on a change of underwear, and Chapter 45 electricity
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Shiemash51
May 19, 2017, 2:30:24 AM5/19/17
to Gurdjieff Sacred Antkooano
on
https://plus.google.com/u/0/109076214023845031446/posts/b8H32bWGuYt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WViNYrJeEqE
a change of underwear
"Potency" is the real
"change-of-underwear",
"change-of-underwear",
it is the force and level
of active mentation:
"'Early in my existence, at
the period when I was still
preparing to be a responsible
being, I devoted the greater
part of my time as is
proper to all three-
brained beings at that
age to practicing in
order to acquire the
POTENCY to "deliberate
actively for a long time",
and it happened by itself
that during the intervals
for necessary rest, I used
to occupy myself with the
various experimental
apparatuses of my
producer.
"'And it was at that period
of my existence that I noticed
more than once that on certain
days the force and level of my
active mentation were
perceptibly lower.
"'This discovery aroused in
me a subjective interest that
engendered in my presence the
urgent impulse to acquire a
thorough cognizance of the
cause of this fact. From
then on, I began to pay
attention both to myself
and to what took place
around me in order to
seek out the causes, and
after one "khree" I became
completely convinced that
this undesirable state
occurred in me each
time our large
"life-chakhan,"
or "dynamo," was
in operation.
"'It was precisely this
fact, first observed by
me at that time, which
was the cause of my
growing interest in
the omnipresent cosmic
substance and of my
deeply absorbing
study of its
details.
"'My experiments, from the
very beginning, brought me
an incalculable number of
proofs of all kinds, both
for myself and for others,
that the omnipresent
substance Okidanokh
is a part of the common
presence of the atmosphere
of our planet, and evidently
of the presence of the
atmosphere of other
planets as well, and
that it takes part in
the arising of all
planetary and
surplanetary
formations
including of
course the
"khraprkhalikhrokhnian"
part of every being and
in the maintenance of
their existence.
'In the course of my further
experimental elucidations, I
also became entirely certain
that although our solar system,
like all the other solar systems
of the Great Universe, has its
own "Ansanbaluiazar," and that
each planet, with its
atmosphere, is the
specific place of
concentration of one
or another class of
cosmic substances of
the given "common-system
Ansanbaluiazar," the cosmic
substance Okidanokh is
nonetheless an
indispensable
and even
predominant
part of the
presence of
each planet."
--ch 45, electricity [rf]
"From what does
the way start?"
The person who asked
the question had not
heard Gurdjieff's
description of the
four ways and he used
the word "way" in the
usual religious-
mystical sense.
"The chief difficulty in
understanding the idea of
the way,"' said Gurdjieff,
"consists in the fact that
people usually think that
the WAY" (he emphasized
this word) "starts on the
same level on which life is
going. This is quite wrong.
The way begins on another,
much higher, level. This
is exactly what people
usually do not
understand. The
beginning of the
way is thought to
be easier or simpler
than it is in reality.
I will try to explain
this in the following
way . . . "
--ch 10, ISO
"'Early in my existence, at
the period when I was still
preparing to be a responsible
being, I devoted the greater
part of my time as is
proper to all three-
brained beings at that
age to practicing in
order to acquire the
POTENCY to "deliberate
actively for a long time",
and it happened by itself
that during the intervals
for necessary rest, I used
to occupy myself with the
various experimental
apparatuses of my
producer.
"'And it was at that period
of my existence that I noticed
more than once that on certain
days the force and level of my
active mentation were
perceptibly lower.
"'This discovery aroused in
me a subjective interest that
engendered in my presence the
urgent impulse to acquire a
thorough cognizance of the
cause of this fact. From
then on, I began to pay
attention both to myself
and to what took place
around me in order to
seek out the causes, and
after one "khree" I became
completely convinced that
this undesirable state
occurred in me each
time our large
"life-chakhan,"
or "dynamo," was
in operation.
"'It was precisely this
fact, first observed by
me at that time, which
was the cause of my
growing interest in
the omnipresent cosmic
substance and of my
deeply absorbing
study of its
details.
"'My experiments, from the
very beginning, brought me
an incalculable number of
proofs of all kinds, both
for myself and for others,
that the omnipresent
substance Okidanokh
is a part of the common
presence of the atmosphere
of our planet, and evidently
of the presence of the
atmosphere of other
planets as well, and
that it takes part in
the arising of all
planetary and
surplanetary
formations
including of
course the
"khraprkhalikhrokhnian"
part of every being and
in the maintenance of
their existence.
'In the course of my further
experimental elucidations, I
also became entirely certain
that although our solar system,
like all the other solar systems
of the Great Universe, has its
own "Ansanbaluiazar," and that
each planet, with its
atmosphere, is the
specific place of
concentration of one
or another class of
cosmic substances of
the given "common-system
Ansanbaluiazar," the cosmic
substance Okidanokh is
nonetheless an
indispensable
and even
predominant
part of the
presence of
each planet."
--ch 45, electricity [rf]
"From what does
the way start?"
The person who asked
the question had not
heard Gurdjieff's
description of the
four ways and he used
the word "way" in the
usual religious-
mystical sense.
"The chief difficulty in
understanding the idea of
the way,"' said Gurdjieff,
"consists in the fact that
people usually think that
the WAY" (he emphasized
this word) "starts on the
same level on which life is
going. This is quite wrong.
The way begins on another,
much higher, level. This
is exactly what people
usually do not
understand. The
beginning of the
way is thought to
be easier or simpler
than it is in reality.
I will try to explain
this in the following
way . . . "
--ch 10, ISO
As I have already said
before in previous posts
before in previous posts
on this internet forum, it is
on account of the unbecoming
life of people in general
on the Planet Earth
regarding that chief
particularity what
is called "reciprocal
destruction" that there
was established for the
purposes of common actualizing
of everything existing that, in
general, human life on the Earth
should flow in two streams.
According to Gurdjieff, Great
Nature foresaw and gradually
fixed in the common presence
of humanity a corresponding
property, so that, before
the dividing of the waters,
in each drop that has this
corresponding inner
subjective "struggle
with one's own denying
part," there might arise
that "something" which is
written about by Ouspensky
in In Search of the Miraculous
that there is a something
thanks to which certain
what are called
"magnetic
properties"
are acquired
which give the
possibility at
the place of the
branching of the
waters of life of
entering one or the
other stream.
on the Planet Earth
regarding that chief
particularity what
is called "reciprocal
destruction" that there
was established for the
purposes of common actualizing
of everything existing that, in
general, human life on the Earth
should flow in two streams.
According to Gurdjieff, Great
Nature foresaw and gradually
fixed in the common presence
of humanity a corresponding
property, so that, before
the dividing of the waters,
in each drop that has this
corresponding inner
subjective "struggle
with one's own denying
part," there might arise
that "something" which is
written about by Ouspensky
in In Search of the Miraculous
that there is a something
thanks to which certain
what are called
"magnetic
properties"
are acquired
which give the
possibility at
the place of the
branching of the
waters of life of
entering one or the
other stream.
Gurdjieff:
"Man lives in life under
the law of accident and
under two kinds of
influences again
governed by
accident.
"The first kind are influences
created in life itself or by life
itself. Influences of race, nation,
country, climate, family, education,
society, profession, manners and
customs, wealth, poverty, current
ideas, and so on. The second kind
are influences created outside
this life, influences of the
inner circle, or esoteric
influences . . . influences,
that is, created under
different laws, although
also on the earth. These
influences differ from the
former, first of all in being
conscious in their origin. This
means that they have been created
consciously by conscious men for a
definite purpose. Influences of this
kind are usually embodied in the form
of religious systems and teachings,
philosophical doctrines, works of
art, [fourth way method of
writing by progression],
and so on.
"They are let out into life
for a definite purpose, and
become mixed with influences
of the first kind. But it must
be borne in mind that these
influences are conscious
only in their origin.
Coming into the general
vortex of life they fall
under the general law of
accident and begin to act
mechanically, that is, they
may act on a certain definite
man or may not act; they may
reach him or they may not.
In undergoing change and
distortion in life through
transmission and interpretation,
influences of the second kind are
transformed into influences of the
first kind, that is, they become,
as it were, merged into the
influences of the first
kind."
--Gurdjieff, ch 10, ISO
The beginning of
the Path of Ascension
depends precisely upon
a development of an inner
sense of discrimination
between two kinds of
influences represented
by the two streams
above.
"The results of the influences
whose source lies outside life
collect together within him, he
remembers them together, feels
them together. They begin to
form within him a certain
whole. He does not give a
clear account to himself as
to what, how, and why, or if
he does give an account to himself,
then he explains it wrongly. But the
point is not in this, but in the fact
that the results of these influences
collect together within him and
after a certain time they form
within him a kind of magnetic
center, which begins to attract
to itself kindred influences and
in this manner it grows. If the
magnetic center receives
sufficient nourishment,
and if there is no strong
resistance on the part of
the other sides of a man's
personality which are the
result of influences created
in life, the magnetic center
begins to influence a man's
orientation, obliging him to
turn round and even to move
in a certain direction. When
the magnetic center attains
sufficient force and development,
a man already understands the idea
of the way and he begins to look for
the way. The search for the way may
take many years and may lead to
nothing. This depends upon
conditions, upon circumstances,
upon the power of the magnetic
center, upon the power and the
direction of inner tendencies
which are not concerned with
this search and which may
divert a man at the very
moment when the
possibility of
finding the
way appears."
"If the magnetic center works
rightly and if a man really
searches, or even if he does
not search actively yet feels
rightly, he may meet another
man who knows the way and
who is connected directly
or through other people
with a center existing
outside the law of accident,
from which proceed the ideas
which created the magnetic
center.
"Here again there are many
possibilities. But this will
be spoken of later on. For the
moment let us imagine that he
has met a man who really
knows the way and is
ready to help him. The
influence of this man
upon him goes through
his magnetic center. And
then, at this point, the
man frees himself from the
law of accident. This is what
must be understood. The influence
of the man who knows the way upon
the first man is a special kind
of influence, differing from
the former two, first of all
in being a direct influence,
and secondly in being a
conscious influence.
Influences of the
second kind, which
create magnetic center,
are conscious in their
origin but afterwards
they are thrown into
the general vortex of
life, are intermixed
with influences created
in life itself, and are
equally subject to the
law of accident.
Influences of the
third kind can never
be subject to the law
of accident; they are
themselves outside the
law of accident and their
action also is outside the
law of accident. Influences
of the second kind can proceed
through books, through philosophical
systems, through rituals. Influences
of the third kind can proceed only
from one person to another,
directly, by means of oral
transmission."
--ch 10, ISO
a "party hack" the Living Incarnate
"They are let out into life
for a definite purpose, and
become mixed with influences
of the first kind. But it must
be borne in mind that these
influences are conscious
only in their origin.
Coming into the general
vortex of life they fall
under the general law of
accident and begin to act
mechanically, that is, they
may act on a certain definite
man or may not act; they may
reach him or they may not.
In undergoing change and
distortion in life through
transmission and interpretation,
influences of the second kind are
transformed into influences of the
first kind, that is, they become,
as it were, merged into the
influences of the first
kind."
--Gurdjieff, ch 10, ISO
The beginning of
the Path of Ascension
depends precisely upon
a development of an inner
sense of discrimination
between two kinds of
influences represented
by the two streams
above.
