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Date: August 04, 2016 at 15:09:46
From: mr bopp, [DNS_Address]
Subject: self-observation and self-remembering |
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SELF-OBSERVATION AND SELF-REMEMBERING
Part I.
A person's Understanding of the Work is relative to his Level
of Being. He may know the ideas of the Work. But Knowledge does
not give Understanding: to know is not to understand. The Knowledge
of this Work is of a kind that can act on Being and as a result give rise
to Understanding. Understanding is not Knowledge and Understand-
ing is not Being. Knowledge and Being together, in conjunction, give
Understanding. If my Being is such that it wills what I know, the result
will eventually be increasing Understanding. If it does not will what I
know, I will have Knowledge only. But if some 'I's wish to follow the
Knowledge of this Work, their will to do it will pass into Understanding
on a small scale compared with what would happen if the whole Being
were to act as one and will as one to apply the Knowledge of the Work
and live what it says. That would be Real Will, which is beyond us.
So we have to start where we are, with all our separate and conflicting
wills, and maintain an inner steadfastness amidst the confusions that
take place in our mixed Being. That is, we must value the Work and
keep Work 'I's in us alive and protect them from all kinds of crude,
rough or cynical or negative 'I's. Of course, unless there were this
struggle, there would be no work. To work means to work: and work
means effort. Work is the effort to connect one's Knowledge of the
Work with one's Being—that is, the effort to bring what one knows into
relation with what one is. For this, self-observation is obviously necessary
in order to notice what one is. And again, for this, Knowledge is
necessary, to shew what to observe. This is a plain and logical sequence
—namely, that to know what one is one must observe oneself and in
order to know what to observe one must have Knowledge. But the
Work teaches a Knowledge not only of what we have to observe—
as, for example—negative states—but what we must do—as, for
example, practise non-identifying with ourselves and especially with
False Personality. But all this teaching is in view of the supreme idea
of the Work and indeed of all esotericism in the past—i.e. that there is a
higher level of consciousness possible for Man that he can reach if he
cleans his machine and gets rid of many useless things that complicate
his life and keep him in a state of sleep. And here comes in the most
important instruction given: not only must a man know and observe, but
he must remember himself. And he must do this because only in that state
of consciousness called the state of Self-Remembering can influences
reach him that can act on his Being, for without help a man can do
practically nothing, or will only effect one thing at the expense of
another. Now 'I's that wish to work and connect the Knowledge of
the Work with their lives and feel unhappy if they do not and ill if
they do not keep awake—these 'I's change in their Understanding.
They must be fed so that they can see things in a new way. That is,
one has to re-think, re-visit, re-interpret the ideas. Merely to know
one must observe or self-remember is nothing: the matter must be
gone over again and again. One must return to first principles again
and again. So the fresh discussion of what has been discussed more than
once is something absolutely necessary.
A question was asked at the last meeting held here, as to Self-
Observation and Self-Remembering. This is the question:
As I understand it there is a difference in quality between the
State of Self-Remembering and an Act of Self-Remembering and
many degrees of, or levels of, quality between Acts of Self-
Remembering; yet the least of these is greater than—i.e. on a
level above—the fullest Self-Observation. There can be no pro-
gress unless and until a man remembers himself. All work on
himself below that level is preparatory to progress towards Consciousness. Further—a man can protect himself psychologically
only by Self-Remembering. How can one evaluate and through evaluation
increase the power to value, not for what it can give but for what it is. this
state of Self-Remembering?
I will begin by speaking in a general way about Self-Observation and
Self-Remembering. The observation of oneself is not the same thing
as remembering oneself. On one occasion G., speaking of Self-Remem-
bering, said: "Which self do you wish to remember?" This gives one
clue to the meaning of remembering oneself. On another occasion he
said that Man is sub-normal because he is not conscious at the place of
incoming impressions. "At this point," he said, "where external
impressions enter, it is necessary to create something."
* * *
Let us now pass to the idea of Self-Observation and return later to
the question of Self-Remembering. I was once asked by someone this
question: "I do not understand what the Work means when it says
that we do not observe ourselves. I have always observed myself."
