nner Exercises of Gurdjieff
This being-brain in the
contemporary three-brained
beings there is not localized
in ONE COMMON MASS, as is
proper to the presences of
all the other three-brained
beings of our Great Universe,
but is localized in parts,
according to what is called
`Specific Functioning,' and
each such part is localized
in a different place of their
whole planetary body.
"But although, in its
exterior form, this being-
center of theirs has now
variously placed concentrations,
nevertheless all its separate
functionings are correspondingly
connected with each other, so
that the sum total of these
scattered parts can function
exactly as in general it is
proper for it to function.
"They themselves call
these separate localizations
in their common presence
`nerve nodes.'
"It is interesting to notice
that most of the separate parts
of this being-brain are localized
in them, just in that place of
their planetary body where such
a normal being-brain should be,
namely, in the region of their
breast, and the totality of these
nerve-nodes in their breast, they
call the `Solar Plexus.'"
--Gurdjieff
--ch 17, arch absurd
--Beelzebub's Tales
" . . . in the whole
region of my spine
there began an intense,
almost unbearable itching
and in the very center of
my solar plexus an equally
unbearable colic, and after
a while these two mutually
stimulating sensations
gave way suddenly to a
peaceful inner state
such as I experienced
in later life only once,
when the ceremony of the
"GREAT INITIATION" into
the BROTHERHOOD of the
"MAKERS OF BUTTER FROM
AIR" was performed
over me."
--Gurdjieff
--ch 1, arousing of
--Beelzebub's Tales
Possible Foundations Of Inner Exercises
AGE Blake
http://www.gurdjieff-internet.com/article_details.php?ID=16&W=6
The present study begins with
notes of an exercise given by
Gurdjieff In New York (which he
describes in his Third Series of
Writings), which is reproduced
after our commentary. The
reader can then see for
herself whether our
analysis holds water.
Our purpose is to delineate
the essential characteristics
of this exercise to serve as a
guide to other exercises, such
as those developed by John Bennett
in later years from Gurdjieff's.
Gurdjieff himself explains many
things about 'attention', 'I Am'
and so on in his Third Series of
writings and we come to some of
these explanations at the very
end of our discussion.
---------------------------------
Outline
Gurdjieff refers to this exercise
as the "compromise" exercise. In
this exercise, attention is
divided between the breathing
and the head brain and the
results of this are
gathered into or
concentrated in the
solar plexus. Gurdjieff
says that this will enhance
the sense of 'I AM', which
he couples with what he
calls 'active mentation'.
Attention & Associations
In describing the exercise,
Gurdjieff makes a number of
statements about attention.
For 'real men' there is an
attention that can be divided
into two directions.
There are three
kinds of attention.
The attention of a real man
can be free of associations.
The attention of a real man would
be 'conscious'. The pragmatic test
is that such an attention can be
divided. The three kinds of
attention are referred to by
Gurdjieff as 'to sense, feel
and constate' - which we might
know more abstractly as sensing,
feeling and thinking.
Associations go on by themselves
and Gurdjieff says they not only
go in our sleep, when we dream,
but even after death! In describing
(conscious) attention, he says that
it can be concentrated away from
such automatic proceedings.
In the course of describing
the exercise, he tells his pupils
to concentrate their attention on
specific aspects of their
(experiential) organism. In
everyday life, we would not
do this. Though not specifically
mentioned in this description, we
should bear in mind the kind of
ideas he put forward in the
beginning of his teaching
about man as a 'factory',
taking in raw materials of
food, air and impressions and
transforming them (see in In
Search of the Miraculous by PD
Ouspensky). Part of this
transformation goes
automatically, by itself,
but there are stages that
require conscious work. This
is where the attention of a
real man comes in.
Warning
Both at the beginning and at
the end of his description,
Gurdjieff warns against auto-
suggestion. He also warns against
excessive zeal and 'self-enthusing'.
In contemporary colloquial language,
we might say that if someone is
'getting off' on this exercise,
then it is going wrong. Gurdjieff
is emphasising that doing this
exercise should have nothing
to do with generating emotional
experiences. The real results
accumulate gradually through
repeated practice.
In modern times, inner exercises
of various kinds have been taken
up precisely because they give rise
to emotional experiences. It is
forgotten that, for example, in
Buddhism Mara the 'evil one' was
the name given to bliss experienced
in meditation! Gurdjieff is also
following the core tradition of
mysticism in Christianity, which
tended to reject 'experiences'
as distractions. He makes the
exercise seem like shovelling
coal!
In a technical sense, 'bliss'
(as in the ananda of the Hindu
sat-chit-ananda-being-consciousness-
bliss) is always a descending phenomenon,
which means that a higher energy is
transforming down into lower
energies. Gurdjieff's exercise
appears to have the intent of an
ascending process. Flying in the
face of his repeated assertion that
'man cannot do' he claims that this
exercise will enable his pupils to
"do", which may be to build up a
substance giving the possibility
of doing.
Here we will simply remark that
John Bennett described such a
possibility in terms of his own
language, drawn from science, of
'potential energy'. Energy withdrawn
from actualisation, from anything
happening, enables real choices
to be made, or voluntary action
taken (see his series of
lectures recently
republished under
the title
Making a
Soul).
Assimilating Air
In this exercise, Gurdjieff says,
the attention is divided into two
parts. The first part concentrates
on breathing: becoming aware of the
air coming into the lungs and then
leaving, but not entirely, since
some of it is assimilated. The
air that is assimilated 'flows
in my presence'. Now, it is
likely that Gurdjieff was not
referring to oxygen here as the
part of the air that is assimilated
(there is a tantalising passage about
the active ingredients in the air,
which is deliberately broken off
and left unfinished, in the
Third Series).
In later years, John Bennett would
explain that there is an 'active
substance' in the air--he even at
one time said that it can be
derived from the sun - and
that this active substance
can only be assimilated into
us if it is taken in consciously.
The underlying reference is to
the theory of the 'food factory'
we mentioned before: in order
for the second-being food or
'air' to be transformed it
requires at a certain point
assistance from (intentional)
impressions - i.e. conscious
attention.
It is widely known that awareness
of our breathing changes our state.
But the idea that it can produce a
certain substance in us is very
much Gurdjieff's alone. John
Bennett speaks of it as prana -
a Hindu term that is usually
translated as something like
'life-force'. Needless to say,
there is no evidence whatsoever
for there being such a substance,
besides the changes in state that
are subjective and we are even
warned about by Gurdjieff
himself.
The Mental Component
By concentrating on the breathing,
the pull of mental associations has
become weak. However, next 'the other
half' of the attention is put onto the
'mind' or, as Gurdjieff also calls it
'my head brain'. He says that with
practice we can detect something
arising there from our
associations, at first
faintly. Nowhere does he
say what this 'something'
is. He even says that "what
arises in the brain is not
important"; instead he says
that there should be a flow
in to the solar plexus.
The austerity of language
should be remarked. In this
case it is most fitting since,
in general, the substance of the
head brain is taken as abstract.
However, there is a sense in
which we can take what arises
and what flows as in some way
being the 'substance underlying
associations, thoughts or
knowing'.
Solar Plexus
What flows in my presence from
the air and what comes from my
head brain combine together in
the solar plexus. Gurdjieff does
not say that they blend together
or make any statement about their
conjunction. The location of the
solar plexus is only explained
indirectly when Gurdjieff says
that the exercise increases the
strength of his 'I AM'. Someone
who actually does the exercise
can see what this means for
herself. Speculations based
on the chakra system tend to
be totally misleading since
Gurdjieff never used this
system or made reference
to it. Nor does he make
use of other Asian
concepts such as
the 'stove of
the belly'.
What is striking is that the
Desert Fathers practised bringing
their thoughts into the region of
their navels (hence the origin of
the phrase 'navel-gazers') and
readers of the immensely
influential Philokalia may
recognise the similarities.
In Gurdjieff's own system, it
is fair to say that 'I' would
be most associated with the
head brain and 'AM' with
the solar plexus.
Proceeding Automatically
More than once, Gurdjieff says
that the exercise or part of it
is proceeding in him by itself or
automatically. It is worth taking
note of this. While Gurdjieff is
talking, the exercise is building
and proceeding in him. But, how
can it proceed automatically
when the whole emphasis has
been on concentrating the
attention?
It would confuse the clarity of
the exercise to say very much about
this; but it seems to us that it is
important to observe that concentrating
the attention is not really a matter of
effort. Nor is it a matter of 'I am
doing this'. There is more a sense
of an impersonal act proceeding by
itself. One intends something such
as a flow from the head brain to
the solar plexus and then one
has to allow it to happen as
it will: it is no good 'doing'
anything to try and make it
happen. It is as if the act
of seeing creates what is
to be seen.
Trying to describe and explain
what happens can generate metaphysical
sickness, and a stark simplicity is
called for in the doing of the
exercise. However, it is
important to grasp that
what Gurdjieff calls
'automatic' has two
sides to it.
Intended Results
Gurdjieff says that the practice
of this exercise by his pupils is
"only a preparation to have an 'I'"
but in his own case it provides 'food'
for his 'I'. The task for the pupils is
to recognise the two sources - the flow
from the head brain and the assimilation
from the air. We have already mentioned
that he also said it would enable
people to 'do' or have the
possibility of doing as
well as the wish to do.
