G’s “Properties”

Therefore, in order to draw near the Creator by one degree, the lowest one above our own properties, we must acquire the properties of that (lowest) degree. This means that our properties become similar to the properties of that degree, rather than remaining inferior to it. To acquire similar properties means to have the same desires. As soon as our desires coincide with the desires of that degree, its concealment fades, and we seemingly exist on it,

and only nine degrees separate us from the Creator. [G’s 9 point system to get him to the Creator]

G’s View of Being

However, one cannot sense the Creator with just his heart, but only with a small point in it. And to feel this point, man must develop it himself. When one develops and expands this point, the sensation of the Creator, His Light, can enter it.

G’s View of Understanding

There are no secrets in the world. Man attains everything from his degree. Even in our world, in the process of his mental development, man attains new notions on every new degree. And whatever he considered a secret only yesterday now becomes clear and revealed before him.

But as soon as one acquires a screen and begins to perceive the spiritual world, he sees the secret becomes a reality. And this process continues until he completely attains the entire universe, all of the Creator’s secrets.

[compare the above to In Search of The Miraculous]

The source of the “3” Forces

The source of god, essence, personality

The spiritual world is a world of desires. There are only two desires:

1. The Creator’s desire to bestow perfect delight upon His creation, i.e., upon man; [ God ]
2. The will to receive pleasure for oneself, created by the Creator, called creation, or man’s essence. [ Essence]
3. [would be Personality]

What G calls Point 9: Neutral

Both are points: one is concealed, while the other is revealed.

[ this section gets a bit heavy and the rest is easier to read]

[the last point of the enneagram is the beginning]

the two are joined together in Malchut. Both are points: one is concealed, while the other is revealed. However, since there’s no division between them, they are called THE BEGINNING, which signifies only one,

onto which the point of mercy imposes a restriction of use. Correction is achieved when (strictness) ascends to (mercy)

However, the correction of this property occurs only at the end of corrections, when the Supernal wisdom is revealed, as the prophet said: “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Creator”

This is because the last gate will become the first.

…[ heavy text, additional, important in bold]

the essence itself, for HE IS CONCEALED AND DETACHED and no thought of man can attain Him.

when one loves the Creator, even if He were to take away his soul, this love would remain perfect on both sides: mercy and judgment. Therefore, the Light of the First Act of Creation was revealed and then concealed. And because of this concealment, strict judgment appeared in the world, and both sides, mercy and judgment, united to form perfection. And this is the desired love..

“Open to me the gates of justice,” meaning that the gates of Malchut, called “justice,” are the Creator’s gates. And if man does not enter these gates he shall not reach the Supernal King through any other, for He is concealed and detached

the ultimate point of all creation, the ultimate point of all Supernal gates.

This is because the last gate will become the first.

More on point 9

Noga is a neutral force that can be used by the pure force (then Noga is considered good) or by the impure force (and then it is considered evil). Hence, Noga is called “half good and half evil” although neutral in itself. It may be attached to either pure or impure forces, and this depends entirely on man

G’s Secrecy

this is the secret of the Tree of Knowledge, by which Adam sinned, for the use of that point [Point 9 of G’s system]

(egoistic desires) is punishable by death (disappearance of the Light). And great fear is needed to refrain from touching (using) it before all the other desires have been corrected.

Nevertheless, at the end of correction, when even this point is completely corrected, death will cease to exist for all eternity. That is why it is called “fear.”

The last point of [G’s System] the yet uncorrected..[G’s System]., is that very point the use of which is punishable by death (the Light’s disappearance is considered death). It is forbidden to use

[G’s System] until all the other properties…have been fully corrected.

Or rather, if man refrains from using egoism [at Point 9 of the system] and uses only his other altruistic desires, he gradually constructs a “non-reception” screen on [Point 9 of the system]

G’s Goal of his system

[to correct himself] Having filled all of his corrected desires with Light, man achieves the end of correction—of what he could correct by himself.