No doubt, it is true to say that a person to a certain extent observes
himself. People look into a mirror and this mirror is constructed from
what they have been taught—that is, what they have acquired by their
upbringing as to right behaviour, correct manners, the right things to
wear, the right things to say, the right people to know. This acquired
part of us is the Personality and the formation of the Personality in
everybody is a question of the period, the environment in which one is
born, school influences, the fashion of the day, the nation to which one
belongs and the standards which it sets. Into this mirror everybody
gazes—and indeed it is not only psychological but it is also the actual
literal mirror. But this mirror is not the same mirror as the Work
teaches us to gaze into: the Work-mirror is something quite different.
It has, so to speak, nothing to do with whether you eat peas with a
knife or put your elbows on the table or wear the right tie or use the
right lipstick or know the right people. The Work-mirror refers to a
quite different kind of Self-Observation. Through the Work-mirror it is
possible to begin to see what one really is apart from what one appears
to be and pretends to be. However, at first the Work-mirror may be
all wrong. That always arises when we do not see what the Work is
about and when Magnetic Centre is weak. We still look at ourselves
from the life-mirror and try to connect our acquired virtues, that we
appreciate through our self-love, with the Work-mirror.
Some of you have reflected on the Knowledge this Work teaches
from which we have to observe ourselves. If so, you will probably have
felt that it seems to teach something that is remote from the life we are
leading. For example, what connection is there with our ordinary life
when we are told to observe the work of centres, to observe three distinct
persons in us, and then to observe many different 'I's in us, to observe
our state of sleep, to observe internal considering and the making of
accounts against others, to observe negative emotions, to observe
identifying, to observe our ignorance, to observe the Level of our
Being, to observe how we never remember ourselves and so on? It all
seems remote, difficult to grasp; yet, from all these ideas the real Work-
mirror is formed. No one can look into this Work-mirror unless he or
she has acquired Knowledge of what this Work is about, and loves it.
The Work teaches us from what points of view we must observe our-
selves. It picks out certain things that we have to notice in ourselves.
Imagine being told to go into an enormous store and being told merely
to observe it. You would not know what to observe. But supposing you
are told to go into this store and observe a few special things only: then
you will know what you have to take notice of. It is this that the Work
teaches. The Work teaches how to approach yourself, through self-
observation, what to notice and what to work against. In this respect
it gives very definite directions which, however difficult they may be to
follow, are yet very definite. If you love the Work—that is, if you value
it—then you will be able to assimilate the knowledge that it teaches,
according to your level. If you assimilate, even to a small extent, the
knowledge that it teaches, you will begin to possess a mirror in which to
look at yourself. For a long time we have poor mirrors that distort
things. After a time, we may realize that we have wrong attitude to the
Work. But it is exactly this realization that can give you a new mirror.
Then you begin to see yourself better; you begin to see how you have
treated the Work so far.
Now I will repeat again that Self-Observation without definite
knowledge as to what to observe will lead nowhere in the Work.
Ordinary, mechanical self-observation may lead you into social life,
but this is not the same thing. The mirror of social life is one thing and
into this all people gaze. The Work says nothing against this. But it
speaks of another mirror having another quality. The ancient inscrip-
tion on the Greek temple: "Know thyself," is by itself quite ineffective.
How can you know yourself? People all think they know themselves
already but the Work teaches that we have to know ourselves in a new
way and from certain angles, and the object of this particular kind of
knowing of oneself is to make it possible to separate from a number of
useless things that go on in us so that we can begin to touch influences
coming from a higher level that will give us thoughts and feelings and
understanding that we have a right to have, but with which we have
lost contact owing to our state of sleep. All esoteric teaching is about
awakening to far finer influences—yes, here down on this Earth. Mr.
Ouspensky once said: "Here now on this Earth you can be under
different laws, different influences and know and understand what they
mean, provided you work on yourself." I remember when Mr.
Ouspensky said this many people were astonished because they thought
that being in a better state meant being in a better world, that no doubt
they might reach after death. As you all know, the general idea taught
in the Gospels that one must die to be re-born is taken to mean physical
death and being born into some other world called heaven. The Work
and the Gospels teach, however, that if we can reach higher influences
that are already playing on us now we will be in a different state of
understanding. For example, the Work says that we will no longer be
under the Law of Accident—and negative emotions especially put us
under the Law of Accident. However, this belongs to another talk.
To continue: the whole Work is about putting our ordinary centres
into a right state so that they can transmit intelligently the influences
of higher centres which exist in us fully formed and are continually at
work, but to which we cannot respond. "Why," asked someone, "is
this so?" "Because," Mr. O. said, "we are continually identified with
a thousand and one useless things both in life and in ourselves." Mr. O.
always especially emphasized the importance of working on the nega-
tive part of Emotional Centre. He said on one occasion in so many
words: "We identify with our negative emotions more than with any-
thing else. It seems as if we felt we had a right to be negative whereas I
teach you the very reverse—i.e. that we have a right not to be negative."
