From "Encounters With Nagual" by Armando Torres Recapitulation When revising my notes, i discovered that another topic Carlos

repeatedly referred to in his talks was the concept of recapitulation. He claimed that it is the exercise to which sorcerers dedicate most of their time. Once he remarked that, in spite of the energy drainage we are subjected to through social interaction, we all have an option, because the sealed of nature of our luminous configuration allows us to restart from ero any time, and to recover our totality! !t is never too late , he said. While we are alive, there is always a way of con"uering any kind of blockage. #he best way to recover the luminous fibers we have lost is by calling our energy back. #he most important part is to take the first step. $or those who are interested in saving and recovering their energy, the only way open to us is the recapitulation. % sorcerer knows that if we don&t go for our ghosts, they will come for us. $or that reason he leaves nothing unresolved. He recounts his past, looks for the magical joint ' the exact moment when he was involved in somebody&s destiny ' and applies all his concentration to that point, and unties the knots of intent. (orcerers say that we live our life from a distance, as if it were a memory. We spend life hooked, hurt by something that happened thirty years ago and carrying a burden that doesn&t make any sense anymore. &! don&t forgive it )& we scream, but it is not true, it is ourselves we don&t forgive) #he emotional commitments we make with people are like investments we have made along the way. We must be completely insane to leave our heritage thrown away like that) #he only way we can become complete again, is by picking up that investment, reconciling ourselves with our energy, and dissipating the heavy burden of feelings. #he best method the sorcerers have discovered for this is to remember the events of our personal history until we have completely digested them. *ecapitulation takes you out of the past, and inserts you into the now. We cannot escape having been born as bored 'flicks', nor having invested most of our luminosity in making children or in maintaining tiring relationships. +ut we can recapitulate, it cancels out the energetic effects of those acts. $ortunately, in the realm of energy, things like time and space don&t exist. (o it is possible to return to the place and to the same moment when the events happened, and relive them. !t is not very difficult, since we all know well where we are hurting. "To recapitulate is to stal" our routines, sub#ecting them to a systematic and merciless scrutiny! $t is an activity that allows us to visuali e our life as a totality, and not #ust as a succession of moments! %owever, and although this may seem

strange, only sorcerers recapitulate as an e&ercise' other people only happen to do it by chance! *ecapitulation is the heritage of the old seers, the basic practice, the essence of sorcery. Without it, there is no path. -on .uan used to disparagingly refer to apprentices who had no recapitulated as &radioactive&. -on /enaro would not even shake hands with me, and if i touched him accidentally, he would run to wash himself as if i had infected him. He said i was full of dirt and it was seeping out through every pore of my skin. With that comedy routine, he installed in me the idea that recapitulating is an elementary act of hygiene! !n another lecture, (arlos referred to a "ind of luminous stagnation, which he described as a fi&ation of our attention that bloc"s the flow of energy! %e said that this happens when we refuse to face facts and try to protect ourselves by hiding behind evasive actions! Also, when we leave pending matters unresolved, or ma"e commitments that ties us down! The conse)uence of that "ind of stagnation is that the person ceases to be himself! When being pressured by the chain of decisions that he has made during his life, he can no longer act in a deliberate manner and he becomes entangled in the circumstances! This situation can escalate to the point of mental or physical illness, and can only be resolved through recapitulation! He maintained that, in essence, to recapitulate consists of ma"ing a list of wounds caused by our interactions! The ne&t step is to travel bac" to the moment when the events too" place, in order to reasorb what belongs to us, and return what belongs to others! "The warrior begins rewinding his day! %e reconstructs conversatons, deciphers meanings, remembers faces and names, loo"s for shades and insinuations, dissects his own emotional reactions and those of others! %e doesn*t leave anything to chance, grabs the memories of the day one by one and cleans them through his breathing! "%e also e&amines entire chapters and categories of his life! For e&ample, partners he has had, houses he has lived in, schools, wor" places, friends and enemies, fights and happy moments, and so on! The ideal thing is to attac" the tas" in chronogical order, from the most recent memory until the most distant that it is possible to evo"e! +ut in the beginning it is easier to do it by topics! "A very profitable form of the e&ercise, accessible to all of us, is the fortuitous recapitulation! $f you thin" about it, we are constantly recapitulating! All memories which conform to our internal dialogue can be called that! %owever, we evo"e them in an invlountary way' $nstead of stal"ing them in silence, we #udge them and interact with them viscerally! That is pitiful! A warrior ta"es advantage of the opportunity, because those memories seemingly random, are warnings from our silent side!" He pointed out that to recapitulate, no special conditions are necessary. We can try the exercise any time, any place, wherever we feel moved to do it. Warriors recapitulate when they are walking down the road, in the bathroom, when

working or when eating, whenever it is possible ) #he important thing is to do it. He added that it takes no definite posture. #he only re"uirement is to be comfortable, so the physical body doesn&t demand attention or interfere with the memories. However, sorcerers take the exercise very seriously. (ome use wooden boxes, raised platforms, closets, or caves. Others build a seat in the highest branches of a big tree, or dig a hole in the ground and cover it with branches. % good practice is to recapitulate sitting on the bed, in darkness, before lying down to sleep. %ny means that isolates us from the environment is good for formal recapitulation. Once we have located an event and recreated each of its part, we have to inhale to recover the energy that we left behind and exhale fibers that others deposited in us. +reathing is magical, because it is a founction that gives life. Carlos explained that this kind of breathing should be accompanied by a lateral movement of the head, which sorcerers call &to fan the event&. ,omebody as"ed him if it is necessary to breathe from right to left or vice versa! %e answered"What does it matter. $t is energy wor"' there is no fi&ed pattern! What counts is the intent! +reathe in when you try to recover something, and blow bac" all that doesn*t belong to you! $f you do that with the totality of your history, you will stop living entangled in a chain of memories and instead, you will be focused in the present! ,eers describe that effect as facing facts as they are, or seeing time ob#ectively!" #hey asked him what we have to do with our memories once we locate them, whether it means to examine them with some psychoanalytical method or something like that. He answered0 !t is not necessary to do anything in particular. 1emories will find their own course, and luminosity is reordered by itself through the breathing. .ust try it, make yourself available, the spirit will tell you how to do it. *ecapitulation starts from inside and sustain itself. !t is matter of silencing the mind, and our energy body will take control, doing what is a delight for it to do. 2ou feel well, comforted, far from draining you, it gives you rest. 2our body perceives it as an inexplicable energy bath. +ut you should have the correct attitude. -on&t confuse the exercise with a psychological "uestion. !f what you need is interpretations, go to the psychiatrist ) He will tell you what to do to continue being the idiot that you are. 3either should you try to find a &lesson&. (tories with a moral only exist in children&s books. "Recapitulation is a speciali ed form of stal"ing, and should be underta"en with a high sense of strategy! $t is about understanding and putting our e&istence in order, seeing it as it is, without remorse, reproaches, or congratulations, with total indifference and a spirit of fluidity, even of humor, because nothing in our history

is more important than anything else, and all relationships, in the end, are ephemeral! "The important thing is to begin, because the energy we recover from the first intent will give us the power to continue recapitulating more and more intricate aspects of our lives! First, it is necessary to go for the strongest investments, which are the most harrowing feelings! Then we go for those memories that are buried so deeply that we though we had forgotten them, but they are there! !n the beginning, recapitulating can be hard work, because our mind is not accustomed to that discipline, +ut, after closing the most painful wounds, energy will recogni4e itself and we become addicted to the exercise. !n that way, each particle of light, which we recover, helps us to gain more. #he moment you begin to prepare to volountarily unravel the plots of our personal history, you will be taking a decisive step. *esponding to another "uestion, he said that recapitulation doesn&t have an end, it should last until the end of our days and beyond. ! stretch my fibers every night while remembering what happened during the day. #his way, my list of events stays updated. +ut once a year, i give myself over to a more complete and total exercise, for which i move away from everything for several weeks. He warned us that, just because it&s a daily practice, we must not see the exercise as a routine. "$f we don*t recover the totality of our energy, we will never achieve the power of our decisions' there will always be a bac"round noise, a foreign command! And without the power of his decisons, a man is nothing! *eliving events is ideal, because it cleans the wounds of the past and clear up any congestion of the energy conduits. !n this way, you break the fixation of other&s people ga4e, you expose the patterns of people&s behavior, and nothing can hook you again.2ou become a sovereign being, you decide what you want to make of yourself. %nother "uestion concerned the effect of recapitulation on awareness. He maintained that the exercise has two main effects. #he immediate effect is that it stops our internal dialogue. When a warrior is able to stop his dialogue, he tightens the relationship with his energy. !t liberates him from the obligation of memory, and from the burden of feelings, and leaves a residual energy that he can invest in enlarging the frontiers of his perception. % warrior begins to appreciate the real thing, not the interpratation of it. $or the first time, he comes into contact with the concensus of sorcerers, which is the description of a reality inconceivably integrated. !t&s normal that a warrior at this stage begins to laugh at anything, because energy provides happiness. #hanks to his recapitulation, he is happy, overflowing, jump like a child. On the other hand, he begins to become a fearsome person, since, having his luminosity intact and his life clean, decisions will no longer be an obstacle for him. He

will decide what is necessary the moment he wants to, and that, to other people, is scary. #his is also the time when the warrior re"uires an extra dose of sobriety and sanity, because without it he would take unnecessary risks, endangering both his own security and the security of others. %nother effect of recapitulation is that it works as an invitation to the spirit, and makes it want to come and live with us. !n other words0 #o remember our past is the most effective method to unite the physical body and the energy body, which have been separated for years. He went on to say that sorcerer who has managed to compress the thickest part of his energy is in a state where he may intend a feat of perceptual prowess0 !ntending a copy of his life experience, in order to deceive death. #hat is the final objective of recapitulation0 #o create a double, and get ready to leave. 2ou don&t have to be a sorcerer to understand the importance of all this. #o die in debt is a pitiful way of dying. On the other hand, to have a double to offer the 5agle guarantees that you will be able to continue ahead. #he fight of sorcerers is heroic. *ecapitulating impeccably the content of their lives, they pick up the fibers which drained their attention, and return to those they have known all the attention they have given them. !n that way, they arrive at a state of balance which allows them to leave with all their awareness. #heir memories, coherent, refined, and integrated, work as an independent being, which serves as a ticket they hand over in exchange for their awareness. #he 5agle accepts that effort as a payment, and steps aside. Our replica is sufficient to satisfy its demand. (eers see that moment as an explosion of energy which aligns their encapsulated awareness with the totality of emanations out there, and their assemblage point expends infinitely, like a vortex of light. $n another tal", he referred to a method designed by the new seers, which can be helpful in the e&ercise of recapitulation! %e stated"/ne of the tas" of sorcerers is to constantly analy e the insinuations of the spirit! For this purpose, they often use a boo" of memorable events, a map of those occasions when the spirit intervened in their lives, foreign them to ma"e decisions 0 volountarily or involountarily!" %e e&plained that the advantage of this techni)ue is that when we write, we detach ourselves from things and events, at least to a minimal e&tent, and thus we are able to focus on them with more ob#ectivity! "$t is not about describing our daily routines, but of being attentive to the strange moments in which intent is manifested! Those are magical #unctures, because they produce changes and they put us face to face with the meaning of our e&istence!" As re)uested, he gave us some e&amples of this "ind of events! "Although signs of the spirit are a personal matter, there are ordinary events that

in general mar" people*s life, li"e being born, choosing a career, interwining your destiny with another person, or having children! Also illnesses and serious accidents, because they establish a ne&us with death! For those who have the fortune of finding a conduit of spirit in the shape of a nagual, this is, certainly, the most memorable event of all! "The interventions of intent are precursors, very significant memories for a warrior, and they can be used as reference points of where to start when one is e&ploring episodes of personal history! $t re)uires speed and clarity to select them and to syntheti e them, e&tracting the personal stuff and leaving the magical essence! When properly done, they become what the new seers call abstracts centers of perception, a matri& of intent, which a warrior has the duty of deciphering!" from 1ouravieffHomo (apiens lives immersed in his everyday life to a point where he forgets himself and forgets where he is going, yet, without feeling it, he knows that death cuts off everything. How can we explain that the intellectual who has made marvelous discoveries and the technocrat who has exploited them have left outside the field of their investigations the ending of our lives6 How can we explain that a science which attempts everything and claims everything nevertheless remains indifferent to the enigma revealed by the "uestion of death6 How can we explain why (cience, instead of uniting its efforts with its older sister *eligion to resolve the problem of +eing 'which is also the problem of death ' has in fact opposed her6 Whether a man dies in bed or aboard an interplanetary ship, the human condition has not changed in the slightest. Happiness6 +ut we are taught that happiness lasts only as long as the !llusion lasts... and what is this !llusion6 3obody knows. +ut it submerges us. !f we only knew what !llusion is, we would then know the opposite0 what #ruth is. #his #ruth would liberate us from slavery. %s a psychological phenomenon, has !llusion ever been subjected to critical analysis based on the most recent discoveries of science6 !t does not seem to be so, and yet one cannot say that man is la4y and does not search. He is a passionate searcher ... but he misses the essential, he bypasses it in his search. What strikes us from the very beginning is that man confuses moral progress with technical progress, so that the development of science continues in dangerous isolation. #he brilliant progress that has come from technology has changed nothing essential in the human condition, and will change nothing, because it operates only in the field of everyday events. $or this reason it touches the inner life of man only superficially. 2et from very ancient times it has been known that the essential is found within man, not outside him. 7...8 5soteric philosophy concerns man as he is0 the investigator is the object of his own studies. (tarting from the constatation that man is unknown, his target is to make himself known to himself ' as he is, and as he might become under certain conditions. 798 '''''''''''''''''''''''

/urdjieff had his methods. 1ouravieff wrote about these methods in a slightly different way. Castaneda either borrowed many of these ideas and re'framed them in a (outhwestern shamanic context with his own spin , or actually found traces of the same ideas there. ! tend toward the former supposition based on the timing and discussion with someone who knew him. Our own approach is more strictly along the lines of /urdjieff and 1ouravieff and a bit of Castaneda with a kick. /urdjieff and 1ouravieff and Castaneda all talk about a man needing to know himself, to know his machine, to observe it, to engage in introspection or recapitulation or self'observation and so on and so forth. We have taken this to the next logical step and utili4e the terminology of modern psychology. !n our searching for validation of these ideas, we have found that there are actually studies and books written about various aspects of human psychology that service these very ancient traditions remarkably. /urdjieff talked about buffers and how they are created. !t&s clear that Castaneda&s recapitulation was supposed to be a means of dealing with buffers though Castaneda&s presentation of many things was sorely lacking in clarity. He tended to mystify the whole thing. #hat is unfortunate. % lot of people follow after the Castaneda way because of this very mystification. !t sounds so ' well ' esoteric and they don&t want to accept the simple fact that the first order of business is to deal with your own psychology in a very basic and practical way. Have a look at what /urdjieff had to say about buffers and keep in mind that he is talking about the many programs or thought loops that become inculcated into us from childhood due to our experiences and familial and social conditioning. #hese programs, or thought loops, are the same thing that Castaneda refers to as the :redator&s 1ind. ! wrote about this sort of thing extensively in #he Wave in more modern psychological parlance. From 2urd#ieff2ou often think in a very naive way, he said. 2ou already think you can do. #o get rid of this conviction is more difficult than anything else for a man. 3ou do not understand all the comple&ity of your organi ation and you do not reali4e that every effort, in addition to the results desired, even if it gives these, gives thousands of unexpected and often undesirable results, and the chief thing that you forget is that you are not beginning from the beginning with a nice clean, new machine! #here stand behind you many years of a wrong and stupid life, of indulgence in every "ind of wea"ness, of shutting your eyes to your own errors, of striving to avoid all unpleasant truths, of constant lying to yourselves, of self0#ustification, of blaming others, and so on, and so on. %ll this cannot help affecting the machine. #he machine is dirty, in places it is rusty, and in some places artificial appliances have been formed, the necessity for which has been created by its own wrong way of working. #hese artificial appliances will now interfere very much with all your good intentions. #hey are called &buffers.& &+uffer& is a term which re"uires special explanation. We know what buffers on railway carriages are. #hey are the contrivances which lessen the shock when carriages or trucks strike one another. !f there were no buffers the shock of one carriage against another would be very unpleasant and dangerous. +uffers soften the results of these shocks and render them unnoticeable and imperceptible.

5xactly the same appliances are to be found within man. They are created, not by nature but by man himself, although involuntarily! #he cause of their appearance is the existence in man of many contradictions, contradictions of opinions, feelings, sympathies, words, and actions. !f a man throughout the whole of his life were to feel all the contradictions that are within him he could not live and act as calmly as he lives and acts now. He would have constant friction, constant unrest. We fail to see how contradictory and hostile the different !&s of our personality are to one another. !f a man were to feel all these contradictions he would feel what he really is. He would feel that he is mad. !t is not pleasant to anyone to feel that he is mad. 1oreover, a thought such as this deprives a man of self'confidence, weakens his energy, deprives him of &self'respect.& (omehow or other he must master this thought or banish it. He must either destroy contradictions or cease to see and to feel them. % man cannot destroy contradictions. +ut if &buffers& are created in him he can cease to feel them and he will not feel the impact from the clash of contradictory views, contradictory emotions, contradictory words. &+uffers* are created slowly and gradually! 4ery many *buffers* are created artificially through *education!* /thers are created under the hypnotic influence of all surrounding life! A man is surrounded by people who live, spea", thin", and feel by means of *buffers!* $mitating them in their opinions, actions, and words, a man involuntarily creates similar *buffers* in himself! &+uffers& make a man&s life more easy. !t is very hard to live without &buffers.& +ut they keep man from the possibility of inner development because &buffers& are made to lessen shocks and it is only shocks that can lead a man out of the state in which he lives, that is, waken him. &+uffers& lull a man to sleep, give him the agreeable and peaceful sensation that all will be well, that no contradictions exist and that he can sleep in peace. &+uffers& are appliances by means of which a man can always be in the right. &+uffers& help a man not to feel his conscience. We have found that dealing with the issues of 3arcissism and psychopatholgy in our world is the clearest and most direct path to dealing with programs, buffers or the predator&s mind in man. 1ost human beings in the world are narcissistic and most of us are raised by narcissists. #he world itself ' society, culture, science, religion, etc ' is heavily influenced by psychopathic influences and these influences are one of the reasons that most potentially healthy people become narcissistic ' it is a defense ' a system of buffers. %nd so, as we are raised in a psychopathic;narcissistic world, we also grow these buffers that separate us from our true self, and that force our machine to use up vast "uantities of soul energy just to keep running at all. %nd so, we approach the problem in a very pragmatic and practical way. % person can do nothing until they are psychologically healthy and this means removing buffers, mentally going over the machine in a careful and thorough way, cleaning it, re'wiring it and most of all, having new experiences that help with this re'wiring process in an environment where this is possible. We begin by assigning reading tasks. 2ou have to have the information, data, the understanding of your machine before you can even observe yourself and have a clue what you are observing. #here are a number of contemporary works that serve this purpose beautifully ' much better than reading dusty, archaic tomes with uncertain terminology, or mystified populari4ations that are designed to attract followers more than they are designed to really help the individual in a practical way. #he +ig $our books that must be read in this order are0 <= #rapped in #he 1irror by 5lan /olomb

>= ?nholy Hungers by +arbara Hort @= #he 1yth of (anity by 1artha (tout A= #he 3arcissistic $amily by (tephanie -onaldson':ressman and *obert 1. :ressman #his will give a person a good working knowledge of their buffers and what to be looking for when self'remembering , introspecting or recapitulating . Without the information in these books, you are basically just wandering around in the dark trying to figure out what this or that esoteric term might mean. #hen, of course, you need to really understand how the world got to be the way it is so that you have all these issues, and that involves the study of psychopathy. (tudying psychopathy is useful for another very good reason0 when you finally clearly see the traits of the psychopath writ large, it helps you to identify traces of such influences in your own make'up. :sychopaths are like caricatures that help you recogni4e something by its most pronounced features, just like the drawing known as a caricature. (o, in short, if you wish to recapitulate, you need to begin with the books listed above. #hat way you will have a much better idea of what you are doing, what you are looking for, and WH2 it is important, not to mention why doing so actually frees up energy. +uffers, :rograms and the :redator&s 1ind Bet&s talk today about programs ' also called buffers and the :redator&s 1ind ' and how we get them and how they affect us throughout our lives unless and until we learn about them, examine them, and deal with them cognitively. (tarting with some basics0 %s an infant develops, the nature of its moment'by'moment experiences of its inner world and the world around it changes in terms of intensity Caffect;emotion=. -uring relatively "uiet periods of low affective intensity, the infant absorbs all kinds of information about its environment ' cognitive learning. #his type of learning does not have a major impact on the infant&s motivational system. %t other times, the infant has periods of high affect intensity. #hese are usually related to experiences of need or wish for pleasure or comfort, or a wish;need to get away from something due to fear or pain. #hese periods of pea" affect intensity involve the developing infant in an intense learning experience about its relations to itself and others Cincluding the world at large=, and these are the experiences that lay down heavily emotion0laden memory circuits in the developing brain that can become very problematical programs or manifestations of the :redator&s 1ind in later life. The emotion0laden memory structures in the brain formed under pea" affect states are the foundation of the motivational systems of the individual 0 what the individual considers to be important for survival, how to obtain what is needed for that survival and how to avoid what is painful or threatening to survival! Obviously, the most ideal concept of the self and other that an infant can have is a perfect, nurturing other and a perfect, satisfied self and such images form in the infant&s mind as a result of satisfying experiences.

$rustrating or painful experiences, on the other hand, form a concept of a depriving or abusive other and a needy, helpless self. #his induces great stress on the organism. %n infant whose caregiver is generally attentive and nurturing C%3 internali4e images of a sadistic, depriving world out there and others in it because of experiences of temporary frustration or deprivation. !n other words, a child from a good, caring family can turn out badly . C5xcluding considerations of genetics here.= %t the same time, an infant whose caregiver is generally neglectful or abusive may have accidental satisfying experiences at the right moments that can lead to an internal image of a loving, nurturing world and others in it. #hat is, a child from a bad family can turn out well. C%gain, we are not considering genetics which can play an important role also.= +ut, in general, because of the duration of the developmental period, it could be said that an infant will have a preponderance of one type or another experience and there can be compensation for the bad experiences that ameliorates them, though even that depends on the genetic nature of the individual. 3ow, let&s consider the many ! problem of the ancient tradition, known in modern psychological parlance as identity diffusion. !dentity diffusion refers to a person who has a psychological structure characteri4ed by the fragmentation rather than integration of the internal representations of the self and others. 1ost people suffer from identity diffusion to one extent or another because they have had varying kinds of positive or negative experiences during periods of high affect intensity as infants Cor later in life=. #his problem is the focus of 1artha (tout&s book The Myth of Sanity where she talks about dissociation and how people do it when they are children as a sort of defense mechanism, and then as they do it, it gets to be a sort of habit. % person can dissociate at any time in their life when they are going through a rough period that puts a lot of strain on their emotions and thinking ' the neurological structures. #hing is, once you do it, it becomes easier to do it the next time and the next and next... !t sort of lays down a track that is easier and easier to follow. !t can be thought of as similar to carbon tracks in a distributor of a gas engine that cause mis'firing of the spark plugs or a skip in a vinyl record. Watching television, movies, reading, Cyes)=, pornography, video games, whatever, are all common ways of dissociating or dealing with stress. *emember, stress can be caused by the conflict of drives vs reality. !dentity diffusion becomes a problem when it is persistent. !t can then lead to pervasive feelings of a lack of values or goals or a central self. #his means that the person is going through life without consistent beliefs, values, goals, they do not have a clear sense of direction, a clear sense of self, and what is meaningful for them is determined solely by the situation in which they find themselves. #hey are like weather vanes, whichever way the wind is blowing, they spin and go with it. !f they are with a group that does this or that, they do it mindlessly because that is what everyone else is doing. #hey behave mechanically according to the reactions programmed into them by their early experiences. ! think that all of you can easily see that identity diffusion manifests to one extent or another in just

about everybody. !n most people, it is mild and most of what is inside them is somewhat integrated, though certainly it is still composed of thousands of automatic programs! 3ow, let&s take a deeper look at 5rimitive 6efense 1echanisms, otherwise known as programs, buffers or the predator&s mind. -efense mechanisms are the ways we learn to deal with stress or conflict as we develop from infancy to adulthood. Dery often, they are formed by automatic brain functions that activate in response to stress. (ome stresses are caused by conflicts between our drives, our emotions, and the real world. One of the most basic is the early stresses that a child may experience when they are hungry Cdrive= and do not get fed. Or, they are cold or too hot, or in pain and there is no relief forthcoming. Bater on, a child may want a cookie Cdrive= and is told no, not until after dinner, and while the child is not suffering from painful hunger, there is a drive for the cookie that is denied. How does the child learn to cope with this stress of denial6 However the child copes, that is called the defense mechanism and it can be either primitive Cinfantile ' the child feels threatened and begins to scream and cry as an infant would= or adaptive Cthe child is growing up and learns to wait until after dinner for the cookie.= (o, a person grows up with all kinds of competing pressures both from inside and outside, pressures from the emotional states and related drives, the constraints of the reality out there , and even internali4ed constraints when the child has already learned that this or that is not okay and controls his emotions or drives Cor tries to= even though they are in conflict. CChild wants cookie, knows that eating one before dinner is bad, gets into battle with self about whether or not to snitch it... decides that the stress of snitching is greater than the stress of denial and does not take cookie but continues to suffer because it wants the cookie.= !n short, as a person grows up in a more or less normal way, they move from primitive defense systems against stresses to more mature defense systems. #hey become flexible and interactive with their reality and can use reason, humor, subjugation of drives for long term benefits Cincluding peaceful coexistence with others, like mother who will not be happy if they snitch cookie before dinner=, sublimation and so on. However, in many, if not 1O(#, people, there are still some primitive defense mechanisms that get stuck in their psyche because they were imprinted at moments of great emotional susceptibility. COr imprint vulnerability, as discussed in the Wave, though we are not talking about that specifically right now.= 3ou can always recogni e a 5rimitive 6efense 1echanism by its rigidity and infle&ibility 0 the fact that it does not adapt to the REA7 situation at hand 0 and that it divides the world into blac" and white! #hese types of programs originate in the very earliest years of a person&s life, mainly the first year, and are a result of the infant attempting to cope with stresses that arise in its interaction with external reality. 5rimitive defenses organi e themselves around the simplest structure which is "feels good, is good 8 feels bad, is bad!" That*s all the infant really can "now in its limited state of cognition!

