Ouspensky said at the beginning of his teaching in London when people were continually badgering him with questions as to what they should do—whether they should smoke or not, eat or not: “The most important thing is to remember yourself. You can do what you like so long as you remember yourself.” This sounded very strange to many of us. It seemed to mean that you could do anything you liked—yes, as long as you remembered yourself. Supposing you give way to your appetites and become identified, say, with your food, and then tell yourself that you are allowed to do anything—the Work says so. But does it say it like that? It says you can do anything you like as long as you remember yourself and it is obvious enough that if you are identified with your food you are not remembering yourself.
Self-Remembering puts us into a different state of consciousness. In that state of consciousness you cannot do certain things without going to sleep at once and you can see it happening—that is, you can see yourself becoming identified. Or, to put the matter differently, if you do certain things and remember yourself at the same time, you will do them in quite a different way. When you begin to understand the subtlety of this remark you will see that it really means that you cannot do what you like, at least in the ordinary way that you do it. One form of Self-Remembering is feeling the sense of “I doing this” or “I saying this”. If when you are angry and speaking internally or externally in a bad way you feel the sense of “I” saying this, it will completely change the situation. You realize that “It” is saying it—your machine.
Maurice Nicoll, “Self-Observation and Self-Remembering — Part I” in Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky (Vol. 2, p. 532)
Working Note: For Today’s Inner Effort
Orientation: Bring the sense of “I” into what you are doing.
What to Notice:
Speaking quickly while identified.
Eating with complete absorption.
Inner justification during a negative reaction.
The feeling that “I am doing this” is absent.
Moments where “it” speaks or acts.
A shift when this is seen.
Work Effort for Today:
While speaking or acting, introduce “I am doing this.”
Hold it for a few seconds.
Do not change the outer action.
See what changes inwardly.
If identification appears, notice it without stopping it.
Remember: Feel “I” here now, or the machine takes over.
