{"id":7824,"date":"2020-11-12T18:08:06","date_gmt":"2020-11-13T01:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gnosticstudies.org\/?page_id=7824"},"modified":"2025-10-05T22:51:20","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T05:51:20","slug":"the-foundations-we-depend-upon","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/gnosticstudies.org\/index.php\/revolutionary-psychology\/gnostic-psychological-studies\/psychology3\/the-foundations-we-depend-upon\/","title":{"rendered":"The Foundations we Depend Upon"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

In the previous class, we studied the need for a Longing, an Inspirational Attitude, a Superior Emotion in order to help us in the Work. This is because we need to stop being mechanical human beings and start being Conscious:<\/p>\n

The key of triumph<\/u> in order to pass through the crisis and to cease being a psychological robot is choice, change and decision<\/u>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If we have a Defeatist Attitude, then we don’t see the choices we have: we give up before we even start. This hinders our progress and so let’s figure out why we accept these kinds of unhelpful attitudes in ourselves… <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Foundations We Depend On (the Publican and the Pharisee)<\/h3>\n

\u201cWhen reflecting a little about the diverse circumstances of life, it is worthwhile to seriously comprehend the foundations we depend upon<\/u>.<\/p>\n

One person depends upon their position, another on money, someone else on their prestige, another person on their past, someone different on this or that particular academic degree, etc.<\/p>\n

The most curious thing about this matter is that all of us, whether rich or poor economically, need everyone else and live off everyone else, even if we are filled with pride & vanity.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Society functions with the help of all those who participate. Each job that contributes to society (regardless of what someone may think of it) helps in the functioning of the social machinery.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026no honest job deserves contempt. It is absurd to look disdainfully at a taxi driver, or at a salesperson of the clothing store, or at any farmer, or at a shoeshiner, etc. because every humble job is beautiful, every modest job is necessary in social life.\u201d <\/p>\n

 
\n\u201c\u2026The “I” or Ego that feels itself to be the foundation that we depend upon must be dissolved if indeed we wish for authentic bliss.<\/p>\n

Such an “I” underestimates people, feels it is better than the whole world, more perfect in everything, wealthier, more intelligent, more experienced in life, etc.<\/p>\n

It is very opportune to quote the parable of Jesus the Great Kabir, about the two men who went up into the temple to pray. <\/p>\n

He spoke this parable to those who felt secure in their self-righteousness and who despised others.<\/p>\n

“Two men went up into the temple to pray; one was a Pharisee, and the other a Publican. <\/p>\n

The Pharisee standing and praying alone with himself like this: \u201cGod, I thank thee that I am not as other men are: thieves, unjust, adulterers, or even as this Publican. I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all that I possess.\u2019 <\/p>\n

And the Publican standing afar off would not look up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, \u2018God be merciful to me, a sinner.\u2019 <\/p>\n

I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbled himself shall be exalted.” (LUKE 18: 10-14)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

-Paraphrase from Ch 27 of Treatise of Revolutionary Psychology <\/em><\/a>
\nand from Ch. 7 of Fundamental Education <\/em> <\/a>
\nby Samael Aun Weor<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Being \u201cRich\u201d and the Concept of \u201cMore\u201d <\/h3>\n

\u201cTo begin to realize our own nothingness and the misery in which we find ourselves is absolutely impossible as long as that concept of \u201cMore\u201d exists within us.<\/p>\n

Examples: I am more just than that person, wiser than that fellow, more virtuous than them, richer, more experienced in the things of life, more chaste, more responsible in my duties, etc.<\/p>\n

It is not possible to go through the eye of a needle as long as we are \u201crich\u201d, as long as that complex of \u201cMore\u201d exists within us.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle,
\nthan for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.\u201d (MATTHEW 19:24)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The feeling that “my school is the best and my neighbors school is worthless”; that “my Religion is the only authentic one and that all others religions are false and perverse”; that “so-and-so\u2019s spouse is a lousy spouse and that mine is a saint”; that “my friend Robert is a drunkard, yet, I am wise and abstemious”, etc., is what makes us feel \u2018rich\u2019. <\/p>\n

Therein is the reason why we are all the \u201ccamels\u201d of the biblical parable in relation to the Esoteric Work.<\/p>\n

It is urgent to observe ourselves from moment to moment with the purpose of clearly knowing the foundations we depend upon<\/u>.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

-Paraphrase from Ch 27 of Treatise of Revolutionary Psychology <\/em><\/a>
\nby Samael Aun Weor<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Sands of our Psychological Foundations <\/h3>\n

\u201cWhen we discover that which offends us the most at any given moment, when someone bothers us because of one thing or another, we then discover the foundations we psychologically depend upon<\/u>. <\/p>\n

Such foundations constitute, according to the Christian Gospel, \u201cthe sands upon which we built our house.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is necessary to carefully notice when and how much one despises others, perhaps we feel we are superior because of our academic degree or our social position, or because of our acquired experience or money, etc. <\/p>\n

It is terrible to feel \u2018rich\u2019, to feel superior to this or that person because of one reason or another. <\/p>\n