"The results of the influences
whose source lies outside life
collect together within him, he
remembers them together, feels
them together. They begin to
form within him a certain
whole. He does not give a
clear account to himself as
to what, how, and why, or if
he does give an account to himself,
then he explains it wrongly. But the
point is not in this, but in the fact
that the results of these influences
collect together within him and
after a certain time they form
within him a kind of magnetic
center, which begins to attract
to itself kindred influences and
in this manner it grows. If the
magnetic center receives
sufficient nourishment,
and if there is no strong
resistance on the part of
the other sides of a man's
personality which are the
result of influences created
in life, the magnetic center
begins to influence a man's
orientation, obliging him to
turn round and even to move
in a certain direction. When
the magnetic center attains
sufficient force and development,
a man already understands the idea
of the way and he begins to look for
the way. The search for the way may
take many years and may lead to
nothing. This depends upon
conditions, upon circumstances,
upon the power of the magnetic
center, upon the power and the
direction of inner tendencies
which are not concerned with
this search and which may
divert a man at the very
moment when the
possibility of
finding the
way appears."
"If the magnetic center works
rightly and if a man really
searches, or even if he does
not search actively yet feels
rightly, he may meet another
man who knows the way and
who is connected directly
or through other people
with a center existing
outside the law of accident,
from which proceed the ideas
which created the magnetic
center.
"Here again there are many
possibilities. But this will
be spoken of later on. For the
moment let us imagine that he
has met a man who really
knows the way and is
ready to help him. The
influence of this man
upon him goes through
his magnetic center. And
then, at this point, the
man frees himself from the
law of accident. This is what
must be understood. The influence
of the man who knows the way upon
the first man is a special kind
of influence, differing from
the former two, first of all
in being a direct influence,
and secondly in being a
conscious influence.
Influences of the
second kind, which
create magnetic center,
are conscious in their
origin but afterwards
they are thrown into
the general vortex of
life, are intermixed
with influences created
in life itself, and are
equally subject to the
law of accident.
Influences of the
third kind can never
be subject to the law
of accident; they are
themselves outside the
law of accident and their
action also is outside the
law of accident. Influences
of the second kind can proceed
through books, through philosophical
systems, through rituals. Influences
of the third kind can proceed only
from one person to another,
directly, by means of oral
transmission."
--ch 10, ISO
In the same way that
people in the political
world of itself underestimated
the intelligence of President
Trump during the days of his
rise to the United States
Presidency on a path of
people in the political
world of itself underestimated
the intelligence of President
Trump during the days of his
rise to the United States
Presidency on a path of
ascension and not someone
who has "been there" and
"done it all", that is to say,
as someone who can be calleda "party hack" the Living Incarnate
Girly Man Al Gore, a cesspool
because he is himself a
representative
of Global Warming,
having attained to
the status of Global
Award Winner of the
Nobel, then it can
be said that he is
a SUPER CESSPOOL
and who, if he had
his way on everything,
would turn the entire
Planet Earth into a
moon, or "gaseous-
circus-wonderland,"
with the result of
ending the existence
not just of humanity
but also all the
snails, whales,
trees and bees
and of all of
life in general
across the
planet.
And McCain, McCain who
has never come out of
his "prison event" in
Vietnam and is still
"stuck in the ashes"
there, is certainly
not himself a phoenix
at all and is so inept and "all
over the place" like Hillary,
like a house without the lights
on, that the more he dances
around the "Watergate card"
and demonstrates that
he is himself a "closet
criminal", again like Hillary,
has never come out of
his "prison event" in
Vietnam and is still
"stuck in the ashes"
there, is certainly
not himself a phoenix
at all and is so inept and "all
over the place" like Hillary,
like a house without the lights
on, that the more he dances
around the "Watergate card"
and demonstrates that
he is himself a "closet
criminal", again like Hillary,
and in the closet because he
is dishonest in the same way
and manner as well as
"drum beat", not
only dishonest with
himself but with
everyone else as
well, then the more
he will set himself
up for disaster.
only dishonest with
himself but with
everyone else as
well, then the more
he will set himself
up for disaster.
In the news
reports we hear about
"trade-offs" but all
of this is nonsense from
the point of view of what
is real and actual ascension-
reports we hear about
"trade-offs" but all
of this is nonsense from
the point of view of what
is real and actual ascension-
without-calculation., the very
same underestimation, all of it
wilful and pre-calculated and
wilful and pre-calculated and
without doubt on "automatic
drive," IS WHAT IS HAPPENING
drive," IS WHAT IS HAPPENING
NOW and, of all things, is
for most of them the same
old story "automatically-
for most of them the same
old story "automatically-
flowing-on-the-level-of-the-
organic" similar in
every respect according
to laws of world creation
and maintenance which are
always and everywhere the
same all across the planet
to the organic hatred between
the Muslim sects called
"Sunnite" and "Shiite"
exploited all to hell
by the Europeans (and
organic" similar in
every respect according
to laws of world creation
and maintenance which are
always and everywhere the
same all across the planet
to the organic hatred between
the Muslim sects called
"Sunnite" and "Shiite"
exploited all to hell
by the Europeans (and
Russians) and
as taught by Gurdjieff
in the Tales such organic
hatred between the Muslim
sects never even existed
before the vulgar advent
of Europeans in general
as taught by Gurdjieff
in the Tales such organic
hatred between the Muslim
sects never even existed
before the vulgar advent
of Europeans in general
regarding the religious
way of life of the Muslims
and it was such a religious
"way" introduced by Saint
Mohammed and united
ALL of the Muslims based
on what is called the "pure
form" of esoteric teaching,
such pure form that is almost
completely the same as the pure
form of Christianity as preserved
by the Essenes and STILL IS
preserved by the Essenes
who exist in small groups
here and there of which
almost none at all exist
anywhere in the West,
that is to say, such
so-called Christianity
as exists now in the West
is only made up of dreams
and fantasies and strange
Hollywood movies about a
"sentimental" Christ and
which distort the true
teachings of what is
Mohammed and united
ALL of the Muslims based
on what is called the "pure
form" of esoteric teaching,
such pure form that is almost
completely the same as the pure
form of Christianity as preserved
by the Essenes and STILL IS
preserved by the Essenes
who exist in small groups
here and there of which
almost none at all exist
anywhere in the West,
that is to say, such
so-called Christianity
as exists now in the West
is only made up of dreams
and fantasies and strange
Hollywood movies about a
"sentimental" Christ and
which distort the true
teachings of what is
real love of neighbor
and having no
association
whatever with
ordinary life politics
and so-called "charity"
in terms only of ordinary
life. etc. and it was
in the direct face of such
degeneration and distortion
of the original teachings of
Christ that Saint Mohammed
himself noticed, Mohammed
who regarded Jesus as a Prophet,
who regarded Jesus as a Prophet,
such transmissions delivered by Saint
Mohammed to his "people of the
veranda" who themselves
began the writing of the Koran,
began the writing of the Koran,
such material in the Koran which
are based on the visions of Mohammed
from the Arch-Angel Gabriel as it
is taught by the Muslims, that for
the first time in their history the
Muslims were united "en masse"
but in terms of the pure form on
an organic level this true unity
of the Muslims was based on
their everyday religious
practice of creation
and maintenance of organic
everyday life cleanliness
and thanks chiefly to their
custom of ABLUTION, before
the Europeans ever appeared
there, most of those Muslims
breeding on the continent of
Asia in general and Persia in
particular were free of many
venereal diseases and other
"sexual abnormalities" that
and maintenance of organic
everyday life cleanliness
and thanks chiefly to their
custom of ABLUTION, before
the Europeans ever appeared
there, most of those Muslims
breeding on the continent of
Asia in general and Persia in
particular were free of many
venereal diseases and other
"sexual abnormalities" that
were introduced by the
influence of Europeans.
Influences from the
two streams are distributed
unequally. One man receives
more of the influences whose
source lie outside of life of
itself, another receives less;
a third is almost completely
isolated from inner life
influences. The situation
cannot be helped for those
who receive little to no inner
life influences because this is
already the Law of Fate at work.
We are speaking of normal life.
Life that is normal is beyond
understanding of the
collective broad brush
of so-called "psychiatry"
and taking normal life under
normal conditions and a normal
man, conditions are more or less
the same for everybody. The
difficulty lies in separating
the two kinds of influences. If
a man in receiving them does not
separate them, that is, does not
see or does not feel their difference,
their action upon him also is not
separated, that is, they act in
the same way, on the same level,
and produce the same results
which is to say that the
two kinds of influences
are received merely as
the "same old material"
and are not subject to
intelligent selection.
But if a man in receiving
these influences begins to
discriminate between them and
put on one side those which are
not created in life itself, then
gradually discrimination becomes
easier and after a certain time a
man can no longer confuse them
with the ordinary influences
of life of itself.
two streams are distributed
unequally. One man receives
more of the influences whose
source lie outside of life of
itself, another receives less;
a third is almost completely
isolated from inner life
influences. The situation
cannot be helped for those
who receive little to no inner
life influences because this is
already the Law of Fate at work.
We are speaking of normal life.
Life that is normal is beyond
understanding of the
collective broad brush
of so-called "psychiatry"
and taking normal life under
normal conditions and a normal
man, conditions are more or less
the same for everybody. The
difficulty lies in separating
the two kinds of influences. If
a man in receiving them does not
separate them, that is, does not
see or does not feel their difference,
their action upon him also is not
separated, that is, they act in
the same way, on the same level,
and produce the same results
which is to say that the
two kinds of influences
are received merely as
the "same old material"
and are not subject to
intelligent selection.
But if a man in receiving
these influences begins to
discriminate between them and
put on one side those which are
not created in life itself, then
gradually discrimination becomes
easier and after a certain time a
man can no longer confuse them
with the ordinary influences
of life of itself.
You are familiar with
Nicoll's Commentaries.
See Volume 5, page 1592,
FALSE PERSONALITY AND
HAPPINESS:
"In what does happiness consist?
Take your own case. Let us suppose
you believe that there is an after-
life and that you will go to Heaven
and be perfectly happy. How do you
conceive of this happiness? Have
you thought about it? Some
imagine themselves in a
state of great
magnificence, living
in palaces, served
by slaves, adored,
admired and praised
by everyone. They feel
that this would make them
supremely happy. Now this
idea of happiness has to be
completely eradicated. It must
be torn out of the heart. The
crudity and vulgarity of this
widespread phantasy was
commented on by Christ,
when the disciples were
quarrelling about who was
greatest. This trans-valuation
of world-values must have been
a shock to them, as indeed the
whole of Christ's life was.
Another crude idea regards
happiness is consisting in
a continual gratification
of one or other of the
bodily appetites. This
is entirely of self and
for self and serves nothing
but self. But I will pass on
to the connection of the idea
of happiness with . . . "
--Nicoll
"'Take for instance some "mama's darling,"
a young man, with the inevitable pimples
on his face and he has pimples because his
"mama" considered herself "well brought
Nicoll's Commentaries.
See Volume 5, page 1592,
FALSE PERSONALITY AND
HAPPINESS:
"In what does happiness consist?
Take your own case. Let us suppose
you believe that there is an after-
life and that you will go to Heaven
and be perfectly happy. How do you
conceive of this happiness? Have
you thought about it? Some
imagine themselves in a
state of great
magnificence, living
in palaces, served
by slaves, adored,
admired and praised
by everyone. They feel
that this would make them
supremely happy. Now this
idea of happiness has to be
completely eradicated. It must
be torn out of the heart. The
crudity and vulgarity of this
widespread phantasy was
commented on by Christ,
when the disciples were
quarrelling about who was
greatest. This trans-valuation
of world-values must have been
a shock to them, as indeed the
whole of Christ's life was.
