GLIMPSES OF TRUTH PART ONE As Above So Below
James Wyly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPoo2JSjUmE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7nCz-M9IRqM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iefEwScI67w&t=11s
points indirectly to the truth of
this. Glimpses of Truth is
Ouspensky's impressions
of Gurdjieff at the Moscow
group the first time he
went there:
"I was deeply interested
in everything Gurdjieff
said. I felt in it some
new points of view, unlike
any I had met with before.
"He invited me to go with
him to a house where some
of his pupils were to
forgather."
--p 9, ISO
Ouspensky attempted to
find out from the pupils
what their work was about
and their only response
other than speaking in
a strange terminology
was to suggest reading
a story written by
one of the pupils
who was away at
the time.
"Naturally, I agreed to this;
and one of them began to read
aloud from a manuscript. The
author described his meeting
and acquaintance with Gurdjieff.
My attention was attracted by
the fact that the story began
with the author coming across
the same notice of the ballet,
'The Struggle of the Magicians,'
which I myself had seen in The
Voice of Moscow, in the winter.
Further—-this pleased me very
much because I expected it—-
at the first meeting the
author certainly felt that
Gurdjieff put him as it
were on the PALM OF HIS
HAND, weighed him, and
put him back. The story
was called 'Glimpses of
Truth' and was evidently
written by a man without
any literary experience.
But in spite of this it
produced an impression,
because it contained
indications of a system
in which I felt something
very interesting though I
could neither name nor
formulate it to myself,
and some very strange
and unexpected ideas
about art which
found in me a
very strong
response.
"I learned later on
that the author of the
story was an imaginary
person and that the story
had been begun by two of
Gurdjieff's pupils who
were present at the
reading, with the
object of giving
an exposition of
his ideas in a
literary form.
Still later I
heard that the
idea of the story
belonged to Gurdjieff
himself.
"The reading of what
constituted the first
chapter stopped at this
point. Gurdjieff listened
attentively the whole time.
He sat on a sofa, with one
leg tucked beneath him,
drinking black coffee
from a tumbler, smoking
and sometimes glancing at
me. I liked his movements,
which had a great deal of
a kind of feline grace and
assurance; even in his
silence there was
something which
distinguished him
from others. I felt
that I would rather
have met him, not in
Moscow, not in this flat,
but in one of those places
from which I had so recently
returned, in the court of one
of the Cairo mosques, in one of
the ruined cities of Ceylon, or
in one of the South Indian temples—-
Tanjore, Trichinopoly, or Madura.
"'Well, how do you like the story?'
asked Gurdjieff after a short
silence when the reading had
ended.
"I told him I had found
it interesting to listen
to, but that, from my point
of view, it had the defect of
not making clear what exactly
it was all about. The story
spoke of a very strong
impression produced upon
the author by a doctrine
he had met with, but it
gave no adequate idea of
the doctrine itself. Those
who were present began to
argue with me, pointing out
that I had missed the most
important part of it.
Gurdjieff himself
said nothing.
--p 10, ISO
GLIMPSES OF TRUTH
"'You are acquainted with
occult literature,' began
Mr Gurdjieff, 'and so I will
refer to the formula you know
from the EMERALD TABLETS:
"AS ABOVE, SO BELOW."
"'It is easy to start to
build the foundation of our
discussion from this. At the
same time I must say that there
is no need to use occultism as
the base from which to approach
the understanding of truth. TRUTH
SPEAKS FOR ITSELF IN WHATEVER
FORM IT IS MANIFESTED. You will
understand this fully only
in the course of time, but
I wish to give you today at
least a grain of understanding.
So, I repeat, I begin with the
occult formula because I am
speaking to YOU. I know you
have tried to decipher this
formula. I know that you
"understand" it. But the
understanding you have
now is only a dim and
distant reflection of
the divine brilliance.
