Welcome to a series of talks about objective consciousness, an objective universe, and an objective way to awaken.

It is primarily based on the works of George I. Gurdjieff and Russell A. Smith, and aims to simplify and explain what Gurdjieff actually meant within the various subject areas of the Fourth Way. All material discussed is drawn from Russell Smith’s book, Gurdjieff: Cosmic Secrets – The Teaching Guide.

In our last talk, we shared Part 2 of Beelzebub’s Last Wish.

Today we will cover the presentation that Mr. Smith gave to the All And Everything conference held in Bognor Regis, England in 1997, called:

A Law-Conformable Schematic for Awakening Higher Centers

Our next speaker–Russell Smith–you will remember from last year. He is an author, a teacher…and a Texan! His talk this morning will be on: “How men fell asleep. The way of the Fakir, the Monk, and the Yogi; and how to awaken higher centers.”

Good morning…it is great to be back again! Remember last year? We stretched the fabric of the Universe, created the diatonic ratios and watched the outer octaves unfold. We also got to see how the Periodic Table, Pascal’s Triangle, the Fibonacci Series, up and down quarks, and the rest of the Universe came into being.

Today, we are going to talk about the inner world. We are going to be talking about how mankind fell asleep, and how the way of the Fakir, Yogi, and Monk came into existence in hopes of waking people back up. We are also going to show everyone how that can be accomplished.

It begins with the Law of Octaves. What is an octave? An octave is something that starts at a certain point and either ascends or descends; Musical octaves either double or half. In addition, we will see how all octaves can also be viewed as a “totality.” That is, from all to nothing or nothing to all.

On the first paper I handed out, which has the numbers on it, you will see the octave of a totality. The octave starts at DO 1536, the ALL, and goes to DO zero, the NOTHING. (By the way, the number 1536 is arbitrary, you may use any number you wish. Ratios and proportions are always the same regardless of what number you use. I happen to use a number where all the math calculates out as nice whole numbers, so that we do not have to deal with fractions; but, we could have made that number anything). So, starting with the totality of 1536, we divide the totality into its diatonic ratios.

What are the diatonic ratios of a totality? The diatonic ratios of a totality are the whole, 1/8 of the whole, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, and 7/8 of the whole. If we take an eighth of 1536, we get RE 192. MI is a quarter of 1536, 384. FA is a third, 512. SO is one-half, 768. LA is two-thirds, 1024. And, finally, TI is seven-eighths of 1536, 1344.  

We will call this scale “Scale-0”.

Gurdjieff said that in order to understand our place in this Universe, we have to take the Ray of Creation in an abridged form and look at it as three octaves of radiations that occur between four fundamental points. He labeled the four fundamental points the Absolute, Sun, Earth, and Moon. When I first heard this from Gurdjieff and then later saw Ouspensky’s diagram on table of hydrogens’ as well as others’ diagrams, I saw how everyone did in fact do what Gurdjieff told them to do. However, no one asked the question, “Why are the Absolute, Sun, Earth, and Moon the fundamental points?” So, I pondered that question.

Then, I realized that the diatonic division of a totality places the Absolute at DO (1), the Sun at SO (½), the Earth at MI (¼), and the Moon at RE (⅛). After which, it became obvious that an inner halving of vibrations was occurring at those places within the Ray of Creation. That is, by their own mathematical name, the four fundamental points exist where a natural inner halving occurs.

I then understood why radioactive material decays according to the principle of half-life. It decays one inner octave at a time. For example, after 713 million years, Uranium 235 decays one inner octave, and you lose half of your Uranium 235. Then, in the next 713 million years, you again lose half. 713 million years later, another half decays, etc. 

Now that we know why the Absolute, Sun, Earth, and Moon are designated as fundamental points, we can take those four notes DO, SO, MI, and RE and calculate three octaves between them.  

We will start with the octave between the Absolute and the Sun. It exists between DO 1536 and SO 768. It has a length of 768. Thus, we must take the length of 768 and calculate it as a totality. Then add the answer to the value of the bottom DO (768). That is, 1/8 of 768 is 96. So we add 96 on to 768, which makes RE 864. We then take 1/4 of 768, which is 192, and add 192 to 768, which makes MI 960. We add 1/3 of 768 (256) to 768 to get FA 1024. 1/2, gives us SO 1152. 2/3, gives us LA 1280, and 7/8, makes TI 1440. Then, we do the same thing for the octave from the Sun to the Earth, which starts at 768 and descends to 384. That octave’s length is 384. So, we divide the totality of 384 into 1/8, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, and 7/8 and add those answers on to 384. Next, we do the bottom octave from the Earth to the Moon. It goes from 384 down to 192, and has a length of 192. So, we divide its length (192) into 1/8, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2, 2/3, and 7/8 and add those answers on to 192. We have now discovered the mathematics of the three inner octaves that occur between the four fundamental points of Scale-0; and, by so doing, have created what we call Scale-1.

