Begin With One Thing

Start with one single thing that you have noticed and begin to watch it and try to work against it. But start with something you have no doubt about. Start with something clear and distinct and try for a time to observe it and not consent to it internally. Once you start, the way opens out.

But you must actually start from something definite and you must do this in the light of the meaning of the Work and its great aim. If you find you cannot keep your aim as first intended, because it is too difficult, modify your aim, and then you may find that a better aim is suggested to you, especially if you remember your aim whenever you try to remember yourself.

Maurice Nicoll, “Personal Aim" in Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky (Vol. 1, p. 175)