S2/EP13: Why we fell asleep and how we can begin to awaken – Part 3 of 3

Hi, I’m Gary

Welcome to a series of podcasts on how to achieve an awakened state through practising various intellectual, emotional and physical exercises, and through the gaining of understanding into the laws of world creation and world maintenance, specifically as described within the works of George Gurdjieff and the Fourth Way

Each episode in this series focuses upon a particular element of this teaching and aims to bring simple understanding to what was frequently hidden in plain sight within the various subject areas of the Fourth Way.

PICKING UP FROM WHERE WE LEFT OFF IN OUR LAST PODCAST…

We were discussing the concept of “spillage” and how it aided evolution, which eventually led to reason and impartiality.

In this podcast we will continue that story, as told by the fellow in Texas,

We had just talked about how the first men got spilled into reason; but, since they did not understand how they acquired it, they just ended up using it as a tool: they made a weapon, they made a wall, they made a garden, they made a fence, and they killed all the dangerous animals. They did this in order to make things better for their children. 

Unfortunately, they did not realize that they were making things much worse for their children. 

Why? Because their children ended up losing the higher parts of their Instinctive, Moving, and Emotional centers, which were necessary for them to maintain the functioning of their Higher Emotional Center, and without a Higher Emotional Center, they could no longer acquire the Higher Mental Center and legitimately claim reason.

That is why the fellow in Texas said, “Anywhere, in the Universe, where reason emerges, it will destroy itself.” 

However, if we understood this, it might be saved. 

How? Simple…. We would find ways to help our children create attention in the higher parts of their lower centers.

Which might be done thus:

Perhaps parents would have a series of boxes.  And, in them, they would place either a toy, which makes a faint sound, a treat, which has a subtle odor, or an object, which exudes a scent that can be picked up by the tongue; and, then, they would play a game with their children. The kids would have to listen for the toy, smell the odor of the treat, or taste the scent of the object; and, if they did… and opened the right box, they would be rewarded. 

If parents did this, children would develop attention in the higher parts of their Instinctive Center, and once again become very good at listening, smelling, and tasting.

In addition, when kids walked to school, they would, perhaps, encounter “slow zones.” That is, they would reach a slow zone where there would be motion detectors and listening devices, and the kids would have to move very, very slowly and very, very quietly through the slow zones. 

Because, if they moved too fast… or, if they made too much noise, the sensors would detect them and alarms would sound and lights would flash.

The kids would love this… moving through the slow zone, “Hey, watch me!” 

They would probably want to run back and go through it again. 

If there were “slow zones,” our kids would develop attention in the higher parts of their Moving Center.

In addition, we would give them treats; and, if they shared those treats with others they would receive back more treats than they shared. 

That is, acts of kindness would be rewarded.

If we did this, kids would develop attention in the higher parts of their Emotional Center.

We would have boxes, slow zones, and treats because we understood that at maturity our children would need to unify their lower centers; and, by so doing, would cause the Higher Emotional Center to function, which would allow them to legitimately claim the reason of the Higher Mental Center. 

Afterall, awakening is their right!

Unfortunately, the first men did not understand this, because they had been spilled into reason.

And, when they found that they had it, they just used it… like most people use everything… selfishly. 

To them, it was just another tool. A tool which allowed them to make the world a safer place for their children. Sadly, they ended up destroying the Higher Emotional Center of their descendants.

Do you see that? 

I repeat, everywhere in the Universe where reason emerges, it will destroy itself. 

That is, if man does not know how reason is created, if he does not understand the structure of Higher Centers, and if he does not see that higher centers are dependent upon the functioning of lower centers, then he is destined to make life so easy for his children, that future generations will no longer need to pay attention and, thus, will fall asleep. 

I will concede that it is a good thing that our children are safe. But, unfortunately, by making them safe, they no longer needed to pay attention. That is, they no longer needed to smell, to listen, to taste, or to watch. And, since they no longer needed to do these things, they didn’t. 

Thus, when they reached, responsible age, they were no longer able to awaken… which, back in the day, was of great concern to early, enlightened civilizations, and caused their elders to ask, “What the heck is happening to our youth, they are no longer becoming responsible beings? Something is terribly wrong.”

