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.
Today, I will share with you a conversation between Russell and one of his students, about how asteroids and comets brought life to the Earth, the foolery of Dowsing Rods and Ouija Boards, the importance of making things your own, as well as how to become a conscious remarkable person.

Let’s begin:

Russell: Good evening, sir.

Student: Good evening, Russ.
Last night I watched a television program about asteroids and their influence on world history. It was quite worthwhile. They think that we could be hit by one at any time.
Russell: Indeed.

Student: Maybe that’s the unifying aspect that people need, in order to make them want to work on themselves.
Russell: I hope not. Instead, let's show them how to do it consciously.

Student: Yes, that would be better.
Russell: However, impacts from outer space did get us started, as they brought the volatiles and water, but let’s hope that they do not bring us death.

Student: They brought the water?
Russell: Yes, sir, they did.

Student: It wasn’t on earth?
Russell: That’s correct. We did have water at one time, but when we became a molten planet, it all evaporated. However, after we cooled, asteroids and comets brought us the water we have today.

Student: Because they were made of pure ice?
Russell: Well, some were, but even those that weren’t, contained water.

Student: How come there is no water on the moon then?
Russell: The moon does have ice at its poles. However, it is not large enough to have an atmosphere, and thus, has no water in liquid form.

Student: So it just evaporated?
Russell: Yes, it did. You need to have an atmosphere in order to keep the volatiles and water. But having an atmosphere is not a guarantee. Venus has a thick, toxic atmosphere filled with carbon dioxide and yellowish clouds of sulfuric acid that trap heat. As such, it is the hottest planet in our solar system. Thus, it too has no water.

Student: So asteroids and comets were how we got the oceans?
Russell: Yes, sir.

Student: It’s not that it rained down primitive lifeforms that filled the water, and brought life to earth?
Russell: No, sir, it is not. Life started here. That is, asteroids and comets may have brought the water, volatiles, and chemicals which are necessary for life, but life started here.
Earth was the perfect place for things to mix, and since water is a polar molecule, it made for a great solvent. That is, water has 8 electrons in its one Oxygen atom and 2 electrons in its two Hydrogen atoms, as such, it kind of looks like a Mickey Mouse Club hat on a head; the head side is negatively charged, and the two eared side is positively charged. Thus, it’s great at pulling things apart.

Student: Why does it have 8 again?
Russell: Because that is the atomic number of Oxygen.

Student: Its characteristics?
Russell: Yes, sir, if an element has 8 protons, it has 8 electrons, and as such, it is oxygen. If it has 9, it is Fluorine.

Student: Oh, right, the Periodic Table.
So water is pretty much necessary for life?
Russell: Yes, sir, it is. Water is the mother of life. That is, without water there would be no life. Even when we crawled out of the ocean, we took the water in the ocean with us.

Student: In our bodies?
Russell: Yep. That is why a woman’s placenta fluid is almost identical to sea water.

Student: Yes, as a doctor, I know that to be true.
Russell: And our blood is salty as well.

Student: That’s why they give saline solutions to patients in the hospital.
Russell: Indeed, isotonic to the blood.

Student: Yep.
Russell: So yeah, we carried the ocean with us, which is why we were able to leave it in the first place.

Student: Our group here was out in the desert not too long ago, trying to find water with a Dowsing Rod.
Russell: They were?

Student: Yes. We used a branch from a Willow tree but didn’t find any water. It was supposed to dip down when it was over water.
Russell: That’s what people say. Of course, I saw a TV show where they had this guy that was supposed to be an expert dowser, who showed how his divining rod dipped down when he held it over 10 large jugs of water which the crew had placed all over the stage. After which, the crew went into a field that was behind the television studio, dug 20 holes, and placed those jugs in 10 of them, right under the surface. Then, they offered the guy $1,000,000.00 if he could find the 10 jugs of water, but he couldn’t find even one.

Student: Really? I thought dowsing was legitimate.
Russell: No, it’s not. If it was, he would have gotten the money.
Dowsing, as well as other things like that, are the mystical things that keep men asleep.

Student: Now that you put it that way, that’s probably true.
Russell: Indeed. It is much like Ouija Boards. Have you ever used one of those?

