GURDJIEFF, G.I. – Life is real only then, when I am - Integral Book

And as soon as a man begins to think, to feel or to move, thisspectrumlike atmosphere changes, both as to the volume of itsexpansion and as to the quality of its presence.The greater the intensity of manifestation of one or another of theseparate functions of the general psyche of a man, the more thespectrum of his atmosphere is differentiated.We can very well represent to ourselves the combination ofheterogeneous vibrations arising in the general radiation of differentpersons in the course of their ordinary existence if we compare it to thefollowing picture:On a dark night, during a violent storm over the ocean, some peopleon shore observe the oscillations of a floating collection of manycolored electric lamps, connected with each other at long intervals andat the ends with two wires.Although these colored lamps draw their current from one and thesame source, yet since their rays pass through changing conditions ofvarious kinds, some shine out to a distance, others affect each other asthey interpenetrate, still others are completely swallowed up either midwayor at the very place of their arising.If two people are together, the closer they are to each other, the moreintimate is the mixing of their atmospheres, and therefore the better isthe contact achieved between their specific vibrations.The blending and fusion of the specific vibrations given off bydifferent people take place mechanically, depending on their situation inrelation to each other and on the conditions they are in.And so, among the people with whom I come in contact, theformation of the psychic factors necessary for the manifestation ofattitudes diametrically opposed to me must inevitably occur in thefollowing way: