The Force of Gurdjieff Vol.6 - Gurdjieffian exercises

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The Force of Gurdjieff Vol.6 - Gurdjieffian exercises by Alexandra Eugen Cristea -

Table of contents Table of contents............................................................................. - 7 Preface............................................................................................... - 8 The atmosphere............................................................................... - 9 The "I am" exercise........................................................................ -16 Sitting.............................................................................................. 22 The centers..................................................................................... - 29 The last hour of life....................................................................... - 31 Numbering.................................................................................... - 34 Eating.............................................................................................. - 37 Breathing........................................................................................ - 40 Talking to oneself.......................................................................... - 43 Object details................................................................................. - 48 Visualization of an object............................................................. - 50 One thing at a time........................................................................ 52 Influences....................................................................................... - 54 Self-observation & Self-remembering........................................ - 63 Interference, participation, experiment..................................... - 70 States of consciousness................................................................ - 74 Human types................................................................................. -11 Voluntary suffering and conscious labor.................................. - 79 The nightly review........................................................................ - 86 Alarm Clocks................................................................................. - 89 Movements.................................................................................... - 90 -

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The Force o f Gurdjieff, Vol. 6

Preface

This is one of those books that one feels the need to write in order to empty oneself and move forward. After more than twenty years of searching through different ways and types of exercises and more than ten years in one of the groups from the Gurdjieff Institute, I am now feeling the need to offer back to the world a little part of the exercises that helped me to be a better human being today. While this book does not contain all the exercises that Gurdjieff brought, it gives a fair point of departure in an adventure that will bring more being in your life. I

have tried to give references to some of the books that conta

details or more in-depth explanations, but please bear in mind that some of the things is this book will not be found in other books. I wish you all good luck.

Alexandra Eugen Cristea 7th of September 2015

Gurdjiefßan exercises

The atmosphere

This is one of the exercises that are unique to the Gurdjieff tradition and although I have searched for it in other sources, I have been unable to find any relevant reference. It is a difficult exercise I must assure you, but even so it will give you a new perspective not only on the human life but also on the close connection between our life and that of the universe.

The procedure

One begins by trying to see a resemblance between our body and the body of a planet. Both move through space at a certain speed and with definite characteristics, and both have similar conditions of life - a certain relationship between the exterior and interior world. Having said this, we must also consider that a planet has emanations, just like a man has emanations, in other words, an atmosphere around it; and so does the human body. As such, man has an atmosphere from different kinds of emanations, depending of his parts - body, mind, feelings, the "I". "Each man may have four kinds of emanations.1"

1 Gurdjieffs early talks, Book Studio, 2014, page 342.

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It is not here the place to argue about different names given to it - etheric body, aura, to name but a few - but to try to use this as a way of not wasting energy anymore. "W e emanate all the time. This flows out from us —task is to keep from flowing out2." In this atmosphere, all our associations form our daily life produce waves, just like throwing a stone in the water. These waves sometimes have a direction in space, like for instance when you travel with the train, and you are interested in a person sitting across you to your right and your body position is a little bit to your right. This by itself is a way of recognizing, in a public transportation, which person is interested in which person, by the position of the body. "When a man is very interested in something, his atmosphere, that is, the rays of a certain kind of energy emanating from him, go, as it were, in the direction of his desire and the circumference of his atmosphere becomes drawn out on that side to the detriment of the other side.3" Generally speaking, the exercise consists in trying to sense the atmosphere around the human body and after being able to perceive it and keep it still, to suck it inside the body.

2 Gurdjieff and the Women o f the Rope, Book Studio, 2012, page 24. 3 Gurdjieffs early talks, Book Studio, 2014, page 102. -

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Gurdjieffian exercises

If too difficult to start with the whole body, one can always try only with a part at the beginning, let us say with a limb - a leg or an arm, for example - and build it by adding more parts of the body. "Your leg emanations go out - now you think - not all emanations go out of leg, you save some of them, you accumulate emanations in your leg, not let all go out.4" Gurdjieff always speaks about the three worlds of man: the outer world - of impressions - the inner world of the organism and the third world, of the soul of gives advice that this is the first "exercise for the inner world of man; mentation of inner world"5 and nothing is possible unless practicing this one. As in the case of other Gurdjieffian exercises, at first one must begin by relaxing one's body in a quiet place. Relaxing the body and also the mind, quieting down and becoming more and more collected. Only after this transition state is acquired, one is to proceed with the exercise. At the next stage of the exercise, one must consider the limits of this atmosphere around the body, let us say that the limit is one meter away from the body. The purpose of this second stage of the exercise is not to let the atmosphere go beyond this limit. Even if we happen to have associations and the atmosphere has the inclination of going in a certain direction. We achieve this by becoming more and relaxed until there are no more waves in our atmosphere.

4 Gurdjieff and the Women o f the Rope, Book Studio, 2012, page 5. 5 Gurdjieff and the Women o f the Rope, Book Studio, 2012, page 10. -

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The next step of the exercise, one tries to suck in this atmosphere, to draw it inside oneself consciously, in order to conserve oneself in this atmosphere.

Gurdjieff insists at length on many occasions about the importance of reaching the collected state more and more often during the daily life. "First of all get used to staying along time in a collected state."6 For him, the definition this is a state in which nothing passes the limits of the atmosphere: "...rest ten of fifteen minutes in a collected state, that is to say, do not allow thought or feeling or organic instinct to pass outside the limit of the atmosphere of the body.7" This exercise is also related with all the other Gurdjieffian exercises, as for most of them the collected state is a must. This is the reason why Gurdjieff gave this exercise as the first one to the small group of women named The Rope in Paris during the mid-thirties. As for the time or length of practice, Gurdjieff was very clear in his instructions, dividing, as most of the time, everything in three: "One third of waking state must be active —for active mentation or active in sense that the real "I" functions. 6 Transcripts o f Gurdjieffs Meetings 1941 - 1946, Book Studio, 2009, page 150. See also the pages before, 148 - 150 for details. 7 Gurdjieffs early talks, Book Studio, 2014, page 417. -

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Gurdjieffian exercises

One third of waking state be active, one third be actively relaxed, one third be automatic. Can do this exercise at any time. Example —you go water-closet, now have twelve minutes there, then you give four minutes this exercise. Have three hours free, you know about, know for sure have three hours —then give one hour this exercise, etc.8" A difference must be mentioned here, between the mind and the attention. In Gurdjieff's words, attention means "Memory working together with sense makes attention.9" One hint that might help in practicing this exercise is concerned with its purpose. It always helps to have a practical aim related to it, like the need to be more present and active towards one's parents if they are ill, or at the moment when one delivers a public lecture, etc. The practical aim will serve as a reminder and also as a source of energy to motivate oneself in order to practice and have results with the exercise.

Variations

There are a few known variations to this exercise, also combined with the "I Am" exercise presented at the beginning of this book. One such variation was presented by Gurdjieff on Christmas Day in 1948, at the Wellington Hotel in New York.

8 Gurdjieff and the Women o f the Rope, Book Studio, 2012, page 10. 9 Gurdjieff and the Women o f the Rope, Book Studio, 2012, page 9.

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On this occasion, Gurdjieff advices to imagine Christ being somewhere in space, making contact with Him at the periphery and trying to suck in the "F a n d settle in oneself the "Am " in order to become like Christ. This along with his advice given to Martin Benson - to go to the church and steal the prayers made by the people there as those prayers would not reach God - are some of the exercises presented by Gurdjieff in 1948. The exercise mentioned above was transcribed by Louise March as follows: "After dinner [on Christmas Eve], around midnight, Mr. Gurdjieff gives advice. " I wish give real Christmas present. Imagine Christ. Somewhere in space is." Gurdjieff forms an oval with both his hands. "Make contact. Not to center, but to outside, periphery. Draw from there, draw in, I. Settle in you, Am. Do every day. Wish to become Christ. Be.10" We can also find the exercise explained by Jeanne de Salzmann11: "There is an exercise that was specially created for coming to a collected state. I begin by representing with all my

attention

that

I am

surrounded

by

an

atmosphere extending a yard, more or less. This

10 L. March, The Gurdjieff Years, Eureka, 2012, page 107. 11 Jeanne de Salzmann, The Reality of Being, Shambala, 2010, page 189.

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Gurdjieffian exercises

atmosphere is displaced according to the movements of the thinking. I concentrate all my attention to prevent the atmosphere from escaping beyond its limits. Then I draw it in consciously, as though sucking it in. I feel, throughout the body, the echo of "I," and silently say "am." I experience the total sensation of being." As we can see, there is a close connection between this atmosphere exercise, and the next exercise in our book, the "I am" exercise. We will find connections between these three first exercises presented here and all the other exercises in the Gurdjieff tradition.

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The 'T am" exercise

This is by far the most famous exercise brought by G. I. Gurdjieff to the Western world and one of the most powerful ones also. In my case, this is the first exercise that attracted me to the Gurdjieff teaching, more than 13 years ago, when I first tried it and made such a powerful impression on me. The best part about the exercise is that it can be practiced anytime anywhere, regardless of the surrounding conditions. That is not to say that a quiet place and a special time do not help, but one should always consider that there are three ways of practicing all the exercises in the Gurdjieff teaching: 1.

by oneself, alone, in a quiet place, at a special devoted time, for a definite amount of time.

2.

with other people, in a quiet place, at a special devoted time, for a definite amount of time.

3.

in the everyday life, regardless of place and conditions.

These being said, let us see what is the basic procedure of the exercise, and after that what are the most common variations used because all exercises must have variations in order to continuously tiy new elements so as not to fall into mechanical living - this being one of the general characteristics of all Gurdjieff exercises.

