An increase of consciousness extends one’s knowledge of oneself. To know more about oneself is to become more conscious of things in oneself. This brings us back to the finding in oneself of the very thing that irritates us in another, of which we had been unconscious. When this is done, when we turn things the other way round, our irritation is dissipated. It vanishes. Now through being roused and irritated by things in others, by how they behave, what they say and so on, we lose energy by being made rather negative and are in danger of plunging into a fit of negative emotion. All negative states cause energy-loss.
The Work says that we should act as mirrors to one another instead of disliking one another. That is, we can come to see ourselves in others and others in ourselves. Let us recollect that the Work was defined as esoteric Christianity and look for a moment into this matter of beam and mote. The phrase is: “Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considereth not the beam that is in thine own eye ?” (Matthew 7:3). In the Greek the word used for beholding the mote is simply see. That is easy to do. But the word used for considering the beam in oneself is interesting. It means “to take notice of, to detect, to acquire knowledge of, to take in a fact about, to learn, to observe, to understand”. Obviously something far more difficult is meant than merely seeing another’s faults. To turn round is not easy. But the Work expects it.
Maurice Nicoll, “Definite, Topical and Concrete Self-Observation” in Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky (Vol. 5, p. 1599).
Working Note: For Today’s Inner Effort
Orientation: Turn irritation into self-observation.
What to Notice:
The instant dislike begins.
Inner talking about another person.
Feeling justified in negative emotion.
The refusal to detect the same thing in oneself.
Work Effort for Today:
Pause before inwardly blaming another.
Turn attention inward for one moment.
Look for the same mechanical reaction in yourself.
Do not continue the inner argument.
Remember: See the beam in yourself before following the negative reaction.
