Welcome to a series of talks about objective consciousness, an objective Universe, and an objective way to awaken, expanding upon the works of George I. Gurdjieff and Russell A. Smith.

In today’s podcast we will share with you a dialogue between Russell and several of his students, regarding their attempts at stopping thoughts, as well as other being achievements, which include overcoming inexactitudes, doing memory work, reaching rooms they have never reached before, conquering the unknown, creating great relationships, acquiring spiritual vitality, and a dissertation from page 400 in The Blueprint of Consciousness, which reveals how a student who was suffering from the pangs of awakening his Conscience could escape. 

Let’s begin: 

Russell:  How did everyone do on their assigned task of stopping thoughts? 

Student:  Well, I found that when I did my memory work it was much easier for me to keep all unwanted thoughts out; plus I enjoyed doing my memory work so much that I repeated it several times each day. That being said, in between doing my memory work, and then doing what my machine wanted to do, I had an amazing week.

Russell:  Good for you. 

Student:  For me, I was watching a merry-go-round of thoughts going on in my mind, and when I told my thoughts to stop, they did. Then, after 5 minutes or so of having no thoughts at all, they would come back, I think perhaps, to verify that I was alive.

Russell:  Isn’t it wonderful that you can stop your thoughts for five minutes?

Student:  Yes, it is glorious.

Russell:  Okay, who else? 

Student:  For me, it was a very good exercise. When I stopped thoughts, I was better able to not only formulate my third responses in a much shorter period of time, but the quality of those responses also improved.

Russell:  Great. 

Anyone else?

Student:  I did good. My wife even noticed how I was a lot quieter. 

Russell:  I am glad that she was.

Student:  I too had some interesting results. While driving to work, I was able to not only stop thoughts, but I was also able to intentionally think about whatever it was that I wished to think about, and then when I got to work, I was able to not only have ordinary thoughts, but also able to have the required thoughts that I needed for my patients.

Russell:  Great. No thoughts, intentional thoughts, ordinary thoughts, and required thoughts. Well done.

Student:  Thank you.

Russell:  Okay, who’s next?

Student:  I had a very busy week as well, which was mostly focused on dealing with others. In between which, I had many moments of silence.

Russell:  Terrific.

Okay, anyone else?

Student:  The exercise was very beneficial to me as well. If my mind got involved with something mechanical, I would simply stop my thoughts. Then, on Monday night, I started the mantra ‘stop thoughts – stop thoughts;’ and, what came up for me was the fact that I needed to stop saying ‘stop thoughts’ and just needed to stop them, which I then did.

Russell:  Excellent. 

Very good, everyone. 

Alright, who did some other being-work other than stopping their thoughts?  

Student:  I re-dedicated myself to having a structured program of making intentional efforts, which included doing several exercises every morning, and memory work every night. 

Russell:  Good. Who else?

Student:  I had the opportunity of helping another being realize that they are not what they are supposed to be.

Russell:  Great. 

Did you offer them a solution? 

Student:  Yes, I did, and they wanted to take it, so I led them through the Three-Fold Attention Exercise.

Russell:  How did they like it?

Student:  They loved it. It worked just as intended. So much so that afterwards they wanted to read about The Fourth Way.

Russell:  Fantastic. 

Who else?

Student:  Well, I’m still consistently working on the little-bitty, stupid inexactitudes that I have. But I am finding them easier and easier to deal with. However, my best moment occurred while I was having a conversation with someone, and I suddenly realized that I was not using my formatory apparatus. It wasn’t anything great like you do; but, when it occurred, I knew that I was outside of my formatory apparatus, which was quite wonderful. 

Which brings me to a question. I love doing my memory work, but I don't know how to check myself. I don’t want to burden others with having to read along and check it, while I say it, to see if I make any mistakes. Any suggestions?

Russell:  Firstly, as we are all in the same work, you might be pleasantly surprised to learn that the others here would most likely love to hear your memory work, as it would not only give them more incentive to do additional memory work themselves, but would also let them better understand that which they are interested in. After all, repetition is the mother of learning.