When this first happened, mankind split into three factions: the Fakirs, the Yogis, and the Monks. 

The Fakirs concentrated on the Instinctive Center, the Yogis on the Moving Center, and the Monks on the Emotional Center.

Fortunately for them, and, according to the model, they all had the mechanical part of their Instinctive, Moving, and Emotional center, because the mechanical part functioned automatically. That is, it functioned without attention. 

And, since they only needed six parts to awaken, and since they already had the three mechanical parts… they were already halfway there.

So the Fakirs began to work on the Instinctive Center. That is, they put their legs in anthills, they laid on beds of nails, and they stood in front of the temple on their toes and fingertips; hoping that, by working on the Instinctive Center, they would be able to pick up two additional parts – the emotional and intellectual part of the Instinctive Center, which would then give them five parts.

In addition, the Fakirs also picked up the emotional part of the Moving Center because in order to keep from pulling their legs out of the anthills, to refrain from jumping-up off the bed of nails, or to stay standing in front of the temple, they needed to have control over the emotional part of the Moving Center as well. 

Thus, the Fakirs got a sixth part. But, the problem was, their six parts were in the lower stories… and, they did not have an objective exercise that would bring those six parts to the upper story. 

And, even if they did, the empowered Instinctive Center was not likely to share its power with the other centers.

Do you understand?

Next, were the Yogis, they worked on the Moving Center. That is, they did martial arts, danced, stretched, and sat in Lotus positions; hoping that, by working on the Moving Center, they would be able to pick up two additional parts – the emotional and intellectual part of the Moving Center, which would then give them five parts.

In addition, the Yogi also picked up the emotional part of the Instinctive Center because they had to learn to endure the pain of sitting in a Lotus position or practicing martial arts.

Thus, the Yogis got a sixth part. But the problem was, their six parts were in the lower stories… and, they did not have an objective exercise that would bring those six parts to the upper story. 

And, even if they did, the empowered Moving Center was not likely to share its power with the other centers.

Lastly, were the Monks, they worked on the Emotional Center. That is, they followed the path of obedience, and did what they were told… like scrubbing the temple floor for eight hours; hoping that, by working on the Emotional Center, they would be able to pick up two additional parts – the emotional and intellectual part of the Emotional Center, which would give them five parts. 

In addition, the Monks also picked up the emotional part of the Instinctive Center because they had to endure the pain of scrubbing the temple floor. That is, the Monks did not need to use “Wax-On”…“Wax-Off” movements, they just needed to block-out the pain and keep-on scrubbing.

Thus, the Monks got a sixth part. But the problem was, their six parts were in the lower stories… and, they did not have an objective exercise that would bring those six parts to the upper story. 

And, even if they did, the empowered Emotional Center was not likely to share its power with the other centers.

For these reasons, Gurdjieff called the Monks, “Stupid Saints,” and the Yogis he called, “Weak Yogis,” because they were both lopsided.

So, the three traditional ways had very little chance of ever getting their six parts to the upper story. But… every twenty years or so, some Fakir, some Yogi, or some Monk did wake up, which kept the illusion-alive, that their way is a viable way. But, if it was a viable way, every Fakir, every Monk, and every Yogi would have woke up. 

Then, many years later, The Fourth Way was created.  And, they asked, “What if we build in balance… what if we get a couple of parts in the Instinctive Center, a couple of parts in the Moving Center, and a couple of parts in the Emotional Center… perhaps, we can get six parts that way?” 

Thus, students of The Fourth Way, also found a way to pick-up six parts. But the problem was, their six parts were in the lower stories… and, they did not have an objective exercise that would bring those six parts to the upper story. 

However, every so often someone like Gurdjieff awakens. But when they do, they do-so “subjectively.” And, by awaking subjectively, they are unable to show others how to do it. 

Sadly, there were no objective ways…. 

That is… until the fellow in Texas showed up, made sense of the third striving, and started showing others how to awaken.  

Afterwhich, there was an objective way.

It is not uncommon, at this point, for someone to ask, “OK, how can I do that, because I want to awaken?”  

Good question.  