"'It is not about the
formula itself that I
shall speak to you--
I am not going to
analyze or decipher
it. Our conversation
will not be about the
literal meaning; we shall
take it only as a starting
point for our discussion.
And to give you an idea
of our subject, I may
say that I wish to
speak about the
overall unity
of all that
exists--
about
UNITY
IN MULTIPLICITY.
I wish to show you
two or three facets
of a precious crystal,
and to draw your attention
to the pale images faintly
reflected in them.
"' I know you understand
about the unity of the laws
governing the universe, but
this understanding is
speculative--or
rather, theoretical.
It is not enough to
understand with the
mind, it is necessary
to feel with your being
the absolute truth and
immutability of this
fact; only then will
you be able, consciously
and with conviction, to
say 'I know.'"
"Such was the sense of
the words with which Mr
Gurdjieff began the
conversation. He then
proceeded to describe
vividly the sphere in
which the life of all
mankind moves, with a
thought which illustrated
the Hermetic formula he had
quoted. By analogies he passed
from the little ordinary happenings
in the life of an individual to the
great cycles in the life of the
whole of mankind. By means of
such parallels he underscored
the cyclic action of the LAW
OF ANALOGY within the
diminutive sphere of
terrestrial life.
Then, in the same
way, he passed from
mankind to what I would
call the life of the earth,
representing it as an
enormous organism
like that of man,
and in terms of
physics, mechanics,
biology and so on. I
watched the illumination
of his thought come increasingly
into focus on one point. The
inevitable conclusion of all
that he said was the great
law of tri-unity: the law
of the three principles
of action, resistance
and equipoise: the
active, passive
and neutral
principles.
Now resting
upon the solid
foundation of the
earth, and armed with
this law, he applied it,
with a bold flight of
thought, to the whole
solar system. Now his
thought no longer moved
toward this law of tri-
unity, but already out
from it, emphasizing it
more and more, and
manifesting it in
the step nearest
to man, that of
Earth and Sun.
Then, with a
brief phrase,
he passed beyond
the limits of the
solar system. Astronomical
data first flashed forth,
then appeared to dwindle
and disappear before the
infinity of space. There
remained only one great
thought, issuing from
the same great law.
His words sounded
slow and solemn,
and at the very
same moment seemed
to diminish and lose
their significance. Behind
them could be sensed the
pulse of a tremendous
thought.
"'We have come to the
brink of the abyss which
can never be bridged by
ordinary human reason.
Do you feel how
superfluous and
useless words have
become? Do you feel
how powerless reason
BY ITSELF is here?
We have approached
the principle behind
all principles.'
Having said this,
he became silent,
his gaze thoughtful.
"Spellbound by the
beauty and grandeur
of this thought, I
had gradually ceased
to listen to the words.
I could say that I felt
them, that I grasped his
thought not with my reason
but by intuition. Man far
below was reduced to
nothingness, and
disappeared
leaving no
trace. I
was filled
with a sense
of closeness
to the Great
Inscrutable,
and with the
deep consciousness
of my personal nothingness.
"As though divining my
thoughts, Mr Gurdjieff
asked:
"'We started with man,
and where is he? But great,
all-embracing is the law of
unity. Everything in the Universe
is one, the difference is only of
scale; in the infinitely small we
shall find the same laws as in
the infinitely great.
"'AS ABOVE, SO BELOW.
"'The sun has risen over the
the mountaintops above; the
valley is still in darkness.
So reason, transcending the
human condition, regards the
divine light, while for those
dwelling below all is darkness.
Again I repeat, all in the world
is one; and since reason is also
one, human reason forms a
powerful instrument for
investigation.
"'Now, having come to the
beginning, let us descend
to the earth from which we
came, we shall find its place
in the order of the structure
of the Universe. LOOK!'
