1. Introduction: Seeing the Whole, Not Just the Swing

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Welcome to The Dog Teachings Podcast, where we explore profound and practical teachings that offer a clear and accelerated path to higher consciousness.

I’m Gary Eggleton, and today, we take the next step in our journey—one that shifts how we experience movement, extremes, and the passage of life itself.

In our last episode, The Threshold to Stability – How to Stop Losing Presence, we explored the final illusion of needing to hold awareness in place. We saw that presence does not need effort to sustain itself, and that true stability is not something we create—it is something that remains when we stop interfering.

But what happens when life moves?

What happens when you are thrown into momentum, into intensity, into the full swing of existence?

Because life does not move in a straight line. It moves like a pendulum.

Every action creates its opposite.
Every peak leads to a fall.
Every moment of relief contains the seed of the next struggle.

This is the Extended Experience of Extremes—the reality that relief is always temporary, that highs and lows are bound together, and that escaping one extreme only guarantees the return of the other.

But what if the pendulum was never the problem?

What if freedom is not found by stopping the swing, but by seeing through it?

What if presence does not just exist in stillness, but also at the apex, the pivot, and the moment of greatest acceleration?

Today, we explore:

•         Why life oscillates between opposites, and why both extremes are part of the same force.
•         Why true impartiality is not about detachment, but about existing in all states at once.
•         How the point of greatest acceleration is where we are most unconscious—but also where presence is most needed.
•         What Gurdjieff meant when he said, “If you go on a spree, then go the whole hog, including the postage.”

By the end of this episode, you will no longer be moved by life’s swings—you will see the entire movement.

Let’s begin.

1. The Pendulum of Extremes – How We Mistake Movement for Change

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We assume that when we move away from suffering, we are making progress.
That when we reach a moment of relief, we are free.
That when we change direction, we have escaped.

But life does not work this way.

Life moves like a pendulum.

Every relief is already pulling toward its opposite.
Every retreat is already setting up the next advance.
Every swing away is still part of the same motion.

And yet, we don’t see this.

We believe we are choosing change when, in reality, we are being carried by the pendulum’s arc.

We believe we are surrendering, when in fact, we are applying effort under our own terms—trying to control how the pendulum moves.

This is deep life weariness—the unconscious exhaustion of moving back and forth between states.

Seeking relief.
Seeking escape.
Seeking something better than where we are now.

But the moment we feel relief, the momentum is already shifting. The cycle is beginning again.

Gurdjieff said:

“There is a cosmic law which says that every satisfaction must be paid for with a dissatisfaction.”

This law governs everything.

• You push yourself to the limit, then crash into exhaustion.
• You chase intensity, then withdraw into stillness.
• You indulge in pleasure, then swing toward discipline.
• You crave deep connection, then retreat into isolation.

Each state contains the seed of its opposite.

Each movement sets up the next.

And so, we mistake movement for change.

We assume that because we feel different, something has actually shifted.

But has it?

Or are we simply at another point in the same arc?

The Universal Pendulum: How It Plays Out in Everyday Life

This pattern is not just theoretical—it appears in every part of human experience.

• We seek freedom, but when completely unbound, we feel lost and crave structure. When structure becomes too rigid, we rebel against it, yearning for freedom.
• We pursue knowledge, absorbing information until we feel overwhelmed, then seek simplicity and direct experience. When that simplicity feels limiting, we return to complexity.
• We chase success and achievement, but upon reaching goals, often feel hollow and long for contentment. When contentment arrives, we grow restless for new challenges.
• We desire connection and vulnerability, but when emotionally exposed, we retreat to self-protection. When isolated behind our walls, loneliness drives us back toward connection.
• We seek comfort and ease, but prolonged comfort breeds boredom and meaninglessness. We then pursue difficulty and challenge, only to exhaust ourselves and long again for rest.

This is not a coincidence.

This is not personal failure.

This is the mechanical nature of human experience.

Most people do not realize they are caught in this cycle—they only feel the pull to shift directions, assuming the next movement will bring relief.

And because they never step outside the cycle, they search for ways to end the swing.

They believe that if they could just find balance, they could be free.

But this too is an illusion.

