Successful malcontent

The successful malcontent is not content with the reasonable level of success he has attained in ordinary life, however. Something or many things are wrong. What those things are considered to be is a function of the successful malcontent s perceptiveness and level of development. 

This conflict between safety and growth needs is why Gurdjieff insisted that the Fourth Way starts from a reasonable level of success (by commonsense standards) in the ordinary world. The householder, the successful malcontent, has lots of imperfections and craziness in an absolute sense, but by common standards has mastered the tasks of staying alive and reasonably comfortable. He or she has a solid base to start from, and that successful base, satisfaction of lower needs, allows the essential curiosity and desire for self-actualization to emerge. 

The Fourth Way is intended to begin at a level of being that I call the successful and perceptive malcontent. 

I worry that you, dear reader, may now get overly concerned with questions about whether you are successful enough and perceptive enough to be a successful and perceptive malcontent. If you have read this far you are probably perceptive enough, but how many imperfections are you allowed to have. Is a minimum income level required. What about those really crazy thoughts and feelings you sometimes have... 

---