Gurdjieff:
“(T)here is nothing accidental or unnecessary in nature, and…there can be nothing; everything has a definite function; everything serves a definite purpose. Thus organic life is an indispensable link in the chain of the worlds… It has been said before that organic life transmits planetary influences of various kinds to the earth, and that it serves to feed the moon, and to enable it to grow and strengthen. But the earth also is growing—not in the sense of size, but in the sense of greater consciousness, greater receptivity… To receive finer influences a finer, more sensitive receptive apparatus is necessary. Organic life, therefore, has to evolve, to adapt itself to the needs of the planets and the earth… otherwise it does not fulfill…its purpose…
“We must remember that the ray of creation…is like a…growing branch. The end of this branch… out of which come new shoots, is the moon. If the moon does not grow… either the growth of the whole ray of creation will stop, or…it must find another path for its growth… To the ray of creation, or let us say, to its part ‘earth-moon’… growth is not at all guaranteed, it depends upon the harmonious and right action of its own tissues. The development of one tissue stops, and all the others stop. Everything that can be said of the ray of creation, or of its part ‘earth-moon’, equally refers to organic life on earth. Organic life on earth…is a complex phenomenon in which the separate parts depend upon one another… (T)here are in organic life tissues which are evolving…Then there are evolving cells within the evolving tissues… In each separate evolving cell there are evolving parts… But 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.
“The evolving part of organic life is humanity… If humanity does not evolve it means that the evolution of organic life will stop, and…will cause the growth of the ray of creation to stop. At 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. In this way the cessation of evolution may mean the destruction of humanity…
“Speaking in general there is every reason to think, and to assert that, humanity is at a standstill, and from a standstill there is a straight path to downfall and degeneration. A standstill means that…(t)he appearance of any one quality immediately evokes the appearance of another quality opposed to it. The 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…and so on.
“Now 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. It can be changed and set on a new path only at certain ‘cross-roads.’ In between the ‘crossroads’ nothing can be done… (I)f a process passes by a ‘crossroad’ and…nothing is done, then nothing can be done afterwards… (A)nd even if people taking part in this process foresee the inevitable destruction of everything, they will be unable to do anything. I repeat that something can be done only at certain moments which I have just called ‘crossroads,’ and which in octaves we have called the ‘intervals’ mi-fa and si-do…
“Life naturally takes its own course, but people do not stop believing…that it is possible to do something… Intellectual theories put man in the center of everything; everything exists for him, the sun, the stars, the moon, the earth… And 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 keep humanity in the state in which it is at present. Besides, all these theories for general welfare and general equality are not only unrealizable, but they would be fatal if they were realized. Everything in nature has its aim and its purpose, both the inequality of man and his suffering. To destroy inequality 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 ‘shock,’ that is to say, the force which alone can change the situation. And thus it is with all intellectual theories.
“The process of…that evolution which is possible for humanity as a whole, is completely analogous, to the process of evolution possible for the individual man. And 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. This is evolution, and there can be no other kind of evolution. In humanity—as in individual man—everything begins with the formation of a conscious nucleus. All 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.” —In Search of the Miraculous – Chapter 15
Orage:
Mineral, vegetable, animal obey the law of their species… For them there is…no need of psychological effort; their species is fixed. Man is fixed externally, but psychologically has in him every species… Man is the note “si” in the octave. This note is precarious, it is a state of responsibility, an octave in which man can go either up the scale or down… This is the Terror of the Situation, for if the effort is not made, man may go down, and may degenerate, like the ants and the bees…
Evolution in us is the result of conscious labour and voluntary suffering, of the struggle against this down-flowing current. —Teachings of Gurdjieff: A Pupil’s Journal, C.S. Nott – Orage’s Commentary On ‘Beelzebub’