… what else matters?
Some questions:
[1] Is P.D. Ouspensky’s work self-fulfilled prophecy? If so, so what does that mean? Remember, we’re dealing w/ our own mind states & experience, not the intentions of others’ behavior…
—> Is this intellectualization of the 4th Way (4th Way: a kind of Work towards self-cultivation) lead to a loss of emotional conviction?
[2] How do we stay on task with self-cultivation?
—> Involves ‘determined will’ and ‘helpful tricks’ (ie., rituals, community, leader/master, etc.)
[3] How do we structure society?
—> (How) Should we prod people to will change in themselves?
—> Or should we just accept the prison analogy? … all could escape the confines of our conscious illusions, but not all choose to do so; The prison analogy suggests that some necessarily stay in order for others to escape.
Difficult questions for me:
[4]—> How does the experience of ‘higher emotion’ differ from our given emotional center?
[5]—> What of impersonality — What role does impersonality play in The Work of self-cultivation? A stage in the process? A symptom? A goal? An end?
Lastly, in terms of beginning the process of Self-Cultivation (The Work):
[6] What are the differences between these terms: CAN‘T. DON‘T. WON‘T.
Allow me some assumptions:
CAN‘T: Here a man is either confined by oppressive external circumstance or… he is just plain wrong; he is afraid to begin and mistaken about the world.
DON‘T: Here a man understands his possibility but is too busy. Hopes to oneday make more time for his efforts, but in the mean time, he has an open ear.
WON‘T: Here a man is too pleasantly attached to his illusions and habits. He chooses to turn his back on the Way. They say, “the hardest thing for a man to give up is his own suffering.”
[7] What are the differences between these terms?: SHOULD. WILL. DOES.
Again, I offer some assumptions:
SHOULD: Here a man understands his possibility and feels shame for his lack of effort. He may even encourage others to see their relationship to ‘becoming.’
WILL: Here a man feels the urgency. He is reluctant to begin, thinking he has not studied enough on the matter, or hasn’t found an appropriate school or master from which to learn. In such a man, the magnetic center is most certainly growing. (the magnetic center is, for now, an analogy of those most concerned w/ self-cultivation… this concern necessarily attracts the attention of other like-minded thinkers who can serve to strengthen his commitment). However, this man does not realize the Fourth Way, which is designed to help people do what they can while without a school or master.
DOES: Here is the man who has chosen to reliquish all doubts and has begun the process of focused self-observation…