"He made a single sketch
and, with a passing reference
to the laws of mechanics,
delineated the scheme of
the construction of the
Universe. With numbers
and figures in harmonious,
systematic columns, multiplicity
within unity began to appear. The
figures began to be clothed with
meaning, the ideas which had
been dead began to come to
life. One and the same law
ruled all; with delighted
understanding I pursued
the harmonious development
of the Universe. His scheme
took its rise from a Great
Beginning and ended with
the earth.
"While he made this
exposition, Mr Gurdjieff
noted the necessity of what
he called a "SHOCK" reaching
a given place from outside
and connecting the two
opposite principles
into one balanced
unity. This
corresponded
to the point
of application
of force in a
balanced
system
of forces
in mechanics.
"'We have reached the point
to which our terrestrial life
is linked,' Mr Gurdjieff said,
'and for the present will not
go further. In order to examine
more closely what has just been
said, and to emphasize once more
the unity of the laws, we will
take a simple scale and apply
it, increased proportionately
to the measurement of the
microcosmos.' And he asked
me to choose something
familiar of regular
structure, such as
the spectrum of
white light,
musical scale,
and so on. After
having thought, I
chose the musical
scale.
"'You have made a good
choice,' said Mr Gurdjieff.
'As a matter of fact the
musical scale, in the form
in which it now exists, was
constructed in ancient times
by those possessed of great
knowledge, and you will
realize how much it can
contribute to the
understanding of
the principal
laws.'
"He said a few words about
the laws of the scale's structure,
and particularly stressed the gaps,
as he called them, which exist in
every octave between the notes Mi
and Fa and also between Si of one
octave and Do of the next. Between
these notes there are missing half-
tones, in both the ASCENDING and
DESCENDING scales. While in the
ascending development of the
octave, the notes Do, Re, Fa,
Sol and La can pass into the
next higher tones, the notes
Mi and Si are deprived of
this possibility. He
explained how these
two gaps, according
to certain laws
depending on
the LAW OF
TRI-UNITY,
were filled
in by new octaves
of other orders,
these octaves within
the gaps playing a part
similar to that of the
half-tones in the
evolutionary or
involutionary
process of the
octave. The principal
octave was similar to
a tree trunk, sending
out branches of subordinate
octaves. The seven principal
notes of the octave and the
two gaps, 'BEARERS OF NEW
DIRECTIONS,' gave a total
of nine links of a chain,
or three groups of three
links each.
"After this he turned
to the structural scheme
of the Universe, and from
it singled out that 'RAY'
whose course led through
the earth.
"The original powerful
octave, whose notes of
apparently ever-lessening
force included the sun, the
earth and the moon, had
inevitably fallen,
according to the
LAW OF TRI-UNITY,
into three subordinate
octaves. Here the role
of the gaps in the octave
and the differences in their
nature were defined and made
clear to me. Of the two
intervals, mi-fa and si-do,
one was more active--more
of the nature of will--
while the other played
the passive part. The
"shocks" of the original
scheme, which was not
altogether clear to me,
were also the rule here,
and appeared in a new
light.
"In the division of
this 'RAY,' the place,
the role and the destiny
of mankind became clear.
Moreover the possibilities
of the individual man were
more apparent.
"'It may seem to you,'
said Mr Gurdjieff, 'that
in following the aim of unity,
we have deviated from it somewhat
in the direction of learning about
multiplicity. What I am going to
explain now you will no doubt
understand. At the same time
I am certain that this
understanding will
chiefly refer to
the structural
part of what
is set forth.
Try to fix
your interest
and attention
not on its beauty,
its harmony and its
ingenuity--and even
this side you will
not understand
entirely--but
on the spirit,
on what lies
hidden behind
the words, on
the inner content.
Otherwise you will
see only form, deprived
of life. Now you will see
one of the facets of the
crystal and, if your eye
could perceive the
reflection in it,
you would draw
nearer to the
truth itself.'
"Then Mr Gurdjieff
began to explain the
way in which fundamental
octaves are combined with
secondary octaves subordinate
to them; how these, in their
turn, send forth new octaves
of the next order, and so on.
