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In A New Model of the Universe Ouspensky speaks of taking one sentence and sensing the meaning of each word: Take ‘I think he is bad.’ Which ‘I’ would it be, and what is ‘thinking’? And what ‘he’ would it be in such a case? And what is ‘bad’? Stop sometimes at a sentence like that and really look into it, into the meaning of each word.
The whole process is one of reversal. One has to turn the other way, go against what the self wants, and change one’s being so it can become fit to be used by what is highest within.
If only you could have this for a living truth: that the way to make this energy is to go against yourself, and that you could always have energy from this!
The Fourth Way towards consciousness is sometimes quicker and sometimes apparently slower than the other ways. But its chief characteristic is that it is more harmonious, and thus more sure […] (ibid., pp.239-40).
Rodney Collin goes on: The man who has worked by the fourth way […] and who has endeavoured to become conscious in all his functions and in all situations will not be so easily caught [as might the monk or the ascetic in circumstances unusual to them]. For him consciousness will not be dependent on special associations, but will be that which accompanies him always, fasting or drinking wine, alone or in a crowd, labouring or mediating. It will be that which lights up all that happens.
When people are negative, when they are identified, it is as though they are going through the day in darkness, but if you have a torch to turn on it throws light.
CHAPTER TWO Gateway to cognition
ATTENTION is a psychological process that has an apparent connection with consciousness.
Maurice Nicoll (as reported above) said the energy that subserves attention is of a very high hydrogen.
Although controlled attention is very close to self-remembering, there is a difference. Attention can only be in one centre, whereas self-remembering needs the work of three or even four centres (The Fourth Way, p.62).
AI Summary
The Very Next Thing by Beryl Pogson and Bob Hunter presents key insights from the Gurdjieff tradition. The 10 passages above capture the essential teachings.
Core Themes:
- [To be expanded]
Key Passages: Highlights 1, 3, and 10 are particularly representative.
This entry was generated from Readwise highlights. Expand with additional context as appropriate.