(o, a primitive defense mechanism is when a person continues to organi4e things in this way0 black and white, good and bad, and so on. %nother aspect of the primitive defense mechanism is that the infant ' being an infant ' has no concept of itself. !t is helpless and totally dependent on someone else to meet its needs. (o, the infant learns about itself in relation to how the world out there interacts with itself. !f it feels bad and there is no relief for this suffering, it comes to perceive the world and itself as bad . #his induces tremendous stress on the organism. +?#, and here&s the biggie0 the human instinctive substratum is biologically set up to -5$53- the organism. $f the infant is having bad e&periences that impact on the brain, putting repeated and concerted pressure on some neurological structures saying "bad, bad, pain, misery, suffering," etc!!! stressing the coping mechanisms via pain, suffering, unhappiness, etc, the brain will, at a certain point, collapse and go into defense mode! A split occurs! !n other words, severe or prolonged stress causes a mental breakdown and this is a protective mechanism of the human biological brain. !t is theori4ed that when this happens, it is due to the fact that the brain has no other means of avoiding actual physical damage to its cells due to fatigue or nervous stress induced by the intense "coping action"! #he human brain is constantly adapting itself reflexively to changes in the environment and it seems that this is just one of its defense mechanisms against stress. The brain basically revolts against abnormal prolongation of stress that impacts any cortical area that is in a state of pathological e&citation! 1uch human behavior is the result of the conditioned behavior patterns implanted in the brain during childhood. :eople learn to behave this way or that way Cpositively or negatively= in the presence of all kinds of stimuli, specific or general. (ome of these neurological structures can persist almost unmodified, but most of them Cexcept in extreme cases that ! will come to=, grow and change with added input and the individual becomes able to adapt the the actual environment. 1uch of what is "nown about this mechanism comes from 5avlov*s research! %nd, the fact is, human brains are not that much different from dog brains in certain respects. :avlov showed that the nervous system of a dog could develop extraordinary powers of discrimination in creating its programs of responses. % dog can be made to salivate at a tone of EFF vibrations per minute Cfood signal= but 3O# at the rate of AGF or E<F. Human beings are no less complex in their ability to unconsciously create such neurological structures Cprograms= of responses. 3egative conditioned responses are as important as positive conditioned responses since civili4ation re"uires that we learn how to control our drives almost automatically. Emotional attitudes also become both positively and negatively conditioned- one can learn

automatic revulsion against certain types of persons, behavior, etc as well as automatic attraction! $f these programs are based on incorrect information, as they often are, there is a problem9 $f a person is programmed by an intense e&perience to respond positively to people wearing blue hats, a psychopath wearing a blue hat will also attract them to their great harm! +ut, getting back to the issue of splitting of the personality. When the brain is stressed Cand this can come about in many ways= to a maximal extent, there comes a point of what :avlov called "trans0marginal inhibition!" #hat is, the stress pushes the brain to the breaking point and the brain takes protective measures to inhibit further damage. #his process takes place in stages. <. E)uivalent phase0 this is comparable to reports of normal people who are in a period of intense fatigue due to stress Cas in wartime=, who say that they reached a point whre there was no difference in their reaction to important or trivial experiences. #he brain is so exhausted that it is just trying to chug along keep going, but doesn&t have enough energy to distinguish between anything. !f the stress continues, you then come to0 >. The 5arado&ical phase0 #his is where weak stimuli or trivial things can provoke more response than a strong stimuli or an important thing. #he reason for this is that the strong stimuli only increases inhibition Cthe shutting down of reactions= while the weak stimulus can produce a response in the brain that is not inhibitory. !f the stress continues0 @,. :ltra0parado&ical0 :ositive responses suddenly switch to negative and negative to positive. #his is something similar to hysteria. %n adult in such a state is abnormally suggestible and the most wildly improbable suggestions or ideas can be accepted as fact. %nd so it is that, in such states of internal hysteria, an infant can reverse everything, split, go into a state of $dentity 6iffusion that, because of the extreme affect Cemotional state=, becomes more or less permanent. ! suspect that you can also guess that such programs can be one time things. % child can have one seriously negative event in a life that consists of mostly positive events, and have a serious primitive defense mechanism Cprogram= that pretty much sticks for life ' or until they discover it and seek the way to undo it. !n any event, when the infant splits, the brain see"s to protect an ideali ed segment of the individual*s psyche or internal world from the aggression of the stress. The separation will be maintained at the e&pense of the psyche! #here is no integrating that dissociated part with the rest of the self'images the child forms throughout life. Whenever something triggers that particular part of the brain, some stress that is similar, something perceived as a threat to survival, that program will run and all the learning and cognitive skills of the individual be damned. 3ext problem with this type of splitting0 since the brain has done this as a protective maneuver, has more or less "sealed off" the sanctum of this ideali ed psychic self, that program is not amenable to successful cognitive processing of the e&ternal reality, nor is it capable of accurately reading internal processes, including emotions!

#his is effectively what happens when we say that the intellect usurps the energy of the emotional center though that only describes milder states of such conditioning. #his split off internal ideali4ed self that is good Cdefined that way for survival=, when activated, takes charge of the system and imposes itself Cit is very strong because of the extreme stress and emotion that went into forming it= on the individual&s perceptions of the world. %nd, since it is formed at a primitive level of the psyche, it has the earmarks of a :rimitive -efense 1echanism0 feels good, is good ; feels bad, is bad, black ; white, self good, other evil, and so on. +:T, that doesn*t mean that this primitive defense mechanism has any rationality to it9 /pinions are strong, but not stable! Things are good or bad, but what is good or bad depends on the immediate circumstances! !f the person feels that someone close has &dissed& him in some way, something that activates his helpless and hopeless feeling as an infant, that formerly close person will be relegated to the black list and everything about him or her that was formerly perceived as good, will now be perceived as bad. :atience will be viewed as weakness, lack of action, strength will be seen as aggressiveness, kindness as weakness, and so on. #his good ; bad primitive defense mechanism can totally influence the person&s mood. % single frustration that triggers the program can make everything in the world out there seem bleak, uninspiring, going nowhere, against the person who is, of course, long'suffering and only seeking the ideal of love, peace, safety, beauty, etc etc. ,o, the clue that one is running an infantile program ;that is, one inculcated in infancy< is that it reveals this "good 8 bad" categori ation of everything, and that there is little fle&ibility in dealing with the reality of the moment! ?nder the influence of such a program, the individual is not able to appreciate the subtle shades of a situation or to tolerate ambiguity. #his leads to distortions in perceptions since the external reality is filtered through ' made to conform to ' the rigid and primitive internal structure of an infant. 3ow, everyone has some of these infantile programs ' or traces of them ' that get triggered now and again. !t&s only when the person continues to use this type of primitive defense mechanism as the :*!1%*2 defense as an adult that there is a serious problem. #hat can be termed a personality disorder. We have witnessed manifestations of this a few times here on the forum and in H$(. #hat is, when a primitively organi4ed individual is confronted with something displeasing or threatening, the threatening object Cperson, idea, group, whatever=, is placed in the all bad category where it is safely segregated from anything with a good connotation. #his is how such disordered people contain their an&iety, the stress of what they perceive as a threat to their survival. C#hey want something, need something, it is denied, and that is a threat to survival=. +ut obviously, as we have witnessed numerous times, it is at the e&pense of successful adaptation which could lead to a fulfilling life for that unhappy person. 3ow, here&s the kicker0 if the displeasing feeling is coming from within the self ' if the self finds that there is rage or anger or hate or jealousy or pettiness or whatever is considered negative ' when a person is operating from the primitive defense mechanism, that feeling must be denied as part of the self and will be experienced as coming from out there. C5ro#ection.=

We have seen that also. % person will be "uestioned about their unilateral assertions and this is perceived as a threat to their survival Ctheir entire structure is organi4ed around black and white, remember=, and their fear or anger comes up a bit, but this gets diverted because those feelings cannot be tolerated due to the neurological construct laid down in infancy, and the :rimitive (urvival -efense program kicks in. #hat is, at the moment the person is in active primitive defense mechanism mode, even if some other part of their brain is feeling angry or hurt or whatever, that other part of the brain is dissociated and those impulses, feelings, thoughts, are denied, personal relationship with them is suppressed, and they are projected onto someone else. #hat is0 splitting can be a primitive form of projection when the denied part of the self is experienced as coming from an external object Cperson, group, whatever.= #here are other primitive defense mechanisms that stem from a split internal organi4ation0 5ro#ective $dentification- this is an unconscious tendency to both induce in another what is being projected, %3- to attempt to control the other person who is perceived as manifesting those characteristics that the split person is projecting. #hat is, a person who cannot tolerate their own feelings of rage and aggression will unconsciously provoke and frustrate their target in subtle and not'so'subtle ways that will lead the target to actually $55B the emotions that the split person is denying in themselves. !n this way, the split person can have the satisfaction of the expression of such emotions in a non' threatening way because it doesn&t belong to them, and they are, in a sense, in control of the manifestation. This is an important clue to dealing with manipulation! !f you know your own machine, if you have worked through your own stuff, and are certain of your own feelings in a given situation, you can pay close attention to shifts in your own state that are induced by the manipulative person and understand that what you are being manipulated to feel is what the manipulator is denying in themselves and cannot accept. #his can give you data about their internal world. 3ow, keep in mind that a person who operates out of the primitive defense mechanism as a primary mode, -O5( have alternating awareness of the different sides of their internal conflict, but denial Cand splitting= allows them to tolerate the state of affairs without anxiety. #hey can deny this for this moment, deny that for that moment. 5tc. #hey do not have CO'consciousness of the contradictory material. !n any event, getting back to more normal manifestations of the problem. !f there is a strong primitive defense mechanism laid down in the psyche, it can organi4e itself around a belief center of the brain, and the core belief can be !&m worthless, helpless, bad, but this has to be projected onto external objects Cthe brain defending its survival= which leaves the person in a habitual condition of expecting aggression or hurt from the outside world. !f a person has 1?B#!:B5 un'integrated self'object programs like this, each of which determines the person&s subjective experience in myriads of situations, at any given moment, then the person&s internal world is a series of discontinuous experiences and that person will have great difficulty committing to relationships, meaningful work, goals, values, etc.

$inally, there is another situation in which an individual operates from a primitive defense mechanism0 the experience of infatuation, powerful sexual attraction, falling in love , etc, wherein the other, no matter what the circumstances, is experienced as all good. This type of regression e&plains why otherwise mature individuals are capable of e&treme and irrational thoughts and actions under the influence of drives and primitive defense mechanisms! 3ow, there&s another interesting thing about this. 5avlov noted that when one small cortical area in a dog*s brain reached a state of pathological inertia and e&citation, ;it was at ma&imal stress and shutdown<, it would generate odd stereotypical movements li"e sha"ing or repeated scratching or pawing of something! %e concluded that if this cerebral condition could affect movement, it might also affect thought, stereotypically, and could thus account for certain obsessions in human thin"ing! :avlov also learned that these small areas of the brain were subject to the e"uivalent, paradoxical, and ultra'paradoxical phases of abnormal activity which he had previously thought only applied to larger areas of the brain. :avlov thought, in fact, that what is called projection and introjection ' when a persistent fear or desire is projected outwards or inwards ' is a physiological manifestation of locali ed cerebral inhibition! :avlov found that some dogs of a stable temperament were more than usually prone to develop these limited pathological points in the cortex when at the point of breaking down under stress. 3ew behavior patterns would be the result such as a compulsive and repetitive pawing or some form of physical debilitation. Once ac"uired by a dog of stable temperament, patterns of this sort were extremely difficult to eradicate. This may be the way a more stable person reacts to such stress- instead of splitting psychically, they instead develop some sort of e&ternal, physical action that releases the stress! -uring WW !!, "uite a few studies were done of shell'shocked patients in hospitals in 5ngland. (ome of these patients had reached this state of cerebral shut'down and it manifested in gross and uncoordinated, yet regular, #er"ing and writhing movements which were accompanied by temporary loss of speech, or a stammer or e&plosive tal"ing. #he parallels between these patients and :avlov&s dogs subjected to stresses should be obvious. #hat is to say, these abnormal mental states may be succeeded in human beings as in :avlov&s dogs, by dynamic stereotypy ' a new functional system in the brain is formed which re"uires increasingly less work by the nervous system to maintain it just as learning to drive re"uires increasingly less focus once one has done it for awhile. The repetitive pattern of movements or thoughts that are formed under these "inds of stressful conditions ;and in some people, there are truly e&tremely stressful conditions in their infancy< do not yield easily to treatment! +ut then, in these cases, we are talking about only a statistically small sample. 3evertheless, :avlov&s findings that severe focal excitation on one area of a dog&s brain can cause profound reflex inhibition of other areas of the brain might be a key to the problems of programs, buffers and the :redator&s 1ind. !n a normal person, time and other experiences can disperse the abnormal neurological structure to some extent, but in certain genetically susceptible individuals, it can become a core structure.

+ut keep in mind that even if one deals with programs and essentially deprograms the self from these kinds of abnormal states, sensitivity to what brought about the nervous disruption can persist a very long time in a latent state. 5vents will remind the person of the program, and they will have to struggle with it to some extent again and again for some period of time before it is entirely extinct. C%nd ! have no certainty that total extinction ever occurs)= from $,/T1% man must reali4e that he indeed consists of two men. One is the man he calls &!& and whom others call &Ouspensky,& &Iakharov& or &:etrov.& #he other is the real he, the real !, which appears in his life only for very short moments and which can become firm and permanent only after a very lengthy period of work. (o long as a man takes himself as one person he will never move from where he is. His work on himself starts from the moment when he begins to feel two men in himself. One is passive and the most it can do is to register or observe what is happening to it. #he other, which calls itself &!,& is active, and speaks of itself in the first person, is in reality only &Ouspensky,& &:etrov& or &Iakharov.& #his is the first reali4ation that a man can have. Having begun to think correctly he very soon sees that he is completely in the power of his &Ouspensky,& &:etrov,& or &Iakharov.& 3o matter what he plans or what he intends to do or say, it is not &he,& not &!,& that will carry it out, do or say it, but his &Ouspensky& &:etrov,& or &Iakharov,& and of course they will do or say it, not in the way &!& would have done or said it, but in their own way with their own shade of meaning, and often this shade of meaning completely changes what &!& wanted to do. "From this point of view there is a very definite danger arising from the very first moment of self0observation! $t is *$* who begins self0observation, but it is immediately ta"en up and continued by */uspens"y,* *=a"harov,* or *5etrov!* +ut */uspens"y* *=a"harov,* or *5etrov* from the very first steps introduces a slight alteration into this self0observation, an alteration which seems to be )uite unimportant but which in reality fundamentally alters the whole thing! Bet us suppose, for example, that a man called !vanov hears the description of this method of self' observation. He is told that a man must divide himself, &he& or &!& on one side and &Ouspensky,& &#etrov,& or &Iakharov& on the other side. %nd he divides himself literally as he hears it. &#his is !,& he says, &and that is Ouspensky, :etrov, or Iakharov. & He will never say &!vanov.& He finds that unpleasant, so he will inevitably use somebody else&s surname or Christian name. 1oreover he calls *$* what he li"es in himself or at any rate what he considers to be strong, while he calls */uspens"y,* *5etrov,* or *=a"harov* what he does not li"e or what he considers to be wea"! /n this basis he begins to reason in many ways about himself, )uite wrongly of course from the very beginning, since he has already deceived himself in the most important point and has ta"en not his real self, that is, he has ta"en, not $vanov, but the imaginary */uspens"y,* *5etrov* or *=a"harov!* ................................. +ut when a man understands his helplessness in the face of &Ouspensky& his attitude towards himself and towards &Ouspensky& in him ceases to be either indifferent or unconcerned. (elf'observation becomes observation of &Ouspensky& % man understands that he is not &Ouspensky,& that &Ouspensky& is nothing but the mask he wears, the part that he unconsciously plays and which unfortunately he cannot stop playing, a part which rules him and makes him do and say thousands of stupid things, thousands of things which he would never do or say himself. !f he is sincere with himself he feels that he is in the power of &Ouspensky& and at the same time he feels that he is not &Ouspensky.& He begins to be afraid of &Ouspensky,& begins to feel that he is his &enemy.& 3o matter what he would like to do, everything is intercepted and altered by &Ouspensky.& .....

On this level of self'observation a man must understand that his whole aim is to free himself from &Ouspensky.& And since he cannot in fact free himself from */uspens"y,* because he is himself, he must therefore master */uspens"y* and ma"e him do, not what the */uspens"y* of the given moment wants, but what he himself wants to do! $rom being the master, &Ouspensky& must become the servant. From In Search Of The Miraculous...very often, instead of 7the lower centers doing8 their own proper functions, one or another of them takes upon itself the work of other centers. #his considerably reduces the speed of the general work of the machine and makes acceleration of the work of the centers very difficult. #hus in order to regulate and accelerate the work of the lower centers, the primary object must consist in freeing each center from work foreign and unnatural to it, and in bringing it back to its own work which it can do better than any other center. % great deal of energy is also spent on work which is completely unnecessary and harmful in every respect, such as on the activity of unpleasant emotions, on the expression of unpleasant sensations, on worry, on restlessness, on haste, and on a whole series of automatic actions which are completely useless. %s many examples as you like can be found of such unnecessary activity. $irst of all there is the constantly moving flow of thoughts in our mind, which we can neither stop nor control, and which takes up an enormous amount of our energy. (econdly there is the "uite unnecessary constant tension of the muscles of our organism. #he muscles are tense even when we are doing nothing. %s soon as we start to do even a small and insignificant piece of work, a whole system of muscles necessary for the hardest and most strenuous work is immediately set in motion. We pick up a needle from the floor and we spend on this action as much energy as is needed to lift up a man of our own weight. We write a short letter and use as much muscular energy upon it as would suffice to write a bulky volume. +ut the chief point is that we spend muscular energy continually and at all times, even when we are doing nothing. When we walk the muscles of our shoulders and arms are tensed unnecessarily, when we sit the muscles of our legs, neck, back, and stomach are tensed in an unnecessary way. We even sleep with the muscles of our arms, of our legs, of our face, of the whole of our body tensed, and we do not reali4e that we spend much more energy on this continual readiness for work we shall never do than on all the real, useful work we do during our life. (till further we can point to the habit of continually talking with anybody and about anything, or if there is no one else, with ourselves, the habit of indulging in fantasies, in daydreaming, the continual change of mood, feelings, and emotions, and an enormous number of "uite useless things which a man considers himself obliged to feel, think, do, or say. !n order to regulate and balance the work of the three centers whose functions constitute our life, it is necessary to learn to economi4e the energy produced by our organism, not to waste this energy on unnecessary functions, and to save !t for that activity which will gradually connect the lower centers with the higher. !n order to oppose this automatism and gradually to ac"uire control over postures and movements in different centers there is one special exercise. !t consists in this'that at a word or sign, previously agreed upon, from the teacher, all the pupils who hear or see him have to arrest their movements at once, no matter what they are doing, and remain stockstill in the posture in which the signal has caught them. 1oreover not only must they cease to move, but they must keep their eyes on the same spot at which they were looking at the moment of the signal, retain the smile on their faces, if there was one, keep the mouth open if a man was speaking, maintain the facial expression and the tension of all the muscles of the body exactly in the same position in which they were caught by the signal. !n this &stopped& state a man must also stop the flow of his thoughts and concentrate the

whole of his attention on preserving the tension of &the muscles in the various parts of the body exactly as it was, watching this tension all the time and leading so to speak his attention from one part of the body to another. %nd he must remain in this state and in this position until another agreed'upon signal allows him to adopt a customary posture or until he drops from fatigue through being unable to preserve the original posture any longer. +ut he has no right to change anything in it, neither his glance, points of support, nothing. !f he cannot stand he must fall'but, again, he should fall like a sack without attempting to protect himself from a blow. !n exactly the same way, if he was holding something in his hands he must hold it as long as he can and if his hands refuse to obey him and the object falls it is not his fault. !t is the duty of the teacher to see that no personal injury occurs from falling or from unaccustomed postures, and in this connection the pupils must trust the teacher fully and not think of any danger. #he idea of this exercise and its results differ very much. Bet us take it first of all from the point of view of the study of movements and postures. #his exercise affords a man the possibility of getting out of the circle of automatism and it cannot be dispensed with, especially at the beginning of work on oneself. % non'mechanical study of oneself is only possible with the help of the &stop& exercise under the direction of a man who understands it. Bet us try to follow what occurs. % man is walking, or sitting, or working. %t that moment he hears a signal. % movement that has begun is interrupted by this sudden signal or command to stop. His body becomes immovable and arrested in the midst of a transition from one posture to another, in a position in which he never stays in ordinary life. $eeling himself in this state, that is, in an unaccustomed posture, a man involuntarily looks at himself from new points of view, sees and observes himself in a new way. !n this unaccustomed posture he is able to think in a new way, feel in a new way, know himself in a new way. !n this way the circle of old automatism is broken. #he body tries in vain to adopt an ordinary comfortable posture. +ut the man&s will, brought into action by the will of the teacher, prevents it. #he struggle goes on not for life but till the death. +ut in this case will can con"uer. #his exercise taken together with all that has been said is an exercise for self' remembering. % man must remember himself so as not to miss the signal, he must remember himself so as not to take the most comfortable posture at the first moment, he must remember himself in order to watch the tension of the muscles in different parts of the body, the direction in which he is looking, the facial expression, and so on, he must remember himself in order to overcome very considerable pain sometimes from unaccustomed positions of the legs, arms, and back, so as not to be afraid of falling or dropping something heavy on his foot. !t is enough to forget oneself for a single moment and the body will adopt, by itself and almost unnoticeably, a more comfortable position, it will transfer the weight from one foot to another, will slacken certain muscles, and so on. #his exercise is a simultaneous exercise for the will, the attention, the thoughts, the feelings, and for moving center. +ut it must be understood that in order to bring into action a sufficient strength of will to keep a man in an unaccustomed position an order or command from the outside0 &stop,& is indispensable. % man cannot give himself the command stop. His will will not obey this command. #he reason for this, as ! have said before, is that the combination of habitual thinking, feeling, and moving postures is stronger than a man&s will. #he command stop which, in relation to moving postures, comes from outside, takes the place of thinking and feeling postures. #hese postures and their influence are so to speak removed by the command stop'and in this case moving postures obey the will.

WH2 /?*-.!5$$&( $O?*#H W%2 #5%CH!3/( %*5 3O# CO1:%#!+B5 W!#H #H5 15DB5D! (?$! W%2 by !brahim /amard, <<;J;FA, revised <>;@;FE #he :resent Confusion #here has been much confusion for decades about the so'called sufi origins of /urdjieff&s teachings, beliefs that /urdjieff himself was a sufi Cof the blame'seeking 7malKmKtL8 kind, as some have speculated= and assumptions that the spiritual training he gave to his students was dervish training and that the movement exercises he taught were dervish dance movements. #his confusion has been increased by some of /urdjieff&s disciples themselves, such as Ouspensky, who apparently believed that the 1evlevi tradition was the source of /urdjieff&s teachings< and .. /. +ennett ,who believed that the Mhwajagan sufi masters of Central %sia, the forerunners of the strictly !slamic 3a"shbandi sufi tradition, were closely linked with the mysterious source of /urdjieff&s teachings''the (armKn +rotherhood. > Others have gone to authentic 1uslim sufi teachers and added to the confusion by hoping to find the roots of /urdjieff&s teachings in the !slamic sufi tradition0 as a result, such seekers have been disappointed by finding merely religious !slamic mystical teachings. %nd some 1uslim sufi teachers have been confused by such seekers Cwho sometimes have an impressive level of dervish' like self'development= who have very little interest in !slam or praying and are actually hoping to find esoteric teachings or secret 1asters. !n addition, there are Western sufi teachers, who continue to encourage their followers to combine sufi training with /urdjieffian teachings and spiritual practices, including some affiliated with the 1evlevi tradition. #here are also some $ourth Way groups in which members, after being trained to do the complicated /urdjieff movements exercises, are then taught to do the whirling practice of 1evlevi dervishes as well as the 1evlevi Whirling :rayer Ceremony C(amKN=. !dries (hah, who wrote numerous books on sufism was another author who contributed to this confusion, by suggesting in many of his books that /urdjieff&s teachings Cas well as most of the esoteric'occult teachings in 5urope involving alchemy, numerology, #arot cards, etc.= had its origins in sufi teachings. Bike most Occultists, @ (hah maintained that esoteric wisdom is independent of mere religion and often disguised in an exoteric religious form. %s a result, he taught that sufism is independent of !slam. Oscar !cha4o, a +olivian and founder of the %rica school of esoteric training Cwhich includes teachings based on the 5nneagram, an esoteric symbol first taught publicly by /urdjieff=, originally claimed to be a (ufi 1aster when he began to teach in Chile in the late <GJF&s. !cha4o claimed that his teachers were fellow initiates of the same secret tradition contacted by /urdjieff, the (chool of the +ees, which he also claimed was centered in %fghanistan. (ubse"uently, however, he stated that his teaching was closely related to the alchemists, the Mnights #emplar, 1artinists, and the #heosophical teachings of 1adame +lavatsky A as well as to Cthe mysterious source of= /urdjieff&s teachings. 3umerous other authors have contributed to the belief that the origins of sufism are to be found in esoteric'occult traditions. $or example, the former leader of the !nternational (ufi Order, :ir Dilayat Mhan claimed that sufism originated in the ancient /reek 1ystery (chools.E %nother source of confusion is the existence of semi'secret religions in the 1iddle 5ast whose

origins are non'!slamic or incompatible with !slam that are sometimes claimed to be sufi or whose members are sometimes called dervishes. (ome of these are the 1andeans, -ru4es, !smailis, %levis, 3usayris, 2e4idis, +ektashis, and %hl'i Ha"". (ome of these same secret religions were also named by #heosophists more than a hundred years ago as related the source of #heosophical teachings and its secret 1asters. (ufism is !slamic 1ysticism $irst, it needs to be clarified that sufism is the mystical dimension of !slam. #o use the word sufism to mean a universal spirituality that pre'dates !slam is to rob the term of its meaning and to make it e"uivalent to the word mysticism. 1ysticism can be defined as experiential or intuitive understanding of spiritual realities beyond intellectual understanding. #herefore, mysticism can take religious forms Cspiritual experiences of feeling close to /od= or non'religious forms Csuch as spiritual experiences involving nature or the cosmos=. #he mysticism of !slam is a distinct form of religious mysticism that is called tasawwuf in %rabic and a 1uslim mystic is called a sufi C!slamic mysticism was first called sufismus in Batin, then sufism in 5nglish=. #raditional sufi orders that are well'known in the West are the 1evlevi, Cheshti, 3a"shbandi, Hadri, *ifai, Mhalwati, and (hadhili traditions''all of which are !slamic religious'mystical paths. %lthough Western academic specialists Ccalled Orientalists= of the past were reluctant Cfor more than a hundred years= to allow !slam to have its own mystical dimension, and usually claimed that sufism was borrowed from other traditions Csuch as 3eoplatonism, 2oga, etc.=, most Western scholars of !slam today have been acknowledging that authentic sufism is deeply !slamic and inspired by Hur&anic verses and the #raditions of the :rophet 1uhammad Cupon whom be peace=. While few Westerners would accept the idea that the mystical teachings of a Hasidic teacher could be independent of .udaism and the +ible, yet many readily accept the idea that the mystical teachings of a sufi teacher can be independent of !slam and the Hur&an. #his is because of the negative attitudes about !slam, the Hur&an, and the :rophet 1uhammad Cpeace be upon him= that have existed in the West since the Crusades. Westerners prefer to believe that the beautiful, profound, and inspiring teachings of sufism are not dependent upon the religion of !slam. %s a result, many people who are involved with Westerni4ed sufi groups affiliated with more tolerant !slamic sufi traditions, such as the Cheshti sufi tradition of !ndia and :akistan Csuch as the !nternational (ufi Order, the (ufi 1ovement, and the (ufi *uhaniyat (ociety= and the 1evlevi sufi tradition of #urkey and former Ottoman'ruled areas, tend to have little interest in what they view as the exoteric trappings of sufism Cmeaning !slamic beliefs and practices= and are inclined to believe that the mysticism they are studying is something universal that transcends particular religions, and something that pre'dates the !slamic revelation. #hey tend to view universal sufi teachings as not conflicting with ancient esoteric'occult teachings that have been reformulated in recent centuries such as alchemy, *osicrucianism, #arot, #heosophy, /urdjieffism, etc. %t the same time, the authentic 1uslim sufi masters Cshaykhs= of these same traditions in !ndia, :akistan, and #urkey have long been hoping and praying that the Western followers of their sufi traditions will eventually become pious 1uslims. #his has led to major misunderstandings and disappointment. /nosticism !n order to understand how the Occult tradition of mysticism is radically different than the %brahamic religious traditions of mysticism Csuch as !slamic sufism, Catholic;Orthodox Christian mysticism, .ewish Hasidic mysticism= it is necessary to understand that most teachings of

