The term Deputy-Steward in Maurice Nicoll’s writings describes a crucial stage in the development of states of consciousness.
“You can be the same person every day if you like, or you can wish to be different. You can go on submitting to negative emotions, identifying, being angry, justifying yourself from your life-ideas, and so on—or, on the other hand, you can think from the Work-ideas and use a little choice. If you sincerely evaluate the Work and desire to make a choice for it, for its meaning and teaching, then the small amount of energy gained will pass into Deputy-Steward, or even towards the essential you, the real person in you, and strengthen you and perhaps open up for a moment a certain happiness that is internal and quiet.” Maurice Nicoll, Psychological Commentaries, p250
After a long time in the Work, the inner system, which starts from willing Self-Observation begins to act and control the mechanical man. It does this by means of collecting round it all ‘I’s in Personality which wish to and can work. This stage is Deputy-Steward. If this persists in spite of temptations, something very strange begins to happen. Temptations in this first stage of the work are wholly struggling against doubts, evil interpretations, slander, scruples, finding fault, making requirements, and so on, for no other temptations exist for us at this stage. This is where a man must first be tempted in this way to be any good for any further awakening. Observing ‘I’ collects round it ‘I’s that can work and understand the work. They form a small group of ‘I’s called Deputy-Steward, which have to struggle and fight, not only with False Personality but with undeveloped Essence. If Deputy-Steward, in spite of endless failures, becomes strong enough, ‘Steward’ draws near. ‘Steward’ belongs to something above man. It comes at first in flashes and often when it draws near, people have great difficulties either externally or in struggles with negative states in the form of illness, etc. ‘Steward’ comes from a different level.” Commentaries, p37.
“The formation of second body is connected with a growth of Essence, which is internal to Personality. But a man cannot start from Essence. Essence must be taught to develop. The Work does not start from Essence. It starts, in a man having magnetic center, from those ‘I’s in him which wish to work, and they form ‘Deputy-Steward.’ This is the first point of Work made in a man. It can break up, or it can become stronger. These ‘I’s must teach Essence—that is, Personality must, at first, teach Essence. But as Essence grows—that is, as the Work becomes more and more real and essential in a man—the Work of Deputy-Steward passes into that of the Steward.” Commentaries, p223
“Self-Remembering is to try to remember something that you are not, if you will allow this paradox for the moment to pass without argument. All real Self-Remembering begins with something to do with this Work. For example, it is said that when you remember yourself, you must try to remember your aim. Your aim must always be connected with something that concerns the ideas of this Work and to form such an aim you must already have had some considerable experience of self-observation from different angles of the Work. When you make an aim which is the definite result of self-observation, say, that you are always negative in connection with something or other in the past or in the present or both, then you can make a real Work-aim not to express this negative emotion outwardly and eventually not to identify with it internally in your Intellectual and Emotional Centers. This begins to form what is called Deputy-Steward in yourself—i.e. you put some ‘I’s that begin to understand what this Work is about in charge of you so that although you may constantly forget yourself—fall asleep—you are reminded that something is wrong in regard to your inner state.
“Eventually Steward will begin to appear. Steward is a much higher level than Deputy-Steward and comes down from above as help for you. Above Steward lies Real ‘I’. If we could get in touch with Real ‘I’ directly without having to pay all that is necessary for this inner development, then we should be able to remember ourselves in the Work-sense of that term. But we have to start from where we are and gradually by a process of inner separation and selection learn not to go with certain ‘I’s and give the preference to other different ‘I’s which stand on a slightly higher level of our average being.” Commentaries, p897
“Deputy Steward is exactly like the formation of a group in the Work, only it is internal, invisible, in you, and not outside you as is a visible group of people. You can find the authority for this in some of the parables in the Gospels. I remind you again of the fact that this Work is Esoteric Christianity—that is, the inner meaning of the teaching given in the four Gospels. In regard to an ‘I’ straying from the Deputy Steward there is the parable of the Lost Sheep. Ninety-nine sheep are on the mountain, but one is missing. As was said, the Deputy Steward is formed at a higher level—that is, on the mountain—out of those ‘I’s which can hear the Work.” Commentaries, p1640
Logion 8
Yeshua says...
A true human being
can be compared to a wise fisherman
who casts his net into the sea
and draws it up from below full of small fish.
Hidden among them
is one large, exceptional fish
which he seizes immediately,
throwing back all the rest without a second thought.
Whoever has ears let them understand this.
Page numbers for Maurice Nicoll refer to Psychological Commentaries on the Teachings of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky (Eureka Editions:2020) unless stated otherwise.
Quotations from the Gospel of Thomas are from Lynn C Bauman, Ward J Bauman, Cynthia Bourgeault, The Luminous Gospels (Praxis 2008)
Read the Impression introducing the Gospel of Thomas.
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