LOSE YOURSELF TO FIND YOURSELF
We want to draw attention here
to a common feature of Gurdjieff's
methods, which might be expressed as:
first detach, then divide and then
unite into a new whole. What can be
taught or imparted is something
about detachment and division.
But the new unification
cannot be taught. As long
as people remain followers
of the instructions, they
remain divided. No one can
tell them to unite themselves,
to 'make' I AM in themselves.
Gurdjieff suggests that he
unites himself and then
leaves it there.
His almost final statement about
the exercise is that it will enable
his pupils to have 'real active
mentation'. This may be the key
to the whole thing. The very
idea that inner exercises
should be devoted to
something that is akin
to thinking is anathema
to most so-called 'spiritual'
seekers at the present time. It
is also a side of Gurdjieff that
has been strangely neglected by
those professing to follow his
ideas. Though Gurdjieff's active
mentation is not just our usual
'thinking' it is still
conscious, willed
direction based on
understanding and is
what thinking ought to
be.
Another way of regarding
active mentation is as
'thinking with the
whole of oneself'.
Essential Features
It is useful to make a summary
of the essential features of this
exercise. Readers may differ with
us on our choices and interpretations.
Such a summary may also be tested
against other exercises (as we
will do in the following essay).
At the outset, we have to state
that it is our contention that
such an exercise is integrally
connected with the rest of
Gurdjieff's teaching,
particularly with his
theories of human structure
and process. We believe that
his account of the assimilation
and transformation of the three
'foods' of food, air and
impressions is of paramount
importance. The general
inference from this
teaching is that
conscious attention
can affect the process
of transformation; in
particular, to produce
'substances' that would
not otherwise be made.
These substances share in the
characteristic of enablement:
if we have them, we can 'do'
and if we do not then wanting
to do is just wishful thinking.
In a word, these substances turn
our view of ourselves as free,
whole, creative beings from
fantasy into reality. We spoke
of 'wishful thinking' and might
consider that such substances
when added to the equation
produce a real result:
thinking + wish +
substance = real
doing.
1 The purpose of such an
exercise is to produce
an enabling substance
(or energy) that can
make life more real.
2 It depends on exercising a
free attention that can be
divided into at least two
parts.
3 There is an energy or substance
that can be assimilated or made
available to us by bringing
attention onto our breathing.
4 In a perhaps similar way, there
is an energy or substance that
can be released from the
thinking process or head
brain by careful
attention.
5 Such energies can be combined
together to produce a new
sense of wholeness or
'I-Amness'.
The 'sense' of new wholeness that
is posited at the end of the exercise
is the most important 'proof' of the
efficacy of the exercise. But, as we
commented, it is the most problematic -
not least because it has to be self-
defining. However, during the course
of the exercise, it is possible for
us to test out and explore the
meaning of points 2, 3 and 4.
These features give us a
chance to struggle with
our convictions. We just
have to come to terms with
how things work out in us
when we try to follow the
instructions. We have to
decide what is real in
our experience.
There is no way of knowing whether
what happens to one person is the
same as to another. Each will
describe their experience in
different terms. We have
adopted the method of
'experienting' to take
account of this, which
has the advantage of
providing mutual
support without the
imposition of any one
person's models of the
experience.
Experienting also follows the
situation exemplified by Gurdjieff
himself in describing the exercise,
where it is clear - and even stated
by him - that the exercise can be
working in him as he speaks about
it [see below on 'Transmitting
Exercises'].
In 'experienting' every participant
is encouraged to articulate the process
going on in her or him while it is taking
place. At first this feels like an added
difficulty and an immense distraction.
But it facilitates detachment from
emotional experiences (see
Gurdjieff's warning) and can
also assist in the end, through
practice, in attaining the condition
indicated by Gurdjieff of the exercise
'proceeding automatically'.
The five essential features we have
listed all belong to what can be
called a 'psycho-cosmology'. It
is difficult to establish whether
knowing about this is an integral
part of the exercise or not. One
imagines that Gurdjieff's pupils
were well aware of the background
to the exercise they were being
shown. The exercise can be done
without knowing anything about
the 'food factory' model but
would it be the same?
Gurdjieff gives the
essentials without
any appeal to theory
but it would be hard
to put it all together
without some theoretical
support.
We tentatively, then,
add a sixth feature:
6. To constate and reason on
the purpose and meaning of the
exercise, with the provisos "don't
imagine things" and "don't be the
slaves of the data you have
within yourselves for auto-
suggestion".
---------------------------------
The Exercise as given by
Mr. G. (with some
minimal editing)
This version differs slightly
from the text given in the
Third Series
The totality of man's attention
received from the whole of him,
from all his spiritualised parts,
he can divide into two directions.
For real man there is one attention.
Only this attention can be divided
into two directions. In general
if the sources of man's attention
are taken into account, there are
three kinds of attention. You must
first understand and then
recognise the difference.
When this attention is
concentrated, then our
associations are 'in
galoshes'.
Associations can never stop.
If they would stop men would
die. Associations always flow.
Even after death they continue
to flow by momentum. Only when
attention is seriously occupied,
associations are not constated;
all the same they flow
automatically. Even in
sleep they continue and
are sometimes remembered-
this is what constitutes
dreams. Those who remember
their dreams were only half
asleep. If a man really
sleeps, his attention
also sleeps.
Real man has one attention.
When this is concentrated
seriously somewhere, whether
on his body or on something
outside, and all the forces
of his attention are
concentrated, his
associations do not
hinder him. For example
I am now looking at L.,
and my attention is
directed on my right
foot; so although I
look, I see only
automatically, my
attention being
elsewhere.
I will now show you that new
exercise, the one to which is
attached the risk I spoke of,
the "compromise" exercise.
It is a serious experiment; many
of you have such data in you for
auto-suggestion that impressions
may be obtained which will be the
result of some kind of self-
hypnotism.
If you are now a nonentity, you
may become a thousand times more
so. You might, if you will excuse
my using this word, "stink". Be
careful with the experiment. It
is not quality that is necessary,
but quantity. Do it often. Don 't
try to get absolute results. Make
repeated efforts. Then only little
by little, can you actualize results.
Then only will you be able to "do".
And parallel with wishing to "do",
there will arise in you the
possibility of "doing".
Do this without excessive zeal,
without self-enthusing, which is
a very harmful property. If you
repeat this exercise often, your
auto-suggestiveness will diminish.
This is the exercise.
Outwardly, at the first glance, this
exercise is simple. For instance, you
see, I sit here in my usual posture. I
am dividing my attention. But no one
can see this inner process. I divide
my attention consciously into two
parts. With one part I now sense,
feel and constate simultaneously
with one conscious concentration.
Now I breathe. I feel that
something happening to the
air that I breath in. Part
of it goes in, part goes out,
and a part remains. My organism,
that is my lungs, take a part,
then a part leaves and a part
remains. I feel what is
happening in my lungs.
When I breath in, part
of the air is assimilated
and I feel its flow all over
the body. It goes everywhere.
I keep my attention fixed; I
feel, I sense how this air is
being assimilated in me and
how it flows in my presence.
It is not necessary to find
out where it goes, it just
flows in my presence.
One part of my attention is
occupied with this - breathing,
assimilating and flowing of the
air. Already my mental
associations are very
weak. I notice them
sometimes, by the way,
because part of my
attention is free,
and is able to
notice mental
associations.
Now I will concentrate the other
half of my attention on my mind,
my head brain. I feel that in my
head-brain something arises from
the total of the flow of associations
there. I don't know what is taking
place there, but there is
something, and with my
half attention I notice
this very thin something
arise, so small, so light,
so thin, that nobody feels
it the first few times, not
until constant practice gives
the feeling. I know this
subjectively because I
have practised it. I
feel, I sense, l constate,
that something arises in my
head-brain. All the time, of
course, the other half of my
attention is occupied with
the breathing process. Even
while speaking, this
exercise is being
automatically
done.
Now I direct my attention to
help this something in my brain
to flow towards my solar plexus.
What arises in the brain is not
important. What is important is
that the something that arises
there should flow into the
solar plexus. Now I feel
how it flows. My attention
is fully occupied and I don't
see any more associations. All
my attention is occupied with
feeling, sensing, and
assimilating the flow
of air and also with
this arising in my
head-brain.
This flow of assimilated air,
and this something which arises
in my head brain, I specially,
consciously, with my wish,
concentrate to let it flow
into my solar plexus. Now, by
the way I feel and constate that
I breathe, I assimilate and that
this flow goes to the solar plexus.
And all the time the flow from the
air I breathe and the flow from my
head-associations go to the solar
plexus although they issue from
different sources.
For me personally, at the same time,
I feel very strongly that I AM. I feel
that I AM ten times stronger. My "I"
takes in this food more intensely,
but for you, at the present moment,
do not do this exercise in order to
be stronger. For you this exercise
is only a preparation to have an
"I" and so that you should
constate the two sources
from which this "I" can
arise. For me it gives
food to my "I". It makes
it stronger, so that now
I am not "tail of donkey".
I AM.