Another crude idea regards
happiness is consisting in
a continual gratification
of one or other of the
bodily appetites. This
is entirely of self and
for self and serves nothing
but self. But I will pass on
to the connection of the idea
of happiness with . . . "
--Nicoll
"'Take for instance some "mama's darling,"
a young man, with the inevitable pimples
on his face and he has pimples because his
"mama" considered herself "well brought
up" and thought it "indecent" to point out
certain things to her son, so that this
son of hers, whose consciousness was not
yet formed, did that which "was done" in
him, and the results of these "doings," as
with all such young people, appeared on
certain things to her son, so that this
son of hers, whose consciousness was not
yet formed, did that which "was done" in
him, and the results of these "doings," as
with all such young people, appeared on
his face as pimples, well known even to
contemporary medicine.'"
--Gurdjieff, ch 31
contemporary medicine.'"
--Gurdjieff, ch 31
Gurdjieff entered into a very
great state of awakening and
he went into detail on his
struggles connected with
this in the prologue of
the Third Series of his
writings:
" . . . in the great world for
the possibility of harmonious
construction there was inevitably
required some kind of continuous
perpetuation of the reminding
factor.
"For this reason our Maker
himself, in the name of all
that He had created, was
compelled to place one of
His beloved sons [the 'Devil']
in such an, in the objective
sense, invidious situation.
"Therefore I also have now
for my small inner world to
create out of myself, from
some factor beloved by me,
an alike unending source.
"There arises now a
question like this:
"What is there contained in
my general presence which, if
I should remove it from myself,
would always in my various
general states be
reminding me of
itself?
"Thinking and thinking, I came
to the conclusion that if I should
intentionally stop utilizing the
exceptional power in my
possession which had been
developed by me consciously
in my common life with people,
then there must be forced out
of me such a reminding
great state of awakening and
he went into detail on his
struggles connected with
this in the prologue of
the Third Series of his
writings:
" . . . in the great world for
the possibility of harmonious
construction there was inevitably
required some kind of continuous
perpetuation of the reminding
factor.
"For this reason our Maker
himself, in the name of all
that He had created, was
compelled to place one of
His beloved sons [the 'Devil']
in such an, in the objective
sense, invidious situation.
"Therefore I also have now
for my small inner world to
create out of myself, from
some factor beloved by me,
an alike unending source.
"There arises now a
question like this:
"What is there contained in
my general presence which, if
I should remove it from myself,
would always in my various
general states be
reminding me of
itself?
"Thinking and thinking, I came
to the conclusion that if I should
intentionally stop utilizing the
exceptional power in my
possession which had been
developed by me consciously
in my common life with people,
then there must be forced out
of me such a reminding
source.
"Namely, the power based upon
strength in the field of 'hanbledzoin,'
or, as it would be called by others,
the power of TELEPATHY and
HYPNOTISM.
"Thanks mainly to this my
inherency, developed in me
by myself, I, in the process
of general life, especially for
the last two years, had been
"Namely, the power based upon
strength in the field of 'hanbledzoin,'
or, as it would be called by others,
the power of TELEPATHY and
HYPNOTISM.
"Thanks mainly to this my
inherency, developed in me
by myself, I, in the process
of general life, especially for
the last two years, had been
spoiled and DEPRAVED TO
THE CORE, so that most
likely this would remain
likely this would remain
for all my life.
"And so, if consciously I would
deprive myself of this grace of
my inherency, then undoubtedly
always and in everything its
absence would be felt.
"I take an oath to remember
never to make use of this inherency
of mine and thereby to deprive myself
from satisfying MOST OF MY VICES.
"And so, if consciously I would
deprive myself of this grace of
my inherency, then undoubtedly
always and in everything its
absence would be felt.
"I take an oath to remember
never to make use of this inherency
of mine and thereby to deprive myself
from satisfying MOST OF MY VICES.
In the process of living together with
others, this beloved inherency will
always be a reminder for me."
--Gurdjieff [pages 24 and 25]
But it is very important to
note what Gurdjieff wrote on
the next page 26:
"I must also mention that,
when I took the oath not to
apply in life this inherency
of mine, I made a reservation
that my oath should not concern
the application of it for
scientific purposes."
By "scientific purposes," Gurdjieff
is talking about methods that make
self-observation necessary because
without self-observation there will
not be any accumulation of
impressions. This appears
to be consistent with his
extremes toward depravity
by way of which he "had been
spoiled and depraved to the core,
so that most likely this would
remain for all [Gurdjieff's]
life" up to the time when he
entered into self-realization
on the whole matter of what he
can do to remember himself always
and everywhere and made this clear
here on page 21 of the prologue to
the Third Series:
" . . . in spite of all my desires
and endeavors, I could not succeed
in 'remembering myself' in the
process of my general common
life with others so as to be
able to manifest myself, not
according to my nature but
according to the previous
instructions of my
'collected
consciousness.'
"I could not attain the state
of 'remembering myself' even
sufficiently to hinder the
associations flowing in me
automatically from certain
undesirable hereditary
factors of my nature.
"As soon as the accumulation
of energy which enabled me to
be in an active state was exhausted,
at once association of both thoughts
and feelings began to flow in the
direction of objects diametrically
opposite to the ideals of my
consciousness."
--Gurdjieff
[pages 20 and 21 of prologue
to the Third Series]
There is very good material
written on the idea of the
pendulum by Nicoll in his
commentaries and this is
how Gurdjieff viewed himself
as he went from one extreme to
the other while struggling to
remember himself in the
middle:
"When I found myself in a state
of complete dissatisfaction with
food and sex, the leading factor
of these associations of mine
appeared to be primarily
vindictiveness and, in a
state of full satisfaction,
they proceeded on a theme of
the forthcoming pleasure of a
meal and sex or of the
gratification of self-
love, vanity, pride,
jealousy and other
passions."
Gurdjieff experimented with
external reminding factors but
these quickly degenerated into
mechanical sleeping factors:
"Though in my past life I had
tried everything, even had worn
reminding factors of all kinds on
my person, nothing helped. Perhaps
these did help a little, while I
carried them on me, but if so it
was only at the beginning, as
soon as I stopped carrying
them or got used to them,
in a moment it was as if
before."
[page 22]
Gurdjieff was interested in a
permanent reminding factor that
would always and everywhere,
without fail, move him to the
middle. The intensity of this
state of self-realization
experienced by Gurdjieff
was in proportion to his
preparedness for it.
Gurdjieff madly drove
himself to such a state
as "to experience feelings
alternating, almost regularly,
between remorse for the inner
and outer manifestations of
my ordinary waking state, and
loneliness, disappointment,
satiety, and the rest, but
primarily to be everywhere
haunted by the fear of
'inner emptiness'."
[page 20]
External reminding
factors were not
enough:
"From one side it is clear
that it is necessary to 'remember
myself' during the process of ordinary
life also, and from the other side that
there is a necessity for the presence
of attentiveness which is able to
merge, in case of contact, with
others."
[page 21]
We are all of us, both male and
female and of all varieties of
skin color, in the same stew
together regarding problems
of sex as well as everything
else that all of us have
problems with in our
ordinary lives. We are
all equal in this respect
and all equally begging for
understanding. Most of us hide
this fact regarding matters of
sex because neurotic attachments
are not an easy thing to sacrifice.
Gurdjieff explained very clearly in
Chapter 23 of Beelzebub's Tales to
His Grandson that this is something
that cannot be done in an instant.
"Consequently, the causes for the
manifestation of this being-impulse
of 'remorse of conscience' arose
more and more frequently in their
presence. And the sensations thus
induced, which are similar to those
ensuing from 'beingpartkdolgduty,'
infallibly led to the suppression
and enslavement of the 'DENYING
PRINCIPLE' inherent in the common
presence of three-brained beings,
called 'SELF-CALMING.' And then,
during all the inner and outer
manifestations of their common
presence, which were set in
motion by the natural stimuli
of one or another of their
independent spiritualized
localizations, each time
this disagreeable sensation
of 'self-remorse' arose, they
began at first deliberately,
on the initiative of their
ruminating parts, and later
by force of habit to
stifle and gradually
stop all 'self-
criticism.'
"And the resulting 'IMPOTENCE,'
increasing more and more in their
inner organization, has brought on
by frequent repetition the whole
disharmony of the functioning of
their psyche, and has gradually
caused the almost total
disappearance from their
common presence of the data
necessarily inherent in every
three-brained being of our Great
Universe for manifesting sincerity
even toward themselves."
--Gurdjieff, ch 31
"We are on the earth and we
depend entirely upon the laws
that are operating on the earth.
The earth is a very bad place
from the cosmic point of view--
it is like the most remote part
of northern Siberia, very far
from everywhere, it is cold,
life is very hard. Everything
that in another place either
comes by itself or is easily
obtained, is here acquired
only by hard labor; everything
must be fought for both in life
and in the work. In life it still
happens sometimes that a man gets
a legacy and afterwards lives
without doing anything. But
such a thing does not happen
in the work. All are equal and
all are equally beggars."
[p 89, ISO]
others, this beloved inherency will
always be a reminder for me."
--Gurdjieff [pages 24 and 25]
But it is very important to
note what Gurdjieff wrote on
the next page 26:
"I must also mention that,
when I took the oath not to
apply in life this inherency
of mine, I made a reservation
that my oath should not concern
the application of it for
scientific purposes."
By "scientific purposes," Gurdjieff
is talking about methods that make
self-observation necessary because
without self-observation there will
not be any accumulation of
impressions. This appears
to be consistent with his
extremes toward depravity
by way of which he "had been
spoiled and depraved to the core,
so that most likely this would
remain for all [Gurdjieff's]
life" up to the time when he
entered into self-realization
on the whole matter of what he
can do to remember himself always
and everywhere and made this clear
here on page 21 of the prologue to
the Third Series:
" . . . in spite of all my desires
and endeavors, I could not succeed
in 'remembering myself' in the
process of my general common
life with others so as to be
able to manifest myself, not
according to my nature but
according to the previous
instructions of my
'collected
consciousness.'
"I could not attain the state
of 'remembering myself' even
sufficiently to hinder the
associations flowing in me
automatically from certain
undesirable hereditary
factors of my nature.
"As soon as the accumulation
of energy which enabled me to
be in an active state was exhausted,
at once association of both thoughts
and feelings began to flow in the
direction of objects diametrically
opposite to the ideals of my
consciousness."
--Gurdjieff
[pages 20 and 21 of prologue
to the Third Series]
There is very good material
written on the idea of the
pendulum by Nicoll in his
commentaries and this is
how Gurdjieff viewed himself
as he went from one extreme to
the other while struggling to
remember himself in the
middle:
"When I found myself in a state
of complete dissatisfaction with
food and sex, the leading factor
of these associations of mine
appeared to be primarily
vindictiveness and, in a
state of full satisfaction,
they proceeded on a theme of
the forthcoming pleasure of a
meal and sex or of the
gratification of self-
love, vanity, pride,
jealousy and other
passions."
Gurdjieff experimented with
external reminding factors but
these quickly degenerated into
mechanical sleeping factors:
"Though in my past life I had
tried everything, even had worn
reminding factors of all kinds on
my person, nothing helped. Perhaps
these did help a little, while I
carried them on me, but if so it
was only at the beginning, as
soon as I stopped carrying
them or got used to them,
in a moment it was as if
before."
[page 22]
Gurdjieff was interested in a
permanent reminding factor that
would always and everywhere,
without fail, move him to the
middle. The intensity of this
state of self-realization
experienced by Gurdjieff
was in proportion to his
preparedness for it.
