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Notes and transcripts of Gurdjieff's meetings, talks, and lectures

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New Audio Book:
Transcripts of Gurdjieff’s Wartime Meetings 1941-1946
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Anthony Blake Reads “Mount Analogue”
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New Audiobook:
Mount Analogue
By René Daumal
Narrated by Anthony Blake
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Two New Audiobooks: Gurdjieff and Daumal read by A.G.E. Blake
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New Audiobook:
Gurdjieff’s Early Talks 1914-1931
By G. Gurdjieff
Narrated by Anthony Blake
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𝗧𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝟭 𝗙𝗲𝗯𝗿𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟭𝟵𝟰𝟰

SC: I would like to ask you a question about my profession. I’m wondering if I should keep my job or take another job that is more in line with my abilities. I would like to have an aim in life instead of always wondering what I should do.

GURDJIEFF: I would advise you to do something completely new, unrelated to what you have been doing. The less satisfied you are with your work, the more you will have the opportunity to do more. Start learning again for the future. A new career is the best thing for you. In life you can usually make all sorts of compromises, you arrange things in different ways, but with this work there are no compromises. You have to change your whole external life and start all over again.

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𝗧𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝟮𝟮 𝗙𝗲𝗯𝗿𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟭𝟵𝟰𝟰

GURDJIEFF: The exercise we have prepared this evening is very important for the “I am.” It will help you to enter even more into your present. You feel the “I am” only with your head, not yet with your whole presence. It is already something to feel it with your head, but when you feel it with your whole being, there is no greater treasure. You will have full satisfaction when you can really sense yourself with your whole presence. It is difficult. But it is necessary that you do not pity yourself. Continue without pity until the result.

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𝗧𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝟭𝟲 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟵𝟰𝟯

JB: Sometimes when I am with certain people whom I do not consider enemies, I feel a violent antipathy, and I want to contradict them. An antipathy of physical origin and I don’t know how to struggle against this bad thing.

GURDJIEFF: Don’t go on, I understand. And I can already tell you that this is a very good way of working. Take it as a task. As material for work. When you to get irritated, at that moment you say, “I am,” and you consciously let all that irritation enter you. Do this once, twice, three times . . . you can be richer than if you had won five million. And these things that are irritating you will diminish in you and you will start playing a role.

[𝘔𝘳 𝘎𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘫𝘪𝘦𝘧𝘧 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘔𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘻𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦.]

JB: I understand.

GURDJIEFF: Well, only half of it.

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𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝟭𝟲 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟵𝟰𝟯

[𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘗𝘰𝘨𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘯, 𝘔𝘳 𝘎𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘫𝘪𝘦𝘧𝘧 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘦.]

DR A: While I had succeeded a little in the exercise this summer on vacation, I continued to do it but now I can’t do it anymore. Yesterday I tried it with more energy than usual, I felt a very great warmth but I did not separate the presence. At the beginning of September you told me that you would give me an exercise to help me regain the taste of the separation that I had perceived. I would now like to ask you to give me this exercise.

GURDJIEFF: I will give you a very easy exercise. For example you are sitting: inwardly stand up and sit down alternately. Outwardly sit normally and inwardly do this exercise. You are only moving internally.

DR A: Is it necessary to have the internal sensation?

GURDJIEFF: Yes. You can even do the exercise on the train or in the metro, but nobody should see it. It always has to be physically possible; standing or lying down you wouldn’t be able to do it.

LD : I have observed that I can manage to separate myself very strongly when I make a very short effort. But this effort is lost and disappears when I try to keep it.

GURDJIEFF: It is not necessary to do it strongly. It could become a fixed idea. You should never force it, you should do it gradually.

LD : I misspoke, it’s not the effort I put into it that’s strong, it’s the impression I get when it’s short.

GURDJIEFF: That is effort. Everything you do without automatism is an effort. You do everything automatically. If you act a little more consciously, it is an effort. But you mustn’t do anything violent to yourself.

