Now unless we have some kind of aim the Work cannot influence our lives for then we are not surrounded by the Work, but remain open to all the influences of life. We can compare aim in the Work with something inside which we stand for the time being. If we remember our aim in the midst of life we feel at once that two quite different things are acting on us—namely, life, which will always make us behave mechanically and this aim in which we are standing for the moment, which prevents us from behaving entirely mechanically. This is giving acknowledgement and so power to the Work.
It may be only a transient experience but yet it is a very genuine one, and although it may eventually fail we at least get the taste for a moment of what it might mean to stand within the influences of the Work, and so have a certain power over the influences of life acting on our mechanical Personality. This is why the Work emphasizes so much the necessity of having some kind of aim. It may be even a short aim for a few moments, a few hours, but that is better than nothing. Aim is on many scales. Now to nourish one’s aim one must ponder the Work and here mental exertion is necessary. Aim can never become mechanical. Aim must be something that is consciously kept going through new supplies of thought and insight.
Maurice Nicoll, “On Thinking in a New Way” in Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky (Vol. 3, p. 907 ).
Working Note: For Today’s Inner Effort
Orientation: Hold a conscious aim against the flow of life.
What to Notice:
A reaction takes you completely—no separation.
Inner talking justifying what you feel or do.
Rushing and forgetting any aim.
A brief moment where you remember—and something stands apart.
The immediate loss of this when identifying returns.
Work Effort for Today:
Set a definite aim for the next hour.
In a reaction, stop inwardly and recall it.
Do not follow the reaction for a few seconds.
Sense the body and hold the aim at the same time.
Remember: Keep the aim present or life will take you completely.
