A return (and abandoning) of the Gurdjieff Work and the Fourth Way - after a few years.

 A return (and abandoning) of the Gurdjieff Work and the Fourth Way - after a few years

Warning- My writing below contains my own set of assumptions, biases, and info that may not be correct. I am hoping it is not harsh in content or criticism, however, I am hoping that with some things that need to be said here may assist others who happen to be searching, or are 'lost' within the confines of systems that are unlikely to succeed in the long run.

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Recently (over the course of a month or two), I was led to rediscover, so to speak, the Gurdjieff material, "the work", and Ouspensky's Fourth Way. I recall this was prompted by some remarks on one spiritual forum in regards to Gurdjieff "knowing what he was doing", and the Fourth Way being a valid introduction to the "I am" state.

I  had a soft spot for Gurdjieff and his work (and Ouspensky's take), since I did spend several years testing out this road fully, joining a Foundation group for a bit, and really digging in and road testing all of the material. I went through Beelzebub's Tales in print and audio fully, and must have had a stack of about 10+ Fourth Way related books. 

One of the areas that interested me especially was the idea of Self-Remembering, and Self-Observation, and these eventually led me to equate much of what was being explained (or attempted to be explained in complex Gurdjieff/Ouspensky speak) with some of the practices both in Advaita Vedanta (self-inquiry, awareness contemplation), and classical Buddhism (with mindfulness, attention, and concentration). There was some cross over as well with the practices of virtue in traditional systems and the G. equivalent of "conscious labour and intentional suffering".

So recently, I dug into the material again, with In Search of the Miraculous, and related Gurdjieff writings, hoping to perhaps find something I had not seen before, or ponder the question- does this stuff really work? Does it lead to liberation, and can it? Is it based on a solid, honest, trustworthy foundation?

To cut a long story short, I personally can't buy into the whole Gurdjieff Work and Fourth Way system any longer. A number of issues did present themselves, and it looks like I will be tucking away the material yet again, or perhaps renouncing it for good.

The good (first up, I will acknowledge some good in this system):

+ Great presentation and re-iteration of the idea that man has no solid internal psychological foundation, but consists of a number of temporary "I"s, and operates as a machine on pretty much all occasions. Likewise, he/she is 'asleep' in terms of having any solid awareness of what is happening in terms of cause/effect, and how we all create our own suffering and delusion.

+ Self-observation and self-remember, by and large, are great practices to look into, and incorporate into one's spiritual approach (but these don't constitute a teaching or way in and of themselves).

+ The idea of developing one's conscience and struggling with ingrained habits, negative reactivitity and unethical conduct, is a step in the right direction and well worth the effort in doing so.

+ Observing our current sorry state of affairs in terms of our own self created suffering, mechanicalness, sensory addiction, and self-dishonesty is well worth taking the time to do. Self-observation is a good step after some virtue and restraint has been laid down and taken up.

Now some of the big issues:

- Going through the material in print, audio, etc. generally lead to my mind being cluttered, info-overloaded and not in the best space. The material is voluminous, complex, packed with non-essentials in regards to anything leading remotely to liberation for the individual, and is generally badly organised. There's no logical layout or approach, and ideas are presented in cycles, later in more depth, and almost at random according to whoever was presenting (G, or O), or who attended in person meetings. Attempting to form any logical approach based on all of this material is extremely difficult. A further issue is that a lot of the information in Work/Fourth Way sources was actually experimental at the time, and likely not even meant for long-term foundations or principles of the system. Gurdjieff was still running experiments as to how best develop people or approach the path (e.g. the Dances, extreme physical labour etc.), which were all abandoned later at some point. Trying to work out which principles and practices were temporary or experimental, and which ended up in the final version, is almost impossible.

A valid path should be logical, have a clearly laid out approach with easy to understand foundational principles, and be open in it's teaching.

- A lot of information is misleading, incorrect, and either intentionally layed out to baffle and confuse readers/followers, or unintentionally just plain BS. Stories such as how Buddhist relics in Sri Lanka were really magical objects for communicating with dead people's astral body is just plain garbage. Likewise, the idea that Buddhism failed because monks ended up in caves relying on a piece of bread per day, and never fully embraced conscious labour and intentional suffering, but misunderstood the Buddha's teachings, are again incorrect and probably the result of Gurdjieff coming into contact in the early 20th century with some particular Buddhism for a very short time. Some stories such as secret monasteries in Central Asia that are imparting wisdom to select beings, have been debunked as fantasy over the years, due to lack of any evidence. A valid path should have truthful, honest information available, to the best of its ability (or individuals' abilities), and remove any dubious, irrelevant, misleading information from its teaching as much as possible.