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The procedure: The first part is to become more relaxed, so take some time to accomplish this, let us say ten or fifteen minutes. Any technique for relaxation is good enough, provided the posture is vertical. For more details about this part, the reader is advised to read the next exercise in this book, called "Sitting". After you have relaxed, it is important to become aware that the substance produced by the exercise, that is the inner result, is needed for the inner growth. One can always say, as Mr. Gurdjieff always instructed "I wish to keep this substance for myself."12 before beginning the exercise, in order to be more conscious of the voluntary labor needed for the exercise. After this, begin by becoming aware of your breathing without modifying it in any way. And while breathing in the air, say to yourself "I"; while breathing out, say "am". The breathing is not to be tempered with, the exercise is to be made without modifying the rhythm of the breathing in any way. While breathing out, imagine that a part of air remains inside and goes to the corresponding place where is needed, just like in the case of ordinary food.

12 Gurdjieffs early talks, Book Studio, 2014, page 413.

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This exercise of air digestion is connected with Gurdjieff s ideas of the three foods - ordinary food, air, impressions - the enneagram and the coating of the second body in oneself from the active elements of the air. Alfred Orage - Gurdjieff's representative in America - used to say: "As our body depends on the thorough digestion of food, our emotions depend on the thorough digestion of air; higher emotions are possible only through the assimilation of the "vitamins" of the air."13 Please see the chapter in this book about breathing for more details. The "I am" exercise is to be performed with all one's presence, trying to use all the three parts - the body, the emotional and mental.

Variation 1 Gurdjieff's pupil C. S. Nott reports an answer of Gurdjieff to a question regarding the assimilations of the second being food, the air, in 1926. Gurdjieff used to say14 that there are two parts of air - evolving and involving - from which only the involving part can give stamina to one's "I". But this part of air will not be assimilated unless one is

13 The Force of Gurdjieff, Volume 1, Magisteria, 2013, page 96. 14 C. S. Nott, journal o f a pupil, Rutledge, Kegan & Paul Ltd., 1961, page 114. -

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realizing one's own insignificance and the insignificance of the other people. Only when this becomes a habit, looking at the other people and realizing their insignificance, the fact that they will also die one day, just as we will also die, only then we will be able to assimilate the "good part" of air. J.G. Bennett, another pupil of Gurdjieff, reports similar concepts giving as a starting point the idea that we should look at the others and consider them as simple persons instead of imposing our likes and dislikes: "There is the simple awareness that consists in being aware of the presence of a person as a person and not simply as one’s idea of them. To remember that the person you look at is a person as much as you are that degree of sympathy of feeling for other people is the beginning of it."15 While this may prove to be quite difficult, it remains a valid starting point towards consciousness and conscience.

Variation 2 This variation is transmitted by Mr. Azize, one of Gurdjieffs pupils who was based in Australia.

15 J. G. Bennett, Awareness o f others, talk from April, 27th, 1974.

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It consists in the filling of the sex organs and rest of the body parts16. This exercise is also found in Jeanne de Salzmann's book.17 Sometimes this exercise is called "The four ideals", in connection with Muhammad, Chris, Buddha and Lama, considering that the emanations for these four ideals are food for our being. The procedure is made of seven breaths, as follows: on the first breath, while breathing in the air, say "I" and imagine that the air fills the sex organs. Then, while breathing out, say "am " and imagine that the air fills the right leg. On the second breath, breathing in the air, say "I" and imagine that the air fills the sex organs. Then, while breathing out, say "am " and imagine that the air fills tire left leg. On the third breath, it fills the lower part of the abdomen. On the fourth, the whole abdomen. On the fifth, the torso. On the sixth, the arms and shoulders. On the seventh, the head.

Variation 3 This variation comes from Madame Jeanne de Salzmann, who spent long time under Gurdjieff s guidance and became responsible, after his death, with the transmission of the teaching.

16Aries, Volume 15, Issue 2, pages 173 - 203. 17J. de Salzmarm, The Reality of Being, Shambhala, 2010, page 236.

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Gurdjieffian exercises She used to say that this particular exercise given by Gurdjieff is especially to work on the feeling. 18 After performing the relaxation mentioned before in order to reach a quiet, collected state, try to establish the feeling of "I". After this, a cycle w ill begin, starting with the right arm, right leg, left leg, left arm. Feeling " I" , direct this feeling to the right arm. Then sense "am " in your right leg. Feel " I" in the right leg, then a sensation of "am " in the left leg. Feel " I " in the left leg, then sense "a m " in the left arm. Feel "I" in the left arm, then sense "am " in the right arm. After three complete cycles, feel the entire body " I" and sense the entire body "am ".

18J. de Salzmann, The Reality of Being, Shambhala, 2010, page. 73.

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Sitting

Similar to the Zen sitting meditation from the outside - from the posture point of view only - yet with quite a different taste inside because the aim is not to empty one's mind but to become more aware of the inner world, the sitting is a calming down, returning to oneself exercise, in order to better collect and observe oneself. "Voluntary attention is what is being experienced during the preparation - it has to be fed."19 The sitting exercise can be performed alone or with others, both in silence or guided by the words of an elder, usually in the morning, before rushing in the daily activities. Sometimes is also performed in the evening. This exercise was formally introduced in the Gurdjieff teaching after a visit of Jeanne de Salzmann in Japan, with William Segal and others. Jeanne de Salzmann reportedly said "W hat we should do is bring a way of meditating that Gurdjieff only worked with his oldest people."20 At first, these were only relaxation and collecting exercises, working on sensation. Later, the meditation part was added, and still later the guided meditation.

19J. Heap, Notes, Two Rivers Press, 1983, page 20. 20 J. Brewster, Spiritual Physics, JAMM Publications, 2014, page 20. -

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Gurdjiefßan exercises

The procedure

Sitting on a chair or down on a cushion, with the back straight and closed eyes, one tries to sense the body, starting always with the face, while going down, limb by limb, body part by body part. After the face, sense the head as a whole, with the ears, scalp, the neck and the back of the neck. Next, the shoulders, first the right, then the left, going down on the body to the right arm, right hand, to the tip of the fingers; then the left arm, hand and fingers. After the arms, the upper chest and the solar plexus, the upper and lower back. Then, as the upper body is completed, continue to go down to the right leg, right knee, to the toes; then the left leg to the toes. After going through the entire body once - or more times if you feel that you need it, it is usually best to try to sense the entire body at once, from the top of the head to the toes. Sensing one's body as a whole is one of the best exercises ever to become more aware of yourself and the surrounding world. The breathing is not forced or controlled in any way during this exercise. At certain times the inner attention will naturally rest on it, sensing the air going in through the nostrils, with the chest and abdomen expanding and contracting, but awareness of the breathing this is not the main purpose of the exercise.

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After this relaxation of the body - becoming aware of one's body - has been performed, a "returning to the outside" is needed. Usually - if the exercise is performed in a group - the elder of the group says "stop"; or the alarm watch rings - if you are alone and need to mark a specific time. I recommend at least 20 minutes in order to obtain a good relaxation, but one needs to experiment with different time lengths in order to understand what better suits. Or one can just stop when feeling so by opening the eyes and looking as if in the distance, without focusing on any object or person, allowing slowly the outside reality to "bump in". This procedure listed above will be followed every time the exercise is practiced.

Gurdjieff used to say, in order for something to go up, something else needs to go down. In order for something to calm down, something will have to accelerate. So, of course, when the body is static, more movement will be generated inside, and also it will be easier to become aware of this inside world, than when the body is in movement. While in the exercise, the mind will not stop and different mental associations will appear. The advice is to let them be, and if it happens to forget about the exercise or the body, when remembering it again, simply return to the exercise without trying to put any attention or energy in the accusing of oneself.

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Gurdjieffian exercises

While in Gurdjieffs time this exercise was always connected with a certain aim21, with finding one's real aim or taking up a specific aim, nowadays it is performed both connected with an aim or just to return to oneself, to get a taste of one's present state of being. There are also variations using words or numbers. "The exercise can, if required, be rendered still more difficult by counting backwards, by repeating strings of words or by evoking ideas at the same moment that the relaxing and sensing is being carried out."22 Sometimes, during the guided sitting, also called "travail special", some fundamental questions are addressed like "feeling one's nothingness" or "sensing the network of people in the Work", etc. Some classic examples are given bellow.

Variation 1

There is an interesting variation of this exercise, from Jeanne de Salzmann, when both arms are held stretched out parallel to the floor, at shoulder level, for as long as possible, while concentrating on the shoulders - which are kept down so that injuries do not appear - and the pain. While this may prove difficult and painful at first, the structure of the body should be used to keep the arms instead of the muscles.

21 G. I. Gurdjieff., View’s from the real world, Arkana, 1984, page 92. 22 K. Walker, A Studx/ o f Gurdjieffs Teaching, Cape, 1973, page 70.

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Variation 2 First follow the procedure as above, then, after the relaxation of the body has been achieved, try to feel one's place in the room, the room in the building, surrounded by other people, the building in the neighborhood, the neighborhood in the city, the city in the country, the country on the continent, the continent on the planet, the planet in the Solar System, the Solar System in the galaxy, the galaxy in the universe. "The beginning of a new attitude, a new understanding of the world seems to lie in the feeling that we are an integral, an organic part of it, that it pervades us, and that all that we can see or study or imagine outside is also contained in little within us."23 Step by step, feel the place one occupies in the world, a really small place, and feel the unimportance, for the general context, of one's existence, while maintaining the body awareness. Stop when feeling so by opening the eyes and looking as if in the distance, without focusing on any object or person, allowing slowly the outside reality to "bump in". This variation can be found in Gurdjieff's writings24, and is very useful to "kill" one's ego, to become more and more free from its power.

23 R. Collin, The Theory o f Conscious Harmony, electronic edition, Other People, notation February 22nd, 1950. 24 G. I. Gurdjieff, Views from the real world, Arkana, 1984, page 58.