People like this cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.<\/p>\n

It is worthwhile to discover what flatters us, what satisfies our vanity, and this will show us the foundations that we depend upon.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, such a type of observation must not be something merely theoretical. We must be practical and observe ourselves closely in a direct way from instant to instant.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

-Paraphrase from Ch 27 of Treatise of Revolutionary Psychology <\/em><\/a>
\nby Samael Aun Weor<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Comprehending our Position <\/h3>\n

\u201cWhen one begins to comprehend their own misery and nothingness, when one abandons the delirium of grandeur, when one discovers the foolishness of so many academic degrees, honors and vain illusions of superiority over our fellow human beings, then this is an unmistakable sign that one is beginning to change.<\/p>\n

If one clings to that which says: \u201cmy house,\u201d \u201cmy money,\u201d \u201cmy properties,\u201d \u201cmy job,\u201d \u201cmy virtues,\u201d \u201cmy intellectual capacities,\u201d \u201cmy artistic capacities,\u201d \u201cmy knowledge,\u201d \u201cmy prestige,\u201d etc., then, one cannot change.<\/p>\n

So, clinging to \u201cmine\u201d or to \u201cmy\u201d is more than enough in order to prevent recognition of our nothingness and interior misery. <\/p>\n

One is astonished in front of the spectacle of a fire or a shipwreck. At such a moment desperate people often seize many things that are ludicrous, things of no importance. Wretched people! They feel themselves in those objects; they lean on silly objects; they become attached to objects<\/u>, which do not have the least bit of importance.<\/p>\n

To feel that one exists through external things, and to lay our foundations upon those things is equivalent to being in a state of total unconsciousness.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The feeling of the \u201cSEITY\u201d (the REAL BEING) is only possible by dissolving all those “I\u2019s” in our Interior, before this, such a feeling is more than impossible.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the adorers of the “I” do not accept this. They believe themselves to be Gods. They believe that they already possess those \u201cglorious bodies\u201d that Paul of Tarsus spoke about. <\/p>\n

They assume that the “I” is divine and no one can erase these absurdities from their heads. One does not know what to do with such people. The doctrine is explained to them; yet, they do not understand it. They always hold fast to the sands upon which they built their house. <\/strong> They are always engrossed within their dogmas, within their whims, within their foolishness.<\/p>\n

If those people were to observe themselves seriously, then they would verify for themselves the Doctrine of the Many. They would discover within themselves all the multiplicity of persons, Egos or “I\u2019s” which live within our interior.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

-Paraphrase from Ch 27 of Treatise of Revolutionary Psychology <\/em><\/a>
\nby Samael Aun Weor<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Feeling we have Within <\/h3>\n

\u201cHow can the real feeling of our true BEING be experienced within ourselves, when, instead, those “I\u2019s” or Egos are feeling for us and thinking for us?<\/p>\n

The most critical part of all this tragedy is that we think we are thinking and that we feel we are feeling, when, indeed, it is someone else who (in a given moment) thinks through our tormented mind and feels through our afflicted heart.<\/p>\n

Oh, how wretched we are, how many times do we believe we are loving, when what is happening is that another person (filled with lust) is utilizing the heart center.<\/p>\n

\u2026we confuse animal passion for love! Nevertheless, it is someone else within us, within our personality<\/strong>, who goes through these confusions. <\/p>\n

All of us think that we will never pronounce those words of the Pharisee in the biblical parable: \u201cGod, I thank thee that I am not as other men are,\u201d etc.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, and as incredible as it may seem, this is the way we behave every day<\/u>.<\/p>\n

The butcher in the market says, \u201cI am not like the rest of the butchers that sell bad quality meat and exploit people.\u201d <\/p>\n

The vendor of textiles in the store exclaims, \u201cI am not like the rest of the merchants who know how to steal when measuring and who have grown rich.\u201d<\/p>\n

The milk vendor affirms, \u201cI am not like the rest of the milk vendors that put water in their milk. I like to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n

The housewife comments to her visitor the following: \u201cI am not like such a lady who flirts with other men. I am, thank God, a decent person, since I am faithful to my husband.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conclusion: Others are scoundrels, unjust, adulterers, thieves and perverse persons; yet, each one of us is a humble lamb, \u201ca saint with a golden halo,\u201d who is worthy to be shown like a golden masterpiece inside any church.<\/p>\n

How foolish we are! We often think that we never do all the foolishness and perversities that we see others do; and this is why we arrive at the conclusion that we are magnificent persons. Unfortunately, we do not see the foolishness and wretched things we do.<\/strong> <\/p>\n

Unusual moments exist in life when our mind rests without worries of any kind, when the mind is calm, when the mind is in silence. Then, the new <\/em> arrives.<\/p>\n

In such instants, it is possible to see the bases, the foundations we depend upon.<\/strong><\/u> When the mind is in profound interior restfulness, we can verify for ourselves the crude reality of the sands of life, upon which we have built our house. (Read Matthew 7, Verses 24-29; the parable that talks about the two foundations).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

-Paraphrase from Ch 27 of Treatise of Revolutionary Psychology <\/em><\/a>
\nby Samael Aun Weor<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Our Particular Weaknesses <\/h3>\n

