The Third Striving

Book excerpt: The Third Striving consists of an examination of World Laws and World Maintenance as put forth by G. I Gurdjieff. In his epic work All and Everything, Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson, the third "striving," which is formulated thus: "the conscious striving to know ever more and more concerning the laws of World-creation and World-maintenance, is the third of five " ' being-obligolnian-strivings' " to be practiced ..." in order to have in their consciousness this Divine function of genuine conscience...," (Beelzebub's Tales, pp 385-86). To inquire into and come to an understanding of Law is a responsibility for all individuals who practice and pursue the Gurdjieff Work. It is required (but not enough) to carry out a variety of practices and to struggle, in one's inner world, toward a realization of Conscience. Beyond this, Gurdjieff calls on us to consciously come to Objective Reason, and this requires us to contemplate and actively mentate as best we can on the laws which define the working of our inner and outer World. Only when we understand the laws can we hope to properly utilize the energies of Okidanokh, in the coating process of Kesdjan and Higher Being-body. This volume seeks to offer discoveries and further inquiry into this pivotal "striving," employing the most recent discoveries in modern physics, cosmology, biology and chemistry along with experiential data.