The Handle by Which We Are Moved: Discovering Chief Feature

The Handle by Which We Are Moved: Discovering Chief Feature

This post is from our friend Lindsey V. of the New York Center.

The study of chief feature is the study of the principal obstacle in oneself. —P. D. Ouspensky

How do you experience your principal obstacle to awakening? Do you know what it is? The Fourth Way teaches that beneath our apparent individuality lies the illusion of a unified self, and this is the principal obstacle to awakening. Even a little self-observation reveals the many contradictory ‘I's at work within us. One ‘I’ sets the alarm to rise early for a morning run; another presses the snooze button when it rings. One ‘I’ decides to begin a diet, another orders dessert. These different ‘I's often know nothing of one another, and we miss the deep implication– no one is really “driving the bus.”

Repeated patterns among these many ‘I’s gradually become relatively stable habits called features. Features are the building blocks of false personality—the acquired, mechanical side of us formed through habit, education, imitation, and identification. Features sustain our imaginary picture of ourselves, our illusion of unity. Features are all aspects of imagination, but it can be helpful to name some classic examples such as fear, vanity, pride, self-pity, greed, the need to dominate, and what Gurdjieff called "tramp" and "lunatic." One feature is not better than another; they are all equally mechanical. Unlike the passing ‘I's, features remain constant, appearing again and again in similar situations.

Among these, one feature usually becomes dominant. G. I. Gurdjieff called this our chief feature—the central weakness that repeatedly wastes energy, reinforces mechanical behavior, and obstructs presence.

Every man has one principal feature in his character, one central weakness, and if he can struggle against that, all the others become easier. —G. I. Gurdjieff

Chief feature quietly weaves many of our thoughts, emotions, and actions around a hidden assumption. Because it is so familiar, it is often invisible to the person who possesses it. A person dominated by fear avoids new experiences because the world feels fundamentally unsafe. Someone ruled by vanity continually seeks admiration because self-worth depends upon the opinions of others. A person driven by the need to dominate constantly tries to control situations, believing only they know the right way, while a person with tramp may exhibit inertia, feeling that tomorrow conditions will be better.

My own work has often centered on fear. I can see how fear underlies many different behaviors: fear of making mistakes, fear of being left alone, fear of disappointing others, and the habit of trying too hard. Beneath these reactions lies a longing for security. Yet lasting security cannot be found in the ordinary mechanical state. It appears only in the present moment, where attention is no longer captive to imagination.

Working with chief feature is like pulling up the root of a weed rather than continually trimming its leaves. As the central weakness loses its grip, many secondary habits begin to weaken as well.

A man's chief feature is the handle by which he can be moved.—Rodney Collin

Whenever life presses this "handle," we react mechanically instead of consciously. Praise inflates vanity, criticism wounds pride, uncertainty awakens fear, and frustration provokes anger or self-pity. In each case, attention becomes identified with the reaction, and freedom is lost.

The Fourth Way does not ask us to suppress chief feature. Instead, it asks us to observe it without justification or condemnation. Through self-observation, self-remembering, and the sincere feedback of a teacher and fellow students, its operation gradually becomes visible. This sincere recognition weakens false personality, dissolves psychological buffers, and allows conscience to awaken.

Only by seeing oneself can one change. —G. I. Gurdjieff

The work against chief feature is not a project of self-improvement but a tool in piercing the illusion of unity. Every moment we observe our features without identification creates a moment of presence. Personality loses some of its power, essence has room to grow, and living presence emerges.

This state [presence] has no chief feature. —The Teacher

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Child with a Mask, Jean-Léon Gérôme