Gurdjieff - ImagoMundi

of these functions is very faint and changeable. Most of these functions are carried out automatically and
man is often not aware and does not understand why he is saying or acting in a particular manner.
People are convinced that they are conscious all the time, because when we ask ourselves if we are
conscious it is self-evident that we are. More than a hundred years ago William James, a famous
psychologist and the greatest American philosopher, compared an attempt to observe an unconscious state
to trying to observe darkness by switching on a gas lamp. Using a more modern example - observing an
unconscious state is like observing darkness inside a fridge when we open the door. Notwithstanding how
quickly we open it we always see the light.
For a perceptive observer it is very obvious that people can think, feel and act without being fully conscious
of what they are doing. We know that in our daily life we can do many simple tasks or even drive a car
without being fully aware of our actions. We simply observe and register events, analyse dangerous
situations and respond to them automatically. Sometimes we catch ourselves saying or doing something
unwittingly. We blame this on our forgetfulness, absent-mindedness, distractions, absorption in thoughts, or
simply tiredness, but it never crosses our mind that for a certain period of time we were unconscious
because, in general, we can recollect events from this "unconscious" period.
Koestler said that the level of man's consciousness decreases in proportion to the degree of his habitual
behaviour. When we are learning to do something new it requires our increased awareness. When we are
well trained we can do the task automatically. Such a difficult task like landing an aircraft requires a very
high level of concentration from the pilot, but not a high level of consciousness, because his skills are so
high, that he can use them automatically, like an auto-pilot.
In most situations, absence of consciousness is not noticed because it is not causing any harm and
sometimes quite the opposite is true. In many familiar situations we function much better using only the
mechanical parts of our centres without any stress and a need for concentration.
The most important characteristic of the awakening state is that in this state people are unable to "remember
themselves", it means that they are unable to understand why they acted in this but not another way, and
what the state and origin of their awareness in a specific moment of time was. In this state most people are
unable to analyse themselves and their life passes automatically, without a moment of self-reflection and
self-analysis. Even their religious life consists, more or less, of habitual rituals and ceremonies. People in
this state do not try to truly understand other people and their involvement with them is perfunctory. They
do not ponder on man's life problems and they do not ask themselves difficult questions. They are not
troubled by any doubts and they have ready-made stereotype solutions for every problem. They are not
interested in learning more about themselves because they are convinced that they already know enough.
Even if they notice in themselves something strange or unusual, they will not allow this to absorb their
mind. They do not control their mental processes and therefore they are susceptible to suggestions and