An Inner Considering Paradox – A Made-Up Story (Or is It?) Today is the first day of my new job, and I worry about whether I can do this type of work. They liked me in the interview. I must have done something right. I hope I did not mislead them, however. I might not be the right guy for this job if they really knew me. As I walk into my new office suite, I encounter the receptionist and introduce myself. Can she see through my façade? She must think I'm a faker because I do

The Antidote to Inner Considering From our friend Lindsey V. of the New York Center. An idea specific to the Fourth Way is the distinction between inner considering and its antidote, external consideration. Ouspensky defines inner considering as a state in which everything is measured by the questions, "What do they think of me?" or "How have I been treated?" It is a life centered on oneself, where imagination, false personality, and identification are strengthened and unnece

What is Beyond Inner Considering? Before beginning to write this essay, I just experienced a moment of inner considering. I posted a link on this private group to another website. As I did, I felt an internal conflict and worried about the opinions of my peers. I found myself questioning whether my peers would think, “why am I confounding my readers with more resources?” This small moment of doubt and hesitation is an example of what G.I. Gurdjieff called "internal considerin

Consume Your Lion, Control Your Emotions The non-expression of negative emotions is a pillar of the Fourth Way and a discipline that is perplexing to our modern “express yourself” culture. Nearly every esoteric tradition recognizes, however, the pitfalls of expressing negative emotions. The ancient Greek poet, Sappho, said, “When anger is flooding through your chest best to quiet your reckless barking tongue.” These raw feelings represent many of our most mechanical behaviors

Using Emotions: A Path to Inner Freedom From our friend Lindsey V. of the New York Center. One of the most hopeful teachings of the Fourth Way is that human beings possess far greater possibilities than they ordinarily realize. We are not condemned to live as prisoners of anger, fear, resentment, anxiety, self-pity, or vanity. Beneath our habitual emotional reactions lies an enormous reserve of energy. The aim of the Fourth Way is not self-improvement but conscious evolution—

“Who, me? Not me. Who, Then?” “The soul is a spark of the essential substance of the stars.” − Heraclitus I suppose if we truly understood that each of us had a God particle at the center of our foreheads, we would not be afraid of each other, and we would freely share who we are and what we hope to become. All people, unfortunately, suffer from a common form of identification called “inner considering,” which plagues us and steals our moments. The internal mechanical dialogu

Real Freedom From our friend Lindsey V. of the New York Center. Freedom is first of all freedom from identification. - G. I. Gurdjieff What is this thing called identification? How do you recognize it? For me, it is a sense of contraction, a state of being so completely absorbed in or fascinated by whatever has captured my attention that I forget myself entirely. Nature offers the example of a cat ready to pounce at a bird. Presence and identification are mutually exclusive s

Self Defense Against Identification Separating from Identification is quite a challenge; in fact, identification is the opposite of separation. It is instructive to initially learn about this obstacle to presence by examining it when you see it manifest in others. Some forms of sleep are quite invisible from the outside – such as being in imagination or inner considering – but many forms of identification can be seen easily by observing others. When someone is identified, the

What are Intellectual Habits, and Why are they Bad? Our fatal habits of reasoning paralyze us. – Heraclitus I have many intellectual habits; some of them are bad… well, most of them are bad. The good habits are oftentimes the corollary to the bad habits but that's enough for generalities. Certain intellectual habits are “bad” because they interfere with being present. For a student on the Way, good and bad are a function of consciousness. Learning about my intellectual habits

Awakening from the Inside Out To the extent that I become more receptive to finer energy and subtle influences, I increase and deepen my awareness of the presence of outside help. This receptivity begins with an exploration of my machine’s weaknesses and strengths through self-reflection, observations of sleep and mechanical reactions. I first must sweep out, reorganize and tidy my internal house before guests can be received. I have cluttered and hoarded my inner space with