Notice that Scale-1 is a true mathematical scale. That is, every DO doubles to the DO above it, or halves to the DO below it, and every RE doubles to the RE above it, or halves to the RE below it, and so on. 

There is also something else about this scale that is very interesting. When we examine Scale-1, we find it has 22 vibrations and 21 stopinders. Perhaps the Toast of the Idiots, which has twenty-one gradations of reason, is a reflection of the stopinders of this scale. Or, perhaps the Book of Revelation, which consists of twenty-two chapters, is a reflection of the number of vibrations in this scale. That is, if we label the twenty-two chapters in the Book of Revelation DO, RE, MI, FA, SO, LA, etc., and then read the three chapters that are labeled TI, we will find them to be very similar. Then, if we read the three chapters labeled MI, we will also find them to be very similar, and so on. “What happens at RE stays at RE… or was that Las Vegas?”

Many other things can be understood by the 22 vibrations and 21 stopinders of Scale-1; but, that is not what I came to talk about. I came to talk about why people fell asleep and how it is possible for them to awaken.

If the fundamental points, DO, SO, MI and RE, divide the octave into three inner octaves, then, the DO, SO, MI and RE of those three inner octaves must also divide those octaves into three inner-inner octaves as well. Revealing another scale, Scale-2, which creates nine additional octaves. 

The highest octave in Scale-2 is between DO 1536 and SO 1152, and is an octave with a length of 384. If we take 1/8 of 384 and add it on to 1152, we will find the RE of that octave. 1/4 of 384, added on to 1152, will give us the MI, and so on. After we calculate the octave of 384, we do the other eight.

When we are done, we will find there are 66 vibrations in Scale-2. Previously, we found 22 vibrations in Scale-1 and 8 vibrations in Scale-0. If we examine these three scales, we will notice something very interesting. All the DO’s in these scales came from the fundamental points of the previous scale. We started with two DO’s in Scale-0, a top DO and a bottom DO, which, likewise, must have come from some previous scale, let’s call that previous scale, “Scale-X” In between those two DO’s from Scale-X, 6 vibrations were created in Scale-0, the RE, MI, FA, SO, LA and TI.

In Scale-1 there are 22 vibrations. However, the four DO’s of Scale-1 were created as notes in Scale-0. So, actually, there are only 18 vibrations created in Scale-1, the RE, MI, FA, SO, LA, and TI’s, of three octaves.

In Scale-2 there are 66 vibrations (22 + 22 + 22). However, 12 of those vibrations are DO’s; and, as such, were created in Scale-1. This means that only 54 of the 66 vibrations in Scale-2 were actually created in Scale-2; again, all the RE’s, MI’s, FA’s, SO’s, LA’s, and TI’s.

When I first started to study this structure, I wondered… since there are 54 vibrations created in Scale-2 and 54 cards in a standard deck of playing cards – counting the Jokers, if the deck of playing cards was created to represent this structure? Furthermore, I realized that if I took away the 36 Number cards, I would have exactly 18 cards left, which could represent the 18 vibrations created in Scale-1. And, if I took away the 12 Face cards, I would have 6 cards left, exactly what was needed to represent the 6 notes created in Scale-0. Finally, if I took away the 4 Aces, I would have 2 cards left, the jokers, which could represent the 2 notes that came from Scale-X.

So, I saw in a deck of standard playing cards, a symbolic structure that exactly matched the mathematical structure of the octave; and, wondered, if the deck of cards was purposefully created to represent this structure, or if it was just a coincidence? Either way, it did not matter, because the cards matched it perfectly, which allowed me to replace the mathematical structure of the octave with the symbolic structure of the cards. After which, I created the Cards Diagram to make it easier to envision the mathematical structure of the octave. Note: In order to make the structure much easier to study, I placed the three octaves of Scale-1 on separate rows. 

