Welcome to a series of podcasts based upon the teachings of Russell A. Smith, a man who discovered an objective and accelerated way of awakening our innate higher consciousness, the seats of conscience, pure reason, and impartiality. Russell’s work expands upon the Fourth Way teachings of George I. Gurdjieff and deciphers much of what Gurdjieff left behind.

In this episode, Russell guides us through the transformative "Three-fold Attention" exercise, a powerful practice that develops our capacity for multiple simultaneous awarenesses. By methodically establishing three distinct types of attention - counting our breath rhythm, sensing our environment, and maintaining an emotional state - we discover our innate ability to hold multiple conscious experiences at once.

This practice challenges the common belief that we can only focus on one thing at a time, demonstrating how different centers of our being can operate independently yet harmoniously. As we progress through counting breath, adding sensory awareness, and finally incorporating emotional presence (such as gratitude), the exercise reveals hidden capacities within ourselves. It culminates in a profound moment where all three attentions merge back into a unified state of presence, offering a transformative experience of expanded consciousness and self-discovery.

Exercise for the week to focus on or to remember about or to learn about or to recall or to regain shall be the threefold attention exercise. Very cool, very important exercise to try and bring man into multiple attentions, these really capable of having. Most people think that man can't have one attention and he can't do anything else because his attention is occupied on that one thing, but that's not true. Anybody who's had a song stuck in their head all day long knows that you can have a song going on and still be able to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich even with the song going.

So we want to create attention in our centers. So I took just three figure exercise where we told us to take our fingers and tap one and count the rhythm and then sense in the second one and feel later in the third one. I tried that exercise hundreds and hundreds of times and I just had no success. Okay, a couple times I got it but it was like so difficult, and then one day my hire said if you can't do that you can't do this three finger thing. So it said do it this way, and it gave me this exercise. It said find something to count this rhythm, and since breathing is a pretty constant rhythm and doesn't stop, you know it goes on and on and on, that I decided I would count the rhythm of my breath. Later on I worked it into the rhythm of my walking, but we start with the rhythm of my breath.

So I sat down in a quiet comfortable place, originally I did outside because I had the outside sounds of nature to be there, and I moved into the second part of the exercise. But in the first part I sat down, closed my eyes and started counting. Then I realized it was very important that I brought everything in me to count. A lot of students make the mistake of after doing several successful threefold attention exercises for months, then they forget to bring everything to the count and they try and just do it with the center that's supposed to count. Okay, moving center you start counting the rhythm and they forget about the other guys, and then the other guys are thinking about something or having associations and emotions or sensation going on and they corrupt the count and prevented from being strong and the exercise from being powerful.

So it's important to say okay come on guys everybody we are going to count everybody over on the count, and I start counting the rhythm of my breathing. And it doesn't matter how I count the rhythm, I could count one on the inhale and two on the exhale or one on the exhale and two on the inhale, or I could do the whole exhale inhale there's one or inhale exhale is one and so on. In fact sometimes I double count, I do one on the inhale and one on the exhale that's kind of like a confirmation that I did one one one two two, so I kind of hear myself confirming the number and remember where I'm at and sometimes I lock in a little bit better to that.

But it doesn't matter which way you count it, what's important is that you bring everything in you to the moment of counting some rhythm, in this case the rhythm of my breathing. And so I start and I start my count and I try and do it with all of me so we're all there counting, and I'm counting and I'm counting and I'm counting. There was times in the past when I would want to say put my attention on my counting and I'd be walking up the property to get the mail and I get almost up there and I'd forget to count, I'd forget what number I'm on. I would get the mail and see what the mail was and then I'd forget to count on the way back, but if I bring all of me to count then it doesn't get corrupted and I won't forget.

And I'm going to get to that moment I want to be counting whether it's in the 50s or 60s or 70s till I have a moment that says oh my god you are here counting, you know what number you're going to say next, you know what number you said a minute ago, you are here nothing is going to deviate you from this count. There's almost a sense of I could do this for years forever and never forget my place. I am locked in, I call it locked in to my count. I am here, I am counting, I know where I'm at, I've got all my attention on this counting, it's not going to be weak, I'm not going to forget the number I'm on, wow I'm here.