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Variation 3

First follow the procedure as above, then, after the relaxation of the body has been achieved, try to sense one's head, as a whole, while inside saying "I think." Then try to sense one's solar plexus, while inside saying "I feel." After that, try to sense one's vertebral column, while inside saying "I sense." Repeat this cycle for at least three times. Stop when feeling so by opening the eyes and looking as if in the distance, without focusing on any object or person, allowing slowly the outside reality to "bump in".

After more than ten years practicing this type of exercises, I can testify that after a time, certain things accumulate, like a better connection to the body, which remains during the day and which helps us to return to the body more often. The relaxation is, of course, very useful for one's life, and as a general side-effect one can notice both a drop in the so-called "negative" thoughts and emotions, and also more available energy if it is saved, i.e. not spent on the unnecessary muscle tension.

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At the other end of the stick, as Gurdjieff used to say, it never gets easier to "do" the exercise in time, and I have been instructed not to expect results, but to do it "as brushing one's teeth in the morning." There were also periods of great distress in my life, and the exercise helped me to return to myself, to what is essentially mine: my own body. However, one must never limit oneself to the sensation of the body only, no matter how "sweet" the awareness of the body is. The personal aim should be always in one's view and every action taken in life should be linked to that aim.

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The centers

According to the Gurdjieff teaching, man is composed of more than one part, called centers or brains, hence the expression "three­ brained beings". These correspond - more or less - to the body, mind and emotional aspects of a human being. "To think, to feel and to act are to be engaged in distinctly

separate

functions

are

activities

mediated

by

and

these

different

different structural

subdivisions of the organism."25 As reported by P. Ouspensky, J. Vaysse, K. Walker and other disciples of Gurdjieff, there are several ways to look at the human centers. The basic structure is the following. 1.

The physical center - the body, it has sensations

2.

The emotional center - the heart, it has emotions

3.

The intellectual center - the mind, it has thoughts

The procedure This simple overview is enough as the first step into recognizing the basic three manifestations of our being, to start to

23 The Force o f Gurdjieff, Volume 3, Magisteria, 2014, page 86.

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differentiate between what is a sensation, what is an emotion and what a thought is. After you have some experience with the basic exercise, it is time to see more details. The first dichotomy that we will make is in the physical center. We have two big parts that we can observe: 1.

the instinctive part - responsible for all the internal work of our organism, digestion, blood circulation, excretion, etc.

2.

the motor part - responsible for all our actions in space, what moves us around, the walk, running, swimming, driving, any learned skill.

There are more intricacies to this, however, as each center is made from smaller parts, and there are higher centers also, but we will not describe these details here at large as we prepare another book in the Force of Gurdjieff collection on this subject. However, you are more than welcome to study the third volume in our Force of Gurdjieff collection which has a lot of useful information on this subject.26

26 The Force o f Gurdjieff, Vol. 3, Magisteria, 2014, page 140.

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The last hour of life

To die honorably, not "like a dog" is one of the most important concepts not only in the Gurdjieff teaching, but also in all the religions. Starting with one of the first books ever written on the Gurdjieff teaching, "In search of the miraculous - Fragments of an unknown teaching" by P. D. Ouspensky, Gurdjieff affirms that this is a very good aim to have and one should do the necessary efforts not to "perish like a dog". "Death is only interesting in relation to the search for what cannot die."27 There is also the fear of death, one of the most primordial fears that we have, which should be addressed through exercises such as this one. "If we wish to penetrate deeply in ourselves and see what is here and even beyond, we must have no fear of any kind, not of failure or of suffering, and above all not fear of death."28 This is also another way of becoming more awake, as the more you are aware that this might be your last day on Earth, the more you will become responsible and conscious of your actions.

27 R. Collin, The Theory o f Conscious Harmony, electronic edition, Death, notation July ll* h, 1950. 28J. de Salzmann, The Reality of Being, Shambhala, 2010, page 160.

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The link with self-observation and states of consciousness is obvious here. "Preparation for the immense task of remaining conscious through death must be to become intensely conscious of oneself in life."29

The procedure The name of the exercise gives away the inner exercise. One should consider that there is only one hour until death and should try to make the best of it. How would your body be? Would you have that cold shivering down your back? Would your hand shake? How would you feel? Troubled? Anxious? Frightened? At peace with yourself? What would you think about? Speaking one last time with your parents and friends and children? What would you do? After one hour has passed, try to look back at that hour. What did you actually do? If it really were your last hour, are you at peace with the way you spent it? Life was given to us in order to live it. So that we can extract the valuable from it. In order to know ourselves and to know life. Most if us, me included, are afraid to live more than we are afraid to die. And 29 R. Collin, The Theory of Eternal Life, electronic edition, chapter IX, page 96.

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our fear of death is actually a fear of living our lives fully, embracing all that comes to us, ah that is given. Taking risks and assuming we will fail, for indeed we will. But we shall rise again. After this "analysis" of looking back at that hour you considered your last, take another aim for another hour to live it just as it were your last. Try look more into yourself, into this precious machine that we have been given to live in. Try to "connect" with the people around you knowing that you will die, just as they will also die, and do meaningful actions. Try, for this last hour of your life, not to lie to yourself, not to hide from others, be a little more courage to be what you really are, no matter what opinion you have of yourself.

Although some may consider an illness this type of approach to life, it is quite the contrary. We can only "live" a "human" death if we learn how to live a human life. That is, acknowledging what we receive, good or bad, and extracting from this what we need in order to fully develop ourselves. It also means paying for it, because we can only "eat" and use what we pay for.

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Numbering

This is a famous exercise, transmitted by Alfred Orage30 and many others. The exercise may involve using numbers or some verse/ poetry.

The procedure

While doing a regular simple activity, let us say walking in the park, try to recite to yourself the following numbering:

1-21 2-20 3-

19

4-

18

Etc.

As you can see, it will take some resources of your attention and focusing power. The activity that you choose to use as a support for your exercise is also important. At first, should be a simple one, but after you become more and more used to doing simple things, you could try to do a more complex activity, like cooking or repairing your car, etc.

30 A. R. Orage, Psychological exercises, Weiser, 1998, page 11.

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There are also a lot of numbering series like the one above that you can use. Like adding 2 and 3 at the same time. 2 -3 4 -6 6 -9

8-12 Etc.

You can also choose, from the beginning of the exercise, at what point you stop the numbering and you go reverse.

Variation 1

You can also use series that follow a definite pattern, going round and round, and the pattern is more and more difficult if you increase the number of elements that you use. Here are examples of patterns with 4 elements (letters/ numbers) and 3 elements (words). A-B-C-D, B-C-D-A, C-D-A-B, D-A-B-C.

1-

2-3-4,

2-

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3- 4-1-2, 4- 1-2-3.

I - wish - to be, Wish - to be - 1, To be - I - wish.

Variation 2 One can increase the numbers on a definite pattern, going up and down (with numbers). 1- 2-3-4,4-3-2-1, 2- 3-4-5, 5-4-3-2, 3- 4-5-6, Ó-5-4-3, 4- 5-Ó-7, 7-6-5-4, etc.

Some of these patterns of numbering or words are used at large in Gurdjieff s movements but also in different exercises for actors, as acting and drama itself was a means to become more conscious and developing oneself.31 Once you have understood the inner mechanism of the exercise, feel free to improvise on the same theme and use whatever works in order to keep you awake. 31 The Force o f Gurdjieff, Vol. 5, Magisteria, 2015, page 67.

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Gurdjieffian exercises

Eating

While eating we need to be aware. Not only because this is the first being food, but also because it is a repeated action that we do, a few times at least every day of our lives. We must also consider the fact that while we eat, we are using energy. "Everything we do takes force - thinking, feeling, moving about, eating, drinking."32 In this respect, the other to ends of the triangle in the enneagram - air and impressions - are giving us a great hint about the role ordinary food plays and also about the approach we should pursue. "Self-conscious observation of assimilation of ordinary food, breathing, and impressions, and generally the activity of the organism as a whole in everyday life, without any effort to change the organism purposely, is the primar}'- task of these conscious self-shocks."33 That is, while eating, we should also consider the flow of impressions and the cycle of inhale-exhale. For all these three are together, at the same time, and although we can separate them at times, we should also profit on the opportunity to grasp them together.

32 M. Nicoll, Simple explanation o f Work ideas, electronic edition, page 9. 33 M. Tamgidi, Gurdjieff and Hypnosis, Macmillan, 2009, page 64.

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The Force o f Gurdjieff, Vol. 6 While discussing the subject of eating, we must also speak about food; and since there are three brains, we have three stomachs34, each with its type of food, rhythm of digestion, etc. We need to also keep in mind what is called rhythm. Because the whole Universe is in movement, and every movement has a rhythm, a certain regulating flow, a cycle. Just like there is day and night, inhaling and exhaling, the same is with everything. This applies to the food in the following way: everything feeds on everything, that is, the Trogoautoegocrat is at work here. In other words, applying the two concepts mentioned above, there is a cycle of feeding, a rhythm of feeding in the whole Universe. We, as humans, have the possibility of choosing between "as above, so below" or just doing things as we want. That is, we can choose to feed at regular hours, or we can feed in a chaotic manner. If we choose to eat at regular times, what we actually do is to follow the rhythm of the Universe, we "imitate" a higher movement, we blend with a higher current of life. This, by itself, will bring a certain balance to your life and organism, and more than this, a certain faith of your organism in yourself, as a master. For it has to obey, otherwise great emotional distress and disorder will follow. One of the important keys in working with eating habits and later on with breathing and impressions, as the primary three types of

34 The Force of Gurdjieff, Vol. 1, Magisteria, 2015, page 55. -38-

Gurdjiefßan exercises

food for the human machine, is self-observation, without which nothing can ever be arrived at. "Importantly, the exercise of conscious awareness of all the three physical, air, and impressions digestions in effect involves a split in the organism between that which is observed and that which observes."35 We will discuss later on in the book the details about self­ observation and self-remembering. Until then, let us talk a little about breathing, the second being food.