Gurdjieff madly drove
himself to such a state
as "to experience feelings
alternating, almost regularly,
between remorse for the inner
and outer manifestations of
my ordinary waking state, and
loneliness, disappointment,
satiety, and the rest, but
primarily to be everywhere
haunted by the fear of
'inner emptiness'."
[page 20]
External reminding
factors were not
enough:
"From one side it is clear
that it is necessary to 'remember
myself' during the process of ordinary
life also, and from the other side that
there is a necessity for the presence
of attentiveness which is able to
merge, in case of contact, with
others."
[page 21]
We are all of us, both male and
female and of all varieties of
skin color, in the same stew
together regarding problems
of sex as well as everything
else that all of us have
problems with in our
ordinary lives. We are
all equal in this respect
and all equally begging for
understanding. Most of us hide
this fact regarding matters of
sex because neurotic attachments
are not an easy thing to sacrifice.
Gurdjieff explained very clearly in
Chapter 23 of Beelzebub's Tales to
His Grandson that this is something
that cannot be done in an instant.
"Consequently, the causes for the
manifestation of this being-impulse
of 'remorse of conscience' arose
more and more frequently in their
presence. And the sensations thus
induced, which are similar to those
ensuing from 'beingpartkdolgduty,'
infallibly led to the suppression
and enslavement of the 'DENYING
PRINCIPLE' inherent in the common
presence of three-brained beings,
called 'SELF-CALMING.' And then,
during all the inner and outer
manifestations of their common
presence, which were set in
motion by the natural stimuli
of one or another of their
independent spiritualized
localizations, each time
this disagreeable sensation
of 'self-remorse' arose, they
began at first deliberately,
on the initiative of their
ruminating parts, and later
by force of habit to
stifle and gradually
stop all 'self-
criticism.'
"And the resulting 'IMPOTENCE,'
increasing more and more in their
inner organization, has brought on
by frequent repetition the whole
disharmony of the functioning of
their psyche, and has gradually
caused the almost total
disappearance from their
common presence of the data
necessarily inherent in every
three-brained being of our Great
Universe for manifesting sincerity
even toward themselves."
--Gurdjieff, ch 31
"We are on the earth and we
depend entirely upon the laws
that are operating on the earth.
The earth is a very bad place
from the cosmic point of view--
it is like the most remote part
of northern Siberia, very far
from everywhere, it is cold,
life is very hard. Everything
that in another place either
comes by itself or is easily
obtained, is here acquired
only by hard labor; everything
must be fought for both in life
and in the work. In life it still
happens sometimes that a man gets
a legacy and afterwards lives
without doing anything. But
such a thing does not happen
in the work. All are equal and
all are equally beggars."
[p 89, ISO]
p 84-87, views:
QUESTION: What is
the method of the
institute?
ANSWER: The method is
a subjective one, that
is, it depends on the
individual peculiarities
of each person. There is
only one general rule which
can be applied to everyone--
observation. This is indispensible
for all. However, this observation
is not for change but for seeing
oneself. Everyone has his own
peculiarities, his own habits
which a man usually does not
see. One must see those
peculiarities. In this
way one may "DISCOVER
MANY AMERICAS." Every
small fact has its own
basic cause. When you have
collected material about yourselves
it will be possible to speak; at
present, conversation is only
theoretical.
If we put weight on one side,
we must balance it in some way.
By trying to observe ourselves,
we get practice in concentration,
which will be useful even in
ordinary life.
QUESTION: What is the role of
suffering in self-development?
ANSWER: There are two kinds of
suffering--conscious and unconscious.
Only a fool suffers unconsciously.
In life there are two rivers, two
directions. In the first, the law
is for the river itself, not for
the drops of water. We are drops.
At one moment a drop is at the
surface, at another moment at
the bottom. Suffering depends
on its position. In the first
river, suffering is completely
useless because it is accidental
and unconscious.
Parallel with this river is
another river. In this other
river there is a different kind
of suffering. The drop in the first
river has the possibility of passing
into the second. Today the drop suffers
because yesterday it did not suffer
QUESTION: What is
the method of the
institute?
ANSWER: The method is
a subjective one, that
is, it depends on the
individual peculiarities
of each person. There is
only one general rule which
can be applied to everyone--
observation. This is indispensible
for all. However, this observation
is not for change but for seeing
oneself. Everyone has his own
peculiarities, his own habits
which a man usually does not
see. One must see those
peculiarities. In this
way one may "DISCOVER
MANY AMERICAS." Every
small fact has its own
basic cause. When you have
collected material about yourselves
it will be possible to speak; at
present, conversation is only
theoretical.
If we put weight on one side,
we must balance it in some way.
By trying to observe ourselves,
we get practice in concentration,
which will be useful even in
ordinary life.
QUESTION: What is the role of
suffering in self-development?
ANSWER: There are two kinds of
suffering--conscious and unconscious.
Only a fool suffers unconsciously.
In life there are two rivers, two
directions. In the first, the law
is for the river itself, not for
the drops of water. We are drops.
At one moment a drop is at the
surface, at another moment at
the bottom. Suffering depends
on its position. In the first
river, suffering is completely
useless because it is accidental
and unconscious.
Parallel with this river is
another river. In this other
river there is a different kind
of suffering. The drop in the first
river has the possibility of passing
into the second. Today the drop suffers
because yesterday it did not suffer
enough. Here the LAW OF
RETRIBUTION operates. The
drop can also suffer in advance.
drop can also suffer in advance.
Sooner or later everything is paid for.
For the Cosmos there is no time.
Suffering can be voluntary and
only voluntary suffering has value.
One may suffer simply because one
feels unhappy. Or one may suffer
for yesterday and to prepare for
tomorrow.
I repeat, only voluntary
suffering has value.
QUESTION: Was Christ a teacher
with a school preparation, or
was he an accidental genius?
ANSWER: Without knowledge he
could not have been what he
was, nor could he have done
what he did. It is known that
where he was there was
I repeat, only voluntary
suffering has value.
QUESTION: Was Christ a teacher
with a school preparation, or
was he an accidental genius?
ANSWER: Without knowledge he
could not have been what he
was, nor could he have done
what he did. It is known that
where he was there was
knowledge.
QUESTION: If we are only
mechanical, what sense
has religion?
ANSWER: For some, religion is
a law, a guidance, a direction;
for others--a policeman.
QUESTION: In what sense was it
said in an earlier lecture that
the earth is alive?
ANSWER: It is not only we who
are alive. If a part is alive,
then the whole is alive. The whole
universe is like a chain, and the earth
is one link in this chain. Where there
is movement, there is life.
QUESTION: In what sense was it
QUESTION: If we are only
mechanical, what sense
has religion?
ANSWER: For some, religion is
a law, a guidance, a direction;
for others--a policeman.
QUESTION: In what sense was it
said in an earlier lecture that
the earth is alive?
ANSWER: It is not only we who
are alive. If a part is alive,
then the whole is alive. The whole
universe is like a chain, and the earth
is one link in this chain. Where there
is movement, there is life.
QUESTION: In what sense was it
said that one who has not died
cannot be born?
ANSWER: All religions speak about
death during this life on earth. Death
must come before rebirth. But what
ANSWER: All religions speak about
death during this life on earth. Death
must come before rebirth. But what
must die? False confidence in one's
own knowledge, self-love and egoism.
Our egoism must be broken. We must
realize that we are very complicated
machines, and so this process of
breaking is bound to be a long and
difficult task. Before real growth
becomes possible, our personality
must die.
QUESTION: Did Christ teach dances?
ANSWER: I was not there to see.
It is necessary to distinguish
between dances and gymnastics,
they are different things. We
do not know whether his disciples
danced, but we do know that where
Christ got his training they
certainly taught "sacred
gymnastics."
QUESTION: Is there any value in
Catholic ceremonies and rites?
ANSWER: I have not studied Catholic
ritual, but I know the rituals of the
Greek Church well, and there, underlying
the form and ceremony, there is real
meaning. Every ceremony, if it
continues to be practiced
without change, has value.
Ritual is like ancient dances
which were guidebooks where truth
was written down. But to understand
one must have a key.
Old country dances also have meaning
some even contain such things as
recipes for making jam.
A ceremony is a book in which much
is written. Anyone who understands
can read it. In one ceremony more
is contained than in a hundred books.
Usually everything changes, but customs
and ceremonies can remain unchanged.
QUESTION: Does reincarnation
of souls exist?
ANSWER: A soul is a luxury. No one has
yet been born with a fully developed soul.
Before we can speak of reincarnation, we
must know what kind of man we are
speaking about, what kind of soul
and what kind of reincarnation. A
soul may disintegrate immediately
after death, or it may do so after
a certain time. For example, a soul
may be crystallized within the limits
of the earth and may remain there, yet
not be crystallized for the sun.
QUESTION: Can women work as well as men?
ANSWER: Different parts are more highly
developed in men and women. In men it is
the intellectual part, which we will call
A; in women the emotional, or B. Work in
the Institute is sometimes more along the
lines of A, in which case it is very difficult
for B. At other times it is more along the lines
of B, in which case it is harder for A. But what
is essential for real understanding is the fusion
of A and B. This produces a force that we shall
call C.
Yes, there are equal chances
for men and for women.
Gurdjieff
difficult task. Before real growth
becomes possible, our personality
must die.
QUESTION: Did Christ teach dances?
ANSWER: I was not there to see.
It is necessary to distinguish
between dances and gymnastics,
they are different things. We
do not know whether his disciples
danced, but we do know that where
Christ got his training they
certainly taught "sacred
gymnastics."
QUESTION: Is there any value in
Catholic ceremonies and rites?
ANSWER: I have not studied Catholic
ritual, but I know the rituals of the
Greek Church well, and there, underlying
the form and ceremony, there is real
meaning. Every ceremony, if it
continues to be practiced
without change, has value.
Ritual is like ancient dances
which were guidebooks where truth
was written down. But to understand
one must have a key.
Old country dances also have meaning
some even contain such things as
recipes for making jam.
A ceremony is a book in which much
is written. Anyone who understands
can read it. In one ceremony more
is contained than in a hundred books.
Usually everything changes, but customs
and ceremonies can remain unchanged.
QUESTION: Does reincarnation
of souls exist?
ANSWER: A soul is a luxury. No one has
yet been born with a fully developed soul.
Before we can speak of reincarnation, we
must know what kind of man we are
speaking about, what kind of soul
and what kind of reincarnation. A
soul may disintegrate immediately
after death, or it may do so after
a certain time. For example, a soul
may be crystallized within the limits
of the earth and may remain there, yet
not be crystallized for the sun.
QUESTION: Can women work as well as men?
ANSWER: Different parts are more highly
developed in men and women. In men it is
the intellectual part, which we will call
A; in women the emotional, or B. Work in
the Institute is sometimes more along the
lines of A, in which case it is very difficult
for B. At other times it is more along the lines
of B, in which case it is harder for A. But what
is essential for real understanding is the fusion
of A and B. This produces a force that we shall
call C.
Yes, there are equal chances
for men and for women.
Gurdjieff
CHAPTER 45
In the opinion of
Beelzebub, man's
extraction of
electricity from
Nature, and its
destruction
during its
use, is one
of the chief
causes of the
shortening of
human life
AFTER BEELZEBUB had
listened to the contents
of the leitoochanbros and
had put it on the "sonorous,"
rather like a set of shelves,
next to him, he again sighed
deeply and went on speaking
as follows:
"It would be only half a
calamity for our common
Megalocosmos if the
abnormal conditions
of ordinary existence
of the three-brained
beings of this planet
Earth had only had bad
consequences for them
alone, that is, for
themselves as three-
brained beings, and
for the possibility
of completely
perfecting the
'higher being-bodies'
that have had the extreme
misfortune to have arisen
within them or which may
arise within them in the
future.