Occultism are based on a secret theology involving /nosticism.J #his term refers to a very old, secretive, and revolutionary spiritual movement whose theology is so contrary to orthodox religion that it has usually been disguised in different forms . $or example, /urdjieff claimed that his teaching was esoteric Christianity. O #he neutral terms gnosis and gnostic Cthat have generic meanings of intuitive spiritual knowledge and intuitive spiritual knower and are e"uivalent to the %rabic sufi terms maNrifat and NKrif= should not be confused with the historical term /nosticism. *eaders of this article should be aware that they might not comprehend the nature of /nosticism and the seriousness of its challenge to the %brahamic religions without studying more about it in encyclopedia articles and books on the subject. /nosticism today is the continuation of an ancient underground movement that has usually taken the form of -ualism. $ollowers of /nosticism who understand its teachings have typically viewed the Creator of the material universe with contempt.P #his contempt was expressed in the dualistic doctrines of 1anicheism and Christian /nosticism which taught that (pirit CBight= was opposed to 1atter C-arkness=, that the physical world and the body are evil, that the Creator of the material world was either an evil or inferior moon'god called the -emiurge 7naNaudhu bi'llKh''let us take refuge in %llah and seek His forgiveness for being so explicit about this8, and that the true goal of the spiritual seeker is to find a way to escape the prison of matter and the sub'lunar world and reach salvation in the *ealm of Bight 7the :leroma8. (aviours were periodically sent down from the *ealm of Bight to offer the knowledge of salvation, or gnosis, to seekers who had the potential to escape the material world. However, only a tiny minority called pneumatics had souls which could survive death and return to the *ealm of Bight. (ome, called psychics had the potential to develop such a soul. #he great majority of humanity were called hylics, and had no hope of survival after death. !n <POE 1adame +lavatsky founded the #heosophical (ociety in %merica and taught esoteric teachings supposedly inspired by secret masters who lived in #ibet. %mong the teachings of #heosophy is the assertion that /od as worshipped in the Hebrew +ible is an inferior moon god 7naNaudhu bi'llKh8. #heosophists were instructed to cover themselves from the harmful rays of moonlight while sleeping. #his antipathy toward .udaism was a revival of the attempts by Christian /nostics during the early part of the Christian era to eliminate the Hebrew scriptures from the Christian +ible. !n many ways, #heosophy is a modern form of /nosticism Cbut in a monistic, not dualistic, manner=. !t is known that the teachings of #heosophy were influential in major *ussian cities during /urdjieff&s life there and that #heosophical ideas are a major part of his teaching.G /urdjieff spoke about secret 1asters, except that he claimed they were in %fghanistan.<F /nosticism and the #eachings of /urdjieff %mong the strange teachings of /urdjieff is the assertion that human beings do not have souls, but have to receive knowledge and training by being part of an esoteric school in order to grow a soul Cor astral body = that can then survive death for a period of time0 2ou know what the exression &astral body& means. +ut the systems with which you are ac"uainted and which use this expression state that all men have an &astral body&. this is "uite wrong. What may be caled the &astral body& is obtained by means of fusion, that is, by means of terribly hard inner work and struggle. 1an is not born with it. %nd only very few men ac"uire an &astral body&. !f it is formed it may continue to live after the death of the physical body, and it may be brn again in another physical body... $usion, inner unity, is obtained by means of &friction&, by the struggle

between &yes& and &no& in man. << /urdjieff taught that most human beings are mere slugs with no souls and that following death their remaining psychic energy is food for the 1oon. #his teaching can understood as a reference to the doctrine in /nosticism that the material world keeps human beings Cbut not all, just the few who possess sparks of light = trapped in bodies so as to prevent escape. #he realm of -arkness is depicted as not wanting to let of its captured light to escape back to the realm of Bight. (uch a follower of /nosticism seeks to develop an astral body that can escape the power of the 1oon and become freed from the sub'lunar material world.<> #his explains another very strange teaching of /urdjieff0 #he way of the development of hidden possibilities is a way against nature, against /od. <@ !t means that the seeker following the way of /nosticism must gain secret knowledge and methods in order to escape the control of the -emiurge. What /urdjieff called the Work is the goal of spiritual %lchemy, the /reat Work C1agnum Opus=0 the separation of light from darkness''or in 1anichean terms, the liberation of sparks of light from being trapped in the dense world of matter. !n 1ithraism, an ancient form of /nosticism, this gnosis involved knowing the magical passwords necessary for the soul to pass the planetary guardians C archons = at each celestial level traveled through the heavens. -uring later centuries, followers of /nosticism cultivated a revulsion toward the Creator as worshipped by .ews, Christians, and 1uslims. %n early example is the writings of followers of Christian /nosticism Csuch as the -ead (ea (crolls found at 3ag Hammadi= are full of such scorn, and they delight in what may be called /nostical reversal 0 such as by interpreting the serpent C(atan= in the /arden of 5den as the hero of the story in the +ook of /enesis''the /iver of Bight CBucifer= who tries to give the gnosis of (alvation that would elevate humanity to be as gods, meaning to surpasses the rank of the /od of the .ews, who is depicted as an oppressor 7naNaudhu bi'llKh8 who acts to prevent such liberation. <A /nostical doctrines may have developed in a .ewish form prior to the Christian era, some of these doctrines have continued in esoteric .ewish teachings called Habbalah Cfor example, the doctrine about a cosmic disaster Cthe breaking of the vessels = that caused particles of light to be trapped in darkness, and the need to liberate trapped light = associated with the school of !saac Buria Cbeginning in the <Jth century=. #he well'known psychiatrist, Carl .ung, was a modern believer in /nosticism, he revealed his antipathy to Christian worship very frankly.<E .. /. +ennett, a follower of /urdjieff and Ouspensky, wrote extensively about the -emiurge. He also taught the strange doctrine Calso found in some teachings of Habbalah= that /od needs the help of human beings in order to liberate light from matter and to defeat the power of evil 7naNaudhu bi' llKh8. He wrote0 #he very high intelligence ! am postulating is neither human nor divine. !t is neither perfect nor infallible, but its vision and its powers far transcend those of the wisest of mankind. ! shall call it the -emiurge... +y keeping the word -emiurge for the postulated spirit of the earth, we can put aside, as beyond our grasp, the idea of a deity that created and rules the entire universe. !n doing this, we should breathe a sigh of relief... #he truth is that the omnipotence of /od is a silly idea thought up by men with narrow, logical minds. !t must be obvious to anyone whose feelings have not atrophied that love and omnipotence can never be united. <J He also wrote, following the viewpoint of ancient Christian /nosticism 0 We might even venture to say that the /od of the Old #estament was the -emiurge, whereas .esus looked beyond to the source of -ivine Bove. <O % student of .. /. +ennett, %. 1. Hodgson, wrote0

#he -emiurge has only an indirect connection to the (ource, since it is concerned with long term evolution, not with the state of &jivanmukti& or &liberation within one lifetime.&.... !n fact, spirituality is of two distinct kinds which we call &Biberational& and -emiurgic&. #eachings which point this out do exist on the planet. #hey are placed there by conscious sources but generally they are restricted and suppressed by the -emiurgic !ntelligences because their implications are too upsetting to the status "uo. <P %nother student of .. /. +ennett was :ierre 5lliot, formerly the -irector of (tudies of Cthe /urdjieffian training center called= the Claymont (ociety in West Dirginia. !n the late <GOF&s, (uleyman Hayati Boras -ede, an important 1evlevi shaykh from Monya, #urkey, visited Claymont. He was so impressed by :ierre 5lliot that he initiated him to be a 1evlevi shaykh. (uleyman -ede must have seen demonstrations of /urdjieff&s movements exercises there and probably assumed that it was a kind of dervish training. !n October <GOG, (uleyman -ede wrote a letter to 1r. 5lliot stating, Qbecause at the same time my brother (heikh :ierre 5lliot is bringing the way of 1evlana together with the path of 1r. /urdjieff and 1r. +ennett. %llah wishes that these paths should always be together, and ! hope that it will be so. <G %s !dries (hah wrote Cunder a pseudonym or perhaps borrowing someone&s name=0 /urdjieff had taught &movements&, a styli4ed dance techni"ue which re"uires extended energies of attention. #he association of the / &movements& and the 1evlevi whirling was perhaps unavoidable, but we shall find reason to suspect presently, that the &movements& have a different source, although /. dressed his disciples in 1evlevi outfits, perhaps for &misdirection& purposes. >F !n another book, written using a pseudonym, !dries (hah mocked the beliefs of /urdjieffians about 1evlevi origins by claiming that an ancient +abylonian mannikin with moveable arms and legs used to teach ancient temple dances that /urdjieff claimed to have seen at a (armKn monastery in %fghanistan>< was hidden in a secret underground room of the 1evlevi lodge where 1evlana .alaluddin *umi is buried in Monya, #urkey. % major exercise taught by /urdjieff is called self'remembering. #his exercise has been alleged to derive from the sufi practice of remembering 74ikr8. +ut there is a major difference between /urdjieff&s method of self'development via self'remembering that dismisses the value of prayer and the !slamic sufi practice of self'effacement via the practice of /od'remembering 74ikru &llKh8. #his points to an important distinction between these two different paths of mysticism0 the tradition of Occult mysticism Cbased on a secret theology rooted in /nosticism= emphasi4es the development of potential divine powers within a human being while at the same time trying to escape the power of the Creator of the material world and to evolve into something higher. !n other words, the doctrine of this kind of mystic is, #here is no true divinity except 1an. >> !n contrast, the tradition of religious mysticism Cmeaning here, the %brahamic religions based on a theology rooted in 1onotheism and the revelations given to authentic :rophets of /od= emphasi4es the nothingness of the worshipper before %lmighty /od and submission to the Omnipotent -ivine Will of the Creator. !n other words, the doctrine of this kind of mystic is, #here is no true divinity except /od. #his is why it is hoped that readers of this article will not dismiss the important distinctions described here by concluding, #here are no real differences between mystics;gnostics0 mystics of all traditions, religious or Occult are all saying the same thing in different spiritual languages in which the conflicts are only external, not essential. !f readers incline toward this view, then they are strongly advised to study more about /nosticism>@''so that perhaps they may see more clearly how radical and different it is compared to the mysticisms of major world religions. #his is not a type of spirituality that offers salvation or enlightenment to most or all of humanity or sentient

beings. *ather, it is aimed at the liberation of a very small minority of elite beings who have a spark of light ''and all other humans have no lasting value. -espite the strong criticism of /urdjieff&s /nostical theology expressed in this article, it should be mentioned that some of /urdjieff&s teachings can be very useful for the sufi aspirant, such as the practice of sensing Cas an alternative to compulsive thinking=, developing will power and concentration, the teaching about objective knowledge and awareness in contrast to a subjective and sleeping state, the need to overcome mechanical habits, and the necessity of finding access to a higher source of energy in order to awaken. !n addition, although this article also critici4es Occultism in general, it should be mentioned that many followers of Occult philosophy are idealistic and high'minded individuals who sincerely wish to further the spiritual evolution of humanity. However, many or most of them may be unaware of the secret /nostical doctrines of Occultism, and they might be unpleasantly surprised to learn about them. 1awlKnK .alKluddLn *RmL&s #eachings about (leep and Wakefulness 3ow let us compare these strange and disturbing teachings of /urdjieff and his followers with the heart'uplifting teachings of 1awlKnK, our beloved 1aster. !n contrast to self'remembering, 1awlKnK taught the passing away of self 7fanK8 in the remembrance of /od 74ikru &llKh8. %nd in contrast to waking up and attaining a permanent !'%m consciousness, 1awlKnK taught the waking up to the :resence of /od while being asleep to ego and the material world0 Whosoever is awake Cto the material world= is the more asleep Cto the spiritual world=, his wakefulness is worse than his sleep. When our soul is not awake to /od, wakefulness is like closing our doors Cto -ivine influences=. %ll day long, from the buffets of phantasy and from Cthoughts of= loss and gain and from fear of decline, #here remains to it Cthe soul= neither joy nor grace and glory nor way of journeying to Heaven. #he one asleep Cto spiritual things= is he who hath hope of every vain fancy and holds parley with it. >A 1awlKnK taught that when one is awake to the :resence of /od, the physical senses become under control and made to be asleep. #hen spiritual senses become activated so that Heavenly visions and knowledge are granted to the seeker0 (o, when the intellect becomes thy captain and master, the dominant senses become subject to thee. He Cwho is ruled by the intellect=, without being asleep Chimself=, puts his senses to sleep, so that the unseen things may emerge from Cthe world of= the (oul. 5ven in his waking state he dreams dreams and opens withal the gates of Heaven. >E !n contrast with /urdjieff&s /nosticism which has a derogatory view of /od as worshipped by the those of the %brahamic religions, 1awlKnK affirms the Hur&anic faith in the Omnipotence of /od0

$rom this you may realise that all these things are but an occasion for the display of /od&s omnipotence, that these things are of Him, and that His decree is absolute in all things. #he believer is he who knows that behind this wall there is (omeone who is apprised of all our circumstances, one by one, and who sees us though we see Him not, of this the believer is certain. Contrary is the case of him who says, &3o, this is all a tale,& and does not believe. #he day will come when /od will box his ears, then he will be sorry, and he will say &%las, ! spoke evil and erred. !ndeed, all was He, and ! denied Him.& >J While is true that 1awlKnK does make the analogy that the soul is like a bird trapped in the cage of the body, >O the difference between his view and the view of /nosticism is that, as a religious mystic, he teaches that the entry and exit of the soul from the physical body is governed in accordance with the hidden Wisdom and /uidance of /od, the Omnipotent Creator'' something that the believer should willingly submit to with an attitude of faith, trust and love of /od, the %ll' 1erciful. *emembrance of /od in the Hur&an 1uslim mystics, or sufis, have speciali4ed in the spiritual practice of the remembrance of /od 74ikru &llKh8 for many centuries. #his practice of recalling was inspired by verses in the Hur&an, such as the following0 *ecollect your /od often CH.@@0A<, see also H.@0A<=. *emember your Bord within your soul with humility and in reverence CH.O0>FE=. *emember the name of your Bord CH.O@0P=. *ecollect /od standing, sitting down, and Clying down= on your sides CH.A0<F@=. . . .those who believe and whose hearts find satisfaction in the recollection of /od''for truly in the recollection of /od do hearts find satisfaction CH.<@0>P=. 1en, whom neither buying nor selling can divert from the remembrance of /od CH.>A0 @O=. %nd don&t be like those who forgot /od, for He made them forget themselves. (uch are the transgressors CH.EG0<G=. #hey have forgotten /od, so He has forgotten them CH.G0JO=. *emembrance of /od is the greatest 74ikru &llKhi akbar8 '' H.>G0AE. Conclusion #hose who are seeking to be faithful to the inspired teachings of Ha4rat'i 1awlKnK .alKluddLn *RmL would benefit by practicing the same spiritual practices that he did0 the !slamic prayers, fasting, and study of the Hur&an and the #raditions of the :rophet 1uhammad Cpeace be upon him=, in addition to the sufi practice of fre"uent remembrance 74ikr8 of /od and the cultivation of spiritual love. #hose who do not feel ready or willing to do the daily !slamic spiritual practices that 1awlKnK did should at least strive to be faithful to his beliefs and teachings. One should avoid the temptation to gain more by combining the 1evlevi Way with teachings and practices from other mystical traditions''especially those that are contrary to the principles and teachings of H4. 1awlKnK. 2urd#ieff/enerally speaking we know very little about Christianity and the form of Christian worship, we know nothing at all of the history and origin of a number of things. $or instance, the church, the temple in which gather the faithful and in which services are carried out according to special rites, where was this taken from6 1any people do not think about this at all. 1any people think that the outward form of worship, the rites, the singing of canticles, and so on, were invented by the fathers of the church. Others think that this outward form has been taken partly from pagan religions and partly from the Hebrews.

+ut all of it is untrue. #he "uestion of the origin of the Christian church, that is, of the Christian temple, is much more interesting than we think. #o begin with, the church and worship in the form which they took in the first centuries of Christianity could not have been borrowed from paganism because there was nothing like it either in the /reek or *oman cults or in .udaism. #he .ewish synagogue, the .ewish temple, /reek and *oman temples of various gods, were something "uite different from the Christian church which made its appearance in the first and second centuries. #he Christian church isSa school concerning which people have forgotten that it is a school. !magine a school where the teachers give lectures and perform explanatory demonstrations without knowing that these are lectures and demonstrations, and where the pupils or simply the people who come to the school take these lectures and demonstrations for ceremonies, or rites, or &sacraments,& i.e., magic. #his would approximate to the Christian church of our times. #he Christian church, the Christian form of worship, was not invented by the fathers of the church. !t was all taken in a ready'made form from 5gypt, only not from the 5gypt that we know but from one which we do not know. #his 5gypt was in the same place as the other but it existed much earlier. Only small bits of it survived in historical times, and these bits have been preserved in secret and so well that we do not even know where they have been preserved. !t will seem strange to many people when ! say that this prehistoric 5gypt was Christian many thousands of years before the birth of Christ, that is to say, that its religion was composed of the same principles and ideas that constitute true Christianity. (pecial schools existed in this prehistoric 5gypt which were called &schools of repetition.& !n these schools a public repetition was given on definite days, and in some schools perhaps even every day, of the entire course in a condensed form of the sciences that could be learned at these schools. (ometimes this repetition lasted a week or a month. #hanks to these repetitions people who had ''''''''''''''''''''' from Where Troy /nce ,tood, Wil"ens%s work on Homer&s pu44le progressed, it turned out that many towns, islands and countries were not yet known in the eastern 1editerranean at the time of the #rojan War by the names mentioned by the poet. :laces like #hebes, Crete, Besbos, Cyprus and 5gypt had entirely different names in the +ron4e %ge, as we now know from archaeological research. #he theatre of Homer&s epics can therefore never have been in the 1editerranean, just as, say an epic found in the ?nited (tates about a 1edieval war, mentioning 5uropean place'names Cwhich can be found in both countries= could not have taken place there, as the %merican continent had not yet been discovered) %s to Homer&s place names, we are confronted with a similar problem but it is not really surprising that such a fundamental error in chronology could persist for some >,OFF years as traditional beliefs handed down over a long period are seldom challenged0 each generation simply repeats the teachings of the previous one without asking itself the proper "uestions. +ut now that this problem of timing has come to light, we are obliged to look for Homer&s places elsewhere than the eastern 1editerranean, and situated near the ocean and its tides, in particular where dykes prevented low'lying areas from flooding. !n other words0 we have to look for Homer&s

places along the %tlantic coast. #he outcome of this research will be unsettling to many and ! also reali4e from my own experience that it takes some time to get accustomed to the +ron4e %ge geography of 5urope. #he best way of adjusting is by reading Homer together with the explanations and maps of this book. #hose who remain sceptical should reali4e that the problem of place'name chronology in general and the phenomenon of oceanic tides in particular, exclude any alternative solution. 7...8 %t first sight it seems impossible to penetrate such a very distant past, but it turns out to be still feasible to discover what happened over @,FFF years ago, and precisely where, thanks to the branch of linguistics dealing with the history of word forms ' etymology. While the /reek spelling of Homer&s geographical names was fixed once and for all when the poems were written down ... place names in western 5urope went on changing in accordance with more or less well'established etymological rules, to be fixed by spelling only relatively recently. #aking this fact into account, we shall see how virtually AFF odd Homeric place'names can be matched in a coherent and logical fashion with western 5uropean place'names as we know them today. 1any of them are still easily recogni4able, others very much less so, often because they have changed by invaders speaking a different language. 5ven over the last few centuries, some place'names around the world have changed beyond recognition, due to pronunciation by peoples of different languages. Who, for example, would believe that +rooklyn in 3ew 2ork comes from the -utch place name +reukelen, if it were not a documented fact6 While it is not possible to prove anything that occurred more than @,FFF years ago, ! hope that my detective work has at least produced sufficient circumstantial evidence to convince the readers that the famous city of #roy was situated in western 5urope. 7...8 #he reason for the longevity of place names in general and river names in particular is that con"uerors generally adopt the already'existing name, although often modified or adapted to their own tongue. % major exception to this rule is /reece, where invaders arriving in a country almost emptied of its population gave new names to many places ' names familiar to them and appearing in Homer&s works. +ut people arriving in a new and sparsely populated country of course give familiar names to places in a hapha4ard kind of way. !n %ustralia, for example, Cardiff, /ateshead, Hamilton, .esmond, (tockton, (wansea, and Walsend, widely scattered in +ritain, are all suburbs of 3ewcastle, 3ew (outh Wales. !t is precisely this hapha4ard transposition of names that explains, for example, why *hodes is an island in /reece, but a region in Homer, 5uboea is another /reek island, but part of the continent in Homer, Chios yet another island, but not in Homer. (imilarly, Homer speaks of an island called (yria which clearly cannot be (yros in the Cyclades. #he reader may object that these are simply imprecisions due to the extreme anti"uity of the text. +ut we have evidence that the present 5gypt, Cyprus, Besbos and Crete, all names appearing in Homer, were not known by those names in the +ron4e %ge. #he list of such anomalies is long. 5ven the identification of such Homeric places as !thaca and :ylos has led to endless and inconclusive discussion among scholars and the difficulty of making sense of Homer in /reece or #urkey is brought out in recent studies by 1alcolm Wilcock and /.(.

Mirk. !t is therefore clear that the poet, though he uses names we recogni4e, was not talking about the places that now bear those names. 7Where #roy Once (tood, Wilkens, p. E>'E@8 2urd#ieff#he fourth way differs from the old and the new ways by the fact that it is never a permanent way. !t has no definite forms and there are no institutions connected with it. !t appears and disappears governed by some particular laws of its own. #he fourth way is never without some work of a definite significance, is never without some undertaking around which and in connection with which it can alone exist. When this work is finished, that is to say, when the aim set before it has been accomplished, the fourth way disappears, that is, it disappears from the given place, disappears in its given form, continuing perhaps in another place in another form. (chools of the fourth way exist for the needs of the work which is being carried out in connection with the proposed undertaking. #hey never exist by themselves as schools for the purpose of education and instruction. 1echanical help cannot be re"uired in any work of the fourth way. Only conscious work can be useful in all the undertakings of the fourth way. 1echanical man cannot give conscious work so that the first task of the people who begin such a work is to create conscious assistants. #he work itself of schools of the fourth way can have very many forms and many meanings. !n the midst of the ordinary conditions of life the only chance a man has of finding a &way& is in the possibility of meeting with the beginning of work of this kind. +ut the chance of meeting with such work as well as the possibility of profiting by this chance depends upon many circumstances and conditions. #he "uicker a man grasps the aim of the work which is being executed, the "uicker can he become useful to it and the more will he be able to get from it for himself. +ut no matter what the fundamental aim of the work is, the schools continue to exist only while this work is going on. When the work is done the schools close. #he people who began the work leave the stage. #hose who have learned from them what was possible to learn and have reached the possibility of continuing on the way independently begin in one form or another their own personal work. "+ut it happens sometimes that when the school closes a number of people are left who were round about the wor", who saw the outward aspect of it, and saw the whole of the wor" in this outward aspect! "%aving no doubts whatever of themselves or in the correctness of their conclusions and understanding they decide to continue the wor"! To continue this wor" they form new schools, teach people what they have themselves learned, and give them the same promises that they themselves received! All this naturally can only be outward imitation!b +ut when we look back on history it is almost impossible for us to distinguish where the real ends and where the imitation begins. (trictly speaking almost everything we know about various kinds of occult, masonic, and alchemical schools refers to such imitation. We know practically nothing about real schools excepting the results of their work and even that only if we are able to distinguish the results of real work from counterfeits and imitations. +ut such pseudo'esoteric systems also play their part in the work and activities of esoteric circles.

3amely, they are the intermediaries between humanity which is entirely immersed in the materialistic life and schools which are interested in the education of a certain number of people, as much for the purposes of their own existences as for the purposes of the work of a cosmic character which they may be carrying out. The very idea of esotericism, the idea of initiation, reaches people in most cases through pseudo0esoteric systems and schools' and if there were not these pseudo0esoteric schools the vast ma#ority of humanity would have no possibility whatever of hearing and learning of the e&istence of anything greater than life because the truth in its pure form would be inaccessible for them! +y reason of the many characteristics of man&s being, particularly of the contemporary being, truth can only come to people in the form of a lieS only in this form are they able to accept it, only in this form are they able to digest and assimilate it. #ruth undefiled would be, for them, indigestible food. 7...8 #he idea of initiation, which reaches us through pseudo'esoteric systems, is also transmitted to us in a completely wrong form. #he legends concerning the outward rites of initiation have been created out of the scraps of information we possess in regard to the ancient 1ysteries. #he 1ysteries represented a special kind of way in which, side by side with a difficult and prolonged period of study, theatrical representations of a special kind were given which depicted in allegorical forms the whole path of the evolution of man and the world. #ransitions from one level of being to another were marked by ceremonies of presentation of a special kind, that is, initiation. +ut a change of being cannot be brought about by any rites. *ites can only mark an accomplished transition. %nd it is only in pseudo'esoteric systems in which there is nothing else except these rites, that they begin to attribute to the rites an independent meaning. !t is supposed that a rite, in being transformed into a sacrament, transmits or communicates certain forces to the initiate. #his again relates to the psychology of an imitation way. #here is not, nor can there be, any outward initiation. !n reality only self'initiation, self'presentation exist. ,ystems and schools can indicate methods and ways, but no system or school whatever can do for a man the wor" that he must do himself! $nner growth, a change of being, depend entirely upon the wor" which a man must do on himself!" &Conscience& is again a term that needs explanation. !n ordinary life the concept &conscience& is taken too simply. %s if we had a conscience. %ctually the concept &conscience& in the sphere of the emotions is e"uivalent to the concept &consciousness& in the sphere of the intellect. %nd as we have no consciousness we have no conscience. Consciousness is a state in which a man knows all at once everything that he in general knows and in which he can see how little he does know and how many contradictions there are in what he knows. Conscience is a state in which a man feels all at once everything that he in general feels, or can feel. %nd as everyone has within him thousands of contradictory feelings which vary from a deeply hidden reali4ation of his own nothingness and fears of all kinds to the most stupid kind of self' conceit, self'confidence, self'satisfaction, and self'praise, to feel all this together would not only be painful but literally unbearable. !f a man whose entire inner world is composed of contradictions were suddenly to feel all these contradictions simultaneously within himself, if he were to feel all at once that he loves everything he hates and hates everything he loves, that he lies when he tells the truth and that he tells the truth

when he lies, and if he could feel the shame and horror of it all, this would be the state which is called &conscience. % man cannot live in this state, he must either destroy contradictions or destroy conscience. He cannot destroy conscience, but if he cannot destroy it he can put it to sleep, that is, he can separate by impenetrable barriers one feeling of self from another, never see them together, never feel their incompatibility, the absurdity of one existing alongside another. +ut fortunately for man, that is, for his peace and for his sleep, this state of conscience is very rare. $rom early childhood &buffers& begin to grow and strengthen in him, taking from him the possibility of seeing his inner contradictions and therefore, for him, there is no danger whatever of a sudden awakening. %wakening is possible only for those who seek it and want it, for those who are ready to struggle with themselves and work on themselves for a very long time and very persistently in order to attain it. $or this it is necessary to destroy &buffers,& that is, to go out to meet all those inner sufferings which are connected with the sensations of contradictions. 1oreover the destruction of &buffers& in itself re"uires very long work and a man must agree to this work reali4ing that the result of his work will be every possible discomfort and suffering from the awakening of his conscience. +ut conscience is the fire which alone can fuse all the powders in the glass retort which was mentioned before and create the unity which a man lacks in that state in which he begins to study himself. #he concept &conscience& has nothing in common with the concept &morality.& Conscience is a general and a permanent phenomenon. Conscience is the same for all men and conscience is possible only in the absence of &buffers.& $rom the point of view of understanding the different categories of man we may say that there exists the conscience of a man in whom there are no contradictions. #his conscience is not suffering, on the contrary it is joy of a totally new character which we are unable to understand. +ut even a momentary awakening of conscience in a man who has thousands of different !&s is bound to involve suffering. %nd if these moments of conscience become longer and if a man does not fear them but on the contrary cooperates with them and tries to keep and prolong them, an element of very subtle joy, a foretaste of the future &clear consciousness& will gradually enter into these moments. #here is nothing general in the concept of &morality.& 1orality consists of buffers. #here is no general morality. What is moral in China is immoral in 5urope and what is moral in 5urope is immoral in China. What is moral in :etersburg is immoral in the Caucasus. %nd what is moral in the Caucasus is immoral in :etersburg. What is moral in one class of society is immoral in another and vice versa. 1orality is always and everywhere an artificial phenomenon. !t consists of various &taboos,& that is, restrictions, and various demands, sometimes sensible in their basis and sometimes having lost all meaning or never even having had any meaning, and having been created on a false basis, on a soil of superstition and false fears. 1orality consists of &buffers.& %nd since &buffers& are of various kinds, and as the conditions of life in different countries and in different ages or among different classes of society vary considerably, so the morality created by them is also very dissimilar and contradictory. % morality common to all does not exist. !t is even impossible to say that there exists any general idea of morality, for instance, in 5urope. !t is said sometimes that the general morality for 5urope is

