Psychopathology and Psychomechanical Tune-Ups

Assuming you have been reading this treatise in the manner suggested by Gurdjieff in Friendly Advice to BEELZEBUB’S TALES TO HIS GRANDSON, ie: “first, read as least as well, as you read a contemporary book or newspaper; second, as if you were reading aloud to another person; third, try to fathom the gist of my writings”; you should have ‘developed a taste,’ or personal understanding, concerning the subject of psychomechanics.

In concluding this Chapter, it is worthwhile discussing man’s three ‘bodies’ and the several levels of consciousness available for each one of us. In addition, we will discuss the obstacles placed in the way of conscious evolution using the language of Gurdjieff. The structure of this segment of the book is taken from the my play, VAULT OF THE ADEPTI.

Three Levels of Man

Previously, I made reference to the Theban Egyptian mystery school teachings concerning the three bodies of man. Below is a short explanation of this transformation work as depicted in Act V, Scene II, of a Rosicrucian play written and performed in 1993, titled, VAULT OF THE ADEPTI, Michael Jon Kell, MD PhD, FRC, Trismegistus Press, Atlanta, Georgia. The sacred knowledge provided in this play was intertwined with the second R+C manifesto appearing in 1610 known as  THE CHYMICAL WEDDING.

ACT I, SCENE II: Adepti are seated in library.

Brother N. N.: Brothers and sisters, to sacrifice the lower self for the benefit of the higher is a Sacred Chore. For the execution is a wedding and the wedding is an execution. Advocatus can you expand upon this paradoxical statement for our mutual benefit?

Advocatus: We have been taught that the self can be seen to function potentially upon three distinct levels of progressive, evolutionary activity; the animal self, the personal self and the God Self. For is it not taught in Genesis that on the eighth day, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul”.

For the combination of matter and vital life force results in a living, mechanical creature who given time and experience can obtain eternal consciousness as a permanent soul personality.

Now, the animal self is the mortal being with its lower emotions, worldly desires, objective senses. It is brain consciousness. In ancient Egypt, this self was taught to be composed of three parts: the khat, or the physical body–a word indicating something in which decay is inherent; the khaibit, or shadow figure, which is probably equivalent to those aspects of the unconsciousness we recognize as our instinctual emotions and desires; and the ab which would represent the faculties and programming of the physical brain, although the ancients placed this center in the area of the heart.

This state of automatic awareness is one in which the actions of the self are controlled solely by the mutual reactions of its parts, exterior influences and unconscious karmic debts–influences such as physical appearance, country, family, relatives, customs and habits. The animal self looks no further than to its brain and its five, externalized, physical senses for explanations for its actions. Consequently, it is asleep to the true reasons explaining its thoughts, feelings, desires and actions.

A. Major: It is true, Advocatus. For even we, at one time, were like the majority of men and women of the world. Deceived and soundly asleep. Moving about each day, interacting with each other, thinking we were awake, but in actuality, acting only in our sleep. It is good that we are no longer somnambulists!

Advocatus: Well said, Brother. This lowest level of self awareness was not born until satisfactory completion of man’s physical vehicle through material evolution. Once the first glimpses of differentiation of self had occurred, further experiences in the physical world lead to the improvement of perceptive tools and skills, until one day it become aware of and accepted the existence of the personal self.

A. Minor: Personal self?

Advocatus: Yes, beyond the animal self exists a still higher level of human functioning called the personal self. The Egyptians taught that this aspect of consciousness was composed of three non- physical aspects: the ka, or individual personality, the sekhem, or vital force or personal power of a person and the ren, or unique and eternal name of the personal self.

Though this aspect of self begins life at the same time as the animal self, it does not appreciate its independent existence, free of the physical body, until after several incarnations. The personal self is responsible for storing up and processing, with the guidance of the God Self, the experiences gathered in each life time. The personal self remains asleep and unaware of its intrinsic ability to function between incarnations until it has gathered sufficient knowledge to awaken into realization of its existence independent of the khat, khaibit and ab. In other words, the man has become a living soul, functioning on a progressive scale of consciousness even between incarnations.

The personal self carries the aspect of personality and character through each successive incarnation. The personal self, again guided by the God Self, insures that the conditions for each incarnation are determined by affinity and the karmic necessities of its soul evolution. This is the part of the self which recognizes that it has no end, that it is immortal. It represents the Osirian element in man which must become perfected through the cycles of becoming.

After a sufficient number of incarnations the personal self, because of its awareness of its immortality, begins to consciously exam the effects of its activities and exercises free-choice. It is this self which is provided the opportunity to either remain immersed in the chaos of physical existence or move forward into the Greater Light. It is aware of and desires the accumulation of personal power and personal existence.

A. Minor: How can one find this personal self?

Advocatus: The personal self can be found during periods of deep meditation when we forget our self-centered needs and desires and focus on the immortal knowledge and feeling of our “I-ness.”