Legend of the Illustration:

To Really Incarnate — Triptych of the Work

This triptych presents the inner labor of incarnation as a single movement articulated in three moments. In the left panel, the salamander abides within the interlaced triangles of the Seal of Solomon, signifying the spirit held in opposition, where contraries do not cancel but intensify one another: the trial in which the work begins.

In the center, the serpent moves according to the hidden law of the enneagram, tracing a path that is neither arbitrary nor closed, but governed by rhythm and necessity; here unfolds the work of transformation, the soul in motion through ordered stages of change.

In the right panel, at the base of the upright pentagram, the bull rests, no longer driven or divided, embodying force reconciled with form; this is the completion of the work, not an escape from matter, but a full presence within it—incarnation fulfilled. Fire, Mercury, Salt: the trial, the work, the incarnation.

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Another sharing for the day from the Blue House of Via-HYGEIA, an extract from Ocke de Boer’s second book, ‘Two Souls‘, published in 2016 by Beech Hill Publishing Company. From page 61 to 69.

After sharing the last chapter of ‘Two Souls‘, ‘We Have To Make Moon In Ourselves’, laying the fundamental ground for due inner work, following the discoveries of life-changing theories & concepts that need now to be carefully digested and integrated into daily life with the help of practical work, we now propose another crucial chapter from the same book: ‘To fully incarnate‘.

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A Layperson’s Introduction to

‘To Really Incarnate’

Most of us go through life driven by automatic thoughts and reactions—what the author calls the ‘horse‘ inside us. Our intellect, which we usually trust to run the show, is actually just a receiver of impressions, not the part that can wake us up to a deeper level of being.

We live in a kind of sleep, stuck in a lower level of ourselves. This lower level keeps us busy with surface concerns: looking good, reacting emotionally, and staying comfortable. It’s not bad in itself—it helps us survive—but it also keeps us from experiencing a fuller, more awake way of living.

To move beyond this automatic state, we need something the author calls conscious shocks. These are intentional efforts—like deliberately working on our own habits and negative emotions—that disrupt the usual machinery of our personality. They are not easy; they require a strong wish and real perseverance. But they begin to free us from being ruled by our automatic side.

As we make these efforts, a higher quality of intelligence can start to emerge. This is not the cleverness we use to succeed in the world; it’s a quieter, more connected kind of understanding. It allows us to see our true place in the larger scheme of life—and even to sense our own smallness in a way that is not depressing but freeing.

This higher intelligence needs its own ‘food‘. Ordinary food feeds the body; but to feed this deeper part, we need to take in impressions and subtle energies consciously. That’s why practices like sitting in silence—exercises passed down by certain teachers—are essential. They help us connect with a level of ourselves that is usually dormant.

The author describes two levels of our being: a lower level (centered in the lower body) tied to automatic life, and a higher level (centered in the torso and head) that can connect with something greater than ourselves. Our full development happens when these two levels unite—when the higher ‘incarnates‘ into our everyday existence. This does not happen by itself; it requires conscious work, surrender to higher forces, and the willingness to go beyond ordinary thinking.

In short: we are more than our usual automatic self. But to realize that more, we must deliberately make efforts that wake us up, feed our deeper nature with attention and silence, and allow the higher within us to live through our daily life. That is what it means to truly incarnate.

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A Glossary of Key Terms

(as used in the chapter below)

Being-Reason: Three levels of intelligence corresponding to different stages of development. Third being-Reason is automatic, everyday thinking (linked to Hydrogen 48). Second being-Reason belongs to the Kesdjan body (a finer emotional-intellectual center) and can grasp non-dualistic understanding. First being-Reason is the highest, linked to true individuality and Real I.

Conscious Shock: A deliberate, intentional effort that interrupts mechanical functioning. The first conscious shock involves applying Work ideas to one’s own being—working on negative emotions, identification, and personality. The second conscious shock involves surrendering to higher forces and is developed through practices like sitting exercises and self-remembering. These shocks allow the transformation of higher ‘foods‘ (air and impressions) into finer energies (higher hydrogens).

Enneagram: A nine-pointed symbol used in Gurdjieff’s teaching to represent processes of transformation. In this chapter, it marks the three shocks: the automatic shock of air at point 3, and the two conscious shocks at points 6 and 9.

Horse: A metaphor for the automatic, emotional-physical part of a person—the ‘feeling‘ center in its mechanical aspect. The horse ordinarily runs our life, resisting efforts to wake up.