But you can not yet use this
exercise to make yourself stronger;
you must first learn and constate
the two sources from which this
possibility can arise, to have
a real "I" - from air and from
mentation, even automatic
mentation; and then, when
you will have practised
this exercise a great
deal, you may be able
to have possibilities
for real active mentation.
And then with real active
mentation, the "I" can
become stronger.
Enough. I stop and let these
processes proceed in me automatically.
Now, without titillation without
philosophizing and manipulation,
try to understand the total of
all this and formulate it
according to your
subjective
understanding,
according to
whatever kind
of idiot you
are.
Then do [it].
Don't imagine things.
Don't be the slave of the
data you have in yourselves
for autosuggestion, but try
very hard.
We have at hand another report
of an exercise dictated by Mr
Gurdjieff, this time dated to
1939. It is instructive to
read this account in the
light of our previous
discussion. We add
some comments
afterwards.
Exercise by Mr. Gurdjieff
From hand-written note 1939
Fifteen minutes relax. Break
tempo of ordinary life before
doing exercise.
Breathe in - 'I'.
Breathe out - 'am'.
With all three parts do.
Not just mind.
Feeling and body also.
Make strong! Not easy thing.
When breathe out, imagine part
of air stays in and flows to
corresponding place. Where
flow, how flow, that is its
business. Only feel that part
remains. Before beginning
exercise say: 'I wish to
keep this substance for
myself'.
Without this conscious and
voluntary labour on your part
nothing at all will be coated.
All in time will evaporate.
Just this small property in
blood makes possible very big
result if done with conscious
labour. Without this, one
month you must work for
such result.
When doing, must be careful not
to change exterior. It is inner
thing. No one need know. Outside
keep same exterior. Inside you do.
Not hold breath. Just breathe in
and out. Of course, to change
thinking will take time.
Automatically breath will
adjust. To be able to do
exercise not lopsidedly
you must put whole
attention on it.
To arouse feeling, interest
and attention, for co-operation
you must think following before
beginning: 'I am now about to
begin this exercise. With full
attention I will draw in my
breath, saying "I" and
sensing the whole of
myself. I wish very
much to do this in
order that I may
digest air.'
To arouse body to co-operate,
take corresponding posture. Inner
tension of forces. Mobilise your
centers for working together for
this aim.
In breathing, imagine something
flows, like when inhaling cigarette.
I am now about to begin this exercise,
which I have been fortunate enough to
learn from Mr. Gurdjieff, and which
will enable me with the aid of
conscious labour, to coat higher
bodies in myself from active
elements in the air I
breathe.
First of all, it is clear that
this exercise constitutes only
a part of the one we reviewed
before (the 'compromise' exercise
as Gurdjieff called it). This part
concerns awareness of breathing and,
in particular, of part of the indrawn
air being assimilated and flowing to
its 'corresponding place'. It is
important to note that these
exercises had a somewhat
modular character in that
more simple exercises
could be combined to
form more complex
ones.
Though he does not use the
same words - sense, feel and
constate - that we encountered
before, the intent is exactly
the same: "with all three
parts do".
He emphasises wish in this
exercise, and speaks of "feeling,
interest and attention" instead
of just attention.
An important word in this
description is "imagine".
Of particular interest is his
comments on preparation and
disposition. These include:
Fifteen minutes relaxation
"to break the tempo of
ordinary life"
Taking a "corresponding posture"
for the body to co-operate [as we
learned this from John Bennett, it
was to sit with erect posture with
the hands on the knees, in balance
and not slouched]
Having a clear mental intent to do
the exercise and realise that it is
for the conscious 'digestion' of the
air that will make a "coating" for an
inner body. [Gurdjieff also implies
there should be a feeling of
gratitude towards himself
for providing the exercise].
In our essay on 'Inner Exercises'
we spoke of the three stages of
preparation, concentration and
realisation. Here we see preparation
pointing to the engagement of the whole
of oneself in the act of concentration.
In this instance, the preparation
includes an intellectual
understanding of what the
exercise is for. In our
previous comments we left
this open as a question: Is
it necessary to know the 'theory'
behind the exercise? Now we see
that the answer to this
question is 'Yes'.
It is for the person doing the
exercise to decide whether what
is happening in connection with
his breathing is 'just' her
imagination or whether this
imagination is simply the
means of realising what is
taking place 'because of'
imagination. In his teaching,
John Bennett used to caution
against using the concept of
'just imagination' implying
that imagination was not
necessarily indulging in
fiction but a real action
that could produce
definite results
in us.
The supposed result of the
exercise, however, is something
out of sight. As far as we know,
no one supposes that it is possible
to observe 'coating' - which would
be tantamount to observing the
formation of one's soul. It is
in the realm of being or 'what
is' and cannot be seen as a
process. In our analysis in
'Inner Exercises' we equated
it with samadhi for the
reason that no
observation is
possible. The
dilemma then is
that we have to
take this result
on faith because
there is no way in
which we can know it
directly for ourselves,
which contradicts the
basic foundation of
these methods on
verifying for
oneself.
John Bennett appeared to have
claimed that he could perceive
such results. We remember him
once remarking to a lady that
she now had her kesdjan body,
which was much to her surprise
since she had no sense of it
herself!
---------------------------------
We should emphasise that the use
of breathing advocated by Gurdjieff
did not involve changing the breathing
in any way. The breathing tends to
change of itself and this should be
allowed to happen in a natural and
easy way. Gurdjieff was against
altering the natural tempo of
breathing, instead emphasising
the supreme importance of
awareness and attention as
changing the very substance
of the air itself in us.
---------------------------------
In the next section, we look at
other features of the exercises
which have come down to us over
the years. We also take into
account some of the material
to be found in Ouspensky's
book In Search of the
Miraculous. Needless to
say, attempting any of
these things at random
is of little
consequence.
Bennett's Struggle in Paris
In the book written by his widow,
Elizabeth, Idiots In Paris, we can
read of John Bennett's struggle with
a basic exercise apparently given
him by Gurdjieff.
Though we cannot presume to know
the whole of this, he does provide
an outline of what it entailed. Very
simply, he would kneel with arms out
sideways, fixing his attention on a
fixed spot on the wall. The
accumulating sensation (even
pain perhaps) in his arms would
establish 'Am' and the mental
focus would provide 'I'.
Gurdjieff seemed to have been
consistently concerned with 'I
Am' exercises. Readers of In
Search of the Miraculous may
remember his account of monks
in Mount Athos who would
pronounce the word "I" while
noticing where it 'sounded' in
them (see loc. cit. page 304).
For some it would be in the
chest and others in the head -
or even above the head. He also
mentions that they would adopt a
certain posture, such as kneeling
with the arms lifted and bent at
the elbows.
"The purpose of this exercise is
to feel 'I' every moment a man
thinks of himself and to bring
'I' from one center to another."
One of the reasons for discussing
this exercise is that it makes very
clear that Gurdjieff was not at all
concerned with what is now generally
called 'meditation'. John Bennett
always made it clear that the
exercises derived from
Gurdjieff were active,
while meditation was
essentially receptive;
a distinction that is
discussed in his book The
Sevenfold Work. We would do
the active exercises in the
morning and the receptive
ones at night.
If we were to attempt a
single simplistic formula
for the Gurdjieff exercises,
it would be:
To realise 'I Am' including the
generation or accumulation of
energies enabling 'I' to 'Am'.
In doing an exercise, the person
would have to draw on the whole of
themselves. Thus, Gurdjieff would
speak of integrating the impulses
of 'I can, 'I wish', and 'I am'
as can-wish-am. This was nothing
but a direct application of his
teaching that man consists of four
personalities. These are now only
crudely understood in terms of body,
feelings, mind and 'I'. Behind this
model stands the model of the food
factory, and the implications
stemming from correspondences
such as: body-food, feelings-
air, mind-impressions.
Relaxing and Filling
From the early days in Russia,
Gurdjieff taught relaxation and
sensing (see In Search of the
Miraculous pp. 350-1). There he
initiated the practice followed
more or less since of beginning
relaxation starting from the
muscles of the face. He also
showed how to 'feel' (i.e.
sense in fact) any part of
the body at will. The exercise
in 'circular sensation' shown
around 1917 became Bennett's
'Six Point Exercise' used at
Sherborne more than fifty
years later.
It is not documented when Gurdjieff
explicitly introduced the practice
of 'filling', though it became
'The' exercise for many after
his death. In 'filling' we
bring sensation energy into
the body. Starting with the
feet. Thus, relaxation goes
from top to toe and filling
from toe to top. The head is
the last thing to be filled
with sensation.
The deliberate sensing and movement
of sensation is at first an astonishing
thing. As far as we know, no one besides
Gurdjieff has drawn attention to this as
a fundamental practice of voluntary
experience. It predates biofeedback
by half a century. It is also
intriguing, as Ouspensky points
out, that none of this is to be
found in yogic practice.
In teaching about relaxation and
filling it was always emphasised
that attention should never be
drawn into the inner organs
such as the heart, liver,
spleen, etc. This advice is
echoed in e.g. autogenic
therapy. The reason for
it is that unskilled
attention can alter the
tempo of functioning or
other features of the organ.
