The Editors, Author at Fourth Way Today

Cosmic Laws of the Universe

The Law of Three and the Law of Seven can be studied both outside oneself, in external phenomena, and within. The enneagram symbol is a representation of both these two cosmic laws.

by The Editors

New Publication: A Question of Presence

A Question of Presence is a practical text on work in a Fourth Way school. The author dedicates it to those looking for real change, noting the content comes from his four-year-old Facebook group for Italians on the Fourth Way. The book reworks the themes, debates, and comments that arose among the group’s participants.

by The Editors

Quotations on the Changing Sense of Self

Towards a More Real ‘I’ – the Changing Sense of Self through Work in the Fourth Way What is this changing sense of self that can come in the work, and how does it relate to a real ‘I’? Gurdjieff: Liberation is the aim of all schools, all religions, at all times. This liberation can indeed be […]

by The Editors

Fourth Way Authors on Movement and Sleep

How do our patterns of movement and sleep interact? Seminal Fourth Way authors G. Gurdjieff and P.D. Ouspensky describe how unnecessary movement and sleep–our old patterns–pose obstacles for one seeking consciousness. P.D. Ouspensky, from A Record of Meetings: The Role of the Moon in Mechanical Movement and Sleep At present all our movements depend on […]

by The Editors

Sharing the Light in our Work with Others

How do we work with sharing the light with others? The Wish to Prolong Presence The human machine is a wonderful invention. It is a machine that can produce consciousness. That consciousness has degrees. It can be closer or further away from what Gurdjieff and Ouspensky called the second state, or day-dream state. Some higher […]

by The Editors

Rodney Collin on Sharing the Light

From Rodney Collin: We are connected with everyone we have met or talked to or felt, because we have given them part of ourselves. Whatever is strongest affects whatever is weakest. A crowd can be on the verge of panic and one strong person, by projecting confidence, can stop it. In a group of people […]

by The Editors

Ouspensky on The Three Lines of Work

Three Lines of Work in a School The following outline is from Ouspensky’s The Fourth Way: The first line is work on oneself: self-study, study of the system, and trying to change at least the most mechanical manifestations. This is the most important line. The second line is work with other people. One cannot work by […]

by The Editors

Extending One’s Work Beyond Oneself

Stuck in the First Line of Work You recently learned about the idea of self-remembering and tried it for the first time. You had a taste of awakening to higher states and realized that this was who you really wanted to be. But something is not quite right. The time that elapses between your efforts […]

by The Editors

Quotations on Higher Mind

While Fourth Way authors rarely speak of the gods, Ouspensky and others wrote on the role of higher mind–‘C influence’–upon human life. Angels announced this mystery of eternal life, from the beginning of the human race, through certain signs and sacraments suitable to the times, to those capable of hearing it. St. Augustine A […]

by The Editors

Quotes on Unity and Multiplicity

Quotations from Fourth Way authors Gurdjieff and Ouspensky on unity–and our innate multiplicity. Acknowledging Plurality Man has no individual I. But there are, instead, hundreds and thousands of separate small I’s, very often entirely unknown to one another, never coming into contact, or, on the contrary, hostile to each other, mutually exclusive and incompatible. Each […]