Why the Pendulum Feels Inescapable

There are four key reasons why we remain trapped in this cycle:

1. The Mechanical Nature of Our Reactions
   • We respond to stimuli rather than choosing our state deliberately.
   • As Gurdjieff would say, we "sleepwalk" between positions.
2. Our Identification with Temporary States
   • We mistake fleeting conditions for permanent solutions.
   • When we feel one way, we assume it will last—until it shifts.
3. The Inherent Incompleteness of Extremes
   • No single state is whole; each one contains its opposite.
   • The moment we push too far into one, the return force begins.
4. Our Fragmented Awareness
   • We cannot hold opposing truths simultaneously, so we swing between them.
   • Instead of seeing the full movement, we only see where we are now.

And so, we search for a way to stop the motion entirely.

We try to find balance, thinking neutrality is the answer.

But even this is an illusion.

The Three Ways We Stay Trapped in the Oscillation

Most people experience life through one of three unconscious responses to this swing:

1. Avoidance – Trying to hold still at the pivot
   • Many think the answer is balance—staying in the middle, avoiding the swing altogether.
   • But resisting movement is still reacting to it—and that resistance itself becomes an extreme.
2. Attachment – Clinging to one side
   • Some people chase one pole—seeking constant success, pleasure, or control.
   • Others become trapped in the opposite pole, stuck in suffering, guilt, or self-punishment.
3. Management – Trying to control the swing
   • Believing we can dictate when and how the movement happens is the most deceptive trap.
   • This is not true surrender—it is just effort under another name.

And so, we spend our lives fighting the pendulum, without realizing that we are never actually leaving it.

The Only Way Out: Seeing the Whole Movement

So, what is the solution?

Not resisting the pendulum.
Not seeking stillness.
Not controlling the swing.

The way out is seeing the entire movement.

🔹 Surrender fully to the movement—let it take you all the way to the apex instead of retreating too soon.
🔹 Resist the turn back—when the moment of habitual relief-seeking arrives, stay at the edge instead and observe.
🔹 Recognize that seeking a calm, unmoving place is just another cycle—another pendulum waiting to swing.

And then—something shifts.

You realize that the pendulum was never moving you—you were moving within it.

You see the full cycle at once, rather than identifying with just one side.

You begin to understand that true freedom is not in stopping the movement, but in no longer being controlled by it.

And when you see that, truly see it, the illusion of its control begins to dissolve.

Next Step: Living Fully, Not Partially

This realization leads us to a deeper question:

If stopping the swing is not the answer, then what is?

Gurdjieff gave us a clue when he said:

“If you go on a spree, then go the whole hog, including the postage.”

He was not advocating indulgence.
He was not advocating restraint.
He was teaching full engagement—full experience.

In the next section, we explore why most people do not actually live their experiences, but hold back—hovering between states rather than stepping fully into them.

And we will see that the only way to see through an illusion is to go all the way into it—consciously.

1. Gurdjieff, Going on a Spree, and the Cost of Partial Living

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Gurdjieff once said:

“If you go on a spree, then go the whole hog, including the postage.”

At first glance, this might sound like an invitation to indulgence, to losing oneself in extremes. But in reality, it is a teaching about seeing through the illusion of experience by fully stepping into it, rather than hovering between states.

Most people do not actually live their experiences.

• They indulge, but feel guilty.
• They retreat, but long for engagement.
• They commit to discipline, but resent the restriction.
• They embrace freedom, but feel unsettled by uncertainty.

They are never fully at one end or the other.

Instead, they hold back. They try to escape discomfort without actually going through it.

This is partial living.

It is an attempt to have an experience without fully stepping into it.

And Gurdjieff’s point is clear:

If you are going to experience something, experience it completely.

Not indulgently. Not recklessly. But fully, consciously, and without avoidance.

Only then can you truly see it.

How Partial Living Keeps the Pendulum Swinging

Most people live in a constant state of hesitation—never fully in, never fully out.

1. They seek discipline, but resent the effort.
   • They enforce strict rules on themselves, but secretly long for release.
   • Eventually, they give in to indulgence, then feel guilt and return to restriction.
2. They seek indulgence, but carry guilt.
   • They allow themselves pleasure, but never without the weight of judgment.
   • This guilt pulls them back toward self-control—until the cycle begins again.
3. They seek stillness, but find it unbearable.
   • When they finally retreat into peace, their mind begins searching for the next thing to do.
   • They realize they were never fully in stillness to begin with—they were waiting for the next movement.

In every case, there is no real experience—only reaction to the last swing.

This is why people repeat the same cycles over and over.

Because they never actually see the experience.

They are too busy reacting to it.

Everyday Manifestations of Partial Living

This isn’t just a theoretical concept—it happens in daily life, all the time.

