Evolution of Consciusness(Post 22)- Self-Remembering(Gurdjieff)

There are several meditation techniques to know one self.

And, basically it all depends on one’s inclination, temperament to choose a suitable 

technique.

We have chosen ‘Self-Remembering’ by Gurdjieff for its simplicity, it doesn’t require 

any special knowledge, place or training. 

Its simplicity does not imply that it is easy.

It demands undivided attention to sustain it.

Now,

What is ‘Self-Remembering?’ 

In Gurdjieff’s own words

 "There are moments when you become aware not only of what you are doing but 

also of  yourself doing it. You see both ‘I’ and the ‘here’ of ‘I am here’- both the 

anger and the ‘I’ that is angry. Call this self-remembering if you like."

For those who are not able make out anything substantial by reading Gurdjieff’s  words,

Let us elaborate his words by taking the ‘Anger’ portion of the definition. 

There are two parts in it.

1.      The Anger and 2. ‘I’ that is angry.

The first one ‘The Anger’ is abstract, the uncomfortable feeling that rises before being 

named as ‘Anger’

The second one ‘I that is angry’, is concrete, after the feeling is recognized by the ‘Me’ 

Or ‘Ego-Self’ in relation to its past events or persons as ‘Anger’.

This will become clearer if we compare the ‘Anger’ of a child with that of grownups.

 When a child gets 'Angry', it is just an uncomfortable feeling (Natural Response).

For the child ‘I that is angry’ do not exist.

Because there is no strong Ego-Self (repository of past is least) in the child to recognize 

the feeling from the past and Relate it to events or persons to name it or sustain it. 

So, we can say in a child, it is only ‘Anger’ that exists, not ‘I that is Angry’ 

(‘Anger’ is the word we use for understanding, for the child it is not so)

That is the reason why a child can be ‘Angry’ one moment and ‘Joyful’ the next 

moment.

There is no residue (thoughts) of any gone through feeling left in the psyche. 

Only for the grownups, the Anger, an uncomfortable feeling to start with,

becomes the ‘I  that is Angry ’ after being recognized by the Ego-Self  with respect to its 

past events or persons making it concrete and also sustainable.

And, all the other consequences follow mechanically.

 

So, the ‘Self-Remembering’ is being aware of both the ‘uncomfortable feeling’ in the 

beginning and the operation of the ‘Me’ or ‘Ego-Self’ (past thoughts) that qualifies it 

as ‘Anger’.

This explanation would also make clear  what is not ‘Self-Remememrance’ 

In the beginning, one may not see the interval between abstract ‘Anger'(Feeling without the word) 

and the qualified ‘I that is Angry’.

It is an unordinary interval to discover, perhaps a gateway to ‘Know thyself’.

At least now, we know there is such a thing.

We will move over from definition. 

Fortunately we do self-remember some events without being aware.

If one tries to recollect the past events, the vivid and nostalgic ones are mostly ’self-

remembered ‘ events at that time.

One can check this out with their own experiences.

Now let us take a popular example to bring more clarity.

One is WATCHING a movie and naturally involved in the story, events and characters.

His mind or consciousness is involved or occupied by the story.

He is not aware of anything else and certainly not aware that he is watching a movie.

The moment he become aware of his watching, his involvement in the movie stops.

This is the first part of self-remembrance.

Now,

He was not only watching the movie, but also experiencing (Enjoyable, Boring etc).

If he become aware of the ‘Me’ or ‘Ego-Self’ which is qualifying the movie as 

Enjoyable, Boring etc. 

That is the second part of the ‘Self-Remembrance’.

So, in ‘Self-Remembering’, one is now not only aware of ‘watching’ but also aware of 

the ‘I’ or ‘Me’ that is experiencing – that is one become aware of the contents of  ‘Me’ 

that qualifies the experience as good or bad objectively. 

If one really makes ‘contact’ with this awareness, one can practically ‘see’ the ‘Me’ away 

from himself, its  mechanical or robotic nature and its unreality.

But to begin with this exercise, 

One can start by "listening to one’s own words and voice while speaking."

More the occasions, more the clarity one gains about the nature the 'Me' or 'Ego-Self' .

We may have to see more about 'Self-Remembering', because it is simple( not easy) and can be very   

effective tool one can have.