You Are Not Book.indb - Stephen H. Wolinsky Ph. D.

Questions and Answers & exercises / 79
Wolinsky: And if that was an illusion and the concept of
I AM came from the vital force rather than the
other way around?
Ted: . . . All gone_______blank_______silence.
Note:
This, as will be noted, describes what G.I. Gurdjieff
meant by the world being upside down. The I AM is a
by-product of the vital force, not the other way around.
This means that when the I AM continually stays aware
of the breath, it can reinforce the illusion of beingness
or isness, rather than realizing that the being or isness
concepts appear from or are a by-product of the vital
force.
THE viTAl BREATH
EnQUiRY inTO THE nATURE
Of THE viTAl BREATH
Wolinsky: How would the concept called “my” consciousness
and the concept I AM define the Vital Breath
or Life Force?
Jake: The force or energy, which pumps the energy
through the body, keeping it animated and
alive.
Wolinsky: And what assumptions has the concept called
“my” consciousness made about the vital
breath?
Jake: That it needs it to live.
Wolinsky: If the concept called “my” consciousness that
looks through the I AM body concept and the