Hydrogens: A scale of matter according to vibrational density. Higher numbers (e.g., Hydrogen 768) indicate coarser, denser matter; lower numbers (e.g., Hydrogen 24, 12, 6) indicate finer, more conscious energies. Each hydrogen corresponds to a specific “food” or stage of transformation:

• Hydrogen 768 – ordinary physical food (bread, meat, etc.)
• Hydrogen 192 – air (the automatic shock transforms it)
• Hydrogen 48 – ordinary impressions and the energy of automatic thinking
• Hydrogen 24, 12, 6 – finer energies produced through conscious labor and intentional suffering; they enable higher thinking and connection with higher forces

Kesdjan Body: The ‘body‘ of the soul or finer emotional-intellectual part of a human being. It is distinct from the physical body. The organic film of the Earth is part of the Earth’s Kesdjan body; freeing ourselves from identification with it is part of growth.

Kundabuffer: An organ (according to Gurdjieff’s allegory) implanted in humanity long ago that makes us perceive reality upside‑down, causing us to be identified with automatic life and preventing the natural union of higher and lower levels.

Real ‘I’: A permanent, authentic self—distinct from the ordinary, changing ‘I’s of personality. Its substance is said to be located in accumulators above the head.

Second State of Consciousness: The ordinary waking state—what we call ‘awake‘, but in Work terms is actually a form of sleep. In this state, we are identified, ruled by automatic reactions, and unaware of our cosmic function.

Self-Remembering: A practice of being simultaneously aware of oneself and one’s surroundings. It is a core method for awakening and for creating the conditions needed for higher hydrogens to form.

Solomon’s Seal (or Seal of Solomon): A symbol composed of two interlaced triangles. The lower triangle represents coarser vibrations centered in the lower body; the higher triangle represents finer vibrations centered around the torso. Uniting the two triangles symbolizes full human development.

Third Force Blind: The inability to perceive the reconciling third force that unites opposites. Automatic thinking (Hydrogen 48) sees only duality (‘this or that‘) and misses the synthesis.

‘The Work’: The practice of applying Gurdjieff’s ideas to one’s own being—observing oneself, struggling against mechanical habits, and making conscious efforts. Esoteric Work, as opposed to merely intellectual or philosophical study, requires actual practice and trust in the teaching.

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And now the text:

‘To Really Incarnate’,

by Ocke de Boer

It is mainly the intellect that is interested in this Work. This represents a stage that has to be passed. When we realize that it is the horse in us that is bossing us around the whole day, this realization will help us pass from this addiction we have with the intellect, which is, of itself, nothing more than a receiver of impressions.

The intellect will not help us reach the third state of consciousness; only the horse can do this. However, the horse does not want to go there. It wants its own way, it wishes to stay in the lower regions of the second state, and it will sabotage our possible conscious shocks. It is our buffers and our negative emotions, along with the keeping up of appearances that prevent us from receiving higher hydrogens.

Our horses keep us tied to the lower level of vibrations, which have their residence concentrated at the lower regions of the physical body, as represented by the lower triangle of Solomon’s Seal.¹ This lower level of vibrations is owned by the second state of consciousness. In this state we think with Hydrogen 48, which is one of the end results of the first being food. This Hydrogen 48 is part of our third being-Reason. This reason and this hydrogen are necessary for survival in our three-dimensional reality.

This reason and its hydrogen are very cunning; they help the boys on Wall Street become rich and famous. However, this third being-Reason and Hydrogen 48 will not be of any help for pondering our cosmic function on Earth. In order to ponder our cosmic function, we need Hydrogen 24, which is one of the defining results of conscious labor and intentional suffering.

To really incarnate, we receive and transform en masse energies that benefit Nature’s purposes. To really be able to understand that you are just a nerve end of the organic film is an aspect of thinking with Hydrogen 24. Pondering our cosmic function will lead to experiencing our nothingness.

This organic film is part of the Kesdjan body of the Earth. To grow in Being is to free ourselves from the laws that govern this body of the Earth. Nature provides the food necessary for us to sustain our physical bodies and our psyche. This food for man is called Hydrogen 768. This is our daily food: our bread, meat and fish. To digest this food, Nature provides the shock of Air for us. This shock is free. It does not require any effort on our part. By providing us food, Nature makes sure that the nerve ends of the organic film stay healthy and alive in order to fulfill Nature’s purposes.

