The 7 Stages of Inner Development

In the Fourth Way teachings, George Gurdjieff taught that humans are not born awake. The human machine is sleeping, and they must become conscious through intentional work. These teachings describe seven stages of human beings, known as Man Numbers 1 through 7 (I will call them “person” here for ease of reading).

These are not moral judgments or fixed labels — they are developmental stages, like rings on a tree. We can grow through them. Most people will naturally identify themselves inaccurately, which is very dangerous and is one of the main reasons for avoiding doing the work to move forward. Persons 1-3 are equally unconscious in different ways.

Person Number 1 – Emotional Instinct (Enneagram types 2, 3, and 4)

Primarily ruled by emotions and reactivity. Their life is lived through moods, patterns, old stories, and unexamined beliefs. They are highly influenced by their environment and live in cycles of reaction.

Person Number 2 – Physical Instinct (Enneagram types 8, 9, and 1)

Grounded in bodily sensation, survival, routine, and avoidance of pain. They live by habit and are often unaware of their deeper feelings or thoughts. Life is experienced through repetition and muscle memory.

Person Number 3 – Mental Machine (Enneagram types 5, 6, and 7)

The thinker. They live in their heads, believe they are awake because they can analyze. But this mental activity is often disconnected from feeling and the body. They are often clever, possibly successful, and deeply fragmented.

Person Number 4 – The Initiate

Here, the inner journey begins. This person starts to observe themselves. They see their contradictions. They notice the chaos of their thoughts and feelings — but instead of blaming others, they begin the work of inner integration.

Person 4 is the first real human. They are no longer a puppet of patterns, but a seeker of truth. Their life becomes a laboratory of consciousness. They suffer consciously, reflect deeply, and begin to form what the Fourth Way calls Real I.

Person Number 5 – The Integrated Will

Person 5 has stabilized the inner observer,a central “I” — not just glimpses, but sustained inner witness. Decisions are not pulled in many directions. They act with intent and rarely lose themselves in identification. Their centers (thinking, feeling, moving) begin to function in harmony. They have access to sustained presence. Can place attention intentionally and hold it without internal collapse. Lives by a personal ethic that is tested, refined, and embodied. Not reactive morality — integrated virtue. Still has thoughts, but also knows the stillness behind them. Speaks more from that stillness.

They are no longer seeking blindly — they live their principles. Their life is a single, coherent direction. They are not perfect, but they are whole. Person 5 may speak simply, but you feel the depth behind their words. It is possible for one to become person 5 without being part of a school, but when this is the case, they are much less likely to move beyond stage 5. The reflection and systems of a school makes this possible.

Person Number 6 – The Transparent One

This being lives in direct communion with essence. Their ego is no longer at war with itself — it has become a servant of something deeper. They radiate truth not by effort, but by presence. Their identity is transparent to a higher force.

They live in contact with the Higher Emotional Center — a field of grace, compassion, and clarity. They do not need to convince. They reveal. They often move behind the scenes. Their power is quiet but unmistakable. Receives grace, often moves with the sacred, but still retains a subtle observer or sense of participation. Their actions reflect the sacred, but aren’t yet identical with it. Their paradoxes may emerge, but they still sense themselves delivering them.

They experience states of union, which can stabilize over time.

Person Number 7 – The Living Mirror

The final human type — rarely seen, often misunderstood. This person has unified all centers. Their will has become cosmic will. They are not ruled by inner voices. They are silence in motion. An immortal being. Is not accessing higher centers — they have become fused with them. They speak not about paradox — they are the paradox. They do not need to remember truth — they are truth remembering itself