Section VI

Knowledge based upon ancient methods and principles of observation, knowledge of things in themselves, knowledge accompanying “an objective state of consciousness,” knowledge of the All  ...  (1949, p. 278)

    “One of the most central of the ideas of objective knowledge,” said G., “is the idea of the unity of everything, of unity in diversity. ...     “But objective knowledge, the idea of unity included, belongs to objective consciousness. ... With objective consciousness it is possible to see and feel the unity of everything. But for subjective consciousness the world is split up into millions of separate and unconnected phenomena.  Attempts to connect these phenomena into some sort of system in a scientific or a philosophical way lead to nothing because man cannot reconstruct the idea of the whole starting from separate facts and they cannot divine the principles of the division of the whole without knowing the laws upon which this division is based. ...    “Realizing the imperfection and weakness of ordinary language the people who have possessed objective knowledge have tried to express the idea of unity in ‘myths,’ in ‘symbols,’ and in particular ‘verbal formulas’ which, having been transmitted without alteration, have carried on the idea from one school to another, often from one epoch to another. ... The aim of ‘myths’ and ‘symbols’ was to reach man’s higher centers, to transmit to him ideas inaccessible to the intellect and to transmit them in such forms as would exclude the possibility of false interpretations.  ‘Myths’ are destined for the higher emotional center; ‘symbols’ for the higher thinking center. ... It is always possible to understand anything but only with the appropriate center.  But the preparation for receiving ideas belonging to objective knowledge has to proceed by way of the mind ...   The symbols that were used to transmit ideas belonging to objective knowledge included diagrams of the fundamental laws of the universe ... .”      (1949, pp.278-80)

The foremost principle of objective knowledge is the “unity of everything.”  Secondly, objective knowledge attempts to convey an understanding of how the diversity of life is created and sustained by the unity.   Verbal formula, myths, symbols and diagrams of the fundamental laws of the universe, depict objective knowledge concerning how the many are generate from the One.  Through the cultivation and quickening of the centers, the individual can penetrate more and more deeply the hidden meanings of such formula, myths, symbols and diagrams.

    Know thyself is one verbal formula of objective knowledge.  So also is the phrase  As above, so below;  and the idea that a human being is a microcosm of the macrocosm.  The Law of Three and the Law of the Octave are other verbal formulas, which if properly understood would help one penetrate the world of the miraculous, awakening to the faculties of the higher intellectual center.  The myths of the Ladder of Jacob, Noah’s arc, and the Tower of Babel similarly convey ancient secrets.  However, the true meanings of these myths, symbols and diagrams are hidden by veils that obscure the inner meanings and conceal them in mystery.
    Particularly important in the fourth way teaching is the study of the symbols of numbers, particularly the primary numbers such as One, Three and Seven.  The ancient meanings of primary numbers have to do with understanding the deep generative realms of creation, and how everything emerged out of the nothingness, 0, is unified as a one, 1, with a triune nature of 3, and existing within a sevenfold process, 7, completed in the eighth, 8, as an octave.   The three and seven together add to a ten, 10.  The laws of three and seven are the laws by which form is generated out of formlessness, the multiplicity out of the 1, and the 0.   Philosophers talk of God as a geometrician and these ancient principles articulate the principles of this inner geometry of being.
    Scientists have no comparable idea of how to systematically enumerate the parts of things.  Generally,  psychology  is governed by dualistic thinking and this “self-element” is not even realized.  If one usually thinks in twos, it requires study and realizations to begin to understand the deep mysteries and objective knowledge embodied in the occult significance of numbers.  As G. explains: “they cannot divine the principles of the division of the whole without knowing the laws upon which this division is based ... .”  (Ouspensky, 1949)
    The simplest sequence of symbols depicts the levels of evolution of a human being. Gurdjieff begins by representing a human in waking sleep as dual in nature, signified by the two lines:

“Man, in the normal state natural to him, is taken as a duality.  He consists entirely of dualities or ‘pairs of opposites.’ All man’s sensations, impressions, feelings, thoughts, are divided into positive and negative, useful and harmful, necessary and unnecessary, good and bad, pleasant and unpleasant. ...  This is the duality in which proceeds all the perceptions, all the reactions, the whole life of man.”   (1949, p. 281)

Mechanical life is controlled by the dualities of human existence, and humanity asleep does not realize the third force or principle in all things.  This is the psychology of the mind and behaviour, which has no substantive consciousness, heart, soul or spirit.  Formatory thinking is dualistic and mechanical man is lived out by the pains and pleasures of the body, the rights and wrongs of the mind, all between life and death.