Separation [This selection is an excerpt from a longer essay in our friend Sergio Antonio’s new book, A Map to Awakening.] Everything we do can be performed in a state that the Fourth Way considers 'sleep.' Of the four possible states of consciousness, the first two are called sleep, relative absence of awareness. We spend our entire lives in these two states: in the first state in bed (usually at night), in the second during our working day. We can work, fall in love, perfor

Opportunities for Practicing Non-Identification A member of our Facebook Group made some valuable observations about prioritizing presence in specific circumstances where they had previously found themselves habitually reacting with frustration, anger, and fear. Her encounter originated from working with last week’s exercise on courage. As I read her story, I realized that her experience was a fitting example of non-identification and keeping an even mind. This week’s topic m

The Courage to ‘Die’: Abandoning Sleep Conquering the lower self takes real courage. — The Teacher I tend to apply courage to the feats of heroic figures, people who face grave danger with bravery. People who overcome audaciously bigger-than-life obstacles. Movies, comic books, anime, novels, and television shows paint a picture of superhumans whose guts or grit are just as impressive as their super-abilities. Even ancient tales and myths feature characters like Odysseus, Psy

Becoming Empty The following post is based on an essay written by our friend Dharmesh Shah, Ahmedabad Center. Today, while filling a glass of water, there was the perception that if the glass is already full, but the water is still being poured inside it, then the water will start spilling out as the glass cannot hold more water. In a similar vein, conscious influences are continuously being showered upon me, and the reason I am unable to hold them is that I am too full. The

Turning Chaos into Tranquility The chapters of my life marked with confusion, difficulty and chaos required an active response of commitment, determination, and patience to muddle through the onslaught of the many ‘I’s. When I have been effective in using the tools of the Fourth Way and able to engage self-remembering during tumultuous times, I was able to rediscover and strengthen deeper verifications which pointed out that a good portion of chaos comes from imagination. The

The Payment Based on a post from my friend Vale Lama in the Milan Center One of the principles of the System is that to really value something, a man must pay to get it. Getting it for free, without effort, means you won’t appreciate it enough. What is the payment in the Fourth Way? My teacher says when you are on the Way, the price, the privilege, and the payment is revealed to you. In my experience of self-work several primary forms of payment are not mutually exclusive. Th

The Current of Consciousness Currency A foundational cornerstone of a student’s progress in the Fourth Way – or for that matter, progress toward any serious endeavor – is related to one’s attitude toward payment. Typically, when people hear about payment as a principle, they are likely to think of money as the primary form of payment. By that logic, if money were the main currency, you might expect the demographics of a Fourth Way School to be skewed toward wealthy individual

Acceptance This post is from our friend Dharmesh Shaw of the Ahmedabad Center. Winter is fading and summer gradually is setting in. The change of season is quite perceptible in the environment. The machine is trying to adjust to the external environment and whether I choose to accept it or not, seasons will change. They will keep on changing. The right attitude is to accept the change, without losing energy over it, without complaining, without expressing negativity. The stat

From our friend Elizabeth in the Northern California Center Acceptance Let us explore the idea of acceptance. Often, when we hear this word, we think of giving up our position, submitting to another, being seen as weak – all very automatic responses. What if, instead, we viewed the idea of acceptance as a valuable tool to help us be more present to the moment, to be more awake? Acceptive and at ease, distilling the present hour, whatever, wherever it is. —Walt Whitman Can acc

From our friend Astha in Toronto Center Weekly Topic: Acceptance When we acknowledge that each of our roles in this divine play comes from Conscious Influence, then we are more readily able to accept ourselves, our circumstances, other people, as well as all that is given. This acceptance, which we do not control, allows us to be awakened to the preciousness of existence. “Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking,

Pluck a Thistle and Plant a Flower What inspires you or me to greet each new day with the readiness to study and put energy into experiences that have the possibility of evoking higher states of consciousness? How to manage making the necessary choices and efforts to attain my highest potential and how to sustain these efforts? Avoid studies of which the result dies with the worker. —Leonardo da Vinci I have heard about people studying nutrition and exercise and envisioning m

