What is the Great Work?
What is this Great Work that we are all striving to accomplish that knocks us sideways from time to time and seems to be unending? Why do we push so hard and keep coming back for more, over and over again? We hear the words and the laws and read the great philosophers, masters and wise men and women and know what they are saying, and yet to quote a dear friend, "we step in that same damn hole again". Those that are on the outside looking in will say, "what would make you want to do this?". It is because when you find the Truth, you know it at a level deep inside of you that just cannot be refuted, you know you must move forward with it.
This Work is the means of manifesting Divine Love in your life? Not the love of attachment to things and people that causes you to feel a momentary gladness or joy, and then crash moments later when a distraction occurs or we get angry with someone and take our love away. This love, this Divine Love, is something that never leaves you and makes a change within you that cannot be taken away, that cannot be described, but can only be experienced.
There is no greater goal in life than that of the Great Work. This I can say with total confidence and awareness from my own experience. Every great teacher and master knows that the only goal for man can be the Great Work, without that goal we are caught on the wheel of life constantly finding ourselves treading water. So many of you do not know nor understand fully the real meaning behind this Great Work we do. This Work is a means and mechanism for transforming humanity into the great spiritual beings we are meant to be. Once it has found you there can be no other goal that is more important to you, none! Not your family, your job, your money, your health, nor even your present understanding of your love for God (yes this is true). Only the Work can lead you to a real love of God! And in the end, doing this Work is the greatest gift you can give to yourself and those in your life...it delivers beyond what we can fathom in our every day life.
For sure your focus on this Work will be difficult and painful at times, it is not for the faint of heart. And some of you will walk away, but walking away will only delay the inevitable return and will only cause the laws to correct your errors and get you back on course. And, when God's Laws are enacted to correct us, it is never easy! Mind you I said "God's Laws" not God. For when we are out of balance with the law, the process of correction comes from the Law, because of our poor choices and lack of awareness, not some punishing god. God does not stand over us judging and waiting to seek retribution for our sins. It is for this reason that doing the Great Work is the greatest accomplishment in life.
So many times I hear students say that the Work frightens them, and I say, "It should frighten you", "that means you are headed in the right direction"...challenging the demons within yourself is taking on the toughest job you have ever had...truly there is no greater challenge! This is not a cake walk and it never has been. I have spent days in another part of my life lamenting my choice to walk this path for the pain it has brought me. Cried to God, "Why", when I did not understand, but the homing mechanism that is within my heart would not allow me to give up. I pushed on and kept pushing on until one day it all lifted. The Light came in and the world looked completely different, the purifying was over. All the pain, all the obstacles I had experienced were not real, yes real in the sense that the events existed in our time and space, but unreal in the sense that once transmuted no residue of their memory continued within me. Then the freedom and clarity came and a complete and total trust and faith in God that I could not have fathomed before, could not have dreamed of or comprehended no matter what book I read or individual I spoke to. God had come into my heart and to this day has not left.
Now do not misunderstand, the Work is not all heavy. It will challenge you as you strip away the faulty aspects of self in order to reveal your authentic self. And, it will also bring great joy, laughter and a tremendous sense of wellbeing with each step of the process, each new height you ascend. With each fear that shatters within you a release is felt and that space within is filled with light, a light that is undeniable. It makes pursuing the next hurdle worth the effort. Students of the Work learn to depend on their inner teacher, their soul, for the guidance they need and the decisions they need to make in life. This inner dependency is what has been called "The Philosopher's Stone", and it truly is what makes us rich beyond our wildest dreams...a richness no one can buy, but can only be earned from the heavens above.
There is nothing higher you can aspire to than the Great Work, for the Great Work is God's work, and through this Great Work, God will reveal himself to you in his own way in his own time.
God Bless you all and I thank you for the honor of serving you in this work!