- A lot of information is just not relevant at all to liberation and again serves to fill people's heads with unhelpful speculation, such as the laws of the 7 cosmoses and the laws of cosmic functioning, wacky chemistry that has not been proved by science, the law of octaves which goes on for pages and has the sole intent of showing the necessity to practice virtu and self-remembering (which could have been explained in 1 paragraph instead of half a book), etc. etc. There's just too much irrelevance, science fiction, and unrelated information in general within Guedjieff's work. Others later, such as Nicoll tried to narrow it down to a more psychological approach which is good, however, this still suffers from the fate of talking forever about the problems such as negative emotions, and never offering much in the way of solutions, apart from high level practices in not identifying etc.

One could get lost in the non-essentials for decades, and indeed some people do, if you visit some online Gurdjieff groups where everything on any random topic is posted from planetary influences, to lineage debates, and who's history was more valid. Again, the removal of anything unrelated to liberation proper needs to be removed or condensed.

- Some of the chief aims seem to go against other valid traditional systems, even ones that G / O supposedly drew their information from. There seems to be some belief (and people literally believe it), that it's necessary to form some sort of immortal body within, that will survive death, and keep one's individuality evolving forever or until Man Number 7 etc. This pretty much goes against the basics of both Buddhism, and Advaita Vedanta which are positing that there can be no immortal individual self, or an inner self that needs to be created and developed, since that view is actually the result of ignorance, and that an individual can't exist independently. Eastern traditions are looking at the idea that the issue is ignorance of the current situation and additions that we have ADDED are the problem.. we're not trying to add more things to the heap of rubbish that we think is our 'reality'. We're looking at an effort to REMOVE existing ignorance, passion for sense objects, craving, and the idea that there's someone here to gain something personally. In short, the whole duality of subject/object is an issue. How can building a new subject (individual) via practices and 'work' solve this issue? Further, why would some limitless, all powerful heavenly 'Father' need the assistance of the human race to complete this? That flies against the idea of a limitless, all powerful Creator (which was embraced as one of the ideas in the Work). I know this is talked about in Gnosticism, however, that's a slightly different kettle of fish, and murky in actual approach and practice. Anyhow, I digress.

- The founders have issues themselves.. lets face it, G. died of overuse of alcohol, in which his liver was shot to pieces, and leaving behind incomplete publications, a fractured legacy with groups debated who was the 'rightful heir', and O. died full of doubts, bouts of depression, and giving up towards the end after all the years of 'insights' that he supposedly had. Not terribly inspiring. There has to be some credibility present for any path's founders, even if it is just ethically, if followers are to have some faith and comfort in the teachings and the possibility that they will lead to liberation if undertaken.

- The lineage debates and whethere there's even a lineage needed can go on forever. I visited a couple of Gurdjieff Facebook groups recently. The same people are there dishing out the same debates and posts after 10 years since I was there last. Boomers that have vested interests such as 'well I met Nyland..' 'Well I studied with Lord Pentland..', are tired old vested interests, and show me that there doesn't seem to be much progress with these sorts of mainstream groups and lineages anyhow, after years of being in the work. Any teaching that isn't refreshing itself and finding new ways to express itself in a modern world (even if using old traditional foundations and principles) is pretty much on the death queue and another red flag.

Yes, lineage debates happen in every tradition, however, there should be some base foundation that people can go back to such as texts, sources, etc. that can provide some guidance on what the whole system is aiming to achieve, and 'lineages' can then be assessed as to how closely they are actually following the aims and approach of the system. Without a base, there's no way to assess how closely a lineage is following the original teachings.

-  One of the minor issues I had with the approach, is that O. system and presumably G.'s work, take virtue (conscious labour and intentional suffering) to be the 2nd conscious shock and to come after the 1st conscious shock of self-remembering. They seem to jump into meditative practices and reflection right off the bat, while reserving struggling with negative emotions, virtue, conduct, intention and psychological work for later. The reverse of most traditional systems. By contrast most traditional systems would place conduct and virtue FIRST, and thereby prepare the mind for some stability for meditative and reflective practices that come later. It's almost impossible to tackle all at once, and to jump into self-observation, for example, without a stable right view of things, or some power over reactivity, isn't going to be successful in the long run.

Anyhow, I've said enough, and likely have enough material to deter me from spending more time on Gurdjieff and Ouspensky for another long while :)

Cheers, D.

FURTHER NOTE ON 'I'S -- 'I'S AND LEVELS OF BEING. - Nicoll

From some Fourth Way material.. 

