"Now if we recall the law of octaves we shall see that a balanced process proceeding in a certain way cannot be changed at any moment it is desired. It can be changed and set on a new path only at certain 'cross-roads.' In between the 'crossroads' nothing can be done. At the same time if a process passes by a 'crossroad' and nothing happens, nothing is done, then nothing can be done afterwards and the process will continue and develop according to mechanical laws; and even if people taking part in this process foresee the inevitable destruction of everything, they will be unable to do anything. I repeat that something can be done only at certain moments which I have just called 'crossroads' and which in octaves we have called the 'intervals' mi-fa and si-do.
"Of course there are very many people who consider that the life of humanity is not proceeding in the way in which according to their views it ought to go. And they invent various theories which in their opinion ought to change the whole life of humanity. One invents one theory. Another immediately invents a contradictory theory. And both expect everyone to believe them. And many people indeed do believe either one or the other. Life naturally takes its own course but people do not stop believing in their own or other people's theories and they believe that it is possible to do something. All these theories are certainly quite fantastic, chiefly because they do not take into account the most important thing, namely, the subordinate part which humanity and organic life play in the world process. Intellectual theories put man in the center of everything; everything exists for him, the sun, the stars, the moon, the earth. They even forget man's relative size, his nothingness, his transient existence, and other tilings. They assert that a man if he wishes is able to change his whole life, that is, to organize his life on rational principles. And all the time new theories appear evoking in their turn opposing theories; and all these theories and the struggle between them undoubtedly constitute one of the forces which keep humanity in the state in which it is at present. Besides, all these theories for general welfare and general equality are not only unrealizable, but they would be fatal if they were realized. Everything in nature has its aim and its purpose, both the inequality of man and his suffering. To destroy inequality would mean destroying the possibility of evolution. To destroy suffering would mean, first, destroying a whole series of perceptions for which man exists, and second, the destruction of the 'shock,' that is to say, the force which alone can change the situation. And thus it is with all intellectual theories.
"The process of evolution, of that evolution which is possible for humanity as a whole, is completely analogous, to the process of evolution possible for the individual man. And it begins with the same thing, namely, a certain group of cells gradually becomes conscious; then it attracts to itself other cells, subordinates others, and gradually makes the whole organism serve its aims and not merely eat, drink, and sleep. This is evolution and there can be no other kind of evolution. In humanity as in individual man everything begins with the formation of a conscious nucleus. All the mechanical forces of life fight against the formation of this conscious nucleus in humanity, in just the same way as all mechanical habits, tastes and weaknesses fight against conscious self-remembering in man."
"Can it be said that there is a conscious force which fights against the evolution of humanity?" I asked.
"From a certain point of view it can be said," said G.
I am putting this on record because it would seem to contradict what he said before, namely, that there are only two forces struggling in the world—"consciousness" and "mechanicalness."
"Where can this force come from?" I asked.
"It would take a long time to explain," said G., "and it cannot have a practical significance for us at the present moment. There are two processes which are sometimes called 'involutionary' and 'evolutionary.' The difference between them is the following: An involutionary process begins consciously in the Absolute but at the next step it already becomes mechanical—and it becomes more and more mechanical as it develops; an evolutionary process begins half-consciously but it becomes more and more conscious as its develops. But consciousness and conscious opposition to the evolutionary process can also appear at certain moments in the, involutionary process. From where does this consciousness come? From the evolutionary process of course. The evolutionary process must proceed without interruption. Any stop causes a separation from the fundamental process. Such separate fragments of consciousnesses which have been stopped in their development can also unite and at any rate for a certain time can live by struggling against the evolutionary process. After all it merely makes the evolutionary process more interesting. Instead of struggling against mechanical forces there may, at certain moments, be a struggle against the intentional opposition of fairly powerful forces though they are not of course comparable with those which direct the evolutionary process. These opposing forces may sometimes even conquer. The reason for this consists in the fact that the forces guiding evolution have a more limited choice of means; in other words, they can only make use of certain means and certain methods. The opposing forces are not limited in their choice of means and they are able to make use of every means, even those which only give rise to a temporary success, and in the final result they destroy both evolution and involution at the point in question.
"But as I have said already, this question has no practical significance for us. It is only important for us to establish the indications of evolution beginning and the indications of evolution proceeding. And if we remember the full analogy between humanity and man it will not be difficult to establish whether humanity can be regarded as evolving.
"Are we able to say for instance that life is governed by a group of conscious people? Where are they? Who are they? We see exactly the opposite: that life is governed by those who are the least conscious, by those who are most asleep.
"Are we able to say that we observe in life a preponderance of the best, the strongest, and the most courageous elements? Nothing of the sort. On the contrary we see a preponderance of vulgarity and stupidity of all kinds.
"Are we able to say that aspirations towards unity, towards unification, can be observed in life? Nothing of the kind of course. We only see new divisions, new hostility, new misunderstandings.
"So that in the actual situation of humanity there is nothing that points to evolution proceeding. On the contrary when we compare humanity with a man we quite clearly see a growth of personality at the cost of essence, that is, a growth of the artificial, the unreal, and what is foreign, at the cost of the natural, the real, and what is one's own.
"Together with this we see a growth of automatism.
"Contemporary culture requires automatons. And people are undoubtedly losing their acquired habits of independence and turning into automatons, into parts of machines. It is impossible to say where is the end of all this and where the way out— or whether there is an end and a way out. One thing alone is certain, that man's slavery grows and increases. Man is becoming a willing slave. He no longer needs chains. He begins to grow fond of his slavery, to be proud of it. And this is the most terrible thing that can happen to a man.