Here is what is needed: First, you will need to have six parts. Second, you will need to find a way to unify them. And, Third, you will need to bring them to the upper story. 

Then, after you awaken, you can start working on exercises that will cause your Higher Mental Center to start functioning.

But first… you need to awaken the Higher Emotional Center. 

So, right here, right now, let’s take a survey to see if you have enough parts to awaken.

We already said that everyone has the mechanical part of the Instinctive, Moving, and Emotional Center because those parts function automatically, which means, you have them too. 

Congratulations! 

That’s three parts out of six. 

You are already halfway there.

Do you feel good about that? 

I bet you do.

OK, the next part that is available, is the emotional part of the Instinctive Center. That part represents your five senses: sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell.

How are you on your senses?

Can you taste bitter, sour, and sweet? 

Do you know the difference between a high pitched tone and a low pitched tone, or… do you get them confused? 

If you think you have that part, I would agree. 

We have found that most people have the emotional part of the Instinctive Center. So, without any reservations, we can give you that part. 

That gives you four of-the-six-parts that are needed for awakening. 

Woohoo!

The next part that is available, is the intellectual part of the Instinctive Center. The intellectual part of the Instinctive Center functions with controlled attention.

As such, Gurdjieff said we could not get that part until we became conscious. Because, if we had that part, we would most likely use it for wrong reasons. That is, we would thrust or hand into the fire to prove to some girl that we had control over it, which by the way, we could only do twice!

Or, another example would be, the ability to drop your heart rate down to one beat per minute?  Which I bet you cannot do either.

So, most likely, you do not have the intellectual part of the Instinctive Center. You may have a smidgen of it, but probably not enough to qualify for the ‘rule of two-thirds’ and claim the intellectual part itself. 

But, you still have four parts: the mechanical part of the Instinctive, Moving, and Emotional center, and the emotional part of the Instinctive Center.

Now, we will take a look at the Moving Center. We already said that you have the mechanical part, but… do you have the emotional part? 

That part controls man’s ability to write his name, to talk, to run, to jump, to climb, or to do a somersault.

Can you do those things?

I’m sure that you answered, “Yes.”

And, if you did, I would agree. Most people do have the emotional part of the Moving Center. In fact, it is hard to imagine someone who does not.

You now have five parts. 

You are just one part away from qualifying to awaken.

Oh my God, so close!

The next part that is available, is the intellectual part of the Moving Center. It represents controlled movements.

If someone says they have that part, we say, “OK, write your name”… and they write their name. Then we say, “OK, now write your name again … and make it look exactly like the first time you wrote it.”  

But, usually, they cannot.

Do you understand?

They cannot make their second signature look exactly like their first. 

Truth be told, most people do not have that kind of control over their Moving Centers. Perhaps, a brain surgeon might, or a prima ballerina, or maybe even a great artist. But, very few people have this part. So you probably do not have it either. 

But that’s OK. 

You still have five parts. 

You just need one more. 

So, let us now move into the Emotional Center.

We already said you have the mechanical part, because everybody has background moods which function automatically. So, the next part that is available, is the emotional part of the Emotional Center. 

The emotional part, allows people to be touched by the world.  It allows them to see beauty.  It allows them to see a world full of meaning. That is, to feel love, to feel joy, to feel sorrow, and even to cry at the end of a sad movie. 

For example: If they watched the movie Lassie Come Home, and saw the struggles that Lassie goes through to get back to Timmy… and are emotionally touched by that. Then cheer, when Lassie and Timmy finally meet, they probably do have the emotional part of their Emotional Center. 

Women usually have a very strong emotional part; men sometimes do not. 

Fortunately, anyone who cannot initially claim the emotional part of the Emotional Center is usually very motivated to acquire it, especially, after realizing how close they are to awakening.

So, how are you, regarding the emotional part of the Emotional Center?  I hope you said, you are good.

If so, “Congratulations!”

You have six parts. 

We will be able to show you how to awaken!

But, just to finish all of the possibilities, let’s talk about the last part that is available. The last part that is available, is the intellectual part of the Emotional Center.  

The intellectual part of the Emotional Center would be a person’s ability to show emotion on command. To cry on command, like a great stage actor who can create emotions at will.  

