Gurdjieff and The Women Of The Rope

[Altair]

I've just finished the book and was astounded that there is no dedicated thread because the book contains some very interesting clues (I've found only the thread dedicated to The Ladies of the Rope by William Patrick Patterson http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php?topic=19920.0). So if it's ok I will post here some interesting G's quotations for the further discussion.

G. used pretty broken but nevertheless understandable English in his meetings with the ladies and I wonder whether he deliberately was using broken language to make the ladies to listen to him more attentively and not mechanically? Just for the same reason as he used hardly understandable language in his Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson to break the readers' habit to read mechanically?

As stated on the page 157

... he gave the following exercise to Miss Gordon and Kanari, in nearly perfect English

to be continued :)

 

[Altair]

Saturday, January 25

ALICE: Yes, shame - that expresses better ...

GURDJIEFF: Ah, thees very important theeng. She have shame - shame with mind for how is all of self. Now perhaps this shame will go in all centrum and then she realize how is? She realize her insignificance as a man.

And what is? Ees sheet. Then she die - man must die to resurrect. But cannot die until realize insignificance. So I say that she have twenty-five percent possibility - is twenty-five percent along way to day, because she have shame, and if this this shame proceed from mind to other centrum, then she will know what she is, how is her insignificance. Know insignificance of self is extremely difficult; example, like try imagine one's own death. Can imagine Mr. Smith being killed, but never self being killed. So it is with insignificance. Can know this about other person, but not about self.

{bold mine, italics as in the book}

 

[Altair]

Wednesday, March 25

At the cafe he said to me, "You must now live in suffering between two worlds, the two worlds of man {he means external world and internal world of a man, his inner life, as explained later on in the book}. You must die in first, be resurrected in second, and only then live in both."

Friday, May 1

When you do a thing, do with whole self, one thing at a time. Now I sit here and I eat. For me nothing exist in world except this food, this table. I eat with whole attention. So you must do in everything. When you wright letter, do not at same time think what cost laundering of that shirt - when you compute laundering cost, do not think about the letter you must write. Everything has it's time. To be able to do one thing at a time - this is property of man, not man in quotation marks.

As I was reading that I realized that I was always eating at my computer while reading news. From now on I started to practice conscious eating, not doing anything else simultaneously. I think it's not only a very good approach for self-remembering but it can also help food digesting so that much more active elements from the food can be utilized.

 

[Altair]

Tuesday, June 16

Last night Gurdjieff told Alice that the last three portraits in his "gallery" - Karpenko, Dr. Ekim Bey, and Skridloff, from which three books will flow, represent the astral body of man.

Well, I suspected that Meetings with Remarkable Men is much more that just G's self-written biography. I wonder what other episodes from his Second Series are symbolical?

G. about self-remembering:

"Man has automatic looking (attention). Every man has a certain amount. This must be put to work, be concentrated. During a certain exercise, contact must be established with the outer world while inner world attention intensifies. This gradually makes clear the difference between two worlds, will teach you to separate them, not look on things like monkeys, your all going out to the subject and identifying with it. Then you will not live in the outer world."

Romans 12:2

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

John 2:15-17

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

 

[Altair]

Tuesday, July 7 - Saturday, July 11. Five days in Vichy

MISS GORDON: And when you eat you think of friends all over the world.

GURDJIEFF: No. When I eat I think not of friends who send. I self-remember. I have impulse which gives self-knowledge with conscious satisfaction - impulse self-valuation. Because I am such that such things come to me.

G. about formatory thinking and non-identifying with one's negative state:

Monday, July 13

GURDJIEFF: ... You must remember when you feel bad you must not lose yourself with mind. Some days you feel bad, then with swing of pendulum, you feel good. On your worst day, prepare for the best day. This is the law. What is important is that you never lose self. Let mind be big sister to take care of little sister who is now in the house. Your nature is the little sister.

 

[Altair]

G. about destruction of buffers:

Saturday, July 25

KATIE: Much trouble the last two days with concentration for the exercise, My inner world state has been chaos.

GURDJIEFF: That interests me to hear. Long ago I tell you I must first decrystalize factors for fantasia - all factors from past life. Then would begin crystalize new ones. The results you imagined from exercises were self-suggested and when you tell me how you concentrate, I smile inside and say, "Let be." Now you see what terrible thing is self-suggestion - it makes red see white, white see black, church see divan. You now go through the dying I tell about - maybe you can now see the merde and nothingness you are. Now you have cleaned and repaired apartment, but it is empty, you still have no furniture. You see yourself now without effect of Kundabuffer. One side is a terrible thing for you, other side is cause for objective gladness.

 

[Altair]

G. about practicing empathy:

Saturday, August 1

GURDJIEFF: ... And now you must know a most important thing about man - man cannot stay long in one subjective state. Subjective state from a thousand things depends, you can never know the subjective state of another. It is typicality of man that no two subjective states can be same, they are like thumb whorls, each different. When you see her (Alice) in some subjective state, you not try understand what cause this, even she cannot know. If she is angry with you, you say, "She is not mad with me, her state is mad with me." Never reply with interior. Never revenge association have.

G. about the law of sinning:

Wednesday, December 30

GURDJIEFF: This is most important day for you. In twenty-four hours from now when you have assimilated this medicine, you will be responsible for all you acts, conscious and unconscious. You take position of responsibility. A record is not kept for each soul, as people believe, but only for responsible souls. There is a law of sinning and you are now subject to this law. If not fulfill all your obligations, you will pay. For every satisfaction, so much dissatisfaction - the Angel Gabriel's books must balance.

Luke 12:48

But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

 

[Altair]

G. about the Law of Seven:

Friday, January 1

GURDJIEFF: Around your body is electrical envelope. On quality, quantity, of this material depend if people like or dislike you. Once I had this so strong I could push ship across ocean - and back again.
A scale will always involute back to its beginnings "do" unless you continue through to "do" of next scale. Nothing remains half way. This is law. But once you have reached next "do", the scale you have gone up is always yours and you can never lose what you have made. If you have gone up scale while transforming your apartment, even if you have no furniture or roof, you have always your doghouse, where you are safe. There are seven times seven scales and formulation for forty-nine is "You-in-yourself."

 

[Altair]

G. about external considering:

Saturday, April 22

GURDJIEFF: ...Though you are known as kind man, good nature, and though everyone know you not wish give offense, you do this unconsciously sometimes. Is fault that spoils all life for you. You have not considerateness for state of surroundings. Necessary always know what is around you - the state of man who is around you. With cow, you can shit on face of, an he not take offense. He lick, smile, shake head; not understand, not offense take. But man around you is already more high. He have states. You must know what is state of every man around you in room. Man, of course, is most if the time asleep, but this makes even more important that you be sensitive. Because when he is awake, even only for one moment, he is already in state - and for this one moment is delicate, sensitive. Perhaps is only moment in his life when he can be enlightened. So you must consciously try to understand, be sensitive for him. I know what is state of each man around me, because I am educated man, I have knowledge. You must try always to have considerateness for state of surroundings - if you wish be objective bon ton. Never you can offend one thing on earth. Even if you offend one worm, one day you will repay.

 

[RflctnOfU]

I recently ordered this book because of this thread and finished it yesterday. What a treasure trove of subtle clues to what G MEANT in his writings and teachings!!! This has opened a new vista for me - particularly regarding the philological aspect of All and Everything. I would highly recommend this book be in the libraries of all serious students of Gurdjieff's teaching!

Kris