And when I get to that moment whatever number it may be 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 100 then I go okay good we're locked into the counting now let's try for a second attention, let's try to bring in the instinctive center and ask it to sense. So I pull the instinctive center off of the guys that are counting and I say okay sensations instinctive center, well these guys are counting 84, 84, 85, 85 and counting the rhythm you come over here and try to keep an attention on a sensation.

Now since my eyes are usually closed usually the next dominant sensation is the hearing, that's why I like to do this outside because I got the sounds in nature, the birds chirping, the water running over the spillway, the noises of nature, bugs and frogs and crickets and cicadas and wrestling trees. I got a constant sound going on outside that I can focus on, or maybe if I'm in a city I got the sounds of traffic, or if I'm in a house maybe I got the sound of the air conditioning motors or the refrigerator motor or a ticking clock or something, this constant that will be a constant sensation to come in and register with my ears. And if there's not anything good for my ears to focus on then maybe I can pick up on the smell, a certain odor in the air, an industry close by with kind of a funky smell that's permeating the area that I can concentrate and hold attention on that smell.

But I want to find something that's going to be constant like the bird singing or the motor going or the clock ticking that I can say sense and hear, sense and hear that. Now I leave all the other centers over doing the counting 89, 90, 91, 91 and I bring the second attention on the sensing center, the instinctive center, and he now is engaged with having an attention on the sense on the sounds on the birds. And again I try to get it to a moment where I can establish that second attention, a second attention that's locked in that's strong, and I have a moment maybe at 130 or 140 or wow I'm doing both this is pretty cool. I'm still counting, I haven't missed a breath, I know I'm every number and I've got this other attention that's here in every tick of the clock, here and all the motors of the air conditioning, here and all the sounds of traffic you know smelling the odors that's in the air from that factor.

I have a second attention established and now there's two of me there, one counting and one sensing, and when I lock in and get the second one established and have that amazing moment of realization that this is pretty incredible I've got two separate attentions going and they're strong they're independent. I didn't know I had that kind of power to do these two things, wow that's pretty cool, and then I try to create a third attention.

I go back to the guy that's counting because the emotional center is still with him and I say okay mr. emotional center you come off the count and you come over here. And so I leave the moving center by himself now counting the rhythm of my breathing, I have the instinctive center now holding attention on the sound of the clock or the birds or the traffic or the motors, and I try and bring a third part of me my emotional center in to feel, feel create an emotion you know full one of your best moments exercises out or objective fair moments exercises out bring in emotion bring in a feeling bring in something that creates and generates emotion and you know Jimmy Cagney Danson now in the stairs at the end of Yankee Dudeldani.

And if I can't conjure up an emotion then I say well try gratitude, everybody's got something that can be grateful for. So think of things that you're grateful for, think of what gratitude is, think of what it means to have a house and doors and you're alive and have food and live in a nice neighborhood never car, there's reasons to be grateful for your mother your father. Gratitude is a great emotion to have if you don't have another to focus on it, but you want to try and get a third attention, a third attention that feels, feels something and generates a feeling in you, a feeling of niceness and warmth that you almost want to smile while you're sitting there with your eyes cause counting the rhythm of your breath and listening to the sound of the birds and now you've got a third attention going on in you, an attention of a feeling and of an emotion of a gratitude.

And if you do this and do it good then maybe another 40 or 50 countings you'll be there locked into three attentions and it'll be amazing. And in your inner world your intellectual puny weak guy that's always thought he did everything will be in the background seeing these three things happening and you're like oh my god I didn't know I had this kind of power look at this. There's a guy that's counting and he's not missing any numbers and there's a great attention on the sensing of the sound of the birds and I got this amazing feeling going on grateful for my my life and my education and my job.

And I try to establish three separate independent attentions in me, one for the moving center, one from the instinctive center and one from the emotional center. And for me it's happened many many times that when I get all three going and they're all locked in and they're all strong suddenly my breathing changes, it changes oh my god well I didn't change it what happened. It starts breathing real fast and real shallow, I mean the breaths are coming in so fast and so shallow I couldn't count them with my intellectual center but my moving center it's 30,000 times faster than my intellectual center can count them. I can hear him going by the way he's not missing a number because he's quicker than my mind, but the body will sometimes take over the rhythms to produce the ability to do what you're asking it to do just like if you decided to run down the road and went outside and started running.