One, who is capable of showing anger, love, fear, or tears, etc. 

And, when they do, everyone who watches the performance, actually thinks they are angry, actually thinks they are in love, actually thinks they are afraid, or actually thinks they are crying.

Can you do that?  

Probably not. 

You might be able to conjure up some sad thoughts or remember some sad moment and get a tear. But, if you were on stage and the Director said, “Cry…” you probably could not do it. That is, you probably could not turn it on, right then. 

But even without the intellectual part of the Emotional Center, you still have six parts. 

You have enough parts to awaken. 

You just need to find a way to bring them from the lower stories to the upper story. 

Fortunately, we have an exercise which accomplishes that. 

It, too, was discovered by the fellow in Texas.  

And, I look forward to sharing it with you. That is, when all the knots are tied and the ribbons attached. 

But, for now, the good news is… you have enough parts to awaken.

Again, congratulations!

I will add one more thing before we complete this podcast. 

The fellow in Texas often says… that waking up is liken to the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. 

It is when a man gives birth to himself. 

It is like having a virgin birth. 

It is how Higher Centers wake up.

The story of the virgin birth of Jesus Christ began with his parents going to Bethlehem to be counted. However, when they got there, there was no room in the inn. 

Why was there no room in the inn? Because, you cannot have a virgin birth in an inn. The inn is where the adults are. And, adults are usually so full of intellectual models that there is no room for anything else. 

So, if you want to awaken, you must go out to the stables… where the animals dwell. 

That is, in order to awaken the Higher Emotional Center, we will need the three lower centers to unify. 

And, the three lower centers, the Instinctive, Moving, and Emotional center, are the centers that we inherited from the animals. 

The Intellectual Center, which dominates the adults in the inn, is not a participant. 

It is the three lower centers that must unify, the centers that came from the animal kingdom.

If we could just unify those centers, we could give birth to ourselves. 

OK, we got it…we need to unify our animal centers. So, what is the first thing that we need? 

I know, “Let’s get some shepherds. Let’s get some guys in here who know how to control the animals. Guys, who can talk to the animals. Guys, who can get them to obey. 

If we get some shepherds in here, we just might be able get our animal centers to unify, and cause us to awaken.”

Pa-rum-pum-pum-pum.

The emotional part of the three lower centers represents the shepherds. Why? Because the emotional parts function with attention; and, if we had attention, we would be able to control them. 

However, to increase our odds, let’s not just get the three emotional parts, which would give us a total of six parts – the minimum requirement – but, since we know that the Higher Emotional Center has a total of nine parts-of-parts, let’s get them all. 

OK, who are we missing?

“I know, we are missing the three intellectual parts,” which, in the Bible story, are represented by the three Kings:  Mr. Gold, Mr. Frankincense, and Mr. Myrrh. 

If we added the three intellectual parts, and then unified all nine parts, we would have a super unification, one that they would, surely, talk about for years.

OK, let’s try to get them as well, then we will do the unifying exercise that was discovered by the fellow in Texas. 

OK. We got em… and, then we did the exercise.

And, when we did, our thoughts stopped, and we awoke.

Wow, there is this bright light in the sky.

It is called the star of Bethlehem.

It is the light of conscience.

It always appears when someone becomes enlightened…. That is, has a virgin birth.

Perhaps, the next star… will be yours.

Pa-rum-pum-pum-pum!

That is the end of the fellow in Texas’s story of the virgin birth… and, the end of this podcast.

I hope you enjoyed it.

In the next Podcast, we will investigate shock octaves. That is, assisting octaves.  And discuss how they make ascension possible.

Thank you for listening, and, if you’d like to know more about the subjects and exercises we’ve been covering in these podcasts, including the book and guide that underpins all of this, and how we work with it; or, if you would like to obtain diagrams of the structure as well as learn all the math that supports it, you can find us at The Dog Publishing, at the website The Dog Pub Dot Com. That’s T H E D O G P U B DOT COM

Or, if you would like to purchase the Teaching Guide and, as a bonus, receive the exercise for awakening, posthaste, and don’t want to wait until all the knots have been tied and the ribbons attached, you can order it through the same website.

Goodbye until next time.