In general, Gurdjieff was
against any altering of
diet, chewing,
breathing, etc.
Bennett's arms out sideways (a
practice that certainly came from
Gurdjieff) will inevitably produce
sensation! It must be emphasised over
and over again that Gurdjieff taught
that we do not need to get beyond
the physical because we are not
in it yet - and the first step
is to attain the physical!
Stillness
Besides keeping the body still,
there was also taught a way of
having an inner stillness as
well. This concerned two things.
The first was the 'balancing of
the three centers' and the second
was 'non-emanation'. The 'all-three-
centred-balanced-state' was as it
sounds, bringing the three
centres into equal
attention.
[As an aside, we might refer to
the Samkhya system in which the
primal nature or prakriti consists
of the three gunas in equal proportions.
In this condition, nature no longer
obstructs or hides the 'witness',
the spirit or purusha. Samkhya
is the closest equivalent of the
Gurdjieff system in Asian teaching,
as was pointed out by Sri Anirvan in
Lizelle Reymond's book To Live Within
(readers should attempt to find the
Coombe Springs Press edition since
the current one is lacking some
material).]
The non-emanating state is alluded to
in the exercise of the Immovable Point
discussed in our previous essay. In
this, we imagine that our psyche is
like a cloud surrounding the physical
body through which 'vibrations' come
and go. In the non-emanating state
this flow of vibrations is calmed
down and diminished. A more modern
description would be 'containment'.
The state is relaxed but not
distracted.
The two - 'balanced' and
'non-emanating' - amount
to the same thing in
practice (at least,
we have found so).
Conscious stealing
One of the many things that
Gurdjieff taught was that there
were concentrations of energy that
included higher energies - we might
also say now, that included information.
He even suggested that there were such
concentrations on the scale of the
solar system, embodying 'images'
of the higher principles. On Earth,
he said that there were
concentrations of energy
around places associated
with sacred individuals.
The four usually referred
to were: Lhasa (Saint Lama),
Mecca (Muhammad), Benares
(Buddha) and Jerusalem
(Jesus). It was possible
to 'download' we might say
from such concentrations into
ourselves for our own work.
This was associated with the
concept of 'conscious stealing',
which postulated that we could
just 'take' something if we
could really make use of it.
How we might contact and draw
into ourselves substance from
such concentrations cannot easily
be described here. Suffice it to
say that we have to visualise
such concentrations and
connect with them by
means of a 'thread',
whence we bring their
substance into
locations in
our bodies.
This linking with concentrations
of energy associated with places
extended to deliberately bringing
higher energies into 'non-sacred'
places such as London. This we did
only once with John Bennett. It is
mentioned here to emphasise this
side of the exercises: making
connections with places and
energies outside of
ourselves.
Sacred exercises
How the exercises developed with
John Bennett is largely unknown. He
introduced material from Sufi, Hindu
and Taoist sources, though it is our
contention that he remained true to
Gurdjieff's method. We speak of
sacred exercises here because as
he developed or taught them, some
of the exercises were religious in
character. In 'The Eye of the Needle'
exercise, for example, we were to
realise what it is of us that can
pass into the sacred realm.
We have no evidence whether Gurdjieff
taught an exercise similar to 'The
Master'. In this as in some other
exercises, the attempt is made
to connect with the 'Real "I"'
employing means that treat this
'I' as a sacred image. There are
demanding tasks of visualisation
involved.
Transmitting Exercises
In the Third Series (Life Is
Real Then, Only when 'I Am')
Gurdjieff explains:
". . . I was convinced of the
impossibility of exactly explaining
and fully formulating in words the
various fine points of the
procedures of any intentional
experiencings and exercises for
the purpose of self-perfection . . .
knowing at the same time of the
existence among our remote
ancestors of a special
method which was then
called the 'principle
of illustrative inculcation'
for the purpose of better
taking in new information,
I therefore introduced
this method also in
general program . ."
Illustrative inculcation means
taking people through the exercise
while doing it oneself, so that the
person teaching the exercise is in
actual contact with what happens in
it as he speaks. Besides making the
explanations more authentic, there
may be a biochemical factor. It
seems from recent research that
the action of peptides in one
person can affect those in
others who are near. The
peptides are critical for
the intercommunication
between the three main
physical systems:
limbic-digestive;
respiratory-
circulatory
and neural-
brain.
Similarly, the instructor may be
able to tune in to his audience
and adjust what he says to suit
their level of experience.
Final Comments
We propose that there is a basic
Gurdjieffian 'I Am' exercise in
which the subjective (I) and the
objective (am) are fused. No one
else has this basic exercise.
Ramana Maharshi's 'Who am I?'
is not the same thing.
To fuse I with Am we have to bring
into play the three realms that are
roughly indicated by thought, feeling
and sensation. This bringing into play
also minimises distraction from mental
associations. The exercises are done
while sitting still. We do not know
whether Gurdjieff taught them to be
done with eyes closed or open.
The exercises require preparation
and right disposition to begin,
including some background
understanding of what they
are for. The exercises are
not concerned with generating
emotional experiences but with
'making a substance'. This
substance is characterised
somewhat as an 'ableness',
such as in being able to
"do".
The exercises are embedded in deep
views of reality, or psycho-cosmologies.
The latter term means an understanding of
the world that also makes account of
human experience and possibilities.
Gurdjieff connects his exercises
with active mentation. This might
mean that it is possible to 'do'
them while 'thinking' as long as
there is sensation as well.
They are also related to some kind
of practice 'in life'. Gurdjieff seems
to advocate 'returning to oneself' -
like touching base again - in his
well known but obscure self-remembering
("to feel 'I' when he thinks of himself").
A typical experience of self-remembering
is like a clean wave of energy sweeping
through oneself that it is difficult to
sustain without turning it into
something of less value. There
can also be a sense of the
body that is very new and
different from usual.
The exercises can become very
complex, but everything depends
on being able to become aware of
energies or just 'something' - and
to locate and direct them. Sensation,
wish and attention are key. If anything,
attention is the 'Philosopher's Stone',
by which the enabling energies are
generated.
---------------------------------
Extracts from a section on
'Attention' in John Bennett's
book Deeper Man
"To be effective, the will needs
an energy that is like itself. Man
has been given such an energy and
with this he can set himself free.
"Many people believe this energy to
be thought or consciousness; but it
takes very little to realize that
something deeper stimulates thought
and that consciousness does not
initiate anything. Neither thought
nor consciousness are a true
beginning. In every act of
will there is a beginning
of something new and the
only thing that corresponds
to an act of will is
creative energy. . . .
"At the moment of bringing
attention to something there
is no effort; effort only comes
in when we try to sustain our
attention. . . .
"Work with attention enters into
all work on oneself. It is the ground
on which a great deal is based. If we
cannot tell the difference between
voluntary and involuntary attention,
we are living in a dream world."
(pages 34-6)
Gurdjieff on the possible
transmutation of the physical
body, from In Search of the
Miraculous:
"The whole of the physical body,
all its cells, are, so to speak,
permeated by emanations of the
matter si 12. And when they have
become sufficiently saturated the
matter si 12 begins to crystallise.
The crystallisation of this matter
constitutes the formation of the
'astral body'.
"The transition of matter si 12
into emanations and the gradual
saturation of the whole organism
by it is what alchemy calls
'transmutation' or transformation.
It is just this transformation of
the physical body into the astral
that alchemy called the
transformation of 'coarse'
into the 'fine' or the
transformation of base
metals into gold."
(page 256)
Gurdjieff on attention, feeling
and sensing, from Life is Real
Only Then. When "I Am":
" . . . it is indispensable first
to learn to divide one's entire
attention in three approximately
equal parts, and to concentrate
each separate part simultaneously
for a definite time on three
diverse inner or outer
'objects'.
"For the possibility of a
practical achieving of this
aim, in the same mentioned
detailed program [of G's
Institute] were indicated
a series of exercises
under the name 'soil
preparing'. . . .
"First, all one's attention must
be divided approximately into three
equal parts; each of these parts must
be concentrated on one of the three
fingers of the right or left hand,
for instance the forefinger, the
third and the fourth, constating
in one finger - the result
proceeding in it of the
organic process called
'sensing', in another -
the result of the process
called 'feeling', and with
the third - making any
rhythmical movement and
at the same time automatically
conducting with the flowing of
mental association a sequential
or varied manner of counting. . .
" . . you Americans . . . totally
lack any understanding of the
difference between two
entirely distinct
impulses of an
average man,
namely, between
the impulses of
'feeling' and
'sensing'."
After connecting feeling with
the solar plexus and sensing
with the spine, he goes on
to urge his audience:
". . . to understand the sense
and significance of this exercise
[exercise 4 in a series], without
expecting to obtain any concrete
results."
And he speaks of these exercises
as "required for the acquisition
of one's own individuality"
(pages 112-5)
On the solar plexus
". . . a man who already has
his real I, his will . . . pronounces
aloud or to himself the words 'I am',
then there always proceeds in him, as
it is called, 'solar plexus', a so to
say 'reverberation', that is,
something like a vibration, a
feeling, or something of the
sort. .. . . without this even
if only imagined experiencing of
the reverberation, the pronouncing
aloud or to oneself of the words
'I am' will have no significance
at all . ."
contemporary three-brained
beings there is not localized
in ONE COMMON MASS, as is
proper to the presences of
all the other three-brained
beings of our Great Universe,
but is localized in parts,
according to what is called
`Specific Functioning,' and
each such part is localized
in a different place of their
whole planetary body.
