The 4 States of Human Consciousness — Building A Soul
Gurdjieff’s description Characteristics of 4 States of Human Consciousness — Sy Ginsburg GURDJIEFF UNVEILED
The 1st State of Human Consciousness
We are in ‘sleep’, an ordinary night’s sleep in which we spend 1/4 to 1/3 of our lives in a profound state of unconsciousness.
(Our personalities often get trapped in this state of mechanical reactions and conditioned responses, not allowing higher consciousness and impartiality into the stream of the mechanical personality.)
The 2nd State of Human Consciousness
It is relative to our ordinary “waking” state in which we walk the streets, write books, make love, and kill one another. We identify with (waking sleep) everything that takes our attention. In this state, we are an ‘automaton’, machine-like.
(Studying how we get ‘identified’ on a day-to-day, moment-to-moment basis is crucial. When we are triggered and react, we are automatically ‘taken’ and are in a state of ‘identification’.
The third state of Human Consciousness
Self-consciousness We include ourselves in our attention. (We divide our (self-awareness) attention, demanding to split our attention to gain impartiality).
We are aware of being aware of ourselves. This is the Work. Most of the Work is the effort to move from state #2 to state #3. The “how to” taught by
Gurdjieff is described by Ouspensky, as a double-headed arrow (page 19), along with examining the
identifications that keep us from self-consciousness. (Keeping us in duality, as long as we are on the path of the double-headed arrow.)
The Fourth State of Human Consciousness
Objective consciousness. We experience the unitive vision and know we are the one (enlightenment)
life. This is called “enlightenment.” It can be experienced, but it cannot be described in words.
The Work here begins. The rest of the Work is to move from state #3 to state #4, to come about naturally.
Key elements of the “how to” are described as “Only he or through an effort from being she may enter (this state) who puts himself in the position in the state of self- of the other results of my labors,” and “conscious labors and consciousness. intentional suffering” (being-partkdolg-duty).
States of Consciousness
By Maurice Nicoll in Commentaries
| Darkness | 1st State | Sleep with Dreams. Man Dreaming. Body quiescent. Man as passive machine passive to dreams. |
| No Help Possible
Man Asleep |
2nd State | So-called clear Consciousness or Waking State. Body-active-Man as walking and talking machine, not properly conscious. Man as sleep-walker. Man active to his dreams. |
| Light | 3rd State | Self-consciousness, awareness of ‘I’, Self-Remembering. |
| Help Possible-Man Awake | 4th State | Objective Consciousness, Man can see things as they really are. Man is awake. |