35 M. Tamgidi, Gurdjieff and Hypnosis, Macmillan, 2009, page 64. -39-

The Force o f Gurdjieff, VoI. 6

Breathing

You are breathing all the time. Let me be more specific about this: you are breathing all the time. That is, since the first breath, on the day you were born until your last breath, on the day you will die. This "activity" is with you always. Always at your "disposal". Always there, always available. Air, as the second being food, was briefly discussed in the previous chapter. And we all know Gurdjieff's advice of not interfering with the breath. So we will not interfere. But we need to become more and more conscious of it, day by day. "And when I am quiet in this way, immobile, totally without tension, I feel that my breathing has an importance that I never give it, a great importance. It is by this act that I participate in life, an act greater than myself."36 At the beginning it is quite easy, just sense your nostrils when you inhale the air and sense your chest and belly as they accommodate the air inside you, and do the same while exhaling. In time, it will become more and more difficult. Especially if you try to be aware of your breathing while being engaged in an ordinary activity. Start with simple activities, like washing dishes, and grow it step by step. 36J. de Salzmann, The Reality of Being, Shambhala, 2010, page 262. -40-

Gurdjieffian exercises In time, you will arrive at three simple conclusions about breathing: 1.

the need to have a good vertical posture.

2.

the stomach should not be full with food or water, that is, you will learn to eat just a little from time to time.

3.

no tensions whatsoever, especially in the belly area.

While these conclusions seem easy to accomplish, they are not. Moreover the last one, which takes time to practice. But the first one is also very important, because breathing while lying in bed is not the same as breathing while standing or sitting. Verticality is the sign of a human being, and this is what separates us from all the other animals. We are meant to sit vertical and walk vertical. That is, you must understand that the organs of your body are aligned on your vertebral column and while being aligned they will function different than when they are not, that is while you rest/ sleep. Hence the difference between the first three states of consciousness. "I need to observe whether I breathe from the chest or from lower down, from the diaphragm, and see what is not right with my breathing. I do not let the breathing take place freely: either I resist or I force it to be more complete."37

37J. de Salzmann, The Reality of Being, Shambhala, 2010, page 145.

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The Force o f Gurdjieff, Vol. 6 After a while, you will develop - without forcing anything and without interfering with your breathing in any way - what I call "natural breathing". It is just like the breathing of babies after they are born. The whole body participates in the act of breathing. As mentioned in the previous chapter, self-observation is a mandatory practice while working with breathing and conscious labor explained later on in the book - plays an important part also, because in the human machine the mind, the emotions and the body are related through breathing. "Conscious awareness of and control over the process of eating and breathing has an important influence on how the process of thinking affects and keeps in balance the feeling and instinctive desires of the body."38 We will discuss later on the pondering exercise and its effects on our lives.

38 M. Tamgidi, Gurdjieff and Hypnosis, Macmillan, 2009, page 67. -42-

Gurdjieffian exercises

Talking to oneself

An oral tradition is a peculiar thing: most of the things of great importance get lost in time. Others, get hidden in time; so hidden that many people start to consider them just a figure of speech. So is the case with this "famous exercise" of Mr. Gurdjieff, an exercise similar to what other traditions call "m antra" or "prayer" but so different that the results will astonish most of the seekers. It is so very easy to explain the exercise of talking with oneself and Mr. Gurdjieff - and some of his pupils also - have done it in many cases.

The procedure

The exercise consists in just this, talking to oneself, more precisely, talking to different parts of oneself, as if the parts were conscious, with the aim of convincing these parts of the good that will befell them if they "behave", that is, if they acknowledge as being a part of one's greater common presence and start to work towards the aim of remembering oneself.

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The Force o f Gurdjieff, Vol. 6 In Mr. Gurdjieff's own writings, Beelzebub's tales to his grandson39, at the end of the 7th chapter, we find the exercise presented as follows: ...it is indispensably necessary that every day, at sunrise, while watching the reflection of its splendor, you bring about a contact between your consciousness and the various unconscious parts of your general presence. Try to make this state last and to convince the unconscious parts —as if they were conscious —that if they hinder your general functioning, they, in the period of your responsible age, not only cannot fulfill the good that befits them, but your general presence, of which they are part, will not be able to be a good servant of our COMMON ENDLESS CREATOR and by that will not even be worthy to pay for your arising and existence. While it may seem ambiguous at first, the exercise consists in asking a part of oneself to remind us to remember ourselves, like for example to ask the body, a particular sensation, to remind us, and Mr. Gurdjieff has explained this many a times in his private and public talks with his pupils40.

39 G. I. Gurdjieff, Beelzebub's tales to his grandson, 1950, electronic edition, chapter 7, page 78. 40 G. I. Gurdjieff, Views from the real world, Arkana, 1984, page 233.

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Gurdjieffian exercises I say to my body: "You. Y ou—me. You are also me. I wish!" These sensations which my body is now experiencing —and every similar sensation —I wish them to remind me. Our daily sensations repeat themselves more than often, and with their help, we can remember ourselves. This way, all the three centers can be involved in the process of becoming conscious: "For primary exercises in self-remembering the participation of all three centers is necessary."41 As a general progression, the exercise is as follows: 1.

become conscious of a daily sensation, like when sitting cross-legged;

2.

try to link in yourself that sensation with your own aim, that is, the aim of being more conscious, to remember yourself

3.

talk to that part of the body and to the sensation, as if they were conscious, and ask them to remind you to remember yourself, as this is for their own good, also.

But this is not all, since the talking to oneself is to be involved in other types of exercises, like in assimilating different substances necessary for the development of "I", in the exercises that require voluntary suffering42: This substance of " I" comes only from intentional suffering. When, for instance, you wish strongly for a cigarette and deny yourself,

41 G. I. Gurdjieff, Views from the real 'world., Arkana, 1984, page 233. 42 Gurdjieff s early talks, 2014, Book Studio, 2014, page 127. -

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The Force o f Gurdjieff, Vol. 6 you will suffer inwardly. Then say: "I wish to make this inward force my own force." "I wish to receive this substance of my intentional suffering for my own T ." By this means you can become an Individual and go on the path that leads to the perfected man. It is a common thing, in many traditions, to use the language as a support of a spiritual practice and the Gurdjieff teaching is no stranger to this. "A mantrum is not a mere series of words; it is a series of experiencings so joined that their sum becomes a force.43" used to say Alfred Orage, one of Gurdjieff s most famous pupils. You can also find a connection between self-remembering and the tone of voice44 in the method of self-observation passed from Mr. Gurdjieff to some of his pupils, like Alfred Orage, Willem Nyland, both representatives of Gurdjieff in America. While many of the people consider this practice as a figure of speech, actually trying the exercise will give more than interesting results. For the beginning, you will perceive more clearly your own daily sensations and the connection between the mind and the body. The strong connection between speech and body, and speech as a tool for spiritual practice can also be found in the opening phrases of Beelzebub's tales to his grandson, when Mr. Gurdjieff recalls the

43 The Force of Gurdjieff, Vol. 3, Magisteria, 2014, page 260. 44 The Force of Gurdjieff Vol. 1, Magisteria, 2013, page 10.

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Giirdjieffian exercises "wholly-manifested-intonation" of the ancient Toulousites45, and in Jeannne de Salzmann's essays46.

45 G. I. Gurdjieff, Beelzebub's tales to his grandson, 1950, electronic edition, chapter 1, page 3. 46 J. de Salzmann, The reality of being, Shambhala, 2010, The resonance of I am, page 163. -

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The Force o f Gurdjieff VoI. 6

Object details

This is an exercise transmitted by Gurdjieff47 which deals with the objects around us. While our houses are always full with all sorts of objects, some of them useful and some only with aesthetical value, our relationship with these should become more and more conscious.

The procedure

At first, it seems quite simple, just ask yourself the following questions in respect to any object of your choice: 1.

What is the origin of the object?

2.

What is the cause of its origin?

3.

What is the histoiy of the object?

4.

What are its qualities and attributes?

5.

What are the other objects connected/ related to it?

6.

What are its use/ application?

7.

What are its results/ effects?

8.

What it explains and proves?

9.

The object's end or its future.

10. What is your general opinion on the object, the cause and motives of your opinion?

47 G. I. Gurdjieff, Views from the real world, Arkana, 1984, page 106.

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Gurdjieffian exercises

While this might seem an intellectual exercise at first, do not be mistaken, for its emotional values will shortly be felt

and new

knowledge about yourself and the world around you will be unlocked. Used at large by a number of Gurdjieff s followers, this exercise can be easily connected with other concepts like the enneagram and the flow of the sacred laws, as mentioned by Keith A. Buzzell48. There is another aspect to be taken into consideration, and that is the order of thing. As mentioned earlier in the chapter regarding the food and eating process, there is a certain rhythm in the Universe, a certain order of things. And, as Ouspensky also mentioned, our thinking should have a certain order, not being possessed by random associations, but rather giving our thought a certain direction. This, by itself, helps us to economize energy. Because a movement that has momentum and a regulate rhythm, by definition, uses much less energy than a movement which begins, ends, begins again, etc. This can be easily experimented in practicing Gurdjieff s movements and sacred dances, for every movement has an inside movement as well, on which it is sustaining.

48 K. A. Buzzell, Man - a three-brained being, Fifth Press, 2007, page 3.

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The Force o f Gurdjieff Vol. 6

Visualization of an object

Gurdjieff used to say49 that this is one of the most important exercises one should practice in his work in order to gain the power of concentration, power without which there can be no evolution in the interior world, as most of the exercises use concentration for inside work.

