1972- Sherborne House, Thanksgiving: Before the plates emerged from the Servery, Mr. Bennett stood. Together we invoked the prayer that he had created, imprinting in us one of Gurdjieff’s primary principles, The Law of Reciprocal Maintenance. All life is one, and everything that lives is Holy. Plants, animals and Man— all must eat to live and … Read more
Remembering Thanksgiving on my course at Sherborne House in 1972. From my memoir.
Gurdjieff developed a theory he called Reciprocal Maintenance. Reciprocal Maintenance has to do with organic life on earth, including humans, being food for the cosmos. I’m learning to understand what this means via eating. Last summer during a seminar I listened to a recording of JG Bennett suggesting an exercise. Be present to the first … 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
Last week I had a glimpse of what Gurdjieff means by “Bearing the Sorrow of Our Common Father.” If you can’t connect to the word Father, use a word that connects you to that which is beyond us, yet offers Help. Finding myself in an unusually sensitive state following a silent workday at Claymont, I … Read more
Self-observation is a phrase people in Gurdjieff’s Fourth Way use, meaning to observe how one really is. (Or isn’t, as the case may be.) I’d like to tell the story of a recent moment of self-observation. To set my story up, I need to go back to last summer, when the notion of “listening” arose … Read more
How do I Work on myself? I’ve taken the phrase, “work on oneself” for granted for so many years. My first teacher, Mrs. Popoff, told us about the three lines of work—work on myself being the first line. She gave us “tasks” like brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand, or “remembering yourself” as you … Read more
Understanding the distinction between Function, Being and Will in the way Mr. Bennett spoke of them has never been clear to me. But I got a clue the other day while listening to a talk he had given[1] using the kitchen as an example. In the midst of this talk, I saw that the kitchen … Read more
Me, a name I call Myself. What is the relationship between me, myself and I? Who am I, anyway? When I am aware of “myself” I hold an image which I tend to feel good about. I like my body overall, and I see that “myself” embodies ways of moving, habits, gestures and attitudes that … Read more
Knowledge vs Understanding Transmitting understanding is not the same as sharing knowledge. What, then, is understanding? And how do we convey it? Many of us sense an urgency towards the end of our lives to pass on what we have learned. In Meetings with Remarkable Men, Gurdjieff addresses the problem of trying to transmit to others … Read more