Back at Ourselves

"If we knew how to be really sincere with ourselves—not as the word is usually understood, but mercilessly honest—then, to the question “What are we?”we would not expect a comforting reply. Yet, as we are, almost all of us would be puzzled and answer with another question: “What do you mean?”And we would then realize that we have lived all our lives without asking ourselves this question, that we have taken for granted, as axiomatic, that we are “something,”even something valuable, something we have never doubted.

At the same time, we are unable to explain to another person what this something is, unable to convey even any idea of it, for we ourselves do not know what it is. Is the reason we do not know because, in fact, this “something”does not exist, but is merely assumed to exist? Is it not strange that we pay so little attention to ourselves, with no real interest in self-knowledge? Is it not strange how we shut our eyes to what we really are, and spend our lives in the reassuring conviction that we represent something of value? We fail to see the emptiness hidden behind the facade created by our self-delusion, and do not realize that this value is purely conventional. True, this is not always so.

Not everyone looks at himself superficially. There do exist inquiring minds that long for the truth of the heart, seek it, strive to solve the problems set by life, try to penetrate into the essence of things and to understand themselves. If we reason and think soundly, no matter what path we follow in solving these problems, each of us must inevitably arrive back at ourselves. We must begin with the solution of the problem of what we are ourselves and of our place in the world around us. For without this knowledge, we will have no center of gravity in our search. Socrates’s words “Know thyself”remain a guiding principle for all who seek true knowledge and being."

-- IN SEARCH of BEING The Fourth Way to Consciousness, G. I. Gurdjieff