But, before we investigate that symbolism, let’s address one more thing. Gurdjieff told us that each center has three parts, and each part has three parts-of-parts. But, did anyone ever ask why? The answer can be found in the structure of an octave. In Scale-0, there were six notes created between the top and bottom DO’s. This means that the top three notes could very easily represent the three parts of the top DO, and the bottom three notes could very easily represent the three parts of the bottom DO, which would make the SO, LA, and TI the three parts of top DO, and the RE, MI, and FA the three parts of the bottom DO. Wow!

In addition to the two DO’s each having three parts, the notes RE, MI, FA, SO, LA, and TI will also have three parts, because the progression of creation of the RE’s, MI’s, FA’s, SO’s, LA’s, and TI’s in every scale is in multiples of three. That is, the progression of the notes created in each scale is 2, 6, 18, and 54 or, 2x3=6, 6×3=18, and 18×3=54. Eureka! Every note in every scale will always find three notes in the next scale that represents its three parts.

OK. Let’s return to the symbology of the cards. The bottom three notes in Scale-0, the RE, MI, and FA, are represented by the Ace of Diamonds, Ace of Clubs, and Ace of Hearts; they are the three parts of the Scale-X bottom DO, the Extra Joker. The top three notes in Scale-0, the SO, LA, and TI, are represented by the Ace of Spades, the Extra Joker, and the Joker; they are the three parts of the Scale-X top DO, the Joker. 

Then, as we said, the eighteen cards created in Scale-1, are the parts of the six cards created in Scale-0, and, the fifty-four cards created in Scale-2, are the parts of the eighteen cards created in Scale-1. For example: In the bottom row, the 2, 3, and 4 of Diamonds define the Jack of Diamonds; the 5, 6, and 7 of Diamonds define the Queen of Diamonds; and the 8, 9, and 10 of Diamonds define the King of Diamonds. Then, we move into Clubs: the 2, 3, and 4 define the Jack; the 5, 6, and 7 define the Queen; and the 8, 9, and 10 define the King. We do the same with the middle row and with the top row. We now have a very accurate symbology of our centers, of their parts, and of their parts-of-parts.

I chose Diamonds for the Instinctive Center, because diamonds have a four-fold symmetry, that is, four sides. The next progression up, would be Clubs, the Moving Center, which are three-fold. Then, Hearts, with a twofold symmetry would be the Emotional Center. And, finally, Spades would be the Intellectual Center, I envisioned Spades as having a single symmetry, that is, of being an inverted heart with a single point, unified into oneness. The four suits represent our four lower centers, those in the bottom and middle rows. That means the upper row contains our two higher centers, which are represented by the Extra Joker and the Joker.

Those six centers evolved in the following order: Instinctive, Moving, Emotional, Intellectual, Higher Emotional, and Higher Mental. Note: we have probably all heard the idea that there are seven centers. I will now dispel that illusion. There are not seven centers. There are only six centers. Why? Because there is no Sex Center. Sex was mistakeningly made into a center, but it is not a center; it is the entire octave. It is the octave of the duplication. The duplicating principle begins at the bottom DO, and continues to the top DO, where the development of higher being-bodies ensues. In the evolutionary process of life, everything that exists between those two DO’s has been created to enhance the octave of sex. It started when DNA copied itself. After which, came the Instinctive Center, where single celled plants were formed. They developed, added new cards, and got more sophisticated, until they had reached a moment where another brain could be formed; the moving brain. After which, animals began to move. Movement enhanced duplication; because, if you could move, you could find food, and water, and stay alive. Thus having a better chance of producing offspring. The result was microbes, insects, worms, and such, all coming into being.

The next center to evolve, which better enhanced the duplicating principle, was the Emotional Center. Animals began to recognize their own young. They did not have to dump a thousand babies in a stream. They could give birth to just a few. They could protect them, feed them, and give them a better chance of surviving; and, therefore, a better chance of having offspring. Then, after the emotional brain was developed, the intellectual brain was formed. The intellectual brain’s sexual aspect is the ability of animals to find the same place to mate year after year. It is as if they say, “Hey, remember me, we met last year on that island over there, we had sex, and it worked. I will meet you there, on that same island, next year!” Right? That is, once they found something that worked, they repeated it. They went to the same island, found the same stream, built their nest in the same tree on the same branch, arrived at the same burrow, or rendezvoused in the same cave. They realized, intellectually, that if it was successful last time, it may be successful next time.