"FURTHER NOTE ON 'I'S -- 'I'S AND LEVELS OF BEING      --  Last time we spoke of different I's in us and how we are not one person but many different persons and how unless we realize this by direct self-observation we can never begin to understand ourselves or other people.  In this connection we spoke of Real 'I' which it is the aim of this Work to reach, in place of having our centre of gravity in Imaginary 'I' that is the source of so much misery and misunderstanding.  Just figure to yourself two Imaginary ‘I’s marrying each other.  The dream-man marries the dream-woman and so on.  All this, of course, can lead nowhere save in romantic novels which usually and wisely end just when the imaginary hero marries the imaginary heroine – obviously a difficult starting-point suggesting difficult situations in the future.  It was also said last time that occasionally, even in ordinary mechanical life, we may experience a momentary trace of Real ‘I’.  As was said, this may happen in cases of extreme fatigue, as in war, when suddenly an access of force comes, or in great danger, also in many strange ways that cannot be classified, but produce the same result.  By contrast, the usual life of sleep that we are immersed in, when we identify with everything outside us, and inside us, has an utterly different taste from those brief, calm but rare moments of touching Real ‘I’, which in the work are called “moments of awakening from sleep” or “moments of Self-Remembering”.  The very undeniable difference in inner taste, in emotional quality, between our ordinary  and these exceptional moments shews us that there is within us some other level of consciousness, some other centre of gravity and some other level of experience --  and clearly a higher level – that we do no customarily know.  Now in this Work, as in all esoteric teaching, it is said that to reach a higher level of ourselves, to make contact with ‘I’s that do not exist, so to speak,  in the basement of the house of our being, efforts on oneself have to be made.  We are told what efforts have to be made very clearly.  For example, to take one line, we are told that a man must observe himself, he must observe that he is not one but many, that he must by practical work destroy the illusion that he has Real ‘I’, he must get to know by observation some of his prominent ‘I’s that hitherto he has mistaken for himself and not identify with them – that is,   not say ‘I’ to them – because what in you you say ‘I’ to chains you to it.  Once you say ‘I’ to any thought or feeling it has power over you.  In hysteria, the victim identifies with every sensational and horrifying thought.  There is no power of self-observation and separation.  It is something like thinking that a snake in the grass is you and so not being able to separate object from subject.  There is a mystery here which goes very deep and cannot be entered into now – safe to say that this Work teaches that mankind is under a definite hypnotic force to keep it asleep and prevent it from waking up.  I will give one hint of this from another esoteric source.  It is said in Issaiah:  “The Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes.  (Is. XXIX 10)  And in the New Testament:  “This people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are full of hearing and their eyes they have closed, lest haply they should perceive with their eyes and hear with their ears,  and understand with their heart . . .”  (Matt, XIII 15)  This Work merely says that Man is asleep and that we are born asleep into a world of sleeping people who are kept asleep and spend their time in killing one another.  Now the realization that we are many and not one, that the quality of our Being is characterized by multiplicity instead of unity, belongs to a stage in the journey called “awakening from sleep” which can end in a man being born again – that is, finding and becoming Real ‘I’.  What then undertakes this journey?  Those ‘I’s in a man which have the most understanding.  We come, then, to the idea that our different ‘I’s are not on the same level.  Some ‘I’s are very small in understanding – very mean, very poor, envious and stupid.  Some ‘I’s are bigger, and so on.  When a man begins to hear the Work with both ears, and to observe himself in accordance with its instructions, there gather around Observing ‘I’ all ‘I’s who wish to understand more.  This collection of ‘I’s is on a higher level that the ‘I’s that dealt with everyday life and its affairs.  This collection of  ‘I’s that form round Observing ‘I’ is called Deputy-Steward and if they are strong enough to persist and fight against all these negative and disbelieving ‘I’s that attack them a further stage is called “Steward”.  This is the herald of Real ‘I’.  So we can put them in this way:  Observing ‘I’, Deputy-Steward, Steward, Real ‘I’, in order of ascent.I said last time that one should try to observe and study the history of different ‘I’s in ourselves.  Some people undertake to write their biographies.  But in the autobiographies they always take themselves as one ‘I’, moving through Time.  They should write instead the history of different ‘I’s in them.  Now our most mechanical ‘I’s live in small parts of centres – in the basement of oneself.  They are usually  quite unintelligent and have no understanding.  They belong to the lowest level of our Being.  They take charge of us most of the day, speak through our mouths and call themselves ‘I’.  They are rigid, always saying the same things in the same way.  Towards the end of life it is often noticeable how the better and more understanding ‘I’s in a person get disconnected and there remain only the most petty and tiresome ‘I’s.  This is impossible to understand unless we realize that a person is not one ‘I’, but many ‘I’s, and that these ‘I’s are on different levels, as on the wires on a telegraph-pole.  In this Work one should aim not to go always in company with negative, weak, vain, poor ‘I’s, for they spoil everything, and produce bad, inner states.  It is a common thing that while we have no power of making ourselves happy we have considerable powers of separating from unhappy states once we begin to understand  what self-observation and non-identifying mean.  But all this belongs to awakening from sleep so perhaps it is not so curious in view of that goal.                                     