As soon as that happens,

as soon as one receives the Light in all of his soul’s first nine [points of G’s system] the Light descends from Above, which imparts [Point 9] with the altruistic property of bestowal, of acting for the Creator’s sake.

G’s “I Am” [his goal]

This concludes the entire correction process of man’s soul, and he attains complete unity with the Creator.

The Creator’s goal is for man to attain this state while still living in our world and in his physical body, to combine all the worlds, spiritual and material, within himself

G’s Goal of Total Action

It is therefore said that THOSE WHO KEEP THE TORAH SEEMINGLY CREATE IT THEMSELVES. As a result of man’s effort to refrain from their use, all the distracting and impeding forces (thoughts and desires) of the point of [point 9] become gates, all the locks become entrances, and all the entrances become chambers of wisdom filled with..

G’s view of himself

Such people are called “those who act,” for they seemingly create the Torah by themselves. After all, without perceiving the Creator (The Torah, Light) as concealed, and then overcoming this concealment, thereby turning it into gates, entrances, and chambers the Torah could never have been revealed.

[i.e. G’s 9 point system is meant to turn all of the locks into entrances]

The Correction To The Law of 7

[G’s view involves the Absolute making a correction to the law of 7.

This is called a partial correction. Man is the resolution to that correction.]

G’s view of development: man’s condition

A prayer is a sensation, a desire in one’s heart. Man does not realize it completely and cannot describe it, for the sensation in one’s heart is not subject to any control and conscious correction—it cannot be “created” by one’s own will. The sensations in one’s heart constitute the consequence of man’s mental and spiritual condition, the result of the current degree of his spiritual development.

G’s Secrecy

If you understand G’s work and the above, you will recognize the reason for his secrecy.

In essence, the ultimate and most fatal possible sin would be man’s misuse of Point 9, which could cause Death, disconnection from the light.

No normal person would follow Gurdjieff if they knew what was at stake.

[It may also be the case that “filling with evil to turn into light” is part of this ideology, from a “normal” perspective.]

G’s secrecy of his system would also have regard for him knowing that unless a person was free from all desires, the system would destroy him.

In addition,

The Zohar is not a respected text historically. Using the Zohar as his source would have cost G his reputation.

The Zohar in English

eng_t_ml-sefer-zohar.pdf

Additional Thoughts

What is worth mentioning is that the text [more below]

captures Gurdjieff’s striving to raise Man,

his opinion of the masses, and more.

As for his system, I see G starting with point 9 and working the rest out himself.

Part of G’s view on raising others

1. The sixth [commandment] is to procreate and multiply, for he who does so turns the stream, into an inexhaustible fountain. And the sea, shall be filled from all directions, and new souls shall come forth from that tree, and a multitude of forces shall appear together with those souls, to guard them.
2. …This is the mark of the holy Covenant. The stream grows stronger, turns into a river, and thus brings more and more new souls to life.

[i.e. gurdjieff becomes the source of the stream at a certain level and others are drawn to him]

G’s cultivating a quality in the being

We can change only under the influence of the Creator’s Light, by receiving His properties from Him. Hence our only task is to cultivate a desire to change.

G’s view that the process of man’s evolution can be stimulated, accelerated:

Thus, the desire to change is also in the Creator’s hands. However, He gave us the opportunity to stimulate this process and to determine our own spiritual advancement

More Selected from The Zohar in relation to G

more

Note

If you want to compare this with The Search for The Miraculous,

I recommend looking at keywords like “properties”, the words G emphasizes,

For example:

“All these qualities can belong to man" (he emphasized the word "can"), "but this certainly does not mean that they do belong to him or belong to each and every one. "In order to understand what man is at the present time, that is, at the present level of development, it is necessary to imagine to a certain extent what he can be, that is, what he can attain. Only by understanding the correct sequence of development possible will people cease to ascribe to themselves what, at present, they do not possess, and what, perhaps, they can only acquire after great effort and great labor. According to an ancient teaching..”

As well as modeling out Gurdjieff.