Influences

On the ordinary level, in ordinary life, the word influence has definite meanings that relate to ordinary life. This week we are asked to consider what Gurdjieff meant by influence.

Here is a short excerpt from ISOTM, Ch 10. A longer excerpt is posted here. (Please read as part of this week's work."

Influence : From: ISOTM: Chapter 10

"ONCE there was a meeting with a large number of people who had not been at our meetings before. One of them asked: "From what does the way start?" The person who asked the question had not heard G.'s description of the four ways and he used the word "way" in the usual religious-mystical sense. 

"The chief difficulty in understanding the idea of the way,"' said G., "consists in the fact that people usually think that the ‘way’  (he emphasized this word) "starts on the same level on which life is going. This is quite wrong. The way begins on another, much higher, level. This is exactly what people usually do not understand. The beginning of the way is thought to be easier or simpler than it is in reality. I will try to explain this in the following way. 

"Man lives in life under the law of accident and under two kinds of influences again governed by accident. ..."  

Maurice Nicoll: 12 Concise SuperWisdoms

#12

"Mr. Ouspensky used to say: "I want examples, not theoretical talk. Give me a good example of self-observation or a moment of work on yourself, a moment of real effort consciously made."

Maurice Nicoll: 12 Concise SuperWisdoms

#11

"Many people crystallize out in their negative emotions. I advise you to avoid such people."

Maurice Nicoll: 12 Concise SuperWisdoms

#10

"If a person does not nourish Work 'I's' they become feeble and may even leave us forever."

Maurice Nicoll: 12 Concise SuperWisdoms

Maurice Nicoll

 #9

"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."