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slon of Harper G Row, Publkbers, Inc. Continued on page 48

NEW REALITIES 31
,
I
CONSCIOUS PRAYER
(ContinuedfLom page 31)

or not. The man who thinks about get-

the promise never to sin again fades
away.
This lack of control over emotions is
also related to the uncontrolled altera-
tions in what Gurdjieff termed our
cles stronger. I have to push and pull
and strain, pushing myself to and a lit-
tle beyond my iimits over and over
again: then I get stronger muscles.
Why should psychological growth be

I
ting money all the time is in effect "false personalities," or subselves, what any different? Prom this view it seems
praying for money with unwitting I have called identity states. Most "false clear that wishing and praying are fan-
prayer, whether he thinks of himself personalities" have specific emotional tasies that divert us from what we ac-
as a religious person or not, whether cores, so when a situation evokes differ- tually need to do, so we are better off
he gets down on his knees and for- ent emotions it can cause a change to just get on with the work.
mally asks God for money or not. The from one "false personality" to an- Yet Gurdjieff also said to pray as if
woman who constantly Imagines trag- other. The "new on-stage subself isn't everything depended on prayer, to be-
edies befalling her i s effectively pray- interested in the same things the previ- seech help from a higher level, recog-
ing for them. Our habitual attitudes af- ous one was. The thing that-makes these nizing that our work efforts wiU come
fect our life in many ordinary, psycho- subselves "false" personalities is that to nothing unless we are helped from
logically understandable ways; but un- we unwittingly identify with them at above. After all, the ordinary self that
witting prayer is another way in which the time they are active and thus mis- makes efforts is somethjng of an illu-
we aeate our life, sometimes.%ith take them for our whole personality, sion from the mystical point of view,
tragic (even if wished for uncon- our whole self. so it is the higher self that really
sciously) consequences. As Gurdjieff Effective petitionary prayer would works. In his practical teaching he em-
frequently expressed it, your being at- be possible for a person who was gen- phasized work effort, not prayer,
tracts your life: uinely cohaous; who, at will and for probably because he found that his stu-
, ;Effective petitionary prayer in Gurd- extended periods: deliberately sum- dents had so'many distorted and in-
jieffs hew: then, is intense and consis- moned up hls'or her intellectual and correct ideas about ideas like prayer
tent desire and thought. Most petition- emotional intensity to consciously that there was' no point In teachhg
ary prayer, however-formal or unwit- pray; and who prayed "from" his or much about it until they had done
ting-has almost no effect. There are her more integrated and constructive enough psychological work on-them-
several reasons for this, given Gurd- subpersonalities or from his or her es- selves to clean out the aspects of false
jieffs view of ordinary consciousness. sence. personality that would otherwise sab-
First, because ordinary people are otage most efforts at genuine prayer:
by shifting identities with dis- Is Prayer Magic?
parate and often conflicting desires, Some might object that this empha- %onsclous Prayer
the unwitting prayers of various iden- sis on controlling the quality of con- Gurdjieff dismissed most prayer as
tities contradict and largely cancel one sciousness' and - emotion to achieve useless fantasy, but he described a
another. GurdjieFf argued that we all more effective prayer smacks of magic process of mnsdous prayer that was
have many different identity states, or some sort of power play: If I am de- effective. Conscious prayer is a proc-
and some of them are at odds with one liberately intense, if I a e a t e an emo- ess of reuzpituhffon, in which you
another. Random alternations of "I de- tion, then can I force God (or some- consciously remind yourself of your
sire X," and "I'm not interested in X, thing at some higher level) to give me knowledge and intentions. The effec-
give me Y," and "I hate X," and so on, what I want? Am I at least getting bet- tiveness of such recapitulation is a
do not give any consistent message to ter odds by my actions? In one sense function of the degree of conscious-
higher levels of the universe. ~
yes, in another no. ness we bring to it.
Another obstacle to effective prayer Gurdjieff made a somewhat para- Suppose you decide, "I want to be
is our inability to be consciously in- doxical statement on this subject: serious." Merely praying this over and
tense. Ordinary emotions, triggered by "Work as if everything depends on over mechanically, while daydream-