"But although, in its
exterior form, this being-
center of theirs has now
variously placed concentrations,
nevertheless all its separate
functionings are correspondingly
connected with each other, so
that the sum total of these
scattered parts can function
exactly as in general it is
proper for it to function.
"They themselves call
these separate localizations
in their common presence
`nerve nodes.'
"It is interesting to notice
that most of the separate parts
of this being-brain are localized
in them, just in that place of
their planetary body where such
a normal being-brain should be,
namely, in the region of their
breast, and the totality of these
nerve-nodes in their breast, they
call the `Solar Plexus.'"
--Gurdjieff
--ch 17, arch absurd
--Beelzebub's Tales
" . . . in the whole
region of my spine
there began an intense,
almost unbearable itching
and in the very center of
my solar plexus an equally
unbearable colic, and after
a while these two mutually
stimulating sensations
gave way suddenly to a
peaceful inner state
such as I experienced
in later life only once,
when the ceremony of the
"GREAT INITIATION" into
the BROTHERHOOD of the
"MAKERS OF BUTTER FROM
AIR" was performed
over me."
--Gurdjieff
--ch 1, arousing of
--Beelzebub's Tales
Possible Foundations Of Inner Exercises
AGE Blake
http://www.gurdjieff-internet.com/article_details.php?ID=16&W=6
The present study begins with
notes of an exercise given by
Gurdjieff In New York (which he
describes in his Third Series of
Writings), which is reproduced
after our commentary. The
reader can then see for
herself whether our
analysis holds water.
Our purpose is to delineate
the essential characteristics
of this exercise to serve as a
guide to other exercises, such
as those developed by John Bennett
in later years from Gurdjieff's.
Gurdjieff himself explains many
things about 'attention', 'I Am'
and so on in his Third Series of
writings and we come to some of
these explanations at the very
end of our discussion.
---------------------------------
Outline
Gurdjieff refers to this exercise
as the "compromise" exercise. In
this exercise, attention is
divided between the breathing
and the head brain and the
results of this are
gathered into or
concentrated in the
solar plexus. Gurdjieff
says that this will enhance
the sense of 'I AM', which
he couples with what he
calls 'active mentation'.
Attention & Associations
In describing the exercise,
Gurdjieff makes a number of
statements about attention.
For 'real men' there is an
attention that can be divided
into two directions.
There are three
kinds of attention.
The attention of a real man
can be free of associations.
The attention of a real man would
be 'conscious'. The pragmatic test
is that such an attention can be
divided. The three kinds of
attention are referred to by
Gurdjieff as 'to sense, feel
and constate' - which we might
know more abstractly as sensing,
feeling and thinking.
Associations go on by themselves
and Gurdjieff says they not only
go in our sleep, when we dream,
but even after death! In describing
(conscious) attention, he says that
it can be concentrated away from
such automatic proceedings.
In the course of describing
the exercise, he tells his pupils
to concentrate their attention on
specific aspects of their
(experiential) organism. In
everyday life, we would not
do this. Though not specifically
mentioned in this description, we
should bear in mind the kind of
ideas he put forward in the
beginning of his teaching
about man as a 'factory',
taking in raw materials of
food, air and impressions and
transforming them (see in In
Search of the Miraculous by PD
Ouspensky). Part of this
transformation goes
automatically, by itself,
but there are stages that
require conscious work. This
is where the attention of a
real man comes in.
Warning
Both at the beginning and at
the end of his description,
Gurdjieff warns against auto-
suggestion. He also warns against
excessive zeal and 'self-enthusing'.
In contemporary colloquial language,
we might say that if someone is
'getting off' on this exercise,
then it is going wrong. Gurdjieff
is emphasising that doing this
exercise should have nothing
to do with generating emotional
experiences. The real results
accumulate gradually through
repeated practice.
In modern times, inner exercises
of various kinds have been taken
up precisely because they give rise
to emotional experiences. It is
forgotten that, for example, in
Buddhism Mara the 'evil one' was
the name given to bliss experienced
in meditation! Gurdjieff is also
following the core tradition of
mysticism in Christianity, which
tended to reject 'experiences'
as distractions. He makes the
exercise seem like shovelling
coal!
In a technical sense, 'bliss'
(as in the ananda of the Hindu
sat-chit-ananda-being-consciousness-
bliss) is always a descending phenomenon,
which means that a higher energy is
transforming down into lower
energies. Gurdjieff's exercise
appears to have the intent of an
ascending process. Flying in the
face of his repeated assertion that
'man cannot do' he claims that this
exercise will enable his pupils to
"do", which may be to build up a
substance giving the possibility
of doing.
Here we will simply remark that
John Bennett described such a
possibility in terms of his own
language, drawn from science, of
'potential energy'. Energy withdrawn
from actualisation, from anything
happening, enables real choices
to be made, or voluntary action
taken (see his series of
lectures recently
republished under
the title
Making a
Soul).
Assimilating Air
In this exercise, Gurdjieff says,
the attention is divided into two
parts. The first part concentrates
on breathing: becoming aware of the
air coming into the lungs and then
leaving, but not entirely, since
some of it is assimilated. The
air that is assimilated 'flows
in my presence'. Now, it is
likely that Gurdjieff was not
referring to oxygen here as the
part of the air that is assimilated
(there is a tantalising passage about
the active ingredients in the air,
which is deliberately broken off
and left unfinished, in the
Third Series).
In later years, John Bennett would
explain that there is an 'active
substance' in the air--he even at
one time said that it can be
derived from the sun - and
that this active substance
can only be assimilated into
us if it is taken in consciously.
The underlying reference is to
the theory of the 'food factory'
we mentioned before: in order
for the second-being food or
'air' to be transformed it
requires at a certain point
assistance from (intentional)
impressions - i.e. conscious
attention.
It is widely known that awareness
of our breathing changes our state.
But the idea that it can produce a
certain substance in us is very
much Gurdjieff's alone. John
Bennett speaks of it as prana -
a Hindu term that is usually
translated as something like
'life-force'. Needless to say,
there is no evidence whatsoever
for there being such a substance,
besides the changes in state that
are subjective and we are even
warned about by Gurdjieff
himself.
The Mental Component
By concentrating on the breathing,
the pull of mental associations has
become weak. However, next 'the other
half' of the attention is put onto the
'mind' or, as Gurdjieff also calls it
'my head brain'. He says that with
practice we can detect something
arising there from our
associations, at first
faintly. Nowhere does he
say what this 'something'
is. He even says that "what
arises in the brain is not
important"; instead he says
that there should be a flow
in to the solar plexus.
The austerity of language
should be remarked. In this
case it is most fitting since,
in general, the substance of the
head brain is taken as abstract.
However, there is a sense in
which we can take what arises
and what flows as in some way
being the 'substance underlying
associations, thoughts or
knowing'.
Solar Plexus
What flows in my presence from
the air and what comes from my
head brain combine together in
the solar plexus. Gurdjieff does
not say that they blend together
or make any statement about their
conjunction. The location of the
solar plexus is only explained
indirectly when Gurdjieff says
that the exercise increases the
strength of his 'I AM'. Someone
who actually does the exercise
can see what this means for
herself. Speculations based
on the chakra system tend to
be totally misleading since
Gurdjieff never used this
system or made reference
to it. Nor does he make
use of other Asian
concepts such as
the 'stove of
the belly'.
What is striking is that the
Desert Fathers practised bringing
their thoughts into the region of
their navels (hence the origin of
the phrase 'navel-gazers') and
readers of the immensely
influential Philokalia may
recognise the similarities.
In Gurdjieff's own system, it
is fair to say that 'I' would
be most associated with the
head brain and 'AM' with
the solar plexus.
Proceeding Automatically
More than once, Gurdjieff says
that the exercise or part of it
is proceeding in him by itself or
automatically. It is worth taking
note of this. While Gurdjieff is
talking, the exercise is building
and proceeding in him. But, how
can it proceed automatically
when the whole emphasis has
been on concentrating the
attention?
It would confuse the clarity of
the exercise to say very much about
this; but it seems to us that it is
important to observe that concentrating
the attention is not really a matter of
effort. Nor is it a matter of 'I am
doing this'. There is more a sense
of an impersonal act proceeding by
itself. One intends something such
as a flow from the head brain to
the solar plexus and then one
has to allow it to happen as
it will: it is no good 'doing'
anything to try and make it
happen. It is as if the act
of seeing creates what is
to be seen.
Trying to describe and explain
what happens can generate metaphysical
sickness, and a stark simplicity is
called for in the doing of the
exercise. However, it is
important to grasp that
what Gurdjieff calls
'automatic' has two
sides to it.
Intended Results
Gurdjieff says that the practice
of this exercise by his pupils is
"only a preparation to have an 'I'"
but in his own case it provides 'food'
for his 'I'. The task for the pupils is
to recognise the two sources - the flow
from the head brain and the assimilation
from the air. We have already mentioned
that he also said it would enable
people to 'do' or have the
possibility of doing as
well as the wish to do.