--           From “Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky – Volume 3” by Maurice Nicoll.  This talk was given at Great Amwell House, October 4, 1947

"You not know your 'I'.." (Gurdjieff)

"You not know your 'I', not one second in all your life. Now I say, and you try. But very difficult. You try to remember to say 'I am' every hour. You not succeed, not important, you try."

(Gurdjieff, Essays & Reflections)

"Beyond the Fourth Way- P. Groves" - review and some notes.

I recently found a book "Beyond the Fourth Way" on the Internet while browsing, and which captured my interest from the description, since it spoke of both Fourth Way, going beyond it, and also some aspects of Swedenborg's teachings.


I was a little disappointed on reading through it twice though. My review of the book, which seems a bit harsh on first sight was:

This rather odd book or compilation was made out of notes that the author amassed during his decades of teaching philosophy and esoteric systems. Apparently it was salvaged and compiled posthumously by some of his students, and relates generally to ideas found in the Fourth Way and Gurdjieff schools, as well as crossing into the author's interests with Swedenborg, theosophy, symbology and other areas. This book is not at all practical, and contains a couple of lines throughout which actually speak about the practices of 'self-remembering'. Nothing is mentioned of 'self-observation', the centres, or other common Fourth Way topics. The lines on 'self-remembering' are vague, and relate to the author's idea that it involves both having an overarching awareness of both internal and external states, but at other points in the book, seems to relate only to having an awareness of the body's inner 'feeling'. Overall, this book may appeal to those with a philosophical bent, or who are interested in theosophical type information and ramblings (such as correspondences between the human body and esoteric symbology, or on the conceptual hierarchies of the 'spirit world' etc.). I would class it as very supplementary for anyone interested in the Fourth Way, and it would serve little purpose apart from informational material (or interesting reading for a rainy day) for those without any actual first-hand experience of 'self-remembering' or Fourth Way practices. I had hoped for more with a title such as "Beyond the Fourth Way", which should have been entitled something like "Discussions on The Fourth Way, Swedenborg, and Ancient Symbology". The reason that the review was a little harsh was that: - the ideas on 'self-remembering' were very vague at best, and incorrect at worst. In some instances, it likened self-remembering to 'enlarging the field of consciousness so both inside and outside worlds were grasped together', and then in other places, it was just relaxation and noticing 'a new quality of consciousness inside oneself' was present. Still elsewhere, it was feeling the inside of the body (sensations?). - the author exhorted the reader again and again to apply self-remembering, resist negative states, the ego etc. etc., but gave no actual means to do this (unless of course this was given in his lectures, but which was not stated). As with most spiritual literature, the author assumes that the common reader even has the capacity 'to do' (as opposed to Gurdjieff's chief claim that "man cannot do" and was but a machine (unless this realization had already set in, and one had started to work on himself/herself in a specific directed way). - 95% of the book was informational / conceptual material, and had to be taken on a pure faith basis- relating to ideas such as spiritual realms, spiritual functionings of the physical body, the real meanings behind ancient art and architecture, etc. etc.-- which is all well and good, except that it didn't really relate at all with The Fourth Way, or go beyond it. Ouspensky was shot down in a few places throughout, but is actually much more practical and easier to understand in relation to what 'self-remembering' entails. (The author probably latched onto Gurdjieff's worst teachings (in terms of impractical nonsense that probably was aimed at entertaining would-be seekers and those interested in theosophy type discussions), such as the idea of genetic information passing from one generation to another, the enneagram, the Hydrogen-Oxygen-Carbon theory, extracting 'secrets' from ancient art works etc.-- all of which are just distractions away from practicing self-observation and self-remembering) However, there were a few positive points, and a couple of interesting notes, (for those with the experience to discern:) * Relaxation and breath awareness is useful, and can lead to a becoming aware of a different state of internal consciousness-- which we would normally experience as 'calm', 'peace' etc. Noting the presence of this 'new' state at different times can help to develop it more often, and also compare it to our normal state of mechanical existence. * What we are aiming at is to experience ourself as the 'ABSOLUTE' (or rather I would term 'pure awareness' or nondual awareness), which is the goal of SELF-remembering (author's spelling). * There is a description on p35 of the use of Sufi meditation / mantra use, and this is an excellent description (for those with experience in using mantras), of using a mantra and directing it at different body parts, or over the whole body, and using parts as a 'sounding board' in order to experience a more global awareness, and also in order to lessen the hold of the 'ego' or 'nafs'. * It is of great help (towards self-remembering) to practice 'sensing' or 'feeling' oneself from the inside of the physical body- which really means sensations, and return to this practice as often as possible throughout the day. This can initially be done as a formal sitting practice (meditation), and later extended to other times. * It is a useful practice to be simultaneously aware of one's internal state and the external objects that are appearing in one's awareness. The author states that this 'knife's edge" is key to the gaining of a 'third state' that surpasses both. (Again details on this are minimal).