[An excerpt from our friend Sergio Antonio’s recent book, A Map to Awakening.] As we master the art of self-observation, we learn to focus not so much on the action being performed, but on the 'place' in us that originates it, the part in us that wants to perform that action. (Why am I writing these lines now? Out of habit, vanity, a sense of duty, boredom, delusion, a desire to help? And what part in me is organizing the discourse, deciding what to say, finding reasons to do

Fair, Kind, and True P.D. Ouspensky said that you have to learn to move in a certain way with cats, or you will scare them away, and in a certain way with bees or they will sting you. Human beings are startled in much the same way as cats and bees, particularly if you have unveiled something that they themselves have not seen. Communicating in ordinary language so that we can understand each other is a part of second line work. Listening carefully with presence to the needs o

When Funny is not so Funny For those interested in doing the Work, there are many weaknesses to observe and transform. Some may appear more consequential than others. For instance, trying to control attention and to break identifications are fundamental challenges to reaching higher states of consciousness. Less obvious forms to work with—and no less challenging—include controlling unnecessary talk, lying, and expressions of wit. This essay focuses on the latter: the control

Fun, Mirth and Happiness The accumulation and intentional management of energy is one of the foundational ideas of the Fourth Way. It is a rewarding, non-judgmental practice to think about concepts and Work ideas as simple, nearly mathematical expressions of what energy do I need and how to refine and use the raw materials of my life for self-remembering. This perspective helps me to think about the idea of wit and forms of sarcasm from a more objective viewpoint. On the surf

I Gossip in My Sleep This is how it goes when I sleep. I grumble, “I wonder why they would do that if they were really my friends? How can they afford to take the whole family on vacation, but they are too cheap to foot the bill for dinner last night?” My wife interrupts, and she says in the dream, “Why would you talk about your friends like that? If they could be different, they would be. Who are you to judge and complain about somebody else? That is not your place. This is

Putting on the Breaks to Gossip Even if we have little interest in conscious development, some corner of our being knows it is essential to resist the inclination to complain, critique, analyze, or simply lose ourselves through other people. Most people have experienced the feeling of energy depletion and exhaustion after a rant of gossiping about others. Gossip is a form of identification with other people the Fourth Way calls “Unnecessary Talk” and it usually digresses furt

Beauty [An excerpt from our friend Sergio Antonio’s new book , A Map to Awakening. ] As with every student in the school of which I am a part, much of my work is devoted to absorbing higher impressions. I used to live in Rome, a city overflowing with beauty. I was lucky enough to find an apartment in a central area that was walking distance to many of the city's churches and museums, for which I have an annual pass. Wherever I have lived I have visited and revisited the same

The Others ( excerpt ) [A selection from our friend Sergio Antonio’s new book , A Map to Awakening. ] Relating to others, coming out of the 'nutshell' in which one is enclosed, requires empathy. [William Shakespeare: "I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space.” The nutshell, so similar to a human skull; and the walnut, so similar to a brain, remain for me symbols of a pretended work, only theoretical, only apparent, confined to the narrow sp

How much I love the Beloved [An excerpt from our friend Sergio Antonio’s new book , A Map to Awakening. ] I have often heard distance cited as a factor that makes relationships impossible: "He lives fifty miles away, how could we be together?" This sentence misses an important postulate: how could we be together without changing our life habits, such as traveling more or changing residence, job? It then happens that the beloved is two thousand, five thousand miles away, and

Transforming [An excerpt from our friend Sergio Antonio’s recent book, A Map to Awakening .] From time to time I get a taste of the transformation of negative emotions, or of suffering. It is a feeling that cannot be compared with any other. This is one of the most difficult Fourth Way topics to illustrate. Both because there are enormous biases, which we have discussed many times. They are many and varied, but in all of them they take the 'machine' as the only reality and s

Everything meaningful and beautiful has been fashioned in some way or another through the transformation of suffering: a newborn baby, a poem, compassion, a painting or sculpture, a song, or a lotus flower have all passed the test and grown through the necessary trials to rise above the mud and ripen into fruition. Something in me has known – and I suspect all of us have known – the truth of transforming suffering even as children, yearning to hear the part where they “lived