\u201c\u2026at a certain moment in the work, besides understanding the general principles, one must try to find one’s own peculiarities (the particular sands of our life), since one cannot know oneself (for practical purposes) if one only knows the general characteristics. <\/p>\n

Each person has their own individual features, their own weaknesses when they are unable to resist things that happen<\/u>. These features or weaknesses may be very simple or very complicated. <\/p>\n

One person may be able to resist everything except good food; another everything except \u2018good conversation\u2019, or a person may be lazy or too active. <\/p>\n

It is very important (at a certain stage of self-study) to find one\u2019s chief feature, which means the chief weakness.<\/u> <\/p>\n

People\u2019s chief weaknesses are very different, and if we can resist something that another person cannot resist because it happens to be their chief feature, this difference in weaknesses gives us the illusion that we can ‘do’ and that we are \u2018better\u2019 than them because we can resist what they cannot. <\/p>\n

Chief feature or chief weakness is in false personality. <\/p>\n

In some cases it is possible to see definitely one, two or three features or tendencies – often linked together – which enter into everything like a sort of an axis around which everything turns. <\/p>\n

This is chief feature.<\/strong> <\/p>\n

 
\nSometimes it is very clear and apparent, but sometimes it is difficult to describe. <\/p>\n

Our language often has no words, no forms to describe it and it can only be indicated in a roundabout way. <\/p>\n

Something interesting is that a person can hardly ever find their own chief feature, because they are in it, and if they are told, they usually do not believe it. But we can find what stands side by side with it, although that is not it. <\/p>\n

It is sometimes useful to collect opinions from friends about oneself, as this often helps in discovering one’s features. <\/p>\n

It is very important to find out what creates obstacles to our Work<\/strong>. <\/u><\/p>\n

Until one has found it, a chief feature means constant loss of energy, so we must find this leak and stop it.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

-Paraphrase from Ch 7 of The Fourth Way <\/em><\/a>
\nby Peter Ouspensky<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

False Personality and Chief Feature <\/h3>\n

\u201cWhen you find many manifestations of your false personality, you may find your chief feature. <\/p>\n

\u2026Some may ask: If we find out our chief features, can we correct them? <\/p>\n

Through the Work, by using the results of experience and knowledge that do not belong to ordinary life, a person can change. <\/p>\n

But, in the ordinary way that is, without the Work, a person cannot change. <\/p>\n

 
\n\u2026Yet, an ordinary person does change, their personality may change their habits may change their likes and dislikes may change\u2026 But let\u2019s understand that without the Work the changes a person goes through are not the same TYPE of changes because they are not Conscious changes\u2026<\/u><\/p>\n

Instead, without the Work, people typically become more mechanical, more narrow, more set. <\/p>\n

There may be exceptions, but as a rule things do not progress in ordinary life. <\/p>\n

Personalities change, particularly if circumstances change, but it is mechanical, accidental change<\/u> not a conscious change. <\/p>\n

We often base our opinion on exceptions, whether we observe them rightly or wrongly. Exceptions are easier to notice than rules.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u2026Our knowledge of ourselves is very defective. One can observe many things in life and make great mistakes, if one does not know how to verify. <\/p>\n

And generally, as has been said, it is difficult to see one\u2019s own chief feature.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

-Paraphrase from Ch 7 of The Fourth Way <\/em><\/a>
\nby Peter Ouspensky<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Attitudes, False Personality and Chief Feature<\/h3>\n

\u201cIn the beginning, what is important is not the chief feature itself but what is produced by it, and which one can study in the form of attitudes<\/u>. <\/p>\n

We do not know our attitudes because we have never thought about ourselves in the right way. We have too many imaginary ideas. <\/p>\n

What we must study now is all our points of view, habitual emotions, the way we think, what we invent<\/u>. <\/p>\n

These are all results of chief feature or chief features, for there may be two or three features which are the most important, not necessarily only one<\/u>. <\/p>\n

For practical purposes, let us think about false personality\u2026 As a theory, false personality (in most cases) turns round one axle and that axle is chief feature<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

If a person has one big weakness, from one point of view this is an advantage, because if they can conquer this feature or weakness then they can (in one stride) achieve many things. <\/p>\n

It is an advantage when things are concentrated, many things coming together at one point. <\/p>\n

Then efforts at this point produce better results<\/u> than if one works at different points. <\/p>\n

However, chief feature is not always definable. Sometimes you can put your finger on it, sometimes not; in one person you can see it, in another not. But false personality you can see. <\/p>\n

 
\n\u2026Chief feature is \u2026something upon which false personality is based and which enters into everything.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

 
\n\u201c\u2026one of the best definitions for chief feature is that it is almost always what makes decisions<\/strong><\/u>.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

-Paraphrase from Ch 7 of The Fourth Way <\/em><\/a>
\nby Peter Ouspensky<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Our Features and our Weaknesses<\/h3>\n

\u201c\u2026The chief feature is chief weakness\u2026\u201d <\/p>\n

 
\n\u201c\u2026Everyone has one, two or three particular weaknesses, and everybody has certain buffers that are especially important, for they enter into all of that person\u2019s decisions and of their understanding of things.\u201d <\/p>\n