Something to keep in mind with Self-observation, and the need for Self-Remembering also.

I've been doing some extensive reading on the topic of Self-Observation- with respect to the teachings of Nicoll, R.Nottingham, Ouspensky, Colin etc.


These teachings on self-observation place it at the 'top' of the 'to do' list in terms of Work (Fourth Way) practices and activities. In fact, these teachings teach that it is pretty much all that should be done for a number of years, at least until the 'Observing-I' has been strengthened to some degree, and a large number of observations or 'photographs' have been stored, which describe the 'machine' at work. To aid in this, reminders may be set up (such as new habits), which can help us remember to perform this primary aim. No attempt should be made to change or judge what is observed, or to modify the machine's behaviour in any way.


As a result of the above, the idea is that our mechanical habits and nature would slowly be fully made conscious and of itself transform into a more intentional nature, a "Real-I" having been formed in us. Our real Self becoming more apparent, as opposed to what it is buried under.


These schools, in particular Nicoll, and R.Nottingham, assert that Self-Remembering shouldn't be attempted at all, and that it is rather an exalted and rare state, which may occur here and there, as a result of repeated Self-observation.


--


This is all well and good, and I tend to agree with the above. Self-observation is of importance at the start of any practice in 'knowing-oneself', and as a foundation for Self-Remembering. A certain degree of concentration or attention power is needed. And Self-observation can be safely carried out for a good length of time, starting with external observations on the physical body, and tending to internal (psychological) observations of our emotional states etc.


However, there is a slight danger here, and an omission that these above teachings tend to leave out- and which history seems to attest- to their own detriment.
And that is that an over-emphasis on 'self-observation' can easily lead to 'self-absorption' related to one's internal states, external habits, and external reactions. This is especially so, if one omits completely the practice of Self-Remembering.


The student can so easily get lost in 'self-observation' precisely because it is not-Self, and in fact, all of these observations are completely external to WHAT one really IS.
As a result, one could spend years observing the machine and its parts, and still not be any closer to a direct encounter with one's Self (ie. Self-remembering) or the 'big picture' (ie nondual awareness), apart from some vague feeling or random encounter. One could at best remain self-absorbed in an endless practice focusing on phenomenal objects- a practice which has reached its full potential- or at worst go completely insane (which actually happened to more than a few Fourth Way students and teachers tragically).




This is why the 'Direct Pointing' teachings such as those on Self-inquiry (Ramana Maharshi), or the Direct Path (Sri Atmananda) or other direct pointing methods such as Zen, or Mahamudra etc.,  are so valuable at a certain stage in the path (and yet are often given after a certain time spent in fruitful practice). These direct pointing applications offer the possibility of an encounter with what is beyond or at the origin of the merely external (phenomenal), and onto That which is actually doing the observing. Since the 'Observer' is already present, it does not need to be built (contrary to most Fourth Way teachings). Further, the original Fourth Way teachings, and Gurdjieff in particular, often mentioned explicitly that Self-remembering needed to be done in conjunction with Self-observation- otherwise, self-observation would largely be useless (this fact is often ignored in the above stream).


Therefore it is of big importance to actually learn to practice, and fit in, some work on direct self-attentiveness (Self-Remembering, or Self-inquiry etc.), along with one's practice of the observation of one's 'not-self' characteristics (ie. done during self-observation, vipassana, noting, mindfulness, etc.).


DP.

A, B and C Influences.