• Work and Exhaustion: Some push themselves to the limit, only to crash and collapse into avoidance. True engagement means being fully present in effort and fully present in rest—rather than escaping from both.
• Relationships and Avoidance: Someone longs for deep connection, but the moment they feel vulnerable, they pull away. They oscillate between longing and retreat, never fully experiencing either.
• Spiritual Work as a Means of Control: Meditation is used to reduce stress rather than to awaken presence. Self-observation is used to perfect the persona rather than transcend it. Even detachment is used to avoid feeling rather than to feel more completely.

These are all subtle ways of remaining asleep while believing we are awake.

Gurdjieff warned against this.

He saw how people would enter the Work believing they were seeking transformation, but what they actually wanted was a way to outmaneuver suffering, rather than to confront it directly.

The Hidden Danger: When Spiritual Work Becomes Another Form of Avoidance

Even our efforts toward awakening can become a trap when motivated by the desire for comfort rather than truth.

• We use meditation to avoid stress, rather than to meet life fully.
• We use self-observation to strengthen identity, rather than to dissolve it.
• We study esoteric knowledge to feel superior, rather than to recognize our limitations.
• We practice detachment to numb ourselves, rather than to open ourselves to experience.

And this is why true spiritual work requires conscious suffering—the willingness to stay present with discomfort rather than immediately seeking its opposite.

Only by fully seeing an experience can you be free of it.

Only by fully understanding the oscillating motion of the pendulum can you stop being moved by it.

Gurdjieff’s Radical Teaching: Enter the Experience Fully

Gurdjieff did not teach indulgence.
Gurdjieff did not teach restraint.
He taught conscious experience.

If you are going to engage in something, engage in it fully—with awareness.
If you are going to withdraw, withdraw fully—with awareness.
If you are going to experience pain, be present in it fully—without resistance.

🔹 If you work, work fully. If you rest, rest fully. If you engage, be fully engaged.
🔹 The mistake is trying to be in both states at once.
🔹 If you go on a spree, go the whole hog—because only then can you see it clearly.

The way out of unconscious cycles is not by suppressing one end of the pendulum or clinging to the other.
It is by seeing both ends completely and realizing they were never separate.

Because when you fully experience something—without resistance, without judgment—it no longer controls you.

The Shift to Impartiality: Holding All States at Once

This is where impartiality begins.

Because true impartiality is not indifference.
It is not avoidance.
It is not balance.

It is the ability to hold all positions at once—without rejecting any of them.

This is freedom from identification.

This is the threshold between mechanical reaction and true awareness.

And this is where we turn next—how impartiality allows us to experience all sides of life simultaneously, rather than being trapped in any one moment.

1. The Role of Impartiality: Holding All States at Once

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Most people misunderstand impartiality. They believe it means detachment—a cold neutrality, a refusal to engage, a distant state where nothing touches you.

But real impartiality is not about stepping away from life. It is about stepping fully into all of it, simultaneously.

Russell A. Smith describes impartiality as the ability to experience all perspectives at once—without leaning toward one, without rejecting the other, without needing to choose.

This is what ends the pendulum’s unconscious pull.

Not avoiding one extreme.
Not chasing the other.
But holding both fully—without being owned by either.

This is not balance in the way most people think of it.
This is not choosing the middle ground.
This is seeing the entire movement at once and not being moved by it.

Why Most People Cannot Hold Both Perspectives at Once

People are trapped in the pendulum’s oscillation because they identify with only one side at a time.

1. Identified with One Side
   • When someone is attached to an extreme, they believe it is the only truth.
   • If they are joyful, suffering feels unreal.
   • If they are suffering, joy feels impossible.
   • They are trapped in one half of the experience, unable to see beyond it.
2. Swinging Between Sides
   • Some people try to be objective, but they are still moved by the swing.
   • When one extreme fades, they identify with its opposite—without seeing the larger process.
   • They experience both ends, but never at the same time.
3. Holding the Whole Arc at Once (Impartiality)
   • True impartiality is not being stuck at one pole, nor being unaware of the other, but experiencing both together.
   • It is standing outside the swing and seeing the entire movement.
   • You do not resist happiness, nor do you deny sorrow—you see them both as part of the same force.

This is freedom from fragmentation.

It allows you to see everything, feel everything, but not be pulled by anything.

And this is why impartiality is the threshold before true awakening.

Why We Fail to See the Full Picture

The reason we cannot hold both perspectives at once is because we are conditioned to see reality in dualistic terms.

• Good vs. bad.
• Success vs. failure.
• Happiness vs. suffering.
• Expansion vs. contraction.