 
\n\u201c\u2026Buffers are artificial, and are chiefly acquired by imitation. <\/p>\n

Children begin to imitate grown-ups and create buffers, and some others are unwittingly created by education. <\/p>\n

Features or weaknesses can sometimes be found out, and if one knows a feature and keeps it in mind, then one may find certain moments when one can act not from this feature. <\/p>\n

Everybody has many features but two or three are particularly important because they enter into every subjectively important situation in one’s life; everything passes through them, all perceptions and all reactions.<\/strong> <\/p>\n

It is very difficult to realize what this means because we are so accustomed to it that we do not notice it; we are too much in those features, we have not got enough perspective.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

-Paraphrase from Ch 13 of The Fourth Way <\/em><\/a>
\nby Peter Ouspensky<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Remembering our Mechanicalness, False Personality and Understanding Ourselves <\/h3>\n

\u201cIn connection with chief feature, it is better to think first on general lines \u2014why you came to the Work and type B influences, what you want from the Esoteric Work. <\/p>\n

\u2026We often do not remember about mechanicalness;<\/strong> we forget about the very keen conviction in every person that they can ‘do’, and that if they cannot \u2018do\u2019 it is because they did not think about it or did not wish to \u2018do\u2019 it. <\/p>\n

It is necessary to struggle with this idea, and understand that we are mechanical<\/u>, that we cannot \u2018do\u2019, but instead that everything \u2018happens\u2019, that we are asleep, that we have many Egos or “I’s” \u2014all these things. <\/p>\n

This will help us to see false personality, since all these things we ascribe to ourselves are standard examples of mechanical imagination or fantasy.<\/strong> <\/p>\n

And imaginary personality, or false personality, is chief feature for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

 
\n\u201cWhat are the kinds of things to look for in trying to separate false personality from the rest of oneself? <\/p>\n

Well, it is necessary to understand the features of false personality \u2014what makes it up.\u201d <\/p>\n

 
\n\u201cThere are strange varieties of chief feature and there are classical ones. <\/p>\n

One very common feature, described in many places in the New Testament, is when we see other people’s faults but not our own<\/u>. <\/p>\n

Then certain kinds of self-pity are very common.<\/strong> <\/p>\n

And there are also curious combinations for which it is sometimes difficult to find a psychological definition.\u201d <\/p>\n

 
\n\u201cAnother predominant aspect of false personality is blaming other people. Upon what is this based? On lack of understanding<\/u>. <\/p>\n

If we begin to study Gnostic Psychology, we find that all causes are in ourselves; there can be no causes outside ourselves. <\/p>\n

We do not remind ourselves of this often enough. <\/p>\n

One little part understands that causes are in us, but the larger part continues to accuse other people. <\/p>\n

 
\nAt the bottom of every favorite negative emotion you will find self-justification which feeds it.<\/strong> <\/p>\n

We must stop it in our mind first, and then after some time we will be able to stop it in the emotion too. <\/p>\n

Lack of understanding is the first cause, lack of effort the second.<\/u>\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

-Paraphrase from Ch 7 of The Fourth Way <\/em><\/a>
\nby Peter Ouspensky<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Struggling Against Chief Feature <\/h3>\n

\u201cOne of the best ways to struggle with false personality is to always do something which false personality does not like and very soon you will find more things it does not like. <\/p>\n

If you continue, it will get more & more irritated and will show itself more & more clearly, so that soon there will be no question about it. <\/p>\n

But first your struggle must be based on knowing<\/u> \u2014you must know its features, find what it particularly dislikes. <\/p>\n

One false personality dislikes one thing, another dislikes something else.\u201d <\/p>\n

 
\n\u201cBut, in the end, there is only one way to defeat chief feature and that is through self-remembering. <\/p>\n

Without self-remembering we can do nothing.<\/strong> It is the only way.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

-Paraphrase from Ch 7 of The Fourth Way <\/em><\/a>
\nby Peter Ouspensky<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Awakening means De-Hypnotizing Ourselves <\/h3>\n

\u201cIf human beings could really see their true position and could understand the horror of it all, then they would be unable to remain where they are even for one second. <\/p>\n

They would begin to seek a way out and they would quickly find it, because there is a way out <\/em> ; but people fail to see it simply because they are hypnotized<\/u>. <\/p>\n

The Kundartiguador or Kundabuffer is the force that keeps them in a hypnotic state. <\/p>\n

‘To awaken’ for people means to be ‘dehypnotized’.<\/strong> <\/p>\n

In this lies the chief difficulty and in this also lies the guarantee of its possibility, for there is no organic reason for sleep and the human being can awaken.<\/p>\n

“Theoretically people can, but practically it is almost impossible because as soon as a person awakens for a moment and opens their eyes, all the forces that caused them to fall asleep begin to act upon them with ten-fold energy and they immediately fall asleep again, very often dreaming <\/em> that they are awake or are awakening<\/u>.<\/p>\n

“There are certain states in ordinary sleep in which a person wants to awaken but cannot. <\/p>\n