"But now the whole terror
lies in this, that their
abnormal existence is
already having a
repercussion and
a harmful influence
on the normal existence
of the three-brained beings
breeding on other planets
belonging, it is true, to
the same solar system and
also on the possibilities of
perfecting the higher being-
parts coated in the common
presence of these beings.
"I happened to learn about
this distressing fact of a
common-cosmic character just
before I left that solar
system Ors forever.
"Of everything that
enabled me to recognize
this distressing fact and
to crystallize in my common
presence the 'imperishable'
being-data for my unswerving
conviction of its truth, what
will interest you the most is
that I was greatly helped in
this by none other than the
'result' or, as your favorites
would say, the 'son,' of my
essence-friend Gornahoor
Harharkh, the young,
conscious individual
Gornahoor Raoorkh who,
like his producer, had
taken as the aim of his
existence the detailed
study of the properties
of the omnipresent cosmic
substance Okidanokh, and
who also had gradually
become worthy to be
considered one of the
common-cosmic, learned
three-brained beings of
the highest degree.
"Do you know what, my boy?
Since all the events and
conversations which
served to elucidate
and crystallize factors
in me for an unshakable
conviction about this
distressing, common-
cosmic fact are very
interesting and might
be very instructive for
you, and since as yet only
the reflections of the sphere
of our dear Karatas have
In the opinion of
Beelzebub, man's
extraction of
electricity from
Nature, and its
destruction
during its
use, is one
of the chief
causes of the
shortening of
human life
AFTER BEELZEBUB had
listened to the contents
of the leitoochanbros and
had put it on the "sonorous,"
rather like a set of shelves,
next to him, he again sighed
deeply and went on speaking
as follows:
"It would be only half a
calamity for our common
Megalocosmos if the
abnormal conditions
of ordinary existence
of the three-brained
beings of this planet
Earth had only had bad
consequences for them
alone, that is, for
themselves as three-
brained beings, and
for the possibility
of completely
perfecting the
'higher being-bodies'
that have had the extreme
misfortune to have arisen
within them or which may
arise within them in the
future.
"But now the whole terror
lies in this, that their
abnormal existence is
already having a
repercussion and
a harmful influence
on the normal existence
of the three-brained beings
breeding on other planets
belonging, it is true, to
the same solar system and
also on the possibilities of
perfecting the higher being-
parts coated in the common
presence of these beings.
"I happened to learn about
this distressing fact of a
common-cosmic character just
before I left that solar
system Ors forever.
"Of everything that
enabled me to recognize
this distressing fact and
to crystallize in my common
presence the 'imperishable'
being-data for my unswerving
conviction of its truth, what
will interest you the most is
that I was greatly helped in
this by none other than the
'result' or, as your favorites
would say, the 'son,' of my
essence-friend Gornahoor
Harharkh, the young,
conscious individual
Gornahoor Raoorkh who,
like his producer, had
taken as the aim of his
existence the detailed
study of the properties
of the omnipresent cosmic
substance Okidanokh, and
who also had gradually
become worthy to be
considered one of the
common-cosmic, learned
three-brained beings of
the highest degree.
"Do you know what, my boy?
Since all the events and
conversations which
served to elucidate
and crystallize factors
in me for an unshakable
conviction about this
distressing, common-
cosmic fact are very
interesting and might
be very instructive for
you, and since as yet only
the reflections of the sphere
of our dear Karatas have
become visible, I will tell
you about this in somewhat
greater detail.
"In order to give you
a fuller representation
of why it was that data
were crystallized in my
Being for verifying and
thoroughly comprehending
this fact, I shall tell
you about what took place
in its exact order, beginning
with the moment, while still
on this planet of yours,
when I first received
the news of my full
pardon.
"As soon as I heard about
this special, most glorious
act of grace toward me, I of
course decided to return at
the first opportunity to
the place of my arising,
so dear to my essence.
"But it was necessary for
me first to ascend to the
planet Mars in order to
make thorough preparations
for such a long journey.
"Several days later I
left your planet forever,
and returned to the planet
Mars, as always on our ship
Occasion.
"Soon after arriving there,
we received a command from
Above that I and all the other
beings of our tribe who wished
to return to the place of their
arising should go by the ship
Occasion to the planet Saturn,
where the large intersystem
ship Omnipresent would land
and take us all to our
destination.
TOOF-NEF-TEF
"Nevertheless, I had to
stay for a certain time
on the planet Mars in order
to settle all my personal affairs,
and to give various orders concerning
the beings of our tribe. And it was
just at this time that I was told
that the 'toofnef-tef very much
wished to see me.
"'Toof-nef-tef is the name
given on the planet Mars to
the chief of all the three-
brained beings breeding there,
that is, he corresponds to the
being who, on your planet, is
called 'king.'
"I had known this toof-nef-tef,
or king, in his youth, when he
was only a 'plef-perf-noof.' A
plef-perf-noof is almost the
same as a zirlikner on our
planet and a physician on
your planet Earth.
"In this connection, I
should mention that on
almost all the planets
of our Great Universe,
and likewise on the other
planets of the solar system
Ors, a being becomes a chief
over other beings by his merit,
and most often by the merit he
has acquired as a
plef-perf-noof, or
physician, that is,
a physician of the
spirit as well as
of the body.
"My first meeting with
the Martian toof-nef-tef
took place soon after we
arrived in this solar system
and settled on the planet Mars.
He was then a plefperf-
noof on just that part of
the surface of the planet
where I and all who accompanied
me had established our place of
residence.
"Later on, while existing
on various parts of the
surface of that planet
in the capacity of plef-perf-noof,
he became worthy to be the head of
all the beings breeding on the
planet Mars, and when he was
nearing the state of the
sacred Ishmetch, he
desired to return to
that part of his planet
where he had spent his
youth and that is why
this former plef-perf-
noof, now the toof-nef-tef,
happened at that time to be
near the place of my
residence on Mars.
"This Martian toof-nef-tef
was already, according to
the notions of your favorites,
an extremely old being, by the
time-calculation of the planet
Mars, he was about twelve
thousand years old, and
only a little less by
the time-calculation
of the Earth.
"Here I must tell you
that on the planet Mars
the duration of existence
of beings is in general
almost the same as that
of the three-centered
beings of all the other
planets of our Megalocosmos,
excepting of course those
beings who are formed
directly from the first
tetartocosmoses, the
duration of whose
existence may be
three times
longer.
"The three-brained beings
arising and existing on the
planet Mars, as well as those
on all the planets of our
Megalocosmos where the
process of existence is
normal for three-brained
beings, have the full
possibility of reaching
the state of the sacred
Ishmetch, that is, the
state in which the existence
of a being, as regards the
most great cosmic
Iraniranumange,
becomes dependent
only on substances
that arise directly
from the manifestations
of the Most Holy Prime
Source Itself, whereas
for other beings, their
existence always depends
on cosmic substances that
arise from the results of
all corresponding center-of-
gravity concentrations of the
common-cosmic fundamental
Ansanbaluiazar.
"And when they reach
this state of the sacred
Ishmetch and the Reason of
their highest part is already
perfected up to the required
gradation of the Sacred
Scale of Objective Reason,
the process of the sacred
rascooarno takes place in
them only by their own wish,
and furthermore, their
highest being-body is
taken directly to the
Holy Planet Purgatory.
"And so, my boy, when
I returned to the planet
Mars from the planet Earth
and was hurriedly winding up
my affairs there, I was informed
that the toof-nef-tef of the planet
wished to see me personally.
"This request of the honorable
toof-nef-tef was transmitted to
me by our Ahoon by means of what
is called there a 'kelleh-e-ofoo'
or, as they say on the planet
Earth, a 'note.'
"The text of this
kelleh-e-ofoo was
as follows:
"'Your Right Reverence,
I have heard that you have
become worthy to receive from
our Common Father Creator full
pardon for the transgressions of
your youth, and that you are now
leaving my native land forever.
For this reason, I, an old
being, very much wish to
see you and bless you
personally for the last
time, and also, through
your person, to thank all
the beings of your tribe for
their constant good relations
with the beings of my native
land for so many years.
"At the end of this
kelleh-e-ofoo was
the postscript:
"'I would come myself to
your house but, as you know,
the size of my planetary body
does not permit this, and hence
I must beg you not to refuse to
come to my "fal-feh-foof."'
"In Martian speech, my
boy, fal-feh-foof means
a 'dwelling.'
"I must mention here that
the three-brained beings
of the planet Mars
knew our genuine
nature from the
very beginning,
and also the true
reason why we were
compelled to dwell
on their planet.
"In this they were
unlike the three-brained
beings of the Earth, who
never knew anything and
never even suspected
who we were and why
we existed there.
"And so, my boy, when I
received this invitation
from the honorable toofnef-
tef, I of course decided to
go to him without delay.
When I arrived there,
after all the prescribed
ceremonies and exchange of
courtesies, this, in the full
sense of the word, great toof-
nef-tef turned to me, as we
were talking, with a request.
And this request was the
cause of the
crystallization
in me of the data
that led to my unshakable
conviction that the results
ensuing from the abnormal
existence of the three-
brained beings on your
planet had already
begun to act
harmfully on
the ordinary
existence of
the three-brained
beings arising and
existing on the
planet Mars, as
regards their
'potency' to
perfect
themselves
as is proper
to all three-
brained beings.
"I shall try to repeat
to you almost word for
word in our own speech
the contents of this
request of the great
toof-nef-tef.
"He spoke as follows:
"'Your Right Reverence!
'Thanks to the most gracious
pardon granted to you from Above,
you have regained the right freely
to fulfill your justly merited
wishes and thanks to this all-
enfolding grace, you have all
the possibilities, once more,
of becoming what you might
long ago have been by
virtue of your former
merits as regards
Reason and of course
from now on, Your Right
Reverence, you will
undoubtedly meet
various Individuals,
corresponding to your
Being, who have already
reached the highest
gradations of Reason.
'And so, I take the liberty
of addressing myself to you,
as an old friend, with the
request that on meeting
these Individuals you
should remember me,
an old being, and not
forget to ask their opinion
ABOUT A FACT that in recent
years has almost constantly
aroused disturbing associations
in all my spiritualized parts,
and that when you have learned
their opinion you will not
fail to communicate it to
me somehow or other on a
suitable occasion.
"'The point is that during
the last few "ftofoos" I
established very
definitely that,
among the beings
of our planet, the
"noorfooftafaf" increases
with each "ftofoo," and along
with this, I observed in them
a proportional decrease in the
intensity of their potency of
active mentation.
NOORFOOFTAFAF
WILL-LESSNESS
"By the way, my boy, the
expression 'noorfooftafaf'
signifies on the planet Mars
something like what on the Earth
is called 'will-lessness.'
"And the toof-nef-tef continued:
'When I first discovered this
fact, so deplorable for the
beings of our planet, I
began to ponder
intensively to
seek its cause,
in order to be able
to give corresponding
indications to those beings
who have entrusted themselves
to me in their struggle to
uproot this lamentable
factor recently arisen
in their common presence,
but in spite of
meditating very
often and long on
this question that
constantly agitates me,
until now I have not been
able to elucidate for myself,
even approximately, where the
trouble lies and what measures
must be taken to destroy this
evil.'
"Thus ended the request of
the honorable toof-nef-tef
of the planet Mars, and of
course, my boy, I there and
then promised my old friend
to inquire about all this at
my first meeting with a
corresponding Individual
and to communicate the
reply to him without
fail.
