If you study only the philosophical side of Gurdjieff’s ideas—its history, its cosmology, or its connection to the major religions—you may never connect to higher centers. This isn’t wrong. It’s fine to be a scholar. But the primary purpose of the system is to teach people to awaken. You cannot awaken unless you are willing to make inner efforts and take a practical approach to the knowledge.
Philosophy, Theory, and Practice Read More »
We imagine “freedom” means being able to follow whatever ‘I’s the machine happens to have, and “will” a way to actualize any desire that comes into the machine. In reality, however, freedom and will begin from being able to separate from the machine, and this separation begins with the ability to do what it does not want to do.
Working Beyond the Machine Read More »
We need to construct our lives around the effort to increase consciousness, or presence. We do this through working to deconstruct, transform, and transcend whatever within us resists or distracts us from acceleration into higher worlds. We come to realize, with time, that every moment of presence is a triumph, and a reason to be grateful.
Rodney Collin was a student of P.D. Ouspensky in the last decade of Ouspensky’s life. He was with Ouspensky at
Rodney Collin on Abandoning the System Read More »
What do Fourth Way authors say about going beyond knowledge, going beyond the system, and changing the location of our
Gurdjieff and Ouspensky on Going Beyond Knowledge Read More »
So often, the work on the Fourth Way stays at the level of the steward. However, at a certain point, this work does not lead any further. This kind of work can begin, in a subtle way, to strengthen our sense of ‘I’ in the four lower centers. In truth, Real ‘I’ can only belong to higher centers.
Transcending the System Read More »
When in a moment of intense suffering, the soul manifests through being present, the empty space that self-pity used to fill now emerges into a new kind of acceptance.
Reaching the Point of Transcendence Read More »
Is it fate or sin, what the steward undergoes? Sin Distances Us from the Whole In ancient Greek, the verb
Imagine waking up one morning without your habitual thoughts or feelings. Imagine you have no thoughts about some event or
Imagine That the Miracle of Awakening is Yours Read More »