I could compare it to the
process of growth or,
more aptly, to the
formation of a tree.
Out of a straight
vigorous trunk
boughs branch
out, producing
in their turn
small branches
and twigs, and
then leaves appear
on them. One could
already sense the
process of
formation
of veins.
FOURTH WAY SYSTEM
"I must admit that,
in fact, my attention
was chiefly attracted
to the harmony and beauty
of THE SYSTEM. In addition
to the octaves growing, like
branches from a trunk, Mr
Gurdjieff pointed out
that each note of
every octave
appears, from
another point
of view, as a
whole octave:
the same was true
everywhere. These
"inner" octaves I
should compare to
the concentric layers
of a tree trunk which
fit one within the other.
"All these explanations
were given in very general
terms. They emphasized the
lawful character of the
structure. But for the
examples which accompanied
it, it might have been found
rather theoretical. The examples
gave it life, and sometimes it
seemed that I really began to
guess what was hidden behind
the words. I saw that in
this consistency in the
structure of the universe,
all the possibilities, all
the combinations without
exception, had been
foreseen; the infinity
of infinities was fore-
shadowed. And yet, at
the same time, I could
not see it, because my
reason faltered before
the immensity of the
concept. Again I was
filled with a dual
sensation--the nearness
of the possibility of
ALL-KNOWING and the
consciousness of
its inaccessibility.
"Once more I heard Mr
Gurdjieff's words echoing
my feelings:
'No ordinary reason is enough
to enable a man to take the
Great Knowledge to himself,
and make it his inalienable
possession. Nevertheless it
IS possible for him. But
first he must SHAKE THE
DUST FROM HIS FEET.
Vast efforts,
tremendous labors,
are needed to come
into possession of
the WINGS on which
it is possible to
rise. It is many
times easier to
drift with the
current, to
pass with
it from
one
octave
to another;
but that takes
immeasurably longer
than, alone, to WISH
and TO DO. The way is
hard, the ascent becomes
increasingly steeper as it
goes on, but one's strength
also increases. A man becomes
tempered and with each
ascending step his view
grows wider. Yes, THERE
IS THE POSSIBILITY.'
{{THAT THERE IS
THE POSSIBILITY!!}}
Two Rivers:
"I saw indeed that this
possibility existed. Although
not yet knowing what it was, I
saw that it was there. I find it
hard to put into words what became
more and more understandable. I
saw that the REIGN OF LAW, now
becoming apparent to me, was
really ALL-INCLUSIVE; that
what appeared at first
sight to be a violation
of law, on closer examination
ONLY CONFIRMED IT. One could
say without exageration that
while "exceptions prove the
rule," at the same time they
were not exceptions. For those
who can understand I would say
that, in Pythagorean terms, I
recognized and felt how Will
and Fate--spheres of action
of Providence--{two rivers}
coexist, while mutually
competing; how, without
blending or separating,
they intermingle. I
do not nurture
any hope that
such contradictory
words can convey or
make clear what I
understand; at the
same time I can find
nothing that is better.
"'You see,' Mr Gurdjieff
went on, 'that he who possesses
a full and complete understanding
of the system of octaves, as it
might be called, possesses the
KEY to the understanding of
Unity, since he understands
ALL THAT IS SEEN--ALL
HAPPENINGS, ALL THINGS
IN THEIR ESSENCE--FOR HE
KNOWS THEIR PLACE, CAUSE
AND EFFECT.
"'At the same time you
see clearly that this
consists of a more detailed
development of the original
scheme, a more precise
representation of the
LAW OF UNITY, and that
all we have said and are
going to say is nothing but
a development of the principal
idea of unity. That a full,
distinct, clear consciousness
of this law is precisely the
GREAT KNOWLEDGE
to which I referred.
"'Speculations, suppositions
and hypotheses do not exist
for him who possesses such
a knowledge. Expressed more
definitely, he knows everything
by "measure, number and weight."
