82(a). “(Man) remains, to use a phrase of the Work, an unfinished house.” (1020, 19 April 1947, 257th commentary) This is probably from Gurdjieff. It is interesting because we are usually compared to a house where the servants are chaotic, or the higher storeys are cut off from the lower floors. But an unfinished house: that is a complementary perspective. This saying is repeated, and once more attributed to “the Work,” at (1166, 8 May 1948, 303rd commentary.
Compare the following:
82(b). “On one occasion Man was compared by G. to a three-roomed flat in which wrong articles of furniture were mixed up with right ones in every room. Since in life we live by false values and endless lies, this is inevitable. One definition of truth is right order. That is, when things are arranged in their right order, there is truth. The body is built up and integrated in this way— the more important parts being served by the less important, the brain itself being the highest and so the most carefully nourished and protected and served by all other organs. So in the Work, the Law of the Octave is sometimes called the Law of Order of Manifestation. It is evident to you that things can be connected in right or in wrong order.” (1075, 11 October 1947, 277th commentary)
83. “On one occasion G. said that amongst the many illusions which influence us deeply and keep us in that remarkable daily state of consciousness, which we take for granted as full consciousness and which the Work calls sleep or so-called waking consciousness, is the illusion
that we have one mind. We call the functions of this mind conscious. Imagining thus that we have one mind and that the functions of this mind are conscious, we completely misunderstand ourselves and therefore completely misunderstand everyone else.” Nicoll then quotes In Search of the Miraculous, p.54 (1028, 10 May 1947, 260th commentary)
84. “When two people are trying to make relationship through a common understanding of the Work it will be quite certain that they will find the right way both to behave and act towards one another. In other words, the Work will shew them what to do. There is a phrase, sometimes used: “The Work will find a way”—but this applies only to those who work on
themselves.” (1056, 5 July 1947, 268th commentary)
85. “… in the Work, the Law of the Octave is sometimes called the Law of Order of Manifestation.” (1075, 11 October 1947, 277th commentary) I may be wrong, but I cannot imagine anyone could have produced this penetrating description but Gurdjieff: the Octave is one but it manifests by steps.
86. “On one occasion G. said of someone: “He cannot hear”. On another occasion he said: “He is always out”. In this commentary I will speak first of hearing. Of course, literally, to say that a person cannot hear means that he is deaf. But G. did not mean a physical incapacity of the ears because the man could hear as well as anyone else. He meant that the man could not hear psychologically. Everyone who has been in the Work for some time must have had experiences of hearing something for the first time which had been often said before. Now why cannot we hear psychologically something said the first time? The answer is: Because of our level of understanding, which depends on our level of Being. To hear in the sense G. used the word is to perceive the meaning of what is said.” (1085, 15 November 1947, 281st commentary)
At p.1087 of that same commentary, Nicoll adds: “I have given you two examples of the way in which G. formulates a person. I was always interested in his simple way of expressing things in people’s psychology. He said that the practice of relaxation was necessary for a person “always out”.
87. “… G. always said that there were two supreme things in the Work-discipline—to remember oneself and to relax. The practice of relaxing, he taught us, begins with inner attention, so that Consciousness can be placed in each part of the Body. He said: “Begin with the small muscles of the face.” I will add that both G. and O. taught us to remember ourselves for only a very short time at a time, and, as far as I remember, G. indicated that relaxation must only be for a short time at first. This must be right, because placing the internal attention into different parts of the Body requires force which is soon easily exhausted.” (1087-8, 15 November 1947, 281st commentary)
88. “Now on one occasion, at which my wife and myself were present, Mr. Ouspensky had arranged, many years ago, for Gurdjieff to meet a large number of extremely wealthy, prominent people in London. After dinner, at which I noticed he ate and drank nothing, a meeting was held. Looking round at all these people, after a long silence, he said: “What do you want? If you can tell me, I will answer you whether I can help you or not.” No one said a word. It appeared that the meeting was a failure. Yet I have often thought that at that moment, under the magic of Gurdjieff, people became aware of what they wanted as they were, and were ashamed to say anything. Shortly after, the meeting stopped, and everyone talked thirteen to the dozen. Why? Because, for an instant, they had been brought into a state of consciousness that made them uncomfortable.” (1095-6, 13 December 1947, 282nd commentary)
89. This extraordinary teaching may be from Gurdjieff: “The Work says, in speaking of the terrible power of imagination to keep mankind asleep, amongst the many other factors that do so, that people can roughly be divided as follows:
(1) Some people dream their dreams passively;
(2) Some people talk their dreams;
(3) Some act their dreams.” (1099, 20 December 1947, 285th commentary)