After which, the Higher Emotional Center entered the picture. Note: Many animals have a Higher Emotional Center, not just human-beings. Animals that have a Higher Emotional Center are loyal; they form groups, and protect their clan. Some even offer themselves as targets to draw predators away. Thus, sacrificing themselves to ensure that their species will survive.

It took four and a half billion years for evolution to create the instinctive, moving, emotional, intellectual, and higher emotional brains. Then, on one fateful day, a sixth brain was created, the brain of the Higher Mental Center. Note: The lowest card in the Higher Mental Center – the mechanical part of its mechanical part – is the Jack of Spades. If you look closely at the diagram, you will see something truly amazing. There is another Jack of Spades in the diagram. The other Jack of Spades is the mechanical part of the Intellectual Center; or, what Mr. G called, “The formatory apparatus”.

I suggest that what happened many, many years ago, when humans first developed reason, is that they unintentionally empowered a lower card with a higher property; causing the mechanical part of the Intellectual Center to become more powerful than all of the other cards that were developed before it, which, likewise, gave the formatory apparatus more power than all of the cards that came after it. When that happened, Atlantis sank! That is, people lost the function of their Higher Emotional Centers. First, they lost their loyalty. Second, they lost their caringness for the clan. After which, they lost the higher skills of their lower centers, and eventually lost their ability to make pyramids, and design intricate structures. They ended up a mechanical apparatus that only possessed mechanical reason. They fell asleep. They were gone, and became nothing other than an automaton, manifested by the automatic part of their Intellectual Center, which, unfortunately, was endowed with the smallest gradation of reason.

I suggest that some people saw this was happening; and, as such, tried to re-awaken their Higher Emotional Centers, to re-awaken conscience. 

But, before we talk about that, I want you to notice something else that is very interesting: The left side of the Card Diagram relates to essence, and the right side to personality. We are born essence, that is, with sensation and emotion, and when we reach the age of responsibility, we are supposed to awaken conscience. From these three essence-parts, we are destined to acquire the three personality-parts. That is, movement, intelligence, and the development of objective consciousness. In the Card Diagram, we can easily see the division of essence and personality. We can easily see the duality of what we were born with vs what we must acquire. We can also easily see how, when reaching maturity, we should have awakened our Higher Emotional Center. But, after many years of giving a higher power to a lower card, that did not happen. That is why schools were created; so that people could regain their right.

If we look at the Higher Emotional Center, we will see that it is made up of the Instinctive, Moving, and Emotional centers, which have become unified; Packaged together, they have nine parts-of-parts: The Jack, Queen, and King of Diamonds; the Jack, Queen, and King of Clubs; and the Jack, Queen, and King of Hearts. Gurdjieff said that if we had enough of our lower centers working, we would be able to contact our higher centers. But, how much is enough? That is, how many of those nine parts-of-parts do we actually have to have, in order to cause the higher center to function?

I developed what I call, “The rule of two-thirds”. It is based on the principle that if there are three forces, and if you can get two of the three forces working together, you will always overcome the third force. That means, in order to have something, you do not have to have it all, you only need two-thirds. We all went to school, right? Did anybody score a hundred on everything? The rule of two-thirds says, “You do not have to score a hundred to become a doctor.” 

If we apply this principle to the nine cards of the Higher Emotional Center, then, how many of those nine cards do we have to have, in order to cause the Higher Emotional Center to function? If you said six, you are correct.  

Fortunately, we all have the three Jacks, because Jacks are mechanical parts, and mechanical parts function automatically. Which means that if we need six cards to awaken the Higher Emotional Center, how many additional cards do we need? If you said three, you are correct. 

I suspect that long ago those who were very wise saw how we lost the function of our Higher Emotional Center, and realized that we only needed three cards to get it back. Thus, they created three traditional ways in order to accomplish that aim. The first way is the way of the Fakir. Fakirs work on their Instinctive Center. They work on sensations. They lay on beds of nails, put their legs in ant heaps, and stand on their toes and fingertips in front of the Temple. By gaining control of their sensations, they are able to pick up the Queen and King of Diamonds, which gives them five cards, and makes them one card short of consciousness. I also suggest that beings who are able stand on their toes and fingertips in front of the Temple, or who can lay on beds of nails, will also attain some development in their Moving Centers. That is, they must have some control over their movements, otherwise, they would jump-up off the beds of nails, or quickly abandon the uncomfortable posture. Thus, they will get what I call spillage into their Queen of Clubs, and will obtain a sixth card; and, perhaps be able to re-awaken their Higher Emotional Center. 