I) external events and reacting predict-

ably and mcchanially with our per-
sonality patterns, may tempo&y
work. Pray as if everything depends
on prayer." What did he mean?
Gurdjieff felt strongly that we must
ing about other things you'd rather be
doing, is a waste of time. To be effec-
tive, when you say "I" you must un-
produce strong desires, strong formal work on understanding and trans- derstand what you know about "I."
or unwitting prayers; but external forming ourselves with no expectation For Gurdjieff this would mean:
events change and the instigating de- of receiving any sort of outside help, realizing that you had many "1's"
sires disappear. A person in a life- natural or supemamd. Only I can rather than a single unLfied "I"
threatening situation may genuinely transform myself, only my efforts realizing that many of the identity
and intensely pray, "Dear God, save count. The strength I have is the states we accept as "I" when they are
my loved one's life and I will never sin strength that comes from making ef- active have mutually contradictory de-
again!" The loved one recovers (which forts. I cannot grow stronger muscles sires and perspectives
may or may not have any relation to by just wishing for them, nor can feeling your desire to create a sin-
this prayer), the stress disappears, and someone else,magically make my mus- gle, unified "I"

48 NEW REALITIES
 When you say "want," you have to better than the definition of petition- it &cult for many of us to seriously
recall, for example: ary prayer. Indeed Gurdjieffstates that try it. My own psychological. parapsy-
how these many "1's" in you have the focused, conscious attention and chological, and altered-states studies,
many wants recapitulation in consciously praying as well as personal experience, have
how these wants come and go something Wre, "God have mercy convinced me that prayer is a valuable
with your moods upon me!" may well have the effects avenue for our growth, and I intend to
what you know about creating a that God ,is being asked to provide. spend more time in prayer. The "sci-
want that carries more weight than This throws us back to the paradox: entific psychologist" part of me
,* ..xthese'mechanical wants Work & ,$'everything depends on ef- winces as I write the above statement:
I *. fort. Praf'as if everything depends on Your colleagues will ridicule you for
When you say "to be," what does
"being" mean? Is *it only mechanical ptaY&<~rom one point of view the ef- saying such a thing! But tbis is what I
being, in the sense of simply existing, fort of 'consdous'prayer automatically, have learned in examining personal
.. or is it the being of a person who can lawfully,..produces beneficial results, psychological growth, and that is
do,a "being" that has will? including'"pdssib1e connections to what I will say. I do not know exactly
How exactly do you define "seri- higher levek'of our selves. From an- what we should pray for, but I think
.r,, ous"? How much of that definition is ,
other point of view our efforts may be we would do well to pray for further
pleasing to higher aspeas of being and understanding of ourselves, .and wis- .
your own and how much is your su-
I

perego's, forced on you in the inno- attract help and ..bles~ings.Probably dom in what to pray for. " ' -
cence of childhood? both and neither views are true, de-
Gurdjieff believed that . consdous . pending 'on your state of consdous- Cbarles T. Tart, professor of psycbol-
. prayer can be very effective, so you
ness and-6'eing.t, ..' '
*- ogy a t Ibe University of Califmvaia,
- DavLF, i s a n authority on. altered
" ' had better be very cleq about exactly -.ShallWe Pray? states of consdousness. He is tbe au-
what it is you want. . Prayer is not fashionable in today's &or of ~ t e r e dstates of conscious-
In many ways Gurdjieffs descrip- modern growth circles; indeed it is ri- ness, Wamg up: overcoming the ob-
tion of conscious prayer fits the above diculous given the biases of sdentism. stacles to Human Potentia and many
mentioned definition of meditation The cultural rejection of prayer makes other h k s .

NEW REALITIES 49