Nature provides us with two higher forms of food that it does not need for its purposes, but which can be used by us to free ourselves from the laws that keep us as nerve ends of the organic film. This organic film is part of the Kesdjan body of the Earth. These two higher kinds of food are right in front of and all around us. They are Air and Impressions. To transform these two higher foods, we also need shocks (like the air for our first being food). These shocks are conscious labor and intentional sufferings. (I write about these extensively in HIGHER BEING BODIES).

When we are in the second state of consciousness, we do not realize our cosmic position, and so we do not feel the need for taking in these two higher being foods consciously. We are in fact asleep to these foods. Due to our thinking with Hydrogen 48, we do not even realize or comprehend that these are foods for us.

To wish for these higher being foods to be transformed in us, we need Hydrogen 24, as well as Hydrogens 12 and 6. We need to give our automatons, or food factories, conscious shocks to produce these higher hydrogens, so that our possible evolution isn’t wasted like a bird beating its wings in vain.

Remember, the horse does not want to give itself these shocks; it is a slave to passing time, and the mind alone cannot do it. We need a very strong wish to produce these higher hydrogens.

We need to experience something big, like having our house set on fire, in order to struggle with our identifications, which make sure that we do not produce higher hydrogens. First we need to know where these identifications lie, and how they keep our feet securely nailed to the second state of consciousness. Seeing our situation will help us to produce the first conscious shock. The first conscious shock will free us from the lower triangle of Solomon’s Seal. It will teach us not to rely solely on Hydrogen 48. This will slowly lead us to use the higher parts of our centers and will bring a higher intelligence, an intelligence that will see reality in a different light.² For this reason it is very important to apply Work ideas to our Being. If you are dominated by negativity you will never be able to reach Hydrogen 24. This higher thinking is a free pondering. It is not based on keeping up appearances, or on a need to look smart. This intelligence can work only when we are in the inner parts of the centers. It takes Self-Remembering, along with courage and determination, for us to take this Work truly seriously.

The first conscious shock is to apply Work on your Being. It will lead to the destruction of the dead branches of the personality. The first conscious shock is massive and takes massive effort to achieve. It leads to using the lower level of vibrations consciously, the lower part of Solomon’s Seal.

The second conscious shock is also a shock that takes a long time to achieve, and it leads to vivifying the higher level of vibrations, or the higher triangle of Solomon’s Seal. This higher level has its residence around the torso of our body and takes a lot of Self-Remembering. It will lead to contact with the accumulator above the head, where the substance of Real I is embodied. But mainly, it takes the work of silence. It takes sittings. These sitting exercises were given by Jeanne de Salzmann, by Lord Pentland, by Stanley Nott, by Rina Hands and George Adie.³

These exercises are still around. There are people who can give them—although their numbers are few—but they can still be found. We need these exercises to think with Hydrogen 24. We need them to apply the second conscious shock. Both of these shocks will lift you out of your ordinary ‘I‘. They will bring a new intensity, when you apply them to Work on yourself. These shocks cannot be understood with our normal cognitive intelligence. They will be revealed to you when you apply Work to your Being. There is a difference between esoteric Work and philosophical work. To make this step of entering the esoteric circle you have to trust the Work.

Madame de Salzmann and Ouspensky wrote about the second shock. All of these are true and necessary for the application of the second shock. The second shock has also to do with surrendering to the higher, that is, to higher forces. This is why the higher level of vibrations has to be vivified, in order to be present and available to higher forces. This stage is called the entering of the Holy Ghost in our Work.

For this to happen, we need to make efforts. For instance, we need to understand that we cannot understand Work with automatic reason; that is, we cannot understand Work with Hydrogen 48. To think with Hydrogen 48 is to think dualistically. It is to get lost in one of the opposites, i.e., either this or that, instead of this and that. To get lost in the opposites is to be third force blind. It is what happens when we think with Hydrogen 48, which is itself third force blind.

Note that Hydrogen 48 is one of the end results of the digestion of ordinary food, Hydrogen 768. In order to be transformed, the third force for this hydrogen is the automatic shock of air, given by nature for its own purposes.

To repeat, in order to become familiar with thinking non-dualistically we need to think with Hydrogen 24. For this we need the first conscious shock, which is the application of Work ideas on our Being. Only this will put us in touch with the second being-Reason.⁴ It is only through this reason that higher forces will be able to reach us.

Also, it is only this second being-Reason that is free enough to be able to manifest true individuality, or first being-Reason.⁵ We can meet Work ideas with automatic third being-Reason, but to transform them we need the second being-Reason, which is the reason of the Kesdjan body. This transformation data will be added to our first being-Reason. It is only through this reason that we can affirm our true individuality.