When we are negative it is as if we had a blood-vessel cut, pouring out
our blood. As long as the negative part of our Emotional Centre,
which we were not born with but have acquired from others, is allowed
to exist unchallenged, so long is it impossible for our Emotional Centre
to feel the influences of the Higher Emotional Centre. For this reason
the observation of our negative states and the separation from them is
one of the most important sides of practical work. The transformation
of negative emotion belongs to the Second Conscious Shack and here
the whole Work comes in and the whole evaluation of it. You may be
negative but you must feel that it is not you that is negative but It.
This is the beginning of inner separation, of not identifying with nega-
tive states, of not identifying with oneself.
To resume what we were speaking about—you can understand that
to be taught the knowledge that you are taught in this Work about
negative emotions is one thing, but as mere knowledge it is useless. It
remains theoretical only—in the memory. You have to apply the
knowledge to yourself and this is only possible through observing your-
self. Unless you connect the knowledge of this Work with Self-Observa-
tion, nothing can happen to you. The Work will remain purely theoretical
and not practical. The function of Self-Observation, therefore, is some-
thing that can be understood quite logically. Its object is clear. How-
ever, at first Self-Observation is very crude, very irregular, and mixed
up with life-observation of oneself—that is, the Work-mirror is mixed
up with the life-mirror, and this is inevitable. In fact, for a long time,
the Work-mirror is little else than the life-mirror. It is, as it were,
connected with the neutralizing force of life and not the neutralizing
force of the Work, which latter force comes from an entirely different
source. As the evaluation of the Work deepens the two mirrors become
separated and in that case where you may derive a great deal of
flattery and self-delight from the one mirror you do not see the same
image in the other, and this causes inner trouble. Yet I say the two
mirrors are not antagonistic. They reflect different aspects of oneself.
In the 4th Way, which is this Work, we have to be both in the Work and
in life, and the 4th Way does not make a contradiction between life and
Work. Some sides belong to life and others to the Work. It is more like
making a right arrangement of the different 'I's and putting them in
their right place and having the strength not to see merely opposites.
It is the distinction of 'I's by inner taste. We need both the Work
and life, and from both we can get force. It is like two rooms, quite
distinct, and yet opening into one another, both being part of the same
house of oneself. No one is told in this Work to cut himself off from life,
to go into a monastery or into the desert. And yet the two are entirely
different and their force comes from two different sides altogether. G.
once said in so many words: "Everything this Work teaches you will
help your life and help you to attain your life-aim." Just imagine a
man in the Work who could pass into the affairs of life and through
inner work had learned not to identify—you can understand that such a
man might attain some aim in life far more easily than a mechanical
negative man. But in order to do so he would continually have to feel
the Work to such an extent that his evaluation of the Work was far
more intense and real to him than anything he valued or attained in life.
Now we identify through the unobserved petty feelings of ourselves
which cause us to make endless internal accounts and build up endless
negative systems in us. These negative systems, once formed, are very
difficult to deal with. On this level we do everything in a pseudo way,
from our self-love, our self-liking, to advance ourselves in some way,
to merit praise, and so we are very easily hurt and dejected. Remove
this stimulus and we scarcely exist, and may seem to have no objective.
This is being a machine. All this basis of self-feeling does not lead far
in the Work eventually. It is only vanquished by a sense of something
greater than ourselves. This brings us to the question of Self-Remembering
which is so much emphasized in this Work as the constantly necessary
accompaniment to self-observation. "A man," said G., "should always
remember himself but as he is he has not the force and even cannot
remember that he has to remember himself." On another occasion
Mr. O. said at the beginning of his teaching in London when people
were continually badgering him with questions as to what they should
do—whether they should smoke or not, eat or not, and so on-: "The
most important thing is to remember yourself. You can do what you
like so long as you remember yourself." This sounded very strange to
many of us. It seemed to mean that you could do anything you liked
—yes, as long as you remembered yourself. Supposing you give way to
your appetites and become identified, say, with your food, and then tell
yourself that you are allowed to do anything—the Work says so. But
does it say it like that? It says you can do anything you like as long as
you remember yourself and it is obvious enough that if you arc identified
with your food you are not remembering yourself. Self-Remembering
puts us into a different state of consciousness. In that state of conscious-
ness you cannot do certain things without going to sleep at once and
you can see it happening—that is, you can see yourself becoming identi-
fied. Or, to put the matter differently, if you do certain things and
remember yourself at the same time, you will do them in quite a different
way. When you begin to understand the subtlety of this remark: "You
can do what you like as long as you remember yourself," you will see
that it really means that you cannot do what you like, at least in the
ordinary way that you do it. One form of Self-Remembering is feeling
the sense of "I doing this" or "I saying this". If when you are angry
and speaking internally or externally in a bad way you feel the sense
of 'I' saying this, it will completely change the situation. You realize
that "It" is saying it—your machine.