I guarantee you your breathing would alter your heart beat would alter everything would change because the body would say oh you're doing this you're running okay you're going to breathe this way okay your heart's going to be this fast it would take over automatically. So I don't want you to say okay Russ said I'm supposed to have be breathing fast so let's start breathing that now, don't do that, let the body take over the rhythm if it needs to oh very once in a while people aren't breathing real slow and that happened but for most it's an increased breathing to supply the body with the fuel of the accumulators to maintain these three separate independent attentions with great strength in us.

And so if you're breathing changes and alters don't fight it okay that's what's happening let it go on keep the guy moving center on the count keep the instinctive center here in the birds and keep the gratitude or whatever emotion you chose going on in the emotional center and keep sitting back in amazement with your intellectual center at the fact that you can do three independent things with three incredibly strong attentions that don't lose their count that don't lose listening to the sound that don't you know falter and get weak on holding and the great emotion and get all three of them established and if your breathing rhythm changes so be it but see how long you can hold it maybe for another 50 counts or 60 counts just so you get to that moment where you see all three are locked in and that's wow that's separate separated myself into three parts i have these three diverse attentions and a fourth attention of my intellectual mind who's witnessing it all happened without him oh my god is i'm doing this without intellectual right.

And then when i get there i say okay good job guys thank you so much everybody that's done their part now if i have the ability to hold you all separately doing your separate parts counting sensing feeling let's try to bring you all back to the same moment of doing the same thing and then i end my three-fold attention exercise with an i am and i bring all three of these attentions back to one attention the tension is sensing the presence of myself the presence of all of me present to myself and now all three guys who are strong and independent all wish back together and go i am we are us is and i have this incredible rush internally of a moment of presence in myself and then i nod my head and smile and thank my machine for its participation and that's the three-fold attention exercise.

Summary

This exercise outlines a profound meditation practice centered on developing multiple, simultaneous attentions. At its core, it challenges our assumptions about human consciousness and attention, revealing our capacity to maintain several distinct awarenesses at once. The exercise progresses through three distinct phases, each building upon the last: first establishing a strong counting attention with the breath, then adding sensory awareness, and finally incorporating emotional presence.

The practice begins with fully committing all centers to the counting of breath rhythm, continuing until this attention becomes "locked in" and unwavering. Only then do we add the second attention of sensing our environment, typically through sound or smell, followed by the third attention of maintaining an emotional state such as gratitude. Success might take many attempts, but patience is part of the process.

This exercise offers a practical path to expanded consciousness, revealing capacities we might not have known we possessed. Through regular practice, it deepens our understanding of attention and presence, ultimately leading to the discovery that we can function at a higher level of awareness than we typically experience. The process often culminates in spontaneous physiological changes, such as altered breathing patterns, as our body naturally adapts to support these multiple attentions.

Like any meaningful practice, its power lies not in perfect execution but in sincere engagement and regular repetition, allowing each attempt to build upon the last while maintaining an attitude of patient self-discovery. The final integration of all three attentions back into a unified "I AM" state offers a profound experience of presence and wholeness.

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Thank you for listening.

If you would like to learn more about Russell’s work on how you can attain to objective consciousness with a proven and reliable method of awakening based upon simple rules and laws that govern this universe, then visit our website thedogteachings.com and acquire Russell Smith’s book, The Blueprint of Consciousness - An Accelerated Path to Awakening, which is also available as a PDF download.

There, you will also be able to listen to other talks, access transcripts of these podcasts, diagrams, animations, supporting videos, and much more.

But most importantly, you may fulfill your true potential, which is your right, and it no longer takes a lifetime to achieve.

As a reminder, we have two free ZOOM classes every Sunday to assist you; one is for purchasers of Mr. Smith’s book, and the other is for those who have additionally obtained the Master Exercises and the Double or Nothing Exercises to awaken the Higher Mental Center. See under Resources/Zoom Classes for more details.

At the thedogteachings.com. 

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Goodbye, until next time.