&Christian morality.& +ut first of all the idea of &Christian morality& itself admits of very many different interpretations and many different crimes have been justified by &Christian morality.& %nd in the second place modern 5urope has very little in common with &Christian morality,& no matter how we understand this morality. !n any case, if &Christian morality& brought 5urope to the war which is now going on, then it would be as well to be as far as possible from such morality, 1any people say that they do not understand the moral side of your teaching, said one of us. %nd others say that your teaching has no morality at all. Of course not, said /. :eople are very fond of talking about morality. +ut morality is merely self'suggestion. What is necessary is conscience. We do not teach morality. We teach how to find conscience. :eople are not pleased when we say this. #hey say that we have no love. (imply because we do not encourage weakness and hypocrisy but, on the contrary, take off all masks. He who desires the truth will not speak of love or of Christianity because he knows how far he is from these. Christian teaching is for Christians. %nd Christians are those who live, that is, who do everything, according to Christ&s precepts. Can they who talk of love and morality live according to Christ&s precepts6 Of course they cannot, but there will always be talk of this kind, there will always be people to whom words are more precious than anything else. +ut this is a true sign) He who speaks like this is an empty man, it is not worth while wasting time on him. !n what relation does the intelligence of the earth stand to the intelligence of the sun6 ! asked. #he intelligence of the sun is divine, said /. +ut the earth can become the same, only, of course, it is not guaranteed and the earth may die having attained nothing. ?pon what does this depend6 ! asked. /.&s answer was very vague. #here is a definite period, he said, for a certain thing to be done. !f, by a certain time, what ought to be done has not been done, the earth may perish without having attained what it could have attained. !s this period known6 ! asked. !t is known, said /. +ut it would be no advantage whatever for people to know it. !t would even be worse. (ome would believe it, others would not believe it, yet others would demand proofs. %fterwards they would begin to break one another&s heads. 5verything ends this way with people. 7...8 We must remember that the ray of creation, as we have taken it, from the %bsolute to the moon, is like a branch of a treeSa growing branch. #he end of this branch, the end out of which come new shoots, is the moon. !f the moon does not grow, if it neither gives nor promises to give new shoots, it means that either the growth of the whole ray of creation will stop or that it must find another path for its growth, give out some kind of lateral branch. %t the same time from what has been said before we see that the growth of the moon depends on

organic life on earth. !t follows that the growth of the ray of creation depends on organic life on earth. !f this organic life disappears or dies the whole branch will immediately wither, in any case all that part of the branch which lies beyond organic life. #he same thing must happen, only more slowly, if organic life is arrested in its development, in its evolution, and fails to respond to the demands made upon it. #he branch may wither. #his must be remembered. #o the ray of creation, or let us say to its part earth'moon, exactly the same possibility of development and growth has been given as is given to each separate branch of a big tree. +ut the accomplishment of this growth is not at all guaranteed, it depends upon the harmonious and right action of its own tissues. #he development of one tissue stops and all the others stop. 5verything that can be said of the ray of creation or of its part earth'moon e"ually refers to organic life on earth. Organic life on earth is a complex phenomenon in which the separate parts depend upon one another. /eneral growth is possible only on the condition that the &end of the branch& grows. Or, speaking more precisely, there are in organic life tissues which are evolving, and there are tissues which serve as food and medium for those which are evolving. #hen there are evolving cells within the evolving tissues, and cells which serve as food and medium for those which are evolving. !n each separate evolving cell there are evolving parts and there are parts which serve as food for those which are evolving. +ut always and in everything it must be remembered that evolution is never guaranteed, it is possible only and it can stop at any moment and in any place. #he evolving part of organic life is humanity. ... !f humanity does not evolve it means that the evolution of organic life will stop and this in its turn will cause the growth of the ray of creation to stop. %t the same time if humanity ceases to evolve it becomes useless from the point of view of the aims for which it was created and as such it may be destroyed. !n this way the cessation of evolution may mean the destruction of humanity!7...8 %t the same time in examining the life of humanity as we know it historically we are bound to acknowledge that humanity is moving in a circle. !n one century it destroys everything it creates in another and the progress in mechanical things of the past hundred years has proceeded at the cost of losing many other things which perhaps were much more important for it. ,pea"ing in general there is every reason to thin" and to assert that humanity is at a standstill and from a standstill there is a straight path to downfall and degeneration! % standstill means that a process has become balanced. #he appearance of any one "uality immediately evokes the appearance of another "uality opposed to it. #he growth of knowledge in one domain evokes the growth of ignorance in another, refinement on the one hand evokes vulgarity on the other, freedom in one connection evokes slavery in another, the disappearance of some superstitions evokes the appearance and the growth of others, and so on. 3ow if we recall the law of octaves we shall see that a balanced process proceeding in a certain way cannot be changed at any moment it is desired. $t can be changed and set on a new path only at certain *cross0roads!* !n between the &crossroads& nothing can be done.

%t the same time if a process passes by a *crossroad* and nothing happens, nothing is done, then nothing can be done afterwards and the process will continue and develop according to mechanical laws' and even if people ta"ing part in this process foresee the inevitable destruction of everything, they will be unable to do anything! $ repeat that something can be done only at certain moments which $ have #ust called *crossroads* and which in octaves we have called the &intervals& mi'fa and siTdo. Of course there are very many people who consider that the life of humanity is not proceeding in the way in which according to their views it ought to go. %nd they invent various theories which in their opinion ought to change the whole life of humanity. One invents one theory. %nother immediately invents a contradictory theory. %nd both expect everyone to believe them. %nd many people indeed do believe either one or the other. Bife naturally takes its own course but people do not stop believing in their own or other people&s theories and they believe that it is possible to do something. All these theories are certainly )uite fantastic, chiefly because they do not ta"e into account the most important thing, namely, the subordinate part which humanity and organic life play in the world process! !ntellectual theories put man in the center of everything, everything exists for him, the sun, the stars, the moon, the earth. #hey even forget man&s relative si4e, his nothingness, his transient existence, and other tilings. #hey assert that a man if he wishes is able to change his whole life, that is, to organi4e his life on rational principles. %nd all the time new theories appear evoking in their turn opposing theories, and all these theories and the struggle between them undoubtedly constitute one of the forces which "eep humanity in the state in which it is at present! +esides, all these theories for general welfare and general e)uality are not only unreali able, but they would be fatal if they were reali ed! 5verything in nature has its aim and its purpose, both the ine"uality of man and his suffering. To destroy ine)uality would mean destroying the possibility of evolution! To destroy suffering would mean, first, destroying a whole series of perceptions for which man exists, and second, the destruction of the *shoc",* that is to say, the force which alone can change the situation. %nd thus it is with all intellectual theories. #he process of evolution, of that evolution which is possible for humanity as a whole, is completely analogous, to the process of evolution possible for the individual man. %nd it begins with the same thing, namely, a certain group of cells gradually becomes conscious, then it attracts to itself other cells, subordinates others, and gradually makes the whole organism serve its aims and not merely eat, drink, and sleep. #his is evolution and there can be no other kind of evolution. !n humanity as in individual man everything begins with the formation of a conscious nucleus. %ll the mechanical forces of life fight against the formation of this conscious nucleus in humanity, in just the same way as all mechanical habits, tastes and weaknesses fight against conscious self' remembering in man. Can it be said that there is a conscious force which fights against the evolution of humanity6 ! asked.

$rom a certain point of view it can be said, said /. ! am putting this on record because it would seem to contradict what he said before, namely, that there are only two forces struggling in the worldS consciousness and mechanicalness. Where can this force come from6 ! asked. !t would take a long time to explain, said /., and it cannot have a practical significance for us at the present moment. #here are two processes which are sometimes called &involutionary& and &evolutionary.& #he difference between them is the following0 %n involutionary process begins consciously in the %bsolute but at the next step it already becomes mechanicalSand it becomes more and more mechanical as it develops, an evolutionary process begins half'consciously but it becomes more and more conscious as its develops. +ut consciousness and conscious opposition to the evolutionary process can also appear at certain moments in the, involutionary process. $rom where does this consciousness come6 $rom the evolutionary process of course. #he evolutionary process must proceed without interruption. %ny stop causes a separation from the fundamental process. ,uch separate fragments of consciousnesses which have been stopped in their development can also unite and at any rate for a certain time can live by struggling against the evolutionary process! After all it merely ma"es the evolutionary process more interesting! $nstead of struggling against mechanical forces there may, at certain moments, be a struggle against the intentional opposition of fairly powerful forces though they are not of course comparable with those which direct the evolutionary process. These opposing forces may sometimes even con)uer! #he reason for this consists in the fact that the forces guiding evolution have a more limited choice of means' in other words, they can only ma"e use of certain means and certain methods! The opposing forces are not limited in their choice of means and they are able to ma"e use of every means, even those which only give rise to a temporary success, and in the final result they destroy both evolution and involution at the point in )uestion! +ut as ! have said already, this "uestion has no practical significance for us. !t is only important for us to establish the indications of evolution beginning and the indications of evolution proceeding. %nd if we remember the full analogy between humanity and man it will not be difficult to establish whether humanity can be regarded as evolving. %re we able to say for instance that life is governed by a group of conscious people6 Where are they6 Who are they6 We see exactly the opposite0 that life is governed by those who are the least conscious, by those who are most asleep. %re we able to say that we observe in life a preponderance of the best, the strongest, and the most

courageous elements6 3othing of the sort. On the contrary we see a preponderance of vulgarity and stupidity of all kinds. %re we able to say that aspirations towards unity, towards unification, can be observed in life6 3othing of the kind of course. We only see new divisions, new hostility, new misunderstandings. (o that in the actual situation of humanity there is nothing that points to evolution proceeding. On the contrary when we compare humanity with a man we "uite clearly see a growth of personality at the cost of essence, that is, a growth of the artificial, the unreal, and what is foreign, at the cost of the natural, the real, and what is one&s own. #ogether with this we see a growth of automatism. Contemporary culture re"uires automatons. %nd people are undoubtedly losing their ac"uired habits of independence and turning into automatons, into parts of machines. !t is impossible to say where is the end of all this and where the way outS or whether there is an end and a way out. One thing alone is certain, that man&s slavery grows and increases. 1an is becoming a willing slave. He no longer needs chains. He begins to grow fond of his slavery, to be proud of it. %nd this is the most terrible thing that can happen to a man. 5verything ! have said till now ! have said about the whole of humanity. +ut as ! pointed out before, the evolution of humanity can proceed only through the evolution of a certain group, which, in its turn, will influence and lead the rest of humanity! %re we able to say that such a group exists6 :erhaps we can on the basis of certain signs, but in any event we have to acknowledge that it is a very small group, "uite insufficient, at any rate, to subjugate the rest of humanity. Or, looking at it from another point of view, we can say that humanity is in such a state that it is unable to accept the guidance of a conscious group. How many people could there be in this conscious group6 someone asked. Only they themselves know this, said /. -oes it mean that they all know each other6 asked the same person again. How could it be otherwise6 asked /. "$magine that there are two or three people who are awa"e in the midst of a multitude of sleeping people! They will certainly "now each other! +ut those who are asleep cannot "now them! How many are they6 We do not know and we cannot know until we become like them. $t has been clearly said before that each man can only see on the level of his own being! +ut two hundred conscious people, if they existed and if they found it necessary and legitimate, could change the whole of life on the earth. +ut either there are not enough of them, or they do not want to, or perhaps the time has not yet come, or perhaps other people are sleeping too soundly. "$t has been clearly said before that each man can only see on the level of his own being!" "3ou will see that in life you receive e&actly what you give! 3our life is the mirror of what you are! $t is in your image!"

When a man comes to reali4e the necessity not only for self'study and selfTobservation but also for work on himself with the object of changing himself, the character of his self'observation must change. He has so far studied the details of the work of the centers, trying only to register this or that phenomenon, to be an impartial witness. He has studied the work of the machine. 3ow he must begin to see himself, that is to say, to see, not separate details, not the work of small wheels and levers, but to see everything taken together as a wholeSthe whole of himself such as others see him. $or this purpose a man must learn to take, so to speak, &mental photographs& of himself at different moments of his life and in different emotional states0 and not photographs of details, but photographs of the whole as he saw it. 7...8 !nstead of the man he had supposed himself to be he will see "uite another man. #his &other& man is himself and at the same time not himself. !t is he as other people "now him, as he imagines himself and as he appears in his actions, words, and so on, but not altogether such as he actually is. $or a man himself knows that there is a great deal that is unreal, invented, and artificial in this other man whom other people know and whom he knows himself. 2ou must learn to divide the real from the invented. %nd to begin self'observation and self'study it is necessary to divide oneself. % man must reali4e that he indeed consists of two men. One is the man he calls &!& and whom others call &Ouspensky,& &Iakharov& or &:etrov.& #he other is the real he, the real !, which appears in his life only for very short moments and which can become firm and permanent only after a very lengthy period of work. (o long as a man takes himself as one person he will never move from where he is. His work on himself starts from the moment when he begins to feel two men in himself. One is passive and the most it can do is to register or observe what is happening to it. #he other, which calls itself &!,& is active, and speaks of itself in the first person, is in reality only &Ouspensky,& &:etrov& or &Iakharov.& #his is the first reali4ation that a man can have. Having begun to think correctly he very soon sees that he is completely in the power of his &Ouspensky,& &:etrov,& or &Iakharov.& 3o matter what he plans or what he intends to do or say, it is not &he,& not &!,& that will carry it out, do or say it, but his &Ouspensky& &:etrov,& or &Iakharov,& and of course they will do or say it, not in the way &!& would have done or said it, but in their own way with their own shade of meaning, and often this shade of meaning completely changes what &!& wanted to do. $rom this point of view there is a very definite danger arising from the very first moment of self' observation. !t is &!& who begins self'observation, but it is immediately taken up and continued by &Ouspensky,& &Iakharov,& or &:etrov.& +ut &Ouspensky& &Iakharov,& or &:etrov& from the very first steps introduces a slight alteration into this self'observation, an alteration which seems to be "uite unimportant but which in reality fundamentally alters the whole thing. 7...8 (elf'observation becomes observation of &Ouspensky& % man understands that he is not &Ouspensky,& that &Ouspensky& is nothing but the mask he wears, the part that he unconsciously plays and which unfortunately he cannot stop playing, a part which rules him and makes him do and say thousands of stupid things, thousands of things which he would never do or say himself. !f he is sincere with himself he feels that he is in the power of &Ouspensky& and at the same time he feels that he is not &Ouspensky.&

He begins to be afraid of &Ouspensky,& begins to feel that he is his &enemy.& 3o matter what he would like to do, everything is intercepted and altered by &Ouspensky.& &Ouspensky& is his &enemy.& &Ouspensky&s& desires, tastes, sympathies, antipathies, thoughts, opinions, are either opposed to his own views, feelings, and moods, or they have nothing in common with them. %nd, at the same time, &Ouspensky& is his master. He is the slave. He has no will of his own. He has no means of expressing his desires because whatever he would like to do or say would be done for him by &Ouspensky.& On this level of self'observation a man must understand that his whole aim is to free himself from &Ouspensky.& %nd since he cannot in fact free himself from &Ouspensky,& because he is himself, he must therefore master &Ouspensky& and make him do, not what the &Ouspensky& of the given moment wants, but what he himself wants to do. $rom being the master, &Ouspensky& must become the servant. #he first stage of work on oneself consists in separating oneself from &Ouspensky& mentally, in being separated from him in actual fact, in keeping apart from him. +ut the fact must be borne in mind that the whole attention must be concentrated upon &Ouspensky& for a man is unable to explain what he himself really is. +ut he can explain &Ouspensky& to himself and with this he must begin, remembering at the same time that he is not &Ouspensky,& The most dangerous thing in this case is to rely on one*s own #udgment! !f a man is lucky he may at this time have someone near him who can tell him where he is and where &Ouspensky& is. +ut he must moreover trust this person, because he will undoubtedly think that he understands everything himself and that he knows where he is and where &Ouspensky& is. %nd not only in relation to himself but in relation also to other people will he think that he knows and sees their &Ouspenskys.& %ll this is of course self'deception. %t this stage a man can see nothing either in relation to himself or to others. The more convinced he is that he can, the more he is mista"en! +ut if he can be even to a slight extent sincere with himself and really wants to know the truth, then he can find an exact and infallible basis for judging rightly first about himself and then about other people. +ut the whole point lies in being sincere with oneself. %nd this is by no means easy. :eople do not understand that sincerity must be learned! #hey imagine that to be sincere or not to be sincere depends upon their desire or decision. +ut how can a man be sincere with himself when in actual fact he sincerely does not see what he ought to see in himself. (omeone has to show it to him. %nd his attitude towards the person who shows him must be a right one, that is, such as will help him to see what is shown him and not, as often happens, hinder him if he begins to think that he already knows better. #his is a very serious moment in the work. A man who loses his direction at this moment will never find it again afterwards! >!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #his is, in fact, the moment at which most people fall. %s we now know, the main problem that modern man must face in himself is narcissism. 3arcissism is the essence of the false personality that must be struggled against. #he problem is distinguishing someone who just has narcissistic traits due to social and familial influences, or someone who is a pathological narcissist. !t is at this moment in the work that the wheat are

separated from the chaff. 2ou see, true narcissists are incapable of collaborative efforts of any kind. #hey see everyone as either supporters of their narcissism or non'supporters. #hey ideali4e supporters of their world view and devalue those who do not support their illusion. 3arcissists regard group work with disdain and contempt because, of course, they are so special. #he need for team work, to adhere to group rules, to submit to the norms of the group and;or the teacher or a moderator, to honor and respect other group members as 5H?%B( no matter their age, station in life, education, etc, is perceived by the narcissist to be humiliating and degrading. (o, when the time comes to confront an individual in group work, if that individual is a pathological narcissist, the result is rage, attacks, and even an exacerbation of the narcissist&s delusions of persecution. #he internal dialog of the individual, at this point, goes something like this0 .ust who do they think they are6) What is his;her credentials, after all6)) ! am a success in everything that matters to me, and he;she is just a no'nothing) ! know what ! know, these people are nothing, they are nothing like me, they know nothing about me, they just aren&t at my level, they should accept my authority on what ! know ! know... He;she is trying to put me down, to make him;herself feel better at my expense... and so on. % person who really, truly, is sincere with him or herself will know, when it is pointed out to them, that they have, indeed, forgotten their true self. %nd they will struggle against the false personality and it&s rant as described above. % narcissist will go with the rant because the narcissism ' whether genetic or learned ' is stronger than the real U!U. #he more pathological types will then go out and launch attacks because they are in a state of what is called 3arcissistic *age. :athological 3arcissitic *age has special characteristics because the narcissistic hurt is different from other types of emotional pain. #he fact that this hurt is very vulnerable, and opens up to an emptiness signifying the dissolution of identity, imbues the reactive anger with an intensity and hardness rarely seen in other kinds of anger. C#he :oint of 5xistence, pg @>A=. #he Cnarcissitic= rage may turn into, or be accompanied by, a cold hatred that gives ... "ualities of power, invincibility, and calculation. #his hatred underlies the desire for vengeance, for wanting to inflict pain and suffering, and for actually enjoying getting back at the person who 7failed to support the narcissistic illusion8. C#he :oint of 5xistence, pg @>O= !t is types such as these that attack people like /urdjieff and also we have had much experience with them leaving H$/ after usually the most minor of incidents of having their own feeding and manipulating behavior pointed out to them. 3ow, back to the subject at hand0 !t must be remembered that man such as he is does not possess the means of distinguishing &!& and &Ouspensky& in himself. 5ven if he tries to, he will lie to himself and invent things, and he will never see himself as he really is. !t must be understood that without outside help a man can never see himself. 7...8 #his in its turn is connected with one of the fundamental characteristics of man&s attitude towards himself and to all his surroundings. 3amely, his constant &identification& with what at a given moment has attracted his attention, his thoughts or his desires, and his imagination.

&!dentification& is so common a "uality that for purposes of observation it is difficult to separate it from everything else. 1an is always in a state of identification, only the object of identification changes. % man identifies with a small problem which confronts him and he completely forgets the great aims with which he began his work. He identifies with one thought and forgets other thoughts, he is identified with one feeling, with one mood, and forgets his own wider thoughts, emotions, and moods. !n work on themselves people are so much identified with separate aims that they fail to see the wood for the trees. #wo or three trees nearest to them represent for them the whole wood. &!dentifying& is one of our most terrible foes because it penetrates everywhere and deceives a man at the moment when it seems to him that he is struggling with it. !t is especially difficult to free oneself from identifying because a man naturally becomes more easily identified with the things that interest him most, to which he gives his time, his work, and his attention. !n order to free himself from identifying a man must be constantly on guard and be merciless with himself, that is, he must not be afraid of seeing all the subtle and hidden forms which identifying takes. !t is necessary to see and to study identifying to its very roots in oneself. #he difficulty of struggling with identifying is still further increased by the fact that when people observe it in themselves they consider it a very good trait and call it &enthusiasm,& &4eal,& &passion,& &spontaneity,& &inspiration,& and names of that kind, and they consider that only in a state of identifying can a man really produce good work, no matter in what sphere. !n reality of course this is illusion. 1an cannot do anything sensible when he is in a state of identifying. !f people could see what the state of identifying means they would alter their opinion. % man becomes a thing, a piece of flesh, he loses even the small semblance of a human being that he has. !n the 5ast where people smoke hashish and other drugs it often happens that a man becomes so identified with his pipe that he begins to consider he is a pipe himself. #his is not a joke but a fact. He actually becomes a pipe. #his is identifying. %nd for this, hashish or opium are entirely unnecessary. Book at people in shops, in theaters, in restaurants, or see how they identify with words when they argue about something or try to prove something, particularly something they do not "now themselves. #hey become greediness, desires, or words, of themselves nothing remains. !dentifying is the chief obstacle to self'remembering. % man who identifies with anything is unable to remember himself. !n order to remember oneself it is necessary first of all not to identify. +ut in order to learn not to identify man must first of all not be identified with himself, must not call himself &!& always and on all occasions. He must remember that there are two in him, that there is himself that is &!& in him, and there is another with whom he must struggle and whom he must con"uer if he wishes at any time to attain anything.

(o long as a man identifies or can be identified, he is the slave of everything that can happen to him. $reedom is first of all freedom from identification. %fter general forms of identification attention must be given to a particular form of identifying, namely identifying with people, which takes the form of &considering& them. #here are several different kinds of &considering.& On the most prevalent occasions a man is identified with what others thin" about him, how they treat him, what attitude they show towards him! He always thinks that people do not value him enough, are not sufficiently polite and courteous. %ll this torments him, makes him think and suspect and lose an immense amount of energy on guesswork, on suppositions, develops in him a distrustful and hostile attitude towards people. How somebody looked at him, what somebody thought of him, what somebody said of himSall this ac"uires for him an immense significance. %nd he &considers& not only separate persons but society and historically constituted conditions. 5verything that displeases such a man seems to him to be unjust, illegal, wrong, and illogical. %nd the point of departure for his judgment is always that these things can and should be changed. *$n#ustice* is one of the words in which very often considering hides itself! When a man has convinced himself that he is indignant with some injustice, then for him to stop considering would mean &reconciling himself to injustice.& #here are people who are able to consider not only injustice or the failure of others to value them enough but who are able to consider for example the weather. #his seems ridiculous but it is a fact. :eople are able to consider climate, heat, cold, snow, rain, they can be irritated by the weather, be indignant and angry with it. A man can ta"e everything in such a personal way as though everything in the world had been specially arranged in order to give him pleasure or on the contrary to cause him inconvenience or unpleasantness! %ll this and much else besides is merely a form of identification. (uch considering is wholly based upon &re"uirements.& % man inwardly &re'"uires& that everyone should see what a remarkable man he is and that they should constantly give expression to their respect, esteem, and admiration for him, for his intellect, his beauty, his cleverness, his wit, his presence of mind, his originality, and all his other "ualities. *e"uirements in their turn are based on a completely fantastic notion about themselves such as very often occurs with people of very modest appearance. Darious writers, actors, musicians, artists, and politicians, for instance, are almost without exception sick people. %nd what are they suffering from6 $irst of all from an extraordinary& opinion of themselves, then from re"uirements, and then from considering, that is, being ready and prepared beforehand to take offense at lack of understanding and lack of appreciation. #here is still another form of considering which can take a great deal of energy from a man. #his form starts with a man beginning to think that he is not considering another person enough, that this other person is offended with him for not considering him sufficiently. %nd he begins to think himself that perhaps he does not think enough about this other, does not pay him enough attention, does not give way to him enough.

%ll this is simply weakness. :eople are afraid of one another. +ut this can lead very far. ! have seen many such cases. !n this way a man can finally lose his balance, if at any time he had any, and begin to perform entirely senseless actions. He gets angry with himself and feels that it is stupid, and he cannot stop, whereas in such cases the whole point is precisely &not to consider.& !t is the same case, only perhaps worse, when a man considers that in his opinion he &ought& to do something when as a matter of fact he ought not to do so at all. &Ought& and &ought not& is also a difficult subject, that is, difficult to understand when a man really &ought& and when he &ought not.& #his can be approached only from the point of view of &aim.& When a man has an aim he *ought* to do only what leads towards his aim and he *ought not* to do anything that hinders him from going towards his aim! %s ! have already said, people very often think that if they begin to struggle with considering within themselves it will make them &insincere& and they are afraid of this because they think that in this event they will be losing something, losing a part of themselves. !n this case the same thing takes place as in attempts to struggle against the outward expression of unpleasant emotions. #he sole difference is that in one case a man struggles with the outward expression of emotions and in the other case with an inner manifestation of perhaps the same emotions. #his fear of losing sincerity is of course self'deception, one of those formulas of lying upon which human weaknesses are based. 1an cannot help identifying and considering inwardly and he cannot help expressing his unpleasant emotions, simply because he is weak. $dentifying, considering, the e&pressing of unpleasant emotions, are manifestations of his wea"ness, his impotence, his inability to control himself! +ut not wishing to ac"nowledge this wea"ness to himself, he calls it *sincerity* or *honesty* and he tells himself that he does not want to struggle against sincerity, whereas in fact he is unable to struggle against his wea"nesses! ,incerity and honesty are in reality something )uite different! What a man calls *sincerity* in this case is in reality simply being unwilling to restrain himself! And deep down inside him a man is aware of this! +ut he lies to himself when he says that he does not want to lose sincerity! (o far ! have spoken of internal considering. !t would be possible to bring forward many more examples. +ut you must do this yourselves, that is, you must seek these examples in your observations of yourselves and of others. "The opposite of internal considering and what is in part a means of fighting against it is e&ternal considering! 5xternal considering is based upon an entirely different relationship towards people than internal considering. $t is adaptation towards people, to their understanding, to their re)uirements! +y considering e&ternally a man does that which ma"es life easy for other people and for himself! E&ternal considering re)uires a "nowledge of men, an understanding of their tastes, habits, and pre#udices! At the same time e&ternal considering re)uires a great power over oneself, a great control over oneself! Dery often a man desires sincerely to express or somehow or other show to another man what he really thinks of him or feels about him. %nd if he is a weak man he will of course give way to this desire and afterwards justify himself and say that he did not want to lie, did not want to pretend, he wanted to be sincere. #hen he convinces himself that it was the other man&s fault. He really wanted to consider him, even to give way to him, not to "uarrel, and so on. +ut the other man did not at all want to consider him so that nothing could be done with him.

!t very often happens that a man begins with a blessing and ends with a curse. He begins by deciding not to consider and afterwards blames other people for not considering him. #his is an example of how external considering passes into internal considering. +ut if a man really remembers himself he understands that another man is a machine #ust as he is himself! And then he will enter into his position, he will put himself in his place, and he will be really able to understand and feel what another man thin"s and feels! !f he can do this his work becomes easier for him. +ut if he approaches a man with his own re"uirements nothing except new internal considering can ever be obtained from it. *ight external considering is very important in the work. !t often happens that people who understand very well the necessity of external considering in life do not understand the necessity of external considering in the work, they decide that just because they are in the work they have the right not to consider. Whereas in reality, in the work, that is, for a man&s own successful work, ten times more external considering is necessary than in life, because only external considering on his part shows his valuation of the work and his understanding of the work, and success in the work is always proportional to the valuation and understanding of it. 9.............. 3ow, let&s come back to the issue0 why did /urdjieff say and do a lot of the things he said and did6 1y answer is 5xternal considering. /urdjieff had an ama4ing knowledge of human psychology. He didn&t call narcissism by that name, but you can see from the above that he had a complete grasp of the problem. !n terms of how to achieve his aim ' which was concerned with saving humanity at large ' he utili4ed 5xternal considering0 "E&ternal considering is !!! adaptation towards people, to their understanding, to their re)uirements! +y considering e&ternally a man does that which ma"es life easy for other people and for himself! E&ternal considering re)uires a "nowledge of men, an understanding of their tastes, habits, and pre#udices! At the same time e&ternal considering re)uires a great power over oneself, a great control over oneself! 3ow, let me give you a very simple example from my experience as the mother of five children and having worked for years with others, as a social worker, as a hypnotherapist, and as a teacher. (uppose one of my children has formed an attachment for someone who is entirely unsuitable. +y that, ! mean someone who is psychologically unsound, a manipulator, a user, you get the idea. 3ow, suppose ! would really like for her to see that this person is so unsound. !&m sure you know that if ! say something bad about the boy or girl, my child is going to feel defensive. Why6 +ecause children like to feel that they have independent rights and tastes and so on, and because there is an age difference and the child would perceive my remarks as unfair criticism against a helpless young person etc. #here are lots of other reasons for this resistance ' including rebellion against the parent, etc ' and it is commonly known. +ut ! really *5%BB2 am worried about this situation because this person is *5%BB2 bad news) Well, ! could be honest, sincere, truthful, direct and on and on, and only make the matter worse. Biterally anything ! would say would drive my child further away from me and right into the grasp of the whacko ! am trying to save him or her from.

