The higher and the lower mirror each other, and man could only learn certain things about himself by observing the outside world. Hence, the Fourth Way is organic: Man need not delve too deep into greater or smaller cosmoses in order to understand his own. In this respect, Gurdjieff stressed another prerequisite for proper use of the Fourth Way: Modern science altogether overlooks this principle, directing its focus onto smaller or greater worlds while losing sight of man; modern psychology errs in the other extreme, by focusing on man and disregarding his resemblance to the greater and smaller worlds around him.
Another formula — Know thyself — is full of particularly deep meaning and is one of the symbols leading to the knowledge of truth. The study of the world and the study of man will assist one another. In studying the world and its laws a man studies himself, and in studying himself he studies the world. The call to self-knowledge is ancient. Know Thyself, normally ascribed to Socrates, actually originates from the earliest recorded teachings. Self-knowledge is not flattering, and man will tend to study anything but himself.
In order to know anything, man must first know himself. For self-knowledge, Gurdjieff introduced the principles of scale and relativity: Man had to observe the other cosmoses only in relation to himself, and by the same token, he could safely reject any studies that bore no impact on self-knowledge. Relativity introduces valuation to the acquisition of knowledge and the investment of effort.
Another objective aspect of the Fourth Way was Unity and Multiplicity. To know all, one must know very little. But to know that little, one must know a great deal. The Fourth Way is, ultimately, a practical way that promises its adherents genuine change of consciousness. It is not about learning more, but becoming more. To bridge the gap between knowledge and wisdom, practice is required, and for frequent practice brevity is required — transitioning from words to deeds. Practical work uses words to transcend words.
Not one of you has noticed the most important thing that I have pointed out to you… not one of you has noticed that you do not remember yourselves. I observe, I notice, I see. Self-remembering is the bridge between knowledge and wisdom. It is an effort to be aware of oneself in the present, to break away from whatever imaginary world one may have delved in a moment ago and return to reality.
The institute was an esoteric school based on Gurdjieff's Fourth Way teaching. After nearly. For the system based on the teachings of G. I. Gurdjieff see Fourth Way. The Fourth Way () is a book about the Fourth Way system of self-development as .
It is an instantaneous internal reorganization: Gurdjieff introduced self-remembering in one of his early talks with his Russian students, inviting them to share what they had seen by observing themsveles. None had noticed the most important fact: Ouspensky, who narrates this discussion, begins experimenting with self-remembering and subsequently realizes its key role in the work towards consciousness.
Here, as before, Gurdjieff borrows and translates an old practice. The Upanishads were an extensive treatise on the Self, on the need to remember it and bring it to the forefront. Gurdjieff was translating older systems into language palatable to modern western man. Hence the difference between the system and the Fourth Way: All four lead to the same end: We will not expound on the three ways to avoid straying from our main focus.
These are well described in In Search of the Miraculous. The Fourth Way differs from these in that it strives to blend all three ways harmoniously. It may gradually assume an emotional, religions hue; or it may gradually assume an intellectual, academic hue.
A fundamental aspect of the Fourth Way, absent in most modern practices of spirituality, is that the spiritual evolution of man has to be linked to a scale greater than man. But farther down the path, knowledge and awareness of the greater whole is indispensable, for the Fourth Way is founded on the famous adage of Hermes Trismegistus: As above so below and as within so without. Man is a micro-cosmos.
The laws and phenomenon that occur within him are identical to those manifesting outside of him. His self-knowledge, therefore, grows in direct proportion to his knowledge of the world. In his presentation of the system, Ouspensky stressed the principle of scale. Man and the world — the micro-cosmos and macro-cosmos — mirrored each other, even though they were of different scales. Man could, therefore, learn certain truths about himself by observing them outside.
As Above so Below thus indicated the path towards objective knowledge. Nevertheless, man must keep his interest in externals in check, for he easily loses himself in pursuit of theoretical knowledge. Ouspensky, therefore, introduced another principle to observation: Other scales and ideas are only of value to man in as much as they relate to his aim to awaken. Knowledge of greater or smaller cosmoses could aid man only in so far as it increased his self knowledge.
As good examples of bad examples, Ouspensky pointed out modern science, which altogether overlooks the principle of relativity and freely focuses on the smaller or greater worlds while losing sight of man. Modern psychology errs towards the other extreme, by indulging in the functions of man while disregarding his resemblance to the cosmoses around him. Man is naturally in a state of self-ignorance.
The path to awakening is therefore synonymous to the path towards self-knowledge. Know Thyself, traditionally ascribed to Socrates, actually stands at the foundation of any genuine teaching. Based on the principles of scale and relativity, man cannot know anything before he knows himself.
Ouspensky indicated a twofold path towards self-knowledge. Another aspect -without which the first would be futile — is knowledge of the system.
The system defined the psychology of man to great detail. After enough self-observation, a man working on himself could begin dividing what he saw into the myriad functions outlined by the system. The above-mentioned efforts had to be connected to consciousness. Ouspensky noted how point distinguished the system from all other psychological endeavors. Unlike modern psychology, man observed his functions, not for the same of his functions, but for the sake of extracting consciousness from them.
The entire teaching pointed to this. The whole study of laws and phenomenon had to point to generating consciousness. Man, in his regular state of sleep, was unconscious. Through systematic and consistent effort, he could awaken and become conscious. Self-remembering was the specific effort of being conscious.