Psychological Illusions

Section II - Chapter 2

2. The Psychology of A Human’s Possible Evolution

Ouspensky explains that historically there has been two very different forms and definitions of psychology. Firstly, there are those systems which “study man as they find him, or such as they suppose or imagine him to be.” Ouspensky notes that: “Modern “scientific” psychology, or what is known under that name, belongs to this category.” Secondly, there are those systems which “study man not from the point of view of what he is, or what he seems to be, but from the point of view of what he may become; that is, from the point of view of his possible evolution.” For Ouspensky, these latter systems are the original psychologies and only they explain the forgotten meaning of the discipline. Ouspensky concludes:

"When we understand the importance of the study of man from the point of view of his possible evolution, we shall understand that the first answer to the question, what is psychology, should be that psychology is the study of the principles, laws, and facts of man's possible evolution." (1950, p. 6)

The first systems include modern psychological, philosophical and scientific systems, which study humans as soul-less animals or organisms, while the second systems study humans from the viewpoint of their “possible evolution.” Evolution has to do with how an individual might develop and be transformed psychologically–in the inner development of consciousness and being, and achieving the soul. Nicoll (1975) asserts that: “Esoteric teaching is about inner evolution.” (p. 246)

For Gurdjieff and other esoteric teachers, the concept of evolution differs radically from that of western science. In psychology, we talk of change, growth and maturation, but not of evolution. In the sciences, “natural evolution” refers to the development of the diverse forms of organic life on earth from the first molecules, through to complex cells, plants, animals and finally humans. Neo-Darwinian theory describes the metamorphosis of life as being governed by the process of natural selection and adaptation, which is driven by random mutations in genetic materials. However, Ouspensky rejects all such standard ideas of biological evolution, “the monkey-to-man business” as he calls it:

"As regards ordinary modern views on the origin of man and his previous evolution I must say at once that they cannot be accepted. We must realize that we know nothing about the origin of man and we have no proofs of man’s physical or mental evolution. ...
Denying previous evolution of man, we must deny any possibility of future mechanical evolution of man; that is, evolution happening by itself according to laws of heredity and selection, and without man’s conscious efforts and understanding of his possible evolution." (1950, p.7)

Ouspensky bluntly states that we know nothing about the origin of humanity, that we have no proofs of human’s physical or mental evolution, and that there can be no possible future “mechanical evolution,” which happens accidentally. Instead, Ouspensky is interested in evolution brought about through the individual’s conscious efforts and the struggle to “know self.” When western scientists or psychologists talk of evolution, they refer to the mechanical evolution of biological forms and not to “conscious evolution,” or the “evolution of consciousness.”
This distinction between mechanical and conscious evolution is at the heart of the differences between western scientific theories and the fourth way teaching. The fourth way psychology is concerned with the evolution of a human in a psychological, metaphysical and cosmological way, brought about through intentional effort. In modern thought, there is no recognition of the possibility of such conscious evolution–of how an individual might awaken consciousness or realize higher levels of being.

Ouspensky elaborates upon the theme of a human’s possible evolution:

"Our fundamental idea shall be that man as we know him is not a completed being; that nature develops him only up to a certain point and then leaves him, to develop further, by his own efforts and devices, or to live and die such as he was born, or to degenerate and lose capacity for development.
   Evolution of man in this case will mean the development of certain inner qualities and features which usually remain undeveloped, and cannot develop by themselves.
   Experience and observation show that this development is possible only in certain definite conditions, with efforts of a certain kind on the part of man himself, and with sufficient help from those who began similar work before and have already attained a certain knowledge of methods....
   After this we must understand that in the way of development, man must become a different being and we must learn and understand in what sense and in which direction man must become a different being; that is, what a different being means." (1950, p. 8)

Ouspensky elaborates upon this idea of conscious evolution from various angles. He says that we have to understand what it means to become a different being, and which inner qualities and features can be developed or attained. He then describes “a missing link” in modern thought:

"There is a missing link in ordinary known theories, even in those ... based on the idea of the possibility of evolution of man.
   The truth lies in the fact that before acquiring any new faculties or powers which man does not know and does not possess now, he must acquire faculties and powers he also does not possess, but which he ascribes to himself; that is, he thinks that he knows them and can use and control them.
   This is the missing link and this is the most important point.
   By way of evolution ... that is, a way based on effort and help, man must acquire qualities which he thinks he already possesses, but about which he deceives himself. ...
   And here we come to at once to a very important fact. Man does not know himself.
   He does not know his own limitations and his own possibilities. He does not even know to how great an extent he does not know himself." (1950, pp.10-11)