(o, what to do6 !t is at this point that a mother forgets all about self'importance ... and figures out strategies that will help the child come to the reali4ation on his or her own $%(#) %nd there are such strategies. (o, think about that for awhile and then apply the principle on a larger scale. From 1arta ,tout/iven the work ! do, ! naturally ponder whether there are any organi4ing systems of meaning arid value' good ones or bad ones'that correlate with successful recovery from dissociative disorders, or any that militate against such an outcome. %re there souls, so to speak, for whom the prognosis is better than for others6 %nd when ! consider all my patients, over all the years, the answer is yes0 there is in fact an astonishingly robust correlation between an individual&s successful recovery on the one hand, and on the other hand, a person&s preexisting conviction that she and she alone is responsible for something. #his something could be an endeavor or a specific person, or is "uite likely to be the conduct of her life in general. :eople who are compelled and organi4ed by a sense of responsibility for their actions tend to recover. %nd conversely, sadly, people whose directive meaning systems do not include such a conviction tend not to recover, tend to remain dissociatively fragmented and lost. #his distinction is other than that of perceived locus of control'Who has the power, ! or the universe6'which is an understandably double'edged issue for nearly all survivors of trauma. *ather, the difference is that of tenaciously assuming personal responsibility for one&s own actions, and therefore taking on personal risk, versus placing the highest valuation upon personal safety, both physical and emotional, which often precludes the acknowledgment of responsibility. C!f ! acknowledge responsibility toward my child'or my friend or my ideas or my community'then ! may be compelled to stick my neck out. ! may have to do or feel something that will make me more vulnerable.= Here, the psychology of trauma comes full circle, in that the original function of dissociation is to buffer and protect, and so by rights, patients who value self0protection above all else should be candidates for treatment failure, even though they may e&perience, in addition, an ambivalent wish to be rid of their devitali ing dissociative reactions! % self'protective system of mind may express itself behaviorally in many ways. Three of the most common ways can be characteri ed as action0avoidant dependency upon another person or upon a confining set of rules, a preoccupation with reassigning blame, and actions and complaints that indicate a lac" of perspective on one*s own problems relative to the problems of others! !n dissociative identity disorder, such behaviors'just like their responsible opposites in a very different soul 'may be observed, along with some distracting variations in style, across all of the various personalities. #he third behavioral expression of a self'protective soul'acting upon a lack of perspective on one&s own problems relative to those of others'is reflected in our society at large by the popular phenomenon of victim identification. Dictim identification pre'supposes the belief that there is a finite group of victims within the larger population, and that one is either a member of this group or not. 1embership is Cparadoxically= attractive because it affords, first and foremost, a sense of belonging, and after that, all the special status, sympathy, and considerations typically given to those who have been preyed upon and hurt. %lso, as an identity, as something to be, it may fill up the terrifying sense of emptiness that often follows trauma. ?nfortunately, forever holding on to an identity as victim bodes ill for the person&s recovery from that very trauma. %olding fast to this way of seeing oneself and the world can "eep an individual endlessly beguiled by his own misery! %lso, victim identification blinds its subscribers

to the leveling fact that we have all'yes, granted, some more so than others'but we have all been hurt at one time or another. We are in this together0 patients, non'patients, therapists, everyone. $or these reasons, it is crucial that a fine balance be struck by therapists, and by anyone wishing to help those with -!-, or any other dissociative disorder'in the session room, in the home, in survivors groups, and even in the newly developed context of mental health Web sites and chat rooms. % survivor of trauma is a victim, certainly, but victim does not comprise the totality of her, or anyone else&s, identity. Helpers must support the healing process in both of its phases0 the survivor must endure the discovery that she is a victim, and then she must take responsibility for being that no longer. +oth parts are e"ually important, and in neither phase can self'protection be the primary goal. Enabling someone*s long0term identity as a victim robs her of an important human right, that of being responsible for her own life! %lso, whether or not a particular person is willing, after a time, to relin"uish the status of victim is important information for a helper, because it tends to predict who will and who will not recover! !n this regard, ! sometimes gently point out to a patient that if she will reflect for a moment, she will probably reali4e that extreme victim identification and self'pity were, truth to tell, prominent characteristics of her abuser. %nd is this really how she wants to live her whole life, too6 #he prognostic information provided by the relative strength of responsibility and self'protection in organi4ing the mind would lead one to predict, for example, that my patient /arrett, even with all his dramatic, named alters, will recover'and that my other patient&s letter'writing aunt will never do so. #his is my best guess, even though the aunt&s dissociative identity disorder itself is presumably far less spectacular than /arrett&s. !n many ways, close study of dissociative behavior supports an old truth, that we cannot simultaneously protect ourselves and experience life fully. #hese two desires preclude each other proportionately. To the e&tent that we try to protect ourselves, we cannot truly live' and to the e&tent that we truly live, we cannot place our highest value upon protecting ourselves! #his lesson, is not new, but it is interesting that the theme reiterates itself right down to our neurological blueprints. 1aybe there is no salvation for any of us outside of the meaning system provided by personal responsibility, despite all the daunting ris"s! :erhaps this is why we so doggedly look for examples of accountability in our role models, our parents, our leaders. 9............. from 2urd#eff-uring one conversation with /. in our group, which was beginning to become permanent, ! asked0 Why, if ancient knowledge has been preserved and if, speaking in general, there exists a knowledge distinct from our science and philosophy or even surpassing it, is it so carefully concealed, why is it not made common property6 Why are the men who possess this knowledge unwilling to let it pass into the general circulation of life for the sake of a better and more successful struggle against deceit, evil, and ignorance6 #his is, ! think, a "uestion which usually arises in everyone&s mind on first ac"uaintance with the ideas of esotericism. #here are two answers to that, said /. !n the first place, this knowledge is not concealed, and in the second place, it cannot, from its very nature, become common property. We will consider the second of these statements first. ! will prove to you afterwards that knowledge Che emphasi4ed the word= is far more accessible to those capable of assimilating it than is usually supposed, and that the whole trouble is that people either do not want it or cannot receive it.

+ut first of all another thing must be understood, namely, that knowledge cannot belong to all, cannot even belong to many. (uch is the law. 2ou do not understand this because you do not understand that knowledge, like everything else in the world, is material. !t is material, and this means that it possesses all the characteristics of materiality. One of the first characteristics of materiality is that matter is always limited, that is to say, the "uantity of matter in a given place and under given condi tions is limited. 5ven the sand of the desert and the water of the sea is a definite and unchangeable "uantity. (o that, if knowledge is material, then it means that there is a definite "uantity of it in a given place at a given time. !t may be said that, in the course of a certain period of time, say a century, humanity has a definite amount of knowledge at its disposal. +ut we know, even from an ordinary observation of life, that the matter of knowledge possesses entirely different "ualities according to whether it is taken in small or large "uantities. #aken in a large "uantity in a given place, that is by one man, let us say, or by a small group of men, it produces very good results, taken in a small "uantity Cthat is, by every one of a large number of people=, it gives no results at all, or it may give even negative results, contrary to those expected. #hus if a certain definite "uantity of knowledge is distributed among millions of people, each individual will receive very little, and this small amount of knowledge will change nothing either in his life or in his understanding of things. %nd however large the number of people who receive this small amount of knowledge, it will change nothing in their lives, except, perhaps, to make them still more difficult. +ut if, on the contrary, large "uantities of knowledge are concentrated in a small number of people, then this knowledge will give very great results. $rom this point of view it is far more advantageous that knowledge should be preserved among a small number of people and not dispersed among the masses. !f we take a certain "uantity of gold and decide to gild a number of objects with it, we must know, or calculate, exactly what number of objects can be gilded with this "uantity of gold. !f we try to gild a greater number, they will be covered with gold unevenly, in patches, and will look much worse than if they had no gold at all, in fact we shall lose our gold. #he distribution of knowledge is based upon exactly the same principle. !f knowledge is given to all, nobody will get any. !f it is preserved among a few, each will receive not only enough to keep, but to increase, what he receives. %t the first glance this theory seems very unjust, since the position of those who are, so to speak, denied knowledge in order that others may receive a greater share appears to be very sad and undeservedly harder than it ought to be. %ctually, however, this is not so at all, and in the distribution of knowledge there is not the slightest injustice. #he fact is that the enormous majority of people do not want any knowledge whatever, they refuse their share of it and do not even take the ration allotted to them, in the general distribution, for the purposes of life. #his is particularly evident in times of mass madness such as wars, revolutions, and so on, when men suddenly seem to lose even the small amount of common sense they had and turn into complete automatons, giving themselves over to wholesale destruction in vast numbers, in other words, even losing the instinct of self'preservation. Owing to this, enormous "uantities of knowledge remain, so to speak, unclaimed and can be distributed among those who reali4e its value. #here is nothing unjust in this, because those who receive knowledge take nothing that belongs to others, deprive others of nothing, they take only what others have rejected as useless and what would in any case be lost if they did not take it. #he collecting of knowledge by some depends upon the rejection of knowledge by others. #here are periods in the life of humanity, which generally coincide with the beginning of the fall of cultures and civili4ations, when the masses irretrievably lose their reason and begin to destroy everything that has been created by centuries and millenniums of culture. (uch periods of mass

madness, often coinciding with geological cataclysms, climatic changes, and similar phenomena of a planetary character, release a very great "uantity of the matter of knowledge. #his, in its turn, necessitates the work of collecting this matter of knowledge which would otherwise be lost. #hus the work of collecting scattered matter of knowledge fre"uently coincides with the beginning of the destruction and fall of cultures and civili4ations. #his aspect of the "uestion is clear. #he crowd neither wants nor seeks knowledge, and the leaders of the crowd, in their own interests, try to strengthen its fear and dislike of everything new and unknown. #he slavery in which mankind lives is based upon this fear. !t is even difficult to imagine all the horror of this slavery. We do not understand what people are losing. +ut in order to understand the cause of this slavery it is enough to see how people live, what constitutes the aim of their existence, the object of their desires, passions, and aspirations, of what they think, of what they talk, what they serve and what they worship. Consider what the cultured humanity of our time spends money on, even leaving the war out, what commands the highest price, where the biggest crowds are. !f we think for a moment about these "uestions it becomes clear that humanity, as it is now, with the interests it lives by, cannot expect to have anything different from what it has. +ut, as ! have already said, it cannot be otherwise. !magine that for the whole of mankind half a pound of knowledge is allotted a year. !f this knowledge is distributed among everyone, each will receive so little that he will remain the fool he was. +ut, thanks to the fact that very few want to have this knowledge, those who take it are able to get, let us say, a grain each, and ac"uire the possibility of becoming more intelligent. %ll cannot become intelligent even if they wish. %nd if they did become intelligent it would not help matters. #here exists a general e"uilibrium which cannot be upset. &#hat is one aspect. #he other, as ! have already said, consists in the fact that no one is concealing anything, there is no mystery whatever. +ut the ac"uisition or transmission of true knowledge demands great labor and great effort both of him who receives and of him who gives. %nd those who possess this knowledge are doing everything they can to transmit and communicate it to the greatest possible number of people, to facilitate people&s approach to it and enable them to prepare themselves to receive the truth. +ut knowledge cannot be given by force to anyone and, as ! have already said, an unprejudiced survey of the average man&s life, of what fills his day and of the things he is interested in, will at once show whether it is possible to accuse men who possess knowledge of concealing it, of not wishing to give it to people, or of not wishing to teach people what they know themselves. He who wants knowledge must himself make the initial efforts to find the source of knowledge and to approach it, taking advantage of the help and indications which are given to all, but which people, as a rule, do not want to see or recogni4e. Mnowledge cannot come to people without effort on their own part. #hey understand this very well in connection with ordinary knowledge, but in the case of great knowledge, when they admit the possibility of its existence, they find it possible to expect something different. 5veryone knows very well that if, for instance, a man wants to learn Chinese, it will take several years of intense work, everyone knows that five years are needed to grasp the principles of medicine, and perhaps twice as many years for the study of painting or music. %nd yet there are theories which affirm that knowledge can come to people without any effort on their part, that they can ac"uire it even in sleep. #he very existence of such theories constitutes an additional explanation of why knowledge cannot come to people. %t the same time it is essential to understand that man&s independent efforts to attain anything in this direction can also give no results. % man can only attain knowledge with the help of those who possess it. #his must be understood from the very beginning. One must learn from him who knows.

from /urdjief -uring one conversation with /. in our group, which was beginning to become permanent, ! asked0 Why, if ancient knowledge has been preserved and if, speaking in general, there exists a knowledge distinct from our science and philosophy or even surpassing it, is it so carefully concealed, why is it not made common property6 Why are the men who possess this knowledge unwilling to let it pass into the general circulation of life for the sake of a better and more successful struggle against deceit, evil, and ignorance6 #his is, ! think, a "uestion which usually arises in everyone&s mind on first ac"uaintance with the ideas of esotericism. #here are two answers to that, said /. !n the first place, this knowledge is not concealed, and in the second place, it cannot, from its very nature, become common property. We will consider the second of these statements first. ! will prove to you afterwards that "nowledge Che emphasi4ed the word= is far more accessible to those capable of assimilating it than is usually supposed, and that the whole trouble is that people either do not want it or cannot receive it C Cannot receive it. Is that a hint of psychopathy? I dont know but it sure seems like it = +ut first of all another thing must be understood, namely, that "nowledge cannot belong to all, cannot even belong to many. ,uch is the law. 2ou do not understand this because you do not understand that knowledge, like everything else in the world, is material. !t is material, and this means that it possesses all the characteristics of materiality. One of the first characteristics of materiality is that matter is always limited, that is to say, the "uantity of matter in a given place and under given conditions is limited. 5ven the sand of the desert and the water of the sea is a definite and unchangeable "uantity. (o that, if knowledge is material, then it means that there is a definite )uantity of it in a given place at a given time! !t may be said that, in the course of a certain period of time, say a century, humanity has a definite amount of "nowledge at its disposal. +ut we know, even from an ordinary observation of life, that the matter of "nowledge possesses entirely different )ualities according to whether it is ta"en in small or large )uantities! #aken in a large )uantity in a given place, that is by one man, let us say, or by a small group of men, it produces very good results, taken in a small )uantity Cthat is, by every one of a large number of people=, it gives no results at all, or it may give even negative results, contrary to those e&pected! #hus if a certain definite "uantity of knowledge is distributed among millions of people, each individual will receive very little, and this small amount of knowledge will change nothing either in his life or in his understanding of things. %nd however large the number of people It seems that number of people here is an arbitrary variable in this case! whereas before he presented si"e as a non#arbitrary concept in its relation to the $uantity of knowled%e received as it was&is %iven the ima%e as a finite construct in terms of its materiality. who receive this small amount of "nowledge, it will change nothing in their lives, e&cept, perhaps, to ma"e them still more difficult! +ut if, on the contrary, large "uantities of knowledge are concentrated in a small number of people, then this knowledge will give very great results. $rom this point of view it is far more advantageous that knowledge should be preserved among a small number of people and not dispersed among the masses. !f we take a certain "uantity of gold and decide to gild a number of objects with it, we must know, or calculate, exactly what number of objects can be gilded with this "uantity of gold. !f we try to

gild a greater number, they will be covered with gold unevenly, in patches, and will look much worse than if they had no gold at all, in fact we shall lose our gold. #he distribution of knowledge is based upon exactly the same principle. !f knowledge is given to all, nobody will get any. !f it is preserved among a few, each will receive not only enough to keep, but to increase, what he receives. At the first glance this theory seems very un#ust, since the position of those who are, so to spea", denied "nowledge in order that others may receive a greater share appears to be very sad and undeservedly harder than it ought to be! Actually, however, this is not so at all' and in the distribution of "nowledge there is not the slightest in#ustice! #he fact is that the enormous majority of people do not want any knowledge whatever, they refuse their share of it and do not even take the ration allotted to them, in the general distribution, for the purposes of life. This is particularly evident in times of mass madness such as wars, revolutions, and so on, when men suddenly seem to lose even the small amount of common sense they had and turn into complete automatons, giving themselves over to wholesale destruction in vast numbers, in other words, even losing the instinct of self0preservation! Owing to this, enormous )uantities of "nowledge remain, so to spea", unclaimed and can be distributed among those who reali e its value! There is nothing un#ust in this, because those who receive "nowledge ta"e nothing that belongs to others, deprive others of nothing' they ta"e only what others have re#ected as useless and what would in any case be lost if they did not ta"e it! The collecting of "nowledge by some depends upon the re#ection of "nowledge by others! #here are periods in the life of humanity, which generally coincide with the beginning of the fall of cultures and civili4ations, when the masses irretrievably lose their reason and begin to destroy everything that has been created by centuries and millenniums of culture. ,uch periods of mass madness, often coinciding with geological cataclysms, climatic changes, and similar phenomena of a planetary character, release a very great )uantity of the matter of "nowledge! #his, in its turn, necessitates the work of collecting this matter of knowledge which would otherwise be lost. #hus the work of collecting scattered matter of knowledge fre"uently coincides with the beginning of the destruction and fall of cultures and civili4ations. #his aspect of the "uestion is clear. The crowd neither wants nor see"s "nowledge, and the leaders of the crowd, in their own interests, try to strengthen its fear and disli"e of everything new and un"nown! The slavery in which man"ind lives is based upon this fear! see"ing/b#ectivity wrote- This su%%ests to me the ability of poneri"ed individuals to keep their own understandin% of how people think to themselves so that they may direct others to a certain way of thinkin% such that in the end he who started such ways of thinkin% knows where everybody is %oin% and can be used for their own purposes of control and manipulation. Thou%h a scary thou%ht in and of itself! it really means nothin% at all if you understand it well enou%h such that you maneuver yourself accordin%ly not 'ust for the sake of others but for yourself. Thus! by an act of self#preservation via an application of poneri"ed knowled%e! a properly assimilated understandin% and its proper applications will not only preserve the very knowled%e that allowed such self# preservation but it also allows its further distribution in its relation to orientation of service to self or to others. If it is oriented to self then it would be necessary to make sure that nobody else knows as much as you and control may be maintained! if it is oriented to others then it seems it mi%ht be best that such knowled%e is %iven to others as covertly as it is manipulatively hidden from view! !t is even difficult to imagine all the horror of this slavery. We do not understand what people are

losing. +ut in order to understand the cause of this slavery it is enough to see how people live, what constitutes the aim of their e&istence, the ob#ect of their desires, passions, and aspirations, of what they thin", of what they tal", what they serve and what they worship! Consider what the cultured humanity of our time spends money on, even leaving the war out, what commands the highest price, where the biggest crowds are. $f we thin" for a moment about these )uestions it becomes clear that humanity, as it is now, with the interests it lives by, cannot e&pect to have anything different from what it has! +ut, as $ have already said, it cannot be otherwise! !magine that for the whole of mankind half a pound of knowledge is allotted a year. !f this knowledge is distributed among everyone, each will receive so little that he will remain the fool he was. +ut, than"s to the fact that very few want to have this "nowledge, those who ta"e it are able to get, let us say, a grain each, and ac)uire the possibility of becoming more intelligent! %ll cannot become intelligent even if they wish. %nd if they did become intelligent it would not help matters. There e&ists a general e)uilibrium which cannot be upset! #hat is one aspect. #he other, as ! have already said, consists in the fact that no one is concealing anything, there is no mystery whatever. +ut the ac)uisition or transmission of true "nowledge demands great labor and great effort both of him who receives and of him who gives! And those who possess this "nowledge are doing everything they can to transmit and communicate it to the greatest possible number of people, to facilitate people*s approach to it and enable them to prepare themselves to receive the truth! +ut "nowledge cannot be given by force to anyone and, as $ have already said, an unpre#udiced survey of the average man*s life, of what fills his day and of the things he is interested in, will at once show whether it is possible to accuse men who possess "nowledge of concealing it, of not wishing to give it to people, or of not wishing to teach people what they "now themselves! %e who wants "nowledge must himself ma"e the initial efforts to find the source of "nowledge and to approach it, ta"ing advantage of the help and indications which are given to all, but which people, as a rule, do not want to see or recogni e! Mnowledge cannot come to people without effort on their own part. #hey understand this very well in connection with ordinary knowledge, but in the case of great knowledge, when they admit the possibility of its existence, they find it possible to expect something different. 5veryone knows very well that if, for instance, a man wants to learn Chinese, it will take several years of intense work, everyone knows that five years are needed to grasp the principles of medicine, and perhaps twice as many years for the study of painting or music. %nd yet there are theories which affirm that knowledge can come to people without any effort on their part, that they can ac"uire it even in sleep. #he very existence of such theories constitutes an additional explanation of why knowledge cannot come to people. At the same time it is essential to understand that man*s independent efforts to attain anything in this direction can also give no results! A man can only attain "nowledge with the help of those who possess it! This must be understood from the very beginning! /ne must learn from him who "nows 6ie erste $nitiation 0 von ?eanne de ,al mann Huelle0 http0;;www.gurdjieff.org;sal4mann@.htm -u wirst sehen, dass du genau das bekommst, was du gibst. -ein Beben ist ein (piegel dessen, was du tust. 5s ist dein %bbild. -u bist passiv, blind, fordernd. -u nimmst und ak4eptierst alles, ohne eine Derplichtung 4u fVhlen. -eine Haltung gegenVber der Welt und gegenVber dem Beben ist die Haltung von jemandem, der das *echt hat, $orderungen 4u stellen und 4u nehmen, die Haltung von jemandem, der es nicht nWtig hat, 4u 4ahlen oder sich etwas 4u verdienen. -u glaubst, dass alle -inge dir 4ustehen, einfach nur deshalb, weil du es bist) %ll deine +lindheit liegt da) 3ichts davon

erreicht deine %ufmerksamkeit. ?nd genau das ist es, was eine Welt von einer anderen trennt. -u hast keinen 1aXstab, mit dem du dich messen kannst. -u lebst ausschlieXlich nach Y!ch magZ oder Y!ch mag nichtZ, du schQt4t nichts auXer dich selbst. -u anerkennst nichts Vber dir [ theroretisch oder logisch vielleicht, aber eigentlich nichts. -as ist der /rund, warum du verlangst und weiterhin glaubst, dass alles billlig ist und dass du genug in deinen #aschen hast, alles 4u kaufen, was du willst. -u anerkennst nichts Vber dir, entweder auXerhalb von dir oder innerhalb. !ch wiederhole0 -as ist der /rund, warum du keinen 1aXstab hast und passiv nach deinen 3eigungen und %bneigungen lebst. .a, die YWertschQt4ung deiner selbstZ blendet dich. -ies ist die grWXte HVrde 4u einem neuen Beben. -u musst es schaffen, Vber diese HVrde, diese (chwelle 4u kommen, bevor du weitergehen kannst. -ieser #est teilt die 1enschen in 4wei %rten0 den YWei4enZ und die Y(preuZ. ?nabhQngig wie intelligent, wie begabt, wie brillant ein 1ensch sein mag, wenn er diese WertschQt4ung seiner (elbst nicht verQndert, gibt es keine Hoffnung fVr eine innere 5ntwicklung, fVr eine %rbeit in *ichtung (elbstkenntnis, fVr ein wahres Werden. 5r wird sein Beben lang so bleiben, wie er ist. -ie erste %nforderung, die erste +edingung, der erste #est fVr jemanden, der an sich arbeiten will, ist, die WertschQt4ung seiner (elbst 4u verQndern. 5r darf sich nicht vorstellen, nicht einfach glauben oder denken, sondern -inge in ihm sehen, die er noch nie 4uvor gesehen hat, sie tatsQchlich sehen. (eine WertschQt4ung wird sich niemals Qndern kWnnen, so lange er nichts in sich sieht. ?nd um etwas in sich 4u sehen, muss er UlernenU, 4u sehen, das ist die erste !nitiation des 1enschen in der (elbstkenntnis. Iuallererst muss er wissen, worauf er blicken muss. Wenn er es weiX, muss er %nstrengungen unternehmen, seine %ufmerksamkeit wahren, andauernd und beharrlich %usschau halten. 3ur wenn er seine %ufmerksamkeit aufrecht erhQlt, und nicht vergisst, %usschau 4u halten, wird er eines #ages '' vielleicht '' fQhig, 4u sehen. -as ist der Iustand, der gesucht werden muss, es ist das Iiel fVr unsere +eobachtung, von dort kann der wahre Wunsch, der unwiderstehliche Wunsch geboren werden, 4u werden0 von kalt mWgen wir warm, krQftig werden, wir mWgen von unserer *ealitQt berVhrt werden. Heute haben wir nichts auXer die !llusion dessen, was wir sind. Wir schQt4en uns 4u hoch ein. Wir respektieren uns selbst nicht. ?m mich selbst 4u respektieren, muss ich in mir einen #eil anerkennen, der Vber den anderen #eilen steht, und meine Haltung gegenVber diesem #eil sollte dem vom *espekt 4eugen, den ich diesem #eil gegenVber habe. %uf diese %rt mWge ich mich respektieren. ?nd meine +e4iehungen mit %nderen werden auf denselben *espekt grVnden. -u musst verstehen, dass all die anderen 1aXstQbe [ #alent, +ildung, Multur, /enie [ verQnderliche 1aXstQbe sind, 1aXstQbe des -etails. -er ein4ige exakte 1aXstab, der ein4ige unverQnderliche, objektive, reale 1aXstab ist der 1aXstab der inneren (icht. !ch sehe [ ich sehe mich selbst. -adurch hast du gemessen. 1it einem hWheren, realen #eil, hast du einen anderen, niedrigeren #eil gemessen, der ebenfalls real ist. ?nd dieser 1aXstab, der durch sich selbst die *olle eines jeden #eils festlegt, leitet dich 4u dem *espekt deiner (elbst. %ber du wirst sehen, dass das nicht leicht ist. ?nd es ist nicht billig. -u musst inniglich be4ahlen. $Vr schlechte Iahler, faule Beute, :arasiten, keine Hoffnung. -u musst 4ahlen, teuer be4ahlen, und sofort be4ahlen, im Doraus be4ahlen. Iahle mit dir selbst. 1it ernsten, gewissenhaften, unbeteiligten %nstrengungen. .e mehr du vorbereitet bist, ohne (paren 4u 4ahlen, ohne 4u betrVgen, ohne jegliche DerfQlschung, umso mehr wirst du erhalten. ?nd von jenem Ieitpunkt an wirst du mit deiner 3atur vertraut. ?nd du wirst alle #ricks sehen, all die ?nehrlichkeiten, in die sich deine 3atur 4urVck4ieht, um es 4u vermeiden, mit hartem +argeld 4u 4ahlen. -enn du musst mit deinen schnell 4usammengebrauten #heorien be4ahlen, mit deinen verwur4elten \ber4eugungen, mit

