Gurdjieff taught that, since we are all One, what each of us does for ourselves in terms of self-development and awakening, we do for others, because when we withdraw from the "feeding dynamic," we are then able to assist others to withdraw. We are the protectors of our inner life, the essence of the Divine, and as we protect it from the predations of those who would seek to devour it, to use it, to abuse us, we are protecting and defending that Divine spiritual part of us that seeks full manifestation and "birth" into this world - thy will be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven. This Divine self, this essence of God that is the seed of the soul, is hidden, buried in a shell of false personality that consists very often of "niceness" and seeing only "good" all around, when in fact, the reality is one in which very little of "goodness" is truly manifested because it is a Matrix control system that feeds on the energy of suffering that comes from beliefs in such illusions that are regularly and repeatedly violated.

The Matrix teaches us to be long suffering and to never revolt against the control system, to turn the other cheek. It teaches us to be "food." Since we are all one, each time we allow ourselves to be violated, we are allowing all others and life itself to be violated. Each time we placate the predator, we are feeding it not only with our energy, but enabling it to continue to consume others. Each time we keep silent or turn away from confronting lies, we feed the predator and we enable it to feed on others. Each time we are not truly ourselves, each time we do not choose from a position of freedom, because we are unaware, so are all others to whom we are connected and responsible deprived of Free Will. "Use the present to repair the past and prepare the future," Gurdjieff said. And this is exactly what we have learned from the C's.

(excerpt from: http://www.cassiopaea.com/cassiopaea/adventures060.htm)