Views From the Real World
The three powers — economy
…We are now learning to work. At the same time we also want to learn to be touched by what ought to touch us. As a rule we are touched by what ought not to touch us,…
Inner Octaves, Michel Conge
The One, Man, and the Universe
…Man is offered the possibility of participating in this great work of Life. From this arise his cosmic responsibility …and … dignity of effort… Only effort allows the ideas to become alive, because through effort I discover their reality in myself.
Through the effort of attention, I begin to become aware that I have to find a place, not only in the outer world, but also in the universe within me, a place of which I am most often unaware because I live at the lowest level. Then I begin to feel the reality of a call, a new animating force, the presence of different levels, of finer vibrations, … and the hope of placing myself under another order of laws. A new feeling can appear that is like a foretaste of Faith, Hope, and Love. I become conscious of being at an intersection of forces…
This Fundamental Quest, Henriette Lannes
The Call
The inner call that we hear, that we perceive within ourselves at certain moments—where does it come from?
When we strive to awaken …we can discern two essential currents in ourselves. One of them draws us, even drives us toward the outer world. …The other current calls us in a wholly different direction. …We touch only its fringe.
Certain seekers experience the …need to be available to listen for the source of this other call. If they remain honest with themselves, they recognize that they cannot really locate it, but they feel the importance of not refusing it, not turning away.
…this gift calls to them to become aware of the presence of these two currents, …how is it possible to respond at the same time to the call from above and the call from below?
The Reality of Being
80. What I really am
To know oneself means to know one’s true nature. In asking who I am, I want to know my true nature. I am in front of a mystery.
…I perceive things with my thought, feeling and sensation, and with these try to become conscious… What I wish to know is much higher, more pure, endowed with qualities that these functions cannot perceive. I want to know what I really am in my true nature, my very essence, in which all my possibilities are contained. I wish to return to the source of what is, of the only reality, of the “self.” The self belongs to the Absolute. I cannot exist outside the Absolute, outside the Self of the Absolute. And yet I consider myself as outside the Absolute, and I address it as outside me. I confuse the true self with the body and its functions. But the true self is like space—unattached, pure, infinite.
…What is essential is the life that animates it, a life that is permanent.
82. My true nature is consciousness
Which is real: what I am conscious of, or consciousness itself? Deep down in my being I am already what I seek. This is the impetus of my whole search. When consciousness is here, I realize that consciousness is me. I and all that surrounds me are the same consciousness. My true nature is consciousness.
The search for my self becomes the quest for the Self, more and more profound. The Creator appears as the “I,” the “Self.” Whether it is manifest or nonmanifest is immaterial when one remains turned toward it. There is no object to know. The Self is always the Self, and to know the Self is to be the Self. When the true nature is known, there is Being without beginning or end—immortal consciousness.
Transcripts of Gurdjieff’s Meetings 1941-1946
Thursday, August 19, 1943
G: God is far away, there are many stations from here to there. Don’t think about that; your present ideal is your God.
Mme de Salzmann: God is much too far away; you are too small to have a direct relation with Him. Only he who is just above you can be God for you. He himself has a god and this god in turn has a god—it’s a ladder. There is always something above, each level leads to another and you receive the response through the same chain.
G: You cannot pray directly to God. You imagine that you pray directly to God, but you are wasting your time. This is psychopathic. Exactly like a monk: he says directly, “God.” He manipulates: that, that, that (Monsieur Gurdjieff makes gestures), and sixty years later he dies like a dog, having received nothing. He wanted God directly; no one noticed him, for the law of contact is strict. This law exists everywhere.
Mme. de Salzmann: It must be logical: if there is something above you, there can be a contact, otherwise, nothing.
G: “Don’t complicate things“—remember this expression; I use it often. You will choose your God when you feel that you are being led in the right direction, on the right path, for example by Mme de Salzmann. Then Mme de Salzmann will be your god. She is not God but she is the first station; you can have contact with God through her. All your prayers, your good manifestations, let them pass through her—not directly to God—through her. And once you have made contact with her, then contact with the next station will take place by itself. She has an ideal; you will have a contact with that ideal. Then there is a third stage, and afterwards it may happen that your prayer will reach the real God, and the response will come through all these same stations. It is exactly like the telegraph. …This is how your telegram reaches your relative: by stages. It is exactly the same thing here…
Inside a Question, Henriette Lannes
…I cannot do anything except train my attention, and if I think that is not enough, I am a fool. To perfect one’s attention is to perfect oneself. I can still hear Mr. Gurdjieff’s voice in my ears, “Never tire, day after day, practice, practice” against all that wants to dream, to drift.