The Psychology of Man's Possible Evolution by P. D. Ouspensky

[cypres]

The difficulty noticing that one is hearing something new

I certainly recognised all the time that five lectures were not sufficient, and in talks that followed them I elaborated and enlarged the preliminary data, trying to show people their own position in relation to the New Knowledge.

I found that the chief difficulty for most people was to realise that they had really heard new things, that is, things that they had never heard before.

They did not formulate it for themselves, but in fact they always tried to contradict this in their minds and translate what they heard into their habitual language, whatever it happened to be. And this certainly I could not take into account.

I know that it is not an easy thing to realize that one is hearing new things. We are so accustomed to the old tunes, and the old motives, that long ago we ceased to hope and ceased to believe that there might be anything new.

And when we hear new things, we take them for old, or think that they can be explained and interpreted by the old. It is true that it is a difficult task to realize the possibility and necessity of quite new ideas, and it needs with time a revaluation of all usual values.

Amazon link

[Zigzag Idiot]

19 hours ago, cypres said:

They did not formulate it for themselves, but in fact they always tried to contradict this in their minds and translate what they heard into their habitual language, whatever it happened to be. And this certainly I could not take into account.

Descriptive of the formatory apparatus. Mechanical thought by association -  defines the thinking process by those who are ‘asleep’. 
https://digitalseance.wordpress.com/category/gurdjieff/

Deeper into the Work this is laid out for pondering,,,,,,

The Jack of Diamonds is the very symbol of the formatory apparatus. The mechanical part of the intellectual center
Jacks are the mechanical part of the functions.

 

[Zigzag Idiot]

On 8/23/2021 at 8:06 AM, cypres said:

Why do they symbolize mechanicalness?

Mechanicalness is symbolized because it relates to the instinctive center which runs on its own, the autonomic nervous system.

On 8/23/2021 at 8:06 AM, cypres said:

Does the whole deck map to something?

Very much so.

The following is from http://www.chanceandchoice.com/course-overview/the-human-computer/

This knowledge was still known in the middle ages when the few remaining secret wisdom schools were threatened by the inquisition. In the year 1299 a group of cabbalists, sufis and artisans (companions, not freemasons), invented a covert means to teach the meaning of the 52, and use it as a means of divination. They invented the deck of 52 playing cards, completely separate and apart from the tarot which was known and condemned by the establishment church. This is essentially the same playing cards known today all over the world. The cards were originally invented and used to create a seemingly harmless facade for their spiritual, "heretical" teachings. With the 52 playing cards they were able to teach the arcana openly in the inns where they met. If the gestapo-inquisition came by, they would pretend it was just a game. At worse they were only guilty of a lesser sin of gambling, not of heresy.

Today the 52 playing cards are a part of modern culture known by almost everyone all over the world. But ironically, the pretense has overtaken the reality. Almost no one today still knows the original purpose - the original game behind the games - the attainment of the 9 from 0. Now we will share this lost knowledge and show you how the 52 cards can be used as they were originally intended - as symbols for the criteria of the human computer.

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@cypres If this interests you, click on the link above and scroll down the page to where you find the above excerpt. I’d be happy to hear your take on this,,,,