Student: No.
Russell: They seem to be quite amazing but are a spoof.

Student: How do they work?
Russell: Well, you have this board with numbers and letters on it, and you have this little thing that has felt tipped legs, that everyone puts their fingertips on, which then moves around the board and answers people’s questions.

Student: Really?
Russell: Yep. It is quite freaky. Everyone swears that they are not making it move.

Student: We ought to do that in our group.
Russell: Well, you could. However, I am familiar with ideomotor response, as in the past, I have used pendulums with people. Have you ever seen those?

Student: Yes, I have.
Russell: So most likely, someone’s subconscious mind was spelling out the answers. Besides, if they did work, everybody who has ever used one would have won the lottery.
Okay. Now that we have done the mysterious, do you have any Aphorisms for me?

Student: I have three.
Russell: Great! Go.

Student: First one: Like what “it” does not like; Second: The highest that a man can attain is to be able to do.
Russell: Perfect.

Student: Third: The more difficult…
Russell: [ticks his mouth] Try again.

Student: The worse the conditions in life the more productive the work, always provided one remembers the work.
Russell: You missed three words. The worse the conditions ‘of’ life, not ‘in’ life, and …always provided ‘you remember’ the work, not ‘one remembers’ the work.

Student: Okay, I got it now.
Russell: Good. Say it to me again.

Student: The worse the conditions of life the more productive the work, always provided you remember the work.
Russell: Very good.

Student: You know, you think you know it. You really think you know it, but then when you say it, you botch it.
Russell: Indeed. However, mistakes that get corrected, help one in the future to remember where they occurred, and by remembering them, one is able to do things perfectly. That’s the way things happen. The difficulty is, if we deviate from the memory work just a little, then someone else is going to deviate from it a little bit more, and eventually, we will be back to Dowsing Rods and Ouija Boards.

Student: Yeah. An interesting thing according to Gurdjieff was that some of the oral traditions were kept pretty much right-on. It was reported that Gurdjieff read somewhere about the translation of some of the Gilgamesh stuff; and, as he remembered it, it was word for word as the Ashok sung it when his father took him to that lake in Persia.
Russell: Yes, the one where his father told him about the flood before the flood.

Student: That’s the one.
Russell: Unfortunately, we no longer pass things on like that, which would require folks to learn them by heart.

Student: Yes, that’s true. There was a period of time when most men could do that. Then, it all went downhill.
Russell: Yep. Atlantis sank. And I don’t mean some continent sank, I mean that our Steward ceased to function. Thus, it sank!
You have heard me explain many times about how when reason was imparted to the Jack of Spades, the mechanical part of the Intellectual Center, man quit developing his other centers, because, with mechanical reason in his Formatory Apparatus, he reigned supreme over all the other animals.

Student: Yes, I have.
Russell: Because of that, he no longer needed to chase down his dinner, instead, he could fashion a trap. With reason, he no longer needed to worry about being attacked by a wolf, as he could erect a barrier or carry a weapon.
Hopefully, because of my work, there will be a conscious resurgence in mankind, and he will start paying attention again. After which, Atlantis will rise from the depths.

Student: Yeah. There is so much mechanicalness now. We think that we are unique, whereas, in reality, we are basically nothing.
On another front, we had a fairly good meeting on Wednesday. It opened with a centering exercise, which went quite well, and then, someone read something. Finally, in the second hour, we did what we call pondering-in-the-circle. It is not a big deal really; it is something we do all the time. It is done on the basis of knowledge but is mostly speculation. A form of speculating about a goal or a definition of something which is unclear. It starts with pondering. The whole crew sits in a circle and things go back and forth, back, and forth, until an appropriate answer has been found.
Russell: That sounds a lot like brainstorming.

Student: Yes. It’s the same thing.
Russell: Did y’all ponder as to why you do not know the Aphorisms yet!!

Student: [laughter]
Russell: And, as to why you do not know them after ten years?

Student: Well, probably because most of us do not feel that they are necessary.
Russell: Ah. Yes, that is why most of you will remain asleep.
Unfortunately, man does not want to do what is necessary, instead, he wants to do what is mysterious. Which is quite a shame.

