Book Review

The Third Striving

By Keith Buzzell

Fifth Press, 139pp.

“The conscious striving to know evermore and more concerning the laws of World-creation and World-maintenance.”

– G. I. Gurdjieff

It would seem that working toward the fulfillment of the Third Obligolnian Striving was the impetus for Dr. Keith Buzzell’s writing of his recent book entitled The Third Striving.  Buzzell was born in 1932, became a student of Irmis Popoff in 1971 forming groups under her supervision, and later established a work relationship with Annie Lou Stavely. Buzzell, who received his medical doctorate in 1960, began working in the medical field and has been a family physician for the past 38 years. He currently lives in Maine.

Before reviewing a few specific aspects of this book, it should be noted that as this is a difficult book and as it was read there were experiences of not agreeing with the Buzzell interpretation of Mr. Gurdjieff’s teachings. The experience of disagreement in and of itself by no means lessens the value of this book, or for that matter any book, for one can take points of disagreements in different ways. They can be taken as opportunities for further study of the subject in question perhaps from a different angle, including one’s exploration of the author’s view. To question one’s assumptions and the answers one has come to is of value. The Fourth Way is a way of understanding, and in the Work one is not to accept anything on faith. So questions should arise when bumping up against different ideas and interpretations. Does what I take to be truth come from understanding, that is, is this truth the result of self- knowledge and being, or is that which I take as a truth coming from something else?

As one begins to read this book, his latest of six, Buzzell’s training and work in the medical/scientific fields is clear and it influences his method of exploration into the ideas Gurdjieff brought. Many of his explanations are connected, to some degree, to current scientific ideas and theory. Indeed, without at least a general understanding and interest in chemistry, biology and physics, portions of the book may well be lost to a reader and indeed that is at times the experience. Let’s stop and in general examine a bit of what Buzzell has done. In his striving to fulfill the Third Obligolnian Striving as written in Mr. Gurdjieff’s First Series, that is, regarding the laws of World-creation and World-maintenance, he has made a substantial effort to take the general laws and ideas Gurdjieff presents and to reconcile them where possible, in a detailed way, with current scientific knowledge. He does this in both in words and with the use of many many diagrams. So, a question arose: is this what Gurdjieff’s intentions were regarding the Third Obligolnian Striving, that is, is this reconciliation of Gurdjieff’s Ideas with current scientific thought a part of what he intended?

Food diagram and science

A major portion of the book relates to what in Search is generally called the food diagram. That is, the assimilation and transformation of the three foods—physical food, air and impressions. As an example of this book’s methodology, the following is a part of Buzzell’s explanation about the (physical) food octave. “In the Food Octave (DO768—SI12), we deal with the progression from macromolecular materialities of raw food to non-mass materialities of SOL48—LA24—SI12. Each step guided by the laws of World 48. From DO768 through FA96 our focus is on bonding energies (ftn11) that hold the macro- and micromolecules of proteins, fats and carbohydrates together, down to the level of amino acids and simple sugars and fats (the ‘elementals’ of this food). It is the action of the digestive enzymes and the acidic and alkaline environment of the stomach and small intestine that makes this progressive unwinding possible—taking apart the large and smaller molecules until the elementals (MI192) are the singular product. All of the uniqueness of the individual proteins, carbohydrates and fats (at DO 768) deriving from the unique DNA of animals and plants that make up DO768, is eliminated by the digestive process to MI192…” Interestingly Buzzell uses the scientific way of denoting this substance i.e. capitol letters for the “element” and lower case numbers representing in this case the level of refinement of the substance. There is no disagreement with what has been written. Buzzell presents the tie of scientific knowledge to Gurdjieff’s food diagram in a plausible manner. A through study of all the correlations in the book was not done. But does this use of science and its use in “confirming” Gurdjieff’s teaching need perspective? The science of Gurdjieff’s day was very different than the science of today. Many ideas Gurdjieff brought forth in his teaching were not accepted by the science of his day, but are today. For example, that the Moon was a product of a collision of an object with the Earth was not the accepted scientific explanation when Gurdjieff wrote about it—it is today. The expanding universe Gurdjieff wrote about was just beginning to be theorized in the 1920’s and is now a pillar of modern science. There are many other examples of science coming to accept parts and pieces of Gurdjieff’s teachings. It should be acknowledged that certain ideas are not accepted for example: Etherokrilno what Gurdjieff calls” the prime source substance with which the whole Universe is filled” correlates to aether or ether and is no longer accepted as a material that fills the perceived void of space. Could this change again? Certainly that is possible as science does continually refine and expand its knowledge. Gurdjieff’s ideas come from a source believed to be higher than the ordinary human mind. We have his writings, what his students have quoted him as saying, and an oral transmission—that is all we will ever have. Science is an ongoing collaborative project of millions of humans operating with ordinary minds within the scientific method and coming to knowledge by way of highly developed lower intellectual centers. By its very nature, some aspects of accepted scientific knowledge are going to change. Can science ever verify ideas coming from a higher mind? Some say yes, truth is truth and today we have machines of incredible complexity that can delve far further into the fine materialities of the universe penetrating into the microcosmos and looking outward far into space but  P. D. Ouspensky didn’t believe science could verify certain phenomena and after his experiences in Finland he wrote, “One thing I understood even then with undoubted clarity, that no phenomena of a higher order, that is transcending the category of ordinary things…or phenomena which are sometimes called “metaphysical,” can be observed or investigated by ordinary means, in an ordinary state of consciousness, like physical phenomena.” That is, by scientists what Gurdjieff called “of new formation.” Yet would Ouspensky feel the same today? That conventional science ever accept Gurdjieff’s teaching as scientific, is highly doubtful. Yet what Buzell does could be important for certain people in that he shows that there is enough correlation that people of scientific bent do not outright reject the Teaching. That being said current science has its limits in verification of some aspects of Gurdjieff’s teaching. Buzzell of course realizes this and parts of the book exit this methodology for something else.

