Credentialism in the teaching of the Fourth Way

There is no shortage of books written by those willing and able to qualify themselves under Mr. Ouspensky's criteria of purity in "The Way." Unhappily, students pursuing this pure lineage are too often distracted, replacing the work itself with this nonsense.

This interesting dilemma, built rigidly on every kind of mischief, arises from the "shaky fact indeed" that none of these students has even so much as the faintest inkling of any of the names or faces of these scholars, wise men or other erudite thinkers to whom this irritating respect is given. In fact, these poor struggling students have little more than a poorly fed, tragic hint of the "personalities" populating the path from here to the esoteric core and even that hungry little thing is one given to them by others with, shall we say, every kind of suspicious motive. Nonetheless, this search through every manner of Fourth Way credentialism rages on, making for the poor, dear students some figment with a life between that of a hobby and that of "the burning question of the day."

You may be a student who is "too crafty to be tricked." For you, this warning:

There looms the awful possibility that everything on this web site is a cruel fraud which will rise up later to embarrass you. They will say, "What a fool he is for purchasing something like that!" They might add, "Surely he should have bought something written by an author with more substantial credentials! That is, at least an author who once shook the hand of someone we have heard of or perhaps received his vital spark while having his luncheon in a certain building frequented by other notables--and an expensive lunch, by the way."

"Oh my!" This snakey fraud has caused the first tiny nip within you. You have called your favorite risk avoidance ballet as small, cold comfort from "organic humiliation avoidance!" And there you have it! You as a student who is "too crafty to be tricked," have outsmarted these uncredentialled paper sellers.

The fact is, you have been taught for free. All work begins with self-observation. Now, in this wreckage of a web site selling papers, it falls to you to find your lesson, to find your prize. Measure by what you see before you, not imagining what unseen secret it should contain.

For all the other brave, curious souls, we sincerely hope that you enjoy our web site and benefit from our papers! This school can only afford substance, not some whimsy arising from reports of a notable history. There will be no credentials, only papers.