The second traditional way is the way of the Yogi. Yogis do it through the Moving Center, through asanas. body postures, and martial arts. Gurdjieff called the work of the Fourth Way, the work of Haida Yoga. A work consisting of movements and sittings. A work that focused on the Moving Center. Yogis try through dance, movements, asanas, and postures, to develop their Queen and King of Clubs and attain five cards, which leaves them only one card short of consciousness. Fortunately, Yogis get spillage into their Queen of Diamonds, because in order to gain command of movements, they needed to have some control of sensations. Then, they too might become enlightened.

The third traditional way is the way of the Monk. Monks do it through the Emotional Center. They pray, fast, and master self denial. Through these pressures, they develop the Queen and King of Hearts. In addition, from being on their hands and knees for eight hours scrubbing the temple floor, they get spillage in their Queen of Diamonds. Thus, they too get six cards; and, perhaps, are able to re-awaken the Higher Emotional Center.

Then, another way began called, “The Fourth Way.” It is the way of balance. In the Fourth Way, people try to develop three Queens – one in each center; and, in this way acquire six cards.

That is how the three traditional ways came into being, and how the Fourth Way began. 

Unfortunately, for mankind when people acquired the first card of reason – the Jack of Spades, their formatory apparatuses became superior, and they began to lose the function of the higher parts of their lower centers; and, without those parts, they lost the function of their Higher Emotional Center. 

But, fortunately, there is something else revealed in this study. Which is: Remember how Gurdjieff said that higher centers are fully functional, that they are ready to go, and how the Cards Diagram showed that the Higher Emotional Center is made up of the Instinctive, Moving, and Emotional centers, and how, if those lower centers functioned properly, the Higher Emotional Center would come into illumination; and, it too would function properly? This means that the Higher Emotional Center, since it is made of lower centers, does not need to develop any new cards. It just needs to develop what we already have. Therefore, we are very fortunate indeed. 

Additionally, notice that the Jacks, Queens, and Kings are small size cards in the top row, and medium size cards in the lower rows. Do you know what that means? Something in us has to step down in order for something higher in us to appear. Some great subjugation has to take place. Which means, for a higher center to come into existence, the medium size cards must give up their importance of being medium size cards, and become small size cards. The Bible talks about this. It talks about two deaths, a first death, and a second death. We can find those two deaths in this idea of stepping down. The first death occurs when the Jacks, Queens, and Kings step down and become the small size cards, and the second death occurs when the Aces step down and become the small size cards. To complete the journey, we must experience two deaths; first, to awaken our buried conscience, and second, to develop reason and impartiality. 

OK. We started with the Instinctive Center, from there, movement was developed. Then, we were given emotions, and from there, intelligence was developed. Now, if we wake up our conscience, objective consciousness can be developed. 

To me, it is a very exacting structure. It is not just a symbolic thing that I drew down on a piece of paper. It is a replication of an exact mathematical structure, depicted in symbolic form. 

On the other page, which I handed out, is a diagram called Cards Math. On it the cards are printed right next to the math they represent. So, that you can cross reference one with the other. This way, you can better see how it all ties together and becomes one picture. 

After I formulated the structure, I was very fortunate to have been given an exercise that allows the aforementioned stepping down to take place. An exercise that causes the Face cards to take the smaller position. Afterwhich, I wrote the book Gurdjieff: Cosmic Secrets and started guiding visitors on the journey. They came for ten days. We studied my book. Together, we did the math. They worked on their being. And, on the seventh day, they were ready to awaken. So, I gave them the exercise; and, when I did, they awoke. 

The exercise is simply called the objective exercise, because that is what the students, who first awoke, started calling it. It happened thus: It was 1990, at that time I had several students who had all been studying with me for many years; students who made great efforts. That is, if something unfavorable happened in their lives, they could take a breath and say, “I am,” and be free from it. If someone cut them off on the freeway, they did not try to chase them down. But, instead, would gather themselves together and become free. However, they felt something was missing. They knew, from their prolonged contact with me, that I had something that was always in my carriage. That is, I did not have to take a breath and say, “I am”, I did not have to gather myself together in order to become free, I was always free; and, as such, they wished for the same. So, one by one, they came to me and expressed their wish.

Then, on one of my many trips out of town, while sitting in my hotel room, I started to ponder why the Higher Emotional Center was not permanent in them, like it was in me? When I did, the answer came… after which, I was given a simple exercise that would make it so. 

