Suppose you attempt to work from memory of what you know of the Work and without any understanding of it. It is quite possible that you could say to me after a time: "I observe myself three times a day after meals for one minute. I remember myself before breakfast and after dinner for two minutes, if I remember to. I read the Commentaries—two pages a day—before going to bed. But I do not seem to get any result. I have not had any higher emotional experiences."

No one can do this Work without understanding something about it. What is the good of doing anything without understanding ? If you try to work without any understanding of the Work you can get no result. Only when the Work becomes emotional can you begin to understand it.

Now if your knowledge of the Work, such as it is, remains only laid up in your memory like the unused talent, you will never understand it. Indeed, you will never really know what on earth it is all about. You will hear again and again phrases such as Self-Remembering, internal considering, identifying, self-observation, and be really quite bewildered by the whole thing. It will become so much jargon to you.

All Work knowledge is to make you know in a different way. Some of you try to keep this Work alive in the present circumstances; others make not the slightest endeavor to do so. In fact, some of you think that the Work should be fed to you without your doing anything to earn it. This Work is about a new way of knowing because it is a new knowledge and you must all pay for it by effort.

You remember the parable about catching hold of the rope. If you find this rope in your own way, which everyone in this Work must do, then you will be held by something quite distinct from life and its vicissitudes. This is really called having a point in the Work. Other people may fail you, disappoint you, and so on. Outer life may assume very unpleasant forms. Yet you are held by something beyond life— that is, by a new force.

Suppose you have noticed that you are thinking of a person in a certain way, quite mechanically, as you always do, and these thoughts give you no force. Suppose even that you have become sufficiently sensitive to your inner life to realize that you are really losing force by thinking of this very person in this usual way.

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.

It is quite easy to see when a person only has knowledge but not understanding of this Work. If you understand something you can speak of it in different ways; if it is merely knowledge you will speak of it from memory.

The Work acts on Being according to our understanding of it—our level. Nothing can take the place of understanding. Being told is not the same as seeing.

All real effort—that is, intelligent effort— is about developing the undeveloped sides of ourselves. Each of us has a machine that is only developed to a small extent on one side of itself. All intelligent Work-effort is about developing all the sides of the machine to which we are connected and bringing it to a right state of working.

"Have you yet seen in your Being that which prevents you from further understanding the Work?" What have we all understood as being the center of gravity of this question? What Work-idea is brought in here? The Work-idea is that one's understanding depends on the quality and level of one's Being.

At this time of the year the idea of Goodwill is mentioned on Christmas Cards, in religious services, in hymns, and so on. In the Gospels the message from the Angels at the Birth of Christ is said to be: "Peace on earth and goodwill towards men." A strange message if you think.

If the Work is thus formed in you, you have a new thing, a new organized instrument, in you. Even a single part of the Work, if taken in with valuation and understanding, will begin to work a change in you because it will transmit new influences. But the whole of the Work must be formed in you. This can be thought of as another body—another organized thing in you—if you live the Work. Then it will control the person you were.

You may be sure that once your evaluation of the Work is strong enough and you hear it enough and reflect upon it enough, you will see gradually unfolding the mystery of your own development. This mystery is different in each person. That is why it is so important not to compare yourself with other people. A great deal of negative emotion arises from comparison. Remember always that the Work is equally difficult for everyone and that it does not become easier. It is always difficult. And yet it is not too difficult if one will remember enough and maintain a certain inner strength of will in regard to it.