If there was a guiding principle for the Claymont Children’s School, it might have been to teach children that learning was fun. As my son was reaching school-age, I became concerned how his vivaciousness would be received in public school. I had visions of him sitting in the corner of a classroom with an old-fashioned … Read more
The importance of aim is central to both Gurdjieff and JG Bennett’s lives and work. A big aim can give purpose to life, small aims can help guide us forward.
How do I stay out of the way? To practice the work for others, it can’t be about myself, but that’s tricky. I need to move aside so something can come thru me instead.
Victor Richard Garbarini, Sherborne II classmate and enduring friend, was born March 4, 1949, in the Bronx, NYC. He died February 7, 2026. He was in the top-notch Inova Hospital of northern Virginia, having recently been quite ill, then diagnosed with pneumonia and cancer. His long-time partner, Kate Dombroski, and her sister Carole were with … Read more
The question, “what is my responsibility” looked me square in the face the other day. What I began to see in response to an internal kerfuffle at Claymont was that neither the event, nor the people involved, were at the crux of the problem. I had to admit my own laziness towards the responsibility of … Read more
What does it mean to be impartial? I think I know what it means. Not to take sides, not to have a horse in the race. To not be identified. Now there’s a good one. What are the signs of being identified? When I find tapes looping in my head, that’s usually a sign. When … Read more
The two to eight line of the enneagram has been giving me pause. For example, I saw the importance of looking ahead at one’s aim (point 8.) This was the key to getting to point 4 from 2 in the student/teacher example given in my last post. It may be that 2 is the first … Read more
I’ve extrapolated a student/teacher enneagram based on one that JG Bennett laid out in Enneagram Studies. His had to do with training a professional singer. As Bennett’s enneagram of a gifted pupil working with a dedicated teacher unfolded, I began to see this enneagram applying to a teacher of the Work and his student. Bennett’s … Read more
The si – do interval on the enneagram of this second Course of Study happened, I believe, on Sunday after most of the students had left. Technically, Claymont’s four-month course ended on Saturday night of the final in-person week. Sunday entailed breakfast and departures for the majority of students. Although some had left very early, … Read more
My physical body is sick this week and it’s put me energetically in front of the work of not doing. I simply do not have the energy. Usually, I am all about doing. I start doing before I get out of bed, setting up the routine of the day and my relationship with it. Sometimes … Read more