Forwarded from Occult of Personality
"Esoteric teaching is not an imaginary thing. It is the most real thing in the world - more real than a cheque, more real than a house, more real than another person.
"It is necessary to catch fire. It is necessary to see we are in the presence of something real - yes, real, but finely made, and very gentle, very delicate, and beautiful.
"It has been said that to remember oneself one must have a sense of something superior to oneself. Self-Remembering is a lifting up of oneself to another set of influences.
"The object of the Work is to cleanse our lower centres, to clear them out, to open their windows, so that they can begin to transmit these ideas and directions coming from higher centres.
"All of you who are following the path of the Work, and have long ago understood that it is not something on the blackboard, will find that even the simplest sayings of the Work transform themselves into deeper and deeper meanings.
"We are surrounded by liberating ideas, whether we feel them or not.
"The object of self-observation, as it is said in the Work, is to let a ray of light into oneself. The next thing that is said is that when light is let in in this way many things begin to change of themselves. It is the light of consciousness that begins to change things. For this reason it is said in the Work that the light will cure us. Have you ever thought what it means, this extraordinary phrase: "the light will cure us"? When I first heard it said to me by Gurdjieff, it had such an emotional effect upon me that I was unable to speak to anybody for some time afterwards.
"The level above Man is called the Kingdom of Heaven or Kingdom of God in the Gospels. It has many other names in different writings. In the Gospels, it is said that the Kingdom of Heaven is within. It is at a higher level of a man. To reach it, a man must reach a higher level in himself. If everyone did this, the level of life on this earth would change."
~ Maurice Nicoll
"It is necessary to catch fire. It is necessary to see we are in the presence of something real - yes, real, but finely made, and very gentle, very delicate, and beautiful.
"It has been said that to remember oneself one must have a sense of something superior to oneself. Self-Remembering is a lifting up of oneself to another set of influences.
"The object of the Work is to cleanse our lower centres, to clear them out, to open their windows, so that they can begin to transmit these ideas and directions coming from higher centres.
"All of you who are following the path of the Work, and have long ago understood that it is not something on the blackboard, will find that even the simplest sayings of the Work transform themselves into deeper and deeper meanings.
"We are surrounded by liberating ideas, whether we feel them or not.
"The object of self-observation, as it is said in the Work, is to let a ray of light into oneself. The next thing that is said is that when light is let in in this way many things begin to change of themselves. It is the light of consciousness that begins to change things. For this reason it is said in the Work that the light will cure us. Have you ever thought what it means, this extraordinary phrase: "the light will cure us"? When I first heard it said to me by Gurdjieff, it had such an emotional effect upon me that I was unable to speak to anybody for some time afterwards.
"The level above Man is called the Kingdom of Heaven or Kingdom of God in the Gospels. It has many other names in different writings. In the Gospels, it is said that the Kingdom of Heaven is within. It is at a higher level of a man. To reach it, a man must reach a higher level in himself. If everyone did this, the level of life on this earth would change."
~ Maurice Nicoll
High Ascension pinned «"Esoteric teaching is not an imaginary thing. It is the most real thing in the world - more real than a cheque, more real than a house, more real than another person. "It is necessary to catch fire. It is necessary to see we are in the presence of something…»
Forwarded from This Guy
Forwarded from This Guy
Higher emotional center
A faculty of the astral body. It enables one to have sustained states of self-consciousness, self-awareness, and other deep feelings. It does not replace, nor is it an "upgraded" version of the emotional center, as it is a completely separate center.
Higher intellectual center
A faculty of the mental body. It enables one to have sustained states of objective consciousness and superior intellect. As above, it does not replace, nor is it an "upgraded" version of the intellectual center.
A faculty of the astral body. It enables one to have sustained states of self-consciousness, self-awareness, and other deep feelings. It does not replace, nor is it an "upgraded" version of the emotional center, as it is a completely separate center.
Higher intellectual center
A faculty of the mental body. It enables one to have sustained states of objective consciousness and superior intellect. As above, it does not replace, nor is it an "upgraded" version of the intellectual center.
Forwarded from This Guy
The material body
The normal human physical body. This is considered the seat of the lower five centers: intellectual, emotional, physical, instinctual, and sexual. The material body's actions are purely automatic and depend completely on the influences coming from outside factors, and its perception is confined to observation in a "subjective" manner. On the Ray of Creation Gurdjieff indicated to Ouspensky that the physical body is on the level of the Earth and subject to the same number of laws (48). When the material body dies, then it returns to the earth from which it came, and nothing of it remains.
The astral body
This body is also sometimes called the emotional body or the Kesdjan body. This body, by itself is not subject to the laws of automation; that is to say, the astral body is capable of a degree of free will. Also, the perceptions of the astral body are capable of being of an objective nature in matters regarding one's self. An astral body is considered a prerequisite to maintaining a state of "self-consciousness". On the Ray of Creation Gurdjieff indicated to Ouspensky that this body is on the level of All Planets and subject to the same number of laws (24). The lifespan of the astral body is unknown exactly, but it is far larger than the lifespan of the Material Body because it continues living after the death of the material body. According to the Fourth Way, a man is not born with an astral body and an average man does not have one, while even if someone does, it is in a very immature state, and has no contact with it whatsoever in his daily life.
