The Seven Psychic Factors, Part IV

Given that Gurdjieff didn’t mention the various roles of these additional psychic functions in the effort to become a Godlike creature, it seems worthwhile to engage in a brief discussion about the nature of inner development in regard to their action.

Gurdjieff always maintained that a man can do almost nothing until he he acquires real “I” —  Being. Once this is achieved, the further lawful development of his organic individuality depends on the purification of Being; because Being inevitably acquires impurities and wrong data through the course of its development. Unless one becomes aware of one’s Being, one doesn’t notice the difference between data which is dead wood, holding one in place or even dragging one down, and data which corresponds to further development. In the metaphorical sense Being is the point at which the wood of one’s life becomes a flotation device rather than an anchor. Wood is a very apt substance for this metaphor, because — like our past – it is dead material, yet it remains to either present itself as an obstacle blocking the path or a tool to be used in moving forward.

In a notable coincidence, while I was working on this essay this morning, a friend of mine called my attention to this passage and asked me what the word Aiëssirittoorassnian means. The few notes I have on its derivation come from Ted Lebar’s dictionary of words from Beelzebub’s Tales, and indicate roots in Armenian words meaning loving or fond of and donating or gift-giving. 

The general sense of it is that one undertakes, within the whole of one’s presence, a loving and generous reevaluation of one’s entire life and being. 

It’s impossible to fully appreciate this question without a deeper examination of the subjects raised in the chapter on Hypnotism (see pages 568 – 570). 

“And the sacred cosmic substances required for the coating of the highest being-body, which sacred being-part of theirs, as I have already told you, they call soul, can be assimilated and correspondingly transformed and coated in them, just as in us, exclusively only from the process of what is called ‘Aiëssirittoorassnian-contemplation’ actualized in the common presence by the cognized intention on the part of all their spiritualized independent parts.”

Taking the principle of remorse of conscience into account, this process is by turns — and in its whole — nonjudgmental, compassionate, loving, and sorrowful. It consists of sensing the entirety of one’s life and Being within the octave context of all the notes in the enneagram: one’s material body, one’s desires, one’s power, one’s being, one’s flaws, and one’s inherent developed wisdom, at whatever level that rests. 

These six components blend themselves into a single whole “absolute” Do – we become, as Gurdjieff intimates elsewhere, the God of our inner world—whether whole or fractured, stupid or smart, hateful or loving. It is only in the conscious embrace of this wholeness that we can mirror the action of God’s love within the created universe; and we were all along meant to be just such mirrors. This inner world of our Being is what it is and must be unconditionally loved as it is. To do so is a form of taking responsibility for one’s life, one’s fate, and one’s karma. It is, in fact, a form of the remission of sin and the expiation of karmic debt, because by assuming God’s role, we discharge a responsibility to manifest His love which makes such remission possible.

We should note that what Gurdjieff describes here is directly related to remorse of conscience — the critical octave force at the note La representing purification — and corresponds to an inward action of the human being which mirrors God’s loving inward action towards his creation. 

This action is a preparation for the understanding of what real love consists of.

The beginning of this work can only take place once one has first become responsible for oneself by completing the triad on the right hand side of the enneagram and reaching the note Sol. Then remorse of conscience enters the picture; a human being becomes a candidate for purgatory. And it is in the deep and loving — as well as sorrowful – contemplation of one’s entire nature, the whole thing, everything exactly as it is, that contributes to the development of the soul. 

Many planetary and solar influences impinge upon and support this process; and one who becomes sensitive to these forces will be able to take advantage of the help that they send.

Remorse of conscience, in other words, belongs to the spiritual or left-hand side of the enneagram; and perhaps Gurdjieff did not mention the characteristics, actions, or exercises related to this side of the diagram because the people he was working with weren’t prepared to absorb this information. His reference in the third talk to “very complicated” exercises perhaps alludes to the difficulty of work in this area.

with warm regards,

Lee

Lee van Laer is a Senior Editor at Parabola magazine.