A, B and C Influences

"The 4th Way Work classifies the forces working on man into A, B and C influences.  A influences are mechanical and random in nature, they seek to keep man occupied with the external world. They can be pictured as vectors of random magnitude and direction which all in the end add up to the zero vector. This is how A influences keep man in his place while providing a lot of random, transient motion. To take a physics analogy, this is like thermal motion of molecules. A influences are the normal realm of man and as long as man seeks no esoteric development these can be good and favorable.  A influences are influences or force vectors created within life itself. Influences such as race, nation, country, family, profession, entertainment, current ideas, customs and so on create A influences. These are the first variety of influences by which man is surrounded. These influences are distributed almost equally over all the surface of the cycle of life. Their effects are radiated outwardly and these effects are inversely proportional to the square of the distance, much like the way in which radiant energy is propagated. Any man is influenced by those influences that directly surround him. He is pulled every instant in this way or that way depending on the way they act on him at any moment within his spatial region. These A influences that surround him, all point in different directions creating a force vector nullification that is comparable to the electrical neutrality of large bodies, whereby no matter how intense the local electrostatic fields surrounding the atoms may be, there is always a space-distributed compensation that makes the whole body perfectly neutral. Those who live strictly by A influences are what Gurdjieff refers to as "nullities.' This is your "average man" in life.  B influences are vectors that are thrown into the field of A influences but these have a conscious source and a consistent direction. B influences do not cancel each other out and systematically recognizing and following these may lead man to the beginning of esoteric work. B influences differ from A influences because they are CONSCIOUS in their origin and have been created consciously OUTSIDE life by conscious people for a definite purpose. These influences are the "soul" of any culture and they are embodied in the form of religious systems and teachings, philosophical doctrines, art, etc. They are inserted into life for a definite purpose but although these influences are conscious in their origin they begin to act mechanically when they mix within the general vortex of life. Eventually 'B' influences will be transformed into 'A' influences after they merge together within this general vortex.  In some people there is a discriminatory power within them that allows them to discriminate between these two kinds of influences and they discern from this that there are certain influences that come from a source that is outside the mainstream of life. This person remembers them and FEELS them together and they begin to form a certain whole, a certain kind of magnetic "presence" within that person. This person may not be sure exactly what this feeling is and they cannot really give themselves a clear account of what these feelings necessarily mean but the end result is that they collect within this person and they form a MAGNETIC CENTER, and if the conditions are right, this magnetic center leads them to search for someone who knows the way and is connected to the source of these 'B' influences, that is, they seek a person or teacher who is connected to an esoteric center that stands outside the general laws of life.  It is from this source that the person sets on the WAY. The moment when the person looking for the way meets someone who knows the way then this contact is called the FIRST THRESHOLD or FIRST STEP. From this first threshold the STAIRWAY begins. Between 'life' and the 'way' lies the 'stairway.'  C influences are only found within the Work and can only be received in personal interaction with a conscious being. Receiving C influences requires a certain level of personal sensitization and receptivity. Failing this, C influences work like B influences.  C influences come from the SOURCE, that is, from an esoteric Center that is located outside of life. When they directly act on someone with a newly developing magnetic center THROUGH a teacher who is directly connected to the source then these influences are called C influences. From this connection the person's magnetic center will grow and will lead them to escape the dominion of the Law of chance and enter into the domain of consciousness.  The magnetic center is the organ the seeker gradually develops for discerning between A and B influences. External criteria cannot generally be used for distinguishing between A and B influences. A influences can closely mimic and parallel B influences. For example, such an influence may speak of the personal gain to be had in the Work, may preach humility while secretly priding oneself on one's great purity etc. Such influences generally involve a degree of dishonesty or deceit or service to self. The points may be arbitrarily subtle and no fixed checklist can be adequate. Discernment is a skill that eventually may become a part of one's being." See General Law, Law of Accident., Perspicacity, Third Force, Thresholds.

Man cannot do.

This was a question from someone online, actually they went on to justify why the idea 'Man cannot do' (Gurdjieff, Ouspensky) was just an excuse to do nothing etc. and that we should all involve ourselves in 'self effort'.


Q: 'Isn't the idea "Man cannot do" an excuse to do nothing? Aren't we told to struggle for self-effort, and to involve ourselves in 'conscious labour and intentional suffering'?'

A: "Man cannot do" is a necessary starting point, IMV. Equally dangerous is the illusion that we can all 'fix ourselves' and the 'world', we just need the right conditions or right time or motivation. We think we already have all the answers and know 'what to do'. Governments work on this principle. And as a result, nothing is done or fixed, but just happens reactively. Direct and clear observation of things as-they-are actually confirms this, and interestingly opens the way for new approaches to be possible, which otherwise would have never appeared.

Self-Observation by Red Hawk.

I both love and hate this book. 

First the good points- the author seems to be speaking from experience, and seems to have given his own unique account of many Fourth Way concepts, as well as the main focus on Self-Observation. The practical advice to use the body/sensations with self-observation is useful, and his principles are good, common sense material. Someone who had read all of the original Fourth Way material would likely get something from this book. 
The insistence on not changing any of the observations is great advice also, essential, and not really spelled out in much Fourth Way material.

Now, the bad- there's just too much theologising and waffle throughout the book, even though it is small. Talk of the Earth being a school or kindergarten for the soul, with people here to 'learn lessons' is trite. Talk of the soul being an 'angelic being' from the 'angelic world' which descends 'into the body' is pure theory, and might suit some, but is certainly not Fourth Way material. After each chapter, the poetry, although original, was completely unrelated to the prior chapter(?!) And lastly, and probably a little concerning from my POV is that the author equates Self-Remembering with self-observation while being attentive to sensations in the body. This isn't Self-Remembering. This is still self-observation. Just observing body sensations or going around throughout the day while being centred in the body or on some 'point' (such as the belly) still isn't self-remembering-- it's useful no doubt, but won't bring about a complete gaining of impressions of the _whole_ self. There's really no distinction here between these methods and any mindfulness practice one can pick up from a community centre meditation seminar. A little more directed practical advice and/or exercises on the topic could have come in useful. 

Overall, still worth a read for those interested in the topic.. and I maintain my 4/5 rating.

Fourth Way schools- SWOT.

