Roberta 
How do I pay the debt of my existence? Gurdjieff clearly puts the need to do this in front of us in All and Everything. But what does it mean and how am I to do it and how will I know if I’ve done it? I’ve wondered about this for years, thinking it must … Read more
What do I mean, juicy? In last week’s post, I spoke of wanting to be “a juicy tidbit” as food for the universe. Or whatever it is that is higher and “eats” me. What do I mean by that? I noticed that the food on my plate nourishes something in me just by looking fresh, … Read more
I, too, am food. The depth of this reality has been evolving in me since last summer, when two things coincided. First, I listened to a 1973 recording of Mr. Bennett giving the exercise of trying to be present to the first bite of food. Second, I was introduced to a practice of cupping my … Read more
What is this wanting to remember? I saw last week that when something in me, like my self-interest, is involved it wakes me up. I was entering a room for a meeting and suddenly remembered to sense the doorknob. A task I had set and failed to accomplish a short time earlier. In the split … Read more
There is a place, a place of unknowing. I’ve been there. The problem is, how do I get there? Letting Go of Knowing I need to let go of knowing, of thinking I know; of insisting that I “understand” something in order to position myself in a familiar place. By understanding something I’ve already boxed … Read more
Mr. Bennett gave the STOP! exercise sparingly. Sometimes it came during meals on our course at Sherborne. I would be talking with tablemates, or distractedly looking for the salt, or trying to get Jack’s attention. Suddenly the chatter would be rent with Mr. Bennett’s deep voice commanding STOP! Everything would freeze. My movement, my voice, … Read more
The horse, the carriage, and the driver is an analogy Gurdjieff uses to illustrate the three centers, the roles they play, and our relationship to them. The horse, representing my emotions, is rather spirited and unruly of late. It’s been rearing at odd moments. The carriage, my physical body, remains in good shape because I … Read more
I was nervous, my head a stick of cotton candy. I did not want to be performing in front of an audience. What if I didn’t know the movement and messed up? How was this going to work anyway, with so many of us in the room? Mick … Read more
Gurdjieff said, “Make the work your own.” But he didn’t say how to do that. I think I just got a clue what this means from an experience at a recent work event at Claymont. I’ve practiced the morning exercises given by Mr. Bennett for many years. Over that time I’ve come to appreciate that … Read more
Roberta Chromey attended the Second Basic Course at Sherborne House in England led by scientist and philosopher, J. G. Bennett, from September 1972 to August, 1973. She and her husband, Jack, have lived at or near the Claymont Society in Charles Town, West Virginia, since 1976. A life-long practitioner of the Fourth Way, Roberta has … Read more