Days later, when I got back to Dallas, I shared the answer with them, and then gave them the exercise. When I did, they awoke. Afterwhich, they started calling the exercise, “The Objective Exercise.” 

Since that day, many other folks have come to Texas; and, when I gave them the Objective Exercise, they too awoke. People are always amazed how, in just 15 minutes, a simple exercise can illuminate the Higher Emotional Center; not for just a moment, nor for just a day, but permanently… and put a passenger in their carriage who never leaves. 

Some say, it is amazing; but, in truth, it is not, it is just law-conformable. Everyone who attains the third state of consciousness will experience a double arrow of attention; one attention on what they are doing, and another attention, watching themselves do it, which they may find amazing. And, after two or three days, when they contact me and say, “It is still there;” that too will be amazing. Then, after a couple weeks go by, and they call to say, “I cannot get rid of this thing. I cannot, not remember myself. Something is always watching me. In fact, sometimes it’s like, if I turn around real fast, I will be able to see it.” I understand how that seems to be amazing. But, as I said, in truth, it is not; it is just law-conformable.

So, needless to say, for many, it has been quite an “amazing journey.”  And, I suggest, for you, it can be a law-conformable journey as well. 

The only obstacle is most people only work their Jacks, their mechanical parts. But, as we have shown, the Fourth Way depends on us developing our Queens, and our Queens only function with attention. In the olden days, it was easier to awaken than it is today; because, back then, life required folks to pay attention. In olden days, they had to run down their dinner, not in their Mercedes, but out there in the woods somewhere. To do that, they had to maintain great attention in their Moving Centers; the harshness of life, automatically, provided that for them. That is, they had to walk out of a cave, or climb down from a tree, and use their sensations. They had to smell everything within miles, and see every rustle in the bushes. The higher parts of their centers were developed by, as Gurdjieff said, the bumpy roads of life. Thus, life itself kept their carriage well greased; but, over time, the established mechanical reason, made them lazy. They did not have to chase down their dinner anymore, they just had to walk into a restaurant and order it. Somebody else had to chase it down, or rather, grow it on some farm, or keep it in some pen. People stopped using the emotional parts of their centers, and no longer needed to develop their Queen of Diamonds, Queen of Clubs, or Queen of Hearts. Life was too convenient; and, as a result, people ended up becoming just automatons… functioning with no attention. But, I suggest that if you once again bring attention to your sensations, to your movements, and to your emotions, you will develop six cards. Then, with the objective exercise, that is, with a proven way to have your Face cards step down, you can once again illuminate your Higher Emotional Center, and awaken. Afterwhich, your lives will actually begin, because with a permanent passenger in your carriage, you will always have an impartial observer. 

So, I implore you all to make great efforts and try to understand the mathematical structure of the octaves of the Universe; and, as Wim Van Dullemen told us the other day, as Harry Mulisch put it, “It is all octaves”; or, as Gurdjieff said in his chapter called The Relative Understanding of Time:

“It is necessary to notice that in the Great Universe all phenomena in general without exception wherever they arise and manifest, are simply successively law-conformable ‘Fractions’ of some whole phenomenon which has its prime arising on the ‘Most Holy Sun Absolute.’

“And in consequence, all cosmic phenomena, wherever they proceed, have a sense of ‘objectivity.’

“And these successively law-conformable ‘Fractions’ are actualized in every respect, and even in the sense of their involution and evolution, owing to the chief cosmic law, the sacred ‘Heptaparaparshinokh.’

Thank you, for your interest and for your attention. In closing, I will add one more thing: To those of you, who would like to learn more about the laws of World-creation and World-maintenance; or, to those of you, who would like to awaken their Higher Emotional Centers, I will see you in Texas…. 

Are there any questions?

Session 10, Questions, Answers, and Contributions

Richard Liebow: I was thinking of the story in the second chapter of In Search of the Miraculous. Mr. Ouspensky is visiting Mr. Gurdjieff, and sees him down on the floor observing this Persian carpet mender. Gurdjieff is trying to buy that special hook and the guy won’t sell it to him because it is much too valuable. It is the essence of his way of earning a living. The next day Mr. Ouspensky comes to the same place and sees Mr. Gurdjieff down on the floor and he’s fashioned a hook. He’s filed it out of the blade of an ordinary penknife, and therefore learned all the secrets of carpet mending.  And, God damn it Russ, I want that fifteen-minute exercise, and I want it now; right here, right now, we will give you another fifteen minutes!

