The War Against Sleep

I cannot help you—but our state must be acknowledged

The simplest answer that covers the most bases is usually right.

The truth of our violence and idiocy is sublimely simple—and impossible to fix.

We are asleep.

Literally. Not as a metaphor.

This insight is G.I. Gurdjieff’s (1866-1949).

We walk through life entranced—in a waking dream. Like machines with moving parts. Which is precisely what we are. Flesh and blood—but organically human only in that sense.

We cannot do. We cannot function beyond the most limited menu of responses.

Why is this so? If the why matters to you—really matters—read Gurdjieff’s Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson. Read it three times, as the author instructed.

The mystery and message of G.I. Gurdjieff

Since nearly all will not read it, I include a video saying something about it—only a fragment—at the end of this article.

A friend once said that the entire sprawling work—Mary Poppins author P.L. Travers likened it to a “flying cathedral”—is a parable against war. I think he was right.

Despite my statements—life is paradox—I close this article with possibilities to struggle against sleep.

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How do you know you are asleep? Simple. Observe yourself in the fullness of your being, physically, mentally, emotionally, for ten minutes. You cannot. Most will not try.

One night I was interviewed by a tardy (that being cool) and unprepared author who asked his cross-legged young audience for a show of hands as to whether they believed we are asleep.

A majority disagreed. Funny, if not sad. A show of hands.

Animals know when they are headed for slaughter.

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I wish I could help. I cannot. But—please read this carefully—we must from within our sleep try—try—to know that we are. Without that, nothing is possible.