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 in this Forth Way work, noticing how my head was filled with constant “inner chatter.”
The first clue to a different approach (from writing myself off as a thinker) came one day when Mrs. Popoff said to me, “Drop your question into the silence.”
So, when something troubles or interests me, I drop my question into the silence. Sooner or later, something bubbles up to the surface, an answer emerges. This can go on for months or even years.
Mr. Bennett, on the other hand, spoke about Thought Forms. An example being Sci-Fi introducing fantastic stories throughout history. People flying in space or traveling long distances in a conveyance under the sea. The idea is that thoughts, over time, build substance in the physical world and become manifest. Thoughts take shape.
Mr. B also introduced us at Sherborne House to the Thematic Technique. A Theme introduced on Monday would invited us to open ourselves to a new understanding. For instance, “What is my relationship to Material Objects?” We would carry the notion with us throughout the week, not “thinking” about it, but being open to experiences in relationship to the question. My relationship with material objects resulted in dancing with a mop that week.
Some years ago, a shift in how I saw myself occurred during a three-week work event at Claymont. One day, walking down the cement sidewalk outside the Great Barn, I came in contact with my head, as if I had never acknowledged it before. Things are going on in there. Musing, connections, ideas that are mine, not just chatter. What came to me, was that THIS is what Gurdjieff meant by Mentation. And yes, it does go on in me. I may not be an “intellectual,” but I do mentate, a legitimate use of thinking center.
I wonder if others get caught in the trap of believing they don’t use their thinking center just because they aren’t “intellectual.”
A woman I once knew at Sherborne once said to me, after I made mention of the intellectual center, “oh, I don’t have one of those.” These quite common attitudes don’t come to us out of thin air; they have a history. So it might be good to investigate exactly where in your personal history you got the idea that you are not a thinker, or that your sister (older?) was the smart one. We do need to find “our right minds” regardless of any such personal history. Don’t we?
Yes, I agree! And I’m so thankful that I have this relationship now with my “thinking” center.