Russell Smith: Any other questions?

Richard Liebow: Touché!

Russell Smith: You are welcome.

Wim Van Dullemen: Russell, thank you very much, you always inspire me a lot. You have done a great job and I can tell you why I think that you have done a great job. I read an old book in which I saw, maybe the first mathematical construction of how the Universe was created. Socrates explained it to his guest, and he explains that the Creator took one piece here and then took 1/8 there, 1/64 over there. After a long explanation of how the Creator divided the Universe, even Socrates himself ends his explanation by saying, “And then, thank God, it was all over!” And I want to thank you. You take it down very precisely, sir. And now comes my question. I read your book and you have based all the calculations on the divisions as given in piano tuning. That means your calculations are based on what they call the Whole Tempered Division of the Octave. Now, I don’t know if you know the book from Jamie James, Music of the Spheres; he tries to recalculate the original calculations as given by Socrates in the Timaeus. He also indicates that in doing the recalculations that Socrates did, as they are explained, went wrong here and there. But I didn’t have the time to simply make all the calculations, although I wished I had had the time. I think by the way that you are more gifted than I am in this field. But I wondered one thing, very strong, after I read your book, that is, if one would make the calculations out of what Socrates said in the Timaeus, would they stand the same as if you make the calculations out of the diatonic division as it was formulated in the 1700’s?

Russell A Smith: That I do not know; I have not seen those calculations. I have, however, experimented with many different systems, and they all seem to indicate the same structure.

Frank Brzeski: One thing that has always interested me, is sometimes he uses the word brains and sometimes centers; how do you see that?  That’s one question. The second question is, how do you relate these to the bodies, if that’s relative here?

Russell Smith: Very good question Frank. First, we will tackle brains and centers. Ouspensky says in The Psychology of Man’s Possible Evolution that a brain is a center. We call them brains. We call them centers. We call them functions. They are all the same. Man has six brains. He has six centers. He is divided into three stories, so we can look at him as a three-level being or three-story factory. Your other question was how do the brains relate to man’s bodies. There are three being-bodies. One relates to the lower story, another to the middle story, and the third to the upper story. The physical body relates to the lower story. The body Kesdjan, or Astral body, relates to the middle story; and, the highest being-body, or Mental body, relates to the upper story. The completion of the Mental body gives us a fourth term, the Causal body, but it is not really a body. Remember how we needed four fundamental points to define the three inner octaves. Here, too, we need four names to define three bodies. The same thing happens in an octave. There are only seven stopinders in an octave, but eight notes are needed to define them. That is, we always need to have one more point than what we are defining.

Keith Buzzell: In the perspective of the cards, what happened to Atlantis?  Why did it sink?

Russell Smith: Because the Jack of Spades, the lowest card in the Higher Mental Center, imparted reason to the other Jack of Spades, that is, to the mechanical part of the Intellectual Center – the formatory apparatus. Reason made the formatory apparatus superior to the Queen and King of Spades in the Intellectual Center, and to all the cards of the Higher Emotional Center. The moment we obtained the first inkling of reason, we imparted to the formatory apparatus a greater power than all the cards that followed it or came before it. Thus, Atlantis, the Higher Emotional Center, slowly sank, because it is composed of the higher parts of the lower centers, which were no longer being used. 

Richard Liebow: It seems that even in today’s world we are getting worse.  We are not using reason any more. Do you see a danger in the fact that we are investing our reason in computers and artificial intelligence, Russell?

Russell Smith: Yes, most definitely Richard. People are so dependent on such things that they don’t even know how to do math anymore. That is, if they do not have a calculator in their hand. So, you are right Richard, about the decline of reason. I would also like to mention an idea about kundabuffer, which was not discussed the other day. Kundabuffer represents the fact that nature shoves everything to the bottom. That is how she survives. No matter what it is, she wants to make it mechanical as quickly as possible. She wants to push it down to the Jacks. Today, we learned why we have to push it back up to the Queens; and, to go against kundabuffer. That is, we have to go against nature. We have to go against God. We have to try to push things back up and re-raise our Atlantis! Nature wants to make it mechanical; whereas, we must make it intentional.

Wim Van Dullemen: That is exactly the same principle as described by Harry Mulisch.

Russell Smith: Thank you Wim… and thank Harry Mulisch.

Wim Van Dullemen: Exactly the same.