Your attentions please, what is H12?

Continuing with the physical Food Octave we eventually come to SI12.  Later in the book Buzzell deals directly with this substance, the finest matter produced by the body acting mechanically to digest and transform physical food. Buzzell now leaves science behind as there is no current scientific understanding of SI12. He also changes his way of writing about this and other subjects on which he has no real scientific basis or direct teaching from Gurdjieff or others. Buzzell writes regarding all H12 (SI12, SOL12 and MI12) “We consider that the entirety of Gurdjieff’s H12 category of matter concerns the attentions (The photonic powers: to focus—creating 1s, to differentiate—creating 2s and to form patterns—creating 3s).” The use of the “We” in the “We consider” occurs throughout the book and generally begins what can only be considered to be knowledge, hypothesis or supposition— it’s not clear which—come to in some way that is not described nor is related to in any scientific manner, though sometimes such knowledge relates, somewhat obliquely, to writing by Gurdjieff, by P.D. Ouspensky’s In Search of the Miraculous or other authors. Buzzell continues, “In the physical Food Octave, SI12 includes many levels of attention—all automatic (under 48 orders of law)—the highest of which Gurdjieff termed “Exioëhary,” The energy that reconciles egg and sperm in sexual reproduction…All attentions can be creative—if the third power of creating or making 3s is brought into action.” Here we have several answers to several questions: what is SI12 (or for that matter, all H12)—it is attention, and further, what is the materiality of attention—it is photonic powers or photonic energies.Therefore, a directed attention would accordingly consist of directed photons. While this is a very interesting idea, it can’t really be called scientific though the use of the term photons implies just that. Where it comes from is unclear, it is not an idea that has been come across before. Regarding Buzzell’s H12 as attention theory towards the end of the book, Buzzell asks the question that had been left, so to speak unspoken but really is critical, and goes to the heart of his ideas regarding attention within Gurdjieff’s teaching, “Why did Gurdjieff put primary emphasis on Exioëhary as sex energy, rather than on Exioëhary as attention? We understand it is because of the following:

“‘Can sex be regarded as an independent center?’ asked one of those present.