They tell themselves that they are awake but, in reality, they continue to sleep \u2014and this can happen several times before they finally awaken. <\/p>\n

But in ordinary sleep, once they are awake, they are in a different state; in hypnotic sleep the case is otherwise; there are no objective characteristics, at any rate not at the beginning of awakening; a person cannot pinch themselves in order to make sure that they are not asleep. <\/p>\n

And if, which God forbid, a person has heard anything about objective characteristics, then Kundartiguador or Kundabuffer at once transforms it all into mechanical imagination and dreams.<\/p>\n

“Only a person who fully realizes the difficulty of awakening can understand the necessity of long and hard work in order to awaken.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

-Paraphrase from Ch 11.1 of In Search of the Miraculous <\/em><\/a>
\nby Peter Ouspensky<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Awakening means Receiving Shocks<\/h3>\n

\u201cSpeaking in general, what is necessary in order to awaken a sleeping person? A good shock is necessary. But when a person is fast asleep one shock is not enough. A long period of continual shocks<\/u> is needed.<\/strong> <\/p>\n

Consequently there must be somebody to administer these shocks. <\/p>\n

If a person wants to awaken then they must hire somebody who will keep on shaking them for a long time. But whom can one hire if everyone is asleep? A person will hire somebody to wake them up but this one also falls asleep. What is the use of such a person? And a person who can really keep awake will probably refuse to waste their time in waking others up: they may have their own much more important work to do.<\/p>\n

There is also the possibility of being awakened by mechanical means. A person may be awakened by an alarm clock. But the trouble is that a person gets accustomed to the alarm clock far too quickly, and they cease to hear it. Many alarm clocks are necessary and always new ones\u2026\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

-Paraphrase from Ch 11.1 of In Search of the Miraculous <\/em><\/a>
\nby Peter Ouspensky<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Rules can Help us to Awaken<\/h3>\n

In studying Gnostic Psychology we often learn about \u2018recommendations\u2019 or even \u2018rules\u2019 that are intended to help us in the Work. Let\u2019s understand what these are\u2026 <\/p>\n

\u201cIt very often happens that at the beginning of the Work the members of an Esoteric group do not like some or other of the rules. <\/p>\n

And they even ask: Can we not work without rules? <\/em><\/p>\n

Rules seem to them to be an unnecessary constraint on their liberty or a tiresome formality, and to be reminded about rules seems to them to be ill-will or dissatisfaction on the part of the instructor.<\/p>\n

 
\n“In reality rules are the chief and the first help <\/em> that people get from the Work<\/u>. <\/p>\n

It stands to reason that rules do not pursue the object of affording them amusement or satisfaction or of making things more easy for people. <\/p>\n

Rules pursue a definite aim: to make people behave as they would behave ‘if they were\u2026 awake’ <\/em> <\/u>, that is, if they remembered themselves and realized how they ought to behave with regard to people outside the Work, and to people in the Work… <\/p>\n

If they remembered themselves and realized this, then rules would not be necessary for them. <\/p>\n

But they are not able to remember themselves and do not understand this at the beginning of Work, so that rules are indispensable, although rules can never be either easy, pleasant, or comfortable. <\/p>\n

On the contrary, rules ought to be difficult, unpleasant, and uncomfortable; otherwise they would not answer their purpose. <\/p>\n

Rules are the alarm clocks which wake the sleeping person up. <\/strong><\/p>\n

But the person, opening their eyes for a second, is indignant with the alarm clock and asks: Can one not awaken without alarm clocks? <\/em> \u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

-Paraphrase from Ch 11.1 of In Search of the Miraculous <\/em><\/a>
\nby Peter Ouspensky<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

General Rules and Individual Rules <\/h3>\n

\u201cIn the work of an Esoteric Group, besides general rules, there are certain individual conditions which are given to each person separately and which are generally connected with their ‘chief fault’, or chief feature.<\/p>\n

This requires some explanation.<\/p>\n

Let us remember that every person has a certain feature in their character which is central<\/u>. <\/p>\n

It is like an axle round which all their ‘false personality’ revolves. <\/p>\n

Everyone’s personal work must consist in struggling against this chief fault.<\/strong> <\/p>\n

This explains why there can be no general rules of Work and why all systems that attempt to evolve such rules either lead to nothing or cause harm. <\/p>\n

How can there be general rules? What is useful for one is harmful for another. <\/p>\n

One person talks too much; they must learn to keep silent. <\/p>\n

Another person is silent when they ought to talk and they must learn to talk; and so it is always and in everything. <\/p>\n

General rules for the work of groups refer to everyone. <\/p>\n

Personal directions can only be individual. <\/p>\n

It is very difficult for a person to find their own chief feature, their chief fault, by themselves\u2026\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

-Paraphrase from Ch 11.1 of In Search of the Miraculous <\/em><\/a>
\nby Peter Ouspensky<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Purpose of Studying the Chief Feature or PCPT<\/h3>\n

“The study of the chief fault and the struggle against it constitute, as it were, each person’s individual path, but the aim must be the same for all. <\/p>\n

