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Welcome
to the first issue of this newsletter
This
issue marks the beginning of our efforts to make major Fourth
Way principles accessible worldwide via the internet. We appreciate
so many subscribers being patient as we put the newsletter together
and we look forward to getting your feedback as we go forward.
Please let us hear from you.
Self-remembering
"Self-remembering
is by far the most important concept ever released on the earth.
To be or not to be present, that is the question." Robert
Burton
The
central principle behind the Fourth Way is that no one is automatically
aware of himself, no one is conscious of himself, no one remembers
himself. The seemingly simple fact of being aware of ones
own existence goes unnoticed. Even when a person is told about
it and sincerely tries to be more conscious, they soon forget
to remember to do it, to be aware of their own existence. Their
consciousness
unknowingly falls asleep again and everything goes on as beforein
a state of dim awareness and uncontrolled attention.
Of
course, everyone is aware of their existence to some degree, but
it is small compared to what is possible through conscious effort.
For the most part, everyone takes their existence, and awareness
of their existence, for granted. No one remembers about his existence
on purpose. Quite the contrary: everyone is always forgetting
himself and losing himself in the task at hand, the people he
is with, the troubles he is having, the plans he is making, and
so on.
To
remember yourself means to intentionally divide your attention
and be aware of yourself in your surroundings. Through the divided
attention of self-remembering you become aware of whatever
you are observing in the moment while remaining aware of yourself
as the observer. For instance, right now it is possible to be
aware of these words on the page while also being aware of yourself
reading them. It sounds simple, yet this double awareness, this
divided attention, never happens by itself. It requires conscious
effort every moment. Without effort, awareness always slips back
into ordinary, one-way attention.
Divided
attention is the chief characteristic of a higher state of consciousnesscalled
the third stateand the effort to divide attention through
self-remembering is a way of inducing the third state. This attempt
to reach the third state is the main method taught in a Fourth
Way school. Everything else about the school revolves around the
discipline of learning to remember oneselfto be consciously
present to each moment of each activity during the day.
How
to practice self-remembering
Heres
a way to practice and verify the divided attention of self-remembering:
As you walk down the hall or along the street, as you talk to
people, as you eat, as you get dressed, and as you go about your
daily work, try to see what is right in front of you. Try to notice
the details. At the same time, try to be aware of yourself making
this effort. In other words, be aware of the fact that you are
trying to divide your attention. Then notice how the presence
of divided attention imperceptibly slips away as you lapse into
mental associations, daydreaming, retrospection, and planninginto
what the Fourth Way calls imagination. When you suddenly come
back to the clarity of divided attention, you will see that
self-remembering is the key to being more awake. Self-remembering
is subtle and simple, yet hard to sustain because it always requires
a conscious effort. As Johann Goethe, the German author, said,
That is most difficult which seems easiest: to be present
to what is before one."
Topic
for next issue
Imagination
as the chief barrier to being present.
Upcoming
events
Future
issues will include announcements for upcoming events worldwide.
Links
of interest on our web site
See video clips of Robert
Burton teaching
Read Foundations
of Real Work by Girard Haven
Review suggested
reading about the Fourth Way
Introductory
lectures monthly
We offer a series of free introductory lectures on a regular basis
in cities around the world. To register for the series, call our
USA information line (1-800-642-0212) or find
a center nearest you.
1The
Foundation of the Fourth Way
Self-knowledge · Levels of consciousness
Man as a machine · Consciousness, will, and unity
Obstacles to awakening · Three lines of work
2The
Theory of Centers
(requires lecture 1)
The 4 lower centers
The sex center
Higher centers
The soul, the spirit
3Practical
Ways to Seize and Prolong Presence
(requires lecture 1 and 2)
How to introduce and sustain self-remembering
Membership
information
The Fellowship
of Friends is a Fourth Way school
with centers worldwide. Membership is
on a monthly basis. For details: find
a center nearest you, or email contact@beingpresent.org,
or call 1-800-642-0212.
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Thoughts
on self-remembering
Not
one of you has noticed the most important thing that I have pointed
out to you, that is to say, not one of you has noticed that you
do not remember yourselves
Remember yourselves always and
everywhere.
George Gurdjieff
Self-remembering
is the beginning and the center of the system and the most important
thing to understand. You cannot describe it as an intellectual action
or intellectual idea. You have to begin studying what self-remembering
means intellectually, but in actual fact it is not intellectual
because it is a moment of will.
Peter Ouspensky
Self-remembering,
or the practice of divided attentionthough the first glimpse
of it may seem extraordinarily simple, easy and obviousin
reality requires a complete reconstruction of ones whole life
and point of view, both towards oneself and other people
The
practice of self-remembering is connected with the attempt to produce
a certain phenomenon, the birth of consciousness in oneself.
Rodney Collin
Self-remembering
is its own reward. It is an unheralded, unsensational, immortal
process. Each time you remember yourself, you have produced a flash
of eternity that will not perish. We are foolish when we value the
tangible above the intangible. Self-remembering must incessantly
recommence throughout your life. What does the term self-remembering
mean? It means that your dormant self is remembering to be awake.
Robert Burton
The
present is the only reality of which a man can truly be deprived.
Marcus Aurelius
It
is enough to pay attention to what is before ones eyes, that
is, to the present.
Dante Alighieri
As
you eat, walk, or travel be there where you are, otherwise you will
miss most of your life.
Buddha
Mans
head and feet are rarely in the same place at the same time.
Elizabeth I
Man
lacks an understanding of how to know the present. Blaise
Pascal
Recognize
what is before you and what is hidden will be revealed. Gospel
of Thomas
Blessed
is the life in which there is no past, no future, in which everything
belongs to the present.
Francesco
Petrarca
Newsletter
contact
Write
to editor@beingpresent.org. We welcome
your emails and will respond to you individually. Please send us
any questions you may have about the Fourth Way and about working
in a Fourth Way school. Let us know if you have topics youd
like to hear about in a future issue. Give
us your feedback
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please fill out our response
form.
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