It is dangerous for them.

The Work is about first, developing Personality (all that involves life and centres development up to the development of magnetic center), then, making efforts to crack that hard shell of personality and allow essence to be educated. But you need something that will protect essence, and that is Work knowledge and effort (Work personality). It sounds like shallow terminology for such an essential thing, but Work Personality really means everything to do with all your history of development getting to the #4 level and being able to connect and do the Work to begin with.

You can't, when you are able, step back from the battle. You can't refuse to enter that spiritual ground where there is such stark activity and conflict between light and darkness. If you are able you have to go there and provoke yourself and the world and the devil; and this is the only way to develop. The Bible says the flesh wars with the Spirit, and that you become filled with the Spirit when you do things like pray (self-remembering). Don't go in with no armour though. The armour that Work knowledge - Work personality - gives and the armour that faith gives (a given, really, for a person who has truly connected with the Work in the first place; and this last point is what a Gurdjieff assumes and so leaves in silence, if just on wily instinct if anything else; afterall, he seemed to be doing what he did regarding the Work language 'for the future' (i.e. getting the language into existence), for the most part, though that's all a subtle subject and difficult to articulate)...