Entering the WorkRebecca Nottingham Before you begin practicing
the psychologicalWork of the Fourth Way, youmust frst have a strong
desire to change the kind of human being you are; areaching out
metaphysically, seeking meaning and authenticity and growthinto
what you were born to become !his kind of dissatisfaction with
yourselfas you are is a prere"uisite because the Work can then use
the energy of thatdesire to fuel the real change it is aimed at
#ince the Work is a path devotedtoconcretechangesomust thestudent
beseekingactual change $achstudent must be willing to undertake the
e%orts necessary due to a sincerelonging for personal
development!he Work must be done willingly and this is a most
critical point First, youmust understand what you are doing and why
you are doing it before you cando it willingly &f you try to
engage in the Work practices in an uninformed orcasual way, or out
of curiosity, or if you are simply following the directionsgiven
you by your !eacher, in a legalistic manner, you will fnd that you
havebitten o% more than you can chew and the Work will become
ha'ardous toyou (gain, if youaregenerallysatisfedwithyourself
theWorkwill onlyo%end you )r if you imagine that you can gain the
kind of self*mastery whichwill giveyouthepower tofulfll your dreams
anddesires andthus besatisfed, you will be in for a rude shock None
of these approaches will getyou anywhere in the Work From the
outset, you must willingly be seekingsincere self*change in order
for the Work to work in you &f you understandthis clearly and
you have the right attitude, which is +onscience toward theWork,
then you begin with ac"uiring knowledge,aining knowledge is the
frst e%ort in the Work because you cannot get theright results
until you understand how and why and what you must do
#incetheWorkis esoteric knowledgeit is of aspecial
"ualitywhichre"uiresthinking
-oucannotlearnabouttheideasande.ercisesintellectually,
byroteusingyour ordinarymemory, andget anyresults !heideasof
thissystem need to be assimilated into your consciousness by way
ofunderstanding which is not the same thing as knowing !his
re"uires personalWork, thoughtand re/ection anda/e.ible
mindwhichdoesn0tpresume itunderstands everything
already-oucanspendyour lifetimestudyingtheknowledgeof
theFourthWay,becoming a technical e.pert, and never actually be in
the path of the Work1nowledge comes frst but it goes nowhere until
you apply it to yourself, toyourBeingNoamount of knowledgealone
createschange,butwhenyoubegin to practice what you have learned you
receive light and gradually theideas become organic understanding
by way of the personal e.perience youhave in practicing
them#tudying this esoteric teaching will give you small shocks of
awakening if youre/ect on the ideas !he idea that humanity is
asleep is a shock only slightlyless alarming than the idea that you
are asleep !he idea of self*evolution anddi%erent levels of
consciousness is a shock (nd the idea of 2ultiplicity
andmechanicalness can leave you reeling -ou can fnd momentary
minde.pansionbutnotpermanentpersonal
transformationintheknowledgeofthis teaching !ransformation, which
clearly indicates change, happens in andthrough your individual
e%ort to apply this knowledge to yourself by way ofpracticing its
teaching !oo many students confuse knowing about the ideasof the
#ystem with understanding that only comes with the
enlightenmentgained in practical e%orts -ou may know that you do
not remember yourself,but that knowing doesn0t mean you are
remembering yourself -ou have tomake the e%orts to actually
remember yourself in order to understand what itmeans that you
don0t remember yourself -ou may know "uite well that youmust
observeyourself but never get beyondmerelynoticingthisor
thatrandomly, or you may have a very clear grasp of the idea of
mechanicalnesswithout ever having observed your own -ou cannot have
the perspective ofthe !hird #tate of +onsciousness unless you reach
up into it in a practical waythrough your e%ort,etting into the
!hird #tate of +onsciousness ** awakening ** is made
possiblemostlybywayof makingyour personalitypassive; bygoingagainst
themechanical momentum of sleep which is always asserting your
personalityRemember that the !hird #tate is available to you at
alltimes, above yourordinary state, accessible by the means of
practicing #elf*Remembering and#elf*)bservation and
Non*&dentifcation which are conditions of consciousnessin the
!hird #tate -ou can create these conditions yourself by doing the
Workyourself !hat is what self*evolution means!his is an incredible
idea ** that you can raise yourself up into higher levels ofBeing
and +onsciousness within yourself by doing the Work, and in doing
so,youcanreceiveenlightenment !hemagnitudeof thisgift of
opportunitye.ceeds words, yet it is verifable and true -our
valuation of the Work willdeepen and grow as you learn to
appreciate the signifcance of this gift &f youfnd this esoteric
path, you may consider yourself blessed