Secondly, the others are technically not needed. Just get a digital recorder and recite your memory work into the recorder. That way, you will be able to play it back and hear whether or not you got it wrong. And, by doing so, you will not only be able to better recognize the places where you got it wrong, but you will be much less likely to make that same mistake in the future.

However, if you only do the latter, you will be depriving the other students of having an incentive of doing additional memory work, as well as benefiting from the repetition.

But, either will do.

Okay, who else?

Student:  I would like to say what I have to say in the form of a report. In the previous months I have made many efforts to both remember myself and to observe myself, and as such, I have come to a better understanding of what it means to self-remember. The results of those efforts have been somewhat astounding, in that I was propelled into other rooms, upper rooms, to which I had not yet ventured. 

I also realized that the creature in me - namely myself - really works hard at avoiding the light of consciousness; it seems that my inner-self darts around the room to dark spaces, avoiding the light of consciousness as often and as best as it can! 

So, one of the exercises I set for myself is to try to get out of the house without criticizing my wife, or arguing about something, because this machine, for some reason, likes to argue and be critical. 

And, after several failed attempts, I was finally able to get up, kiss the wife, say goodbye, and get out of the house without making any disparaging remarks. 

And, with continued efforts, I was able to do that for several days before I once again began to complain about my lunch, or something else. 

But, my efforts on trying to focus on the light of consciousness, on the fact that I like to argue, on seeing that I like to be critical about something, someone, or myself, has propelled me into upper rooms which I have not yet explored. 

So, even though I have been a critical jerk for quite some time, it was still possible for me to make efforts and get results. 

Several other additional observations also came into view, which likewise occurred because of my efforts. 

The main point for me is the fact that with proper efforts, even a jerk like me can attain higher levels of consciousness. 

Because of that, I realized that even though something was not handed to me in closed-captioned form - for the purpose of me grasping it. The things that I have grasped, I am only able to grasp as a result of making sincere efforts, and of diligently going through the process. 

Well, that is what I wanted to report.

Russell: Yee-haw. Good report. Well done.

Okay. Who else?

Student:  I also had a great week, which I am sure happened because I also made many efforts. And, just as the previous student said, I too realized that making efforts is more important than getting results, because getting results is built in. That is, if I make efforts, I will get results, and if I make more efforts, I will get more results, which is opposite to what I previously believed. I expected to get results without making efforts. However, I now see that my efforts bring me to a higher state, which in turn shows me how to make better efforts. 

It always comes back to me making efforts and to the consistency of those efforts. 

And another thing which came up for me this week, was conquering the unknown, which, in itself, was quite amazing. Being afraid of the unknown has always stopped me from trying new things. That is, it stopped me from experiencing new foods, stopped me from experiencing new activities, and stopped me from going to new places.

So, this week, I ate new foods, did new activities, and went to new places. However, I will admit that I did not like some of the food I ate, I did not care for some of the activities I did, and I did not enjoy some of the places I went to. But, by doing so, I nipped my fear of the unknown in the bud. 

Russell:  There you go. Well done.

Anybody else?

Student:  I have a big box of relationship things that I have been amassing against my new husband, which I have been sifting through, taking out, and observing. 

I too saw what a previous student saw about not being a nice person. 

I have this little picture of myself that says, “You're a nice person.” But, in truth, I am not, especially regarding relationships. I now see that I have to get rid of my judgments, as well as my belief that I need to control things. 

In the past few weeks I received two really clear messages from my higher. One was, “You cannot walk for another, only, with another.” And the other one was, “Only concentrate on what you can do, not on what others cannot do.” 

Which was quite interesting.

Russell:  Indeed it is. Excellent. 

Who else?

Student:  Well, the other student’s reports have encouraged me to say this about myself. I met this fellow, with whom things are going great. However, some concerns keep popping up like: he is not in the Work, he wants to be with me all the time, as well as many other things. It reached a point to where I had to stop and undergo ‘metanoia’ and intentionally change my thinking. So I said, if you really like this guy, you need to focus on making the relationship work, not on sabotaging it. After doing so, the results were phenomenal. I was able to not only speak with him much more easily, but I was also able to talk with him about Fourth Way stuff, which he was very receptive to. I must say that my moment of metanoia was very beneficial.