deinen Dorurteilen, deinen Dorausset4ungen, deinem Y!ch magZ und Y!ch mag nichtZ. Ohne $eilschen, ehrlich, ohne vor4ugeben. Dersuche YaufrichtigZ, 4u sehen, wQhrend du mit deinem $alschgeld 4ahlst. Dersuche einen 1oment lang die !dee 4u ak4eptieren, dass du nicht bist, was du von dir selbst glaubst, dass du dich VberschQt4t, sogar dass du dich selbst belVgst. -ass du dich immer, jeden 1oment belVgst, jeden #ag, dein gan4es Beben lang. ?nd dass dich dieses BVgen derart beherrscht, dass du es nicht mehr kontrollieren kannst. -u bist die +eute des BVgens. -u lVgst, Vberall. -eine +e4iehungen mit anderen [ BVgen. -ie 5r4iehung, die du gibst, die /rundsQt4e [ BVgen. -ein Behren [ BVgen. -eine #heorien, deine Munst [ BVgen. -ein gesellschaftliches Beben, deine $amilienleben [ BVgen. ?nd was du Vber dich denkst [ ebenfalls BVgen. %ber du hWrst niemals auf, was du tust, oder was du sagst, weil du an dich glaubst. -u musst innerlich stehenbleiben und beobachten. +eobachte ohne DorverstQndnis, ak4eptiere fVr eine Ieit die Dorstellung des BVgens. ?nd wenn du auf diese %rt beobachtest, mit dir selbst 4ahlst, ohne (elbstmitleid, all deine angeblichen *eichtVmer fVr einen 1oment der *ealitQt aufgibst, vielleicht wirst du dann plWt4lich etwas sehen, das du bis 4u diesem #age noch nie gesehen hast. -u wirst sehen, dass du anders bist als das, was du bisher von dir gedacht hast. -u wirst sehen, dass du Iwei bist. 5iner, der nicht ist, aber den :lat4 einnimmt und die *olle des anderen spielt. ?nd der andere ist so schwach, so substan4los, dass er sich sofort wieder 4urVck4ieht, wenn er einmal auftauchen sollte. 5r kann keine BVgen erdulden. -ie geringste BVge lQsst ihn verschwinden. 5r mVht sich nicht ab, er widerset4t sich nicht, er wird von vornherein besiegt. Berne 4u sehen, bis du den ?nterschied 4wischen deinen 4wei 3aturen gesehen hast, bis du die BVgen gesehen hast, die #Quschung in dir. Wenn du deine 4wei 3aturen gesehen hast, an diesem #ag wird in dir die Wahrheit geboren. (elf'Observation, !nner #alking ] Work !nstrument #here are many things that can be said about self'observation and what it is and what it is not. #he whole of the Work starts from a man beginning to observe himself. (elf'observation is a means of self'change. (erious and continuous self'observation, if done aright, leads to definite inner changes in a man. Bet us, first of all, consider self'observation in connection with a mistake often made about it. #he mistake is the confusing of self'observation with knowin%. To "now and to observe are not the same thing! (peaking superficially, you may know you are sitting in a chair in your room, but can you say that you are actually observin% it6 (peaking more deeply, you may know you are in a negative state, but that does not mean that you are observin% it. % person in the Work said to me that he disliked somebody intensely. ! said0 #ry to observe it. He replied0 Why should ! observe it6 ! don&t need to. ! know it already. !n such a case, the person is confusing knowin% with observin%, that is, he does not understand what self'observation is. 1oreover he has not grasped that self#observation, which is active, is a means of self'change, whereas merely knowing, which is passive, is not. Mnowing is not an act of attention. (elf' observation is an act of attention directed inwards ' to what is going on in you. #he attention must be active, that is, directed. !n the case of a person you dislike, you notice what thoughts crowd into your mind, the chorus of voices speaking in you, what they are saying, what unpleasant emotions surge up, and so on. 2ou notice also that you are treating the person you dislike very badly inside. 3othing is too bad to think of him or feel about him. +ut to see all this re)uires directed attention, not passive attention! The attention comes from the observin% side, whereas the thoughts and emotions belong to the observed side in your0self! This is dividing yourself into two! #here is a saying0 % man is first one, then two, and the one. #he observing side, or Observing ! , stands interior to, or above, the observed side, but its power of independent consciousness varies, because

it may be submerged at any moment. #hen you are completely identified with the negative state. 3ou do not observe the state but you are the state! 2ou can then say that you know you are negative, but that is not to observe it. !f the Observing ! is supported by other &!&s which value the Work and recall it and wish to become more conscious, then it is not so easily submerged by the flood of negative things. !t is then helped by ' and is a part of ' -eputy (teward. %ll this is "uite different from merely knowin% one is negative. 5assive "nowing can be said to be mechanical in contrast to self0observation which is a conscious act and cannot become mechanical! 1echanical self0observation has nothing to do with Wor" self0observation! :eople not only confused knowing with the continuous act of self'observation but they mistake thinkin% for observing. #o think is "uite different from observing oneself. A man may thin" about himself all day and never observe himself once! #he observation of one&s thoughts is not the same as thinking. !t should be clear now that knowin% and thinkin% are not the same as observation. #he "uestion is often asked0 What must ! observe6 $irst, the Work explains carefully what you must begin to observe. +ut later a man must attain to fuller observation of himself ' for a whole day, or a week ' and see himself as an outside person. He must think what he would think if he met himself. He would, of course, cordially dislike this man who is himself. % man must observe everythin% in himself and always as if it were not him'self but !#. #his means that he must say0 What is !# doing6 not What am ! doing6 He then sees now these thoughts going on in him, now these emotions, now these private plays and inventions, and so on, passing through him, one after the other. 3ext moment, of course, he goes to sleep again and takes part in them all. #hat is, he acts in the play he has composed and thinks it is real. He thinks he is the part he invented. Bet us consider this viewpoint further. % man must be able to say0 #his is not me to all his set pieces and his songs, to all the performances going on in him, to all the voices that he takes as his own. 2ou know how sometimes just before going to sleep at night, you hear loud voices in your head. #hese are &!&s speaking. -uring the day, they are speaking all the time, only you take them as &!&, as yourself. +ut just before sleep, a separation takes place naturally, for connections are being broken between centres and between &!&s in order that sleep may be possible. #wo or more &!&s can keep you from sleeping. (o you hear them, as it were, as voices talking, just for a moment, because they are being separated by natural processes from you. $nner separation means the power of not merely saying- "This is not $", but ultimately of actually perceiving it for oneself 0 perceivin% that it is true, that "this is not $", not merely thin"ing it is so or trying to persuade oneself it is, or saying this is what the Wor" says! When you are in an unpleasant state, if you observe yourself over some considerable time, you will notice that all sorts of different groups of unpleasant &!&s try to deal with it in succession and make something out of it. #his is because negative &!&s live by being negative. #heir life consists in negative thinking or negative feeling ' that is, in providing you with unpleasant thoughts and feelings. !t is their delight to do so for it is their life. !n the Work, the enjoyment of negative states must be observed sincerely, especially the secret enjoyment of them. #he reason is that if a man enjoys being negative, in whatever forms, and they are legion ' he can never separate from them. 2ou cannot separate yourself from what you have a secret affection for. #he case actually is that you identify with negative &!&s through secret affection and so feel their en'oyment, for whatever you identify with you become. % man in himself is constantly transforming himself into different &!&s. He has nothing permanent, but by separation he can make something permanent. #he line of separation is between what likes and what hates the Work. 3ow we speak once more of observing talkin%. %ll rules are about talking, practically speaking, and how to deal with wrong talking. $t is necessary to observe inner tal"ing and from where it is

coming! Wrong inner talkin% is the breeding0ground not only of many future unpleasant states but also of wrong outer tal"ing! 2ou know that there is in the Work what is called the practise of inner silence. #he practise and meaning of inner silence is like this0 first, it must be about something "uite distinct and definite, and second, it is like not touching it. #hat is, you cannot practise inner silence in any vague general way, save perhaps as an experiment for a time. +ut you can practise it rigidly in regard to some distinct and definite thing, something you know and see "uite clearly. (omeone once asked0 !s practising inner silence the same as not letting something come into your mind6 #he answer is no. !t is not the same. What you are practising inner silence about is already in the mind and you must be aware of it, but you must not touch it with your inner speech, your inner tongue. 3our outer literal tongue li"es to touch sore places, as when a tooth hurts! ,o does your inner tongue! +ut if it does, the sore thing in your mind flows into your inner speech and unwraps itself as inner tal"ing in every direction! 2ou have noticed of course that inner talking always goes on in negative states and that it coins many unpleasant phrases, which suddenly find expression in outer talking, perhaps long after. !n the Work we are told that it is necessary to be careful about wrong outer talking at first, and, later on, about wrong inner talking. %ctually, wrong outer talking is mostly due to wrong inner talking. Wrong inner talking, particularly venomous and evil inner talking, and so on, makes a mess within, like excrement. They are all different forms of lying and this is why they have such strength and persistence! 7ies are always more powerful than truth because they can hurt! $f you observe wrong inner tal"ing you will notice it is only half0truths, or truths connected in the wrong order, or with something added or left out! $n other words, it is simply lying to oneself! $f you say- "$s this )uite true." it may stop it, but it will find another set of lies! 5ventually you must dislike it. !f you enjoy it, you will never lessen its power. !t is not enough to dislike liking it0 you must dislike it. All this belongs to the purification of the emotional life! 1echanically we only li"e ourselves, and so we disli"e or hate those who do not li"e us! A development of being is not possible, and )uite obviously so, unless the emotions cease to have only this basis of self#likin%! E&ternal considering, in the Wor", is putting oneself in the position of others! #his is referred to in the /ospels0 Huote %ll things ' whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, even so do yet also unto them 7Matthew! ()*+8 #his is one of the definite formulations in the /ospels of what in the Work is called 5xternal Considering. +ut a man must think very deeply what it says and perceive internally what it means, because it has an outer and inner meaning. !f you say0 ! always think of others, then observe it. !t is probably a buffer. 2ou do not notice perhaps that you say things, or you write things, which, if you received, you would not tolerate for a moment. #his is one very interesting form of self' observation and it includes observing inner talking . $n yourself everyone else is helpless! 3ou can, as it were, drag a person into the cave of yourself and do what you li"e with her or him! 3ou may be polite naturally, but in the Wor", which is all about purifying or organising the inner life, it is not enough! $t is how you behave internally and invisibly to one another that really counts! #his is very difficult to understand. 2ou may think you know this already. +ut to understand ' even to understand it ' takes many years of work. When the inner corresponds with the outer and when the outer obeys the inner, then a man possesses a second body . %s we are, our outer life does not correspond with our inner life, and our outer life controls our inner. #he inner grows by seeing the good of something. *ecently here we were talking of what the saint, Cassian, says about a man being able to do the same thing for different reasons. % man may act from fear ' fear of law, fear of reputation, fear of opinion. #hen he acts from outside. Or he may act from ambition ' and many other similar forms of self'interest. Or he may act from good ' from seeing the good of acting so. #his develops the internal man. 3ow all this can be a subject of self'observation.

+ut even the first stages of self'observation have a certain effect. #hey let in rays of light into the darkness of our psychic life. !t is the psychic life we have to think of in the Work. %ll the instructions of the Work are about one&s psychic life, which is in chaos. !n this way, self'observation becomes deeper, and the valuation of the Work becomes more and more internal. (o the Work begins to act on 5ssence ' on what is the real part of man. Work on oneself is always the same. $t does not matter where you are! 3ou are always in contact with the Wor" if your inner attitude to it is right! $f your inner attitude is right, the Wor" will teach you about what wor" on yourself means! $f your inner attitude is wrong, it cannot, because you bloc" the way! !n all self'observation, if it is to become full self'observation, you must observe !#. #hat is, you must see all your reactions to life and circumstances as !# in you and not as &!&. !f you say &!&, then nothing can happen. #he saying of &!&, the feeling of &!&, makes it impossible to change. !f to every negative state you say &!&, then you cannot escape it. %t first a man takes himself as one and says &!& to all that happens in his psychic life. +ut in order to change he must become two. #hen, later on, he may become one ' a unity. #he instrument of self'observation is like a knife that cuts us away from what is not us. !f you begin to see what it means to say0 #his is not &!& , then you begin to use this instrument. When you can really say0 What is !# doing6 instead of What am ! doing6 you begin to understand the Work. #he Work is to make a new set of reactions or rather new ways of taking things. %s long as you take ordinary things in a new way you begin to change. 2ou cannot remain the same ' and change. !f you are always the same it means that you always react to life in the same way. 2ou insist on your pound of flesh. #he idea of chan%e is not to be the same. #he idea of the Work is to change oneself. #he idea of self'observation is to separate from what one was by not going with what one observes. !n this way self'observation is a means of self'change. 9...... When you have begun to form in yourself the powerful mental instrument of this Work, you will find that wherever you turn it, you will catch new meanings. #he Work forms in us a new instrument of reception, a new apparatus for receiving impressions, both from outside and from inside. #he Work lies in parts that have to be joined together by means of understandin%. 5ach part of the Work, each separate idea, each bit of the teaching, is exactly like the parts of, say, a radio' machine. #he parts of a radio are, let us say, lying on a table and you can see them. $f you "now enough, if you understand what they are, you can put them together and then the instrument begins to wor" and you hear all sorts of invisible things that otherwise you could not hear! !n the case of the Work, each part is not something physical, an outer object lying on a table, but is psychical ' an idea, a thought, a direction, a formulation, a diagram, and so on. $f all these parts fitted together by understanding, and valuation, the Wor" forms a new and organised apparatus in you! That is, you are newly organised! 2ou have a new psychic organism in you. #he Work is actually a whole and complete or%anism which is given little by little, part by part, but all these parts are parts of a true whole. !f the Work is thus formed in you, you have a new thing, a new organised instrument in you. 5ven a single part of the Work, if taken in with valuation and understanding, will begin to work a change in you because it will transmit new influences. +ut the whole of the Work must be formed in a man. #his can be thought of as another body ' another. organised thing in man ' if the man lives the Work. #hen it will control the man he was. 9..........

! want to add a bit here which is from 1ouravieff, which ! put together as a hand'out for my

%lchemy lectures during our workshops here. Of course, without the additional commentary and examples that ! discuss, it is still a bit sterile, but ! think that most people who have been working can come up with their own examples. :articularly, the doctrine of the present consists mainly of the proper use of shocks or negative emotions for self'transmutation. !t is a fine art, and one has to be exposed regularly to shocks to be able to practice it. #hat is one of the reasons for the (igns page and many of our other activities. #o be able to catch the negative emotion at the moment of arousal and engage the observer mode with laser like power can actually produce extraordinary joy, for lack of a better word. 3ote that 1ouravieff uses the term constation which more or less means observing with awareness, or observing and being aware of observing and inwardly stating Cconceptually, not in words= what one is observing. #his must be done without pity for the self or others ' a sort of ruthless self'examination at the moment of emotional heat that does 3O# allow any of that heat to penetrate the thinking center. ! generally tell people to observe the arousing and let the heat Cyou will feel an actual heat= go no further than the throat. !f it goes any higher than that, you have lost the battle. !n alchemical terms, this is the battle of the wolf and the dog, or any of the similar metaphors. !t is also the heating of the crucible and thinking with a hammer. Of course, one must not even attempt to do this until one is fully familiar with the machine. 2ou must know yourself well, you must know all the programs you run under hundreds Cor more= different situations. !f you just try to suppress emotion, you aren&t thinking with a hammer. #he -octrine of the :resent. !f, by persistent introspection, the subject manages to observe the rise of the negative emotion in himself immediately after its birth, that is, while the limits of the slot in his individual :resent have not been crossed in the passing of time, it is possible for him to disassociate the components of this emotion. !ntrospective observation brightens our inner being just like a streetlamp, and negative emotions can only be formed and begin to act in the inner darkness which characteri4es the state of confluence. #he light projected by constatation within the limits of the :resent disassociates the negative emotions, and the passions which gave rise to them then fall back into a latent state. +ut constatation has yet another effect that is of primary importance0 the immediate disassociation of the components which constitute the negative emotion liberates the energy (!'<> which the passions had drawn into the motor centre, a result of constatation is that this is automatically concentrated in the emotional centre which it then sets in motion. #he more violent the negative emotion, the greater the "uantity of energy (!'<> drawn in, which can be transmuted into (OB'<> in case of victory. +y carrying out this work with all the sincerity of which he is capable, the neophyte can reach the :ath of %ccess which will lead him towards the Way. !n this way he will put off the old man, the slave of his passions, and will put on the new man which is renewed in Mnowledge. #he process which leads to fusion must be attentively observed during its development and

subjected at every moment to the practice of constatation in a state of lucid presence in oneself. #he whole process may take many years. !t includes five successive stages0 $!*(# (#%/5. ' !ntrospection. Constatation. #his consists of sustained introspective observation having as its object all the little !&s forming the :ersonality. Once the faithful has become familiar with the spectacle of his :ersonality during persistent introspection, he must try to discover which little !&s or groups of little !&s have a tendency to wish to occupy the foreground of the scene. !t is important to know them. !t is also useful to know that these little !&s which always tend to play the main role and which, because of this, serve as guides in the whole of the :ersonality, are sometimes masked from the observer as a result of lying to oneself and of hypocrisy. /enerally speaking, every :ersonality is deformed, the sense and the degree of the deformation are individual, but the greater the deformation the more of the little !&s are behind the mask. !t is important to know this, as they must be unmasked in the first stage of the work. Otherwise the fusion can never take place properly and completely, which is a necessary condition for it to be effective. (5CO3- (#%/5. ' %ctive inner peace. Outer or inner circumstances provoke conflicts in us between !&s of divergent tendencies ' faithfully reflecting the world of W influences. 5ach conflict produces a disagreeable sensation of inner friction. %t this moment it is necessary to be watchful. One must be actively present in oneself and observe the process while, at the same time resolutely detaching oneself from it. Otherwise, if we take part in the conflict, even momentarily or partially, the friction cannot be turned to our advantage. On the contrary, when we are dissolved in it we lose our energies instead of preserving and accumulating them. !t is necessary to bepresent at the very moment when the friction is born, the result is then positive, and fine energies are produced. #heir "uantity depends on the intensity of the friction, that is, on the inward conflict or conflicts, as well as on the degree of one&s presence in oneseff. #heir "uality depends on the centre which is acting. When properly treated with the aid of constatation whilepresent in oneself, the friction can liberate fine energies % :ractical :ointer. #hefaithfal who commits himself to esoteric work while continuing to live in the world invariably provokes the animosity of those around him. (everal texts in the /ospel refer to this law. !t is sufficient to know the verse where it is said that man&s greatest foes are those of his own household. However, an even greater enemy of man is certainly himself, precisely because of his unconditional attachment to those &of his own household.& #his is why .esus said0 if any man come to me and hate

not his father and mother and wife and children and brethren and sisters, also, he cannot be my disciple. #his is the meaning of the other words .esus pronounced0 think not that ! came not to send peace, but a sword. One can feel that here it is a "uestion of the disciple&s inner attitude towards the people that surround him, that is, inner nonconsideration. On the other hand, we are generally deficient in outer consideration. #hus, when we manage to transform negative emotions into positive, ac"uiring inner peace and joy in the process, we must not show this victory over ourselves to the person who provoked the wave of anger in us, as it will only increase the offender&s rage. #H!*- (#%/5. ' Warmth. We must not take this word as merely symbolic. *eal heat is born in us when the inward friction becomes sufficiently intense and is used rationally. !t happens in exactly the same way as where heat is produced when two bits of dry wood are rubbed together. When we feel this heat we can be sure that we are on the right track. #he sweetness it brings never satiates us. We have seen that this heat can come from the proper use of circumstances. $O?*#H (#%/5. ' $ire. #he first three stages of fusion re"uire sustained effort. #he last two are of a spontaneous nature. #he heart sets itseff aflame when the friction liberates sufficiently strong heat, as is the case with two pieces of dry wood. #his is the mystical $ire. $rom there, it spreads through the veins. % traditional maxim refers to this subject in the following words0 When thefire burns in the blood, the very composition of the nervous system changes in essence. %nd the blood becomes &blue&. %t this stage, the wonder'struck seeker will see in his own depths the image of his real &!& a brilliant ray ' a star. !n the /ospel according to (t #homas, which was discovered recently, the following allusion is made to this0 Bet him who seeks, not cease seeking until he finds, and when he finds, he will be troubled, and when he has been troubled, he will marvel and he will reign over %ll.& #o reign over %ll. #he reader will understand that this means identification with one&s real &!&, which is a fragment of the Creator&s ! & which reigns over the ?niverse. $!$#H (#%/5. ' $usion. #he fusion takes place in different ways but always begins from the emotional centre, under the influence of an intense emotion cultivated through continuous efforts, or of a sudden powerful emotion as in the case of the good thief on the cross, or following a long accumulation of diverse emotions oriented in the same direction.

#he nature of thefusion is, therefore, strictly individual. !t can be the result of a sacridice0 that of the someone who sacrifices himself for another. .esus say that there was no greater love than that of someone who sacrifices his life for his friends. !t can also happen in the wake of any other intense manifestation of true Bove. Bove, therefore, is the common element in all the processes which lead to &:ositive fusion. !n reality it is Bove, and Bove alone, which sets the heart aflame while it leaves the head cool. #he fusion effected in this way has a definite nature. $usion can also take place under the influence of a strong negative emotion, the fear of sin, for example. +ut in this case it is not and cannot be total. !ts "uality is hybrid and its effect is insufficient. !f, later on, the man becomes conscious of this insufficiency, and if he persists in his desire to attain a correct and perfect totalfusion, he is first called upon to destroy his partial fusion and then to start all over again from nothing. +ut this destruction can only be made at the price of considerable suffering. Once he is conscious of the fact that the fusion is defective, the man must force himself to destroy it as soon as possible. #his is all the more difficult because the imperfect fusion is the result of a long accumulation of emotions oriented in a wrong direction. !f the defective fusion is destroyed, at the very moment of its destruction the man can appropriate and turn to his profit all the power of the emotions with the effects of which he had managed to create a partial or negative fusion. !n this case, as in the struggle against negative emotions, the positive effect remains when the pernicious effects of the negativefusion have been effaced. However, there is one condition for this0 the destruction must be accompanied by the practice of constatation while in an active state of presence in oneself. We should also note that besides all kinds of partial or negative fusion, there also exist crystalli4ations. #hese are always incomplete and locali4ed. +ut one must not confuse them with what is, in the esoteric sense, human nature. #he latter could be compared to a viscous mass in a li"uid, it can show one or several points of crystalli4ation which have been obtained mechanically. Often, this comes and grows with age, especially in people who are hardly interested in what oversteps the limits of the immediate in space and time. #hen the prudent become avaricious and the dictatorial become intractable. 1ental sloth augments with age, so that man becomes incapable of having an original thought, from then on he lives with the thoughts of others which, in their turn, become progressively crystalli4ed in him, losing all their healthy versatility. #hese phenomena are sometimes also to be found in the young. #hey are signs of premature aging, #hese are the different aspects of the process of fusion that we have briefly studied during the five stages of its reali4ation. Once it is attained, the &!& of the :ersonality becomes monolithic and is no longer a conglomeration of little !&s, but a stable entity. %t that moment, the seeker finds himself on the fourth step of the (taircase, in front of the second #hreshold and ready to cross it. 9..........

+y dominating the mechanical reactions that the reproaches and attacks of others may produce in

him, someone who struggles between the two #hresholds separates and rejects the elements which are parasites on the fine energy mobili4ed by negative emotions. We repeat0 it is this energy which, having become available, allows the establishment of a contact with the higher emotional centre and accelerates the growth and the development of the magnetic centre! #he faithful finds in this struggle the source of energy that is indispensable to him in order to progress! He will then understand that he can and must love his enemies and bless those who curse him. #he higher the faithful climbs on the (taircase, the more rare are the occasions on which negative emotions arise in him by his own initiative. #his is comprehensible. With regular introspection and inner constatation he will progressively gain knowledge of himself, that is, of the structure of his :ersonality and the way it functions. #he opinion that &Mnowledge is (trength&, expressed at the time of the first industrial revolution, is wholly applicable to the inner revolution which takes place in man after introspection. % slave of his passions, of his instincts, and so of his negative emotions, he had until yesterday always managed to justify himself by using commonly accepted slogans as well as by remarking that his behaviour was simply human and normal. 3ow the faithful begins to disapprove of these emotions, he begins to reali4e that he is a slave and to understand that the negative emotions, which are an effect of the /eneral Baw, seek to keep him in his primitive state and to hold him in his place, for the good of the whole, but to the detriment of his personal interests. #his attitude becomes firmer in spite of all the seductive or frightening appearances that the mirage of life, constituted of all the % influences, faces him with. #his first knowledge ' the beginning of the higher knowledge. %bove all it appears to him in the form of a mastery of the movements of his psyche. Of course this does not happen immediately, he has to pay a high ransom in order to be freed from this slavery. %nd the ransom can be raised only at the price of sustained labour that is generally long and hard. However, with conscious and prolonged efforts of introspective constatation, the faithful who burns with $aith and perseveres in climbing the (taircase will find that he is more and more detached from the negative emotions which, under the dominion of the /eneral Baw, have always tended to appear in him. The first rudiments of gnosis, the higher "nowledge and practice which give one mastery of oneself, progressively bring the inner peace which is the first serious result of the efforts made! #his inner peace is the indispensable condition that will enable him to collect all his energies so that he will be able to progress on the (taircase, and it is this same inner peace that will save him from falling. %owever, when we cultivate this inner peace, our opportunities for profitably e&ploiting the negative emotions born in us, so as to obtain fine energies, become very scarce! Then there remains only one other source, that of negative emotions aroused by shoc"s from outside us! This "ind of shoc" will never be lac"ing for those who wor" in the world! !ndeed, to the /eneral Baw someone who &moves& looks like a fugitive from collective work, and nature takes immediate steps 'a whole series of appropriate measures ' to make the rebel fall back into line.

#hen begins the struggle, the great struggle, the !nvisible Coimbat on whose outcome the fate of the Mnight depends. #his uninterrupted combat lasts the whole length of the (taircase, and the faithful does not obtain his final victory until after the last trials, when he finds himself in front of the second #hreshold. %ll along the way, however, progress is ensured by partial victories over this or that passion, over the tendency to sleep, over violent shocks or scandals coming from outside or even from inside him. #he struggle is painful, especially because one does not recogni4e the enemy until after one has been hit, his approach is always masked in infinitely varied ways0 considerations, seductions, a desire to be useful or agreeable, condescensions, noble attitudes, etc. +ut whoever commits himself on this field of battle will still find help. !t comes to him from two sides0 from the depths of his being, and from outside him. !n the first case, it is his absolute sincerity towards himself and the purity of the faith with which his heart is aflame. +y definition, faith is blind, since it is as certain of the invisible as of the visible. %s the invisible is unknown by definition, the most ardent faith can be sincerely mistaken. #he example of (t :aul is sufficient proof of this. +ut this same example shows that, just by its existence, the sincerity of faith calls forth Bove, and so it draws out a correction of what is admittedly in error from the deepest depths of the one who feels it. %s for outside aid, this comes from the effects of the law which applies to every action. We have defined this law more than once by this formula0 tendencies accentuate. !t is popularly known, and in many countries it appears in common parlance in the maxim0 only the first step counts. #hese two formulae express the same law, and apply algebraically, that is, in a positive or negative sense. !n terms of the moral effort that must be made, it is no less difficult to steal for the first time, for example, than to practice an unaccustomed virtue. *epeated action Cin this instance, partial victories over negative emotions of the same nature= creates a habit, a force of inertia. 5ven then, before crossing the second #hreshold we can never be sure we will not fall into the same snare again, for one&s watchfulness is "uickly exhausted when faced with simultaneous and reiterated attacks. +ut the fall will be less and less painful and the erasure of its effects less and less difficult. What is more, each partial victory augments the reserve of fine energies and so strengthens the Mnight&s strength in the battle. +ut here again, he must be particularly vigilant not to spend the reserve as fast as he accumulates it. %fter each victory, he must remember that the /eneral Baw automatically acts in varied ways to steal from him the surplus 'relative to the &bourgeois& level ' of the fine energies he has won, and which, if rationally utili4ed, will allow him to make one more step forward out of the 4one of influence of this fundamental law which, in this situation, is hostile to him. !n the course of this !nvisible Combat, a particular passion, the same mirage, loses its power over the victor once he has overcome it once, twice or more times. (o while the Mnight advances on the (taircase his inner peace becomes more and more complete and unalterable. He will see his &assailants& waver and retreat, one by one.

