Lord Pentland: No. I think that what I was trying to say was that it seems as if when I’m in front of you for instance, as if I was doing the very best I could to give my attention to what you’ve said, right? . . But somewhere there’s more attention. Without that I’m not going to really penetrate below the personality, below the prison in which you live and I live. And the conversation will just be superficial. Now what is this more attention I can give to be more present? And I think it requires what I call non-directive skill. I don’t think it’s the least use my trying to impress you. And it’s certainly no use my being afraid of you. So what is this? If you can think of a better word for it, I’d be glad. I think the best word I can find is non-directive skill―an intensely observant state in which I’m taking advantage as little as I do and as much as I can of past experience to try to be present to myself and not be so taken by an impatience to convince you or answer you, but more by a conviction that I could be more present, that I could even be a kind of bearer of some conscious force. I think that’s what’s needed. I think I’m apt to be impatient, to affirm myself by giving an answer, but what’s needed is more attention. It’s very simple, in a way. It’s all there. And people are writing any number of books. I was looking at a book last night in which a man, in a guidebook on meditation, said, “It’s always useful to put on a half smile.” That’s not bad advice in a way. But even that doesn’t always work, you know what I mean? I was talking yesterday to a couple who are having trouble with their marriage. I said to the girl, “You know, a great thing for a woman is to be cheerful.” And she said, “That’s the one thing my husband can’t stand. He says I’m always so cheerful.” . . . Will you think over non-directive skill? Yes?
Archive for September, 2010
On the cushion – a simple awareness of my inner world selves. Can I find this simple quiet awareness as I get up and go out into my life? Or will auotmatic functioning take everything?
~Later~
Not so much!
Hope of consciousness is strength
We need a simple awareness to see that our body is a laboratory that contains all our manifestations, all of our selves are there. It is through the body that the law of seven operates; where involution and evolution takes place. The law of three is also there. The physical body will die and all that belongs to the level of the Earth will die.
Intentional manifestations are possible, intentional involution (creation), evolution also, but these require Attention, Consciousness to meet what is in the physical body. This is another force of a different density and frequency of vibration than that of the physical body. But the two can meet and from this meeting a new birth occurs, a miracle.
The law of seven operates within the physical body and either emanates or radiates, dependent upon participation of Consciousness, of Another Attention in the space which it occupies.
Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson, G.I. Gurdjieff:
“According to the fantastic branch of this theory of their ‘science,’ now called spiritualism, they suppose among other things that each of them already has a higher being-part or, as they call it, a soul, and that a transmigration must be occurring the whole time to this soul, i.e., something of the kind of this same ‘Okipkhalevnian exchange’ of which I have just spoken. “Of course, if these unfortunates would only take into consideration that according to the second-grade cosmic law called ‘Tenikdoa’ or ‘law of gravity,’ this same being part— if in rare cases it does happen that it arises in them—instantly rises after the first Rascooarno of the being, or, as they express it, after the death of the being, from the surface of their planet; and if they understood that the explanations and proofs, given by this branch of their ‘science,’ of all sorts of phenomena which proceed as it were among them there thanks to those fantastic souls of theirs, were only the fruits of their idle fancy—then they would already realize that everything else proved by this science of theirs is also nothing else but Mullah Nassr Eddin’s ‘twaddle.’
~
And thus, every man, if he is just an ordinary man, that is, one who has never consciously “worked on himself,” has two worlds; and if he has worked on himself, and has become a so to say “candidate for another life,” he has even three worlds. In spite of the fact that everyone, without exception, will certainly think that I have gone completely mad when they read the above statement, I shall nevertheless go on to develop the logical consequences of this ultra-extravagant notion. If you really want to know the truth, I will tell you how matters stand, and why I pronounced such an absurdity. First of all, it must be said that in the outpourings of various occultists and other will-less parasites, when they discuss spiritual questions, not everything is entirely wrong. What they call the “soul” does really exist, but not everybody necessarily has one. A soul is not born with man and can neither unfold nor take form in him so long as his body is not fully developed. It is a luxury that can only appear and attain completion in the period of “responsible age,” that is to say, in a man’s maturity. The soul, like the physical body, is also matter—only, it consists of “finer” matter. The matter from which the soul is formed and from which it later nourishes and perfects itself is, in general, elaborated during the processes that take place between the two essential forces upon which the entire Universe is founded. The matter in which the soul is coated can be produced exclusively by the action of these two forces, which are called “good” and “evil” by ancient science, or “affirmation” and “negation,” while contemporary science calls them “attraction” and “repulsion.” In the common presence of a man, these two forces have their source in two of the totalities of general psychic functioning, which have already been mentioned.
