Your Being Determines Your Understanding

"Have you yet seen in your Being that which prevents you from further understanding the Work?" What have we all understood as being the center of gravity of this question? What Work-idea is brought in here? The Work-idea is that one's understanding depends on the quality and level of one's Being.

On another occasion it was asked: "What factor in your Being do you think prevents you from growing?" Now understanding is the resultant of your Knowledge and your Being. Suppose you do not see any reason why you should change your Being. Then your understanding of everything, including this Work, will remain at the same level.

Maurice Nicoll, "Work on Being” in Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky (Vol. 2, p. 702-703)