Student: So, learning the Aphorisms by heart will incorporate that knowledge into me?
Russell: Yes. That is the only way it will become your own. As a doctor of anesthesiology, you should know that. That is, you had to learn anesthesiology by heart! And, if you want to be a musician, you will have to learn music by heart as well.

Student: That’s very true. I never really thought about it that way. I HAD to learn the formulas and techniques of anesthesiology in order to perform surgery; I couldn’t just run over to some text book!
Russell: Nor do you know a professional musician who has to use sheet music, or a great singer who has to have a copy of the words in front of them, so that they can sing the song.

Student: Yes, I agree wholeheartedly.
Russell: So, if you don’t make things your own, they are not your own.

Student: Not even if you know where they are?
Russell: Correct, not even if you know where they are.

Student: However, some people are experts at that.
Russell: That’s true.

Student: They know where everything is.
Russell: Well, that’s the beginning of things, but knowing where they are, does not make them your own. I am sure that knowing where things are, does have some value, but making them your own has even more.

Student: I agree.
Their argument would be, “Well, we know the Aphorisms, not word by word, but by context.”
Russell: Super, make sure you tell them to pass that context on to the next generation, so that they too can pass the context of that context on to the generation that comes after them. As such, after many generations, there will be no Aphorisms at all. Yee-Haw, we eventually might get back to just Dowsing Rods and Ouija Boards.

Student: [laughing vigorously]
Russell: If we are not intentional, we have no chance in Hell of ever completing the journey.
That’s the law.
I know, because I have seen the journey completed by so many people, so many times.
Like your Neurosurgeon buddy, who recently started to do remarkable things. It began by him memorizing one Aphorism a week, just one, which took him 38 weeks. Every Sunday, he would call me and recite a new Aphorism. Then, when he finally finished all 38, he said, “Russ, I am sad.” I said, “Why, sir?” He said, “Well, because I am done memorizing the Aphorisms, that’s why; and that has been a lot of fun.” I said, “In that case, would you like to memorize something else?” He said, “Most definitely!” So I said, “Alright, do the Toast of the Idiots.” So he did. Surprisingly, it only took him a week to do so. Whereas before that, it took him a whole week to memorize just one Aphorism. Then the week after he memorized the Toast of the Idiots, he said, “Now what, Russ, I did that?” To which, I said, “Alright, next week, memorize the Obligolnian Strivings.” Which, by gum, he did. Then he said, “Okay, now what?” So, I said, “How about the Christmas work song for next week, and the week after that the Twelve Essence Classes.”

Student: Where are those?
Russell: They are in Making a New World by Bennett, and also in the Christmas Work Song, which I gave you a copy of when you were here: heat, simples, crystals, soil, plants, and so on.

Student: Yeah, I remember those. They make up the Pentads, don’t they?
Russell: Yes, sir, they do.

Student: So, what did he learn, both the song, and words associated with the Pentads?
Russell: Yes, he did. He learned the Nineteen Things I Saw When I Sought Reality song last week, and this week, he’s learning the Twelve Essence Classes. As such, he is now memorizing things in chunks. That is, after he realized how valuable memorization was.
In addition, each week, I also ask him to give me several Aphorisms, or to recite the Toast of the Idiots, which he then does.
And he loves it!
Last week he said, “God, I never did the Work before I met you, Russ. But after you made me realize that I needed to make this stuff my own, it is having a very real favorable effect on me.” To which I said, “That’s law-conformable, sir.”
I must say that since he came here and awoke, he has become quite a conscious remarkable man.

Student: Yes, I have seen that in him as well.
Russell: Make no mistake, very soon, you will become a conscious remarkable man too. After all, you already know three Aphorisms: well, two and ⅝.

Student: [laughing] Right! Two and ⅝.
Russell: So next week, you will add three more?

Student: Yes, sir, I will.
Russell: You know, let three patients die, but never miss your three Aphorisms.

Student: [laughing] I know the fourth one already: Remember yourself always and everywhere.
Russell: That’s correct.

Student: And, let me try the fifth.
Russell: Okay.

