The Importance of Aim
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.
The Fourth Way
To Be Impartial
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
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
A Student/Teacher Enneagram
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 Work of Not Doing
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
Walking the Line
I feel like I’m walking the line, and a thin one at that, between drowning in negativity and sending positive energy out to the future. Part of me hopes the negativity I get caught up in is partisan politics, not our democracy being hijacked and turned into a Fascist regime. That I need to work … Read more
Something In Me
Something in me has been forming over the years. This “something” might be called real “I” or real Will. But like a child, it needs nurturing to help it grow strong and healthy. I have a responsibility towards it. Which is to learn how to prepare and serve meals from air and impressions. But this … Read more
Abundance
“I want to come from a place of abundance rather than negativity.” This was the answer someone gave about why they weren’t drawn to the Gurdjieff work. The emphasis was on “Man cannot Do.” “Struggle with likes and dislikes.” “Man is asleep.” “Stand in front of your Lack.” In short—struggle, effort, intentional suffering, etc. Familiar … Read more
That Still, Quiet Place
That still, quiet place in the center of our being is the place I experience with Bennett’s Collected State exercise. He also called this a “non-emanating” state. The work of the exercise is to “let nothing enter, let nothing leave.” He also said it is one of the most difficult of all the exercises. In … Read more
Provenance
Provenance, the place of origin, or earliest known history of something. When it comes to Gurdjieff’s (or JGB’s) transmission of an inner exercise, I have become aware of the importance of provenance. As younger students become the next teachers in what is called the Fourth Way, I believe provenance matters even more. History My most … Read more