「现在如果我们回想八度音阶的律则，我们将会看到一个以某种方式前进的平衡过程无法随心所欲去改变，唯有在某种『十字路口』才可能改变而走上一条新的路径，在两个『十字路口』之间什么也不能做。同时如果一个进程经过一个『十字路口』却没发生什么，什么也没作成，那么随后什么也不能做，这进程将会依据机械律则继续发展；就算是人预见了一切事物不可避免的毁灭而参与了这个进程，他们也无法做任何改变。我再重复一次，只有在某些时刻也就是我刚说的『十字路口』才能做些事情，这在八度音阶里就是我们称之为『间隔』的mi-fa 与si-do。
「当然有非常多的人认为，依据他们的观点人类的生活并未行进在一条应走的路上。于是他们发明各式各样的理论，以他们的意见看来这应该改变人类的整个生活。一个人发明一个理论，另一人立刻发明一个相反的理论，两者都期待每个人都相信他们，许多人也真的相信或这个人或另一个。生活当然走它自己的方向，但人们并不停止相信他们自己或别人的理论，他们相信有可能做些事情。所有这些理论当然都是全属幻想，主要是因为他们不将最重要的东西列入考虑，也就是人类与有机生命在世界进程中的从属地位。理智的理论将人置于一切事物的核心；一切事物都为了他而存在，太阳、诸星球、月球以及地球。他们甚至忘了人相对的体积、人的微不足道、以及人短暂的存在等等，他们声称一个人如果愿意就有可能改变他的整个生活，也就是依据理性的原则组织他的生活。新的理论一直出现，继而又引起相反的理论；所有的这些理论以及它们之间的争论毫无疑问形成了一股力量使人类保持在目前的状态中。除此而外，所有这些理论对一般的福祉以及一般的平等不只是不可能实现，而且如果实现的话必定是具毁灭性的。大自然中的一切都有它的目的与它的用意，包括人的不平等与痛苦。摧毁不平等必然意味着摧毁进化的可能性，摧毁痛苦必然意味着：首先，摧毁一系列对于人的认知。第二，『冲击』的消灭，也就是说本身便能改变情况的力量。如此全都是理智上的理论。
「进化的过程，那种将人类视为一个整体的可能进化，完全类似于个人可能的进化过程都由相同的东西开始，换句话说，就是某一群细胞逐渐变得有意识；然后它吸引其它的细胞，辅助其它的细胞，逐渐使得整个有机体服膺于它的目标，而不只是吃、喝、以及睡觉，这就是进化，事实上也没有其它种的进化。不管是人类还是个人一切都是由形成一个有意识的核心开始，在人类社会中所有生活的机械力全都在反对这有意识核心的形成。以完全同样的方式，人里面所有机械的习惯、品味与弱点也都在反对有意识的记得自己。」
「能不能说有一个有意识的力量反对人类的进化？」我问。
「从某个观点可以这么说。」葛吉夫说。
我将这列入记录是因为这和他以前说的似乎相互矛盾，也就是，世界上只有两股力量互相争斗——「有意识」与「机械」。
「这力量能够从什么地方来？」我问。
「解释这个势必要花很长的时间，」葛吉夫说，「而且对我们目前来说不会有实际的意义。有两种进程---有时称之为『退化』与『进化』，它们之间的不同在于：一个退化的进程有意识地开始于绝对者，但到了下一步就已经变成机械的——而且当它继续发展就变得越来越机械；一个进化的进程半有意识地开始，但当它继续发展就变得越来越有意识。然而有意识与阻止进化进程的意识也能够在退化进程中出现片刻，这意识从那里来？当然是从进化的进程，进化的进程必须不断进行，任何停顿都会造成一个基本进程的分离，像这样在进展过程中遭阻隔的意识片段也能结合在一起，至少在一段时间内可以藉由对抗进化进程而存活，但它终归只是让进化的过程更为有趣而已。除了对抗机械力量之外，它有时却对抗起相当强大力量的有意阻隔，而不对抗机械力。虽然它们当然不能跟主导进化进程的力量相比。这些助力有时却能征服进化的力量，原因在于引导进化力量的手段有限，换句话说，它们只能使用某些特定的方法和手段。然而那些反力的手段却层出不穷，它们可以使尽任何手段，即使只得到短暂的结果，最后它们会一同毁灭进化与退化。
「但如同我说过的，这问题对我们没有实际的意义，对我们唯一重要的是确立进化开始的指针以及进化进行中的指针，如果我们记得人类与个人之间的完全类似，要确定人类是否在进化就一点也不困难。
「例如我们能说生活是由一群有意识的人所统治吗？他们在那里？他们是谁？我们看到的完全相反：生活是由那些最少意识、最昏睡的人所统治。
「我们可以说生活上是由最好、最强及最勇敢的占优势吗？一点也不，相反的，我们看到的是粗俗与愚蠢的集大成。
「我们能说在生活中能够观察到对统一、一致的抱负吗？当然没有这类东西，我们只看到新的分裂、新的敌意、新的误解。
「所以在人类的实际情况中没有任何东西指向进化的行动，相反的当我们把人类与一个人作个仿真我们就完全清楚看出以付出本质作为个性成长的代价，也就是一个人为的、不真实的成长，是外来的东西，付出的代价却是自然、真实、属于人自己的东西。
「这同时我们也看见一种自动作用的成长。
「当代文化需要自动装置，无可置疑人正在失去他们获得的独立习惯而逐渐转变成自动装置、成为机器的一部份。要说出所有这些会归于何处以及它的出路是不可能的——甚至是否有终点与出路都很可疑。有件事是可以确定的，就是人的奴性在增长，人正在变成温驯的奴隶，他不再需要锁炼，他开始变得喜欢他的奴性而为之感到骄傲，这是能够发生在人身上最恐怖的事了。
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