The procedure

The idea is quite simple: pick any object of your choice, look at it for a few seconds, then close your eyes and try to "see" it in front of your eyes, in a continuously manner. If your image gets blurred or disappears, open your eyes and start the exercise again. And then again. This is not a "new " exercise, and it is quite easy to find it in many books of yoga, or other spiritual traditions. Nevertheless, the importance of being able to collect the attention and use the inner vision is great and should not be treated lightly. Only the people who have really tried this one know how difficult it is to maintain the image of the object intact. And how one struggles to "re-affirm" the image again and again. Gurdjieff advices:

49 Gurdjieff and the Women of the Rope, Book Studio, 2012, page 25. -

50

-

Gurdjieffian exercises "Do this only when you have conscious wish to do."50 This exercise will prove to be quite a valuable asset in many of the exercises that will follow, and also in the collecting of attention, in keeping the attention on the sensation of the body, in self-observation and later in self-remembering.

50 Gurdjieff and the Women of the Rope, Book Studio, 2012, page 25.

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The Force o f Gurdjieff, Vol. 6

One thing at a time

According to the way in which man is constructed, that is with three basic centers, three brains, so is the way in which he must live. There is a lot of inertia in the world today so that man should do a lot of things, as fast as possible, as many as possible. Multitasking has become the ruling criteria in hiring people for a job, and the society is going towards more and more speed. We receive more and more pressure from everybody around us to perform certain tasks and more than this our own feelings and thought have become shorter and faster, thus having no weight on our being. But a man is not an animal, and he must behave accordingly. That means a work made by a man should differ a great deal than the work made by an animal. And the difference lies not only in quantity, but in quality. "Every animal, as already said, works according to what animal it is. One animal - say, a worm - works quite mechanically; one cannot expect anything else from it. It has no other brain but a mechanical one. Another animal works and moves solely by feeling such is the structure of its brain. A third animal perceives movement, which is called work, only through intellect, and one cannot demand from it anything else as it has no other brain; nothing else can -

52

-

Gurdjieffian exercises be expected as nature created it with this kind of brain. Thus the quality of work depends on what brain there is."51 When

we

speak

about

quality,

we

also

speak

about

consciousness. For man should always strive to be more conscious, regarding of the work at hand. Thus, Gurdjieff s basic exercise is to try and use all our three centers, our three brains, when working, when doing anything. This is the work of a man. "This new method consists in the following: when thought is already there, try to feel. When you feel something, try to direct your thoughts on your feeling."52 That is, when you do anything with your body, try to use the feeling part also, to feel what you are doing. And not just feel, but try also to think about what you are doing. In this way, little by little, you will become not only more and more conscious, but your work will gain a new quality. The quality of a human work.

51 G. I. Gurdjieff, Views from the real world, Arkana, 1984, page 103. 52 G. I. Gurdjieff, Views from the real -world, Arkana, 1984, page 264.

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The Force o f Gurdjieff Vol. 6

Influences

As Gurdjieff mentioned more than once, man is subject to different kind of influences53. These are there from the beginning, at birth, and will be there after death. The laws will always apply. However, man can develop himself in order to become more conscious of the laws and influences he is subjected to, and also can try to liberate himself from some of them. "Man, like the universe around him, is bound by laws and will always be bound by laws. Nevertheless he is able to choose to a limited, and to an ever-increasing extent, the influences under which he prefers to live."54 There are actually three types of influences that correspond to the three basic levels of human condition55: individual, social and cosmic levels. On the individual level, we have the chemical-physical influences: 1.

Sensation

2.

Emotion

3.

Thought

4.

Consciousness

53 G. I. Gurdjieff, Views from the real world, Arkana, 1984, page 254. 54 K. Walker, A study of Gurdjieffs Teaching, Cape, 1973, page 78. 55 A. M. Petrariu, The Mythology of the Energy, Magisteria, 2015, page. 50. -

54

-

Gurdjieffian exercises On the social level, we have the associative influences: 1.

Form

2.

Relationship

3.

Persuasion

4.

Superiority

On the cosmic level, we have the planetary influences: 1.

Moon

2.

Earth

3.

Other planets

4.

Sun

These influences are a great part of our life, dictating all the time what we do, what we feel and what we think. They are the invisible puppet-masters which trigger our life. "Influences are my masters."56 The aim of man is to liberate himself from some influences in order to be under other type of influences, to choose under which influences is most profitable to be. "This system turns round the central point that man is a self-developing organism, capable of evolving through his understanding, and changing his level of being - by which means he can come under new influences and reach help."57

56J. Heap, Notes, Two Rivers Press, 1983, page 36. 57 M. Nicoll, Simple explanation of Work ideas, electronic edition, page 22. -55-

The Force o f Gurdjieff, Vol. 6 The liberation from these last mentioned, the planetary influences, is called the bigger liberation, in contrast with the inside slavery, the chemical-physical influences. The social level, as always, links the other two. "The great liberation is liberation from influences outside us. The lesser liberation is liberation from influences within us."58 Another important point to grasp is that the order of things is always important, that is, you cannot fully be under tire external, planetary influences unless you become more and more free from the inside influences. In other words, destiny is not possible for everybody, because until one has become free from his own inside influences, he will not be open enough to receive the higher, planetary influences in order to get to know and fulfill his destiny. "Only a man who has already become free of inner influences falls under external influences."59

The chemical-physical influences

These chemical-physical influences are material in nature and depend on our emanations, ours and the people around us. As most if the time we are surrounded by other people, we are subject to their

58 G. 1. Gurdjieff, Views from the real world, Arkana, 1984, page 266. 59 G. I. Gurdjieff, Views from the real world, Arkana, 1984, page 266. -56-

Gurdjieffian exercises emanations, from outside of us, which influence our own emanations. This can be easily noticed when we are sitting near somebody that makes us ill at ease. Each of our constituent parts - the body, the mind and the emotional center - has a certain type of atmosphere which generates emanations. Our state of consciousness also generates emanations. When these combine with the emanations of other people, a third type of substance is produced. At the beginning, the first important task is to start making the difference between sensation of the body - hot, cold, pain, pleasure and thoughts and emotions. Most of the time, these are mixed and linked. A certain posture is linked with a certain emotion and action like for instance most of the times when a person cries, it does so in a posture with arched back, hands on the face, etc. It is rare to see somebody crying with straight back, open eyes, hands by the side of the body. Not impossible, but it is rare, and the crying is of a different nature. This is the first step, to be able to differentiate between sensation,

thought

and

emotion.

The

self-observation

exercise

mentioned is a very good starting point for this. The Movements brought by Gurdjieff are also a very good training for this. The method used in becoming more and more free from these type of influences is based on the law of attraction and has to do with becoming passive.

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The Force o f Gurdjieff, Vol. 6 The more passive I am to these influences, the more I can remain untouched, that is, my actions will not be influenced by the chemical-physical influences. "Like attracts like. That is, everything goes toward the place where there is more of the same kind. To him who has much, more is given. From him wTio has little, even that is taken away."60 Our state of consciousness influences a great deal. If we are collected and calm, our own emanations will not be wasted to the outside, not the emanations from the outside affect us that much. Here we have two situations. When I am full of my own emanations, collected, present, the emanations that come from the outside will just pass by, as there will be no place available in myself to be received. If, on the contrary, I am not full of my own emanations, but I am calm and present, the outside emanations will go to the place in me where there is space, each emanation to its corresponding place.

The associative influences This type of influences is mechanical, not material. That is, they are not connected with the present directly, bur with the past experiences, more precisely with the images of past experiences. When a stimulus from the present touches me, this triggers an experience from 60 G. I. Gurdjieff, Vieios from the real world, Arkana, 1984, page 259. -58-

Gurdjieffian exercises the past by way of association, and this changes my thoughts and emotions in a certain way and makes me behave different. Hence, the process is mechanical. The influence of "form" has a deep impact on my life, as I am always accustomed to have certain types of forms around me, starting with childhood - hence the expression "mother figure". But it is so much more than this, for the food that we eat comes in a definite form and that small puppy that enters the room and makes everybody exclaim "That is so cute!" influences us a great deal. Sometimes when we are in the habit with a certain type of form, and suddenly we do not see it anymore, fear is produced. The second associative influence, which is "relationship", has more to do with my own sympathies and antipathies, my likes and dislikes in the social level. My own feelings affect the feelings of other people, and vice-versa. This is most obvious when I need to cooperate with somebody at work, but I dislike that person. The third associative influence is "persuasion". For everybody persuades everybody all the time to do or not do something. This may be done using words, or triggering feelings, or by behaving in a certain way, but it is done. The fourth associative influence is that of "superiority". We all have somebody above ourselves - as money, position or mental attributes are concerned - and we obey to this authority. As we have somebody beneath us. And we force them.

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The Force o f Gurdjieff, Vol. 6 In order to become free of these influences, the associative ones, we need to struggle, to fight an artificial battle, most of the time an emotional war. "The easiest and most dependable of the special conditions which make this kind of work possible are the different forms of struggle against the automatic aspects of myself: those personages are always there."61 Here, the law of repulsion constitutes our ally. "This law consists in the fact that where there is little, more is added, that is, it is the reverse of the first law ."62 There is, of course, a twist, that is, we can use these influences to have an easier social life if we begin to understand them. It is easy for a lady to dress in black if she knows that a certain man likes her in block, if she wants to attain her aim. Here the practical aspect of playing a role is of great help. For inside ourselves, we should never be identified with anything, we should remain free to act accordingly.

