Negative emotions that I didn’t know I had surprised me recently. There are tent caterpillars ballooning in a few trees in my yard. My go-to remedy for this is to cut those branches down and burn them, caterpillars, and all. I struggle with this because “all life is one and everything that lives is Holy,” … Read more
This is how the Work works— it only works when you do. And what, exactly, does that mean? It means, I am the only one who can change in any given moment. Like the moment of being profoundly unhappy, or mad, or dissatisfied, especially those moments when these feelings are directed at someone else. When … Read more
What can I do when life gets in the way? It happened the other day. I was hacked and I didn’t know how badly. Had they breeched my computer? Could they get into my bank accounts? And then my phone wasn’t making or receiving calls. I’m so not good at emergencies like this. I don’t … Read more
Irmis B. Popoff (whom we called Mrs. Popoff and post Sherborne, Mrs. P) introduced Jack and me to Gurdjieff. There was very little known or written about Gurdjieff’s work in the early 1970s outside of P.D. Ouspensky’s In Search of the Miraculous and Gurdjieff’s All and Everything, Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson. Finding someone who … Read more
My first teacher in the work was Mrs. Popoff who had been P.D. Ouspensky’s “secretary.” This meant she was responsible for recording what was said at group meetings—from memory. When Gurdjieff came to New York, she was in the movements classes he gave. She attended his famous dinners, which meant getting home in the wee … Read more
I am a cross I realized this morning in New Hampshire. Here, at the end of the dock. In this bright, still, early morning. The water is still, I can see down to the sandy bottom, a little fish swims there. I go inwards, relaxing in layers—first my skin, then muscles, tendons, bones. Deep into the very … Read more
I thought this re-post was worth looking at again. It feels timely. Here’s the link: I, Too, Am Food
Dear readers and friends, This week’s post is a jubilant announcement that my Memoir is out! Real People: At the Pinnacle with Irmis Popoff and the Second Basic Course with J.G. Bennett, A Memoir, is now available on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/Real-People-Pinnacle-Sherborne-Bennett/dp/1954744706 Real People Synopsis In today’s world of political and climate instability, Real People tells the story of … Read more
What does Gurdjieff mean when he talks about becoming a “real” human being? One of Bennett’s goals for students at Sherborne House was to learn how to work at becoming such a person. My wish to meet “real people” and be “real” myself drew me in part to Bennett’s ten-month residential course at Sherborne. But … Read more
Something extraordinary happened at the grocery store yesterday. As always, I started out in the vegetable and fruit aisle. It’s been a long time since I’ve witnessed a woman who did not know how to manage her children in public. But there she was, with two young daughters, perhaps six and nine. Her voice was … Read more