To borrow a word from my first psychological teacher, Dr. Jung—he said: “We project on to others what we cannot accept in ourselves.” Yes—you all know the jealous person who, not accepting his or her own thoughts of infidelity, projects them and accuses only the other person. Is this not the simplest example of what “practical psychology” means—and therefore of the necessity of self-observation and the gradual accepting of what is in oneself? Unfortunately, it is a very difficult thing to become aware of what we project on to others, in the way of suspicion, slander, accusation, offendedness, dislike, hate, and all the rest.
There is a machinery of buffers, attitudes, associations, negative emotions, pictures, considerings, vanities, and false personality, that is very powerful and serves to keep us asleep in the grip of mechanical life, from which so few have the courage and clear thought to awaken at all costs. In other words, we do not see ourselves without long effort. We remain not conscious of ourselves, unless we work. We project on to others what we should see in ourselves, if we retain the illusion that we are fully conscious. So the Work speaks of the necessity of an increase of consciousness, before we can change. We are not yet conscious. We attributes consciousness to ourselves. We do not realize that we are not yet conscious. A conscious person knows themselves . A mechanical person imagines they do. Now in regard to projecting into others what we do not see in ourselves, remember that this Work says: “We are mirrors to one another.”
Maurice Nicoll, “Commentary on Increase of Consciousness” in Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky (Vol. 3, p. 1093).
Working Note: For Today’s Inner Effort
Orientation: See your reactions as reflections, not truth about others.
What to Notice:
Immediate suspicion, dislike, or accusation.
Feeling offended and building a case inwardly.
Certainty: “it is them.”
Inner resistance to seeing this in yourself.
A moment where the reaction weakens if observed.
Work Effort for Today:
At the moment of reaction, stop inwardly.
Say: “I may be projecting.”
Do not express the negative state.
Observe the reaction as your own.
Remember: You are a mirror; what you see in others is in you.
