Now it is an axiom of the Work that we must not remain unconscious of our own psychology but must begin to realize in this case that we are not one but many. Within us are hosts of, so to speak, angels and devils—that is, many, many ‘I’s. When you fall foul of someone, as we all do at times, you must not think: “I am falling foul of her or she of me,” but “Some ‘I’s in her fall foul of some ‘I’s in me.” From this we gradually come to understand through a development of consciousness that there is no such thing as I in us, as we are, that can make judgment and find fault, but only a machine that makes judgment.
A man may like a woman with some ‘I’s, but with other ‘I’s he does not, and vice versa. To pack the whole business into one whole bundle called ‘I’ is to invite disaster in all human relationships and especially in Man/Woman relationship. People all have unpleasant or even truly devilish ‘I’s but they must be awake to them and not identify with them, not think that this is their I. One must say: “This is not really me.”
Maurice Nicoll, “Psycho-Transformism” in Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky (Vol. 4, p. 1376-1377).
Working Note: For Today’s Inner Effort
Orientation: Observe the many ‘I’s without granting them the feeling of “I”.
What to Notice:
A reaction beginning against someone.
Inner judgment speaking as though it were final.
A sudden liking or disliking taking possession.
Defending a negative state as “my view”.
Work Effort for Today:
When a reaction appears, quietly separate from it.
Say inwardly: “This is an ‘I’, not I.”
Do not identify with the reacting ‘I’.
Recall yourself before expressing it.
Remember: This reacting ‘I’ is passing; do not become it.