At this time the second source of fine energies that thefaithful needs so much in order to advance is cut off! #his source is the result of the transmutation of negative emotions aroused by shocks from outside him. %gain, in someone who has crossed the first #hreshold and struggles to climb the (taircase with his heart burning with faith, the source of energies from the negative emotions forming inside him dries up at the same time. !t then becomes a "uestion of knowing how and where the Mnight can find new sources of fine energies, once he has established a steady and permanent peace within himself and has thus become unmovable by inner or outer shocks. #hese sources will open up for him but, we must repeat, only on condition that the inner peace he has obtained becomes firm and unshakeable, Having reached this point in our study, the enlightened reader will understand that this inner peace can be obtained only by the fusion to which we referred in the first volume. #his logically leads us on to examine this phenomenon and techni"ue which can enable us to carry out this fusion in ourselves in greater depth. Here we will digress a little in order to clear up an important "uestion which must have arisen in the reader&s mind. #o postulate of the mastery of the negative emotions is well founded, as has been demonstrated above, and this gives rise to the following "uestion0 in these conditions, what is their usefulness in the general economy of our 1ixtus Orbis6 $rom what has been said, the reader may have the impression that negative emotions are simply one of the instruments by which the /eneral Baw keeps man in his place. Here, it is necessary to make a distinction, because the action of negative emotions has not one role but two! #heir action becomes destructive for those who are close to the first #hreshold, and even more for those who, having crossed it, are progressing on the (taircase. We have already mentioned that as far as the /eneral Baw is concerned they are potential or confirmed &fugitives.& $or them, negative emotions represent one of the factors that can make them lose ground, and this is a danger against which the faithful should fight with all his strength. +ut this is the special case of someone who ta"es part in esoteric wor", and it is rather uncommon! (o the "uestion is to learn the significance of these negative emotions when they invade people who are satisfied with themselves and perhaps even with their fate, who not only do not dream of any esoteric evolution, but who have no idea of the /eneral Baw, of its action, or that it is possible to escape from its clutches. #hese are docile, perfect subjects of the /eneral Baw, and their kind forms the greater part of the human species. 3egative emotions have numerous meanings and play countless roles that largely extend beyond the boundaries of our 1ixtus Orbis. We will try to determine their place within the framework of the note B% of organic life on 5arth, especially in its two principal aspects0 the personal aspect and the collective one. !n both these cases the role of negative emotions is not really negative, although their direct effects are always destructive0 damaging the individual&s health, provoking discord in families, and giving

the human masses impulses that push them to excesses0 to revolts, wars or revolutions. !n the individual case, the positive effects of negative emotions lies in the fact that they serve as awa"ening alarms! Their dynamism communicates impulses to the individual which force him to act! !t is the energy (!'<> stored up by the motor centre which mixes with the energy of one or more passions 'which have the heavier density of >A' to give birth to negative emotions. %fterwards, in this mixed state, it penetrates the motor sectors of the two other centres and makes them vibrate. #he emotional centre then vibrates in a violent way. #he same mixture of energies gives the intellectual centre an inventive but always calculating orientation, rendering it cunning and capable of all kinds of lies. !n this way the organism of man&s psyche comes out of its somnolent mental state but, uncultured from the esoteric point of view, it automatically or even voluntarily falls back into the same state whenever there is a lack of external impulses. !t takes life in a spirit of an eternal holiday. 3egative emotions could be said to form a valid common denominator for all human beings and human groups without distinction of race, caste, sex or religion. #hey give birth to a common language which can be understood by all, even by animals. Wars and revolutions are certainly calamities for the generations that suffer them, but ancient and modern %istory show us that they provo"e a recrudescence of human activity not only on the battlefields but also in the chancelleries and in the silent studies of philosophers and men of letters, as well as in the laboratories and factories! And it is from that activity, provo"ed if not imposed by the calamities of wars, that marvels are born for the following generations! This is one indirect but clearly positive effect of negative emotions! We may even add that, without negative emotions, the door onto the path of access to evolution would be closed to individuals as well as to human groups! From (! 6aly @ingA! ,elf0/bservation includes no element of criticism. #his means that the impartial attitude of the scientist must still be adopted. 3o genuine in"uirer investigates anything with the notion that he is to be prepared either to condone or to approve, he looks to see and only to see. !n the same way in this particular activity, when one is aware of some aspect of one&s body, that of which one is aware can only in fact be so, it cannot be either good or bad. +ut in our cases, due to abnormal condition, impulses will often arise to approve of what is seen or to criticise some functioning of which one becomes aware. #hese impulses can, and must, be excluded. #he reason is not that they are bad, either, the reason is that, if they are present, the authentic activity of (elf'Observation is 3O# present. B! ,elf0/bservation includes no element of tutorialness. !f criticism is out of place, a tutorial attempt to alter and to improve is more so. #here must certainly be no attempt to change what one is observing in any way for, if it be changed, the opportunity to observe or to experience it, vanishes instantly. !n scientific work great care is taken to obviate all effects upon the specimen under observation which might be due to the investigation itself, lest the findings be such as to refer not to the object of the in"uiry but instead to back'effects of instrumentation or other techni"ues employed, in the latter case the work is of course fruitless. (imilarly it must be plain immediately that, if one is self'observing some phenomenon of his organism&s activity, he cannot continue to do so when, for any reason that activity alters.

C! ,elf0/bservation includes no element of analysis. #his analysis is a typical mental action and its prohibition includes that of other intellectual activities as well, such as comparisons or even descriptive formulations of the object or objects of awareness. Consciousness is not a thought' process and neither is awareness, but (elf'Observation is a particular kind of awareness and therefore it is present only when thinking is excluded. D! ,elf0/bservation is possible only with non0identification. #his is the essential and definitory crux of the entire activity. Only when one deliberately separates oneself from the organism under scrutiny, only when one establishes firmly the position that &!& have a body and that &!& am not !t, can one self'observe. Without this realisation there is no possibility of correct (elf'Observation, and it is subtle, difficult and hard to maintain. 3evertheless, it is demanded with e"uivocation, for in its absence whatever occurs cannot be the self'observatory activity. E! ,elf0/bservation must ta"e place within the prescribed area. #hat is to say that no anything or everything can be the object of (elf'Observation. #he objects of this activity are definite, not vague, they are the phenomena of the organic body which one has. #hese phenomena are many but they are not infinite in number and they can be classified into specific and numerable categories. #he reason that the admonition, Mnow #hyself, has been familiar for so long and yet has produced no actual results even in the cases of those who are prepared to accept is seriously, is that that precept is almost always directed toward and incorrect object. $or example, in the work of the Open (ecret it is incorrectly directed, and conse"uently, although the results of that work can be valuable, especially in a practical sense, they cannot be of a final and objective value to the subject. Mnow #hyself ^ Mnow #hine Organism, that is its correct meaning and, moreover, in this sense it can be valid just because in this sense it outlaws introspections and guesses and judgements whose inevitable delusions prevent objective results. >!!!!!!!!!!!! Huote from0 C. -aly Ming Bet us therefore begin defining the prescribed area of self'observation by a series of exclusions, by stating categorically what it is not. #o begin with, it is of course not concerned with the observation of anything outside the subject&s own body. 3o external phenomenoa whatever are the objects of this kind of observation. +ut there are internal phenomena also which are not, for a long period, the proper objects of self'observation, either. (elf'Observation is not observation in the usual sense or in the usual meaning of the term, it is a specific kind of awareness. +y the same token, and as a rational corollary, unless it is a pure awareness without intermixture of thought'processes and;or emotional processes, it is not self'observation. $or this reason thoughts themselves are excluded as objects of self'observation. #o be aware of one&s thoughts impartially and objectively is a very difficult and advanced exercise, if one tries it, he finds as a matter of course that he is thinking about his thoughts. #hinking about thought or about thoughts is introspection, it is not self'observation. #he same is e"ually true of emotions, and neither are these the proper objects of self'observation. #o self'observe either thoughts or emotions objectively is to be accurately aware of the neurological phenomena which are their physical basis and which give rise to them, and to do this within one&s own body is so obviously beyond the abilities of the pupil, on his introduction to the self'observatory techni"ue, as to be worth no further discussion. #here is, however, an indirect way in which a beginning can be made in the self' observation of thoughts and emotions and this will be indicated a little later. We have therefore excluded all outside phenomena and all thought and all emotion from

the self'observatory activity. What is left6 #here is a very great deal left that it is possible to self'observe, and the easier categories of this residue are precisely the gross behaviors of the bodily mechanism. #hey must not, however, be considered in a vague and general way, let us first of all categorise them0 Huote from0 C. -aly Ming a= 5osture. #here are many bodily postures typical of or habitual with a given person, there are also many postures dictated by passing external conditions which are not habitually repeated by the subject. %ll of these are to be observed, not in the sens of listing them but in the sense of simply bein% aware of them when and as they occur. #hey are not to be reasoned about nor analysed, nor is there to be any effort to alter or to improve them, what is re"uired, is simply to be aware of them as they take place. !t is "uite possible, for instance, to be aware that one of one&s hands is warmer than the other Cwhen this occurs= without any way seeking to account for the fact or even thinking about it at all, in other words it is possible simply to be aware of it, period. !n the same way, this is all that is re"uired concerning the gross fact of bodily posture, solely what one should be aware of the current position of one&s body when it occurs. b= 2esture. !n a life fashion one may observe the gestures that one&s body makes from time to time. Bike our postures, these are almost entirely unconsciously performed and what is meant here, is that one must be aware of them in detail and accurately as they occur. -o not consider whether this or that one is often repeated or whether or not it constitutes a habit. !f the attention is put only upon an awareness of these gestures, all the other "uestions about them will answer themselves in due course without any artificial attempts on the part of the subject to solve the problems for himself. %s one becomes increasingly conscious of the gestures that one&s body makes, he will soon come to recognise which of them repeat again and again and thus are his gestural habits, that is the way to find out about them, not by any direct cogitation but indirectly and only by becoming more and more aware of them. +esides, the purpose of self0observation is not primarily information but instead it is an intimate alteration of conscious e&perience! c= 1ovement. !n addition to its postures and gestures the body manifests bulk or general movements, in walking down the street, in seating itself in a chair and thereafter in rising from it, and so on. /estures, too, are movements but they are local movements of parts only of the body, and the present category comprises the movements of the body as a whole. #hese latter are to be observed in the same way as are the previous categories, that is, in the sole and vivid sense of being aware of them as they take place. d= Facial E&pression. 5xpressions are constantly flitting across our faces and usually we are totally unconscious of them. +ut our thoughts can be read more accurately by others from such expressions than from the words which we may be saying at the same moment. !t is interesting to note how other people do this, they do not become ac"uainted with our real meanings by analysing our expressions and theorising about them, instead they recognise they expression and its meaning just by noticing it. #he same can

easily be a by'product of our own observation of our own facial expressions by the main thing, once more, is simply to be aware of when and how and in what detail they occur. e= Tone of 4oice. Her again we seldom realise in what manner we are speaking and are often surprised that our companions disregard the literal meaning of our words but take instead what our tones of voice contrarily indicate. #hus we often suppose that we are making an undeniable point in argument when in fact the point itself is denied by the very tone of our voice in which we put it forward. 1ore than our words, our tones of voice signify what we really mean and it will astonish the beginner to discover how much of this he always misses and how hard it is to be aware of these intonations as others hear them. % recording of his own voice will "uickly convince the subject that this is so. Of course he is not to try to change his tones in any way, for in that case he will lose what he wishes to observe. He is once again simply to be aware of them as they occur. We now have the five categories of gross behaviour which are to be the first objects of (elf'Observation. #hey are0 :osture, /esture, 1ovement, $acial 5xpression, #one of voice Well, here is partly where things started to crack , because ! certainly had not even bothered with this. 3ot because ! wasn&t aware that these needed to be the starting point, but because of a sort of aloof dismissal and judgement Cbecause it is "uite mundane= that it wasn&t even necessary) Well it seems it is absolutely D!#%B because later, he gives the following warning0 Huote from0 C. -aly Ming 1any persons have been known who supposed themselves competent in this first step of (elf'Observation long before they in fact were and who prematurely essayed the far more difficult tasks of observing Centre _> 7emotional8 and Centre _@ 7intellectual8 phenomena, they have emerged from this with almost unbelievable phantasies regarding their results and, if nothing more serious has happened to them, they have lost all possibility of continuing this kind of work on themselves. 3o small time is re"uired in order to complete ade"uately this first step in which gross bodily behaviour and its associated sensations are the sole'objects of (elf'Observation, the writer has never known of anyone who accomplished it ade"uately in less than a number of years. 7p. <>A8 (o what does this mean for group'work at Cassiopaea6 Well firstly, it confirms exactly Baura&s warning of the near impossibility of doing this alone, and as we read unbelievable phantasies and delusions often result. He continues appropriately, with the characteristics re"uired for proper (elf' Observation0 Huote from0 C. -aly Ming F! ,elf0/bservation is to be conducted by means of all available perceptions. #his means that one is not to use only one mode of sensory perception in the exercises of (elf'Observation, but all available modes. $or example, one can see the position of one&s crossed legs well enough, if one looks at them, but this is not the only means available. #he muscular tensions and the pressures arising from the position will inform one immediately of this part of the posture, as well as of other integral parts of it, and a (elf'Observation of the posture consists in an accurate awareness of those sensory aspects which together create a picture of the posture in consciousness. 7...8 #he point of

the present feature of (elf'Observation is that all appropriate senses are to be employed in the awareness directed toward any category and that as complete a picture as possible is to be constructed. 7...8 G! ,elf0/bservation is to be confined to no particular time or place! The activity is not to be e&ercised only for some given half0hour in the morning or only for ten minutes before retiring for the night or only in the privacy of one*s study! H!!!I The final goal is to be able to do so all the time!!! /f course, this is entirely out of the )uestion immediately and the ac)uirement of such an ability is a long way off! (o now, he comes to the explication of why the techni"ue is near impossible to be accomplished alone, to the emotional and intellectual centre. Bogically, it would seem that if the techni"ue can be directed to the moving;instinctive centre then it could also be directed towards the other lower centres. +ut the difference is0 the method is not directed to the histology of the moving;instinctive, but toward the gross behaviour of the body as a whole and the emotional and intellectual phenomena are 3O# gross but minute phenomena. Here, ! think, is where Baura&s comments about group'work become much clearer0 Huote from0 C. -aly Ming !f one seeks, at the present stage, to observe a thought, he cannot do so because there is nothing there to observe, his consciousness will not at all reach to the objective neurological phenomena that in fact constitute a thought. %t the same time, to formulate that a thought is clear or confused, complex or simple, is not (elf'Observation but instead it is introspection, just as to notice that one&s walking is slow or fast or that a muscular tension is strong or weak, is formulation or description but it is never the primary awareness that is (elf'Observation. #he delusion that one is self'observing when in fact one is either introspecting or just formulating, is very easy to entertain and the difference between the latter and genuine observation constitutes one the real subtleties that must be distinguished clearly by the subject at this first stage. #he case is the same with emotions, only more so, due to the fact that they are more rapid and unstable than thoughts. #o observe an emotion directly is now "uite impossible, and, just as with thoughts, merely to describe them currently in general terms or to categorise them as being positive, negative, strong, weak, and so on, all this is introspection and it is not (elf'Observation. #he case with the observation of gross bodily behaviours is authentically different. !n the observation of the category of movement, one does not think that he is walking, he thinks of something else altogether and is just simply aware that the walking activity is talking place. When from this there is excluded all emotional reference and when to it there is added a detailed awareness of all the various physical aspects of the walking, that is (elf'Observation. When in actual practice this kind of pure and unmixed awareness is experienced personally, it is then possible to come to that realisation of the difference of awareness from thought and from emotion and from sensing... 3ow, of course, it is not wholly impossible to have some awareness individually of one&s thoughts and emotions because as we all know, various Cbecause of intra'organic connectedness= thought processes are accompanied by symptomatic muscular tensions in one or another part of the body and different kinds of thought'processes are also associated with typical body postures, even sometimes with an habitual series of gestures or local movements of hands or feet. #he same is true of emotions, and even more so. #hey are so closely connected with corresponding postures and

facial expressions that they may be artificially instated by a deliberate assumption of these bodily phenomena. (o0 Huote from0 C. -aly Ming #hus the (elf'Observation of the different categories of physical behaviour is already a kind of indirect observation both of mental and of emotional states and provided, as always, that analysis, formulatory processes, and judgements be resolutely exluded from the techni"ue, just as a by'product of such observations the true nature of his thoughts and emotions will gradually become clearer in the subject&s consciousness without his own specific efforts to that end. $or the present, that is enough. 3o direct approach to thoughts and emotions as such is as yet feasible and (elf'Observation is to be confined strictly to the definite categories previously listed. #he work itself of schools of the fourth way can have very many forms and many meanings. !n the midst of the ordinary conditions of life the only chance a man has of finding a &way& is in the possibility of meeting with the beginning of work of this kind. +ut the chance of meeting with such work as well as the possibility of profiting by this chance depends upon many circumstances and conditions. #he "uicker a man grasps the aim of the work which is being executed, the "uicker can he become useful to it and the more will he be able to get from it for himself. +ut no matter what the fundamental aim of the work is, the schools continue to e&ist only while this wor" is going on! When the work is done the schools close. #he people who began the work leave the stage. #hose who have learned from them what was possible to learn and have reached the possibility of continuing on the way independently begin in one form or another their own personal work. "+ut it happens sometimes that when the school closes a number of people are left who were round about the wor", who saw the outward aspect of it, and saw the whole of the wor" in this outward aspect! "%aving no doubts whatever of themselves or in the correctness of their conclusions and understanding they decide to continue the wor"! To continue this wor" they form new schools, teach people what they have themselves learned, and give them the same promises that they themselves received! All this naturally can only be outward imitation! +ut when we look back on history it is almost impossible for us to distinguish where the real ends and where the imitation begins. (trictly speaking almost everything we know about various kinds of occult, masonic, and alchemical schools refers to such imitation. We know practically nothing about real schools excepting the results of their work and even that only if we are able to distinguish the results of real work from counterfeits and imitations. +ut such pseudo'esoteric systems also play their part in the work and activities of esoteric circles. 3amely, they are the intermediaries between humanity which is entirely immersed in the materialistic life and schools which are interested in the education of a certain number of people, as much for the purposes of their own existences as for the purposes of the work of a cosmic character which they may be carrying out. #he very idea of esotericism, the idea of initiation, reaches people in most cases through pseudo' esoteric systems and schools, and if there were not these pseudo'esoteric schools the

vast majority of humanity would have no possibility whatever of hearing and learning of the existence of anything greater than life because the truth in its pure form would be inaccessible for them. #he idea of initiation, which reaches us through pseudo'esoteric systems, is also transmitted to us in a completely wrong form. #he legends concerning the outward rites of initiation have been created out of the scraps of information we possess in regard to the ancient 1ysteries. #he 1ysteries represented a special kind of way in which, side by side with a difficult and prolonged period of study, theatrical representations of a special kind were given which depicted in allegorical forms the whole path of the evolution of man and the world. #ransitions from one level of being to another were marked by ceremonies of presentation of a special kind, that is, initiation. +ut a change of being cannot be brought about by any rites. *ites can only mark an accomplished transition. %nd it is only in pseudo'esoteric systems in which there is nothing else except these rites, that they begin to attribute to the rites an independent meaning. !t is supposed that a rite, in being transformed into a sacrament, transmits or communicates certain forces to the initiate. #his again relates to the psychology of an imitation way. #here is not, nor can there be, any outward initiation. !n reality only self'initiation, selfTpresentation exist. (ystems and schools can indicate methods and ways, but no system or school whatever can do for a man the work that he must do himself. !nner growth, a change of being, depend entirely upon the work which a man must do on himself. !bn al'&%rabi comments on the fact that there are those who are beginners who knock at the door and it opens to them, and there are those who may have been working all their lives, knocking and knocking, and the door never opens to them at all. ! think that what can happen is that learning can be carried over from one life to another, even if it is not conscious. %nd this learning can create a certain bias toward what works and what doesn&t. #hat is, of course, assuming that one is not an O:) #here is something else interesting about this. /urdjieff writes0 Huote +esides these exercises of which ! now speak and also the information about them into which ! now wish to initiate you, ... you... will ... learn, by the way of two definite notions which from the dawn of centuries among all categories of initiated persons on the 5arth have been considered and are at the present time considered secret, and an ac"uaintance with which for the average man can, according to the convictions of these initiates, even prove ruinous. ... #he first of the aforementioned secrets is that as a means for self'perfecting a man can use a certain property which is in his psyche, and which is even of a very negative character. #his property can serve as an aid to self'perfecting and exists in people in general, particularly in contemporary people, and especially in you, and is none other than that which ! have many times condemenc and which people themselves consider an unworthy manifestation for a man who has reached responsible age ' of course in this respect also excluding themselves ' and it is called self'deception. (uch an, at first glance, illogicality and deduction not corresponding to any human sane reasoning, namely, that such a property unbecoming to the psyche of a man of adult age can consciously be made use of for such an immeasurably high aim, is obtained owing

to the fact that the cogni4ance of truths concerning the possibilities of self'perfection, and the real forming in oneself of what is re"uired for this, must proceed not in the ordinary consciousness of a man, which for the given case has almost no significance, but in what is called the subconscious, and since, thanks to all kinds of accidents ensuing from the various abnormalities of our ordinary life, it has become impossible for a man, particularly for a contemporary man, to take in anything at all and so to say digest it directly with his subconsciousness, therefor it is necessary for him, as has in the course of many centuries been experimentally proven by persons of :?re *eason, to use a special means for inculcating in his subconsciousness some reasonable indiction accidentally grapsed by his ordinary consciousness and not contradictory to his instinct, and this can be done only be means of this self'decptive imaginativeness inherent in him. !f you have understood without any doubt what you must do, and how, and fully hope at some time to attain this in reality, you must at the beginning often imagine, but imagine only, that this is already present in you. #his is necessary chiefly in order that the consciousness forming in oneself during an active state should continue also during a passive state. #here is more to this passage, but better if you get Bife is *ea Only #hen, When ! %1. by /urdjieff. $,/T1 on self0remembering!n all there are four states of consciousness possible for man Che emphasi4ed the word man =, +ut ordinary man, that is, man number one, number two, and number three, lives in the two lowest states of consciousness only. #he two higher states of consciousness are inaccessible to him, and although he may have flashes of these states, he is unable to understand them and he judges them from the point of view of those states in which it is usual for him to be. #he two usual, that is, the lowest, states of consciousness are first, sleep, in other words a passive state in which man spends a third and very often a half of his life. %nd second, the state in which men spend the other part of their lives, in which they walk the streets, write books, talk on lofty subjects, take part in politics, kill one another, which they regard as active and call &clear consciousness& or the &waking state of consciousness.& #he term &clear consciousness& or &waking state of consciousness& seems to have been given in jest, especially when you reali4e what clear consciousness ought in reality to be and what the state in which man lives and acts really is. The third state of consciousness is self0remembering or self0consciousness or consciousness of one*s being! !t is usual to consider that we have this state of consciousness or that we can have it if we want it. Our science and philosophy have overlooked the fact that we do not possess this state of consciousness and that we cannot create it in ourselves by desire or decision alone. #he fourth state of consciousness is called the objective state of consciousness !n this state a man can see things as they are. $lashes of this state of consciousness also occur in man. !n the religions of all nations there are indications of the possibility of a state of consciousness of this kind which is called &enlightenment& and various other names but which cannot be described in words. +ut the only right way to objective consciousness is through the development of self'consciousness. .................................... The two higher states of consciousnessJ*self0consciousness* and *ob#ective consciousness*J are connected with the functioning of the higher centers in man! ....................................... How can one awaken6 How can one escape this sleep6 #hese "uestions are the most important, the most vital that can ever confront a man. +ut before this it is necessary to be convinced of the very

fact of sleep. +ut it is possible to be convinced of this only by trying to awaken. When a man understands that he does not remember himself and that to remember himself means to awa"en to some e&tent, and when at the same time he sees by e&perience how difficult it is to remember himself, he will understand that he cannot awa"en simply by having the desire to do so! !t can be said still more precisely that a man cannot awaken by himself. +ut if, let us say, twenty people make an agreement that whoever of them awakens first shall wake the rest, they already have some chance. 5ven this, however, is insufficient because all the twenty can go to sleep at the same time and dream that they are waking up. #herefore more still is necessary. #hey must be looked after by a man who is not asleep or who does not fall asleep as easily as they do, or who goes to sleep consciously when this is possible, when it will do no harm either to himself or to others. #hey must find such a man and hire him to wake them and not allow them to fall asleep again. Without this it is impossible to awaken. #his is what must be understood. $,/T1 on self0observation,elf0observation brings man to the reali ation of the necessity for self0change! %nd in observing himself a man notices that self'observation itself brings about certain changes in his inner processes. He begins to understand that self'observation is an instrument of selfchange, a means of awakening. +y observing himself he throws, as it were, a ray of light onto his inner processes which have hitherto wor"ed in complete dar"ness! %nd under the influence of this light the processes themselves begin to change. #here are a great many chemical processes that can take place only in the absence of light. 5xactly in the same way many psychic processes can take place only in the dark. 5ven a feeble light of consciousness is enough to change completely the character of a process, while it makes many of them altogether impossible. ............................... When a man comes to reali4e the necessity not only for self'study and self'observation but also for work on himself with the object of changing himself, the character of his self'observation must change. He has so far studied the details of the work of the centers, trying only to register this or that phenomenon, to be an impartial witness. He has studied the work of the machine. 3ow he must begin to see himself, that is to say, to see, not separate details, not the work of small wheels and levers, but to see everything taken together as a wholeSthe whole of himself such as others see him. ............................... !nstead of the man he had supposed himself to be he will see "uite another man. #his &other& man is himself and at the same time not himself. !t is he as other people know him, as he imagines himself and as he appears in his actions, words, and so on, but not altogether such as he actually is. $or a man himself knows that there is a great deal that is unreal, invented, and artificial in this other man whom other people "now and whom he "nows himself! 2ou must learn to divide the real from the invented. %nd to begin self'observation and self'study it is necessary to divide oneself. % man must reali4e that he indeed consists of two men. ................... (o long as a man takes himself as one person he will never move from where he is. His work on himself starts from the moment when he begins to feel two men in himself. One is passive and the most it can do is to register or observe what is happening to it. #he other, which calls itself &!,& is active, and speaks of itself in the first person, is in reality only &Ouspensky,& &:etrov& or &Iakharov.& #his is the first reali4ation that a man can have. Having begun to think correctly he very soon sees that he is completely in the power of his &Ouspensky,& &:etrov,& or &Iakharov.& 3o matter what he plans or what he intends to do or say, it is not &he,& not &!,& that will carry it out, do or say it, but his &Ouspensky& &:etrov,& or &Iakharov,& and of course they will do or say it, not in the way &!& would have done or said it, but in their own way with their own shade of meaning, and often this shade of meaning completely changes what &!& wanted to do.