‘It can,’ said G. ‘At the same time if all the lower story is taken as one whole, then sex can be regarded as the neutralizing part of the moving center.’” (ISM, p. 257)

The quote appears unconvincing as to the question at hand. Is there anywhere in Gurdjieff’s writings where he directly equates any H12 to attention? In fact, Gurdjieff is pretty clear as to what is the purpose of SI12 , “…this is the possibility of creating new life within the actual organism, in which the si 12 has been manufactured…A new octave develops within the organism, not outside it. This is the birth of the ‘astral body.’ You must understand that the ‘astral body’ is born of the same material, of the same matter, as the physical body, only the process is different. The whole of the physical body, all its cells, are, so to speak, permeated by emanations of the mater si 12. And when they have become sufficiently saturated the matter si 12 begins to crystallize. The crystallization of this matter constitutes the formation of the ‘astral body.’”

An Obyvatel in World 12

Throughout the book in his work of tying to explain or reconcile Gurdjieff’s teachings with current scientific thought, Buzzell seems to have compressed the various cosmoses that Gurdjieff laid out in his teaching of the Ray of Creation. Buzzell does not really write of cosmoses as different interpenetrating dimensions and therefore must use what science has discovered to explain the finer materialities needed to explain in scientific terms the higher Worlds. This is taken to an extreme as he grapples with a question regarding that of the Obyvatel and his place in mans evolution. “Gurdjieff, in discussing the four ways, places general mankind in a very restrictive category…It is essentially impossible for a person under the mechanical conditions of everyday life to come, individually, to coalesce a higher Body…The four ways represent the only ‘ways’…However in the material on Obyvatel, clear reference is made to the possibility of individual evolution ‘outside’ the four ways…One way of approaching this is to look at them as expressions of laws, but in different worlds…The laws in this world (48) have a certain ‘arena’ of possibilities…When one lives in this world, this is all that can be ‘seen’ or understood. When one’s understanding begins to penetrate into the laws of World 12, a great enlargement in possibilities takes place. However rare they may be, the possibilities for certain Obyvatels (the good essence-strong and practical type) to individually evolve along their individual path are real.” Okay, but this assumes that an ordinary man, in this case an Obyvatel, can “penetrate” into World 12. This would seem to put the cart before the horse. Can World 12 be “penetrated” with only the planetary body and the ordinary centers? If so, could anything of value be retained? And if not, the premise of this supposition is out of kilter. As he explains “…The materialities and energies (atoms, molecules, bonding energies) that operate in World 48 are totally different from the ‘materialities and energies’ (electromagnetic waves, fields and photons) of World 12.” Agreed that the materialities and energies are totally different, but that these materialities and energies as listed are actually the materiality and energy of what World 12 consists of would seem to be speculative. Are they not merely very fine materialities thought to exist by science? That they are in World 12 as is herein proposed would seem to be supposition and a fitting of current scientific understanding gathered on World 48 and molded to fit a vision of World 12 that the ordinary mind can understand in an ordinary way. But that said, how does an Obyvatel penetrate a world of “electromagnetic waves, fields and photons”? Perhaps the section in Search could be understood differently?

There are considerable disagreements with some of the postulations and conclusions Buzzell has come to. Nonetheless, the book seems to be a sincere effort and a substantial one to fulfill Gurdjieff’s Third Obligolnian Striving and one that was found to be stimulating. It is not a book for every student of the Work but for some it may have considerable value. Having considered what was presented in the book and Buzzell’s methodology, what was clear what was not, the general complexity presented what came was a quote of Gurdjieff’s when speaking about his book All and Everything considered by many as perplexing and unfathomable: “ Many who never will meet me, simple people, will understand my book.” Clearly a statement to be pondered. When all is said and done the absolutely essential word of the Third Obligolnian Striving is that it is to be a conscious striving. This is understood to be a striving and work that is not to be fulfilled in the waking state and that the higher mind must be involved or there could only be results of a less than objective nature. Therefore, while the striving may begin at the level of ordinary life as we try to make sense of the ideas Gurdjieff brought, it can only be fulfilled at a level above ordinary life and ordinary science.

Notes

1. In the Food Octave. Keith Buzzell, The Third Striving, Fifth Press, Salt Lake City, Ut., 26.
2. One thing I understood. P.D. Ouspensky, In Search of the Miraculous, 265.
3. We consider that. Buzzell, 39,40.
4. Why did Gurdjieff. Buzzell, 111.
5. this is the possibility. Ouspensky, 255,256.
6. Gurdjieff, in discussing. Buzzell, 97,98.

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