~
… during my studies of the fundamental cosmic laws, I learned that these sacred substances Abrustdonis and Helkdonis are just those substances by which the higher being-bodies of three-brained beings, namely, the body Kesdjan and the body of the Soul, are in general formed and perfected; and when I learned that the separation of the sacred Askokin from the said sacred substances proceeds in general when the beings on whatever planet it might be transubstantiate the sacred substances Abrustdonis and Helkdonis in themselves for the forming and perfecting of their higher bodies, by means of conscious labors and intentional sufferings.
View From the Real World, Gurdjieff’s Talks
Gurdjieff: A soul is a luxury. No one has yet been born with a fully developed soul. Before we can speak of reincarnation, we must know what kind of man we are speaking about, what kind of soul and what kind of reincarnation. A soul may disintegrate immediately after death, or it may do so after a certain time. For example, a soul may be crystallized within the limits of the earth and may remain there, yet not be crystallized for the sun.
There is no master in ordinary man. And if there is no master, there is no soul.
A soul—this is the aim of all religions, of all schools. It is only an aim, a possibility; it is not a fact.
Ordinary man has no soul and no will. What is usually called will is merely the resultant of desires. If a man has a desire and at the same time there arises a contrary desire, that is, an unwillingness of greater strength than the first, the second will check the first and extinguish it. This is what in ordinary language is called will.
A child is never born with a soul. A soul can be acquired only in the course of life. Even then it is a great luxury and only for a few. Most people live all their lives without a soul, without a master, and for ordinary life a soul is quite unnecessary.
But a soul cannot be born from nothing. Everything is material and so is the soul, only it consists of very fine matter. Consequently, in order to acquire a soul, it is first of all necessary to have the corresponding matter. Yet we do not have enough materials even for our everyday functions.
The work of a man who wishes to awaken is excruciatingly difficult. The attention wanders, drifts towards a thought, a physical posture, an emotion. The work is to stay awake to myself; to observe my inner world, to resist the pull, to be vigilant. How to awaken the body, the intellectual function, and feeling? How is it that we can struggle to not be taken?
Exchanges Within, John Pentland
Until my attention is divided, there is no work. You understand that now. As long as I’m – whatever we call it – in my ego, as long as I think that just following one idea or applying one idea to myself is work, is practice, if you like, nothing can come. Now, very often that is how I begin to work. And then at a certain point the attention divides. Who divides it? It isn’t clear to you yet, that at a certain point I feel a relaxation, you know. You understand?
I begin to be aware of a current, a movement of relaxation. Yes? Now do you suddenly switch to putting all your attention on the relaxation? That wouldn’t be consciousness. To be aware, part of it remains, part of the tension attracts my attention. Partly the tension attracts my attention and partly I feel myself relaxing. Do you understand?
So the attention has suddenly divided. Yes? Well ten of course I can really say I’m between; it’s not a thought then. That’s not something of an image or something; the attention is divided. It’s very insecure. You know? It’s so brief, it’s so insecure I can hardly say that I experience it. Then I experience it again, maybe. Maybe another moment of relaxation, where partly the attention is taken by this current towards relaxation, towards going down in myself, but some of the attention remains behind on the tension. And so, again, for a moment I’m between. Do you understand?
Reality of Being, Jeanne de Salzmann
In my usual state, my attention is not voluntary. It is of low quality, without power, and flows passively toward the outside. But this attention has the possibility of being transformed, of achieving a purer quality by maintaining a direction recognized as necessary. By the force of my attention actively turned inward, the movement of energy changes.. Instead of going outside, it concentrates within until it forms the center of gravity of my Presence. My whole effort, my whole work, is to maintain this direction – to maintain a body so relaxed that the energy does not leave, a thinking turned toward myself so vigilant that its very presence sustains the stillness of my body, and a feeling of what wants to be recognized, of what is here, a feeling of “I.” It is an effort of attention coming from all the parts of myself – to purify the attention in order to concentrate on “I.” In this effort I discover a way of functioning that is no longer passive, a work in which the functions are called to obey the movement of attention.
Ordinary man cannot do. If I cannot ‘do’ and doing is done in me from above; although I must consent to this, how does this doing take place? Do I see any of what takes place? An energy, a vibration with matter of a different density enters my body and what occurs?
