Seven-fold knowledge (Systematics)

A structure, as a self-regulating system capable of relatively independent existence, can only be experienced through seven independent elements. Such a system is no longer closed and changes in the environment accompany any changes in the structure. This seven-fold knowledge provides a transformational superstructure to reconcile the self-realization requirement of the well-defined entity (namely the acquisition of new properties that were previously neither potential nor possible) and the dissolution of identity required for integration as a part within a whole. Self-regulation is a property that can not be foreseen in the light of the first six gradations of knowledge. They are required but are transcended and transformed by this seven-fold knowledge. Such knowledge is directly self-verifying in that it penetrates into the very structure of reality. The dualism of freedom and necessity is harmonized.

The seventh in a sequence of twelve modes of knowledge, identified by J G Bennett, inspired by G Gurdjieff.