LD : I put all my strength for a very short time, as if to overcome an obstacle.

GURDJIEFF: It is not necessary to do this. Do your exercise only as a service and you will get there little by little. I once said that it is better to work intensely and for short periods. But the intensity is not the shock, it is the attention, the intensity of concentration.

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𝗦𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝟮𝟴 𝗔𝘂𝗴𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝟭𝟵𝟰𝟯

DR A: Can I speak to you about the exercise of separation? When I do this exercise, I really feel that something withdraws from my limbs and and becomes concentrated behind my head. At that moment, it is absolutely impossible for me to detach it from myself. It feels like a lump there at the back of my head, and I can’t detach it from myself when I want to. When I was doing another exercise, the one with breathing and the centres, I felt at one point that I was above myself as if my head was cut off from my body and a metre above it. I felt my body very small breathing underneath me, and I was above it.

GURDJIEFF: Why do you say “me,” it is “I.” It is better to be exact.

DR A: But it was a special feeling. I felt like I had a neck that was a metre long, I felt like I had a lot more focus, and then it was gone.

GURDJIEFF: Do you remember the taste? I will give you another exercise, but it is important to have this taste.

[𝘔𝘳 𝘎𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘫𝘪𝘦𝘧𝘧 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘙𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘦 𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘻𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘯.]

MME DE SALZMANN: Mr Gurdjieff will give you another exercise to lead you to this taste, and you will stop when you have it.

DR A: As for the exercise of the three impulses: hot, cold, and tears, I have done it a number of times, and really sometimes I had the impression that it was not me who was cold, nor me who was hot, nor me who was crying, that it did not touch me deeply. Once or twice I felt the cold almost like shivers.

GURDJIEFF: Who “me”?

DR A: The “I” was not cold.

GURDJIEFF: You got it. Are you satisfied?

DR A: Yes.

GURDJIEFF: Yet I didn’t answer anything, I only asked for a detail.

DR A: I noticed that for the exercises, what is important for me is the duration. After twenty minutes, I don’t feel anything, but after forty minutes I feel something. It would be better if I did them all together for forty minutes, rather than doing them three times during the day.

GURDJIEFF: For the time being, it’s fine. In the future, it may be necessary to look for quality and not quantity. It depends on how strong your concentration is. One time you have ten percent, another time thirty percent, another fifty percent. It depends. If your concentration is stronger, do your exercises for less time and more intensely.

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𝗧𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝟭𝟴 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟵𝟰𝟯

SC: Mr Gurdjieff, before leaving on a trip, you gave me an exercise which was to count to thirty and back while sensing myself. It made me see something, it made me separate the head from the body. And it gave me a new attitude.

GURDJIEFF: Did you notice the difference?

SC: Yes, I immediately noticed the difference: a new attitude that I had to take. But now, it’s as if I’m in front of a wall. I can’t feel any emotion.

GURDJIEFF: The more you can separate your individuality from the whole of your machine, the harder it will be. It’s a crisis to get through. You must continue, continue and continue. Then you can become an independent individuality. The individuality is one thing, the machine and the functions are another thing. It has to separate, it has to become independent. It must become obvious to you that you are made of two things, of two completely independent parts. I haven’t said that to many people in that sense.

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𝗧𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝟭𝟱 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝘆 𝟭𝟵𝟰𝟯

SR: Before I met the work, I was a lot more anxious, because I felt in myself bad things I thought I would never be able to get rid of. This kept alive a kind of anxiety in me, maybe not constant, but very frequent. I noticed that with the work, this would disappear, and I calmed down inside. I would like to find my state of anxiety again. I miss it. What could I think or do to find it again?

GURDJIEFF: You thought you could get there. But you saw that with these results, you will never be able to do anything. You will only get there if you make a greater effort than usual. But perhaps you don’t even have the desire to do so. You have been here for a long time, you have to understand what effort is. Self-effort. I will tell you a secret: self-effort is never possible all of a sudden, preparation is necessary. It takes a struggle. Until you get there, you forget, you remember, you forget, you remember. But when you are sitting, quiet, collected, you can think and start “doing.” Until now, you have not made an effort.

