Inner development and the teaching of the Fourth Way

"The true intention of our society seems to be to separate the people from the responsibility of their lives and acts. The path of transformation must be exactly the opposed of this; it must make us free, individuals able to direct our own lives in accordance with the higher aim."

                                                         -J. G. Bennett-

   Gurdjieff calls his teaching method " work " because it requires from us a real effort that we can do in an invisible and internal way. We are speaking of internal psychological work, a work that requires, not only to know the ideas but also to apply them and to experience them in ourselves. This practical application involves us to a personal change that opens us to a new level of knowledge that somebody has called "knowledge through the being ".

   The ideas presented in this work have the power of a genuine psychological and spiritual transformation in the midst of our daily lives. They are for those who, without escaping from daily issues, need thes ideas to have a meaning and an intention in their lives.

   Thus, this teaching deals with the possible transformation of oneself and we are the matter to explore. Gurdjieff´s work offers a magnificent perceptions into the idea of "know yourself", connecting it with our personal subjects and making us understand what this idea really implies.

   The teaching begins with the foundation that before being able to change something in us, we must be more conscious of whom we are now. Much of this work is based on destroying the ideas and imaginations of who we think we are, to discover who we "really" are. All the spiritual paths tell us that an extraordinary potential in the human being exists, but very few people have the courage to update it.

   The Work provides psychological tools that can raise us beyond the confusion and the chaos but, if we wish to have a different quality of life, we must begin by being aware of the kind of life we have now.

   The human being is capable of self-development, it is a seed, but this seed can waste its growth potential. A person can undergo a definitive transformation, a real evolution if he knows what he must do. Many masters and mystics have recognized that the human being has been born to participate consciously in his own development, as well as in the development of the Universe. Knowledge and consciousness must have a parallel development to make the metamorphosis possible, the discovery of a new conscience that leads us to our real destiny, instead of remaining in our habitual immature reactions.

   Our intention is to transform our present psychological state, which is made up of attitudes and imitations that we have been gathering throughout years of development and as a result of unconsciousness.

   The Work shows us the way through all this unconscious behavior, our attitudes and all the things which we do not recognize and that, consequently, damage us in our daily life. Something fundamental here is sincerity with oneself. And this is not easy. Somehow we know it, but in this teaching sincerity is even more difficult because we can begin to glimpse things in our way of being and doing that do not agree with the idea-image that we have of ourselves.

   We must leave the darkness of not knowing who we really are, how we behave and why we do it so. The use of attention and energy are very important in this process. Everything that the work offers is based on fact, in verifiable ideas. It does not have to be an act of faith or a belief, but there must be an effort, a work of real psychological transformation. None of the ideas exposed in Gurdjieff´s teaching will be understood if we don´t apply them to ourselves. The Work requires psychological effort through consciously maintained self-observation. These ideas cannot change our external life in a direct form. What they will do is to change our inner life and to raise our level of consciousness, thus transforming our relation with life and, consequently, transforming everything around us.