Fourth Way- A SWOT analysis.


Strengths

- Information largely available in print form, transcripts of meetings, and direct writings from Gurdjieff, Ouspensky, and students. 
- Promotes group workings, and possible new group start-ups independent of any "official" body.
- Promotes individual efforts in self-work and self-reliance. 'The system works if you work it.'
- Contains basic ethical principles for social harmony (e.g. External considering).
- Contains real, workable solutions to the problems of identification, false/imposter self, multiple "I", disparate centre functioning, wrong work of the centres, etc.
- Contains workable and documented practices (self-observation, self-remembering) that directly relate to practical Direct Path type teachings.
- The chief founders, such as Gurdjieff, Ouspensky, and others such as de Salzemann seem to have achieved "Self-realization" or at least some level of attainment of Self-knowledge or Self-actualization.



Weaknesses

- Due to the "teacher-student" emphasis in some writings, some groups are prone to cult mentality, and guru worship.
- Most of the writings have been translated from original languages, and thus are prone to translation error.
- Writings also contain a good deal of impractical theoretical (and possibly fabricated) information, theology and cosmology.
- The above causes some FW students to completely become lost.
- The system contains much technical jargon, allegories, and words with special meaning requiring some prior study in Fourth Way materials. Some concepts (such as assigning chemical symbols and names to entities that bear no resemblance to established labels) creates obvious confusion. (See talks on Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen).
- Most "official" Fourth Way/Gurdjieff groups existing today have become so crystallized in their methods and orientation that the original thrust of the teaching has become lost, with the groups serving no real purpose other than their own historical self-perpetuating purposes. (Much the same as any historical religious group).
-  Solo work can be performed, but takes enormous energy, will-power, and drive to continue to perform daily and over time. The sheer amount of material available also makes it difficult for an individual to sort the 'wheat from the chaff'.
- The founders (Gurdjieff, Ouspensky, and others) left the work (or died) in unhelpful ways, or without clear cut instructions going forward, thus leaving half-baked students to work out what was going on. "I leave you all in a fine mess." (Gurdjieff).


Opportunities

- Any individual so motivated can take up Gurdjieff's writings (BTTHG, Meetings, Life is Real) along with other works (In Search, Herald etc.) and begin 'working'. The instructions are all available in print form.
- A Fourth Way group can be started by a group of motivated people and perform real "work" on themselves with the above.
- Results can be quick or slow depending on levels effort and motivation involved, regardless of external influences.
- The variety of material available offers something of appeal to almost anyone.


Threats

- As time goes on, the Fourth Way historical groups and founders become more dated, direct students die off and become less, and the whole movement risks becoming history or a legacy.
- "Official" Fourth Way groups stuck in the past become increasingly less relevant to the youth of the day. Their resources diminish to nothing. Some groups have been going for 40 years with little to show (materially and work-wise).
- The relatively large percentage of Fourth Way group failures, cult experiments, and implosions reflects badly on the whole movement and teaching, turning potential seekers off, and veiling the true potential in the system.
- Inter-fighting and egoism between the small number of "official" Fourth Way groups destroys the movement and teaching impetus as a whole.
- Existing groups become fossilized in their practices and routines, focusing on one particular area (e.g. dances, readings, cosmology etc.) and failing to ever aim at (or even consider) the (previous) primary goals of self-observation, self-remembering and becoming Man Number Four (finding a true centre of Being).

Another change in direction- returning to Fourth Way ideas as a relational point of focus.

Another surprise, chiefly to myself, has been the return of my  focus onto Fourth Way ideas, material and approach to self Work. I first stumbled onto Fourth Way (and Gurdjieff) material probably a decade ago, when interested in related (Westernized) Sufi practices and traditions. 

I have no idea how long this renewed focus will last for, but it seems powerful enough to have prompted a change in this blog :), its focus, and also my own focus and thinking in regards to personal transformational Work and Self (re) discovery.

This no doubt this was also prompted by some powerful and inescapable physical changes (injury etc.) that were brought to bear on my body, and the clear demonstration that "mind only" schools simply can't cut it when the physical mechanism (or emotional apparatus) is disabled, and cannot function normally.

The realization (re) occurred that a balanced approach, making use of the body, emotions and mind all together, seems to have been clearly pointed out- although this idea isn't new, and is stressed often in a number of traditional schools. Newer schools, such as Neo-Advaita groups, or "mind-only" groups such as ACIM, New Thought, Neo-Gnosticism, Christian Science, etc. generally disregard the body and giving physicality any basis at all. 

It's easy for a natural "mind" person (or in Fourth Way terms- Man Number Three), such as myself, to focus exclusively on mind-only spiritual paths, such as pure self-inquiry, mind-yoga, contemplative practices, meditation etc., at the expense of the body or emotional centre. Of course, a certain amount of success is inevitable when doing what one is naturally good at doing. This doesn't mean, however, that such success is the 'end of the road' so to speak.