Being out of Patterns Wakes Me Up I am a creature of habit and tend to do the same things or follow the same patterns in my daily life. Of course, some structure and habits are necessary to function in ordinary life. To practice the Work of becoming different and more conscious, however, it is practical and useful – and even fun at times - to set aims that put me out of patterns. Mechanical efficiency is not virtuous; it displaces conscious virtue. ─ The Teacher One quick as

Efficiency Kills Third Eye After I awoke this morning, I laid in bed wondering about how to approach the subject of habits and tendencies. Thoughts about New Year’s resolutions came to mind and oftentimes in the past I would set aims to help me become aware of the sleep-inducing habits in each of the four lower centers: instinctive, moving, intellectual, and emotional centers. This morning was different. Every grown-up … consists wholly of habits, although he is often unaware

The Glow that Sustains Me There is no causal connection between people's behavior and the love you feel for them. Love for one's fellow man is like an elemental glow that sustains you. ─ Etty Hillesum One of the hardest things to do in the Work is to truly externally consider someone else. External consideration is an essential part of the second line of Work, that is, working with people in the School, but it is a major challenge for anyone starting to work on themselves. S

Recognizing Oneself in Others As for humane-ness—you want to establish yourself; then help others to establish themselves. You want to develop yourself; then help others to develop themselves. Being able to recognize oneself in others, one is on the way to being humane . —Confucius Commentaries on Considering The following quotes are taken from the Commentaries by Maurice Nicoll. He was a student of P.D. Ouspensky and wrote in his lengthy Commentaries on the Fourth Way

“Who, me? Not me. Who, Then?” “The soul is a spark of the essential substance of the stars.” − Heraclitus I suppose if we truly understood that each of us had a God particle in the center of our forehead, we would not be afraid of each other, and we would freely share what we are and what we hope to become. All people, unfortunately, suffer from a common form of identification called “inner considering,” which plagues us and steals our moments. The internal mechanical dialog

Inner-considering Inner-considering is the psychological state of worrying what people think of us; of not being able to say what we wish to a person because of the fear of not being liked. Inner-considering also encompasses feelings that people do not value us as much as we think they should. The other side of this coin is the attitude of not caring at all about how we manifest, doing and saying things with little or no regard for others. This is simply being inconsiderate.

Awakening to the Eureka Moment There are useless tendencies or mechanical habits in my machine that deplete my energy and take me away from the simplicity of being present to what is in front of me. Without increased awareness of these sleep-inducing weaknesses – coupled with intentional work against these habits – they grow and displace self-remembering. One of these habits is called inner considering, which is identification with people, and it is typically partnered with i

The Conscious Game of Hide and Seek What you seek is seeking you. ─ Rumi Certain passive types of human machines, including myself,...

Features; The Brightest Heaven of Invention In relation to producing or accessing higher centers, Peter Ouspensky stated that if...

Aim at Higher Consciousness A friend in the Work gave me sage advice long ago, which continues to guide my relationship to setting aims....

Mommie Dearest George Gurdjieff said ‘If you want to change a man you must start with his great, great grandmother.’ Although he was...

Show Me How Work on your self can have marvelous results – if you remember you are in life in the Work and not in life without anything...

What My Mother Taught Me Before I try to pop this invisible bubble of influence referred to as Feminine Dominance, I would like to make...

Weekly Exercise From my friend and fellow student, Astha of the Toronto Center Weekly Topic: Feminine Dominance The largely unseen...

Why Not Express Negative Emotions? There are many people who have told me that expressing myself, including negative emotions, is the...

Non-Expression of Negative Emotions Negative emotions cannot be transformed. They can however, be observed and this is possible by not...

What We Repeatedly Do For our recent weekly exercise, Astha asked us to observe and identify three areas where negative emotions tend to...

A Stoic’s Thoughts on Imagination and Identification At the very end of what we might call ancient times, the Roman Emperor Marcus...