Russell:  Excellent. Keep sowing your seeds on good ground, and hopefully, the yield will be a hundred-fold. 

Okay, who else?

Student:  After having various medical tests performed over the past two weeks, the doctors discovered that I had an E. coli urinary infection, which was quite severe. And as such, on Friday, they put me on some serious antibiotics, and by Saturday, mid-day, I started to feel better, which made me think of this: it is really remarkable that one can be so sick, and then, after receiving the right medicine, one can feel good in only a couple of days. Case in point, on Monday, I wanted to clean the house, bathe the dog, paint the wall, and go to the health-food store; as I once again had physical vitality. 

That being said, what I medically experienced with them, is very similar to what I spiritually experienced with you. Afterall, you gave me spiritual vitality in only a few days. And as such, I am convinced that your teachings are the antibiotics for sleep. Unfortunately, the medical antibiotics that they gave me will soon wear off, which means that the urinary infection might return. But fortunately, the spiritual antibiotics that you gave me will never wear off, and thereby, my state of sleep will never return, and for that, I am most grateful.

Russell:  Well, thank you. I too was pleased that you chose to take the red pill.

Okay, who else?

Student:  I was reading page 400 in The Blueprint of Consciousness where you talk about how every octave feels three major oscillations, and how those oscillations create the two gaps and a Harnel-Aoot: one gap between MI and FA, another gap between TI and DO, and a Harnel-Aoot between SO and LA.

When I studied those oscillations, I saw how the lower oscillation was indeed connected to the duplicating principal at DO, as well as to the Moving Center at MI; how the middle oscillation was connected to the Emotional Center at FA, as well as to the Higher Emotional Center at LA, which was pretty cool as that oscillation connected lower emotions to higher emotions; and I saw how the upper oscillation was connected to the Intellectual Center at SO, as well as to the Higher Mental Center at TI, which was also pretty cool, as that oscillation connected lower intelligence to higher intelligence. After my studies, I understood why you called those three oscillations: the duplicating oscillation, the emotional oscillation, and the intellectual oscillation. 

I also understood how those oscillations created two gaps, as well as a Harnel-Aoot - a time of tension - in every octave, and I was amazed that your discovery of those oscillations not only revealed Gurdjieff’s obligatory-gap-aspects-of-the-unbroken-flowing-of-the-whole;’ but, the Harnel-Aoot as well.

I also understood why the time of tension occurs after a man acquires his Steward. As it says, and I paraphrase, Why is the time of tension in Steward? Well, because Steward represents the Higher Emotional Center, and the Higher Emotional Center is made up of lower centers. Therein lies the tension. The lower centers’ functions compete with the Higher Emotional Center’s function. That is, the lower centers are still lower centers; all they want to do is go dancing, have a beer, eat chocolate, be important, and have more Facebook followers. Thus, the tension occurs when the lower centers unite and become the Higher Emotional Center, as they are still inclined to function as lower centers. 

I also understood why it said that when a man awakens his Steward, he must avoid serving his lower centers, and how that, is of itself, the terror of the situation. I also understood why most men will never awaken, and thus will not need to worry too much about the tension. As well as how most men spend their entire lives in their lower story, and as such, never get past the gap; and, as Gurdjieff said, “Die like dogs,” because, as they are lower story machines, they are only animated by instinctive pleasures, and by the joys of movement. 

However, I do not wish to be like most men. And, when I expressed that concern to you, you fortunately showed me how to get out of the lower story, go past the gap, and awaken. 

But, Russ, now that you have shown me how to awaken both my Steward and my Conscience, I am suffering, because I am now constantly being confronted by my many flaws and inexactitudes, and as such, I almost wish that I had not taken the red pill, but instead, had taken the blue pill and was still in the world of illusion. 

Please, Russ, you have to help me get out of the Harnel-Aoot ASAP, as I am seriously suffering from the pangs of my own conscience.

