In search of the miraculous
by P.D. Ouspensky · first published 1957
55% recommend45% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Introduction to Gurdjieff's teachings on self-awareness and the parts of the self, valued for giving readers ideas to think through; suited to those curious about self-observation and esoteric philosophy.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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This reminds me of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky's teachings about self awareness [1]. I highly recommend Ouspensky's "In search of the Miraculous". Well, you can skip / disregard the esoteric bs if you want. [1] http://www.dennislewis.org/articles-other-writings/articles-...
on “The man who saw time stand still” ↗…week. Finally, but mostly, Maurice Nicoll's Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of P.D. Ouspensky and G.I. Gurdjieff, though I recommend reading what is widely considered the "introductory" text, "In Search of the Miraculous" by P.D. Ouspensky.
on “Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?” ↗…really is a big deal to see it. Most people don't even do this, they just live it out without even realizing. You might check out the book which is considered the introductory text to the "4th Way" work,"In Search of the Miraculous" by PD Ouspensky.
on “Ask HN: How did you fix your narcissism?” ↗…various aims to facilitate it. One example of such an aim could be "when walking, walk faster than normal". I try to meditate daily as well, but I am not so successful in that. If you are interested, "In Search of the Miraculous" by Ouspensky is a good starting point.
on “Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?” ↗…movement. The part that wants to control the movement is very poor in doing that. So there are these various parts in myself, and it is essential to learn how they operate. If you are intrigued, reading "In Search of the Miraculous" by Ouspensky or one book from "Psychological Commentaries" by Nicoll could be a better starting point than Wikipedia.
on “Ask HN: What is your spiritual practice?” ↗…I say or nothing directly actionable that I can transmit through this medium that would be helpful to you. Few books I have found interesting on the subject: Gallwey: Inner Game of Tennis, Ouspensky: In Search of the Miraculous, Nicoll: Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky
on “Our conscious experience of the world is a memory, says new theory” ↗I second the G.I. Gurdjieff recommendation, but maybe start with any one of the books of "Psychological commentaries" by Nicoll, or "In search of the miraculous" by Ouspensky.
on “The disunity of consciousness in everyday experience” ↗1. Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig 2. In Search of the Miraculous by P.D. Ouspensky I was a teen really into philosophy so maybe not applicable.
on “Ask HN: What book had a big impact on you as a child or teenager?” ↗I find Gurdjieff a bit too much to swallow on its own but this book give me a lot to think. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Search_of_the_Miraculous
on “Urbit OS 1” ↗…precursor to things like Discordianism, but def with more woo. Meetings with Remarkable Men is a great book, though I doubt much of it is true it paints a really colorful picture of the time period. In Search of the Miraculous is also a great book, but I think the author was jaded and a bit cynical about Gurdjieff so should also be taken with a grain of salt.
on “The Nine Ways: On the Enneagram” ↗…conclusion. Meaning no disrespect or insult to them, it seems to me that it must be the case that some folks just haven't noticed themselves. P.D. Ouspensky talks about learning to "remember myself" in "In Search of the Miraculous" and describes how it was for him to practice changing from thinking one is self-aware to actually becoming self-aware moment-to-moment. There's a passage... > Two hours later I woke up in the Tavricheskaya,…
on “What’s so hard about understanding consciousness?” ↗…sleeping people are trying to destroy several millions of other sleeping people. They would not do this, of course, if they were to wake up. Everything that takes place is owing to this sleep." --- In Search of the Miraculous - Ouspensky
on “We think too much and feel too little” ↗"Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" is in my list! I only read "In Search of the Miraculous" when I was 22 or 23, though...
on “Ask HN: What book had a big impact on you as a child or teenager?” ↗…focusing on two things at once leads to a changed state of consciousness, that seems like meditation, and comes from the saturation of the two streams of attention. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Search_of_the_Miraculous
on “EEG shows brain can simultaneous encode two speech streams” ↗…chemistry event seems a lot thinner than we usually think. George Gurdjieff wrote about this many, many years ago (1890 – 1912). He called it "The Fourth Way". This is the relevant passage from the book "In Search of the Miraculous": “So that when a man attains will on the fourth way he can make use of it because he has acquired control of all his bodily, emotional, and intellectual functions. And besides, he has saved a great…
on “What happens when clergy take psilocybin” ↗