Becoming aware of conditioned mind

 We cannot fight who we are,

but we can become aware 

of who we think we are!

I went to a Gurdjieff meeting in Cambridge, MA and the organizers gave a simple challenge: be mindful of the chair you are sitting on and the sole on your foot. The meeting commenced and everyone shared their spiritual experiences and what has led them to the Gurdjieff group in particular. One person in particular loved talking and in-between the organizer shouted at him, “feet,” to which he replied, “yes, I feel them too,” which seemed to be a lie. Eventually the organizer just told him to please give someone else the opportunity to talk and the room fell quiet. 

I found this exercise quite helpful. It does not connect us to who we are deep down inside, but it makes us aware of the interference—the personal energy that fights for liberation from personhood. It may be perceived as a noble cause, but it will also lead to nowhere. Francis Lucille postulates, “You cannot become what you already are. You can only stop pretending to be what you are not.” This “via negativa” approach is really important. Each and every moment we can either spot the Light, or notice when who we think we are is blocking the Light from coming in.