It is necessary to realize that we do not remember ourselves. Only by sincere self-observation over a time can we begin to acknowledge that we do not remember ourselves. This is the starting-point of being able to remember oneself. And this, in turn, is the starting-point of being able to do… Nothing can grow in the negative part of the Emotional Center except more negative emotions. To imagine we can get anywhere by being continually negative, fearful, morose, sad, and so on, is a clever trap that seems to swallow millions of people easily.
Now we are taught that we have a right not to be negative. One must, of course, reflect all one’s life on the meaning of this. Someone has apparently given us this right. But Gurdjieff also said: “We have a right to remember ourselves. We, in fact, are born into this right- but we fall asleep.” Now finally, reflect on the fact that help is there, but cannot reach us in the Second State of Consciousness, where we are identified with everything, but only when we are in the Third State of Consciousness. It is possible to say, in this connection, that, taking the Work only on the level of the Second State of Consciousness, characterized by identifying and by multiplicity of ‘I’s, all conflicting and wishing to go in different directions, people make a problem of everything, including the Work. And instead of relaxing and practicing the Work, they worry about everything connected with it, not seeing that these worrying ‘I’s are just what they must not identify with.
Maurice Nicoll, “Note on Self-Remembering and Self-Acknowledgement” in Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky (Vol. 3, p. 1185)
For your reflection: When the day begins to pull you outward, can you pause and acknowledge, without criticism, “I am not remembering myself”—and let that very seeing become the start?