The intellectual body
This body, by itself is not subject to the laws of automation; that is to say, the intellectual body is capable of a degree of free will beyond that of the astral body. Also, the perceptions of the intellectual body are capable of being of an objective nature in matters regarding both one's self, and things outside of one's self. An intellectual body is considered a prerequisite to maintaining a state of "objective consciousness" which is the fourth possible state of man. On the Ray of Creation Gurdjieff indicated to Ouspensky that this "mental body" is on the level of the Sun and subject to the same number of laws (12). The lifespan of the intellectual body is also rather incalculable. According to Gurdjieff, an average man does not have one.
The causal body
On the Ray of Creation Gurdjieff indicated to Ouspensky that this "fourth body" is on the level of All Suns and subject to the same number of laws (6).
Types of attention
One important aspect of the study of centers is the types of attention. The Work teaches that there are three types of attention possible for each of the centers:
no attention/wandering attention
attention held by the object
attention held by effort; directed attention
The Work teaches that the higher bodies discussed above are only a possibility for man. In order to form higher bodies, the correct type of effort is required. Directing dispassionate attention to each of the centers (also known as "self observation"), is one such effort. Wandering attention, or attention held by an object, are insufficient for true self-observation. They are also insufficient for obtaining free will, which is one component of the higher bodies. Wandering attention and attention held by the object are sufficient for the first body, the Material Body. In other words, the Material Body does not need directed attention in order to function and fulfill its role in the Ray of Creation.
The normal human physical body. This is considered the seat of the lower five centers: intellectual, emotional, physical, instinctual, and sexual. The material body's actions are purely automatic and depend completely on the influences coming from outside factors, and its perception is confined to observation in a "subjective" manner. On the Ray of Creation Gurdjieff indicated to Ouspensky that the physical body is on the level of the Earth and subject to the same number of laws (48). When the material body dies, then it returns to the earth from which it came, and nothing of it remains.
The astral body
This body is also sometimes called the emotional body or the Kesdjan body. This body, by itself is not subject to the laws of automation; that is to say, the astral body is capable of a degree of free will. Also, the perceptions of the astral body are capable of being of an objective nature in matters regarding one's self. An astral body is considered a prerequisite to maintaining a state of "self-consciousness". On the Ray of Creation Gurdjieff indicated to Ouspensky that this body is on the level of All Planets and subject to the same number of laws (24). The lifespan of the astral body is unknown exactly, but it is far larger than the lifespan of the Material Body because it continues living after the death of the material body. According to the Fourth Way, a man is not born with an astral body and an average man does not have one, while even if someone does, it is in a very immature state, and has no contact with it whatsoever in his daily life.
The intellectual body
This body, by itself is not subject to the laws of automation; that is to say, the intellectual body is capable of a degree of free will beyond that of the astral body. Also, the perceptions of the intellectual body are capable of being of an objective nature in matters regarding both one's self, and things outside of one's self. An intellectual body is considered a prerequisite to maintaining a state of "objective consciousness" which is the fourth possible state of man. On the Ray of Creation Gurdjieff indicated to Ouspensky that this "mental body" is on the level of the Sun and subject to the same number of laws (12). The lifespan of the intellectual body is also rather incalculable. According to Gurdjieff, an average man does not have one.
The causal body
On the Ray of Creation Gurdjieff indicated to Ouspensky that this "fourth body" is on the level of All Suns and subject to the same number of laws (6).
Types of attention
One important aspect of the study of centers is the types of attention. The Work teaches that there are three types of attention possible for each of the centers:
no attention/wandering attention
attention held by the object
attention held by effort; directed attention
The Work teaches that the higher bodies discussed above are only a possibility for man. In order to form higher bodies, the correct type of effort is required. Directing dispassionate attention to each of the centers (also known as "self observation"), is one such effort. Wandering attention, or attention held by an object, are insufficient for true self-observation. They are also insufficient for obtaining free will, which is one component of the higher bodies. Wandering attention and attention held by the object are sufficient for the first body, the Material Body. In other words, the Material Body does not need directed attention in order to function and fulfill its role in the Ray of Creation.
Acording to Gurdjieff, only one of the three dimensions of a person—namely, either the emotions, or the physical body or the mind—tends to develop in such schools and sects, and generally at the expense of the other faculties or centres, as Gurdjieff called them. As a result, these ways fail to produce a properly balanced human being. Furthermore, anyone wishing to undertake any of the traditional paths to spiritual knowledge (which Gurdjieff reduced to three—namely the way of the Fakir, the way of the Monk, and the way of the Yogi) were required to renounce life in the world. But Gurdjieff also described a "Fourth Way"[57] which would be amenable to the requirements of contemporary people living in Europe and America. Instead of training the mind, body and emotions separately, Gurdjieff's discipline worked on all three to promote an organic connection between them and a balanced development.