Gurdjieff On the Nature of Man

[CrimsonEagle]

"Such is the nature of man, that for your first gift—he prostrates himself;
for your second—kisses your hand;
for the third—fawns;
for the fourth—just nods his head once;
for the fifth— becomes too familiar; for the sixth—insults you;
and for the seventh—sues you because he was not given enough."

So, I suspect that these last few paragraphs - especially the last six lines - distill what G intended to discuss at length in the last unfinished chapter. Most likely he was talking about the "man in parentheses", the man without a soul, mechanical man or, perhaps not?

Funny, the way I was reading this was,

Such is the nature of man, that for your first gift—he prostrates himself;

The man see's the teacher as one whom holds great wisdom. He is enamored with the teacher to the point of outright worship. (First gift being the teacher agreeing to work with them?)

for your second—kisses your hand;

As the teacher begins to teach, the student is still in a state of near worship, kissing the teachers hand at every gem passed on.

for the third—fawns;

The student still has great respect for the teacher and will lavish praises to his wisdom.

for the fourth—just nods his head once;

Nod's once......I do this at my job when I understand what is needed.
I think that at this point, the student thinks he understands what the teacher is trying to teach. Although he still has respect for the teacher, he thinks he is more "on level".

for the fifth— becomes too familiar;

The student now thinks himself to be equal with the teacher.

for the sixth—insults you;

The student now thinks himself to be superior to the teacher and will point out the teachers "ignorance".

and for the seventh—sues you because he was not given enough.

Student does not advance and blames the teacher for not giving enough of himself. The fault is the teachers, not the students own ignorance.

As to who this was directed toward. Not really sure, could be any and all. If I am reading correctly, it seems that he was becoming frustrated. Would he become frustrated with any of those type men listed, or which would seem more likely to me, become frustrated with his students who showed potential?

I'm cant say I am sure on any point. May not even be close. Just posting some of my musings that crossed my mind while thinking about this.


Edit=Quote

Just a thought: A mechanical man who only knows how to take but does not understand that to receive more he must give back, in whatever form possible for him.

Could you elaborate a bit more? I'm not quite sure what you are pointing towards.

 

[beetlemaniac]

Sorry, that was a pretty inconsiderate post. I was relating what I experience in life -- when we expect something from someone, or anything at all for that matter, and for it to deliver experience in a consistent manner, it results in diminishing returns. So mechanically we consider internally that we are not "getting what we should be getting". I see the only way out of this cycle is to do something on our on initiative, conscious efforts. Maybe not just giving back to the same person, it could be another aspect of your reality -- giving attention, help, anything -- in a way we can consciously find most appropriate. Hope this makes sense.