$rom this point of view there is a very definite danger arising from the very first moment of self' observation. !t is &!& who begins self'observation, but it is immediately taken up and continued by &Ouspensky,& &Iakharov,& or &:etrov.& +ut &Ouspensky& &Iakharov,& or &:etrov& from the very first steps introduces a slight alteration into this self'observation, an alteration which seems to be "uite unimportant but which in reality fundamentally alters the whole thing. ................... +ut when a man understands his helplessness in the face of &Ouspensky& his attitude towards himself and towards &Ouspensky& in him ceases to be either indifferent or unconcerned. (elf'observation becomes observation of &Ouspensky& % man understands that he is not &Ouspensky,& that &Ouspensky& is nothing but the mask he wears, the part that he unconsciously plays and which unfortunately he cannot stop playing, a part which rules him and makes him do and say thousands of stupid things, thousands of things which he would never do or say himself. ................... !f he is sincere with himself he feels that he is in the power of &Ouspensky& and at the same time he feels that he is not &Ouspensky.& He begins to be afraid of &Ouspensky,& begins to feel that he is his &enemy.& 3o matter what he would like to do, everything is intercepted and altered by &Ouspensky.& &Ouspensky& is his &enemy.& &Ouspensky&s& desires, tastes, sympathies, antipathies, thoughts, opinions, are either opposed to his own views, feelings, and moods, or they have nothing in common with them. %nd, at the same time, &Ouspensky& is his master. He is the slave. He has no will of his own. He has no means of expressing his desires because whatever he would like to do or say would be done for him by &Ouspensky.& On this level of self'observation a man must understand that his whole aim is to free himself from &Ouspensky.& %nd since he cannot in fact free himself from &Ouspensky,& because he is himself, he must therefore master */uspens"y* and ma"e him do, not what the */uspens"y* of the given moment wants, but what he himself wants to do! $rom being the master, &Ouspensky& must become the servant. 9....... When the negative emotions are evoked in the sleeping, dreaming emotional center, in response to reality, elements from the intellectual or moving centers are added to them according to our social, religious, and psychological programming. We then fall into confluence. 1en and women commonly fall into moral prostitution in its infinitely varied shading because their actions or thoughts corrupt the pure negative emotions, deny them, suppress them, or otherwise create fantasies about reality using that energy. %s in the case of positive emotional reactions, the energy of the negative emotions spreads over the whole of the motor center and penetrated the motor sectors of the intellectual center and a state of profound confluence is the result. #hat is to say, that the individual will shift into a dream or an action that is programmed into them. -riven by shock or passion, a man loses his inner peace and falls immediately into the program, and proceeds to express his negative emotions via the intellectual or moving centers, and the energy is thereby lost. !f, however, at the moment when the negative emotions arises in him, the subject remains calm and does not mechanically begin to run a program, something powerful and positive can occur. +y persistent introspection, the individual can observe the rise of the negative emotions and can disconnect them from intellectual or moving center usurpation and, understanding the origin of the reaction, will shed light on the inner darkness. #he individual is then in a position to perform an act of primary importance0the liberation of the energy of the negative emotion for positive use. #o allow this energy to be kept in the emotional center itself, to concentrate there, while simultaneously ac"uiring the knowledge of the external reality that stimulated the emotional reaction, and preventing the energy from being dissipated by the moving center, is a victory over

the negative emotion, a mastery of the self that immediately brings an inflow of joy to the lower emotional center. This occurs when the negative emotional energy, concentrated in this way, causes the lower emotional center to vibrate at the rapid rhythm that is normal to it, which then establishes instant contact with the higher emotional center which triggers the current of higher emotional energy into the lower! The inflow of higher #oy in the current of energy from the higher emotional center can then act on the energy concentrated in the lower emotional center by induction, transmuting it into the higher energy of the soul, which is the essential process of fusing the magnetic center, or growing the Dth density body 0 the gradual transformation of the physical body to the immortal body! With practice, this contact can be prolonged with more rapid results. %nd, of course, the more violent the negative emotion, the greater the "uantity of the emotional center energy that is produce, the more difficult the process, and the greater the rewards. %s the neophyte proceeds up the staircase, he will find that he experiences fewer negative emotions. !t is at this point that he will discover the obvious utility of those who are hostile to him in the extreme. %s long as he is on the (taircase it is in insults, hate, jealousy, treachery and the contempt of other men that the seeker finds the elements which are necessary for him to awaken his emotional center and utili4e the shocks and blows and slings and arrows of outrageous fortune to power his ascent. +y dominating the mechanical reactions ' the programs ' that the reality out there may produce in him, by separating and rejecting the elements that are parasites on the fine energy of this system, the seeker is able to mobili4e the fine energy produced by the negative emotions. #his accelerates the growth and development of the magnetic center which then enables the transition to the higher density. !t is for this reason that the seeker understands why he should love his enemies and bless those who curse and persecute him. #he saying0 Mnowledge :rotects is wholly applicable to the inner revolution that takes place within the seeker. $or all of our lives we are slaves to the programs that are set in motion by our negative emotions. Our intellectual centers steal this energy and produce all kinds of rationali4ations, suppressions, fantasies of power or illusions that we have mastered the emotion simply because we are able to suppress it, or tell ourselves egotistical things like0 !&m better than that because see) ! can suppress my reactions. ! can say nice things when ! am really boiling mad. #hat is what makes me superior. With knowledge of the true nature of reality and the programs that run in us, we are enabled to completely halt any such usurpation, to allow the concentration of the emotions ' whether negative or positive ' which then set our entire being on a higher vibration. % +rief Overview -abrowski&s #heory of :ositive -isintegration %bstract -abrowski presents a theory of personality development based on a multilevel, hierarchical view of life. #he theory suggests individual developmental potentials are important factors in determining the course of personality growth. -evelopmental potential includes three aspects, special talents and abilities, a physiological measure of neural reactivity -abrowski called overexcitability CO5= and a factor describing an inner motivation to develop. !ndividuals with strong developmental potential tend to experience fre"uent and intense crises Cpositive disintegrations= that create opportunities for the development of an autonomous, self'crafted personality. -abrowski observed that gifted and creative populations tend to exhibit increased levels of developmental potential and thus may be predisposed to experience the process of positive disintegration. While recent work has focussed on

the link between overexcitability and giftedness, developmental potential and giftedness are not synonymous, indeed, many Cmost= with developmental potential will not be classified as gifted, and many gifted will display little overall developmental potential. % brief overview of -abrowski&s theory and its relevance for gifted individuals are presented. :aper Ma4imier4 -abrowski C<GF> ' <GPF= advanced a theory of individual personality development based on a progression from an initial, lower integration, through a se"uence of disintegrations, culminating in a second, higher integration Csee note one=. -abrowski called his work the #heory of :ositive -isintegration to reflect the central and positive role disintegration plays in development. He believed that some individuals are predisposed to experience life more intensely and this predisposes them to fre"uent and severe crisis. #his heightened sensitivity is based on genetic characteristics -abrowski called developmental potential. #he presence of increased sensitivity combined with crises Cdisintegration= represent an increased opportunity to develop to advanced levels of personality. !n his research, -abrowski found that gifted and creative individuals tend to exhibit higher levels of developmental potential and therefore are predicted to experience increased disintegration and personality growth. #his is the basis of recent applications of the theory to the gifted Csee note two=. #his paper will discuss -abrowski&s basic ideas and apply his theory to the gifted. -abrowski&s #heory -abrowski observed that most people live their lives in a state of primitive integration guided by biological impulses Cfirst factor= and;or by uncritical adherence to social convention Csecond factor=. He called this initial integration Bevel !. Creative expression at Bevel ! is influenced and constrained by these first two factors. $irst factor tends to channel giftedness and talents toward accomplishing self'serving goals. Often these talents are used in antisocial ways. $or example, many criminals display this selfish creativity in the service of advancing their goals at the expense of others. #he second factor constrains individual creativity by encouraging a group view of life and discouraging uni"ue thought and expression. (econd factor shapes creativity into forms that follow and support the existing social milieu. -abrowski also described a group of people who display an individuali4ed developmental pathway. #hese people break away from an automatic, sociali4ed view of life Cwhat -abrowski called negative adjustment = and move into a series of disintegrations. !f development continues, people go on to develop an individuali4ed, conscious and critically evaluated hierarchical value structure Ccalled positive adjustment =. #he hierarchy of values comes to act as a benchmark by which all things are seen and the higher values in the hierarchy direct behavior. #hese higher, individual values characteri4e a second integration reflecting individual autonomy. %t this level, each person develops his or her own vision of how life ought to be. #his higher level is associated with strong individual approaches to problem solving and creativity. /iftedness and creativity are applied in the service of these higher individual values and visions of how life could be. #he individual expresses his or her talents energetically, through action, though art, through social change, etc. %dvanced development is often seen in people who exhibit strong developmental potential. -evelopmental potential represents a constellation of genetic features, expressed and mediated through environmental interaction, that consist of three major aspects0 overexcitability CO5=, specific abilities and talents, and a strong drive toward autonomous growth, a feature -abrowski called the third factor.

#he most evident and perhaps most fundamental aspect of developmental potential is overexcitability CO5=, a heightened physiological experience of sensory stimuli resulting from increased neuronal sensitivities. #he greater the O5, the more intense the sensory experience of life. !n short, the individual is more sensitive to experiences in life. -abrowski presented five forms of O50 psychomotor, sensual, imaginational, intellectual and emotional. #hese overexcitabilities, especially the latter three, often cause a person to experience daily life more intensely and to feel the extremes of the joys and sorrows of life profoundly. -abrowski found that heightened overexcitability in groups of gifted and creative individuals demonstrated their intense sensual experiences. Combined with imaginational and intellectual O5, create a rich source of creative material. %dditionally, psychomotor and emotional O5 often provide strong stamina and motivation, often expressed in bouts of intense work and creativity. %lthough based in the nervous system, overexcitabilities are expressed psychologically through the development of structures that reflect the emerging self. #he most important of these conceptuali4ations are dynamisms0 biological or mental forces that control behavior and its development. !nstincts, drives, and intellectual processes combined with emotions are dynamisms C-abrowski, <GO>, p. >GA=. With advanced development, dynamisms increasingly reflect movement toward autonomy. #he second arm of developmental potential, specific abilities and talents, tends to serve the individual&s developmental level. %s outlined, individuals at lower levels use talents to support egocentric goals or to climb the social and corporate ladders. %t higher levels, specific talents and abilities become an important force as they are channelled by the individual&s value hierarchy into expressing and achieving the person&s vision of his or her ideal personality and his or her view of what ought to be in the world. #he third aspect of developmental potential, the third factor, is a drive towards individual growth and autonomy. #hird factor is important in creativity for two reasons0 first, it directs talents and creativity toward autonomous expression, and second, it provides motivation to strive for more ' to try to imagine and achieve goals currently beyond the individual&s grasp. #he first and fifth levels are characteri4ed by psychological integration, harmony and little inner conflict. %s outlined above, the first level is called primitive or primary integration and consists of people who show either prominent $irst $actor C heredity ; impulse= and;or (econd $actor C social environment =. #he majority of people at Bevel ! are integrated at the environmental or social level C-abrowski called them average people=0 however, many also exhibit shades of both impulse and sociali4ation. -abrowski distinguished the two subgroups of Bevel ! by degree, the state of primary integration is a state contrary to mental health. % fairly high degree of primary integration is present in the average person, a very high degree of primary integration is present in the psychopath C-abrowski, <GJA, p. <><=. Csee note three=. Bevels !!, !!! and !D describe various levels and types of disintegration. #he character of Bevel !! is reflected in its name0 ?nilevel -isintegration. #he prominent feature of this level is an initial, brief, and often intense crisis or series of crises. Crises are spontaneous and only occur on one level Cand often involve only one dimension=. ?nilevel disintegration occurs during developmental crises such as puberty or menopause, in periods of difficulty in handling some stressful external event, or under psychological and psychopathological conditions such as nervousness and psychoneurosis. ?nilevel disintegration consists of processes on a single structural and emotional level, there is a prevalence of automatic dynamisms with only slight self'consciousness and self'control C-abrowski, <GJA, p. J=. Conflicts on the same level Chori4ontal= produce ambitendencies and ambivalences0 the person is pulled between different but e"uivalent choices Cambitendencies= and is not able decide what to do Cambivalence=. ?ltimately, the individual is thrust into an existential crisis0 his or her social rationales no longer account for his or her experiences and no alternate

explanations exist. -uring this phase, existential despair is the predominant emotion. #he resolution of this phase begins as individually chosen values are integrated into a new hierarchy of personal values. #hese new values often conflict with the person&s previous social values. 1any of the status "uo explanations for the way things are,& learned through education and from the social order, collapse under conscious, individual scrutiny. #his causes more conflicts focussed on the individual&s analysis of his or her own reactions to the world at large and of the behavior of others. Common behaviors and the ethics of the prevailing social order become seen as inade"uate, wrong or hypocritical. :ositive maladjustment prevails. $or -abrowski, these crises represent a strong potential for development toward personal growth and mental health. ?sing a positive definition, mental health reflects more than social conformity0 it involves a careful, personal examination of the world and of one&s values leading to the development of an individual personality. #he expression of positive maladjustment can often be seen in both individual creativity and in creative movements at this level. $or example, Cubism and -adaism, with their chaotic forms are examples of creativity expressing positive maladjustment '' the rejection and overthrow of the standard views of art and life. Bevel !! is a transitional period. -abrowski said you either fall back, move ahead or end negatively, in suicide or psychosis. :rolongation of unilevel disintegration often leads to reintegration on a lower level, to suicidal tendencies, or to psychosis C-abrowski, <GJA, p. O=. #he transition from level !! to level !!! involves a fundamental shift that re"uires a phenomenal amount of energy. #his period is the crossroads of development as from here one must either progress or regress. #he struggle between -abrowski&s $actors reflect this transitional crisis0 -o ! follow my instincts C$irst $actor=, my teachings C(econd $actor= or my heart C#hird $actor=6 #he developmental answer is to transform one&s lower instincts Cautomatic reactions like anger= into positive motivation, to resist rote, social answers and to listen to one&s own, inner sense of what you ought to do. Bevel !!! describes the vertical conflicts caused by an involuntary perception of higher versus lower choices in life Cbecause it is involuntary, -abrowski called it spontaneous multilevel disintegration=. -abrowski called this vertical dimension multilevelness. 1ultilevelness is a gradual reali4ation of the possibility of the higher Ca phrase -abrowski used fre"uently= and of the subse"uent contrasts between the higher and the lower in life. #hese vertical comparisons often illustrate the lower, actual behavior of a person in contrast to higher, imagined ideals and alternate choices. When a person perceives the higher choice, it becomes obvious that this is the path one ought to follow. When the person&s actual behavior falls short of the ideal, disharmony and a drive to review and reconstruct one&s life often follow. 1ultilevelness thus represents a new and powerful type of conflict, a conflict that is potentially developmental. #hese vertical conflicts are critical in leading to autonomy and advanced personality growth. !f the person is to achieve higher levels, the shift to multilevelness must occur. !f a person does not have the developmental potential to move into a multilevel view, then they would fall back from the crises of Bevel !! to reintegrate at Bevel !. !n the shift to multilevelness, the hori4ontal Cunilevel=, stimulus'response model of life is replaced by a vertical and hierarchical analysis. #his vertical view becomes anchored by one&s emerging individual value structure and all events are seen in relation to personal ideals. #hese personal value ideals become the personality ideal0 how the person wants to live his or her life. %s events in life are seen in relation to this multilevel, vertical view, it becomes impossible to support positions that favor the lower course when higher goals can be identified Cor imagined=.

!n level !D the individual takes full control of his or her development. #he involuntary spontaneous development of level !!! is replaced by a deliberate, conscious and self'directed review of life from the multilevel perspective. #his level marks the emergence of the third factor, described by -abrowski as an autonomous factor of conscious choice Cvaluation= by which one affirms or rejects certain "ualities in oneself and in one&s environment C-abrowski, <GO>, p. @FJ=. #he person consciously reviews his or her existing belief system and tries to replace his or her lower, automatic views and reactions with carefully thought'out, examined and chosen ideals. #hese new values will increasingly be reflected in the person&s behavior. +ehaviour becomes less reactive, less automatic, and more deliberate as behavioral choices fall under the influence of the person&s higher, chosen ideals. One&s social orientation comes to reflect a deep responsibility based on both intellectual and emotional factors. %t the highest levels, individuals of this kind feel responsible for the reali4ation of justice and for the protection of others against harm and injustice. #heir feelings of responsibility extend almost to everything C-abrowski, <GO@, p. GO=. #his perspective results from seeing life in relation to one&s hierarchy of values Cthe multilevel view= and the subse"uent appreciation of the potential of how life could be, and ought to be, lived. One&s disagreements with the Clower level= world are expressed compassionately in doing what one can to help achieve the ought. /iven their genuine Cauthentic= pro'social outlook, those individuals achieving higher development would also raise the level of their society. :ro'social here is not just support of the existing social order. !f the social order is lower and you are adjusted to it, then you also reflect the lower C negative adjustment in -abrowski&s terms, a Bevel ! feature=. Here, pro'social is a genuine cultivation of social interactions based on higher values. #hese positions often conflict with the status "uo of a lower society C positive maladjustment&=. !n other words, to be maladjusted to a low level society is a positive feature. #he fifth level displays an integrated and harmonious character, but one vastly different from that at the first level. %t this highest level, one&s behavior is guided by conscious, carefully weighed decisions based upon an individuali4ed and chosen hierarchy of personal values. +ehaviour conforms to this inner standard of how life ought to be lived and thus, little inner conflict arises in one&s life. Creative expression and the accomplishments of the gifted find their most individual expression at Bevels !D and D. 5specially at Bevel D, problem solving and art come to represent the highest and noblest features of human life. %rt captures the inner most emotional states and is based upon a deep empathy and understanding of the subject. Often human suffering and sacrifice are the subjects of these works. #ruly visionary works, works that are uni"ue and novel, are created by individuals expressing a vision unrestrained by convention. %dvances in society, through politics, philosophy, and religion are therefore commonly associated with strong individual creativity or accomplishments. %pplications of the #heory of :ositive -isintegration #he #heory of :ositive -isintegration C#:-= has an extremely broad scope and has implications for many areas. One central application applies to psychological and psychiatric diagnosis and treatment. -abrowski advocated a comprehensive, multilevel diagnosis of the person&s situation, including his or her symptoms and his or her developmental potentials. !f the disintegration appears to fit into a developmental context, then the person is educated in the theory and encouraged to take a developmental view of his or her situation and experiences. *ather than trying to eliminate symptoms, they are reframed to yield insight and understanding into life and the person&s uni"ue situation. -abrowski illustrated his theory in the autobiographies of, and biographies about, those who have experienced positive disintegration and he encouraged autobiography as a step in the process of autopsychotherapy. $or -abrowski, the goal of therapy is to eliminate the therapist by

providing a context within which a person could understand and help him or herself. #he gifted child, or the suicidal teen, or the troubled artist is often experiencing the features of the #:- and if they accept and understand the meaning of their feelings and crises, they can move ahead, not fall apart. % second primary focus is on education, and in particular, on the experience of creative or gifted students. -abrowski hypothesi4ed that these students will disproportionately show strong overexcitability and therefore will be prone to the disintegrative process. -abrowski and the /ifted !ndividual !n an appendix to -abrowski C<GJO=, results of investigations done in <GJ> with :olish youth are reported Csee note four=. (pecifically, a group of gifted children and young people, aged P to >@& were examined C-abrowski, <GJO, p. >E<=. Of the PF youth studied, @F were intellectually gifted and EF were from drama, ballet, and plastic art schools&C-abrowski, <GJO, p. >E<=. -abrowski found that every one of the children displayed overexcitability, which constituted the foundation for the emergence of neurotic and psychoneurotic sets. 1oreover it turned out that these children also showed sets of nervousness, neurosis, and psychoneurosis of various kinds and intensities, from light vegetative symptoms, or anxiety symptoms, to distinctly and highly intensive psychasthenic or hysterical sets C-abrowski, <GJO, p. >E@=. -abrowski asked why these children should display such states of nervousness or psychoneurosis and suggested that it was due to the presence of O5 C-abrowski, <GJO, p. >EE=. :robably the cause is more than average sensitivity which not only permits one to achieve outstanding results in learning and work, but at the same time increases the number of points sensitive to all experiences that may accelerate anomalous reactions revealing themselves in psychoneurotic sets& C-abrowski, <GJO, p. >EE=. -abrowski was always very cautious about the implications of high !H. He said that the overall developmental profile is critical. +y definition, a person with a high !H would display increased developmental potential as special abilities are a component of developmental potential. However, -abrowski described a type of development he called one'sided. !n one'sided development, a person may have very significant talents or abilities in one area but does not display an overall balanced developmental profile. #his is a treacherous scenario as without a balanced profile, the enhanced "ualities may be used to pursue lower ends. $or example, an individual with high !H and low emotions and low morality may use their intelligence to achieve a selfish agenda and become another Hitler. #he association between O5 and giftedness appears to be borne out in the research CBysy ] :iechowski, <GP@, :iechowski, <GPJ, :iechowski, ] 1iller, <GGE=. !t appears that at the least O5 is a marker of potential for gifted ; creativity. #he basic message of -abrowski is that the gifted will disproportionately display this process of positive disintegration and personality growth. #he 5nvironment and the /ifted #oday, the importance of the interaction of the individual with the environment is well recogni4ed. $rom infancy onwards, genetic individuality helps to steer the developing organism through the multitude of possible 7environmental8 experiences and choices leading to a nature via nurture position C+ouchard, Bykken, 1c/ue, (egal, ] #ellegen, <GGF=. !n this view, the dynamic interaction is an important factor and the effect that the individual has on shaping his or her experience is recogni4ed. -abrowski suggested that there are very few people among us who are consciously independent of the external environment C-abrowski, <GJO, p. <>=. 1ost people generally take what the environment gives them for granted and the interactive components play out their dynamics on an unconscious stage0 -abrowski&s second factor. How we live largely depends

on what happens to us and our behavior is largely reactive and unconscious. Once positive disintegration begins, this changes. % person&s relation to his environment becomes more and more conscious, clear, and determined. He selects from it elements on which he places value. He becomes more independent, gradually moving toward third factor C-abrowski, <GJA, pp. J<'J>=. #he presence of O5 increases the significance of the role played by the person'environment interaction. %s a person&s confidence in his or her developing personality becomes stronger, one comes to choose his or her environment more consciously, deciding what in the environment to respond to and how. While rejection of unacceptable environmental features may cause further developmental conflict, it is also an important aspect of the emerging autonomous personality. %s development proceeds, the environment shapes the person less while the person shapes the environment more. Opinion on the ideal environment for the gifted is divided into two basic themes. One is a stress'free setting where things are as positive, accepting and pressureless as possible '' the bullish environment C(ternberg ] Bubart, <GGE=. #he other approach is called the bearish environment C(ternberg ] Bubart, <GGE=. Here, obstacles arise that challenge the individual. (uccessfully mastering these obstacles strengthens the character and abilities of the person. (ternberg reviews these positions and concludes that it helps to have a generally favorable environment sprinkled with some obstacles along the way C(ternberg ] Bubart, <GGE, p. >EJ=. However, in -abrowski&s theory, this dichotomy does not reflect the real complexity involved in understanding creativity. $or -abrowski, several critical elements are involved, including the physiological reaction of the individual to the environment CO5=, the dynamic interplay of the person with the environment, and any resultant conflicts and disintegrations that arise. -abrowski emphasi4ed the role of environmental events would be most important when genetic dispositions are e"uivocal. When genetic potentials are strong, environment plays less of a role. -abrowski said the worst environment will not stop the strongest genetics, the best environment cannot overcome the worst genetics CM. -abrowski, personal communication, <GOP=. -evelopmental :otential0 % 1ixed +lessing6 -abrowski called O5 a tragic gift to reflect that the road of the person with strong O5 is not a smooth or easy one C1. *ankel, personal communication, %pril J, <GGJ=. :otentials to experience great highs are also potentials to experience great lows. (imilarly, potentials to express great creativity simultaneously hold the likelihood of experiencing a great deal of personal conflict and stress. #his stress both drives development and is a result of developmental conflicts, both intrapsychic and social. (uicide is a significant risk in the acute phases of this stress. #he isolation often experienced by these young people heightens the risks of self'harm Csee note five=. -abrowski advocated educating the person about O5s and the disintegrative process to give them a context within which to understand their intense feelings and needs. #his context is a positive and developmental one. -abrowski suggested that individuals be given support in their efforts to develop and find their own self'expression. #o be out of step is encouraged and seen as a feature of the overall developmental journey. (ocial maladjustment is also encouraged, particularly when it is positive and based on individually thought'out values. 2oung people who are seen as s"uares because they prefer to study instead of partying are an example. 1any of these children have to find and walk their own path often at the expense of fitting in with their social peers and even with their families. :iechowski, and subse"uently (ilverman, have begun the process of measuring O5 in the gifted Csee note six=. #hese are important first steps in applying a -abrowskian approach to the gifted. Other exciting avenues have begun, for example, efforts to counsel the gifted to help them see their overexcitabilities and disintegrations as positive features COgburn'Colangelo, <GOG=.

% Case (tudy 1 '''', a girl <F years old of asthenic'schi4othymic type, had marked mathematical and scientific abilities and was dutiful, with a tendency to be overly so. %fter good progress in one school she was moved to another, more extroverted system, where the teachers were prone to superficial appreciation of their students, basing their opinions on the pupil&s boldness and originality. 1 '''', a rather shy girl with excessive inhibitions, withdrew from these new conditions and for several weeks showed both shyness and anxiety. (he obtained marks that were fairly good, but much lower than in her former school. Her anxieties increased, she became resentful, slept badly, lost weight, and was either irritable or withdrawn. %fter several months her marks improved, although she lost confidence in some of her teachers. When her parents discussed with her the possibility of moving to another class or another school, she replied0 &!t seems to me that in another class or school there will be similar teachers. ! don&t want to change. %lways, only some of the teachers and some of the other students will like me. #hat&s the way people are, and that&s the way ! am.& !n this case, disintegration occurred in an ambitious girl with a strong sense of justice, resulting in withdrawal and resentment. #he fact that she did not wish to transfer to another class or school seems to be explained by emotional exhaustion and, at the same time, an increasingly realistic attitude toward the environment and patterns of interaction with it. #his is a sign of partial, still insufficient, but clear rebuilding. (econdary integration is evident in 1 ''''&s new appreciation of herself and others but is still combined with a feeling of disappointment and a certain degree of compromise. C-abrowski, <GJA, p. <FE=. Conclusion !t is beyond this paper to explore -abrowski&s theory fully. #he central point is that -abrowski saw the gifted as a special subset of people, a subset prone to experience positive disintegration. #his opportunity presents both creative possibilities and risks to the developing self. !f the individual fails to navigate these risks, a sad outcome of underachievement, addiction or suicide is possible. #o avoid this, -abrowski advocated providing a supportive and encouraging environment. %dditionally, he suggested the individual be provided with the developmental context of positive disintegration. We cannot ease the experience of O5s or the literal pain of development. (till, we can and must give it context and shepherd our gifted youth through the height of their developmental crises. !ndividual creativity and expression of talent must be valued as an expression of higher personality development. 3ote one0 -abrowski&s theory is presented in0 -abrowski, <G@O, <GJA, <GJJ, <GJO, <GOF, <GO>, <GO@, <GGJ. 3ote two0 *ecent applications to the gifted are represented by the following research0 +rennan ] :iechowski, <GG<, Bewis, Mitano, ] Bynch, <GG>, 1iller, (ilverman, ] $alk, <GGA, :iechowski, <GOA, <GOE, <GOP, <GOG, <GPJ, <GPG, <GG<, :iechowski ] Colangelo, <GPA, :iechowski ] Cunningham, <GPE, :iechowski ] 1iller, <GGE, :iechowski, (ilverman ] $alk, <GPE, (ilverman, <GP@, <GPJ, <GPG, <GG<, <GG@a, <GG@b, <GGA, (ilverman ] (chuppin, <GPG. 3ote three0 -abrowski&s description of Bevel ! as psychopathic reflects an earlier definition of the term0 one that emphasi4ed individual factors Cgenetic features as opposed to social factors= that act to impede a person&s developmental course. #his broad usage encompasses both malignant criminals and upstanding citi4ens who blindly and uncritically follow every social precept. #his has created controversy and confusion in the theory as -abrowski said that most of society&s members live on Bevel ! Csee -abrowski, <GJA, pp. A'<F=. Other authors have introduced the term robopath to describe the unauthentic life based on a robot'like reaction to life C+ertalanffy, <GJO, 2ablonsky, <GO>=. +ertalanffy C<GJO= was critical of psychology&s approach to the human as a lab

rat. He extended his criticism to society and the structure of modern life that demands reaching optimal psychosocial e"uilibrium by answering outside demands in reinforced responses C+ertalanffy, <GJO, p. G=. +ertalanffy lamented that people were losing their autonomy in a stimulus'response society, a society where an individual does not need to reflect or to think but merely to respond, a society geared to meeting external performance standards as measures of success. 2ablonsky C<GO>= uses the term robopath to describe people whose pathology entails robot'like behavior and existence. *obopaths have what Mierkegaard called &sickness unto death& C2ablonsky, <GO>, p. O=. 2ablonsky says that robopaths are socially dead and function based on &pseudo'image they are egocentric and lack compassion for others. &#heir existential state is ahuman C2ablonsky, <GO>, p. O=. 2ablonsky elaborates how our modern society encourages the emergence of robopathology. %lso relevant is *ieber C<GGO= and his views on the normali4ed psychopathy of todays culture. #hese descriptions, especially +ertalanffy&s and *ieber&s, appear to apply to a person who follows precepts uncritically and who simply follows orders in living life '' -abrowski&s idea of the second factor. 3ote four0 #he appendix is titled0 :ersonality, outstanding abilities, and psychoneurosis in children and young people& 3ote five0 (elf'harm is a common feature of those with high developmental potential and the central risk during the height of developmental crises C-abrowski, <G@O=.