G.I. Gurdjieff
Take all you already know, all you have read, all you have seen, all you have been shown—I am certain that you understand nothing of it…
You have a garbage can and, until now, you have been dumping things into it. There are many precious things in it which you could make use of. There are specialists who collect all kinds of refuse from garbage cans; some make a lot of money this way. In your garbage cans you have enough material to understand everything. If you understand, you will know everything. There is no need to gather more into this garbage can—everything is there. But there is no understanding—the place of understanding is quite empty.
You may have a great deal…that does not belong to you, but you would be better off to have far less…that is your own, but nothing you have is yours. —Views From the Real World, New York, February 24, 1924 – Man is subject to…
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“(T)he fourth way differs from the other ways in that the principal demand made upon a man is the demand for understanding… The more a man understands…the greater will be the results of his efforts. This is a fundamental principle of the fourth way. —In Search of the Miraculous, Chapter 2
“In the sphere of practical activity people know very well the difference between mere knowledge and understanding. They realize that to know, and to know how to do, are two different things, and that knowing how to do is not created by knowledge alone. But outside the sphere of practical activity people do not clearly understand what ‘understanding’ means.
“As a rule, when people…do not understand a thing they try to find a name for what they do not ‘understand,’ and when they find a name they say they ‘understand.’ But to ‘find a name’ does not mean to ‘understand.’ Unfortunately, people are usually satisfied with names…
“Knowledge by itself does not give understanding… Understanding is the resultant of knowledge and being… (U)nderstanding grows only with the growth of being…
“(A) man’s being has many different sides. The most characteristic feature of a modem man is the absence of unity in him, and…the absence in him of… ‘lucid consciousness,’ ‘free will,’ a ‘permanent ego or I,’ and the ‘ability to do’… (T)he chief feature of a modem man’s being which explains everything else that is lacking in him is sleep…
“(I)f a man really wants knowledge, he must first of all think about how to wake, that is, about how to change his being…
“Generally speaking, the balance between knowledge and being is even more important than a separate development of either one or the other…
“If knowledge outweighs being a man knows but has no power to do. It is useless knowledge. On the other hand if being outweighs knowledge a man…can do something but does not know what to do. The being he has acquired becomes aimless…
“…a person accustomed to self-observation knows…that at different periods of his life he has understood…the same idea…in totally different ways. It…seems strange…he could have understood so wrongly that which, in his opinion, he now understands rightly. And…at the same time…he knew as much about the…subject before as he knows now. What, then, has changed? His being has changed. And once being has changed understanding must change also.
“The difference between knowledge and understanding becomes clear when we realize that knowledge may be the function of one center. Understanding, however, is the function of three centers. Thus the thinking apparatus may know something. But understanding appears only when a man feels and senses what is connected with it.
“We have spoken earlier about mechanicalness. A man cannot say that he understands the idea of mechanicalness if he only knows about it with his mind. He must feel it with his whole mass, with his whole being; then he will understand it… —In Search of the Miraculous, Chapter 4
A.R. Orage
‘(B)y striving to understand we develop the real mind; for this it is necessary for all centres to work together’…
We have three brains, each manifesting a form of electricity. A normal being is one in whom these three correspond. Nature has developed the brain of the planetary body almost to perfection… but has left it to us to develop the brains of the emotional and mental centres… ” Yes” is of the mind; “No” is of the body; the reconciling is of the emotions. Body knows the “how” of things; mind knows the “what” of things; emotion, plus mind and body, understands the “why” of things…
‘Understanding and “I” are one… —Teachings of Gurdjieff: A Pupil’s Journal, C.S. Nott, Chapter III—Orage’s Commentary on Beelzebub