This release from oneself, this release from Imaginary 'I', from the pictures one has had of oneself, from False Personality, is the greatest good one can do to oneself, and it involves the whole of the Work, its ideas, its practical teaching. What, then, is the reward? As I said, the reward is a much deeper understanding of oneself, of life and of other people.

The Work is to integrate us. If we were integrated, understanding would replace our, at present, so unsatisfactory and dull, moody, inner life, which is so contradictory. Moments in which this inner work of connection is going on—because it will begin sooner or later in those whom the Work accepts—are full of very deep satisfaction.

In making decisions in the Work the mind must be free from its bondage to mechanical attitudes. Otherwise you will make decisions always from your Personality, from what you have been taught as being right and wrong. This freeing of the mind only begins when you let the Work enter into your mind and so change your mind.

Your inner relation to the Work, whereby it will nourish you, depends on two things. One is your own perception of the truths it teaches. The second thing that determines your inner relation to the Work is doing the Work.

Now every expansion of consciousness leads to a development of intelligence, leading to more consciousness of ourselves and of other people connected with us. This is a development, a growth of intelligence, and if we practice this long enough and undergo all the temptations, all the attacks of 'I's in us that do not wish the Work and hate it, if we defend the Truth of the Work and are passive to attacks on it, then after a time we will become aware of this Intelligence that I spoke of that is behind everything that you do and is at present an Onlooker, quite uncritical, quite impersonal.

You can never make aim unless you see what the Work is about—namely, about yourself and your relationship to Higher Centers or Real Conscience. All aim in the Work must be connected with the Work —work on yourself first of all, work with others, and with the whole meaning of esotericism, i.e. the Work itself. You should start with the first line of Work in connection with aim.

Both the teaching of Christ and the teaching of the Work are about the Third or Neutralizing Force, which renders Personality passive and Essence active. They are descriptions and instructions concerning it.

Will from the Work point of view refers to something responding, something flexible and intelligent that it is not one-sided but three-sided. Will is of course from Master or Real 'I' in us and this we cannot expect to know directly. But as long as we are one-sided in every sense nothing can come from this upper level from which the influences of Real 'I' come that give us our real meaning and inner peace.

When you live for a time in the consciousness of what you want, you will at the same time see more and more the Second Force that it gives rise to, so the more will you become conscious in two forces simultaneously.

We so often feel we are up against things. People often live in this state all their lives. It is then necessary, as by inner dialogue with oneself, such as: "What is it I am up against?" etc. to find out what it is you are up against, because what you feel you are up against is due to what you want.

The long period of search for the Neutralizing Force of the Work begins when you realize that you are not working in the right way. This realization is a passing feeling, a momentary taste.

It is necessary for us to have the opposites in us before we can think for ourselves and with individual thinking through the power of the Work something comes that unites the opposites.

If there were no Neutralizing or connecting force, Active and Passive Forces would stand in opposition to one another and nothing could happen. Now if the connecting force alters, the other two forces alter. We have to think of Neutralizing Force as something capable of tilting the balance between Active and Passive Force in such a way that active can become passive, and passive become active.

If you deal cleverly with this 2nd force it will give you results and, instead of being simply a blind, opposing force, will become gradually what you want. You do not instantly become negative when opposed. You try this way and that, and gradually this formidable opposition yields and becomes what you want—or, let us say, rather, what is possible in your wanting.

Second Force is in the nature of things, and is not an evil god but an aspect of God in which you have to fight with Him in order to develop. Perhaps you will understand that without Second Force no one could grow internally.

You should be very careful on getting up in the morning to work carefully on yourselves and, in fact, before getting up. All sorts of unpleasant 'I's may start talking about their troubles and taking a certain view of the day and if you listen to them you will be absorbing negative impressions and so starting the day well-poisoned.

If you let yourselves take in numbers of negative impressions from your own thoughts and memories you will increase 2nd Force in yourselves in connection with the 1st Force of trying to awaken and live in the life of the Work to some extent during the day.

To see 2nd Force in ourselves we must become conscious in 1st Force. What I wish to point out is simply that with a wrong 1st Force the whole inner state may be rendered ineffective and even dangerous— that is, one has a very bad relationship to oneself.

Always expecting to be different is wishing. It is a kind of continual, vague 1st Force. It will summon a continual, vague 2nd Force which will appear as something lying in outer circumstances. But the 2nd Force is not in outer circumstances, but in oneself.

We really do not know what we want—that is, we are not conscious in 1st Force in us. If we take what we want, desire, wish for, expect, hope for, as 1st Force, then, whatever the nature of our wish, it will arouse a specific and definite 2nd Force that opposes the wish.