Now let us once more go through the things said about Self-
Remembering. Let us say to ourselves: "I am not me". It will be
best if I take my own case—suppose I can say: "I am not Nicoll and
Nicoll is not me" or say that Mr. Bush says to himself: "I am not Bush
and Bush is not me" or Mr. Taylor says: "I am not Taylor and Taylor
is not me". If we can say this to ourselves rightly it will give us a very
strange feeling as to who we are. Certainly this feeling is connected
with a sense of the dissolving of one's Personality. Yet as you know this
is one of the objects of this Work expressed in the great formulation that
Personality must be made passive so that the real part of one—the
Essence—can grow. But it can only be through a long gradual process
of insight. I remember Mr. O. saying to me: "Why don't you say
sometimes: 'What is Nicoll up to?'" Now supposing I could always
say to myself: "What is Nicoll up to?" and Mr. Bush could say "What
is Bush up to?" and Mr. Taylor: "What is Taylor up to?" and all of
you could say correspondingly the same thing in some real way occasion-
ally, it would mean then that there was some degree of inner separation,
some awareness that one is not the same as one's acquired Personality,
with all its acquired prides and buffers—this artificial figure that life
has built up, and that one takes as oneself, not knowing any better.
Such a feeling, such an inner sense, is the beginning of Self-Remember-
ing. When I try to remember myself I do not remember Nicoll: I
do not wish to remember Nicoll, but of course he is always there. But
if I have no feeling that I am not Nicoll (although actually I am a slave
to Nicoll) when I remember myself I will simply remember Nicoll.
Of course, Nicoll will always remember Nicoll mechanically and
certainly Nicoll is satisfied with Nicoll and no doubt regards him as a
marvellous person. In that case, Self-Remembering would only increase
one's self-satisfaction—that is, it would enhance Personality. But this
is not Self-Remembering, or, let us say, it is remembering the wrong
self. It is not a conscious act but a mechanical act. Do you notice how
you always justify yourselves? It is not a reaching up to something
else, but an intensifying and justifying of what one is already. So it
cannot lead to a change in the level of Being. It has nothing to do with
Self-Remembering in the Work-sense. It usually means there is not
real self-observation—that is, self-observation done through the mirror
of the Work. The Work has not yet begun to break up the Personality.
One is simply taking the Work from the Personality as something added
to one's own merits, like a medal. Of course this is not the Work. The
Work cannot start from the fullness of the Personality. The Work can
only start when you realize you are not what you thought, not what you
pretend to be. You have only to read the Sermon on the Mount to see
what is meant. When the Work really strikes home, this house of
cards that one takes as oneself begins to fall to bits. You know the Work
speaks about the necessity of coming to the point where one realizes
one's own utter nothingness. This, however, is mercifully delayed and
it is not something you can artificially realize. You cannot pretend to
be nothing. It is very painful to see a person pretending that he or she
is nothing.
Now Self-Remembering is connected with all this. To remember
yourself simply as you are now is not Self-Remembering. Self-
Remembering comes down from above and full Self-Remembering is
a state of consciousness in which the Personality and all its pretences
almost cease to exist and you are, so to speak, nobody, and yet the
fullness of this state, which is really bliss, makes you, for the first time,
somebody.
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Responses:
[23342] [23344] [23345] [23329] [23337] [23333] [23336] [23325] [23328] |
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23342 |
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Date: August 05, 2016 at 12:30:33
From: mr bopp, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: self-observation and self-remembering |
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SELF-OBSERVATION AND SELF-REMEMBERING
Part II.
In this second paper we come to answering the question that
was quoted in the last paper. I will repeat the first part of this question:
"As I understand it, there is a difference in quality between
the state of Self-Remembering and an act of Self-Remembering,
and many degrees of, or levels of, quality between acts of Self-
Remembering; yet the least of these is greater than—i.e. on a
level above—the fullest Self-Observation . . ."