This aim is the realization of one’s own nothingness. <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Only when a person has truly and sincerely arrived at the conviction of their own helplessness and nothingness and only when they feel it constantly, will they be ready for the next and much more difficult stages of the work <\/em>.<\/p>\n

“All that has been said up till now refers to real groups connected with real concrete Work which in its turn is connected with what has been called the ‘fourth way’. <\/p>\n

But there are many imitation ways, imitation groups, and imitation work.\u201d <\/p>\n

 
\n\u201c\u2026In properly organized groups no faith is required; what is required is simply a little trust and even that only for a little while, since the sooner a person begins to verify all they hear the better it is for them.<\/p>\n

The struggle against the ‘false I’, against one’s chief feature or chief fault, is the most important part of the work, and it must proceed in deeds, not in words.<\/strong> <\/p>\n

For this purpose the instructor often gives each person definite tasks which require, in order to carry them out, the conquest of their chief feature. <\/p>\n

When a person carries out these tasks they struggle with themselves, they work on themselves.\u201d <\/p>\n

If they avoid the tasks, try not to carry them out, it means that either they do not want to or that they cannot work.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

-Paraphrase from Ch 11.1 of In Search of the Miraculous <\/em><\/a>
\nby Peter Ouspensky<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Our Chief Feature or PCPT can be difficult for Us to See<\/h3>\n

\u201cHowever \u2026not everyone’s chief feature can be simply defined. <\/p>\n

With some people this feature can be so hidden beneath different formal manifestations as to be almost impossible to find. <\/p>\n

And then a person can consider themselves <\/em> as their chief feature… <\/p>\n

The false personality of each person forms (so to speak) “around their chief feature”.<\/u><\/p>\n

Whenever anyone disagreed with the definition of their chief feature given by Gurdjieff in his esoteric groups, he always said that the fact that the person disagreed with him showed that he was right. <\/p>\n

“I disagree only with what you say is actually my chief feature <\/em>,” said one of our people. <\/p>\n

“The chief feature which I know in myself is very much worse. But I do not dispute that people may see me as you describe.”<\/p>\n

 
\n“\u2026If you accept what I told you as your chief feature then you will understand how people see you. <\/p>\n

And if you find a way to struggle with this feature and to destroy it, that is, to destroy its involuntary manifestation <\/em>” (Gurdjieff emphasized these words), then “you will produce on people not the impression that you do now but any impression you prefer.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

With this began long talks about the impressions that a person produces on other people and how one can produce a desirable or an undesirable impression. <\/p>\n

Those around a person see their chief feature however hidden it may be. <\/p>\n

Of course they cannot always define it. But their definitions are often very good and very near. <\/p>\n

Take, for example, nicknames: Nicknames sometimes define chief features very well. <\/p>\n

The talk about impressions brought us once more to “inner” or “internal” and “outward” or “external” considering.<\/p>\n

“There cannot be proper outward considering while a person is seated in their chief feature,” said G. <\/p>\n

“For instance So-and-So” (he named one of our party). “His feature is that he is never at home <\/em>. How can he consider anything or anybody?”<\/p>\n

I was astonished at the artistic finish of the feature that was represented by G. It was not psychology even, it was art. “And psychology ought to be art,” G. replied, “psychology can never be simply a science.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To another of our party he said on the question of feature that his feature was that he did not exist at all <\/em>.<\/p>\n

“You understand, I do not see you <\/em>,” said G. “It does not mean that you are always like that. But when you are like you are now, you do not exist at all.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He said to another that his chief feature was a tendency always to argue with everybody about everything.<\/p>\n

“But then I never argue <\/em>,” the man very heatedly at once replied.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Nobody could help laughing.<\/p>\n

G. told another of our party that his feature was that he had no conscience <\/em>. The following day the man came and said that he had been in the public library and had looked through the encyclopedic dictionaries of four languages for the meaning of the word “conscience.” G. merely waved his hand… <\/p>\n

To the other man, G. said that he had no shame <\/em>, and he at once cracked a rather amusing joke against himself.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

-Paraphrase from Ch 13.2 of In Search of the Miraculous <\/em><\/a>
\nby Peter Ouspensky<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Chief Feature<\/h3>\n

\u201cWe have to recognize with complete clarity that that each person has their Chief Feature or Particular Characteristic Psychological Trait (PCPT).<\/p>\n

Some will have lust as their characteristic trait, others will have hatred, for others it will be covetousness, etc. <\/p>\n

The trait is the sum of several particular characteristic psychological elements.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For each PCPT, a definite event, a precise circumstance, always exists. <\/p>\n

Is a man lustful? There will always be circumstances of lust in his life accompanied with specific problems. <\/p>\n

These circumstances are always repeated.<\/p>\n

We need to know our PCPT if we want to move on to a superior Level of Being and eliminate from ourselves the undesirable elements which constitute the psychological trait.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2026The level of the worthy & modest woman is one level and the unworthy & immodest woman is another level. <\/p>\n

There are different levels of Being.<\/p>\n

Have we noticed our own level of Being, the level of Being where we are? <\/p>\n

Are we conscious that we are hypnotized and asleep?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