Student: The fifth is: Remember you come here having already understood the necessity of struggling with yourself – only with yourself. Therefore thank everyone who gives you the opportunity.
Russell: Well done!

Student: Why is it ‘everyone’ and not ‘everybody’?
Russell: I don’t know. I wasn’t there when Gurdjieff wrote it. That is, I wasn’t in on some of his original decisions. As such, I just take them the way he gave them to me and memorize them that way. I mean, what you propose might sound better. But for an exact study an exact language is needed. Isn’t that what Gurdjieff said?

Student: Yes, it is. That is exactly what he said.
Russell: So, why are you not making more efforts to have the exact language that is needed?

Student: I promise you, from this day forward, I will.
Russell: I believe we had this discussion before. The one about having structured thoughts. That is, there is no way to prove that you can think deliberately, unless you have something memorized, only then can you prove that you are capable of having deliberate thoughts.
It is not guesswork after that, it is perfected work.
I mean, can you imagine a concert violinist that is supposed to be playing Mozart’s Symphony No. 9, who gets up on the stage and doesn’t know the notes? As such, they would have to guess, which most likely would produce a cacophony.

Student: Yes, it would.
Russell: Wouldn’t they have to learn Mozart’s Symphony No. 9, note for note, in order for others to call them virtuosos?

Student: Yes, they would.
Russell: So, why don’t you become a virtuoso?
Folks used to be virtuosos.
In the olden days, you could watch actors like Audrey Hepburn and Spencer Tracy perform a scene that took twenty minutes to film; one, where the camera never had to change. Which happened because they never missed a line. That is, they had them all memorized. Whereas today, the actors say four words, and the editors have to switch to a camera that shows the back of their heads, so that they can dub in the lines that the actors failed to memorize.
I miss the old days, where the dancers would dance the whole dance, and the fighters would fight the whole fight without making a mistake, to where the editors never had to switch to a different camera in order to cover up their mistakes.

Student: Me, too.
Russell: So yeah, we are backing up. Why? Well, because we no longer make things our own. That’s why.

Student: That’s so true, Russ.
Russell: I mean, any fool can read. But to make a thing your own, to where you don’t have to read it, is even better. That shows intentionality, it shows effort, and it shows an organization of thought.

Student: Yep.
Russell: And furthermore, when you read, you have to concentrate on the words you are reading. Whereas, if you had them memorized, you would no longer have to concentrate on the words you are reading, but rather, on how you are saying the words you have memorized, and as such, you would say them with force and meaning.
So, yes, I am a firm believer in making things our own, as I have watched many times how ‘making things our own’ has changed the lives of so many.
However, some balked at the beginning. That is, they kicked and screamed and said, “We don’t want to have to do that, as that would mean that we have to make efforts.”
Why is it that everyone wants to have consciousness handed to them in a box?

Student: [laughter] That’s true.
Russell: But it doesn’t work that way. Even Gurdjieff said, “What would be the value of our efforts if we could be pulled up by our ears?”
Again and again we were told that mechanical development was not possible, it has to be conscious. That is, nature brought man up to a certain point and left him to develop on his own, which he then must do consciously. Unfortunately, in this day and age, most people want to have it all without making any efforts to make it their own.
How sad.
Don’t be that way.

Student: I confess, Russ, I am that way. However, after listening to your words tonight, I really want to be different. So, from today forward, I too will begin memorizing things in chunks, as such, I will have the 38 aphorisms memorized by next week, and the DOGTALES memorized the week after that!
Russell: Yee-Haw!
That, sir, will qualify you to receive the Master Exercises and the Double or Nothing Exercises. After which, you just might become an objectively conscious remarkable man!
That being said, I will let you go, so that you can get that started.
Good night, sir.

Student: Good night, Russ, and thanks.

That concludes today’s podcast.

Thank you for listening.
If you too would like to become a conscious remarkable man, simply visit our website thedogteachings.com and acquire Mr. Smith’s book, The Blueprint of Consciousness, a 520-page hardback, also available as a PDF download.
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But most importantly, you too just might become an objectively conscious remarkable man!
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Thanks again for listening.

Goodbye, until next time.