Everything in the Universe is
material:
'THEREFORE THE GREAT KNOWLEDGE
IS MORE MATERIALISTIC THAN
MATERIALISM.
"'A look at chemistry will make
this more intelligible.' He
demonstrated how chemistry,
in studying matter of various
densities without a knowledge
of the law of octaves, contains
an error which affects the end
results. Knowing this, and making
certain corrections, based on the
law of octaves, brings these results
into full accord with those reached
by calculation. In addition he
pointed out that the idea of
simple substances and elements
in contemporary chemistry cannot
be accepted from the point of view
of the chemistry of octaves, which
is 'OBJECTIVE CHEMISTRY.' MATTER
IS THE SAME EVERYWHERE; ITS
VARIOUS QUALITIES DEPEND
ONLY ON THE PLACE IT
OCCUPIES IN A CERTAIN
OCTAVE, AND ON THE ORDER
OF THE OCTAVE ITSELF.
"From this point of view,
the hypothetical notion of
the atom as an indivisible
part of a simple substance
or element cannot serve as
a model. An atom of a given
density, a really existing
individuum, must be taken
as the smallest quantity
of the substance examined
which retains all those
qualities--chemical,
physical and cosmic--
which characterize it
as a certain note of a
definite octave. For instance,
in contemporary chemistry there
is no atom of water, as water is
not a simple substance but a
chemical compound of hydrogen
and oxygen. Yet from the point
of view of "OBJECTIVE CHEMISTRY"
an "ATOM" of water is an ultimate
and definitive volume of it, even
visible to the naked eye. Mr
Gurdjieff added:
"'Certainly you have to accept
this on trust for the present.
But those who seek for the GREAT
KNOWLEDGE under the guidance of
one already in possession of it,
must personally work to prove,
and verify by investigation,
what these atoms of matter
of different densities are.'
"I saw it all in mathematical
terms. I became clearly convinced
that everything in the Universe is
material and that everything can
be measured numerically in
accordance with the law of
octaves. The essential
material descends in a
series of separate notes
of various densities. These
were expressed in numbers
combined according to
certain laws, and that
which had seemed
immeasurable was
measured. What
had been referred
to as cosmic qualities
of matter was made clear.
To my great surprise, the
atomic weights of certain
chemical elements were
given as examples,
with an explanation
showing the error of
contemporary chemistry.
"In addition, the law of
the construction of 'atoms'
in matter of various densities
was shown. As this presentation
progressed we passed, almost
without my being aware of it,
to what might be called 'the
Earth octave' and so arrived
at the place from which we
had started--on earth.
"'In all that I have told
you,' Mr Gurdjieff continued,
'my aim was not to communicate
any new knowledge. On the contrary
I only wished to demonstrate that
the knowledge of certain laws
makes it possible for a man,
without moving from where
he is, to count, weigh
and measure all that
exists--both the
infinitely great
and the infinitely
small. I repeat:
everything in the
universe is material.
Ponder those words and
you will understand, at
least to some degree, why
I used the expression 'MORE
MATERIALISTIC THAN MATERIALISM' . . .
Now we have become acquainted
with the laws ruling the life
of the Microcosmos and have
returned to earth. Remember
once more . . . .
"AS ABOVE, SO BELOW."
"'I think even now and without
further explanation you would
not dispute the fact that the
life of individual man--the
Microcosmos--is ruled by this
same law. But let us demonstrate
this further, by taking a single
example in which certain details
will become clearer. Let us take
a particular question, the plan
of work of the human organism,
and examine it.'
"Mr Gurdjieff next drew a scheme
of the human body and compared it
to a three-storied factory, the
stories being represented by the
head, chest and abdomen. Taken
together the factory forms a
complete whole. This is an
octave of the first order,
similar to that with which
the examination of the
Macrocosmos began. Each
of the stories also
represents an entire
octave of the second
order, subordinate to
the first. Thus we have
three subordinate octaves
which are again similar to
those in the scheme of the
construction of the universe.
