Sleeper AwakenThe sleeper
can wake.
Seven passages through the Hermetic, Gnostic and contemplative teachings on waking up, each with a practice to live with for a week. For anyone who has felt there is more to being awake than this.
Most of a life is lived on rails: the same thoughts, the same reactions, the same day with different weather. The old teachers had a word for this. They called it sleep.
The Hermetica“O people, who have given yourselves over to drunkenness and sleep… be sober.”
The Hymn of the PearlA prince sent into Egypt forgets who he is and falls asleep, until a letter wakes him.
GurdjieffWe walk through the world asleep, and the work begins when we notice it.
Seven passages.
Seven weeks.
Each passage is one teaching and one practice. Read it, live with its practice for a week, then go on. You can read the whole guide in an evening; the practices are where the waking happens.
- I
The Sleep
Why ordinary waking is a kind of sleep, and how to catch yourself in it.Gurdjieff, Plato’s cave
- II
The Call
The letter that wakes the prince, and the call you may already have heard.The Gnostic Hymn of the Pearl
- III
As Above
The Hermetic principles of mind and correspondence: what the world mirrors back to you.The Hermetica, the Kybalion
- IV
The Witness
Self-remembering: dividing your attention so that part of you watches.The Fourth Way
- V
The Stillness
Breath, silence, and sitting with nothing to do.Zen, the Desert Fathers
- VI
The Shadow
What you meet when you look inward, and why it is not the enemy.Jung
- VII
The Return
Living awake among sleepers: work, love and ordinary days.The Zen ox-herding pictures
Is it for you?
It is, if
- you sense there is more to waking life than the routine
- you would rather practise than only read
- you can give it a few quiet minutes a day
It isn’t, if
- you want a religion, a guru or a group to join
- you are looking for manifestation tricks or fortune-telling
- you are not ready to look at yourself honestly
Not ready?
Begin tonight.
Seven Nights is a short practice for each night of the coming week, five minutes before sleep. It’s free.
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Sleeper, Awaken
The guide, in full.
- Seven passages, from The Sleep to The Return
- A practice for each, to live with for a week
- A PDF for your phone, tablet or the printer
30 days to decide. If it doesn’t speak to you, email us within 30 days for a full refund.
Questions
Is it tied to a religion?
No. It draws on many traditions, Hermetic, Gnostic, Christian mystic, Zen and the Fourth Way, and asks you to believe nothing. You test each practice for yourself.
I’m new to all this. Is it too advanced?
It’s written for someone starting out. Every teaching is explained in plain words, and the practices need no experience.
How long does it take?
Seven weeks at one passage a week, with a few minutes of practice a day. You can read it in an evening, but the practices are the point.
How do I get it after paying?
Straight away: your download page opens and the link comes to your inbox. It reads on a phone, a tablet or a laptop, and prints well.
What if it’s not for me?
Email us within 30 days for a full refund.
Awake, you
who sleep.
Seven passages. Seven weeks. Begin tonight.