– Bob Reinstein
The starting point or essential elements of our inner work on becoming are these four foundation stones or cornerstones:
- Aim, without which it is not possible to approach any path and hope to undertake the efforts required of that path.
- Attention, without which the essential work of waking up and opening to higher possibilities is simply not available.
- Presencegrounded in the physical body, without which we fall into old habits and patterns of thought and daydreaming, always in some other place and time, rather than being present in the moment, from which all real work begins.
- Self-observation, leading to greater self-knowledge, without which all other knowledge is useless at best for developing our real possibilities; objective self-observation (learning to “see”) requires aim, attention and body-centered presence in order to receive impressions of oneself without judgment or distortion.
Aim is a feeling or sensation in the body, which may also be expressed in words, that there is more to life than the ordinary things we usually see around us. This results in a calling or a pull to move in a certain direction inwardly, toward this higher possibility which can give our life a deeper meaning. This sense of an inner direction is almost like the needle of a compass that points to the north, and Gurdjieff calls the part of us inside that responds to that outer influence “magnetic center.”
Attention is a finer kind of energy or awareness in us that can be drawn from outside toward things that capture our interest, or can be directed from inside toward things that are connected to and can further our aim.
A sense of physical presence in the body is a basic element of any path of “spiritual” development. It is generally enhanced by a regular practice of sitting quietly at least once each day (more often if possible) and collecting the energy and attention in the body, so that it is not taken away by random thoughts and emotions.
These fundamental practices can begin to allow us to have a sense of awareness that is related to, but separate from, our thoughts, emotions and physical sensations. This separate awareness can then begin to “see” how we are in our ordinary inner life, and provide data that can eventually be used to follow a process of inner change of our level of what Gurdjieff calls “being.”
(C) Bob Reinstein – Four Cornerstones (short version).