Attention is a force—and an energy and a mystery. As a force, attention, when directed inward, awakens in us a “sensation”—a sensitive energy. This simple act of “sensing” is unique to the legacy of human development work transmitted by GI Gurdjieff.

In a careful study of P.D. Ouspensky’s Fragments of an Unknown Teaching, chapter nine, we find that being present to the “organic sensation of life” in our body allows for an accumulation of an energy without which self-observation and self-remembering are but a dream.

As a human being, I can be aware of myself being aware of myself. Sustaining this, I can become aware of others and what we are doing together. I can use my attention in three directions simultaneously: inward, outward, and all around; sensing, feeling, and seeing; sensing my own existence; feeling myself in relation with others; seeing the meaning and purpose of what is present. Such an amazing ability!
Trying it is a first step toward the accumulation of that which is necessary …

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THREE BOOKS to inspire, encourage and help us to sense our bodies in the midst of life.

Practical: Karlfried Graf Durckheim, Hara: The Vital Center of Man
From a tradition from which Gurdjieff took roots. Practical guidance for entering the body. Shift your attention, shift your mind.

Personal: Allen Roth, Sherborne: An Experiment in Transformation
A Young man’s journey: Meeting up with JG Bennett in the 1970s, Allen Roth let go of his future and entered his present. He did it.

Improvisational: JG Bennett, Intimations: Talks at Beshara
Systematic work on presence and being is at the heart of an authentic tradition. Go there.