LOSE YOURSELF TO FIND YOURSELF
We want to draw attention here
to a common feature of Gurdjieff's
methods, which might be expressed as:
first detach, then divide and then
unite into a new whole. What can be
taught or imparted is something
about detachment and division.
But the new unification
cannot be taught. As long
as people remain followers
of the instructions, they
remain divided. No one can
tell them to unite themselves,
to 'make' I AM in themselves.
Gurdjieff suggests that he
unites himself and then
leaves it there.
His almost final statement about
the exercise is that it will enable
his pupils to have 'real active
mentation'. This may be the key
to the whole thing. The very
idea that inner exercises
should be devoted to
something that is akin
to thinking is anathema
to most so-called 'spiritual'
seekers at the present time. It
is also a side of Gurdjieff that
has been strangely neglected by
those professing to follow his
ideas. Though Gurdjieff's active
mentation is not just our usual
'thinking' it is still
conscious, willed
direction based on
understanding and is
what thinking ought to
be.
Another way of regarding
active mentation is as
'thinking with the
whole of oneself'.
Essential Features
It is useful to make a summary
of the essential features of this
exercise. Readers may differ with
us on our choices and interpretations.
Such a summary may also be tested
against other exercises (as we
will do in the following essay).
At the outset, we have to state
that it is our contention that
such an exercise is integrally
connected with the rest of
Gurdjieff's teaching,
particularly with his
theories of human structure
and process. We believe that
his account of the assimilation
and transformation of the three
'foods' of food, air and
impressions is of paramount
importance. The general
inference from this
teaching is that
conscious attention
can affect the process
of transformation; in
particular, to produce
'substances' that would
not otherwise be made.
These substances share in the
characteristic of enablement:
if we have them, we can 'do'
and if we do not then wanting
to do is just wishful thinking.
In a word, these substances turn
our view of ourselves as free,
whole, creative beings from
fantasy into reality. We spoke
of 'wishful thinking' and might
consider that such substances
when added to the equation
produce a real result:
thinking + wish +
substance = real
doing.
1 The purpose of such an
exercise is to produce
an enabling substance
(or energy) that can
make life more real.
2 It depends on exercising a
free attention that can be
divided into at least two
parts.
3 There is an energy or substance
that can be assimilated or made
available to us by bringing
attention onto our breathing.
4 In a perhaps similar way, there
is an energy or substance that
can be released from the
thinking process or head
brain by careful
attention.
5 Such energies can be combined
together to produce a new
sense of wholeness or
'I-Amness'.
The 'sense' of new wholeness that
is posited at the end of the exercise
is the most important 'proof' of the
efficacy of the exercise. But, as we
commented, it is the most problematic -
not least because it has to be self-
defining. However, during the course
of the exercise, it is possible for
us to test out and explore the
meaning of points 2, 3 and 4.
These features give us a
chance to struggle with
our convictions. We just
have to come to terms with
how things work out in us
when we try to follow the
instructions. We have to
decide what is real in
our experience.
There is no way of knowing whether
what happens to one person is the
same as to another. Each will
describe their experience in
different terms. We have
adopted the method of
'experienting' to take
account of this, which
has the advantage of
providing mutual
support without the
imposition of any one
person's models of the
experience.
Experienting also follows the
situation exemplified by Gurdjieff
himself in describing the exercise,
where it is clear - and even stated
by him - that the exercise can be
working in him as he speaks about
it [see below on 'Transmitting
Exercises'].
In 'experienting' every participant
is encouraged to articulate the process
going on in her or him while it is taking
place. At first this feels like an added
difficulty and an immense distraction.
But it facilitates detachment from
emotional experiences (see
Gurdjieff's warning) and can
also assist in the end, through
practice, in attaining the condition
indicated by Gurdjieff of the exercise
'proceeding automatically'.
The five essential features we have
listed all belong to what can be
called a 'psycho-cosmology'. It
is difficult to establish whether
knowing about this is an integral
part of the exercise or not. One
imagines that Gurdjieff's pupils
were well aware of the background
to the exercise they were being
shown. The exercise can be done
without knowing anything about
the 'food factory' model but
would it be the same?
Gurdjieff gives the
essentials without
any appeal to theory
but it would be hard
to put it all together
without some theoretical
support.
We tentatively, then,
add a sixth feature:
6. To constate and reason on
the purpose and meaning of the
exercise, with the provisos "don't
imagine things" and "don't be the
slaves of the data you have
within yourselves for auto-
suggestion".
---------------------------------
The Exercise as given by
Mr. G. (with some
minimal editing)
This version differs slightly
from the text given in the
Third Series
The totality of man's attention
received from the whole of him,
from all his spiritualised parts,
he can divide into two directions.
For real man there is one attention.
Only this attention can be divided
into two directions. In general
if the sources of man's attention
are taken into account, there are
three kinds of attention. You must
first understand and then
recognise the difference.
When this attention is
concentrated, then our
associations are 'in
galoshes'.
Associations can never stop.
If they would stop men would
die. Associations always flow.
Even after death they continue
to flow by momentum. Only when
attention is seriously occupied,
associations are not constated;
all the same they flow
automatically. Even in
sleep they continue and
are sometimes remembered-
this is what constitutes
dreams. Those who remember
their dreams were only half
asleep. If a man really
sleeps, his attention
also sleeps.
Real man has one attention.
When this is concentrated
seriously somewhere, whether
on his body or on something
outside, and all the forces
of his attention are
concentrated, his
associations do not
hinder him. For example
I am now looking at L.,
and my attention is
directed on my right
foot; so although I
look, I see only
automatically, my
attention being
elsewhere.
I will now show you that new
exercise, the one to which is
attached the risk I spoke of,
the "compromise" exercise.
It is a serious experiment; many
of you have such data in you for
auto-suggestion that impressions
may be obtained which will be the
result of some kind of self-
hypnotism.
If you are now a nonentity, you
may become a thousand times more
so. You might, if you will excuse
my using this word, "stink". Be
careful with the experiment. It
is not quality that is necessary,
but quantity. Do it often. Don 't
try to get absolute results. Make
repeated efforts. Then only little
by little, can you actualize results.
Then only will you be able to "do".
And parallel with wishing to "do",
there will arise in you the
possibility of "doing".
Do this without excessive zeal,
without self-enthusing, which is
a very harmful property. If you
repeat this exercise often, your
auto-suggestiveness will diminish.
This is the exercise.
Outwardly, at the first glance, this
exercise is simple. For instance, you
see, I sit here in my usual posture. I
am dividing my attention. But no one
can see this inner process. I divide
my attention consciously into two
parts. With one part I now sense,
feel and constate simultaneously
with one conscious concentration.
Now I breathe. I feel that
something happening to the
air that I breath in. Part
of it goes in, part goes out,
and a part remains. My organism,
that is my lungs, take a part,
then a part leaves and a part
remains. I feel what is
happening in my lungs.
When I breath in, part
of the air is assimilated
and I feel its flow all over
the body. It goes everywhere.
I keep my attention fixed; I
feel, I sense how this air is
being assimilated in me and
how it flows in my presence.
It is not necessary to find
out where it goes, it just
flows in my presence.
One part of my attention is
occupied with this - breathing,
assimilating and flowing of the
air. Already my mental
associations are very
weak. I notice them
sometimes, by the way,
because part of my
attention is free,
and is able to
notice mental
associations.
Now I will concentrate the other
half of my attention on my mind,
my head brain. I feel that in my
head-brain something arises from
the total of the flow of associations
there. I don't know what is taking
place there, but there is
something, and with my
half attention I notice
this very thin something
arise, so small, so light,
so thin, that nobody feels
it the first few times, not
until constant practice gives
the feeling. I know this
subjectively because I
have practised it. I
feel, I sense, l constate,
that something arises in my
head-brain. All the time, of
course, the other half of my
attention is occupied with
the breathing process. Even
while speaking, this
exercise is being
automatically
done.
Now I direct my attention to
help this something in my brain
to flow towards my solar plexus.
What arises in the brain is not
important. What is important is
that the something that arises
there should flow into the
solar plexus. Now I feel
how it flows. My attention
is fully occupied and I don't
see any more associations. All
my attention is occupied with
feeling, sensing, and
assimilating the flow
of air and also with
this arising in my
head-brain.
This flow of assimilated air,
and this something which arises
in my head brain, I specially,
consciously, with my wish,
concentrate to let it flow
into my solar plexus. Now, by
the way I feel and constate that
I breathe, I assimilate and that
this flow goes to the solar plexus.
And all the time the flow from the
air I breathe and the flow from my
head-associations go to the solar
plexus although they issue from
different sources.
For me personally, at the same time,
I feel very strongly that I AM. I feel
that I AM ten times stronger. My "I"
takes in this food more intensely,
but for you, at the present moment,
do not do this exercise in order to
be stronger. For you this exercise
is only a preparation to have an
"I" and so that you should
constate the two sources
from which this "I" can
arise. For me it gives
food to my "I". It makes
it stronger, so that now
I am not "tail of donkey".
I AM.