SR: That’s why I’m asking the question. I’m here and I feel too calm.

GURDJIEFF: You imagine, you believe that you will go straight to paradise. No, here you have to make efforts beyond the ordinary. For example, for this person [𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘳] it’s pretty good, but you, you won’t get far with it. You have to start making an extra effort; and if you don’t do it now, it’s because you don’t have an aim. How can you stay still? With the effort you are making today, you will never arrive. In this situation, a normal person could not be calm.

SR: That’s why I’m concerned.

GURDJIEFF: It is necessary to make real efforts, but you continue to do as before in life. Before it was okay, now it’s not enough. The effort must stretch all your muscles, all your nerves, all your brain even. This effort of concentration must be yours. You should have done it long ago. Instead, you masturbate. In the beginning for a new person it is forgivable. But not for you who have a taste for real work. You have to do it in your ordinary life.

DR A: When I experience a violent negative emotion and I make the effort required, I feel that the negative force is mine. When I get rid of it, I feel a great fullness and I don’t know what to do with it.

GURDJIEFF: Two or three weeks ago we talked about this specifically. We said, “This force, I wish it to be my force.” You can gather this force and use it.

DR A: I try, but I don’t know how, and in an instant it runs out.

GURDJIEFF: You have to do it. Today you do it automatically. If you do it consciously, then you transform it with your consciousness. But you do it like a donkey, automatically.

DR A: I am feeling it as a force of my own. I feel that my anger is mine if it does not come out. That alone makes it go away; but when the force is contained, I don’t know what to do with it.

GURDJIEFF: You have to accumulate it with the proper instrument. The instrument we have: “I am focused . . . present,” and at the same time, no associations. This thing you are talking about, you make it your own force. My weakness, I make it mine. “I am” . . . always and again “I am.” Never forget it. Little by little, your “I” will have a contact with your essence. It is necessary to repeat it many times.

DR A: I have come to prefer violent emotions, rather than the usual passive inertia.

GURDJIEFF: There is no such thing as active or passive for your real “I.” It all depends on your state. These external things are indifferent . . . Remember yourself . . . Sometimes you may think that it is negative and it may be the opposite. To have real material, don’t think about what your state is. Do not philosophize, just absorb, breathe in your real “I.”

LD : I have made much the same observation as my comrade. But this has the consequence of inviting the negative emotions to come back stronger. This week was the best because I had a lot of negative emotions. It’s dangerous, it’s true, damage is possible, but I got a taste of what another life can be.

GURDJIEFF: Continue, but with the understanding that what you accumulate is a substantial thing, not only for the present but for the future. This is very important. Already now you can think of remembering yourself and at the same time represent to yourself in forms, without words, what is happening within you.

LD : Before, I was drained by my negative emotions, even organically. Today, I have never felt so good, so animated.

GURDJIEFF: Never before have you had money at your disposal. You must feel that today you have it.

LD : One feels that the body is under pressure. That it is the scene of such a struggle that it will burst.

GURDJIEFF: Remember this: man is not a pig, he cannot burst no matter what he eats. The pig has a normal stomach, he cannot eat more than his stomach allows, he might burst. Man is a scoundrel, he has a rubber stomach. He is worse than a pig: he can swallow, swallow, without ever bursting. Not only the stomach, all his organs are made of rubber. But little by little he has degenerated. Even rubber, if you don’t use it, shrinks. Only when you can make it a thousand times bigger is it more like it should be. Burst is a 𝘧𝘰𝘶-𝘧𝘰𝘶 word, an improper word. Only a pig can burst; a man cannot. Continue without fear; if the pressure is ten times as great, so much the better, you will enter my group ten times faster. Don’t be afraid, you won’t burst, that is imagination. Only now are you beginning to learn what real eating is, what it means to eat like a man. Continue, continue. Get rid of this feeling that you have every time you expand; you are exactly like a child who has hiccups when he has eaten a lot. Nature enlarges his stomach. A child can have hiccups a thousand times. You are at the first time. Don’t be afraid, you will have them nine hundred and ninety-nine times more.

