	Daniel says he has been asked why we should belong to a group.  This kind of practice involves mindfulness and the objectivity you get when you study with a group.  When you study with a group, and when youve got a problem in a community, that problem becomes magnified.  Think of it as the thing that stands between where you are and where youre going.  Dont think of it as a problem.
	In the 4th way its being objective to yourself.  IF you want to understand where you are, what youre being is, ask anybody else except yourself.  Everybody knows where youre at better than you do.  Check it out.  Think of someone you know, everybody agrees about their traits.  This may be scary, but youre completely visible to everybody else.  Just ask 3 people who are close to you, theyll all tell you the same thing.  Whether you want to know is the tough part  The first thing is to understand what youre doing  Do you want to develop, allow your life to grow?  Everything follows easily.  If everybody thinks youre a jerk, you want to know that.  Youre not stuck there.
	Why is this important?  Ive had a lot of experience that comes from watching people involved in spiritual practice for 20-30 years and still being obnoxious because they never did see themselves.   If you embody it even a little bit, and see it with clarity, everyone will be very happy about your progress.
	When you sit, remember you need to be awake.  Dont drift.  You should be vividly awake.  Sleep wants you to sleep.  Pull out of it.  Meditation is peaceful but not relaxed.  Pay attention to being there.  It requires effort.

Q: The one thing Ive found is others dont see a big chunk of me: the fear and anxiety.  Is there a way to push others to see what I cant see?

A: Thats something that happens as a group matures.  People dont want to make you feel bad.  People will find a way to tell you.  Or I will.  You can do that too, as a group.  Dont be trapped inside your own ego.  Feel it in your body.  Where is it focused?    Its fine to say the practice is to forget the self.  Then do it!  

Q:  I get confused about the Zen idea of Becoming one with a cricket chirping vs. the Gurdjieff idea of remembering the self. 

A:  Gurdjieff wasnt that clear.  He wasnt under serious tutelage for too long.  He was more like a Tibetan practitioner and some dont penetrate that far.  The state of self remembering isnt different.  The thing that unifies both is that your mind isnt moving in either case.  With self remembering everything is there.  Then you can adjust your focus.  Stop the mind and see where you are.  Gurdjieffs is an advanced form of mindfulness practice.
	Augment your practice.  When you  really come to and remember the self, in fact youve forgotten yourself.  Figure that out.
	There is the contents of the mind, and the mind itself.  Thats emptiness.  

Try this: Try to be objective about yourself.  If other people told you what you most need to get out of your own way, what would they say?  

People would say Im spiritually arrogant, that I think Im clearer than they, and that comes across as obnoxious.  I think its true.
That I need to be more focused, more decisive, not wishy-washy.
That I need to slow down, pay attention to details  
Daniel pointed out that nobody else cares if you pay attention to details.  People react to your being.
People ask why do you take so long to speak?  Why do you pause?  Why  do you tell me a big story with the answer buried?
Daniel pointed out that you may seem weird to them, and you need to decide if thats what you want.
I should care more about what I want rather than what others want.
I have an answer for everything, and I can be manipulating.
Im too nice.
I need to lighten up and not be so critical.
Im emotionally demanding.
Im opinionated, arrogant.
Im direct, sharp.  I hear Im different.
People tell me to stop worrying, Im too critical.
Daniel said, stop being a victim
Im controlling.
Im annoying, talk too much, fill space with chatter.
Daniel said to figure out what you want and do it instead of dancing around it.
I want it my way instead of what is.
Im unapproachable, aloof.
I tell myself stories, or buying into the delusion  Controlling.
Im too intense, full of my own opinions
Daniel responded that youre satisfied too easily.  Think too much about others instead of about yourself.
I push too much, lack confidence in something bigger than me.

Daniel asked us to contemplate, what is the opposite of what people are telling you, the thing that stops you?
Appreciating others rather than trying to be better than everyone.
More attentive and focused.
Stop rebelling against the details.
Paying more attention to others instead of what I do here.
Daniel responded this is external considering.  When youre talking to people, remember them.
Care more about my own interests.
Daniel responded, trust your  own wishes; they are important.
Let people come to their own conclusions.  Be more humble.
Daniel responded that humble is hard.  How about open-minded?
Direct, clear, empowered in a constructive way.
Daniel responded that you dont trust your power.
Acceptance of things as they are.
Daniel said you should just relax and have more fun.
Trust and acceptance.
External considering.  Trying to convince myself and others.
Daniel responded, dont doubt yourself so much.
Openhearted.
Embrace my differences instead of picking them apart.
Daniel said, self acceptance.
More content, confident and dont doubt.
Spontaneity, flexible.
Quietly confident.
Focused and sure of myself and clearer.  Trusting what I want.
Daniel said, more sure of yourself.
Easy going and relaxed.  Trust.  I have a core fear.
Open, inviting.
Allowing uncertainty.
Be introspective.  Reflect on what I feel about things.  
Daniel responded that your intellect is running roughshod over your emotional development
Accepting things as they are.
Daniel added, and confident that they will.

	This is like a wishing practice.  Take what you discovered that you want to nourish and spend a couple of minutes empowering that quality.  Tie this to your body.  There is a difference between saying I should accept myself, and actually sensing it.
	I want to talk about this from two points of view.  4th Way - when Gurdjieff was searching, he understood Christianity but felt it didnt have a method  How do I love my neighbor?  He found a method.  Not psychoanalysis but a method to change your internal states.
	In Zen, when you feel something for a moment, its a way of changing your karma  Now youve strengthened yourself and it changes how often that will happen.  If you are with it, I dont have to explain it.  Make some kind of a powerful change.  When you make this kind of change with a group and teacher, its happening from the rest of the group.  Youre getting a transfusion.  You all want to know the right thing but you dont have the power.  This, with zazen feeds that.  Practicing every day will give you the power to change.  This is to help you have the power to do that.  The sitting and deep retreats help you see the bottom of reality, which is you, the lost coin.  Think these things over and over.  There are subtle differences. 
	Remember, this is your life.  Have a good time.  You dont have to do anything.  No matter what you do, youll be dead in a short time.  Personally, what have you got to lose?  Even if youre a jerk youre going to be a dead jerk.  If youre going to practice, the most important thing is longevity.  None of you is such a genius that youre going to get there 10 years before anyone else.  Longevity is going to count.  




 