The act of Self-Remembering is a conscious effort made in order to
remember oneself. The state of Self-Remembering is the result of the
act and the quality of the state of Self-Remembering depends on the
quality of the act—i.e: the quality of the effort made to remember
oneself. Let us try to illustrate this in an easy way. The act of taking
my guitar and striking notes on it is different from the state of being
able to play music on it. However, I will have to make an effort to
take the guitar and play on it before I can reach the state of being able
to play music. Again, if I want to behave better or have better manners
the act of trying to is not the same as being in the state of having better
behaviour or manners. If I make right effort, I may reach the state
that I wish to attain, and the result will be according to the quality of
my effort. The act of trying to remember myself is to endeavour by
trial and failure to reach some new state of oneself called the State of
Self-Remembering. If already I know how to reach this state then the
act or effort that I make will put me into this state. But I cannot expect
at first by performing the act of Self-Remembering to reach the State.
It will only be by long work, by innumerable acts, that I gain any
success in reaching the state that I aim at reaching.
Now let us take the second parts of the question in which it is said:
"There can be no progress unless and until a man remembers
himself. . ."
I think that it would be best to say here that unless a man can lift
himself up by Self-Remembering he does not receive help, and that
unless a man receives help he cannot reach a different level of being.
But at the same time unless he prepares himself by means of Self-
Observation and trying to separate from what the Work teaches are
wrong functions, he cannot receive the influences coming from Higher
Centres. Man has to prepare his lower centres so that they can hear the
voices of Higher Centres which are always speaking to us and always
trying to change us but which we cannot hear. I do not mean that the
Higher Centres are trying to change us exactly, because they are
neutral, not violent or accusatory. You feel the absence of Higher
Centres in the general feeling of uncomfortableness as if you had for-
gotten something you once knew. Unless lower centres can begin to
hear Higher Centres there is no possibility of getting help for evolution.
Remember, Man is created a self-developing organism, but he must
receive help from esoteric teaching in order to evolve. He is disconnected
from Real 'I' which belongs to Higher Centres and can transmit their
meaning. Real 'I' understands the language of Higher Centres but
false 'I' does not. Real 'I' is what you are and why you exist: or, rather,
why you exist is to come into contact with Real 'I'. In one of the
esoteric writings of India it is said: "If a man fails to reach God he is
continually re-born into existence. And so he goes round and round in
the whole cycle of possible births until he understands why he exists."
Since everyone has Real 'I' in them but at a higher, that is, a deeper,
level than that from which they ordinarily live and think and feel,
everyone is created with a possibility of making contact with this
Real 'I' of which they are nothing but a foolish reflection or imitation.
Everyone has an eternal centre of gravity, but, being swayed by the
senses, by the feeling that they are nothing but" their bodies and by the
impact of impressions coming from external life, they get far away from
this centre of gravity. Self-Remembering is the beginning of the attempt
to bring us back into ourselves and so into our real centre of gravity.
That is why a very external person who is simply governed by the effect
he or she makes on other people has a very great difficulty in under-
standing what Self-Remembering means, and indeed what this Work
means.
On one occasion G. said: "Behind Real 'I' lies God." But the
beginning of all this way back to our real origin starts with Observing
'I'. This means of course that it starts with the Work itself, for Observ-
ing 'I' must know about what to observe and do it from what the Work
teaches. If you have a wrong mirror, a wrong Observing 'I', some
social 'I', it is not in the Work-sense Observing 'I'. But if you can
establish in yourself a point of observation from what you understand
of what the Work teaches you to observe, you are on the first rung of the
ladder that reaches ultimately to Real 'I'. People think it is easy to
establish Observing 'I' in this "real Work-sense. I would say it is a very
difficult matter and requires a long struggle, a great deal of inner sin-
cerity and a great deal of failure. When this Observing 'I' is established
it collects other 'I's round it that wish to work, that wish to understand
better, that wish to find the secret of one's existence. Everyone really
has this secret feeling about themselves but they do not put it into
operation; they do not know what to do and so it simply becomes a
source of negative emotion. When Deputy-Steward is formed it may
attract Steward and finally Real 'I'. But these are words of very great
density of meaning. To understand anything of this ladder of the Work
takes a very long time and very deep reflection. For example, it needs
a great deal of thinking what the Work is about, and re-thinking about
it and seeing the state of one's being and re-seeing it. It requires a
great deal of inner realization, it requires continual access of valuation,
continual renewing of valuation, a continual re-understanding of what
one understands, a seeing of where one is and what one is. And in this
connection I might say that all of you who are following the path of
the Work, and have long ago understood that it is not something on the
blackboard, will find that even the simplest sayings of the Work trans-
form themselves into deeper and deeper meanings. You will find, in
short, that this Work and all its brief formulations could only come from
a source that knows and understands far more than we do.
