Editing Fourth Way (section)

===Basis of teachings===

* '''Present here now'''<ref>Exchanges Within; p 18; John Pentland</ref>
* '''We do not remember ourselves'''<ref>In Search of the Miraculous; p 117; P. D. Ouspensky</ref>
* '''Conscious labour''' – is an action where someone who is performing an act is present to what is being done; not absentminded. At the same time to strive to perform the act more efficiently.
* '''Intentional suffering''' – is the act of struggling against automatism such as daydreaming, pleasure, food (eating for reasons other than real hunger), etc. In Gurdjieff's book ''[[Beelzebub's Tales]]'' he states that "the greatest 'intentional suffering' can be obtained in our presences by compelling ourselves to endure the displeasing manifestations of others toward ourselves"<ref>[[G.I. Gurdjieff]] (1950). [[Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson]], pg 242</ref> According to Gurdjieff, conscious [[Manual labour| labour]] and intentional [[suffering]] were the basis of all evolution of man.
* '''Self-Observation''' – observation of one's behavior and habits. To observe thoughts, feelings, and sensations without judging or analyzing what is observed.<ref>[http://www.dennislewis.org/articles-other-writings/articles-essays/gurdjieff-the-further-reaches-of-self-observation Gurdjieff & the Further Reaches of Self-Observation], an article by [[Dennis Lewis]]</ref>
* '''The Need for Effort''' – Gurdjieff emphasized that awakening results from consistent, prolonged effort. Such efforts may be made as an act of will after one is already exhausted.
* '''The Many 'I's''' – this indicates fragmentation of the psyche, the different feelings and thoughts of 'I': I think, I want, I know best, I prefer, I am happy, I am hungry, I am tired, etc. These have nothing in common with one another and are unaware of each other, arising and vanishing for short periods of time. Hence someone usually has no unity in the self, wanting one thing now and another, perhaps contradictory, thing later.