Human evolution involves the development of latent powers and capabilities, which include faculties which people already believe that they possess. In this way, the psychology of the fourth way deals with the study of a human “as he is,” and as he is capable of becoming.
Gurdjieff explains that evolution cannot happen, but requires conscious effort, even to acquire capacities which people normally considered themselves to possess–such as consciousness, indivisible I, will and the capacity to do:

“The evolution of man is the evolution of his consciousness. And ‘consciousness’ cannot evolve unconsciously. The evolution of man is the evolution of his will, and ‘will’ cannot evolve involuntarily. The evolution of man is the evolution of his power of doing, and ‘doing’ cannot be the result of things which ‘happen.’” (1949, p. 58)

Ouspensky emphasizes the significance of humans’ illusions about their existing powers and capabilities, and this defines a starting point of work towards conscious evolution. Human’s psychological illusions are deeply ingrained in common ideas about who and what we are, and what we are capable of becoming. Until we rid ourselves of these misconceptions - that we are conscious, with indivisible I and will–then there is no possibility of becoming in reality, that which we imagine ourselves to already be. Similarly, Gurdjieff explains that because people believe that they already possess a soul, they reject as nonsense the idea of struggling to develop higher being bodies as vehicles for the soul’s existence–both within life and for the afterlife.

Gurdjieff provides a radically different perspective on how higher states of consciousness and higher faculties can be approached. However, until we apprehend the nature and significance of human’s psychological illusions, then we can little idea of what additional powers and capacities might be acquired. Ouspensky states:

"... we do not know enough about ordinary psychology; we cannot study super-normal psychology, because we do not know normal psychology." (1957, p. 2)

Moments of increased consciousness are attained by overcoming the sleepwalking and conditioned state of ordinary life. The fourth way’s depiction of the normal waking state is certainly much more severe than anything modern psychology sets forth. However, its conceptualization of an individual’s capacity to experience higher states of consciousness and attain the soul, involves an even more radical departure from the ideas of modern soul-less psychology and the limited materialist understanding of the human condition.
According to the fourth way, humans have the possibility of experiencing four states of consciousness: sleep, waking sleep, self-consciousness and objective-consciousness. Ordinarily, humans live in only the first two states–sleep and waking sleep–each of which is highly conditioned and subjective. In contrast, the state of self-consciousness reveals the objective nature of self; and the state of objective consciousness reveals truths about the nature of the cosmos. Ouspensky writes:

"In the third state of consciousness, that is, the state of self-consciousness, we can know the full truth about ourselves.
In the fourth state of consciousness, that is, in the state of objective consciousness, we are supposed to be able to know the full truth about everything; we can study “things in themselves,” “the world as it is.”" (1950, p. 35)

    Gurdjieff and Ouspensky approach the idea of a human’s evolution from varied psychological perspectives. Firstly, it involves the development of consciousness, will and unity, which faculties people wrongly ascribe to themselves. Secondly, evolution involves attaining the states of self-consciousness and objective-consciousness which enable them to know self and the world in an objective manner. Thirdly, G. suggests that there are seven possible levels of human evolution or levels of being. Ordinarily, under the conditions of mechanical life, a human is a man number one, two or three, yet is capable of becoming a human number four, five, six or seven. This evolution involves the formation and crystallization of an individual’s higher being bodies for the life of the soul. In this case, instead of “dying like dog” and becoming fertilizer, the individual might attain other levels of immortality and existence. This evolution of a human being is an alchemical process of accumulating and refining finer matters/energies within the subtle dimensions of being, and attaining higher consciousness and hidden faculties.
    Evolution exists as a possibility for humanity as a whole and for human beings at an individual level. However, Gurdjieff suggests that although the evolution of humankind does occur, it is on such immense time scales that it means little in terms of the life of an individual. The scale of time in which humanity evolves corresponds to that of the evolution of the earth, moon and the planets, involving hundreds of thousands, or millions of years, or, on a scale of “infinitely prolonged cycles of time.” (1949, p. 57) From the perspective of an individual’s life, there is no apparent evolution of either the planets or humankind. Nicoll writes: <> "If a person is told that in, say a thousand million years, all Mankind may possibly be on a higher level of evolution, it cannot interest him in any genuine way or really alter anything for him in his daily life, and his difficulties." (1975, p.245)
    For Gurdjieff and Ouspensky, the first definition of psychology involves the study of the principles, laws and facts of the man’s possible evolution. However, in order to understand a human’s miraculous possibilities, we have to realize the extent of man’s unconscious, sleepwalking condition.   By doing so, we may begin to understand how acorns might become oak trees, instead of fertilizer, and what inner evolution entails. The fourth way teaching provides a profound psychological, metaphysical and cosmological perspective of the possible evolution of the individual human being.

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