Recently I came across an interesting quotation by Osho, it’s about Gurdjieff. I was actually surprised that Osho knew about him and respected him much
“A real Master will not live up to your expectations. On the contrary, it constantly destroys your expectations. He makes it so that you cannot predict it, cannot describe it, cannot explain it, Could not understand the meaning of many things in his life.
George Gurdjieff, who died only in 1950, was perhaps the rarest man of this century. The famous scientist Ouspensky recalls traveling with Gurdjieff on a train from New York to San Francisco, where Gurdjieff began to cause trouble in the middle of the night. Although he was not drunk, he behaved like a drunk - running from compartment to compartment, waking people up, scattering their things. Ouspensky asked him: "What are you doing?" - but Gurdjieff did not answer.
Someone tore off the stopcock. "This man is either crazy or drunk!" - the controller and the guard entered the car. Ouspensky began to apologize, he said: “He is not crazy and not drunk. But it’s hard for me to explain to you why he does it, because I don’t understand it myself.” And right at that moment, in front of the eyes of the controller and the guard, Gurdjieff threw someone's suitcase out the window.
The guard and controller said, “This is too much. Lock him in the compartment from the inside, we will give you the key, otherwise we will have to put you off the train at the next station.
In fact, Ouspensky felt ashamed and furious at the same time that his fellow traveler had created so much trouble for everyone. He thought: “I know that he is not crazy and not drunk, but ...” Gurdjieff behaved wildly, he shouted insults, in Russian and in English, he knew many languages - but as soon as Ouspensky locked the door from the inside, he quietly sat down and smiled. He said to Ouspensky, "How are you?"
Ouspensky said: “You ask how I am doing?! You could have put both of us behind bars, and you and me - because I could not leave you in such a situation. What was the point of all this?"
Gurdjieff said, “It was all done for the sake of your understanding. I do everything just for you, and you ask me what's the point? The point is that you learn not to react, not to feel embarrassed, not to feel angry. What's the point in being embarrassed? What will you achieve with this? You just lose your peace of mind without gaining anything in return. You must learn not to feel embarrassed, whatever the situation. If you want to be with me, you must learn one thing - not to be embarrassed. This is a lesson for you."
“But,” said Ouspensky, “you threw your suitcase out of the window. And now what should the person whose suitcase you threw away do?”
"Don't worry," replied Gurdjieff, "it was your suitcase"
Ouspensky looked down and saw that his suitcase was gone. What to do with such a Master! Ouspensky wrote: “I had one desire: to get off at the next station and return back to Europe ... because it is not clear what else to expect from Gurdjieff”
And Gurdjieff said, “I know what you're thinking - you're thinking of getting off at the next station. No need, chill"
"But," said Ouspensky, "how can I cool off when you've thrown away my suitcase and all my belongings?"
Gurdjieff said, “Don't worry, I threw out the empty suitcase. I moved all your things into mine."
Later, when Gurdjieff was in the Caucasus and Ouspensky was in London, Gurdjieff sent him a telegram: "Come immediately!" and when Gurdjieff says "Immediately" it means immediately! Ouspensky was engaged in certain work, and he was forced to quit work, immediately pack up, finish all business and go to the Caucasus. In those days there was a revolution in Russia, a trip to the Caucasus was dangerous, very dangerous. People fled from Russia in order to save their lives, to enter Russia for such a famous scientist as Uspensky ... besides, he was known as an anti-communist and opponent of the revolution. And now Gurdjieff called him back to Russia, and not just anywhere, but to the distant Caucasus.
To get to the Caucasus, Ouspensky would have to travel all over Russia to the small village of Tiflis, but if Gurdjieff calls... Ouspensky packed up and went. When he got there, he was seething as he passed burning trains, stations, injured people, and corpses on the platforms. And how he managed to get there, he himself could not believe it ... But he got there. And what did Gurdjieff do? He said, “You have arrived. Great, the goal is reached, now you can leave. See you in London"
Gurdjieff was such a man! He had his own goal - there is no doubt about it - but very strange methods of work. Ouspensky, even Ouspensky, did not understand them. He became so angry that he broke off all communication with Gurdjieff after this incident, because this man threw him to the very brink of death for no reason! But Ouspensky missed everything. If he had gone back as silently as he had come, by the time he reached London he might have been enlightened - but he missed everything.
People like Gurdjieff - they don't always do what might seem reasonable, but it always makes sense.”