Russell:  No problem. It should not be that difficult for you to do, nor should it take you very long.

Fortunately, we have exercises for that part of the journey as well. They are called the Master Exercises. However, when the Higher revealed them to me, it said, “You cannot just give these to people; they must earn them.” So I asked, “How do they earn them?” To which it replied, “They must memorize 1,001 words of memory work.” 

After which, I asked, “Why?’

It simply said, “At first, they had to do The Dog Training Exercises, like Pick-a-Center, because they saw that in order to awaken the Higher Emotional Center, they needed to have a high level of attention in their Instinctive, Moving, and Emotional Centers. Similarly, in order to awaken the Higher Mental Center, they will need to have that same high level of attention in their Intellectual Center, which can best be accomplished by doing memory work.” 

So, that is why you need to memorize 1,001 words, as that is the best way to create a discipline of attention in your Intellectual Center, just like picking centers was the best way to create a discipline of attention in your Instinctive, Moving, and Emotional Centers. 

So, you choose, memorize the Aphorisms, memorize THEDOG Tales, memorize the names of all the cards, as to their center, part, and part-of-part, or any other Fourth Way material. However, if you are uncertain as to what to memorize, just ask Gary, he will send you a list of some of the memory work that other students have done.

Or if you wish, just open my book to any random page, and start there.

That being said, if you really wish to escape the Harnel-Aoot, and then afterwards, enter into the Higher Mental Center, you should memorize your 1,001 words in short order. 

Well, that is the requirement.

Along with the Master Exercises, you will also receive the two-part Double or Nothing Exercise. 

The first part is probably the most important exercise ever discovered; it is bigger than The Objective Exercise, and bigger than the Master Exercises, as it will show you how to escape the Harnel-Aoot. That is, it will show you how to escape living in your Higher Emotional Center, which is now suffering the pangs of Conscience, to living in your Higher Mental Center, which will turn your Conscience into Impartiality. And sir, once you have acquired impartiality, you will no longer suffer.

Talk about a moment of realization. When you receive Part One, you will most likely be gobsmacked. Why? Well, understanding how to escape the Higher Emotional Center and enter the Higher Mental Center comes with such certitude and infallibility that when you receive it, you will instantly know that it will soon be so.

After which, you will eagerly begin doing the exercise, and as a result, you will soon thereafter acquire Reason and Impartiality. 

Part Two will explain what you will find when the Higher Mental Center starts to awaken, as well as what you will find as it expands. 

That being said, it shouldn’t take you long to escape the pangs of Conscience you have been experiencing. All you need are 1,001 words. 

If I were you, I'd be done in a few days.

Student:  You are right, Russ. After putting it to me that way, it will take me no time at all to memorize my 1,001 words.

Russell:  Fantastic!

Okay. Anyone else???

The group’s silence sounds like a no.

That being the case, here is your assignment for next week: read Chapter Five of The Blueprint of Consciousness; explore the diagrams, digest the examples, and thoroughly study the three octaves in the 8, 10, and 12 ratio.

See you all next week.

That completes today’s podcast.

Thank you for listening.

If you have any questions that you would like to have answered, please send them to [email protected], and we will endeavor to answer them, and perhaps, include them in a future podcast. 

In addition, you may also find us on Telegram, Instagram, and Facebook, all under THEDOG Teachings.

Or if you would like to purchase Russell Smith’s book, The Blueprint of Consciousness, a 520-page hardback, which is also available for PDF download, and learn more about the subjects and exercises we have been exploring, you can do so by going to thedogteachings.com.

And now, you may pose any questions during our new weekly ZOOM classes, which are held every Saturday. One class for purchasers of The Blueprint of Consciousness, and the other for qualifiers of the Master Exercises. Look under Resources for ZOOM Classes on our website thedogteachings.com.

That’s T H E D O G teachings DOT COM.

There, you will be able to listen to other talks, obtain diagrams, animations, supporting videos, and much, much more.

But most importantly, you will have real time access to the materials we are discussing.

That’s thedogteachings.com

Goodbye, until next time.