Communication

In life, people are made to "communicate" with other people, in the only way they can, and that is often with copious preambles, preludes, prefaces, disclaimers (which are really, just, rationalizations and justifications for what's about to come - which is really, just so much whining, when you "see it clearly"). And it's all predicated upon the notion that we can "help" each other to see more clearly and understand better, but all those valiant efforts to do so, more often than not, just muddy the waters, rather than still them.

Most peoples' efforts for enlightenment, waking up, becoming free, etc., amount to a large amount (long time) of reading, thinking, talking, discussing, and arguing - with themselves and others. But this, over the long term, does not produce the results they thought they were seeking, because it is the central flaw in all indirect ways - "thinking too much" about the unknown.

The opposite of "thinking too much", or "over-thinking", is not silence, however - though it certainly can be, and many indirect ways promote such a "method". The opposite - to be truly useful and lead one somewhere real - is thinking clearly, directly, with certainty. It's a kind of (as strange as it might be to suggest it) Knowing beforehand, so that one does not HAVE to think more about it. The Direct Way.

Each person has a connection to that certainty, within them, which "The Work" (under many guises and forms through the centuries) can strengthen or develop through, so-called "right efforts". The entirety of such teachings, therefore, are first, about defining the "problem(s)" (since "ordinary man" can not, usually, already know them), and second, about specifying the "solution(s)".

Such "ways" are sometimes called, "Direct Ways", but they are not - they are at best, quite indirect, since they always must proceed first, from talk and books - given from one "who knows" to those "who do not know". (Yes, there is "teaching by example only", but it can not be found in the West, and would not work, today, with sophisticated, highly educated man.) The presumption, by those who do not know, is that the information, from the one "who knows", does not already exist within themselves already (or can not be found/revealed without his help), but no one has any proof of this. Sure, everyone can certainly SAY they are ignorant of the greater truths they SAY they seek, but they can not prove it - either to themselves or anyone else. They can only believe it - to one degree or another.

Some people simply do NOT believe or agree with it, however, and choose to find the "Direct Way" from the outset of their quest, rather than waste years/decades by following the prescriptions outlined by, usually, long-dead people they've never met.

The problem with following any system of "self-observation" and "self-remembering" (which is, truly, at the core of the 4thway, Buddhism, and other so-called "esoteric teachings") is that it, per force, takes too long. Rather than spending decades, attempting to "see oneself" after-the-fact (due to the slowness of ordinary consciousness), finally (hopefully) resulting in "seeing" the whole catalog of remembrances at once, sometime in the, probably, far future (if they live that long!), might it not be better to spend months, being "told" what one actually IS (yes, one can be told this, by one who knows it, and can tell it) in order to apply it directly, immediately?

"Telling it" is the key to why one should cultivate their, by now innate, power of speech ("gift of the gab"), because only when one can SAY what a particular feeling is trying to convey to one, can one alter that feeling. Otherwise the feeling is totally in control. Not being able to "express oneself" (satisfactorily), is the power of the mechanical senses/emotions over the intellect.

Yes, Virginia, you CAN be told what you are!!
This is the Direct Way.