"Several Martian days after
this interview, we left that
hospitable planet forever and
ascended to the planet Saturn.
"No sooner had we arrived on
the planet Saturn than the
chief of our tribe there
came to communicate to us
the contents of an
etherogram he had
just received,
announcing that
the big intersystem
ship Omnipresent would
not land on the planet
Saturn until early in
the next 'khreh-khree-khra.'
"'Khreh-khree-khra,' on the
planet Saturn, means a period
of time determined by a certain
position occupied by this planet
in relation, on the one hand, to
the sun of its system, and on the
other, to another planet of this
system called 'Neptune.'
"In one Saturnian year there
are seven of these definitely
established periods, and each
of them has its own name.
"As there still remained, by
the time-calculation of the
planet Mars, almost half a
'fooss' before the next
'khreh-khree-khra' or,
by the time-calculation
of your favorites, about
a month and a half, we
decided to organize our
ordinary being-existence
in the meantime in a more
or less suitable manner.
"Some of our beings remained
on the ship Occasion itself,
others found accommodation
in the dwellings placed at
our disposal by the
amiable beings of the
planet Saturn; and I,
with Ahoon, went to
'Rirkh,' the large
populated center of
three-brained beings
where my friend
Gornahoor
Harharkh
existed.
"On the evening of our
arrival there, I asked
this essence-friend of
mine during friendly
conversation how the
existence of his heir
was proceeding; I was
referring to my dear
'external kesdjanian
result' or, as your
favorites would say,
my 'godson,' Gornahoor
Raoorkh.
"He thanked me and said
that Raoorkh's existence
was proceeding quite well,
and that he had already
become his heir in all
respects, having even
made the aim of his
responsible existence,
as he himself had done,
the detailed study of
the omnipresent
substance
Okidanokh.
"After pausing a little,
he added that as regards
the knowledge he had
attained of the cosmic
substance Okidanokh, his
heir had already, as he
expressed it, 'smelled
out its very essence.'
NONRADIATING LAMP
"He then said that, thanks
to the results of his heir's
scientific attainments, not
only had all the factors for
every conviction previously
crystallized in his own
being through long years
of persevering labors now
been totally decrystallized,
but he had even destroyed all
his inventions for investigating
this omnipresent cosmic substance,
including his famous 'nonradiating
lamp', and, with a deep sigh, he
concluded:
'I am now in full agreement
with the opinion of the
"result of my all" that
it was the greatest
misfortune for me to
have been occupied so
long with this, in the
objective sense,
absolutely
"irredeemable sin."'
"While conversing further
on various topics we came
to speak, in accordance
with the flow of
associations of
being-mentation,
about the three-
brained beings
breeding on
the planet
Earth.
"You remember, I have
already told you that
my friend Gornahoor
Harharkh was always
kept informed of my
observations on their
strange psyche, and that
I even sent him, as well
as your uncle Tooilan,
copies of certain of
my notes.
"So, as we were talking
about these three-brained
beings who have taken your
fancy, Gornahoor Harharkh
asked me among other
things.
"'Please tell me, my friend,
is it possible that the duration
of existence of these unfortunates
still continues to diminish?'
"I was beginning to explain to
him the present state of affairs
regarding this question, and the
new data I had collected on that
abnormality, when just at that
moment his 'result,' Gornahoor
Raoorkh himself, entered the
room.
"Although the newcomer had
exactly the same exterior
as his producer, he was
very virile and full of
youthful fire.
"When he had taken his
place on his perch, in
the manner proper to the
three-brained beings of
that planet, he welcomed
me, as is customary for
them, in an angelically
musical voice, with all
sorts of kind wishes and
self-satisfying being-
feelings.
"And in conclusion he
declared, somewhat
exaltedly:
"'Although you are only
my "kesdjanian father,"
yet in view of the fact
that you have fulfilled
with such full awareness
the divine obligations
toward me taken upon
yourself during my
"khri-khra-khri,"
there have been
crystallized in
my common presence
with respect to you
data equivalent to
those which should
be in the common
presence of every
three-brained being
toward his own producer,
and it is without doubt
because of this that I
remember you so often
in my thoughts, and
each time wish that
you may always have
conditions that lead,
in the objective sense,
to a good and happy
future.'
BAPTISM
"'Khri-khra-khri,' my boy,
is the name given on the
planet Saturn to that
sacred ceremony which
is similar to what is
called 'baptism' on
the planet Earth.
"You probably did not
understand what I meant
when I told you that
Gornahoor Raoorkh
took his place on
his perch.
"The point is that, because
of their outer coating, the
three-brained beings of this
planet gradually acquired the
habit of resting in only one
posture, that is, after
stooping in a special
way, they let the whole
weight of their planetary
body rest on their lower
extremities, and for this
manner of resting, it became
necessary for them to be at a
certain height. Hence the three-
brained beings there have the
practice of putting up, at a
certain height in the rooms
where they exist, special
bars which they call
'perches.'
"I may as well add that
these 'perches' of theirs
are usually embellished
with various knick-
knacks or carved
with all kinds of
designs, just as is
done by your favorites,
who manifest the same
weakness in regard to
what they call their
'furniture.'
"And so, having taken his
place on his perch and
expressed his welcome,
my dear 'external
kesdjanian result,'
or 'godson,' Gornahoor
Raoorkh, began to take
part in our conversation.
"Well, my boy, in the course
of general conversation on
various topics, I asked my
godson, among other things,
the reason for the
crystallizing in his
presence of data for
engendering his serious
interest in elucidating
all aspects of the
omnipresent cosmic
substance Okidanokh,
thanks to which he had
become worthy, like his
producer, of making great
cosmic discoveries. When
young Raoorkh replied in
detail to my question, it
became clear to me that the
abnormal existence of your
favorites was already acting
harmfully on the normal
existence and the
conscious self-
perfecting of
beings breeding
on the planet Mars,
and at the same time,
thanks to this detailed
reply of his, based on
scientific foundations,
I also elicited data
for clarifying the
question which my old
Martian friend, the
great toof-nef-tef,
had addressed to me.
"I will try, my boy, to
reproduce for you in our
language, as exactly as
possible, the
quintessence of
this reply of his.
"After having thought a
little about what I had
asked him, Gornahoor
Raoorkh replied with
deep seriousness.
"'Early in my existence, at
the period when I was still
preparing to be a responsible
being, I devoted the greater
part of my time as is
proper to all three-
brained beings at that
age to practicing in
order to acquire the
potency to "deliberate
actively for a long time",
and it happened by itself
that during the intervals
for necessary rest, I used
to occupy myself with the
various experimental
apparatuses of my
producer.
"'And it was at that period
of my existence that I noticed
more than once that on certain
days the force and level of my
active mentation were
perceptibly lower.
"'This discovery aroused in
me a subjective interest that
engendered in my presence the
urgent impulse to acquire a
thorough cognizance of the
cause of this fact. From
then on, I began to pay
attention both to myself
and to what took place
around me in order to
seek out the causes, and
after one "khree" I became
completely convinced that
this undesirable state
occurred in me each
time our large
"life-chakhan,"
or "dynamo," was
in operation.
"'It was precisely this
fact, first observed by
me at that time, which
was the cause of my
growing interest in
the omnipresent cosmic
substance and of my
deeply absorbing
study of its
details.
"'My experiments, from the
very beginning, brought me
an incalculable number of
proofs of all kinds, both
for myself and for others,
that the omnipresent
substance Okidanokh
is a part of the common
presence of the atmosphere
of our planet, and evidently
of the presence of the
atmosphere of other
planets as well, and
that it takes part in
the arising of all
planetary and
surplanetary
formations
including of
course the
"khraprkhalikhrokhnian"
part of every being and
in the maintenance of
their existence.
'In the course of my further
experimental elucidations, I
also became entirely certain
that although our solar system,
like all the other solar systems
of the Great Universe, has its
own "Ansanbaluiazar," and that
each planet, with its
atmosphere, is the
specific place of
concentration of one
or another class of
cosmic substances of
the given "common-system
Ansanbaluiazar," the cosmic
substance Okidanokh is
nonetheless an
indispensable
and even
predominant
part of the
presence of
each planet.
'And later my experiments
also showed me that, thanks
to the common universal
equilibrium, this cosmic
substance is concentrated
in every system in a
strictly corresponding
proportion, and is also
distributed in strictly
determined proportions
among the atmospheres
of all the planets of
the given system.
Consequently, whenever
this universal substance
is used up in any part of
atmospheric space, either
by accident or design, it
must without fail be
replenished to restore
the equilibrium of its
proportions in the
atmosphere, and this
takes place by the
flowing in of this
substance from other
places. And this
balancing
transposition
of Okidanokh must
be effected not only
from one place to
another in the
atmosphere of
each planet,
but also from
the atmosphere
of one planet to
that of another,
if in this other,
for some reason,
more than its
established
norm is used
up.
"'Finally, I very
definitely made clear
to my Reason from every
aspect, and proved to
others, that the
omnipresent cosmic
substance Okidanokh,
present in our
atmosphere and
constantly being
replenished, is
necessary for
the common
presence of
our planet and
is the most important
factor for every kind
of arising and maintenance
of existence, and also that
the essence of every
"relatively
independent"
intra-planetary
and surplanetary
formation, as well
as the essence of
beings of every
brain-system and
external coating,
depends on this
substance, and I
even proved that
the possibility
for three-brained
beings to perfect
themselves and
ultimately to
blend with the
Prime Cause of
everything existing
depends exclusively
on this substance.
"'I repeat, as a result
of all my experimental
elucidations, I very
definitely cognized
for myself, and acquired
indisputable data for proving
from every aspect to all the
beings like myself around
me, that the destruction
of the omnipresent cosmic
substance Okidanokh in the
presence of our planet and
of its atmosphere is almost
equivalent to the conscious
destruction of all the
labors and results of
the Most Sacred First
Cause of everything
that exists.'
"With these words, captivated
by his theme, my dear godson,
the young and high-spirited
Gornahoor Raoorkh, finished
his discourse.
"In the middle of Gornahoor
Raoorkh's explanations about
the properties of the
omnipresent cosmic
substance Okidanokh,
and the inevitable
consequences of its
extraction from the
common presence of
every planet, and
of its ensuing
destruction, a
suspicion arose
in me, and all
sorts of pictures
gradually appeared
in my memory connected
with impressions perceived
during my personal sojourns
among your favorites and in
the period of my close
observations from the
planet Mars of their
ordinary being-existence
showing how at different
periods they repeatedly
obtained this substance
or its separate parts
from the nature of
their planet and
used them for their
various naively
egoistic aims.
"And when, during Gornahoor
Raoorkh's further explanations,
remembered by association the
request of the great
toof-nef-tef of the
planet Mars, I became
aware with all my being
and without the least doubt,
of all the maleficent
consequences of this
manifestation of the
three-brained beings
of your planet.
"They have named the
totality and the separate
parts of this substance,
sacred for them also,
differently at
different periods,
and at the present
time they name the
result of the
blending and
reciprocal
destruction
of two parts
of this
omnipresent
substance
'electricity.'
"And indeed, although
several times in earlier
epochs they had already
discovered of course,
thanks always to an
accidental chain of
circumstances various
means of extracting from
the nature of their planet,
and using for their various,
as I have called them, 'naively
egoistic aims,' the separate
parts of this omnipresent
substance, absolutely
necessary for normal
cosmic processes, yet
never have they
destroyed so much
of it as in recent
times.
