"Work Language"

Most people who get caught, physically, by the allure of a mystical teaching or system (including the Gurdjieff system, the Advaita system, and many others), also get constrained, mentally, by the language used by those who study the "Bibles" and follow those systems.

Although followers of systems each have their own "special language", which is supposed to allow them to converse with others like themselves - you know, the flock they fly with - and presumably to be understood, it, strangely, often inhibits them from discussing even the same ideas they are deeply interested in, with others not familiar with, or unwilling to use, their own "special language."

Just the opposite should really be the case: the more adept one is with their particular verbal form of communication, the better able they should be at discussing the same ideas with those who don't subscribe to their particular dialect (and dialect is surely what it is - we all speak English, afterall.)

Language is a tool, when probably used, not a straight-jacket - which it surely is for many people, who become further confined by its usage, not freed by it.

Consider: there are two, count 'em', TWO flows or persuasions in Life, viz. the efforts men make to "get enlightened", to "wake up", to "become conscious". The first flow is based upon a person acquiring a "work language" which, according to some external authority, contains "the knowledge" of that teaching, and through which certain people, becoming educated in "the knowledge", presume (hope) to "discover the truth" (about themselves and everything else). The second flow - very, very rarely seen (if ever) - is that kind of revolutionary Activity that could only be described as, the continuing Struggle to keep language (any language, ALL language) from strangling one's Understanding.

People "of the first flow" - from Christians, to Buddhists, to Fourthwayers - can not talk to "others" outside their groups, about those specific ideas which they "hold dear" and practice so diligently; their often expressed reason being, those "others" don't have either the "work language" or the "work being" to hear, let alone, comprehend, let alone Understand them.

People "of the second flow" - those rebellious explorers of consciousness, here and there - most definitely CAN TALK TO ANYONE ANYWHERE with no problem whatsoever, about any and all ideas they "hold dear" (though "holding dear" is NOT a phrase such a real rebel would ever use himself -it's included here only as a counterpoint to the previous paragraph, to make the idea clearer - in fact, real rebels hold NO IDEAS DEAR whatsoever. Period.)

Almost everyone - followers of Fourth Way, Buddhism, Advaita, Christianity, etc., on email lists, groups and/or forums - falls into the "People of the first flow" camp, and therefore, their language literally strangles their understanding, because it confines it, limits it, and none of them has even a glimmer of that fact -believing everything for them is "progressing right on schedule". Were this NOT the case, there would be absolutely no need whatsoever for the multitudes of religions, teachings, and systems extant on this planet, leading to the Confusion of Tongues in the land of nod (pun intended), and ultimately to the "cat & tongue problem" exhibited by so many people.

Notice the general lack of participation on email lists which discuss the intangible subjects in which people like us are interested. People open up threads, start "conversations", but always the same people make all the effort and do the replying. This rarely changes over time. The active remain active, the passive remain passive, and so even if a group consists of 10, 100, or 1000 people, the percentage of active contributors remains a very small percentage. This is due to the built-in constrictive nature of "work language".

But, it's an illusion. Work language is not necessary, nor required, to discuss the important ideas associated with waking up, getting enlightened, or reaching liberation. These ideas are the most important ones man has to deal with, and English is quite sufficient a tool with which to discuss the realizations one periodically makes along the way. Believe it, or not.