Roberta Chromey 
What must happen in order not to die like a dirty dog as Gurdjieff warned? How do I get ābehindā the dream? (for context, please re-visit last weekās post, Living the Dream.) The first thing that has come to me, is the weighty realization that this question is very personal. Quote me all the Gurdjieff … Read more
Am I living in a dream world? Gurdjieff says, āman is mechanical, man is asleep.ā This has always rung true to me. Itās easy to see how forgetful and mechanical I am. All I need do is think about the same stupid arguments I have with my husband all the time. If I was more … Read more
Iāve just received good news and am suddenly wondering what to do with it. My daughter-in-law, Michelle, had a cancerous growth removed from her liver with clean margins. News to be thrilled about after two long years of heart-breaking worry. But what do I do with this good news? Iām used to working with feelings … Read more
Digging deeper in myself has brought a new dimension to digging in my garden. Several years ago, I began recognizing the fact that no matter how much attention I paid to body mechanics, I invariably threw my back out from digging. Eventually, I turned my vegetable beds into wild-flower gardens to avoid injuring myself. This … Read more
Iāve been thinking about what my aim is and itās left me full of questions and doubts. Have I been fooling myself all these years with an aim that belonged to Gurdjieff, but not necessarily to me? Do I even have an aim? Carrying the question makes me wonder if Iām afraid to look at … Read more
A struggle with my own patterns and those of Gurdjieffās Dances epitomized my work during the recent ten-day International Movements Retreat at Claymont. My aim entering the retreat Ā was to allow my body to learn the movements and to minimize thinking. However, there came a point, several days in, when I realized my head needed … Read more
The following journal entries are part of my memoir, Real People, about the inner journey of discovery I went on during J.G. Bennett’s Second Basic Course at Sherborne House when I was in my early 20s. Journal Entry December 2, 1972ā Something in me is percolating. Like air bubbling up through the muck of a … Read more
It all started with The Master Game, by Robert de Ropp, who threw out the first crumbs about the Work that kids in the 1960s picked up on. De Ropp was associated with Timothy Leary and other UC Berkeley professors who were beginning to experiment with mind-altering psychedelic drugs. The scene in my book, Real … Read more
How can we tell if we are following the path that weāre meant to be on? Iāve come to believe itās a matter of listening within. When we follow a practice, thereās a stage where we begin to recognize a state of balance in ourselves. The first taste of this for me came after returning … Read more
I always thought language was about words. On a recent seminar in West Virginia, hosted by the Society for Continuous Education at Claymont Court, I learned otherwise. Elan Sicroff, a trained classical pianist, has a long and deep experience with Gurdjieffās Movements and Thomas de Hartmanās music. Through his search for inner meaning, he brings … Read more