-Paraphrase from Ch 1.31 in The Revolution of the Dialectic [La Revolucion de la Dialectica] <\/em> <\/a>
\nby Samael Aun Weor<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Collective Hypnosis and the Work<\/h3>\n

\u201cAll human beings are extremely mechanical, they are unconscious beings working with their consciousness asleep without knowing where they come from, or where they are going; they are profoundly hypnotized.<\/p>\n

The hypnosis (which is collective and flows in all of nature) is derived from the abominable Kundartiguador organ. <\/p>\n

The human race is hypnotized, unconscious, and submerged in the most profound psychological sleep.<\/p>\n

The intellectual animals become identified not only with external things [Objects], but they also go around identified with themselves [Subjects], with their lustful thoughts, with their drunken sprees, with their anger, with their covetousness, with their self-importance, with their vanity, with mystical pride, with self-merit, etc.<\/p>\n

Have we, perhaps, reflected that we have not only become identified with the exterior but also with vanity and pride? <\/p>\n

For example: Did we triumph today? Did we triumph over the day or did the day triumph over us? Are we certain that we did not become identified with a morbid, covetous, proud thought, with an insult or a preoccupation or a debt, etc.? <\/p>\n

Are we sure that we triumphed over the day or did the day triumph over us?<\/strong><\/p>\n

What did we do today? Have we noticed the Level of Being in which we are?\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

-Paraphrase from Ch 1.31 in The Revolution of the Dialectic [La Revolucion de la Dialectica] <\/em> <\/a>
\nby Samael Aun Weor<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Do We Want to Change?<\/h3>\n

\u201cDid we move on to a superior Level of Being or did we remain where we were?<\/p>\n

Can we perhaps believe that it is possible to move on to a superior Level of Being if we do not eliminate specific psychological defects? <\/strong> <\/p>\n

Are we perhaps content with the Level of Being in which we presently find ourselves?<\/p>\n

If we are going to remain our entire life in one level of Being, then, what are we doing?<\/p>\n

In each level of Being there are specific bitternesses, specific sufferings, that is obvious. <\/p>\n

Everyone complains that they suffer, that they have problems, of the state they are in and of their struggles. <\/p>\n

Therefore, we must ask ourselves, is the intellectual animal concerned with moving on to a superior Level of Being?<\/u><\/p>\n

Obviously, as long as we are in the Level of Being in which we are, all the adverse circumstances that we already know and all the bitterness in which we are, will have to be repeated again<\/u>. <\/p>\n

Over and over again, identical difficulties will surge.<\/p>\n

Do we want to consciously change? <\/p>\n

Do we want to stop having the problems which afflict us, the economic, political, social, spiritual, family, lustful problems, etc.? <\/p>\n

Do we want to avoid difficulties? Then we have no other solution but to move on to a superior Level of Being.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

-Paraphrase from Ch 1.31 in The Revolution of the Dialectic [La Revolucion de la Dialectica] <\/em> <\/a>
\nby Samael Aun Weor<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Moving to a Superior Level and Evolution<\/h3>\n

\u201cEach time that we take a step towards a superior Level of Being, we become independent of the Egos that trapped us in the lower Level of Being.<\/p>\n

This is why we need to know our Chief Feature or PCPT because we want to move on to a superior Level of Being and eliminate from ourselves the undesirable elements which constitute that PCPT. Otherwise, how will we be able to move on to a superior Level of Being?<\/p>\n

The intellectual animal wants to stop suffering but does nothing to change; if one does not struggle to move on to a superior Level of Being, then how can one change?<\/p>\n

<\/a>Many pseudo-esoterists (sincere people and of good heart) are bottled up in the dogma of Evolution, they wait for time to perfect them… <\/p>\n

Why? Because such persons do nothing to change the Level of Being, they always remain on the same rung.<\/p>\n

Therefore, we need to go beyond Evolution and enter the Revolutionary path, the path of the Revolution of the Consciousness.<\/p>\n

Evolution and involution are two laws which are simultaneously processed in all of creation, they constitute the mechanical axis of nature but they will never lead us to liberation.<\/p>\n

The laws of Evolution and involution are purely material and have nothing to do with the inner Self-Realization of Being. <\/p>\n

We need to be revolutionary, we need to enter the path of the Revolution of the Consciousness.<\/p>\n

How could we move on to a superior Level of Being if we were not revolutionary? <\/p>\n

Each Level of Being has a specific number of activities that belong to it. <\/p>\n

When one moves to a higher Level of Being, one has to take a leap and abandon all the activities one had in the inferior Level of Being.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If one moves to a superior Level of Being, one has to leave behind many things which are presently important to us, which belong to the level in which we are.<\/u><\/p>\n

The transition to another Level of Being includes, therefore, a leap and that leap is rebellious, it is never of an evolving type, it is always revolutionary, dialectic<\/u>.<\/p>\n

To be full of oneself, to have false images of oneself, fantasies of oneself, is to be in inferior Levels of Being.<\/p>\n

This means that one is identified with oneself thinking that one is going to have a lot of money, a beautiful, latest model car or that their fianc\u00e9e loves them, that they are a great person or a sage, etc. <\/p>\n