Each of the three stories receives
'food' of a suitable nature from
outside, assimilates it and
combines it with the
materials which have
already been processed,
and in this way the factory
functions to produce a certain
kind of material.
"'I must point out,' Mr Gurdjieff
said, 'that, although the design
of the factory is good and suitable
for production of this material,
because of the ignorance of its
top administration, it manages
the business very uneconomically.
What would be the situation of an
undertaking if, with a vast and
continuous consumption of
material, the greater part
of the production were to
go merely to the maintenance
of the factory and the
consumption and processing
of the material? The remainder
of the production is spent
uselessly and its purpose
unknown. It is necessary
to organize the business
in accordance with exact
knowledge; and it will
then bring in a large
net income which may
be spent at one's
discretion. Let us,
however, come back to
our scheme' . . .
and he explained that while
the food of the lower story
was man's meat and drink, air
was the food of the middle story,
and that of the upper story was
what could be called
'impressions.'
"All these three kinds of food,
representing matter of certain
densities and qualities, belong
to octaves of different orders.
"I could not refrain from
asking here, 'What about
thought?'
"'Thought is material as well
as everything else,' answered
Mr Gurdjieff. 'Methods exist
by means of which one can
prove not only this but
that thought, like all
other things, can be
weighed and measured.
Its density can be
determined, and
thus the thoughts
of an individual may
be compared with those
of the same men on other
occasions. One can define
all the qualities of thought.
I have already told you that
everything in the Universe
is material.'
"After that he showed how
these three kinds of food,
received in different parts
of the human organism, enter
at the starting points of the
corresponding octaves,
interconnected by a
certain process of
law; each of them
therefore represents
Do of the octave of its
own order. The laws of the
development of octaves are
the same everywhere.
For instance, Do of the food
octave coming into the stomach,
the third Do, passes through the
corresponding half-tone into Re,
and by way of the next passage
through a half-tone is further
converted into Mi. Mi, lacking
this half-tone, cannot, by way
of a natural development, pass
independently into Fa. It is
assisted by the air octave,
which enters the chest. As
already shown, this is an
octave of a higher order,
and its Do (the second Do),
having the necessary
half-tone for the
transition into
Re, appears to
connect up with
the Mi of the former
octave and transmute
into Fa. That is, it
plays the part of the
missing half-tone and
serves as a shock for
the further development
of the former octave.
"'We will not stop
now,' said Mr Gurdjieff,
'to examine the octave
beginning with the
second Do, nor that
of the first Do, which
enters at a definite place.
This would only complicate
the present situation. We
have now made sure of the
possibility of a further
development of the octave
under discussion, thanks to
the presence of the half-tone.
Fa passes through a half-tone
into Sol and in fact the material
received here appears to be the
salt of the human organism [the
Russian word for salt is SOL.]
This is the highest that can
be produced by it.' Reverting
to numbers, he again made his
thought clear in terms of
their combinations.
"'The further development of
the octave transfers Sol through
a half-tone into La, and the latter
through a half-tone into Si. Here
the octave again stops. A new
"shock" is required for the
passage of Si into the Do
of a new octave of the
human organism.
"'With what I have now
said,' Mr Gurdjieff went
on, 'and our conversation
about chemistry, you will
be able to draw some valuable
conclusions.'
"At this point, without
waiting to clarify a thought
which came into my head, I asked
something about the usefulness of
fasting.
"Mr Gurdjieff stopped speaking.
I was given a reproachful look
and I immediately realized clearly
how inappropriate my question was.
I wished to correct my mistake, but
had not time to do so, before Mr
Gurdjieff said:
"'I wish to show you one experiment,
which will make it clear to you,'
but after exchanging glances and
asking something, he said:
"'No, better later,' and after
a short silence continued:
"'I see that your attention
is tired, but I am already
almost at the end of what I
wanted to tell you today.
