num_pages: 118
description: This book, which sets out Abdullah's basic teaching, shows the strong relationship between the Gurdjieff and Sufi ideas.   Probings will be of great value to those who wish to learn to work on themselves in order to realise their physiological, psychological and spiritual potential.The Sufis say the one fact every man can be sure of is that he has a body. The body is the point from which he must start working. For a few months he observes 'it' without struggle, but once he has obtained some real data the struggle must commence. A great number of people believe that one should do nothing except to continue to observe passively, but this is completely wrong and will keep a person in a state of sleep for years.Excerpts from bookFrom Chapter 3The first thing that must be done for the evolution of consciousness is to see oneself objectively. Each person has false pictures of himself and imagines he is further ahead on the esoteric path than he actually is. He creates buffers which hide his real state. This illusion is the ego, and is one of the attributes of sleep. The Gnostics inscribed above the doors of their temples, 'Hence thee profane', and inside the temple, 'Know thyself'. To know oneself is to see oneself impartially, without the buffers interfering. To throw out the profane is to get rid of the buffers and negative emotions.The only way for a person to get a clear picture of himself is to constantly try to observe himself, in an active way. (p. 38)
language: English
title: Probings
titlecomplete: Probings
ratings_count: 2
publisher: Gnostic Press