When did you wake up?

When did you wake up?

When did you wake up this morning? I don't mean when did your eyes open and you climbed out of bed. I mean when did you really 'wake up'? When did you first remember yourself?

Was it when you were putting on your clothes? Perhaps it was when you were brushing your teeth. Or going out the door to go to work. When did you first remember to remember? That was something Gurdjieff said was the hardest thing to do: to remember to Self-Remember. That is where it begins.

Do you have alarm clocks set to wake you up and remind you to 'remember to remember'? G. said we had to set many alarm clocks. Do you have any? Do you make it difficult to find your socks in the morning so you will remember why you made it so difficult? Do you put a piece of tape on your toothbrush that you have to remove before you can use it? Do you put your coffee cup in a peculiar place so that you have to go get it and thereby remember why you did so? And wake up for a moment, for that moment.

So when did you first wake up? Was it when you were driving to work and 'that guy' cut you off on the roadway and you started to get mad. Suddenly you remember the admonition to not express negative emotions and for that moment you 'wake up' and Self-Remember, and decide to forget about the guy that cut you off. Then you forget to remember when you make that left turn.

When you get to the office do you have little note saying 'Wake up!' taped to your coffee cup? No? Did you get irritated when the cleaning lady moved your coffee cup and you couldn't find it right away? Did you Remember yourself as you were waking back from the coffee pot and recalled that moment of irritation and how that is the kind of mechanical reaction you are to resist, or at the very least observe?

When did you first wake up? This is important because each moment of Self-Remembering is never lost. The earlier in the day you first Self-Remember means you have a greater number of opportunities during the rest of the day. How much of the day is lost before you do first wake up?

Every day is an opportunity to Self-Remember. That is all it really is. Every 'waking' moment is an opportunity to Self-Remember and really 'Wake up” for that moment. These moments pile up and after time become longer and more frequent. This is the aim. But it does not come by itself, it is something you must 'do'. In fact, it is the only thing you can really, 'do'. Remember to Self-Remember.

But it is difficult, so one must struggle to further the process. That is where setting alarm clocks come in. You cannot set an alarm clock 'in sleep'. It is not something you will ever do. An alarm clock will only be set when a person is 'awake' and sees the necessity to do something to 'wake' oneself later. Thus, one sets alarm clocks.

These can take many forms, some have already been mentioned. Some can be immediate such as putting a rubber band on one's wrist. Remembering why it is there and snapping it as a reminder will work for a while. But as in all cases, this soon becomes routine, mechanical, and needs to be replaced with something else. This also is a task that must be performed while Self-Remembering. One will not figure out how to devise and set an alarm clock 'mechanically'.

Gurdjieff said we must make 'super-efforts' and remembering to set alarm clocks often requires a super-effort. The sleeping, mechanical self doesn't want to be woken up and will resist doing so. For this reason it is easy to dismiss the necessity of setting alarm clocks as trivial, but it is not. The Work cannot remain reading a book now and then and going to an occasional meeting. It must be something that is renewed every day. As often as possible, everyday.

So, when did you first wake up this day? Was it when you got home, sat back in your easy chair and picked up a Fourth Way book to read about The Work? Is that the first 'alarm clock' of the day? Every act of Self-Remembering leads to the next act of Self-Remembering. The more often these acts are done the more often they will come again. That is why it is important to set several alarm clocks throughout the day. Each act of Self'-Remembering leads to the next, and they are cumulative. They are never lost and they add together.

We all have to struggle to wake up each and everyday, all day long. It is always an ongoing effort. Using any method that works to help to wake us up. These are the alarm clocks. We must set many alarm clocks to remind us throughout the day of the necessity to Self-Remember whenever and wherever possible. This is the aim. To wake up and to remember to set alarm clocks to wake us up tomorrow.

When will you wake up tomorrow? Will you wake up tomorrow?