Philosophy Workshop
The Heart of Practice
Why practice? Well it all depends on what you want. If you simply want knowledge
of the works of the greats like Spinoza and Schopenhauer, then practice is
irrelevant. However, if you have a quest for inner freedom then practice is
everything. And don’t underestimate the term “inner freedom” because with it
comes love and joy. Only a free person can love consciously.
Understanding and practice are intimately linked. We only learn, really learn, by
doing things, and understanding grows through practice. The other side of the coin
is that practice is meaningless without understanding. Only through understanding
can we acquire the persistence to carry on with practice when we would rather not.
In the words of Gurdjieff, a person can know a great deal but be incapable of doing
anything, and on the other hand it is possible for a person to be able to do things
but not know what is useful.
So, the heart of practice consists of understanding and the ability to do. As such
there is a three-step process that is a highly condensed version of methods taken
from various traditions, including zen, Gurdjieff and Spinoza. These three steps
sound simple, but they are extremely difficult to do. They are:
Sense the body.
Oddly enough it is very common for people to have very little sense of their body,
and for some people none at all. Since our attention is naturally drawn to external
events and things, the act of moving the attention to our body requires effort and is
against nature. All nature requires is that our attention serves the continued
existence of the body and procreation - work, shelter, food, a mate, family,
acquiring stuff, displays of power, and so on. We need to sense the body because
this is where our emotions are held. If we are insensitive to our body, we will be
unaware of our emotional state. Extreme emotions make themselves known, but the
subtle everyday emotional states and moods slide under the radar unless we
become sensitive to bodily states. There is a well-known morning exercise that
goes back to Bodhidharma in the fifth century, and probably even before then.
Gurdjieff popularized it in the last century, but it is not new. Details of this exercise
can be found at the end of the document.
At first this practice may seem difficult, but with persistence we become more able
to sense the various parts of the body. This is a prerequisite for self-observation.
We can only observe if there is something to observe. Without a good sense of the
body it is just too easy to fall into imagination.
Copyright - philosophyworkshop.com
Philosophy Workshop
Observation
Self-observation is primarily an act of placing the attention on the body and
assessing how it feels. We can also choose to observe thoughts, but this is less
effective, and not least because we lie to ourselves. It is just too easy to pretend
that we are all sweetness and light, when in reality we are a boiling pot of
resentment. To get to know our real state we need to focus on the body. This will
tell us what is real instead of what is imagined.
So having established the ability to sense the body we need to start taking
snapshots of what is happening on a regular basis - several times a day if possible.
So the act of observation goes like this. We sense the body and feel the tensions
within it. Emotions are always held as tensions. Right now as I type this I can sense
tension around my solar plexus. This is impatience, and the desire to produce this
document as quickly as possible. In Spinoza’s terminology it would be called
ambition. In any case it needs to be stressed that recognition of an emotional state
does not mean we should try and change it - that comes later. We need to acquire
the skill of non-judgmental observation - simply sensing and acknowledging what is
going on without any desire to change it. This is much more difficult than it sounds
because we have decades of conditioning. Having been told that anger is a bad
thing for example, we might be heavily programmed not to see it in the first place,
and when seen to try and pretend we are not angry. To observe without intervention
is a priceless skill. It allows us to see the truth, and to achieve it we have to
gradually drop a great deal of conditioning. Non-judgement or attempts at non-
judgement will bring our judgemental inner nature to the surface.
Most of us cannot do this kind of thing without outside help. We lie to ourselves and
our inner censor means we often cannot see what is actually going on. Various
traditions might help here. A quality Gurdjieff group might help, although most
Gurdjieff groups have no real knowledge. Western therapeutic methods might also
help, and particularly Gestalt. And I should add that there are two people willing to
do this work with those interested, although they are reaching the limit of their
capacity, so it might not be the case when you read this.