    Gurdjieff explains that the “struggle for the realization of consciousness in life” can lead to the “Creation of a permanent third principle (which) is for man the transformation of the duality into the trinity.”   (p. 282) The trinity is portrayed by the triangle which represents the triunity of creation, of three-brained beings, or the triune nature of all things.  The triangle depicts the three fold nature of  humans’ mental, emotional and physical functions. In this case, the emotional center is taken as the neutralizing principle in relationship to the body and mind, enabling transformation to come about to the level of a human number four.  The square can represent the four elements of fire, air, water and earth, and the corresponding elements in a human of spirit, mind, emotions and the physical body.  In reference to the possible evolution of a human being, this is the “transformation of the trinity into quaternity,” and the making of a human number four.

    Gurdjieff then relates the pentagram to the human number five, who has harmonized and perfected the five lower centers:

“... if a man brings the work of the five centers within him into harmonious accord, he then ‘locks the pentagram within him’ and becomes a finished type of the physically perfect man.  The full and proper functioning of five centers brings them into union with the higher centers which introduce the missing principle and put man into direct and permanent connection with objective consciousness and objective knowledge.

The six pointed star suggests an even higher type of attainment after that of the pentagram.  G. explains:

“And then man becomes the six-pointed star, that is, by becoming locked within a circle of life independent and complete in itself, he becomes isolated from foreign influences or accidental shocks; he embodies in himself the Seal of Solomon.(1949, pp. 282)

    The six pointed star, the Seal of Solomon or Star of David,  has deep inner meaning in terms of the completion of life.  The figure embodies firstly the triune nature of things, both above and below.  The downward turned triangle represents a human’s mental, emotional and physical nature embodied in the material world.  The upward turned triangle could be taken to represent the astral, mental and causal bodies, or planes of being.  The union of the two in perfect symmetry indicates the attainment of the higher bodies and permanent self perfection.  In terms of creation physics, the Seal of Solomon suggests the manner in which all metaphysical and physical laws embody the law of three, above and below, on earth as it is in heaven.

    If we carry this sequence to the seventh position, we might place a point within the center of the Star of David.   This point represents the particle of Divinity which is the ultimate I, and which is embodied within the centre, with triune forces above and below.

    The Laws of Three and Seven are profound teachings of the esoteric traditions, verbal formula which have numeric and geometric counterparts.  These are the primary principles by which the One generates, sustains and ultimately dissolves the multiplicity of life and creation, the dogs and the cats, the suns and moons, the atoms and quanta.  These principles pervade all things in the geometry of form generation from realms of formlessness which underlie all things, as an undifferentiated and perfect unity.  The meaning of numbers and “diagrams of the fundamental laws of the universe” are profound mystery teachings, which can only be realized in higher states with the awakening to higher centers. Even though such teachings can be found throughout religious doctrines, their inner meanings have been lost.
    The law of the octave is a “system of symbols” and a “diagram of the fundamental laws of the universe.”  It can be used to depict all involutionary and evolutionary processes within a human being or within nature.  This is another teaching of Objective Science, according to Gurdjieff:

“... the harmonious development of man can be examined from the point of view of the law of octaves. ... every completed process is a transition of the note do through a series of successive tones to the do of the next octave.  The seven fundamental tones of the octave express the law of seven.  The addition to it of the do of the next octave, that is to say, the crowning of the process, gives the eighth step.  The seven fundamental tones together with the two ‘intervals’ and ‘additional shocks’ give nine steps.  By incorporating in it the do of the next octave we have ten steps.  The last, the tenth, step is the end of the preceding and the beginning of the next cycle.  In this way, the law of octaves and the process of development it expresses, include the numbers 1 to 10. ...  The symbolism of numbers cannot be understood without the law of octaves or without a clear conception of how octaves are expressed in the decimal system and vice versa. ... the key to this unity ... resolves all diversity into the fundamental laws which govern it and which are expressed in the numbers 1 to 10.” (1949, p. 282-3)

    The key to objective knowledge is the experience of unity within the multiplicity. The study of mystical symbols and numbers can cultivate the understanding of the fundamental laws which govern the generation of diversity from the One.