Now as regards the passage in the question we are discussing:
"Yet the least of these (acts of Self-Remembering) is greater
than—i.e. on a level above—the fullest Self-Observation."
I find some difficulty in answering it. It means to begin with that an
act of Self-Remembering is greater than an act of Self-Observation.
I would say, to begin with, that speaking of fullest Self-Observation is
beside the point. Full Self-Observation could only come with an enor-
mous increase of consciousness and in that sense would be the same as
that increased consciousness of the State of Self-Remembering, Self-
Awareness, Self-Consciousness. To be fully aware of oneself would
correspond to the Third State of Consciousness. An act of Self-
Remembering for us, as we are, is a very weak thing. An act of Self-
Observation may be more distinct. The two are not on the same level,
but a state of full Self-Observation would belong to the level above us.
But how could we at our level of consciousness expect to observe every-
thing fully in ourselves? How could we, for example, fully observe the
whole of our lives, altogether, or indeed how could we observe at our
level of consciousness all that is going on in every part of a centre? You
know there are many stories of people who when partially drowned
remember the whole of their lives. I think these stories are probably
quite true. I believe that at the point of death a man may pass into a
different state of consciousness. In the terms of this Work we would
call this the Third State of Consciousness—i.e. the State of Self-
Remembering, Self-Consciousness, or Self-Awareness. Then, no doubt,
a man would have full observation of himself—yes, and full observation
of himself in a way he never dreamed of. But, as we are, Self-Observation
is a very small thing, but quite essential, like carrying a tiny light
through a big dark house and seeing one thing after another. After a
time memory—that is, Work-memory—or memory created through
conscious effort in Self-Observation—may connect together all these
separate small illuminations into something bigger. This means that a
man begins to take photographs of himself—that is, he begins to observe
himself over a period of time, altogether. From this moment he can
begin to catch a glimpse of his Chief Feature; he can begin to see
strands running through his life. He begins to see patterns in the carpet
of his life. You notice that in the three definitions of the Third State
of Consciousness the term Self-Awareness connects with full Self-
Observation. I find this part of the question difficult to answer because
it assumes that full observation is a possibility at our level of conscious-
ness. If a man at his present level of consciousness had a moment of full
observation he would probably go mad, because it would mean that he
saw all the inner contradictions in himself. To reach such an insight
requires long work and the Work will never allow a person to see more
than he can stand. I think we all make a mistake in thinking we can
attain a higher degree of consciousness just in a moment. Consider how
long it took you to learn to read or write. One hears the Work for a
long time, just as a child sees his letters for a long time, but it takes
many years before it can speak or write. A curious thing here, if I
may add, is that suddenly a child finds it can read and just in the same
way in the Work suddenly you find you understand something you
have heard time after time. This means you are ready for it, you have
earned it.
Now to take the last part of the question:
"All work on himself below that level is preparatory to progress
towards Consciousness. Further—a man can protect himself
psychologically only by Self-Remembering."
I have no comment to make on this part of the question but it requires
to be understood. The phrasing is right. To be protected psycho-
logically from the external scene of life one must remember oneself.
This means that one must find something to take the place of identifying
with all that goes on in life. If you take life as the whole business, and
think you are nothing but your body, you will not be able to remember
yourself. If you think your eyes see, and not that something sees through
them, you will not be able to remember yourself. If you think that
everything you do and feel and think belongs to your body you will not
be able to remember yourself. You will then be like religious people
who think that heaven is something above and hell something below
them, and do not understand that heaven and hell are in them—in
themselves. You take as reality the messages coming from the external
senses, and no doubt you will think that Real 'I' is something that
exists far away in the visible stars. You will not understand that it
exists in you at a deeper level of your understanding and that you can
only reach it by understanding all that this Work says about separating
yourself from wrong activities going on mechanically every day, that
keep you glued to the most external, most superficial side of yourself,
that side that is governed by everything that happens to you outside,
that side that depends for its well-being on how people behave towards
you. And this is inevitable as long as you have no inner behaviour that
you are following. The Work is about this inner behaviour which
gives you a centre of gravity independent of external things, but, I
repeat, if you think you are the same as your body and that your eyes
see and your ears hear, and if you have no sense that it is you who see
through your eyes and you who hear through your ears and that there is
something different in you from your physical senses—and, in fact,
something higher—then you will not be able to remember yourself.
