We are told to observe ourselves from the point of view of not always self-justifying. I suppose that none of us has really perceived deeply enough through internal self-observation that whenever we are accused of anything at all, rather than see the truth of the accusation, we always want to justify ourselves. Is there anything more tedious than to listen to a person who is always justifying themselvges about something that everyone knows they did wrongly ?
So we have all these wonderful things, for example, like the Sermon on the Mount, that has to do with the poor in spirit. Can you imagine a person rich in spirit who always justifies themselves ever seeing they are in the wrong? Then again comes in the tremendous factor of observing yourself when you are internally considering. Consciously to observe yourself internally considering is one of the most interesting things you can follow. You must remember that all internal considering is based on thinking that other people have treated you badly and you have treated them extremely well and this is a great source of blocking our passage, our way, to inner development, that we all feel we are lacking, without understanding what it is that is lacking.
Maurice Nicoll, “What We Have to Observe in Ourselves” in Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky (Vol. 4, p. 1392)
For your reflection: Where today did you justify yourself instead of seeing the truth—or internally consider by feeling mistreated and yourself in the right? What happens when you simply observe these movements without believing them?