But you can not yet use this
exercise to make yourself stronger;
you must first learn and constate
the two sources from which this
possibility can arise, to have
a real "I" - from air and from
mentation, even automatic
mentation; and then, when
you will have practised
this exercise a great
deal, you may be able
to have possibilities
for real active mentation.
And then with real active
mentation, the "I" can
become stronger.
Enough. I stop and let these
processes proceed in me automatically.
Now, without titillation without
philosophizing and manipulation,
try to understand the total of
all this and formulate it
according to your
subjective
understanding,
according to
whatever kind
of idiot you
are.
Then do [it].
Don't imagine things.
Don't be the slave of the
data you have in yourselves
for autosuggestion, but try
very hard.
We have at hand another report
of an exercise dictated by Mr
Gurdjieff, this time dated to
1939. It is instructive to
read this account in the
light of our previous
discussion. We add
some comments
afterwards.
Exercise by Mr. Gurdjieff
From hand-written note 1939
Fifteen minutes relax. Break
tempo of ordinary life before
doing exercise.
Breathe in - 'I'.
Breathe out - 'am'.
With all three parts do.
Not just mind.
Feeling and body also.
Make strong! Not easy thing.
When breathe out, imagine part
of air stays in and flows to
corresponding place. Where
flow, how flow, that is its
business. Only feel that part
remains. Before beginning
exercise say: 'I wish to
keep this substance for
myself'.
Without this conscious and
voluntary labour on your part
nothing at all will be coated.
All in time will evaporate.
Just this small property in
blood makes possible very big
result if done with conscious
labour. Without this, one
month you must work for
such result.
When doing, must be careful not
to change exterior. It is inner
thing. No one need know. Outside
keep same exterior. Inside you do.
Not hold breath. Just breathe in
and out. Of course, to change
thinking will take time.
Automatically breath will
adjust. To be able to do
exercise not lopsidedly
you must put whole
attention on it.
To arouse feeling, interest
and attention, for co-operation
you must think following before
beginning: 'I am now about to
begin this exercise. With full
attention I will draw in my
breath, saying "I" and
sensing the whole of
myself. I wish very
much to do this in
order that I may
digest air.'
To arouse body to co-operate,
take corresponding posture. Inner
tension of forces. Mobilise your
centers for working together for
this aim.
In breathing, imagine something
flows, like when inhaling cigarette.
I am now about to begin this exercise,
which I have been fortunate enough to
learn from Mr. Gurdjieff, and which
will enable me with the aid of
conscious labour, to coat higher
bodies in myself from active
elements in the air I
breathe.
First of all, it is clear that
this exercise constitutes only
a part of the one we reviewed
before (the 'compromise' exercise
as Gurdjieff called it). This part
concerns awareness of breathing and,
in particular, of part of the indrawn
air being assimilated and flowing to
its 'corresponding place'. It is
important to note that these
exercises had a somewhat
modular character in that
more simple exercises
could be combined to
form more complex
ones.
Though he does not use the
same words - sense, feel and
constate - that we encountered
before, the intent is exactly
the same: "with all three
parts do".
He emphasises wish in this
exercise, and speaks of "feeling,
interest and attention" instead
of just attention.
An important word in this
description is "imagine".
Of particular interest is his
comments on preparation and
disposition. These include:
Fifteen minutes relaxation
"to break the tempo of
ordinary life"
Taking a "corresponding posture"
for the body to co-operate [as we
learned this from John Bennett, it
was to sit with erect posture with
the hands on the knees, in balance
and not slouched]
Having a clear mental intent to do
the exercise and realise that it is
for the conscious 'digestion' of the
air that will make a "coating" for an
inner body. [Gurdjieff also implies
there should be a feeling of
gratitude towards himself
for providing the exercise].
In our essay on 'Inner Exercises'
we spoke of the three stages of
preparation, concentration and
realisation. Here we see preparation
pointing to the engagement of the whole
of oneself in the act of concentration.
In this instance, the preparation
includes an intellectual
understanding of what the
exercise is for. In our
previous comments we left
this open as a question: Is
it necessary to know the 'theory'
behind the exercise? Now we see
that the answer to this
question is 'Yes'.
It is for the person doing the
exercise to decide whether what
is happening in connection with
his breathing is 'just' her
imagination or whether this
imagination is simply the
means of realising what is
taking place 'because of'
imagination. In his teaching,
John Bennett used to caution
against using the concept of
'just imagination' implying
that imagination was not
necessarily indulging in
fiction but a real action
that could produce
definite results
in us.
The supposed result of the
exercise, however, is something
out of sight. As far as we know,
no one supposes that it is possible
to observe 'coating' - which would
be tantamount to observing the
formation of one's soul. It is
in the realm of being or 'what
is' and cannot be seen as a
process. In our analysis in
'Inner Exercises' we equated
it with samadhi for the
reason that no
observation is
possible. The
dilemma then is
that we have to
take this result
on faith because
there is no way in
which we can know it
directly for ourselves,
which contradicts the
basic foundation of
these methods on
verifying for
oneself.
John Bennett appeared to have
claimed that he could perceive
such results. We remember him
once remarking to a lady that
she now had her kesdjan body,
which was much to her surprise
since she had no sense of it
herself!
---------------------------------
We should emphasise that the use
of breathing advocated by Gurdjieff
did not involve changing the breathing
in any way. The breathing tends to
change of itself and this should be
allowed to happen in a natural and
easy way. Gurdjieff was against
altering the natural tempo of
breathing, instead emphasising
the supreme importance of
awareness and attention as
changing the very substance
of the air itself in us.
---------------------------------
In the next section, we look at
other features of the exercises
which have come down to us over
the years. We also take into
account some of the material
to be found in Ouspensky's
book In Search of the
Miraculous. Needless to
say, attempting any of
these things at random
is of little
consequence.
Bennett's Struggle in Paris
In the book written by his widow,
Elizabeth, Idiots In Paris, we can
read of John Bennett's struggle with
a basic exercise apparently given
him by Gurdjieff.
Though we cannot presume to know
the whole of this, he does provide
an outline of what it entailed. Very
simply, he would kneel with arms out
sideways, fixing his attention on a
fixed spot on the wall. The
accumulating sensation (even
pain perhaps) in his arms would
establish 'Am' and the mental
focus would provide 'I'.
Gurdjieff seemed to have been
consistently concerned with 'I
Am' exercises. Readers of In
Search of the Miraculous may
remember his account of monks
in Mount Athos who would
pronounce the word "I" while
noticing where it 'sounded' in
them (see loc. cit. page 304).
For some it would be in the
chest and others in the head -
or even above the head. He also
mentions that they would adopt a
certain posture, such as kneeling
with the arms lifted and bent at
the elbows.
"The purpose of this exercise is
to feel 'I' every moment a man
thinks of himself and to bring
'I' from one center to another."
One of the reasons for discussing
this exercise is that it makes very
clear that Gurdjieff was not at all
concerned with what is now generally
called 'meditation'. John Bennett
always made it clear that the
exercises derived from
Gurdjieff were active,
while meditation was
essentially receptive;
a distinction that is
discussed in his book The
Sevenfold Work. We would do
the active exercises in the
morning and the receptive
ones at night.
If we were to attempt a
single simplistic formula
for the Gurdjieff exercises,
it would be:
To realise 'I Am' including the
generation or accumulation of
energies enabling 'I' to 'Am'.
In doing an exercise, the person
would have to draw on the whole of
themselves. Thus, Gurdjieff would
speak of integrating the impulses
of 'I can, 'I wish', and 'I am'
as can-wish-am. This was nothing
but a direct application of his
teaching that man consists of four
personalities. These are now only
crudely understood in terms of body,
feelings, mind and 'I'. Behind this
model stands the model of the food
factory, and the implications
stemming from correspondences
such as: body-food, feelings-
air, mind-impressions.
Relaxing and Filling
From the early days in Russia,
Gurdjieff taught relaxation and
sensing (see In Search of the
Miraculous pp. 350-1). There he
initiated the practice followed
more or less since of beginning
relaxation starting from the
muscles of the face. He also
showed how to 'feel' (i.e.
sense in fact) any part of
the body at will. The exercise
in 'circular sensation' shown
around 1917 became Bennett's
'Six Point Exercise' used at
Sherborne more than fifty
years later.
It is not documented when Gurdjieff
explicitly introduced the practice
of 'filling', though it became
'The' exercise for many after
his death. In 'filling' we
bring sensation energy into
the body. Starting with the
feet. Thus, relaxation goes
from top to toe and filling
from toe to top. The head is
the last thing to be filled
with sensation.
The deliberate sensing and movement
of sensation is at first an astonishing
thing. As far as we know, no one besides
Gurdjieff has drawn attention to this as
a fundamental practice of voluntary
experience. It predates biofeedback
by half a century. It is also
intriguing, as Ouspensky points
out, that none of this is to be
found in yogic practice.
In teaching about relaxation and
filling it was always emphasised
that attention should never be
drawn into the inner organs
such as the heart, liver,
spleen, etc. This advice is
echoed in e.g. autogenic
therapy. The reason for
it is that unskilled
attention can alter the
tempo of functioning or
other features of the organ.
In general, Gurdjieff was
against any altering of
diet, chewing,
breathing, etc.