"So, in this way, thanks
to the explanations of my
'external kesdjanian result,'
I became absolutely convinced
of the maleficent action,
already begun, of the
results of the abnormal
ordinary being-existence
of the three-brained
beings who have taken
your fancy, and
furthermore, the
question disturbing
my old friend resolved
itself, namely, why during
recent times it had become
more and more difficult
for the three-brained
beings of the planet
Mars to perfect
themselves.
"As for the manner in which
this question was resolved,
I might say that it happened
just as described, in
reference to similar
cases, in a rarely
quoted saying of
our esteemed
Mullah Nasr
Eddin:
'You never know who
will help you to get
out of a galosh.'
"In fact, for the resolution
of this question, my old friend
had in mind Individuals with
quite other data and
possibilities than
those of my friends
on Saturn, who were
simply ordinary three-
brained beings. He probably
did not suspect that as
regards such questions,
these ordinary three-
brained beings, who
acquire information
about all sorts of
real cosmic facts
thanks only to
their 'being-
partkdolgduty,'
are in most cases
more competent than
any of the angels or
cherubim with their
ready-made Being
who, though
perfected in
Reason to high
gradations, may
nonetheless, as
as regards practical
confrontation, appear
to be merely such
individuals as our
always respected
Mullah Nasr Eddin
describes in the
following words:
"'Never will he understand
the sufferings of another,
who has not experienced
them himself, though he
have divine Reason and
the nature of a
genuine devil!'"
At this point in Beelzebub's
tales, there were diffused,
all along the intersystem
ship Karnak, artificially
produced vibrations which
had the property of
penetrating into the
common presence of all
the passengers of the
vessel and acting on
what are called the
"wandering nerves"
of the stomach.
This artificially produced
phenomenon was an announcement
to the passengers that it was
time to assemble in the
common what is called
"djameechoonatra," a
sort of "monastic
refectory" in which
the second being-food
was collectively taken.
Gurdjieff
"In order to give you
a fuller representation
of why it was that data
were crystallized in my
Being for verifying and
thoroughly comprehending
this fact, I shall tell
you about what took place
in its exact order, beginning
with the moment, while still
on this planet of yours,
when I first received
the news of my full
pardon.
"As soon as I heard about
this special, most glorious
act of grace toward me, I of
course decided to return at
the first opportunity to
the place of my arising,
so dear to my essence.
"But it was necessary for
me first to ascend to the
planet Mars in order to
make thorough preparations
for such a long journey.
"Several days later I
left your planet forever,
and returned to the planet
Mars, as always on our ship
Occasion.
"Soon after arriving there,
we received a command from
Above that I and all the other
beings of our tribe who wished
to return to the place of their
arising should go by the ship
Occasion to the planet Saturn,
where the large intersystem
ship Omnipresent would land
and take us all to our
destination.
TOOF-NEF-TEF
"Nevertheless, I had to
stay for a certain time
on the planet Mars in order
to settle all my personal affairs,
and to give various orders concerning
the beings of our tribe. And it was
just at this time that I was told
that the 'toofnef-tef very much
wished to see me.
"'Toof-nef-tef is the name
given on the planet Mars to
the chief of all the three-
brained beings breeding there,
that is, he corresponds to the
being who, on your planet, is
called 'king.'
"I had known this toof-nef-tef,
or king, in his youth, when he
was only a 'plef-perf-noof.' A
plef-perf-noof is almost the
same as a zirlikner on our
planet and a physician on
your planet Earth.
"In this connection, I
should mention that on
almost all the planets
of our Great Universe,
and likewise on the other
planets of the solar system
Ors, a being becomes a chief
over other beings by his merit,
and most often by the merit he
has acquired as a
plef-perf-noof, or
physician, that is,
a physician of the
spirit as well as
of the body.
"My first meeting with
the Martian toof-nef-tef
took place soon after we
arrived in this solar system
and settled on the planet Mars.
He was then a plefperf-
noof on just that part of
the surface of the planet
where I and all who accompanied
me had established our place of
residence.
"Later on, while existing
on various parts of the
surface of that planet
in the capacity of plef-perf-noof,
he became worthy to be the head of
all the beings breeding on the
planet Mars, and when he was
nearing the state of the
sacred Ishmetch, he
desired to return to
that part of his planet
where he had spent his
youth and that is why
this former plef-perf-
noof, now the toof-nef-tef,
happened at that time to be
near the place of my
residence on Mars.
"This Martian toof-nef-tef
was already, according to
the notions of your favorites,
an extremely old being, by the
time-calculation of the planet
Mars, he was about twelve
thousand years old, and
only a little less by
the time-calculation
of the Earth.
"Here I must tell you
that on the planet Mars
the duration of existence
of beings is in general
almost the same as that
of the three-centered
beings of all the other
planets of our Megalocosmos,
excepting of course those
beings who are formed
directly from the first
tetartocosmoses, the
duration of whose
existence may be
three times
longer.
"The three-brained beings
arising and existing on the
planet Mars, as well as those
on all the planets of our
Megalocosmos where the
process of existence is
normal for three-brained
beings, have the full
possibility of reaching
the state of the sacred
Ishmetch, that is, the
state in which the existence
of a being, as regards the
most great cosmic
Iraniranumange,
becomes dependent
only on substances
that arise directly
from the manifestations
of the Most Holy Prime
Source Itself, whereas
for other beings, their
existence always depends
on cosmic substances that
arise from the results of
all corresponding center-of-
gravity concentrations of the
common-cosmic fundamental
Ansanbaluiazar.
"And when they reach
this state of the sacred
Ishmetch and the Reason of
their highest part is already
perfected up to the required
gradation of the Sacred
Scale of Objective Reason,
the process of the sacred
rascooarno takes place in
them only by their own wish,
and furthermore, their
highest being-body is
taken directly to the
Holy Planet Purgatory.
"And so, my boy, when
I returned to the planet
Mars from the planet Earth
and was hurriedly winding up
my affairs there, I was informed
that the toof-nef-tef of the planet
wished to see me personally.
"This request of the honorable
toof-nef-tef was transmitted to
me by our Ahoon by means of what
is called there a 'kelleh-e-ofoo'
or, as they say on the planet
Earth, a 'note.'
"The text of this
kelleh-e-ofoo was
as follows:
"'Your Right Reverence,
I have heard that you have
become worthy to receive from
our Common Father Creator full
pardon for the transgressions of
your youth, and that you are now
leaving my native land forever.
For this reason, I, an old
being, very much wish to
see you and bless you
personally for the last
time, and also, through
your person, to thank all
the beings of your tribe for
their constant good relations
with the beings of my native
land for so many years.
"At the end of this
kelleh-e-ofoo was
the postscript:
"'I would come myself to
your house but, as you know,
the size of my planetary body
does not permit this, and hence
I must beg you not to refuse to
come to my "fal-feh-foof."'
"In Martian speech, my
boy, fal-feh-foof means
a 'dwelling.'
"I must mention here that
the three-brained beings
of the planet Mars
knew our genuine
nature from the
very beginning,
and also the true
reason why we were
compelled to dwell
on their planet.
"In this they were
unlike the three-brained
beings of the Earth, who
never knew anything and
never even suspected
who we were and why
we existed there.
"And so, my boy, when I
received this invitation
from the honorable toofnef-
tef, I of course decided to
go to him without delay.
When I arrived there,
after all the prescribed
ceremonies and exchange of
courtesies, this, in the full
sense of the word, great toof-
nef-tef turned to me, as we
were talking, with a request.
And this request was the
cause of the
crystallization
in me of the data
that led to my unshakable
conviction that the results
ensuing from the abnormal
existence of the three-
brained beings on your
planet had already
begun to act
harmfully on
the ordinary
existence of
the three-brained
beings arising and
existing on the
planet Mars, as
regards their
'potency' to
perfect
themselves
as is proper
to all three-
brained beings.
"I shall try to repeat
to you almost word for
word in our own speech
the contents of this
request of the great
toof-nef-tef.
"He spoke as follows:
"'Your Right Reverence!
'Thanks to the most gracious
pardon granted to you from Above,
you have regained the right freely
to fulfill your justly merited
wishes and thanks to this all-
enfolding grace, you have all
the possibilities, once more,
of becoming what you might
long ago have been by
virtue of your former
merits as regards
Reason and of course
from now on, Your Right
Reverence, you will
undoubtedly meet
various Individuals,
corresponding to your
Being, who have already
reached the highest
gradations of Reason.
'And so, I take the liberty
of addressing myself to you,
as an old friend, with the
request that on meeting
these Individuals you
should remember me,
an old being, and not
forget to ask their opinion
ABOUT A FACT that in recent
years has almost constantly
aroused disturbing associations
in all my spiritualized parts,
and that when you have learned
their opinion you will not
fail to communicate it to
me somehow or other on a
suitable occasion.
"'The point is that during
the last few "ftofoos" I
established very
definitely that,
among the beings
of our planet, the
"noorfooftafaf" increases
with each "ftofoo," and along
with this, I observed in them
a proportional decrease in the
intensity of their potency of
active mentation.
NOORFOOFTAFAF
WILL-LESSNESS
"By the way, my boy, the
expression 'noorfooftafaf'
signifies on the planet Mars
something like what on the Earth
is called 'will-lessness.'
"And the toof-nef-tef continued:
'When I first discovered this
fact, so deplorable for the
beings of our planet, I
began to ponder
intensively to
seek its cause,
in order to be able
to give corresponding
indications to those beings
who have entrusted themselves
to me in their struggle to
uproot this lamentable
factor recently arisen
in their common presence,
but in spite of
meditating very
often and long on
this question that
constantly agitates me,
until now I have not been
able to elucidate for myself,
even approximately, where the
trouble lies and what measures
must be taken to destroy this
evil.'
"Thus ended the request of
the honorable toof-nef-tef
of the planet Mars, and of
course, my boy, I there and
then promised my old friend
to inquire about all this at
my first meeting with a
corresponding Individual
and to communicate the
reply to him without
fail.
"Several Martian days after
this interview, we left that
hospitable planet forever and
ascended to the planet Saturn.
"No sooner had we arrived on
the planet Saturn than the
chief of our tribe there
came to communicate to us
the contents of an
etherogram he had
just received,
announcing that
the big intersystem
ship Omnipresent would
not land on the planet
Saturn until early in
the next 'khreh-khree-khra.'
"'Khreh-khree-khra,' on the
planet Saturn, means a period
of time determined by a certain
position occupied by this planet
in relation, on the one hand, to
the sun of its system, and on the
other, to another planet of this
system called 'Neptune.'
"In one Saturnian year there
are seven of these definitely
established periods, and each
of them has its own name.
"As there still remained, by
the time-calculation of the
planet Mars, almost half a
'fooss' before the next
'khreh-khree-khra' or,
by the time-calculation
of your favorites, about
a month and a half, we
decided to organize our
ordinary being-existence
in the meantime in a more
or less suitable manner.
"Some of our beings remained
on the ship Occasion itself,
others found accommodation
in the dwellings placed at
our disposal by the
amiable beings of the
planet Saturn; and I,
with Ahoon, went to
'Rirkh,' the large
populated center of
three-brained beings
where my friend
Gornahoor
Harharkh
existed.
"On the evening of our
arrival there, I asked
this essence-friend of
mine during friendly
conversation how the
existence of his heir
was proceeding; I was
referring to my dear
'external kesdjanian
result' or, as your
favorites would say,
my 'godson,' Gornahoor
Raoorkh.
"He thanked me and said
that Raoorkh's existence
was proceeding quite well,
and that he had already
become his heir in all
respects, having even
made the aim of his
responsible existence,
as he himself had done,
the detailed study of
the omnipresent
substance
Okidanokh.
