Superrational Education

Oskiano, loosely defined in Beelzebub’s Tales* as ‘education,’ could be called superrational education. It is above and beyond our current (rational) model of education. Gurdjieff says, in his closing chord (chapter 42), that because of wrong education, based on Darwinian thought, we have an absence of both ‘an instinctive sensing of reality’ and ‘a broad outlook.’ Using references to the Tales and other sources, backed by personal verification, we will explore current education, Oskiano, and the differences between subjective and objective teaching methods. A scholarly approach to this question cannot work; this would be akin to using a distorted lens to look at itself for clarity.

In order to find what has gone wrong with education, we need to go to a point where it was not spoiled, that is, before the current state of affairs. It is suggested in a number of places (e.g., p738) that during the time of Jesus’ teaching, some 2000 years ago, a different teaching style was in effect—one closer to ‘normal mentation,’ which is described as ‘Podobnisirian,’ or ‘allegorical.’ Luke 2:46–47 describes Jesus "hearing, questioning and answering" the teachers in the temple. His teachers led him deeper into his question until he answered it himself. This verifies that a different form of education existed in past epochs, and we are going in the right direction to find true Oskiano.

On page 814 it is said that the ‘prevailing Oskiano’ began after the second Transapalnian perturbation. The third ‘catastrophe’ that befell the Earth was the shifting of sands and transmigration of races, which can be traced to the beginning of dynastic Egypt, when Egypt became desert (see pp312, 316). When we look for traces of education as close to these catastrophes as possible (with the idea that education has degenerated since), our primary source of data is the Ancient Egyptians. Their teaching—as is evidenced by documents such as the Rhind Papyrus, hieroglyphic language, and symbolic teachings of the Temple—was far different from our modern "fantastic-informations-learned-by-them-parrotlike by compulsion" (note that this quote, page 633, occurs during B’s talk about Ancient Egypt).

There are many connections to the Ancient Egyptians in Tales. G points to them indirectly, especially when speaking of education. On page 332, he states that Hamolinadir became learned "in Egypt where the highest school existing on Earth at that time was found" (Hamolinadir subsequently reports on the "Instability of Human Reason"). The Akhaldans, noted as the most learned society in the history of our planet, are said to have settled in Egypt (p301) and to have communed with Beelzebub’s tribe there (p303). It is also stated that the "ingenious and solid constructions" transmitted the learned attainments of the Akhaldans. The "sacred messengers" Moses and Jesus both spent time in Egypt, linking the majority of the world’s religions to this ancient culture.

During my recent trip to Egypt (to investigate these phenomena on the spot, in a jiffy), I was able to personally verify, along with the idea of the consistent degeneration of the psyche of man, the truth of Gurdjieff’s concept of Oskiano, or ancient teaching form. To do this, one must experience the monuments instinctively, or in the body (since the body knows not past or future but only the present moment). In this way, it is possible to actually be in Ancient Egypt, to experience directly the wisdom of Egyptian sages. This will prove, for those willing to verify it, the futility of attempting to discern the deviation of modern education by using modern education.

With this glimpse of Oskiano through the Egyptians, many of the words of G come together. For example:

"Nothing should be given in a ready-made form. One can only give the idea, one can only guide or even teach indirectly, starting from afar and leading him to the point from something else. I never teach directly, or my pupils would not learn."—Views from the Real World, p. 127

These ideas and examples from the Ancient Egyptians also make it possible to discern more easily education of ‘new format.’ In the East, for example, students traditionally learn by apprenticeship instead of going to school. This model is much closer to G’s own. Modern schooling is motivated by financial gain and does not wish to fail its paying customers, whereas apprenticeship lasts an unspecified amount of time. This also motivates the student to a higher quality of effort. The education for an apprentice is preparation, or a means; it is not the end, as graduation implies in modern education. Not only is preparation ‘learning how to learn,’ but teaching also becomes a way for the master to continue to perfect his reason by taking on apprentices—i.e., teaching is education too. The Laws of World Creation and World Maintenance tell us that the status quo cannot continue to exist; things that appear to stay the same are in reality degenerating. This would indicate that graduation is the beginning of ignorance. If we make no efforts to learn new things, we do not evolve. If our teachers are not learning, or making Work efforts, they are degenerating.

An example may be found in the Gurdjieff Movements being taught like the ‘fox-trot.’ Conscious efforts are more difficult with repetition, yet I have never heard this said during movements. Do it over and over till you get it right seems to be the emphasis. For my education, it is conscious effort and not mechanical reproduction that is most effective (if we were more exact, mechanical reproduction of the movements would not be possible). Movements, like all other aspects of the Work, must be taught with a new perspective.

Ideas are for people most often a form of intoxication, and the stronger the idea the greater the intoxication. When we read the Work literature without applying it to ourselves, that is, without working on ourselves, we become increasingly dependent on the intoxication we receive from it (G calls this titillation). We become addicted to the rush from these ideas and how we place ourselves above the ‘lesser beings,’ who do not know of the ideas of the Work. Work personality, a close cousin to false personality, and which is formed from thinking about the Work in this way, can effectively hinder real attempts to work. We must always work when self-remembering, and not merely "feel good." If enlightenment is the end, we have forgotten our aim.