If you are a natural man, a man who believes only in the reality that
the senses shew him, who believes that the natural world with all its
events is the cause of everything, you will never be able to remember
yourself. Nor will you be able to understand the Ray of Creation, nor
the Side-Octave from the Sun. You will never be able to understand
that influences are acting on this Earth coming from a higher level and
acting on yourself as well, and that you receive these influences accord-
ing to the quality of your being.
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Responses:
[23344] [23345] |
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23344 |
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Date: August 05, 2016 at 17:52:58
From: Akira, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: self-observation and self-remembering |
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His ideas still sound Buddhist to me, just with way too many words. Over
thunk & hard boiled.
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Responses:
[23345] |
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23345 |
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Date: August 06, 2016 at 16:19:03
From: Lin, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: self-observation and self-remembering |
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I've 'discovered' through many trials and errors
hey, I'm 'old' :)
that people don't learn very easily
any distraction is better.
hard lessons are indeed hard
so we need
repeats and repeats, so on and on
this has been my experience anyway
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Responses:
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23329 |
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Date: August 04, 2016 at 17:21:15
From: Shadow, [DNS_Address]
Subject: OMG, Ryan... ;) |
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I'm copy/pasting this excerpt below, from the last paragraph of the enormity of words you shared from Gurdjieff...
"Now Self-Remembering is connected with all this. To remember yourself simply as you are now is not self-Remembering. Self-Remembering comes down from above and full Self-Remembering is a state of consciousness in which the Personality and all its pretences almost cease to exist and you are, so to speak, nobody, and yet the fullness of this state, which is really bliss, makes you, for the first time, somebody."
OMFG, me brothar! ;D YES, Yes, and YES!!! Please pardon me, if you would be so kind, for indulging in the abject *hilarity,* the resonance of *humor* that can ONLY mirror/acknowledge BOTH CONTEXTS OF EXPERIENCE as crucial and true simultaneously: That which is unavoidably HUMAN, of the Personality and, at the same time: BEYOND it... The meeting-point of which can only illustrate The Spiritual/Human Condition, as it is, or at least, as I'm experiencing it!
Both Spiritually, as EVERYone and, humanly, as NO-one...
;->
LOLOL! So much LOVE to you, and to EVERYone... ;)
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Responses:
[23337] [23333] [23336] |
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23337 |
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Date: August 04, 2016 at 22:40:16
From: mr bopp, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: OMG, Ryan... ;) |
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Responses:
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23333 |
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Date: August 04, 2016 at 18:20:17
From: Shadow, [DNS_Address]
Subject: And a P.S. here, given that... |
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...I have literally *no clue whatsoever* whether or not there'll arise any other easily-flowing, timely/appropriate context in which to speak of this to you! ;->
The suggestions I would offer you personally, Ryan, toward deeper spiritual understandings that of their very nature are all-inclusive of...well, Everything...lol...as per my own context of perception and experience along these lines, for whatever they're worth, would be these specific writings:
"The O Manuscript"
and
"The Law of Light: The Secret Teachings of Jesus"
by Lars Muhl...
Love to you and to Everyone, as always...
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Responses:
[23336] |
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23336 |
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Date: August 04, 2016 at 22:38:48
From: mr bopp, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: And a P.S. here, given that... |
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thanks susan...I'll check lars out...
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23325 |
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Date: August 04, 2016 at 16:00:51
From: chatillion, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: self-observation and self-remembering |
URL: Link |
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Ryan...when you are finished with Gurdjieff--or taking a break from him--look up a book by John Lash: 'Not in HIS Image'.
I think someone here on the boards mentioned it a while back. Well worth obtaining a copy and reading, IMO.
Take care
CC
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Responses:
[23328] |
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23328 |
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Date: August 04, 2016 at 17:03:00
From: mr bopp, [DNS_Address]
Subject: Re: self-observation and self-remembering |
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I'll never be finished with gurdjieff..but I will check out John...thanks
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