Gnosis in a Hundred PagesPage 83 of 100 · Part VI

Part VI · Giving

Teaching by being

The surest way to share what you have found is not to talk about it. It is to become it, so that others can see.

Read to me

0:00 / –:––
An old man tending a garden at dawn, a child watching him quietly from the gate.

When people find something that helps them, they want to tell everyone. That is natural, and it is often a mistake.

Talk about Gnosis, and most people hear a belief they do not share. They argue, or nod politely, or avoid you at the next family dinner. You have spent energy and changed nothing.

But people notice change. They notice when someone who used to explode now stays calm. They notice a friend who listens instead of waiting to speak. They notice who is kind in a crisis, and who does not gossip.

That is teaching by being. It is the only sermon that works, and it needs no words. When someone asks you how you have changed, then you can speak, briefly and simply, if they want to hear.

There is a further reason for this. Talking about the work can become a self of its own: the one who knows, the one who explains. Being keeps you honest. You cannot fake a calm you do not have for long.

None of this means hiding. Share freely when you are asked. The book you are reading is free for that reason. But let the life speak first.

Try this

  1. Today, say nothing about Gnosis or this book unless someone asks.
  2. Instead, choose one way to be what you have learned: patient, honest, attentive or kind.
  3. Practice it all day, quietly.
  4. If someone notices and asks, answer in one or two plain sentences.

Words on this page

Teaching by being
Sharing the work by living it, so that others can see it, rather than by preaching it.

In the old words

“Always be mindful that no matter how spiritual your words may be, it is your actions and state of Being which determine how true you are.”

Releasing the Sand MandalaGene Hart
On the next pageThe books describe two roads ahead, and a choice.84. The two roads