We label one side as positive and the other as negative—and then we seek one while avoiding the other.

But every extreme contains the seed of its opposite.

• Too much success breeds complacency, which leads to failure.
• Too much failure breeds resilience, which leads to success.
• Too much comfort leads to stagnation, which creates discomfort.
• Too much suffering leads to surrender, which creates peace.

What most people fail to see is that these are not opposites at all—they are two halves of the same whole.

To transcend this cycle, one must stop seeing life as a series of victories and losses—and start seeing it as a single, unified motion.

This is impartiality—not a detached neutrality, but a full engagement with all sides at once.

How Impartiality Ends Reactivity

Most people react to life as if they have never been here before.

• The same arguments, the same frustrations, the same disappointments—each time, they are surprised, as if it were happening for the first time.
• But if you already know the pendulum moves, why not prepare?

In THEDOGTeachings Russell A. Smith describes two powerful ways to train impartiality and free yourself from identification:

1. Two Ends of the Stick Exercise

Whenever you enter an experience, prepare yourself by imagining both extremes.

• What is the best possible outcome?
• What is the worst possible outcome?
• What happens when you realize neither is actually real?

This practice prevents unconscious reactions—because you are already aware of the full spectrum of what could occur.

If you are expecting great success, you will not be overinflated if it happens.
If you are expecting failure, you will not be crushed if it happens.

Most things in life land somewhere in between—but because you have prepared for both, you are unaffected.

This is training in neutrality—not avoidance, but full preparation.

1. Insulate Yourself Exercise

Insulating yourself against known triggers.

In life, we repeatedly encounter people or situations that trigger reactions.

• The family member who always criticizes.
• The co-worker who always undermines.
• The recurring situation that always sparks frustration.

Most people react as if it were happening for the first time—every time.

But if you already know it’s coming, why not prepare?

• Before stepping into the situation, mentally rehearse what will happen.
• See it unfold exactly as you expect—watch yourself remain neutral.
• Then, when it happens, you will already be outside of its influence.

What knocks one “I” off its perch to be replaced with another fragmented self, another “I”, is simply a surprise. Remove the surprise, and stay present to life as the same “I.”

This is how impartiality is trained—not by withdrawing, but by stepping in with full awareness of all sides.

The Final Shift: Presence at All Points, Simultaneously

When impartiality is developed:

• You stop swinging between reactions.
• You stop taking any single position as “the truth.”
• You stop believing that one side of experience is real, while the other is illusion.

At this point, something fundamental shifts.

You begin to see all positions simultaneously.

You are no longer trapped in one state, or blindly moving between them.

Instead, you hold the full arc of experience—without being controlled by any part of it.

This is the threshold of true awareness.

And now, we take the final step: seeing through the pendulum itself.

1. The Still Point Within Motion: Moving Beyond the Illusion of Opposites

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At this stage, something profound begins to emerge.

You are no longer stuck at one apex of the pendulum—believing joy is permanent or suffering is endless.
You are no longer blindly swinging between them, feeling relief only to be pulled back into discomfort.
You are no longer trying to control the movement, thinking you can slow it down or force it to stop.

Instead, you see it all at once.

And then, something even more radical happens—you realize that the pendulum itself is an illusion.

The Pendulum Exists Only When You Are Identified With One Side

• The reason the pendulum feels real is because we believe in one side at a time.
• When we are in pleasure, we forget pain.
• When we are in pain, we forget pleasure.
• We believe each extreme is the full truth—until we are thrown into its opposite.

But when we develop impartiality, when we stop identifying with one moment or another, something happens:

The pendulum stops moving us.

We see that the swing was never separate—the extremes were always part of the same motion.

At that moment, we recognize something critical:

Presence exists at all points of the pendulum—simultaneously.

• It is at the apex of joy.
• It is at the apex of suffering.
• It is in the pivot, the stillness that allows the motion.
• And it is even in the moment of maximum acceleration—the place where most people are least conscious.

This means presence is not balance.

Presence is not escape.

Presence is not avoiding movement.

Presence is being all of it.

And once you see this, the illusion of opposites dissolves.

The Pivot: More Than Stillness—The Force That Allows Motion

Many people assume the pivot is just a resting point, a neutral position.

But the pivot is not passive—it is the reconciling force that makes the pendulum move.

• It is the reason the swing happens at all.
• It holds both extremes within it.
• It is still, but it allows motion.

Most people experience life as if the pivot does not exist—as if they must be in one place or the other.

But the moment you recognize the pivot as an active position, everything changes.

