In the Footsteps of a Teacher

In the Footsteps of a Teacher

Everything that I am sharing in this post should be thought of as a theory until you are able to verify these things for yourself. In the Fourth Way, students are encouraged to receive ideas without rejection or blind acceptance, but to be open to new ideas and evaluate them through observation to make verifications for themselves.

Every true teacher must have eyes like the shooting stars and be able to kill a person’s false self without blinking an eye. — Yuanwu Keqin, Buddhist Monk

In their inception, the esoteric schools of Moses (Judaism), Christ (Christianity) Muhammad (Islam), Confucius (Confucianism), Buddha (Buddhism), Lao Tzu (Taoism), Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle (School of Athens) were all schools which originated from the influence of conscious teachers. Many of the world religions including Hinduism, Sufism and others, were sown by the seeds of ancient conscious teachings. Each conscious teaching was fundamentally designed to “Know Thy Self” and produce conscious states in their members, whose methods were passed from teacher to pupil in an oral tradition.

Only when the mind is utterly quiet are the words of the teacher rightly comprehended. — Yoga Vasishtha

There are many names that refer to esoteric teachers: guru, master, spiritual leader, mentor, guide, mystic, shaykh (Sufi), lama (Tibetan Buddhist). Perhaps the most widely known lineage of teachers is Socrates (the teacher of Plato); Plato (the teacher of Aristotle). There are lesser known, more modern lineages of teachers which have not resulted in – or some might say descended into – the creation of a religion.

The lineage of the Fourth Way begins with G.I. Gurdjieff, a conscious Teacher, who traveled and gathered ancient esoteric knowledge from the East. His pupil, P.D. Ouspensky became conscious and codified and published the eastern esoteric teachings of Gurdjieff. Rodney Collin was a student of Ouspensky and became conscious. Toward the end of Ouspensky’s life, Collin reconstructed the teaching that he received from Ouspensky in the book called, “The Theory of Celestial Influence.” Each of these men were taught from someone who had achieved consciousness or enlightenment before him and who shined a lamp to lighten their way.

Each teacher reveals the truth in his own special way, and then he disappears. — Attar

My conscious Teacher comes from the lineage of Fourth Way teachers, and he has expanded the techniques and methods of awakening that were begun by Gurdjieff, Ouspensky, Collin and others. Each conscious teacher builds upon and adds another hue or story to the ancient teachings. Yet each is dependent upon the recognition of Influence C or Conscious Influence, which is the ultimate source of knowledge, whose names vary with titles such as God, Divine Being, Celestial Being, the Absolute, etc. Teachers pass along their influence in their own unique way, adjusting to their time and place, and guided by what they envision as their task in the world. They themselves are servants to Higher Centers and impart their wisdom from Higher Influence to their students.

They [teachers] are always inventing new methods, new practices, suitable to the time and conditions in which they exist, and when they have achieved one task which was set them they pass on to another, often changing their name and whole appearance in the process. — Rodney Collin

Recognition of a conscious teacher does not come from watching them perform miracles or seeing a visible sign of higher consciousness. The irradiations from the transmitter (the Teacher) are perceived by the receiver (the student) from a point of awareness, called the magnetic center in the Fourth Way. Magnetic is a particularly descriptive word to communicate the experience of being drawn to a conscious teaching.

No teacher ever brings a new message, in any galaxy. In Schools, one does not look for different answers, one looks for the same answers. — The Teacher

In my case, my recognition came from the depth of my own heart perceiving a resonance with their consciousness, which in turn evoked a higher state in me. This experience of recognizing a conscious Teacher is invisible, but its pull is palpable – like a magnetic field – that draws a receptive student to a teacher. Finding a teacher is as scarce as “finding a needle in a haystack” and the connection is as fragile as a silken thread.

This awakening you have known comes not through logic and scholarship, but from close association with a realized Teacher. — Katha Upanishads

The Fourth Way asserts that mechanical man “cannot do.” This is especially important in following a conscious Teacher who “can do.” Until I can bridge intervals on my own, I follow his conscious guidance and borrow the Will of the Teacher. Because I am confronted with and see my sleep daily, my Teacher is an important balance of inspiration and a reminder of my higher possibilities. Rather than falling into self-pity as I see my mechanical behavior, the Teacher encourages me to choose self-remembering. To “kill a person’s false self without blinking an eye” is the realm of a Master who pairs and balances this process with conscious love.

A teacher can only realize himself by sincerely sharing objective knowledge that has been given by higher school. — The Teacher

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Confucius presenting Gautama Buddha to Lao-Tzu