"After pausing a little,
he added that as regards
the knowledge he had
attained of the cosmic
substance Okidanokh, his
heir had already, as he
expressed it, 'smelled
out its very essence.'
NONRADIATING LAMP
"He then said that, thanks
to the results of his heir's
scientific attainments, not
only had all the factors for
every conviction previously
crystallized in his own
being through long years
of persevering labors now
been totally decrystallized,
but he had even destroyed all
his inventions for investigating
this omnipresent cosmic substance,
including his famous 'nonradiating
lamp', and, with a deep sigh, he
concluded:
'I am now in full agreement
with the opinion of the
"result of my all" that
it was the greatest
misfortune for me to
have been occupied so
long with this, in the
objective sense,
absolutely
"irredeemable sin."'
"While conversing further
on various topics we came
to speak, in accordance
with the flow of
associations of
being-mentation,
about the three-
brained beings
breeding on
the planet
Earth.
"You remember, I have
already told you that
my friend Gornahoor
Harharkh was always
kept informed of my
observations on their
strange psyche, and that
I even sent him, as well
as your uncle Tooilan,
copies of certain of
my notes.
"So, as we were talking
about these three-brained
beings who have taken your
fancy, Gornahoor Harharkh
asked me among other
things.
"'Please tell me, my friend,
is it possible that the duration
of existence of these unfortunates
still continues to diminish?'
"I was beginning to explain to
him the present state of affairs
regarding this question, and the
new data I had collected on that
abnormality, when just at that
moment his 'result,' Gornahoor
Raoorkh himself, entered the
room.
"Although the newcomer had
exactly the same exterior
as his producer, he was
very virile and full of
youthful fire.
"When he had taken his
place on his perch, in
the manner proper to the
three-brained beings of
that planet, he welcomed
me, as is customary for
them, in an angelically
musical voice, with all
sorts of kind wishes and
self-satisfying being-
feelings.
"And in conclusion he
declared, somewhat
exaltedly:
"'Although you are only
my "kesdjanian father,"
yet in view of the fact
that you have fulfilled
with such full awareness
the divine obligations
toward me taken upon
yourself during my
"khri-khra-khri,"
there have been
crystallized in
my common presence
with respect to you
data equivalent to
those which should
be in the common
presence of every
three-brained being
toward his own producer,
and it is without doubt
because of this that I
remember you so often
in my thoughts, and
each time wish that
you may always have
conditions that lead,
in the objective sense,
to a good and happy
future.'
BAPTISM
"'Khri-khra-khri,' my boy,
is the name given on the
planet Saturn to that
sacred ceremony which
is similar to what is
called 'baptism' on
the planet Earth.
"You probably did not
understand what I meant
when I told you that
Gornahoor Raoorkh
took his place on
his perch.
"The point is that, because
of their outer coating, the
three-brained beings of this
planet gradually acquired the
habit of resting in only one
posture, that is, after
stooping in a special
way, they let the whole
weight of their planetary
body rest on their lower
extremities, and for this
manner of resting, it became
necessary for them to be at a
certain height. Hence the three-
brained beings there have the
practice of putting up, at a
certain height in the rooms
where they exist, special
bars which they call
'perches.'
"I may as well add that
these 'perches' of theirs
are usually embellished
with various knick-
knacks or carved
with all kinds of
designs, just as is
done by your favorites,
who manifest the same
weakness in regard to
what they call their
'furniture.'
"And so, having taken his
place on his perch and
expressed his welcome,
my dear 'external
kesdjanian result,'
or 'godson,' Gornahoor
Raoorkh, began to take
part in our conversation.
"Well, my boy, in the course
of general conversation on
various topics, I asked my
godson, among other things,
the reason for the
crystallizing in his
presence of data for
engendering his serious
interest in elucidating
all aspects of the
omnipresent cosmic
substance Okidanokh,
thanks to which he had
become worthy, like his
producer, of making great
cosmic discoveries. When
young Raoorkh replied in
detail to my question, it
became clear to me that the
abnormal existence of your
favorites was already acting
harmfully on the normal
existence and the
conscious self-
perfecting of
beings breeding
on the planet Mars,
and at the same time,
thanks to this detailed
reply of his, based on
scientific foundations,
I also elicited data
for clarifying the
question which my old
Martian friend, the
great toof-nef-tef,
had addressed to me.
"I will try, my boy, to
reproduce for you in our
language, as exactly as
possible, the
quintessence of
this reply of his.
"After having thought a
little about what I had
asked him, Gornahoor
Raoorkh replied with
deep seriousness.
"'Early in my existence, at
the period when I was still
preparing to be a responsible
being, I devoted the greater
part of my time as is
proper to all three-
brained beings at that
age to practicing in
order to acquire the
potency to "deliberate
actively for a long time",
and it happened by itself
that during the intervals
for necessary rest, I used
to occupy myself with the
various experimental
apparatuses of my
producer.
"'And it was at that period
of my existence that I noticed
more than once that on certain
days the force and level of my
active mentation were
perceptibly lower.
"'This discovery aroused in
me a subjective interest that
engendered in my presence the
urgent impulse to acquire a
thorough cognizance of the
cause of this fact. From
then on, I began to pay
attention both to myself
and to what took place
around me in order to
seek out the causes, and
after one "khree" I became
completely convinced that
this undesirable state
occurred in me each
time our large
"life-chakhan,"
or "dynamo," was
in operation.
"'It was precisely this
fact, first observed by
me at that time, which
was the cause of my
growing interest in
the omnipresent cosmic
substance and of my
deeply absorbing
study of its
details.
"'My experiments, from the
very beginning, brought me
an incalculable number of
proofs of all kinds, both
for myself and for others,
that the omnipresent
substance Okidanokh
is a part of the common
presence of the atmosphere
of our planet, and evidently
of the presence of the
atmosphere of other
planets as well, and
that it takes part in
the arising of all
planetary and
surplanetary
formations
including of
course the
"khraprkhalikhrokhnian"
part of every being and
in the maintenance of
their existence.
'In the course of my further
experimental elucidations, I
also became entirely certain
that although our solar system,
like all the other solar systems
of the Great Universe, has its
own "Ansanbaluiazar," and that
each planet, with its
atmosphere, is the
specific place of
concentration of one
or another class of
cosmic substances of
the given "common-system
Ansanbaluiazar," the cosmic
substance Okidanokh is
nonetheless an
indispensable
and even
predominant
part of the
presence of
each planet.
'And later my experiments
also showed me that, thanks
to the common universal
equilibrium, this cosmic
substance is concentrated
in every system in a
strictly corresponding
proportion, and is also
distributed in strictly
determined proportions
among the atmospheres
of all the planets of
the given system.
Consequently, whenever
this universal substance
is used up in any part of
atmospheric space, either
by accident or design, it
must without fail be
replenished to restore
the equilibrium of its
proportions in the
atmosphere, and this
takes place by the
flowing in of this
substance from other
places. And this
balancing
transposition
of Okidanokh must
be effected not only
from one place to
another in the
atmosphere of
each planet,
but also from
the atmosphere
of one planet to
that of another,
if in this other,
for some reason,
more than its
established
norm is used
up.
"'Finally, I very
definitely made clear
to my Reason from every
aspect, and proved to
others, that the
omnipresent cosmic
substance Okidanokh,
present in our
atmosphere and
constantly being
replenished, is
necessary for
the common
presence of
our planet and
is the most important
factor for every kind
of arising and maintenance
of existence, and also that
the essence of every
"relatively
independent"
intra-planetary
and surplanetary
formation, as well
as the essence of
beings of every
brain-system and
external coating,
depends on this
substance, and I
even proved that
the possibility
for three-brained
beings to perfect
themselves and
ultimately to
blend with the
Prime Cause of
everything existing
depends exclusively
on this substance.
"'I repeat, as a result
of all my experimental
elucidations, I very
definitely cognized
for myself, and acquired
indisputable data for proving
from every aspect to all the
beings like myself around
me, that the destruction
of the omnipresent cosmic
substance Okidanokh in the
presence of our planet and
of its atmosphere is almost
equivalent to the conscious
destruction of all the
labors and results of
the Most Sacred First
Cause of everything
that exists.'
"With these words, captivated
by his theme, my dear godson,
the young and high-spirited
Gornahoor Raoorkh, finished
his discourse.
"In the middle of Gornahoor
Raoorkh's explanations about
the properties of the
omnipresent cosmic
substance Okidanokh,
and the inevitable
consequences of its
extraction from the
common presence of
every planet, and
of its ensuing
destruction, a
suspicion arose
in me, and all
sorts of pictures
gradually appeared
in my memory connected
with impressions perceived
during my personal sojourns
among your favorites and in
the period of my close
observations from the
planet Mars of their
ordinary being-existence
showing how at different
periods they repeatedly
obtained this substance
or its separate parts
from the nature of
their planet and
used them for their
various naively
egoistic aims.
"And when, during Gornahoor
Raoorkh's further explanations,
remembered by association the
request of the great
toof-nef-tef of the
planet Mars, I became
aware with all my being
and without the least doubt,
of all the maleficent
consequences of this
manifestation of the
three-brained beings
of your planet.
"They have named the
totality and the separate
parts of this substance,
sacred for them also,
differently at
different periods,
and at the present
time they name the
result of the
blending and
reciprocal
destruction
of two parts
of this
omnipresent
substance
'electricity.'
"And indeed, although
several times in earlier
epochs they had already
discovered of course,
thanks always to an
accidental chain of
circumstances various
means of extracting from
the nature of their planet,
and using for their various,
as I have called them, 'naively
egoistic aims,' the separate
parts of this omnipresent
substance, absolutely
necessary for normal
cosmic processes, yet
never have they
destroyed so much
of it as in recent
times.
"So, in this way, thanks
to the explanations of my
'external kesdjanian result,'
I became absolutely convinced
of the maleficent action,
already begun, of the
results of the abnormal
ordinary being-existence
of the three-brained
beings who have taken
your fancy, and
furthermore, the
question disturbing
my old friend resolved
itself, namely, why during
recent times it had become
more and more difficult
for the three-brained
beings of the planet
Mars to perfect
themselves.
"As for the manner in which
this question was resolved,
I might say that it happened
just as described, in
reference to similar
cases, in a rarely
quoted saying of
our esteemed
Mullah Nasr
Eddin:
'You never know who
will help you to get
out of a galosh.'
"In fact, for the resolution
of this question, my old friend
had in mind Individuals with
quite other data and
possibilities than
those of my friends
on Saturn, who were
simply ordinary three-
brained beings. He probably
did not suspect that as
regards such questions,
these ordinary three-
brained beings, who
acquire information
about all sorts of
real cosmic facts
thanks only to
their 'being-
partkdolgduty,'
are in most cases
more competent than
any of the angels or
cherubim with their
ready-made Being
who, though
perfected in
Reason to high
gradations, may
nonetheless, as
as regards practical
confrontation, appear
to be merely such
individuals as our
always respected
Mullah Nasr Eddin
describes in the
following words:
"'Never will he understand
the sufferings of another,
who has not experienced
them himself, though he
have divine Reason and
the nature of a
genuine devil!'"
At this point in Beelzebub's
tales, there were diffused,
all along the intersystem
ship Karnak, artificially
produced vibrations which
had the property of
penetrating into the
common presence of all
the passengers of the
vessel and acting on
what are called the
"wandering nerves"
of the stomach.
This artificially produced
phenomenon was an announcement
to the passengers that it was
time to assemble in the
common what is called
"djameechoonatra," a
sort of "monastic
refectory" in which
the second being-food
was collectively taken.
Gurdjieff
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