The planetary influences

These are the most difficult ones to deal with for they are above us most of the time. From the moment we are borne, we are impregnated with a certain type of planetary influence that we will

61 J. Vaysse, Towards awakening, Routlege & Kegan Paul, 1980, page 39. 62 G. I. Gurdjieff, Views from the real world, Arkana, 1984, page 259. -60-

Gurdjieffian exercises

carry with ourselves for our whole life63. But most of the time, these type of influences do not touch us directly, but by means of masses of people. "Very little of planetary influences come to us as individuals. Generally planetary influences are only felt by masses of people; thus they are responsible for wars, revolutions and things like that. An individual man is very little under planetary influences, because the part that can be affected by them is undeveloped. This undeveloped part is essence."64 Astrology may be a starting point but most of the time people exaggerate the meaning of this65. The Earth has a major influence on ourselves, from the day we are borne and this has to do with races. There are three main races white, yellow, black - corresponding to the three human parts - mind, emotions, body. To be born in one it is not the same as to be born in another one. From this, the only way to become more free is to try to artificially develop the other two parts that are not developed by the race in which you are born. If you are white, and have a tendency to develop more the mind, you should try to work on the emotional and physical aspects. And so on.

63 P. D. Ouspensky, The cosmology of man's possible evolution, Agora, 1989, page 6. 64 P. D. Ouspensky, The Fourth Way, electronic edition, chapter 8, page 205. 65 R. Collin, The theory of celestial influence, electronic edition, chapter 10, part 2, page 166.

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The Force o f Gurdjieff, Vol. 6 There are other influences, like the ones from the Moon. Every now and again, tides are produced because of the Moon phases. If water in general is affected, our body, with so much water being part of us, will be also affected66. This is where the term "lunatic" comes from. There are also the other planets from which we have received influences67 - Mars, Mercury, Saturn, Jupiter, Venus. All these make up different planetary types of men, according to the enneagram. But this is the subject of a future book in our Force of Gurdjieff collection.

66 R. Collin, The theory of celestial influence, electronic edition, chapter 8, part 2, page 134. 67 R. Collin, The theory of celestial influence, electronic edition, chapter 14, part 3, page 244. -62-

Gurdjieffian exercises

Self-observation & Self-remembering

I have decided to include these two practices in the same chapter, as they are quite related. Being related has created, of course, a lot of misunderstanding and confusion regarding both of them, to the point that many people substitute one concept for the other or attach different false meanings to them. The first question that arises is: what is this "self" that must be observed or remembered? This not a difficult question, as the "self" is made of your corresponding parts as a human being, that is: the body, the mind and the emotional part. The difficult part consists in the fact that when we speak about self-observation, the "self", at the beginning, is only the body, whereas when we speak about self-remembering, it is another process whatsoever. Another difference is that self-observation is a dual relationship, mostly with our body and the interior world - thoughts and emotions, while self-remembering is a triadic relationship, implying both the interior and the exterior world. More details will be covered when we will consider each practice, in the following pages.

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The Force o f Gurdjieff, Vol. 6

Self-observation This is one of the most important exercises in the Gurdjieff teaching and although many other spiritual traditions have something similar, the method of self-observation in its practical intricacies has a unique taste here. There is also a very big difference between what people generally understand when referring to self-observation. "...the ordinary kind of self-observation which people practice all their lives is almost entirely useless, and, in fact, brings nothing valid for the self-knowledge we need, a knowledge experienced and lived through."68 Self-observation means to observe one's body at the beginning, and when we are referring to the body, we are actually referring to the five manners of behavior69: 1.

Posture

2.

Gesture

3.

Movement

4.

Facial expressions

5.

Tone of voice

This means that each one of these five categories should be exercised in observing, for a definite period of time, after which they can be combined two at the same time, three at the same time, until all five can be observed together.

68J. Vaysse, Towards awakening, Routlege & Kegan Paul, 1980, page 19. 69 The Force o f Gurdjieff, Vol. 1, Magisteria, 2015, page. 8.

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Gurdjieffian exercises Why these five, you may ask? For the simple reason that they are the manners in which your thoughts and emotions and education and life experience and most of the things connected with you express themselves in the outer world. Another reason is that these five are not up to interpretation, debate or confusion, because they can be verified by other people around you. Your friends or relatives can testify that you have certain postures, facial expressions, etc. The third reason why we start with these, and not with the emotions and thoughts themselves is that we are not trained to "see" at the speed with which the emotions and the thoughts change, so a good, long training70 is necessary in order to be able to objectively grasp the emanations of the emotional and intellectual centers. The main purpose of self-observation is to establish in ourselves the third state of consciousness, that is, the self-consciousness, and tire only way in which this is possible is to make, inside, the distinction between the part that observes, and the part that is being observed, the body at first, the other centers afterwards. This process of self­ observation is also called interference71 by some people in the Work of Gurdjieff, for a reason that we will cover in the next chapter. The practice of self-observation should be accomplished with the following definite rules72 to be obeyed:

70 The Force of Gurdjieff, Vol. 1, Magisteria, 2013, page. 14. 71J. Brewster, Spiritual Psysics, JAMM Publications, 2014, page 19. 72 The Force of Gurdjieff, Vol. 3, Magisteria, 2014, page. 255. -65-

The Force o f Gurdjieff, Vol. 6 1.

Without

criticism

-

with

impartiality,

without

criticizing yourself when you happen to observe something that you do not "like" or "approve". 2.

Without tutorialness - never trying to change what you observe.

3.

Without analysis - no mental reaction which, most of the times, will have the interruption of self-observation as a result.

4.

With non-identification - always separating the " I" and the "it", the part that observes from the part that is observed.

5.

Within the prescribed area - that is, only the five manners of behavior.

6.

With all available sensory perceptions - all your senses like vision, muscular tension, etc. can and should give you information about what you observe.

7.

With confinement to no time and place - there is no "special" time or place dedicated to this practice; anytime, anywhere is excellent.

As we can see, the practice of self-observation is not at all an easy task, and nor should be, but what we must clearly understand is that in order to truly know oneself, the self-observation is mandatory. There is no other way around it. We can also begin to understand now what I mentioned about the dual relationship of self-observation, a relationship mostly with the -66-

Gnrdjiefßan exercises interior world of man, that is, with himself. The division of attention is made inside oneself, between the part that observes from the part that is observed (the body). Even though this practice of self-observation will take place in life, in all kinds of situations, the basic division of attention will be inside oneself, that means on one level only. This establishes the self-consciousness state, as it becomes more and more clearly what is inside and what is not, and, more than this, it establishes a correct relationship in the interior world of man, for self­ observation is a function of the body, relating that body to present. After some time is spent with good results in the self­ observation of the five manners of behavior, it is recommended that the emanations of the emotional and thinking centers should also be observed. But with a twist: one should observe the manner in which certain emotions or thoughts affect our behavior, that is, at first, one must observe tire effects that emotions and thoughts have on one's behavior. "Laymen, novices, saints or perfect men, they can all be known by their reactions. His reactions show where a man stands."73 A special note should be made here, about the breathing, which has already been covered in a different chapter. At this stage, one should also try and observe the relationship between the five manners of behavior and the breathing, and after that, between the emotions and

73 Roberts, de Ropp, Conversations with Madame Ouspensky, 1974, Meeting of June 1939. -67-

The Force o f Gurdjieff Vol. 6 thoughts and breathing; to observe in which way is the breathing modified when having a n intense pain, emotion, etc. The main purpose of self-observation is self-knowledge of oneself, to find out things about oneself that are in the shadows: "To

see ourselves better, we must first observe

ourselves impartially - in complete sincerity, without changing anything - simply because we have this need to see ourselves as we are. That is why all work in this direction

begins

with

self-observation-observation

which is all-embracing, global and impartial."74

Self-remembering After some experience with self-observation, one should go to the next level so to say, that is, start to build a relationship with the outside world. This relationship has something emotional - as all relationships in the world - hence, self-remembering is a function of the emotional center. Just like self-observation is a function of the physical center. Just like the ternary reasoning is a function of the intellectual center; but more on this later on in the book. One way of describing this would be that one must hold in one's attention two things at the same time: the interior world - one's own body with sensations, emotions and thoughts - and the exterior

/4 J. Vaysse, Towards awakening, Routlege & Kegan Paul, 1980, page 34. -68-

Gurdjieffian exercises world; hence, we have two different worlds75, two different levels of reality now. “What is the first characteristic of self-remembering? In this state man is not center. He is not separate. Sitting in a room, he is aware of the whole room, of himself as only one of the objects in it. He is likewise aware of others and does not put himself above them or criticize or judge.76" For this ability of holding two different levels into one's attention, a lot of practice is necessary, but at the same time, this will impact all one's being, as the door of ternary reasoning will also open. Being an emotional function, self-remembering also deals with images, as the emotional center deals with images. Images from the past that create - just like milestones - a line, a life and which project into images of the future - almost like clairvoyance. This self-remembering is the perception of the first dimension of time77 - the linear time - in the second dimension of time the simultaneous time. This is the reason why Gurdjieff used to tell "repair the past in order to prepare the future".

75 R. Collin, The theory of celestial influence, electronic edition, chapter 14, part 2, page 234. 76 R. S. de Ropp, Conversations with Madame Ouspensky, 1974, Meeting of July 1939. 77 The Force of Gurdjieff, Vol. 3, Magisteria, 2014, page 491.

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The Force o f Gurdjieff, Vol. 6

Interference, participation, experiment

This is yet another point of view on how to develop consciousness through self-observation in a coherent manner in order to establish the self-consciousness state in one's being. The Interference - Participation - Experiment exercises are practically unknown outside Gurdjieff work groups. These exercises have been learned by Alfred Orage from Gurdjieff and brought to American groups at the beginning and later to some special groups, like those of Martin Benson. Jerry Brewster, pupil of Olga de Hartmann, Jeanne de Salzmann and Christopher Freemantle - to name but a few of Gurdjieff s most important disciples - acknowledges these practices as of utmost importance.