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Excerpt from In Search of the Miraculous by P. D. Ouspensky narrated by Anthony Blake

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𝗧𝘂𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝟮𝟵 𝗙𝗲𝗯𝗿𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟭𝟵𝟰𝟰

DG: Mr Gurdjieff, I was brought up in the Catholic religion, I have not practised it for a long time, but I believe in God, or at least in a transcendence that I call God. Now, since I have been working in this teaching and especially since I have achieved certain results through self-remembering, and since I have obtained a real sensation of my “I,” I have noticed that the notion I had before of God was imperceptibly replaced by that of my “I am.” Since I have been able to construct my “I,” my conception of God tends to be transformed into the sensation that I have of my “I,” not the one that I have at present, but the one that I have the intuition to reach.

GURDJIEFF: Stop, I have understood. You really couldn’t be on a better path. You have understood that God is not an old Jew with a beard, but that he is exactly the “I” with all the qualities that go with it. Have you read the Bible and the Gospel? We were created in the image of God. You are a miniature of God. If you keep on like this, you are God. Not you, but the feeling you have. Let that feeling become stronger and at the same time always think that God is not an old Jew with a beard and a comb in his pocket. You are a micro-God. Have you read Beelzebub? The seven cosmoses have the same value, only the scale is different. If you understand this and act appropriately with your own scale, you can know the other six. And now, what was your question?

DG: I didn’t want to ask you a question so much as tell you what I noticed. However, I would like to know if this is a good thing or if I should be concerned about it. For me, it seems to be a good thing.

GURDJIEFF: To begin with, it is an ideal. On the one hand, you destroy your abnormal God, and on the other hand you build your new God, the real one, the one of your possibilities of development. You are on the right path.

DG: But what if I wanted to pray to God now?

GURDJIEFF: What you have to do is to pray for all the possibilities that are in you. If these qualities are already in you, it is God. It is an ideal, because it is already God in you.

DG: I understand.

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𝗦𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝟮𝟯 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟭𝟵𝟰𝟰

GM: Sometimes I get tired and exercise badly. Is it better to stop, or should I try to continue?

GURDJIEFF: Stop drinking wine.

GM: I don’t drink it.

GURDJIEFF: Have some tea or coffee. When you feel tired, don’t pay attention. You are young. Force yourself. Discipline yourself. That will make your crisis pass. There is much organic laziness in you. Use this opportunity to kill that laziness within you. Make it your task to never be tired, and to do even twice as much when you feel tired. For example, do some physical work. Saw wood. Or do gymnastics, you don’t need wood for that. Buy an expander. Think of yourself as a stranger. If you feel tired, say to yourself, “𝘈𝘩, 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘭! 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥, 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩!” Little by little your self will grow. It will feed itself and become independent.

GM: I do feel that I miss physical exercise.

GURDJIEFF: What are we talking about? You know, among other things, this I say for the experts, nobody told me that you lack exercise. But I read it in your skin. You eat a lot, like a pig, and then you lie down. The one who does so makes his laziness grow a lot even for our work. If you are tired, it is because you are doing work you are not used to. But you are young, you should not be tired. If you were normal, you would never be tired. What is normal is to digest with all the means that man has to digest. One of these means is gymnastics, sawing wood, digging the earth. In the city, there is no wood. So do gymnastics. At the beginning, you will not want to. Force yourself. Command yourself. He who forces himself grows. In the meantime, it is your common sense that will force you. It will then be more solid. Today, it is in you only theoretically. That’s why I asked you and others to go and get me some coal. Afterwards, if you want, I have wood to saw. I’ll even pay you with sweets.

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Excerpt from In Search of the Miraculous by P. D. Ouspensky

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