Evolution of Consciusness(Post 28)-Gurdjieff Self-Remembering & Multiple I

 Gurdjieff Self Remembering and Multiple 'I'.

In the earlier posts,

 We saw about ‘Self-Remembering’.

Now we will see it along with multiple ‘I’s.

Self-Remembering

One may begin Self-Remembering very vaguely,

Initially one might mistake ‘Thinking about one self’ or ‘Evaluating a Situation’

 for ‘Self-Remembering’.

Though both are also a form of reflection, they are not ‘Self-Remembering’.

They are called as impure-reflection according to Sartre usage.

But, still it will help one to recognize the mechanical nature of the act.

We will try to understand it through an imaginary situation.

Supposing one is angry over another for his past deeds.

There will be an element of anger in the psyche,

One can associate several causes for the anger,

Accordingly several ‘I’s will pop up.

One ‘I’ may remember good moments, another one may remember bad moments.

An ‘I’ with a self-image might say, ‘My status is at stake’

There could be many more.

Finally,

One ‘I’ will take the precedence and expresses it self through reaction.

In this case it would be mostly negative because personalities always take the easy route.

To respond positively requires suppression or reconciliation of ‘Anger’,

which is not easy.

But one might have to suppress Anger and react politely depending on the gravity of

the situation.

But the point is anger remain.

This is normal or casual mechanical reaction based on the Past (Ego),

 One is not remembering one self, his PRESENCE in the present.

So the perception would be

‘I am angry because he is such …’ – Impure Reflection, not Self-Remembering.

Now,

If one remembers one self or become consciously aware of rising anger,

Due to such a reflection,

 Consciousness is ‘arrested’ at ‘Anger’ and not yet appealing to the Past to find the

causes of the anger, which will eventually support and sustain it.

When we say not appealing to past, not only the cause of anger but several ‘I’s connected

to the individual as mentioned above.

As there is no appeal to the past,

None of the past ‘I’s will have the potential to influence the perception of the present.

It is not that we forget, but in a sense they are not ‘Mine’ or do not belong to current the

‘I’ which is present, which alone one is conscious of.

The perception is altered as

‘Because of Anger, he appears as such …’ - Pure Reflection or Self-Remembering.

In the earlier response, the ‘Anger’ needs to be suppressed to act politely.

But now ‘Anger’ need not be suppressed or yielded to because it is not yet related to the

Past, so not recognized to gain support and sustainability from the past.

As it hangs in balance, no support exist for it to sustain it self.

So,

 One is totally free to deal with the Present situation objectively (on merit), without

Any interference from the past.

The important aspect is

 it is only the Personalities that can act mechanically like a rolling stone because they

have the momentum in the form of past experience.

Now, in the absence of the past momentum, inevitably one become conscious of the

Present and respond accordingly.

If one continues to remember one self more and more, over time,

Mechanical False Personalities are weakened and Self-Remembrance is strengthened.

One becomes more and more conscious and a depth is generated in one’s awareness.

Let us now consider a much simpler situation,

If one is thirsty, need is Water but one may prefer Coke (An imaginary Need).

Normally, one will drink Coke or suppress the Desire for Coke and drink Water.

This is the casual reaction of personalities.

But,

In self-remembering (remembering one self),

His consciousness is arrested at being Thirsty, not yet appealing to the past.

The Instinctive ‘I’ will prefer Water – an authentic (Real) biological need.

The cultivated personality would prefer Coke.

As the present ‘I’ is not influenced by the past ‘I’s.

There is no ‘Demand’ for Coke; therefore there is no ‘Suppression’ of a desire.

One is free to choose Water or Coke without any stress.

One can begin with simple situations, and move over to complex situations.

As Gurdjieff himself suggested it can and should be practiced in everyday life events.

Unlike traditional meditation techniques which are practiced in isolation in general.

In fact, Gurdjieff’s ‘Work’ or 4^th Way has no element of Faith, Belief, etc.

All depends on, how hard one works on his consciousness to become aware.

More the effort, more the depth one gains.

It is organic, not organized in a traditional manner.