Russell Smith: So, that is how I see it. Nature’s intentions are to push things down. which is good, because when I woke up this morning I did not have to learn how to walk all over again. It would have been tough crawling to the bathroom! So, I am glad that nature makes things mechanical. However, that does not help me in reaching the higher DO. Remember, there are two DO’s, one at the bottom and one at the top. Every animal, and all evolution, up to the moment of reason, serves the bottom DO, serves the duplicating principle, serves sex. Do you realize that you are the only species on the face of the earth that can choose not to have sex? You are the only species that has the opportunity to serve the DO at the top. All the species before you have no choice but to serve the DO at the bottom. However, you can intentionally decide to put yourself under the emanations and possibilities of the DO at the top. You can push up against nature and develop your Queens. The cards that are required to illuminate your higher center, open-up the possibility of creating a permanent passenger, and allow you to attain a higher state of self-consciousness. Then, in the morning when you wake up, there will be two of you there, you, and the observer of you. That is what this journey is all about.

Bert Sharp: As you are really saying and as Wim Van Dullemen is saying from Harry Mulisch, with the development of the intellectual mind we, because it is so powerful and so useful for our survival, no longer bother to develop feeling and even moving, right?

Russell Smith: That is correct.

Bert Sharp: And then the big tragedy, of course, is that the intellect has become so powerful it is using us and we are no longer able to use it, and this is the road to the end.

Russell Smith: Yes. When we look at the mechanical part of the Higher Mental Center, we see it is the Intellectual center. So, for the Higher Mental Center, intelligence is an automatic thing. Therefore, intelligence functions for reason like the formatory apparatus functions for the Intellectual Center, AUTOMATICALLY. Which is tough, because that means all we have is automatic reason, which comes without attention. That kind of Reason may help us to invent computers; but, will not serve us in our movement towards the DO at the top. That is, of being able to complete the octave, develop something higher in us, and withstand the shock of death. 

Bert Sharp: Intellect is probably selfish, right?

Russell Smith: Yes. And, I think we all know these things. I am not telling you anything new. I am just putting it into a schematic we can look at logically, law conformably, and with mathematical certainty. One that makes perfect sense. After which, you can say, “Well, of course, Fakir, Yogi, Monk, and the Fourth Way – sensations, movements, emotions, and balance. Then comes, getting six cards and experiencing the great subjugation that all religions talk about. I got it… show me how!”

Sy Ginsburg: Your permanent passenger that you have developed through this exercise, you said is there when you wake up in the morning. You also happened to mention to me outside this room that it is there during sleep. I would relate that to lucid dreaming. My question is: Does this permanency exist during the transition from, let’s say, relative consciousness to sleep and then from sleep to relative consciousness; so that, it is not really a question of waking up in the morning and it is there, but that it is there all the time?

Russell Smith: Sy, that is a good question. The third state of consciousness is not noticed when I first fall asleep; it is only there when I am dreaming. However, since it is there the moment I open my eyes, it must always be there, otherwise, it wouldn’t show up until after I’ve had my coffee. So, since it is there when I awaken; and, since it is there when I am dreaming, it must indeed be permanent. In addition, if I awaken, while I am dreaming, and if I like the dream I was having, and let’s say, I have to get up and go to the bathroom, I can arrest the dream, and then start it back up when I go back to bed… right there, where it left off, never missing a beat.

Ocke de Boer: When you are in bed and you are dreaming, or sort of half awake, and you move in your bed and you suddenly lose your dream and cannot get back to what you are dreaming…but when you go out of the bed and back from the toilet, and want to continue your dream, you never know what you would have been dreaming if you would have stayed in bed.

Russell Smith: Perhaps. But what has been happening to me is that I know that I am dreaming; and, as such, I have a control over it. That is, I can direct it or alter it. So, there I am, dreaming; and, if it is a pleasant dream, I can allow it to continue, and if it is not a pleasant dream, I can change it. 

Russell Smith: If there are no other questions, I again implore each of you to bring attention to all that you do, develop those Queens, get your six cards; and, I will see you in Texas!

Thank you for listening.

If you would like to know more about the subjects and exercises we have been exploring, including the book and guide that underpins it all, which is also available for PDF download, you can do so, by going to thedogteachings.com.

That’s T H E D O G teachings DOT COM.

There, you will be able to obtain Mr. Smith’s other diagrams, listen to other talks, as well as learn all the mathematics that supports them, and much much more.

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

That’s thedogteachings.com

Goodbye until next time.