Blog - Page 29 of 32 - Fourth Way Today

Will, Consciousness, and Being

Will, unity and the many I’s In the Fourth Way, a student learns to understand the difference between will and mechanicality. What is the unifying principle to overrule the many parts of our being? The work is upside down and backwards to life. To life, “freedom” means being able to follow the many ‘I’s the […]

by David Tuttle

Knowledge – Human and Divine

– What do we have of human knowledge and divine knowledge? “Chickens cackle and dogs bark — This is what men know. Although they may have great knowledge, They cannot explain whence they have evolved. Nor can they surmise with ideas what they will become.” – Chuang Tzu Such is human knowledge. For awakening, we need […]

by Suzanne Patterson

Creating Being and Will

How do we create being, and what is will? P. D. Ouspensky said, Only when one is conscious does one have unity, will, and the ability to love. In my own experience, working with the Fourth Way for half a lifetime, moments of will come from outside of our normal sense of self. They come […]

by The Editors

Forging “Real ‘I'” – the Story of Pinocchio

The Story of Pinocchio The tale of the puppet Pinocchio who becomes a real boy begins in Tuscany. A carpenter named Master Antonio has found a block of pinewood to carve into a leg for his table. When he begins, however, the log shouts out. Frightened by the talking log, he gives it to his […]

by Walther Sell

Forging a Sword of Being – Quotations from Esoteric Traditions

Forging the Sword – Quotations A sword is something to protect the body; here it means the tool of wisdom to become enlightened and immortal, the means to become a sage. This is what is called the restored elixir; there is no “sword” other than the restored elixir. This means restoration of the original innate […]

by Ernst Newman

Forging One’s Being

Recently on a visit to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York I wandered into a room full of Katanas. Katana are Japanese samurai swords, exquisite objects that seamlessly integrate lethal utility and beautiful design. I read a little about the labor-intensive process used for forging these blades. It occurred as an obvious analogy […]

by Jelalludin Rumi

Cooking a Soul – The Fairy Tale of the Chickpea

Rumi on the Transformation of a Soul through the Story of the Chickpea In the collected sayings of Rumi from the Mathnawi III, 4159-421, he describes how a chickpea is consumed by fire to become another kind of food altogether. Look at a chickpea boiling in the pot, leaping up when it feels the fire. […]

by Walther Sell

Consistency and Unity – Forging One’s Being

The Fourth Way is very clear in expressing the idea that man is, psychologically speaking, not one but many; he doesn’t have unity. How can unity be forged? “Man has no permanent and unchangeable I. Every thought, every mood, every desire, every sensation, says ‘I.’ And in each case, it seems to be taken for […]

by Klaus Labuttis

Dealing with Contradictions

How to deal with contradictions on the path to awakening? The Fourth Way describes the lack of unity of man, and his many contradictions. What challenge does this fact pose on the path to awakening? “Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself.” – Walt Whitman These words from Walt Whitman have long […]

by William Page

Observing the Many I’s – the Lack of Unity

Are we unified? Or are we a multiplicity? It is the greatest mistake to think that man is always one and the same. A man is never the same for long. He is continually changing. He seldom remains the same even for half an hour. ~ G. I. Gurdjieff, writing on the multiplicity of man […]