Here's something I came across from J G Bennett from one of his London meetings in 1972. Could be a quote from Gurdjieff, not sure.
Seems like the right approach to me.
Seems like the right approach to me.
"To replace all negative attitudes toward the existing world by a feeling of confidence and love toward the new world which is being born, toward the still unborn child that is the future of mankind.
To arouse in oneself constantly this love of the future of humanity. Every time one observes in oneself some kind of negative attitude, to take this as a reminder that we human beings live on this earth in order to serve, particularly to serve the future.
And to serve with love, with hope, with confidence that it is possible for mankind to be born again.
Such a positive attitude should enter into our behavior, into our speech. But to this have some force, we have to deprive something else. That is, we acknowledge that one can really work against negativity, to take away energies which currently flow into negative thought, postures and feelings, and to form them toward the other.
This is a very hard thing that I am proposing to you because, in all of us, negative habits are so ingrained.
In the very midst of feeling compassion, one finds oneself finding fault, judging.
This is the disease that has overcome mankind, and we are all infected by it. Some very lucky people have escaped this disease, they have some lucky immunity from it.
It is very fortunate to know such people. It is an extraordinary thing to see such rare and healthy souls in the midst of so much that is diseased and distorted.
It is a technical matter. It is not a matter of thinking "it would be nice to be like that". It is a matter of knowing how to bring oneself to that place where our attitudes are under our own control, where it is possible for us to say THIS and not THAT."