• You are no longer waiting for life to stabilize.
• You are no longer hoping for one side to last forever.
• You are no longer trying to stop the swing.

Instead, you exist in all states simultaneously, without attachment to any of them.

This is real freedom.

The Ship That Does Not Sink: Why Presence Remains Unmoved

Imagine a ship on the ocean.

• The water rises and falls beneath it, waves crashing, tides shifting.
• The ship moves with the ocean, yet it does not become the ocean.
• It floats—it is not submerged.

Now, imagine another ship—one that is sinking.

• The difference? Water is getting inside.
• It is no longer separate from the movement—it is consumed by it.

This is the difference between presence and identification.

When presence is intact, life moves around you, but does not move you.
When identification happens, you take on what happens externally—you let the ocean inside.

And so, the work is not to stop the waves.

The work is to make sure the ship remains whole.

This is true stability—not being unaffected by life, but existing through all of it, fully aware, fully present.

The Threshold of Total Awareness: Presence at Maximum Acceleration

Now we come to the final realization—the point of greatest acceleration.

Most people think of presence as stillness.

But the real test of presence is not stillness—it is full awareness even at the fastest moments of change.

• The pendulum moves fastest as it swings through the middle—this is the moment of greatest unconsciousness.
• This is where most people react instead of act.
• This is where momentum takes over, and choice seems to disappear.

But a fully present being is aware at all moments—not just at the still points, but even at the moments of maximum motion.

• They are present at the peak of joy and do not attach to it.
• They are present at the depth of suffering and do not flee from it.
• They are present in stillness, but do not seek to remain there.
• And they are present even when life moves at full force—without being thrown off-center.

This is true impartiality.

This is true presence.

This is the end of being moved by the pendulum.

You no longer need to stop the swing.

Because you have become the whole movement.

1. Conclusion: Seeing the Whole, Not Just the Swing

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Everything up until now has been about understanding movement—why life oscillates, why relief is always temporary, why the effort to escape one side of the pendulum only reinforces the other.

At first, this realization is unsettling. It challenges the belief that there is a way to step out of suffering permanently, that progress means moving forward rather than back and forth. But when the whole arc is seen, something changes.

There is no longer a need to resist one extreme or the other. No longer a need to avoid the swing. No longer a need to try to force stillness.

Because presence is not found at one apex, nor at the other, nor even in the middle. Presence is the whole movement. It does not reject the peaks of experience, nor does it seek the safety of the center. It exists at all points simultaneously.

This is the final threshold—the shift from being moved by life to seeing the full movement.

The illusion was never the pendulum itself. The illusion was believing that one side was real while the other was an illusion. That one experience was progress while the other was a setback. That suffering was something to be escaped and joy was something to be held onto.

But they were never separate. They were always one motion.

The moment this is seen, the pendulum no longer moves you.

It does not disappear, nor does it need to. But its force no longer controls perception. The pivot—the reconciling force—now becomes the foundation, not just the middle point.

Like the ship floating on the ocean, you remain above the water, no longer taking on the waves.

This is what it means to be present through all things—not just in stillness, but in movement. Not just in peace, but in conflict. Not just in understanding, but in confusion.

And at that point, the search ends.

There is no longer a question of where presence is, no longer a question of whether one should be in stillness or in motion. There is only life as it is, moving in all directions, and awareness that does not turn away from any part of it.

This is the threshold of total awareness.

And once it is crossed, there is no return to partial seeing. The illusion of division dissolves, and all that remains is presence—not in one place, not in one state, but through all things, always.

1. Closing & Call to Action

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And that’s it.

No more searching.
No more trying to control the swing.
No more mistaking movement for progress.

Just presence—through all things.

Nothing to escape. Nothing to force. Nothing to resist.

Presence is not found by stopping the pendulum, nor by choosing one side over the other. It is the whole arc, the full experience, held without being moved.

If this exploration has resonated with you, and you’re ready to go deeper, visit TheDogTeachings.com.

You’ll find:

• The Blueprint of Consciousness—a step-by-step guide to full integration.
• Full podcast transcripts for deeper study.
• Practical exercises to refine and strengthen awareness.
• Live Zoom classes every Sunday, where we explore and refine these principles together.

Because this isn’t about understanding. It’s about being.

And if you’ve reached this point, you already know:

Nothing was ever missing.
Nothing needs to be held.
Nothing needs to be done.

Just life, as it is.

Completely here. Completely whole.

Thank you for listening to The Dog Teachings Podcast.

Until next time.