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“Action based on attraction and repulsion is not Will, it is mechanical.”
The Fourth Way, by P. D. Ouspensky
The Fourth Way presents a series of lectures given by Ouspensky between 1921 and 1946. The book is organized by topics, allowing for an easy exploration of concepts such as understanding, levels of being, self-remembering, life aims, and negative emotions. All of the lectures are framed by Ouspensky’s view of the universe as composed of distinct layers of consciousness. Through enhancing our ability to remain conscious in our day-to-day world, we may begin to become aware of a transcendent consciousness.
For Ouspensky, deep understanding combines knowing with being. Knowing includes a full knowledge of all contexts and consequences of the facts. Being requires the integration of our multiple aspects of the self, including feelings, desires, and motivations. One method Ouspensky teaches is called self-remembering, a foundation for deep understanding and ultimately for an awakening.
These teachings emphasize how to be fully present in our life, breaking free of the mechanization of our existence. The contemporary reader may be challenged by some of the arcane metaphysics that Ouspensky puts forth. However, if we read Ouspensky with the lens of a mystic, then even his metaphysics become valuable metaphors.
“Without knowing combined with being, you will become either a weak yogi or a stupid saint.”
In Search of the Miraculous, by P. D. Ouspensk
In Search of the Miraculous, has been universally regarded as the best collation of the basic teachings of G. I. Gurdjieff, an early twentieth-century mystic. Gurdjieff collected mystical teachings and occult sciences, which he organized into a series of oral teachings that he passed on to his followers. P. D. Ouspensky spent decades with Gurdjieff, and is a brilliant interpreter of Gurdjieff’s teachings.
Gurdjieff stands at a fulcrum in history, between the spiritualists of the nineteenth century and the New Age Consciousness of the twentieth. His teachings integrate the spiritism of Madam Blavatsky, with the ancient oriental mysteries. Gurdjieff’s teachings are entirely focused on internal psychological transformation and are free of the histrionic magic of the spiritualist movement. This helps make these teachings as relevant to the demands of the twenty-first century and resonant to the contemporary teachings of Eckhart Tolle.
It can be valuable to read teachings written in an era somewhat removed from our current era. When we read teachings that have some distance from modern life, we can experience those texts without the associations of our current circumstances. This freedom can help in developing an awakening that goes beyond just adapting to our present-day troubles, desires, stress, or ennui the modern world. These teachings offer more than situational relief. They can help us explore the realm of transcendent awakening.
“All new powers and capacities of realization come always in one and the same way. At first they appear in the form of flashes at rare and short moments; afterwards they appear more often and last longer until, finally, after very long work they become permanent. The same thing applies to awakening. It is impossible to awaken completely all at once.”