All three being-Reasons are in need of each other. If we look at it non-dualistically, it is the higher data (in first being-Reason) that acts on the lower which is, at first, data in third being-Reason. It is automatic, but needed to make a beginning for true understanding. If applied, it actualizes the middle, which is our second being-Reason, or the reason of the Kesdjan body.

To actualize these three forces to the fullest, we need each of the three shocks in the enneagram: the automatic shock at 3, and the two conscious shocks at 6 and 9. In this regard it will be helpful to think about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. It was by this outpouring that the disciples came in touch with both conscious shocks, by which the higher, the Holy Ghost, could enter them. Through this outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the disciples were capable of thinking with higher hydrogens such as Hydrogens 24, 12 and even 6.

These higher hydrogens began to function in them only because the higher level of vibrations, with its residence around the torso, was vivified. This explains why being a Holy Man, which they became, is often portrayed with a halo around the head, or with a flame above the head. The latter symbolizes a reestablished contact with the accumulators above the head, where the substances of Real I is located.

The first and the second conscious shocks are processes that make us ready and capable to receive very high vibrations, which are impossible to receive in the second state of consciousness.

Matter is visible spirit and spirit is invisible matter. We perceive our three dimensional reality according to our senses. This is true for all brain occupied Beings. A worm perceives its reality according to its senses as does a dog. Worms, dogs or humans depend completely on their environments. This means that they can function only under certain circumstances. Humans and dogs and worms cannot survive a thousand degrees Celsius. They also do not breathe fire. Their requirement is air.

Nature has created sensitive circumstances that depend on many laws (of Nature) in order for organic life to survive. In our Work we define these circumstances as hydrogens. For instance, air is defined as Hydrogen 192. The food we eat is defined as Hydrogen 768. Our impressions are defined as Hydrogens 48, 24, 12, and even 6. The beauty of our Work table of hydrogens is that it defines matter, whether visible for us or not, according to scale. It is a very useful organizing factor.⁶

For this chapter it is important for our understanding that we reach beyond our surface personalities, to see that everything in the universe is matter, whether visible or invisible. Therefore, the Seal of Solomon, that represents a higher level of vibrations and also a lower one, is entirely matter.

When we are taken in or carried away by the lower level of vibrations, we take in only the coarser lower hydrogens. This process goes unnoticed by our attention. This consumption is only in need of the automatic shock of air given by nature and represented by the figure 3 on the enneagram. It is enough for the survival of the lower level of vibrations, the lower triangle of Solomon’s Seal.

In order to vivify the higher level of vibrations, we need the two higher being foods, air and impressions. These being-foods are on the level of the Sun, and even of the Absolute. These are Hydrogens 24, 12, and even 6. For this vivification process, we need the two conscious shocks, represented on the enneagram by 6 and 9.

The important thing to remember is that our potential higher bodies, which are completely material, are in need of food, especially the air and the food of impressions. This higher level of vibrations, represented by the higher triangle of Solomon’s Seal has to incarnate in the lower triangle. That this does not happen by itself is due to the consequences of the implantation of the organ Kundabuffer. We can become complete human beings only if the two levels of vibrations become a unity.

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Notes:

¹ The Great Seal of Solomon. From Eliphas Levi, Transcendental Magic, tr. A.E. Waite (London: George Redway, 1896), 2.

² Nicoll writes that when we think with Hydrogen 24, we will see connections that we are not aware of when thinking with Hydrogen 48. See Maurice Nicoll, Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurdjieff & Ouspensky, Volume 2 (Utrecht, The Netherlands: Eureka Editions, 2008), 431.

³ Mesdames Marguerite Jure and Colette Leonte and Mrs. Annie Lou Staveley gave these sitting exercises. See also the essential exercises by Nick Tereshchenko (Nicolas Tereshchenko, A Look at Fourth Way Work: A System of Esoteric Exercises Based on the Work of Gurdjieff [Edinburgh: Hermetic Research Series, 1983]).

⁴ G. Gurdjieff, All and Everything, First Series: Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson (Aurora, Oregon: Two Rivers Press, 1993), 770.

⁵ Ibid.

⁶ P.D. Ouspensky, In Search of the Miraculous (San Diego, California: Harcourt, 1949): for study of the table of hydrogens, see page 296; for how they relate to the enneagram, see page 400. For the hydrogens and their connection to the Ray of Creation, see P.D. Ouspensky, The Fourth Way (New York: Vintage Books, 1957), 208-209.

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