I had intended to touch
in a very general way upon
the course of the development
of man, but it is not so
important now. Let us
postpone conversation
about that until a
more favorable
occasion."
"'"May I conclude from
what you say," I asked,
"that you will sometimes
permit me to see you, and
converse on the questions
which interest me?"
"'Now that we have begun
these conversations,' he
said, 'I have no objection
to continuing them. Much
depends on you. What I
mean to say is I will
explain this to you
later in detail.'
Then, noticing
that I was
waiting for
an explanation,
'But not now,
some other time,'
he added. 'Now I
want to tell you
this. As everything
in the Universe is one,
so, consequently, everything
has equal rights, therefore
from this point of view
knowledge can be acquired
by a suitable and complete
study, no matter what the
starting point is. Only
one must know how to
"learn." What is nearest
to us is man; and you are
the nearest of all men to
yourself. Begin with the
study of yourself; remember
the saying "KNOW THYSELF."
It is possible that now
it will acquire a more
intelligent meaning
for you. To begin
with, I will help
you in the measure
of your own force.
I advise you to
remember well
the scheme
of the
human
organism
which I gave
you. We shall
sometimes return
to it in the future,
adding to its depth
every time. Now I
will leave you
alone for a
short time,
as I have a
small matter
to attend to.
I recommend that
you not puzzle your
brains over what we
have spoken about,
but give them a
short rest. Even
if you happen to
forget something,
I will remind you
of it afterwards.
Of course it would
be better if you did
not need to be reminded.
Accustom yourself to
forget nothing,
"'Now, have a cup
of coffee; it will
do you good.'
"When they had gone I
followed Mr Gurdjieff's
advice, and, pouring out
coffee, remained sitting.
I realized that Mr Gurdjieff
had concluded from the question
about fasting that my attention
was tired. And I recognized
that my thinking had
become feebler and
more restricted
by the end of
the conversation.
Therefore, in spite
of my strong desire
to look through all
the diagrams and numbers
once more, I decided to
give my head a rest, to
use Mr Gurdjieff's expression,
and sat with closed eyes trying
not to think of anything. But
the thoughts arose in spite
of my will, and I attempted
to drive them out.
"In about twenty minutes, I
was asked, 'Well, how are
you?' I had no time to
answer when I heard
the voice of Mr
Gurdjieff quite
close by,
saying to
someone:
"'Do as I have told
you and you will
see where the
mistake is.'
"Then, lifting the
carpet which hung over
the door, he came in.
Taking the same place
and attitude as before,
he turned toward me.
'I hope you have
rested--if only a
little. Let us talk
now of casual matters,
without any definite plan.'
"I told him that I wanted
to ask two or three questions
that had no immediate reference
to the subject of our conversation
but might make clearer the nature
of what he had said.
"You have quoted so much from
the data of contemporary science
that the question spontaneously
arises, 'Is the knowledge you
speak of accessible to an
ignorant, uneducated man?'
"'The material you refer
to was quoted only because
I spoke to you. You understand,
because you have a certain amount
of knowledge of these matters.
They helped you to understand
something better. They were
only given as examples. This
refers to the form of the
conversation but not to
its essence. Forms may be
very different. I will not
say anything now about the
role and significance of
contemporary science. This
question could be the sub-
ject of a separate conversation.
I will only say this--THAT THE
BEST EDUCATED SCHOLAR COULD
PROVE AN ABSOLUTE IGNORAMUS
COMPARED WITH AN ILLITERATE
SHEPHERD WHO POSSESSES
KNOWLEDGE. This sounds
paradoxical, but the
understanding of the
essence, over which
the former spends
long years of minute
investigation, will be
gained by the latter in
an incomparably fuller
degree during one day's
meditation. It is a
question of the way
of thinking, of the
"DENSITY OF THE THOUGHT."
This term does not convey
anything to you at present
but in time it will become
clear by itself. What else
do you want to ask?'