What is my relationship with “unknowing” in Forth Way work? Especially since there is so much to learn and know about. Gurdjieff’s body of ideas encompass philosophy, psychology, cosmology, physiology, history, religion, metaphysics, musicology, science, math, dance, as well as practices. I’m sure I’m leaving something out. Starting with a handful of texts in the … Read more
What is this longing desire I sometimes feel? Where does it come from and what is it yearning for? When I was a young girl, I remember deciding I would become a nun. The notion of living a cloistered life of prayer and inner contemplation spoke to something in me. Later, at Sherborne House with … Read more
I Attended a Real Life Hogwarts is the tile of an interview Rebekah Berndt had with me for her new podcast, The Unfolding, Faith Without Borders. The interview centers around Gurdjieff, Bennett, and my experience at Sherborne. It also includes an overview of Claymont. There is an extended part of the interview which is accessible … Read more
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
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
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
What is meant by the term relaxation in Fourth Way work? Here is another word that we “think” we understand, but do we? Typically, when stressed and tense, we think in terms of taking an external action to address the issue. Exercising, vegging out with a book or a movie, taking a yoga or meditation class. … Read more
What is my relationship with my moving center, as Gurdjieff calls one’s physical body? Why does Gurdjieff say each center has its own brain? [See the last two blogs on feeling center and intellectual center.] My Relationship to Moving Center I’ve always thought of myself as a Man #1 primarily centered in my physical self. … Read more
Gurdjieff uses the word “mentation” when referring to what he calls the intellectual or thinking center in man. When it comes to intellect, I’ve always had a bit of an inferiority complex. My sister was the brainy one, I had to struggle for my A’s in school. My relationship with the thinking center started early-on … Read more