ONLINE: Wed, Set 17: "Adversity and Struggle"

Struggle can be a word we use to describe the complaints of egos.
Struggle can also be a word used to describe effort that is needed to maintain our Spiritual & Material Goals... (which is essentially the same as the previous statement).
As Mr Gurdjieff says (paraphrased) "The struggle between yes & no produces a friction that transmutes energy to a level that is required for our spiritual ascent" .
This struggle occurs due to our "swimming upstream" (a phrase used regarding re-traversing the Projected Ray).

Gurdjieff has also said The Work is against God... as TAT would say "against the Projected Ray", i.e. retreating from untruth.
The Foundation of Gurdjieff's Philosophy is Being Partkdolgduty - "Conscious Labor & Intentional Suffering".

What are your thoughts about the following:
When adversity occurs without a resulting struggle, then this describes a person with a Vector.
Struggle disappears with a True Commitment... there is NO effort needed to keep a Commitment... because a True Commitment is BEING THAT, and there is no effort to Be what IS.

Some questions we will be considering this evening:
What types of struggles have you had in life?

Can you say where struggle has benefited you?

Can you describe instances where struggle was a terrible waste?

Have you experienced fulfilling a Commitment where you experienced what I say about it not needing any effort?

What is the difference between struggle and adversity?

What struggles?

What defines adversity?

What is struggle without adversity?
(serious mental condition?)

What is adversity without struggle?

Some grist for the mill (some additional thoughts from lennys3cents):
An example of a commitment: building a garage in a thunderstorm... where you have made a Commitment to finish it asap. adversity without struggle is a person with A Vector... struggle disappears with a True Commitment.

I believe in effortless effort. When I first recognized what retreating from untruth was, I immediately experienced it daily. I understood it's power.. Ultimately, I found the end of my questions in the power of the reverse vector. "All questions vanish in The Light of The Self (F)"
"the impasse itself is the way out"
"milk from thorns"
"using that which uses us"
the very thing that makes it difficult to walk up a hill (gravity) is what makes it possible (without gravity there would be no friction for our hiking boots to grip the ground with)