It strikes me that at this point in time, more than any other in human history, the body/physical mechanism seems disproportionately disregarded and distorted. The use of technology, electronic information, modes of communications, etc. have all turned human functioning upside down in terms of having any semblance of balance between body/heart/mind usage, or even balance in terms of what parts of the body are used and how.

All of this has left a powerful impression on my own thinking-being, and seems to have performed the function of a 'shock' of which I've become conscious of, and has thus changed the course of my awareness work and focus.

It's my hope that what I blog about here is of some help to some 'one' out there, and this is one of the inner driving forces that continues to motivate me to post things here at different points in time.

Gurdjieff's system simplified in a page.

Having been a student of Gurdjieff's system (or Gurdjieff-Ouspensky) at some point, I felt compelled to write this little piece in the hopes that it could save some people a few decades of work.

Gurdjieff's system (as outlayed by Ouspensky probably most concisely, and as taken up by various other Fourth Way groups somewhat mistakenly) can be summarised as follows, with the main points as:

1. Self-observation
- which as the name implies, is simply the development of attention and concentration using the body, mind, and emotions as immediately available objects for focus.
- people spend years observing (and trying to observe) their thoughts, feelings, and sensations, though the practice in essence is simply to develop some basic degree of concentration and focus which is to be used on the next point.
- this basically serves the same purpose as any "meditation" or "awareness" practice, such as vipassana, noting, mindfulness etc.
- there is an obvious me-as-subject and it-as-object focus. Nothing esoteric here.

2. Self-remembering
- this practice trips up most people, and some spend YEARS attempting to get it, or work out what the hell Gurdjieff / Ouspensky even mean by the practice. Still others interpret it (wrongly) as "self-observation", which it is not (see above).
- the practice merely flows on from having developed the objectives in (1).
- the practice, in essence, is nothing more or less than directing the mind (or focus) onto the subjective feeling of "I"- which is the "I-thought" or "me"-as-a-separate-self feeling/thought. It is simply the focused observation and awareness of oneself that we all automatically take on from childhood, and which forms a seemingly concrete (but mistaken) identity as "I".
- generally, it is done as much as possible, throughout the day, and one needs to get a very clear and definite feel for one's own identity as "I"-as-a-separate-self or doer of actions or instigator of all other thoughts, feelings, and sensations.
- going back again and again to this feeling of "me" or "I" (as a separate individual) IS the practice of Self-remembering.
- "Self" here refers to the ego, or concept of "me" as an individual and autonomous being. (Which in Gurdjieff's system is the 'man is a machine but doesn't know it' idea).
- This serves the same function as all direct path enquiries, such as self-enquiry (vichara).
- Self willed effort and "practice" ends at this point.

3. Beyond (Seeing through the false self)
- Hopefully, at some point, the seeing happens (without any self-willed effort- and hence Gurdjieff's insistence that one cannot perform true Self-remembering), that the "I" feeling/identity is a completely assumed concept or entity in itself.
- The dropping of this assumption is the beginning (and end of assumed volitional) Liberation.

By employing (1) and later (2), in all manner of situations, and especially in times of turmoil (often intentionally introduced by Gurdjieff onto his students), it was hoped that the false self identity would eventually be seen through and done with. "Man is a machine", thus becomes completely true from the "Man Number 4" perspective.

Unfortunately, from what I've observed in Gurdjieff groups, most groups get hung up on (1), especially veering off into learning 'dances', exercises, tricks etc., and never even get to (2). For those that get to (2), the need for groups often falls away. For those in which (3) occurs, the whole game is up, and appreciation arises for this unique little system.

Amen.


(PS- I've intentionally left out the huge body of Gurdjieff/Ouspensky's cosmology and related theology, as detailed somewhat in "In Search of the Miraculous", "Beelzebub's Tales to his Grandson", and other books. Although this highly complex body of theory (mostly swiped from Theosophy, Sufism, Buddhism, Kashmiri Shavism, and Gurdjieff's own imagination) is interesting, it is doubtful as to any immediate practical value which could not be explained much more simply. Certainly, the foundation of any of its usefulness would have to lie again with (1) and (2) above, without which, it would be yet another interesting informational philosophy only. It is likely that the early students of Gurdjieff's system in Russia & Europe, who were enamoured with Theosophy and occultism, needed some form of intellectual meat (or carrot), in order to even get started with the more direct practices of (1) and (2), and in this, the whole philosophy side probably has some value. However, the temptation in getting completely lost in Fourth Way concepts and philosophy seems to have been one of the chief elements in the Fourth Way's own demise, and on a more darker side, the higher than average rate (in spiritual groups anyway) for personality cults to emerge from the use or misuse of that very philosophy-- hence my insistence on side-stepping this area completely).