Interference The first part, Interference, has been already explained and it consists in the technique of self-observation. As one observes one's body and five manners of behavior, one interferes with path of attention which goes, most of the time, on the path of least resistance. Whenever one tries to direct the attention at a specific part of the body, or to visualize an object - as explained in a previous chapter in this book - one interferes with the mechanical path of attention, with -

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Gurdjieffian exercises the mechanicality of the personality. The inertia is tampered with. This is the first step.

Participation

The second step, Participation, requires that one has developed a center of gravity from where one participates in life.78 A center of gravity with which one participates in life. "This Work is a school for developing a new center of gravity."79 This relates to the four states of consciousness, as explained in the next chapter of our book, but also to the seven human types. "Right work on oneself, according to Gurdjieff, begins with the creation of a permanent center of gravity. This distinguishes the stage of being that he called man number four."80 This is different from work on sensation - as in self-observation - work that is required in order to develop a new center of gravity. "There is a subtle psychological difference between impersonally and impartially watching or observing the movements, say, of one's legs in walking and actively participating in those movements. Here again it is very

78J. Brewster, Spiritual Psysics, JAMM Publications, 2014, page 20. 79J. de Salzmann, The Reality of Being, Shambhala, 2010, page I'll. 80 J. de Salzmann, The Reality of Being, Shambhala, 2010, page 137.

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The Force o f Gurdjieff, Vol. 6 easy to deceive oneself and to confuse real Participation with mere deliberation."81 Participation will be felt as more active than self-observation, and will give you a new point of view on yourself. The same basic seven rules that apply to self-observation, mentioned in the previous chapter, apply also to Participation. Sometimes called the "effortless effort", participation means also to remember oneself in front of an impression, which requires an effort of centering and opening.82

Experiment At this stage, one deals with simple experiments, putting oneself in all kind of situations, with the aim to know oneself and develop greater consciousness. "The practice at this stage will deal chiefly, although not altogether, with habits, but it will not begin, nor will it ever be primarily concerned, with so-called "bad" habits."83 A simple example is to see with which hand you brush your teeth, and try to use the other hand. Or if you notice that you tie your

81 The Force of Gurdjieff, Vol. 3, Magisteria, 2014, page. 227. 82 J. Brewster, Spiritual Psysics, JAMM Publications, 2014, page 95. 83 The Force of Gurdjieff, Vol. 3, Magisteria, 2014, page 241.

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Gurdjieffian exercises left shoe first, to tie the right one. Or maybe the hand you use for smoking or for combing your hair. "I can do the opposite of my habits. What I usually take with the right hand, I take with the left. In sitting at the table, I do not sit in my usual way. All the time, I go against myself."84 The aim is not to improve anything, but observe oneself in a "new" manner, in a new situation. "In going against a habit, for example, like eating or sitting in a certain way, we are not struggling to change the habit."85 There are a lot of experiments one can do in this type of work. However, it must be kept in mind, that if these are tried without the first two practices, the interference and participation, the results will not be obtained accordingly. For the beginning student, this advice is not at all attractive nor is it easy to understand. But as always, the order is important.

841. de Salzmann, The Reality of Being, Shambhala, 2010, page 289. 85]. de Salzmann, The Reality of Being, Shambhala, 2010, page 18. -

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The Force o f Gurdjieff Vol. 6

States of consciousness

The idea of different states of consciousness is not new and people have been talking about it from the beginning of the world. These have different names in different traditions. Usually, the Gurdjieffian literature86 acknowledges four main states of consciousness: 1.

Sleep

2.

Waking

3.

Self-consciousness

4.

Cosmic consciousness

Out of these four, the second one, waking state, is considered to be abnormal, being characterized by daydream and delusion87. So there are three basic states, #1, #3 and #4 from above. If we consider the abnormal states also, there are actually seven states of consciousness, as everything in the universe must obey the law of seven. There are also seven types of men, but we will speak about this in the next chapter. The seven states of consciousness have to do with the attention and the connections between the human centers - body, emotions, and thoughts.

86 The Force of Gurdjieff, Vol. 1, Magisteria, 2015, page 22. 87 The Force of Gurdjieff, Vol. 3, Magisteria, 2014, page 235. -

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Gurdjieffian exercises "The level of being is determined by what enters into one's Presence at a given moment, that is, the number of centers which participate and the conscious relation between them."88 Having these things in mind, let us see the seven states of consciousness: 1.

Sleep -

the centers are disconnected at best; if

connections remain active, then dreams occur. 2.

Waking - the centers are mechanically connected, but the attention follows the path of least resistance, is not directed.

3.

Identification89 - the centers are mechanically connected and the attention is mechanically directed/ attracted90 towards an object, person or event.

4.

Voluntary attention - the centers are mechanically connected but the attention is voluntarily directed.

5.

Self-consciousness - the centers are connected by effort and the attention is voluntarily directed at one's organism.

6.

Cosmic consciousness - the centers are connected by effort, the attention is voluntarily directed both at one's organism and at the exterior world.

88 J. de Salzmann, The Reality of Being, Shambhala, 2010, page 179. 89 P. D. Ouspensky, Psychology of man's possible evolution, Vintage Books, 1974, page 51. 90 R. Collin, The theory of celestial influence, electronic edition, chapter 14, part 2, page 233. -75-

The Force o f Gurdjieff, Vol. 6 7.

Self Will - the epitome of all the above.

Before the first state, sleep, there is obviously the non existence before birth. As there is death after life. But since these are part of another octave91,1 choose not to include them here. This being said, now it is much simpler to differentiate between our states of consciousness. Each has its own taste and the best way to differentiate between them is by taste. "Throughout the range of states, the structure stays the same, but the quality of life changes."92 This is of course a little tricky, because in the instant that you become aware of a taste, you are moving from a state - waking or identification - to another state - maybe self-consciousness.

91 P. D. Ouspensky, The cosmology of man's possible evolution, Agora, 1989, page 38. 92 J. Vaysse, Towards awakening, Routlege & Kegan Paul, 1980, page 48.

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Gurdjiefjian exercises

Human types

According to the Gurdjieff teaching, the main way to look at the human being is to consider there are seven types of men, depending on the center that functions the most, and depending on the state of consciousness93. Hence, we have: 1.

Man no. 1, a man in whom the instinctive-moving center predominates over the other two centers.

2.

Man no. 2, in whom the emotional center predominates.

3.

Man no. 3, in whom the intellectual center is in charge.

4.

Man no. 4, balanced man, the product of a spiritual school.

5.

Man no.

5, who

has

acquired

unity

and

self-

consciousness. 6.

Man no. 6, who has objective consciousness.

7.

Man no. 7, who has a free will.

We must also keep in mind that the first type of man, no. 1, has two variations: instinctive and moving. "Number 1 Man has to be further classified according to whether he is: Number 1 Moving - whose primary concern is with action and muscular work. Number 1

93 P. D. Ouspensky, Psychology of man's possible evolution, Vintage Books, 1974, page 54. -77-

The Force o f Gurdjieff Vol. 6 Instinctive - whose primary concern is for physical comfort, and who will be lazy and inactive."94 From these seven types of man, we meet in our daily life only the first three categories. So the first step would be to recognize these three categories. This by itself will give a lot of useful knowledge, not only about the other people around us, but also about oneself. The next step would be to recognize in oneself the functioning of each center, to establish a difference between a sensation, an emotion and a thought. Have patience with this one, because it is a tricky one. By itself, this approach will enable you to take a small step towards acquiring will. "With the will of man number one, two or three, using all our concentration, we can control only one center. We cannot obey voluntarily, consciously."95

94 M. Nicoll, Simple explanation of Work ideas, electronic edition, page 10. 951- de Salzmann, The Reality of Being, Shambhala, 2010, page 220. -

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Gurdjieffian exercises

Voluntary suffering and conscious labor

While there is a lot of misunderstanding regarding both the voluntary suffering and the conscious labor, we shall provide here the basic exercises. Usually, these concepts are used at a later stage in the Gurdjieff work, for the coating of the second body. "When our attention is strongly concentrated in front of the various movements of our thinking, feeling and body, this produces a substance similar to electricity. It is necessary to accumulate this material for a second body to be formed. The way is long, but the substance can be created in us by conscious effort and voluntary suffering."96

Voluntary suffering

Voluntary

suffering

means

to

suffer

the

unpleasant

manifestations of other living creatures. This applies not only to humans, but to animals such as snakes and mice also.97

96 J. de Salzmann, The Reality of Being, Shambhala, 2010, page 242. 97 Do remember the episode in the movie "Meetings with remarkable men" when Gurdjieff's father makes him pick up a snake.

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The Force o f Gurdjieff Vol. 6 If a man upsets you, conceal this and behave just as if he delights you. Play a role outside; do not let anybody see how you react inside. "To believe, to hope, to love are all indispensable for evolution of being. But they can be lived only if, at the same time, voluntary suffering allows true, higher feeling to appear."98 This has also to do with the famous exercise of not expressing the symptoms of negative emotions in the presence of others. The emotions are not to be denied or anything. But their external manifestation should be suppressed. The basic idea is that all emotions are wasting energy. As the word itself expresses, it is something that moves to the outside, something that wants to exit. This energy is something that we should use for our internal work, hence the idea of transforming negative emotions. The first step in this is not to express them anymore physically in the interaction with others. "Its purpose is not the destruction of negative emotion but instead it is the utilization of the negative emotion for the purpose of creating an internal emotional friction of use and value."99 This by itself is a very useful exercise which will bring a lot of self knowledge.

98J. de Salzmann, The Reality of Being, Shambhala, 2010, page 259. 99 The Force of Gurdjieff, Vol. 3, Magisteria, 2015, page 306. -

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Gurdjieffian exercises "In trying not to express negative emotions, we are not struggling

against

the

emotions

themselves

or

struggling to do away with their expression. It is a struggle with our identification, to allow the energy otherwise wasted to serve the work. We struggle not against something, we struggle for something."100 The next step after learning not to express them is to transform the energy given by the emotions. This requires having a personal aim, because energy coming from emotions can never disappear; the only thing that we can do is to redirect the energy from having a negative attitude towards somebody to our personal aim.

