TRANSLATORS' INTRODUCTION

After establishing the objective method and making the reader aware of its principles, he suddenly alters his system of attack. From chapter VIII onward, he undertakes the study of the world order from the standpoint of subjectivity—of consciousness.

By a method both ingenious and new, he correlates the different grades of consciousness observable in nature—those of plants/animals, animals, and man—with the sense of space. He shows that as consciousness changes and develops, the sense of space changes and develops as well. That is to say, the dimensionality of the world depends on the development of consciousness. Man, having reached the third stage in that development, has a sense of three-dimensional space—and for no other reason.

Ouspensky concludes that nothing except consciousness unfolds or develops. Since there appears to be no limit to this development, he conceives of space as the multi-dimensional mirror of consciousness. He views time and motion as illusions; what appears to be time and motion is, in reality, only the movement of consciousness upon a higher space.

The problem of superior states of consciousness, in which "there shall be time no longer," is thus directly opened up. In discussing their nature and the methods of attaining them, he quotes freely from the rich literature of mysticism. Instead of attempting to rationalize these higher states of consciousness as some authors do, he applies to them the logic of intuition—"Tertium Organum" Latin: "The Third Organ" or "Third Instrument of Thought," referring to a logic that transcends Aristotelian and Baconian systems.—which is paradoxical from the standpoint of ordinary reason, but true in relation to the noumenal The world of things-as-they-are, as opposed to "phenomenal" appearances. world.

Joseph Conrad and Ford Madox Hueffer once wrote a novel called The Inheritors, and by this title they meant the people of the fourth dimension. Although there is little resemblance between Ouspensky’s "superman" and theirs, he also shares the idea that those in this world who succeed in developing higher-dimensional or "cosmic" consciousness will indeed inherit the earth. They will control and regulate human affairs by virtue of their superior wisdom and power. In this, and in this alone, dwells the "salvation" of the world. His superman is the "just man made perfect" described by the Evangelist. The struggle for mastery between the blind and unconscious forces of materialism on the one hand, and the spiritually enlightened on the other, is already upon us; it underlies all conflicts between nations and peoples...