Conscience, the centerpiece of Ashiata Shiemash’s Oskiano, is denied by education (p378) due to Hasnamusses’ manuals of ‘bon ton’ (which destroy the teaching of Christ, p1035). It is replaced by ‘decency,’ which dictates that one never talk to children about sex; this results in a phenomenal ugliness and onanism (p 1029). Throughout G’s talks, education, children, and sex are referred to together:

"A strange feature of modern education is that, in relation to sex, children grow up without guidance; with the result that this whole side is warped and twisted through generations of wrong ideas. This is the primary cause of many wrong results in life."—Views, p. 126

"Sex center plays a very great part in our life. Seventy five percent of our thoughts come from this center, and they color all the rest." —Views, p. 126

In the ‘Fifth Flight’ (ch24), we learn about many of the traits of the ‘new format’ of education. The learned are examined, or become educated by taking exams (instead of by practical means). They learn by ‘hearsay’ instead of practical ‘corresponding perceptions.’ They are influenced by trends, called ‘the burning question of the day,’ to the extent that they ‘lose their reason.’ Most telling is their tendency to argue by ‘logically and plausibly expounded’ theories. These can all be said to be red flags for students of the teaching.

Learning the conditions under which the right kind of education can proceed must be as much the responsibility of the student as of the teacher. There will always be pseudo teachers—G even says they are necessary for the Work—so the answer is not to try to eliminate wrong teachers but, for the individual who seeks to work, to recognize right conditions and teachers. When a teacher uses ordinary methods, that verifies that the system of the fourth way is not being followed and that the teacher is not objective. If all the students are treated the same, that is an indication; likewise if peer pressure or other form of compulsion is used. If students are judged, or made accountable for things beyond their abilities, or in general punished, either psychically or otherwise, the method is ordinary. If the teaching is ‘sold’ to the student, again it is not genuine.

G sets us straight on Oskiano:

"The method (of the Institute) is a subjective one, that is, it depends on the individual peculiarities of each person."—Views, p. 84

The subjective method of teaching demands an objective teacher, a teacher capable of seeing the unique individual characteristics of each student so as to efficiently organize his work. The modern method, familiar to all of us, is objective; the teacher presents a single, isolated subject to a group of people. The objective teaching is not tailored to the individual and is general in nature. Thus the modern teacher is in himself subjective; he is an expert in one disconnected aspect of the greater whole. G, as an objective teacher using the subjective method, can teach on anything at anytime, according to the needs of the student. Approaching G’s writings, or any esoteric teaching, from the perspective of modern education leads to misunderstanding, argument and titillation; practical work, indicated by the commonsense teaching of Mullah Nassr Eddin, leads to an understanding of G’s words.

Presenting this paper is an irony in itself, since I am forced to use footnotes or page references (which effectively stop you from verifying things yourself) and arguments, both of which belong to ‘new format’ education. [A friend (a PhD candidate) told me of a colleague who prided himself on having more footnotes than the Germans; another friend, an editor, told me of a book with more footnotes than text! Footnotes make it easy for us, denying the efforts necessary to develop understanding. Argument is a form of hypnosis, and we forget our aim.] While I wish to present a paper that would stimulate you, or direct your thoughts, to a deeper investigation and verification, I am forced to "prove" to you, by logical and plausible argument, the aspect of the teaching that is my topic.

As a teacher, I have made myriad mistakes. In every case I have investigated, the mistake can be tied to unconsciously reproducing the ‘prevailing Oskiano.’ Students who are steeped in ordinary schooling become quickly frustrated when being taught in the true Work manner. People teaching the Work, who were teaching before that, must make a complete changeover. There is no summer vacation for a student/teacher of the Work; payment does not cease. Any breaks in Work efforts, for whatever reason, will quickly destroy months and even years of momentum.

Much more could be said about processional ages in regard to current methods of thought and education. Our current age, which fortunately is about to end, is the dualistic age of Pisces. This has given us—i.e., modern man—over to the argumentative, or dialectic, thinking style of the Greeks and Romans (adequately covered in chapter 29). Gurdjieff is clear (as were the Ancient Egyptians) about the influence of the stars and planets on the psyche of man.

For an introduction to and further study of the Oskiano applied by the Ancient Egyptians, I recommend Serpent in the Sky, by J. A. West; The Temple of Man, by R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz (quotes follow); and, of course, a trip to the monuments of Ancient Egypt in person. This study will also be fruitful for those interested in the Laws of World Creation and World Maintenance.

"The Egyptian student was given the problem and then led through the calculations by the scribe. But the rule was never given; it would seem that it was up to the student to discover the rule for himself. In other words, mathematics was a matter of individual discovery, rather than of successfully executed repetition, as it is with us."—West, Serpent in the Sky, p. 106

"Our thought and our science begins with facts, that is the effects, in order to seek out the causes. The pharaonic sage begins with the cause in order to arrive at the fact, the effect. It is absurd at the outset, exactly as the metaphysical and theological premise of the origin is absurd for our rational logic."—Schwaller de Lubicz, The Temple of Man, p. 272

*Unreferenced chapters and pages are from Tales.

KSR 01/20/01