Bennett's arms out sideways (a
practice that certainly came from
Gurdjieff) will inevitably produce
sensation! It must be emphasised over
and over again that Gurdjieff taught
that we do not need to get beyond
the physical because we are not
in it yet - and the first step
is to attain the physical!
Stillness
Besides keeping the body still,
there was also taught a way of
having an inner stillness as
well. This concerned two things.
The first was the 'balancing of
the three centers' and the second
was 'non-emanation'. The 'all-three-
centred-balanced-state' was as it
sounds, bringing the three
centres into equal
attention.
[As an aside, we might refer to
the Samkhya system in which the
primal nature or prakriti consists
of the three gunas in equal proportions.
In this condition, nature no longer
obstructs or hides the 'witness',
the spirit or purusha. Samkhya
is the closest equivalent of the
Gurdjieff system in Asian teaching,
as was pointed out by Sri Anirvan in
Lizelle Reymond's book To Live Within
(readers should attempt to find the
Coombe Springs Press edition since
the current one is lacking some
material).]
The non-emanating state is alluded to
in the exercise of the Immovable Point
discussed in our previous essay. In
this, we imagine that our psyche is
like a cloud surrounding the physical
body through which 'vibrations' come
and go. In the non-emanating state
this flow of vibrations is calmed
down and diminished. A more modern
description would be 'containment'.
The state is relaxed but not
distracted.
The two - 'balanced' and
'non-emanating' - amount
to the same thing in
practice (at least,
we have found so).
Conscious stealing
One of the many things that
Gurdjieff taught was that there
were concentrations of energy that
included higher energies - we might
also say now, that included information.
He even suggested that there were such
concentrations on the scale of the
solar system, embodying 'images'
of the higher principles. On Earth,
he said that there were
concentrations of energy
around places associated
with sacred individuals.
The four usually referred
to were: Lhasa (Saint Lama),
Mecca (Muhammad), Benares
(Buddha) and Jerusalem
(Jesus). It was possible
to 'download' we might say
from such concentrations into
ourselves for our own work.
This was associated with the
concept of 'conscious stealing',
which postulated that we could
just 'take' something if we
could really make use of it.
How we might contact and draw
into ourselves substance from
such concentrations cannot easily
be described here. Suffice it to
say that we have to visualise
such concentrations and
connect with them by
means of a 'thread',
whence we bring their
substance into
locations in
our bodies.
This linking with concentrations
of energy associated with places
extended to deliberately bringing
higher energies into 'non-sacred'
places such as London. This we did
only once with John Bennett. It is
mentioned here to emphasise this
side of the exercises: making
connections with places and
energies outside of
ourselves.
Sacred exercises
How the exercises developed with
John Bennett is largely unknown. He
introduced material from Sufi, Hindu
and Taoist sources, though it is our
contention that he remained true to
Gurdjieff's method. We speak of
sacred exercises here because as
he developed or taught them, some
of the exercises were religious in
character. In 'The Eye of the Needle'
exercise, for example, we were to
realise what it is of us that can
pass into the sacred realm.
We have no evidence whether Gurdjieff
taught an exercise similar to 'The
Master'. In this as in some other
exercises, the attempt is made
to connect with the 'Real "I"'
employing means that treat this
'I' as a sacred image. There are
demanding tasks of visualisation
involved.
Transmitting Exercises
In the Third Series (Life Is
Real Then, Only when 'I Am')
Gurdjieff explains:
". . . I was convinced of the
impossibility of exactly explaining
and fully formulating in words the
various fine points of the
procedures of any intentional
experiencings and exercises for
the purpose of self-perfection . . .
knowing at the same time of the
existence among our remote
ancestors of a special
method which was then
called the 'principle
of illustrative inculcation'
for the purpose of better
taking in new information,
I therefore introduced
this method also in
general program . ."
Illustrative inculcation means
taking people through the exercise
while doing it oneself, so that the
person teaching the exercise is in
actual contact with what happens in
it as he speaks. Besides making the
explanations more authentic, there
may be a biochemical factor. It
seems from recent research that
the action of peptides in one
person can affect those in
others who are near. The
peptides are critical for
the intercommunication
between the three main
physical systems:
limbic-digestive;
respiratory-
circulatory
and neural-
brain.
Similarly, the instructor may be
able to tune in to his audience
and adjust what he says to suit
their level of experience.
Final Comments
We propose that there is a basic
Gurdjieffian 'I Am' exercise in
which the subjective (I) and the
objective (am) are fused. No one
else has this basic exercise.
Ramana Maharshi's 'Who am I?'
is not the same thing.
To fuse I with Am we have to bring
into play the three realms that are
roughly indicated by thought, feeling
and sensation. This bringing into play
also minimises distraction from mental
associations. The exercises are done
while sitting still. We do not know
whether Gurdjieff taught them to be
done with eyes closed or open.
The exercises require preparation
and right disposition to begin,
including some background
understanding of what they
are for. The exercises are
not concerned with generating
emotional experiences but with
'making a substance'. This
substance is characterised
somewhat as an 'ableness',
such as in being able to
"do".
The exercises are embedded in deep
views of reality, or psycho-cosmologies.
The latter term means an understanding of
the world that also makes account of
human experience and possibilities.
Gurdjieff connects his exercises
with active mentation. This might
mean that it is possible to 'do'
them while 'thinking' as long as
there is sensation as well.
They are also related to some kind
of practice 'in life'. Gurdjieff seems
to advocate 'returning to oneself' -
like touching base again - in his
well known but obscure self-remembering
("to feel 'I' when he thinks of himself").
A typical experience of self-remembering
is like a clean wave of energy sweeping
through oneself that it is difficult to
sustain without turning it into
something of less value. There
can also be a sense of the
body that is very new and
different from usual.
The exercises can become very
complex, but everything depends
on being able to become aware of
energies or just 'something' - and
to locate and direct them. Sensation,
wish and attention are key. If anything,
attention is the 'Philosopher's Stone',
by which the enabling energies are
generated.
---------------------------------
Extracts from a section on
'Attention' in John Bennett's
book Deeper Man
"To be effective, the will needs
an energy that is like itself. Man
has been given such an energy and
with this he can set himself free.
"Many people believe this energy to
be thought or consciousness; but it
takes very little to realize that
something deeper stimulates thought
and that consciousness does not
initiate anything. Neither thought
nor consciousness are a true
beginning. In every act of
will there is a beginning
of something new and the
only thing that corresponds
to an act of will is
creative energy. . . .
"At the moment of bringing
attention to something there
is no effort; effort only comes
in when we try to sustain our
attention. . . .
"Work with attention enters into
all work on oneself. It is the ground
on which a great deal is based. If we
cannot tell the difference between
voluntary and involuntary attention,
we are living in a dream world."
(pages 34-6)
Gurdjieff on the possible
transmutation of the physical
body, from In Search of the
Miraculous:
"The whole of the physical body,
all its cells, are, so to speak,
permeated by emanations of the
matter si 12. And when they have
become sufficiently saturated the
matter si 12 begins to crystallise.
The crystallisation of this matter
constitutes the formation of the
'astral body'.
"The transition of matter si 12
into emanations and the gradual
saturation of the whole organism
by it is what alchemy calls
'transmutation' or transformation.
It is just this transformation of
the physical body into the astral
that alchemy called the
transformation of 'coarse'
into the 'fine' or the
transformation of base
metals into gold."
(page 256)
Gurdjieff on attention, feeling
and sensing, from Life is Real
Only Then. When "I Am":
" . . . it is indispensable first
to learn to divide one's entire
attention in three approximately
equal parts, and to concentrate
each separate part simultaneously
for a definite time on three
diverse inner or outer
'objects'.
"For the possibility of a
practical achieving of this
aim, in the same mentioned
detailed program [of G's
Institute] were indicated
a series of exercises
under the name 'soil
preparing'. . . .
"First, all one's attention must
be divided approximately into three
equal parts; each of these parts must
be concentrated on one of the three
fingers of the right or left hand,
for instance the forefinger, the
third and the fourth, constating
in one finger - the result
proceeding in it of the
organic process called
'sensing', in another -
the result of the process
called 'feeling', and with
the third - making any
rhythmical movement and
at the same time automatically
conducting with the flowing of
mental association a sequential
or varied manner of counting. . .
" . . you Americans . . . totally
lack any understanding of the
difference between two
entirely distinct
impulses of an
average man,
namely, between
the impulses of
'feeling' and
'sensing'."
After connecting feeling with
the solar plexus and sensing
with the spine, he goes on
to urge his audience:
". . . to understand the sense
and significance of this exercise
[exercise 4 in a series], without
expecting to obtain any concrete
results."
And he speaks of these exercises
as "required for the acquisition
of one's own individuality"
(pages 112-5)
On the solar plexus
". . . a man who already has
his real I, his will . . . pronounces
aloud or to himself the words 'I am',
then there always proceeds in him, as
it is called, 'solar plexus', a so to
say 'reverberation', that is,
something like a vibration, a
feeling, or something of the
sort. .. . . without this even
if only imagined experiencing of
the reverberation, the pronouncing
aloud or to oneself of the words
'I am' will have no significance
at all . ."
© AGE Blake