Understanding
Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting
get understanding. Proverbs, The Bible
Understanding is power. At the mundane level, understanding that thunder is not
the anger of the Gods diminishes fear and dread. Understanding is the third part of
the quest for greater inner freedom. We cannot observe if there is no sense of the
body, and we cannot understand unless we have observational data to work with.
Simply reading books and listening to commentators might create knowledge, but it
does not produce understanding.
Copyright - philosophyworkshop.com
Philosophy Workshop
We need to study how we work and see those dynamics in action if we are to gain
understanding. This is where, in my opinion, Spinoza gives most clarity, although
various other philosophers and sages have communicated insights too (Buddha,
Schopenhauer). If you want to know what you are you need look no further than
these great thinkers. We are desire. Spinoza states quite explicitly that “the essence
of man is desire”, and the root of all desire is the desire to persist in our existence.
There is a well-known quote that comes from Zen Buddhism that all our suffering
comes from our desire to exist. It is saying the same thing.
All your emotions derive from a single root - the desire to continue existing. If
anything threatens your existence you will feel diminished in some way resulting in
any number of “negative” emotions - fear, anxiety, hatred, envy, derision, despair
and so on. Similarly if things are going well you will experience “positive“emotions -
joy, excitement, love, hope and so on. In reality all of these emotions are passive -
they just happen - you are just a hostage to fortune, hoping for the positive and
dreading the negative. What if we could create our own inner source of pleasure
and joy - the inner freedom and strength to ride through the storms and the good
times with equanimity? This is what we can achieve through understanding. But a
word of warning. The only road to heaven passes straight through Hell.
The Morning Exercise
This is a morning meditation taken from the Gurdjieff tradition.
Sit comfortably with a straight back. A chair is fine, or cross-legged if comfortable.
Any discomfort is exactly the opposite of what we want here. If sitting on a chair
make sure the feet are firmly placed on the ground and palms of hands are placed
on top of the thighs.
Relax your body, and particularly the shoulders. A few deep breaths (with long
controlled outbreath) will help. The head should be ‘balanced’ on the shoulders so
there is no effort in maintaining its position.
We will circulate the attention around the body. Start with the left foot, sensing it.
This is easier than other parts of the body because there is some feeling from the
pressure on the floor. Then move the attention to the lower left leg (the shin and
calf), and then the thigh. The attention should be focused for around 10 seconds at
least for each part of the body. Repeat with the right leg. The full cycle looks
something like this:
a. Left foot, left lower leg, left thigh
b. Right foot, right lower leg, right thigh.
c. Buttocks
d. Lower back
e. Upper back
Copyright - philosophyworkshop.com
Philosophy Workshop
f. Abdomen
g. Chest
h. Left hand, left lower arm, left upper arm
i. Right hand, right lower arm, right upper arm
j. Shoulders
k. Face – lips, cheeks, eyes, forehead
l. Scalp
This should take a minimum of 5 minutes, but ideally it should be timed to take 20
minutes. This can be achieved by extending the time taken on each part of the body
and/or going through the cycle several times.
The attention will wander during this exercise. Simply bring the attention back to the
part of the body that was being sensed. The wandering attention is your friend and
there is a wandering attention exercise – but that’s another story.
Why Do It
1. The work associated with Spinoza requires we are sensitive to our emotional state.
Since the emotions are held in the body (clenched jaw, tight chest, shoulder tension
etc) this exercise develops much greater bodily sensitivity.
2. This exercise can result is a very relaxed condition, and with it we can experience
emotional states that are quite unfamiliar – and occasionally blissful.
3. We develop a sense of bodily consciousness quite separate from our usual state of
associating consciousness with thought.
This is a very old exercise and is detailed in the Zen Teachings of Bodhidharma –
where it is claimed the exercise leads to Nirvana (I wish).
Finally, there are some claims made in the Gurdjieff tradition about this exercise
leading to the development of an astral body. Applying the attention (a higher force)
to the body (a lower force), gives birth to a middle force (an astral body). I have no
idea whether this is true, or what an astral body is, and mention it for completeness.
Copyright - philosophyworkshop.com