We have heard the expression “Lord Have Mercy”. But what does it mean? What would an act of Mercy be for me? Give me beauty, health, money? Would it be to bring happiness to others? Do I know what I’m asking for or do I expect that the Lord will just give me whatever I need in terms of mercy?
P.D. Ouspensky, In Search of the Miraculous
Gurdjieff: Take the ordinary God have mercy upon me! What does it mean? A man is appealing to God. He should think a little, he should make a comparison and ask himself what God is and what he is. Then he is asking God to have mercy upon him. But for this God must first of all think of him, take notice of him. But is it worth while taking notice of him? What is there in him that is worth thinking about? And who is to think about him? God himself. You see, all these thoughts and yet many others should pass through his mind when he utters this simple prayer. And then it is precisely these thoughts which could do for him what he asks God to do. But what can he be thinking of and what result can a prayer give if he merely repeats like a parrot: ‘God have mercy! God have mercy! God have mercy!’ You know yourselves that this can give no result whatever.
G.I. Gurdjieff, Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson
Holy God,
Holy the Firm,
Holy the Immortal,
have mercy on us
Jeanne de Salzmann, Reality of Being
In man it is the mind that is opposed to the body. The neutralizing force is the wish that unites them, connects them. Everything comes from the wish, the will. To represent God, it is necessary to represent these three forces. Where the three forces are reunited, God is. Where our attention is, God is. When two forces are opposed and a third unites them, God is here. We can say, “Lord, have mercy on me.” We can ask for help, to come to this in ourselves. The only help is this. Our aim is this, to contain, to unite these three forces in us . . . to be.
I need to open and receive the impression of a finer vibration. ?For this a new feeling needs to appear that allows the vibration to spread. This is why Gurdjieff had us say, “Lord have mercy,” which opens us to a feeling of our nothingness and awakens a deeper energy.
The exercise begins with the consciousness that I am here. I say to myself, “Lord have mercy,” each time with a sensation in the four limbs, successively-right arm, right leg, left leg, left arm. I do this three times, and rest for one or two breaths. Then I breath consciously, saying “I Am”: with “I,” I take in the active elements of the air and mix them with the result obtained in the four limbs, and with “Am,”" I exhale and distribute this into the sexual region. I repeat this second step three times.
I then recover the result from the sexual region and send it to the spine, exhaling with “Am.” I begin again the filling of the four limbs, remix with the active elements of air, recharge the sexual region, recover from the sexual region and send it to fill the solar plexus. And I do the same to fill the head. Then I feel the whole Presence “I Am” throughout the body
I nourish this Presence by taking the active elements from inhaling and sending them into the legs and the abdomen, then in succession the chest, the right arm, the left arm and the head. I make an inner act of engagement, saying to myself, “I wish to be. I wish and I can be. I will do everything to make this last for a specific time. I will take all necessary measures to crystallize in myself this result for being. I will do everything to be.”
Lord Pentland: But I don’t think that what is beyond self-observation ─ self-development ― is to mentally know what my weaknesses are, what my type is, and to be able to remember that and correct it. So what is beyond self-observation? You want to say? What is self-development?
Questioner: Transformation?
Lord Pentland: Yes. What is transformation? The work begins with self-observation. So what goes beyond self-observation? What practice?
Questioner: The power to see, to be separate from the observer, to lose the observer.
Lord Pentland: Yes. It’s true. It’s right. But you could put it very simply. What goes beyond self-observation is more self-observation. Being able to observe myself all the time instead of just at moments, which is seeing. Self-observation itself is a meeting point of the levels, the part that sees and the part that is seen. You understand me? And what goes beyond self-observation is to be responsible for self-observation, to be able to self-observe myself all the time, not just sometime.
Consciousness
“Faith of consciousness is freedom – Faith of feeling is weakness Faith of body is stupidity – Love of consciousness evokes the same in response – Love of feeling evokes the opposite Love of body depends only on type and polarity – Hope of consciousness is strength – Hope of feeling is slavery Hope of body is disease” Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson, G.I. Gurdjieff
Consciousness comes from above, not from below. I begin to see that what I need more than anything else is consciousness; not to do something but to see. Change comes of itself as a result of seeing, of consciousness.
In relation to the law of three, one thing in me opposes, another affirms; a muscle opposes an emotion. Where is the reconciling force, where is the master? Otherwise I am a slave to forces in disorder. I am not united, not whole, I am legion, I am not One.