Conscious labor The labor is pondering and making vows to oneself. One should do this deliberately every day, living more and more conscious, more and more purposively. Pondering is one of the most important human activities, weighting in the intellectual center the major human problems. "Specifically it is not the acquirement of the sort of information or knowledge that can be gotten from books

or from

teachers;

it is the formation

of

conclusions that are essentially one's own from all the

100J. de Salzmann, The Reality of Being, Shambhala, 2010, page 18. -

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The Force o f Gurdjieff, Vol. 6

data

that one

has,

sensory, emotional,

mentally

associative, mentally formal, and all others."101 This basic human action, questioning, is something that we are borne with. Unlike the other animals, man is creature endowed with rational thought, and pondering is the first step which can lead you from verbal reasoning to formal reasoning102 and then to objective reasoning. Verbal reasoning is thinking with words, without having had the experience of the state or action which the word describes. It uses the dictionary effect, when we explain one word by another. Formal reasoning is thinking with forms, like a constellation is a form made of experiences, which imply also that more than one center has been used in the experience. "A picture formation in the mind is one of the foods for attention. Think what is meant by this food - food for voluntary attention."103 Regarding this questioning in our lives and its relationship with essence and being, Michel de Salzmann, Gurdjieff s son, said that: "Total questioning in our living is the key to being."104 As the stomach from the physical center, and the emotional center, the brain is also digesting something, and the food for the brain is the ideas that one encounters in life and uses. These ideas, if we

101 The Force of Gurdjieff, Vol. 3, Magisteria, 2015, page 301. 102 The Force of Gurdjieff, Vol. 2, Magisteria, 2014, page 33. 103J. Heap, Notes, Two Rivers Press, 1983, page 16. 104J. Needleman, On the Way to Self Knowledge, Knopf, 1976, page 60. -82-

Gurdjieffian exercises consider them food, and apply to them the same principles we apply to our meals, will become healthier. Alfred Orage used to say: "Each of our three healths thus depends on food selection."105 We must also become more conscious of the process of absorbing new ideas, because every time we take a new idea and make it our own, we are also acting upon the ideas that we already have. "Ideas are influences as everything else is, vocabulary, science, facts, experience, etc."106 And before we decide to make it our own, that is feeding upon it, we should also try - as mentioned earlier in one of the exercises - to use in this process all our three centers. "One is not making the new idea one's own, nor agreeing with it, but finding out how it feels in the mind."107 Basically, one can ponder on anything, but a list was presented to the Gurdjieff groups in America by Alfred Orage, list that we will mention here also: "1. Man. "2. Sex. "3. Consciousness. "4. The World. "5. The Universe. 105 The Force of Gurdjieff, Vol. 1, Magisteria, 2014, page 57. 106J. Heap, Notes, Two Rivers Press, 1983, page 7. 107 The Force of Gurdjieff Vol. 1, Magisteria, 2014, page 57. -83-

The Force o f Gurdjieff Vol. 6 "6. Nature. "7. God. "8. The Three Foods. "9. The Three Bodies "10. Hypnotism "11. The Three Centres. "12. The Method. "13. Religion and Religions. "14. Art. "15. Science. "16. Knowledge and Belief. "17. The Three Forms of Reason. "18. The Law of the Octave. "19. The Law of the Three and the Law of the Seven. "20. Individuality, Consciousness and Will. "21. Essence and Personality. "22. "I" and It. "23. The Three Yogas. "24. Force, Matter, Energy, Radiation, Emanation. "25. Electricity. "26. The Bible; and other Sacred Books. "27. Good and Evil. "28. Time. "29. Incarnation and Reincarnation. "30. Spiritualism. -84-

Gurdjieffian exercises "31. Objective Reason, Objective Conscience, Objective Art, Objective Science. "32. Laws of Association." It is not so important to find answers, but to open oneself to life questions, that is, live the questions one is pondering on. This is in a way similar to a Zen koan, but the difference lies in the type of questions used and in the manner one engages the other centers.

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The Force o f Gurdjieff, Vol. 6

The nightly review

As mentioned in the chapter about the visualization of an object, the skill will be put at use in more than one type of exercise. One famous exercise in the Gurdjieff tradition is the pictorially review of one's day before going to sleep108.

The procedure

After putting oneself to bed, closing the tight and closing the eyes, the first step is to establish relaxation of the body. This can be done by trying to sense each limb and thus, passing from head to heels, to relax the body. Or you can try to tense the body and after that to relax it in order to sense the limbs easier. Afterwards, the second stage of the exercise is to establish relaxation of the mind, so as to prevent the mind from interfering with the exercise. This is usually done by reciting in one's mind, a numbering tike 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8, 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1, over and over again109. Once the mind has been put at ease, the exercise can begin and it consists in viewing in front of one's closed eyes, the movie of one's 108 A. R. Orage, Psychological exercises, Weiser, 1989, page 105. 109 The Force of Gurdjieff, Vol. 3, Magisteria, 2014, page 171. -

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Gurdjieffian exercises daily events, in images. As if one's eyes were a camera that had recorded the events and now we play the movie from the beginning, that is, from morning. At first, it seems easy. But after a while, if one doesn't fall into sleeping, the movie breaks. Or just stops. The process until you will be able to unroll the whole movie, from morning until night, is a long one, but full of useful results, such as becoming more conscious during the day. There are two main points to this exercise. First: after you can unroll your day, every day for some time, you should try to unroll your life, from when you were born until the present day. Just like the images of your life pass in front of your eyes when you die. This will help you not only to repair the past by actually establishing an objective relationship with it, but also to prepare the future, by not making the same mistakes over and over again. The second key point to the exercise is that it has several other steps110 after the pictorially stage has been acquired. The five stages of the exercise are: 1. Pictorially. 2. Sensually, re-sense seven senses. 3. Emotionally, try to realize the emotional history of the day. 4. Intellectual review. 5. Judgment of day relative to aim.

110 The force of Gurdjieff, Vol. 2, Magisteria, 2015, page 26. -87-

As you can see, it is neither easy, nor at hand, but the exercise will give you quite a lot of good results. Please devote time to this one, for it is important.

Giirdjieffian exercises

Alarm Clocks

A useful exercise reported by Ouspensky and others is to use "alarm clocks". Every time when you pass through a door, it should remind you to be more conscious. Every time you put the seatbelt on in the car. Every time you sit cross-legged. Every time you... etc. Seems simple, but it really isn't. Another type of alarm clock that you can use is to try to be present at a specific hour in the day. Let's say at 4 p.m. And from the morning, you assign to yourself the aim to be present at 4 p.m. It is even more difficult than the ones above, but it is definitely worth trying.

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Movements

There is a whole body of movements, sacred dances and preparatory exercises brought and developed by Gurdjieff. As it is quite difficult to describe these in a book, we will not do it. However, I will attempt to explain one such preparatory exercise in order for you to get at least a taste about it.

The procedure Sitting on a chair, with the back straight, palms on your knees, relaxed, looking in front of you. 1.

Raise your right arm at shoulder level, parallel to the floor, the palm is facing down. At the same time with the arm, raise the head and look up at the ceiling. Bring both the arm and the head in the initial position.

2.

Raise the left arm, identical position as the right arm in the previous step. The head goes down and you look at the floor. Bring both the arm and the head in the initial position.

3.

Raise the right arm, but the head goes down. Bring both the arm and the head in the initial position.

4.

Raise the left arm, but the head goes up. Bring both the arm and the head in the initial position. -90-

Gurdjieffian exercises This is the basic exercise. Try to sense your body and each part that moves, to put your attention to each part while maintaining awareness on the whole body also. Each variation that follows adds something extra to the exercise. Please take time to practice each and every variation, preferably at different times or different days. Always ensure that your breathing remains normal and natural, do not try to link the breathing with the movements, just let your body do this and observe what happens.

Variation 1 Do the four attitudes, from 1 to 4 using the canon concept. That is, do them in the following order/ pattern: 1- 2-3-4, 2-

3-4-1,

3- 4-1-2, 4- 1-2-3. 1-2-3-4, Etc. This type of pattern is used in a lot of movements and practical exercises of Gurdjieff. You should have experience with it. It is also connected with the Enneagram and all the enneagram based movements.

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The Force o f Gurdjieff, Vol. 6

Variation 2 Add a saying, like "I wish to be myself" where you have some words on each attitude. 1.

On attitude 1: say out loud "I".

2.

On attitude 2: say out loud "wish".

3.

On attitude 3: say out loud "to be".

4.

On attitude 4: say out loud "myself".

Variation 3 Do the pattern from Variation 1 while also saying the words as in Variation 2. The words can follow the pattern, or not. So you have two possibilities in this third variation.

Variation 4 Add a specific sensation of a certain part of your body on each attitude: 1.

On attitude 1: sense the base of your vertebrae column.

2.

On attitude 2: sense your solar plexus.

3.

On attitude 3: sense your head.

4.

On attitude 4: sense your whole body.

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Gurdjieffian exercises

Variation 5 Add a specific sensation of a certain part of your body on each attitude and a specific saying: 1.

On attitude 1: sense the base of your vertebrae column and say out loud "I sense".

2.

On attitude 2: sense your solar plexus and say out loud "I feel".

3.

On attitude 3: sense your head and say out loud "I know".

4.

On attitude 4: sense your whole body and say out loud "I am"

Variation 6

Do the pattern from Variation 2 while also doing the sensing and the words from Variation 5. The words can follow the pattern, or not. So you have two possibilities in this sixth variation.

Variation 7

Every time you raise the arm say out loud "I" Every time you bring the arm and the head to the initial position, say out loud "am ".

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