There are many forms of becoming identified with oneself.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

-Paraphrase from Ch 1.31 in The Revolution of the Dialectic [La Revolucion de la Dialectica] <\/em> <\/a>
\nby Samael Aun Weor<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Forgiving Debts <\/h3>\n

\u201cOne has to begin by not becoming identified with oneself [Subject], and then, not becoming identified with things outside of oneself [Objects].<\/strong><\/p>\n

When, for example, one does not become identified with an offender, one forgives them, loves them, then the offender cannot hurt us; and if someone hurts our self-esteem, but we do not become identified with self-esteem, then it is therefore clear that we cannot feel any pain
\nsince it does not hurt us.<\/p>\n

If one does not become identified with vanity, one does not care about walking on the street regardless of what one is wearing or how far one has to walk. Why? Because one is not identified with vanity. <\/p>\n

If we (first of all) become identified with ourselves [Subject] and then with the vanities of the exterior world [Object], then we cannot forgive; let us remember the Lord\u2019s prayer: \u201cForgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors…\u201d <\/p>\n

It is not enough to simply forgive, but we also have to cancel the debts.<\/u> Someone could forgive an enemy but would never ever cancel the debts. <\/p>\n

However, we have to be sincere, we need to cancel those debts…<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

-Paraphrase from Ch 1.31 in The Revolution of the Dialectic [La Revolucion de la Dialectica] <\/em> <\/a>
\nby Samael Aun Weor<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Resentment, Debts, Accounts and Authentic Happiness vs Self-Esteem <\/h3>\n
\n

The Lord\u2019s Gospel also says: \u201cBlessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth…\u201d <\/p>\n

This is a phrase that almost no one has understood. Blessed are, we should say, the non-resentful. <\/strong> <\/p>\n

If one is resentful, how could one be meek?<\/u> <\/p>\n

The resentful person lives keeping count: \u201cAnd I who did him so many favors… I protected him, I did so many deeds of charity for him and look at how this friend has paid me back (when I have helped him so much and now he is incapable of helping me)!\u201d <\/p>\n

This is the \u201caccounting\u201d of the resentful.<\/p>\n

How could one be meek if one is full of resentments? <\/p>\n

The one who is full of resentments lives keeping count at all times, therefore, they are not meek. So, how could they be blessed?<\/p>\n

To be happy is very difficult, for that, one first of all needs to be meek.<\/p>\n

\u2026If we truly become meek through non-identification, we will then get to be happy.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But it is necessary not only to not become identified with our thoughts of lust, hatred, vengeance, animosity, resentment, but also to eliminate from ourselves the Red Demons of Set, those psychic aggregates which personify our defects of a psychological type.<\/p>\n

We have to comprehend, for example, what the process of resentment is, we have to dissect resentment. <\/p>\n

When one arrives at the conclusion that resentment comes from possessing self-esteem in our interior, we then struggle to eliminate the \u201cI\u201d of self-esteem.<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

But we have to comprehend it in order to be able to eliminate it, we could not eliminate it if we have not previously comprehended it.<\/p>\n

In order to be able to eliminate one needs Devi Kundalini Shakti, it is only she who can disintegrate any psychological defect including the \u201cI\u201d of self-esteem.<\/p>\n

Are we sure that we are not resentful towards someone? <\/p>\n

If we want to become independent from lunar mechanicity, then we have to eliminate from ourselves the \u201cI\u201d of resentment and of self-esteem. <\/p>\n

When one understands this, one advances on the path which leads to final Liberation.<\/p>\n

It is only by means of the fire of Aries, the Lamb, of the incarnated Ram, of the inner Christ, that we can truly burn those inhuman elements which we carry in our interior; and as the consciousness becomes unbottled, we will awaken.<\/p>\n

Consciousness cannot awaken as long as it continues bottled up within psychic aggregates… <\/p>\n

We need to undergo Mystical Death here and now.<\/p>\n

We need to die from instant to instant; it is only with death that the new arrives. <\/p>\n

If the germ does not die, the plant is not born. <\/p>\n

We need to learn how to live, in order to liberate ourselves from that lunar heredity that we have.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

-Paraphrase from Ch 1.31 in The Revolution of the Dialectic [La Revolucion de la Dialectica] <\/em> <\/a>
\nby Samael Aun Weor<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

– = Read the NEXT PART<\/strong><\/a> = –<\/p>\n

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In the previous class, we studied the need for a Longing, an Inspirational Attitude, a Superior Emotion in order to help us in the Work. This is because we need to stop being mechanical human beings and start being Conscious: The key of triumph in order to pass through the crisis and to cease being […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":598,"menu_order":157,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,24,7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gnosticstudies.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7824"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gnosticstudies.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gnosticstudies.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gnosticstudies.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gnosticstudies.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7824"}],"version-history":[{"count":32,"href":"https:\/\/gnosticstudies.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7824\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18774,"href":"https:\/\/gnosticstudies.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7824\/revisions\/18774"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gnosticstudies.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gnosticstudies.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gnosticstudies.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gnosticstudies.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}