In Search of the Miraculous
“…(A) ‘group’ is the beginning of everything. One man can do nothing, can attain
nothing. A group with a real leader can do more. —Chapter 2
“No work of groups is possible without a teacher…
“…(T)he first aim of a man beginning work in a group should be self-study… One man alone cannot see himself. But when a certain number of people unite together for this purpose they will even involuntarily help one another… Thus other members of the group serve…as mirrors in which he sees himself…
(M)embers of a group…must remember why they came to the group. They came to learn and to work on themselves… work is possible only as long as people remember that they have come to learn and not to teach.
In addition…the members of the group must work. If they merely frequent the group and do no work, but merely imagine that they are working, or if they regard as work their mere presence in the group… then their presence in the group likewise becomes completely useless.
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“Every man has a certain feature in his character which is…like an axle round which all his ‘false personality’ revolves. Every man’s personal work must consist in struggling against this chief fault… In this connection again, a man cannot find his own chief feature, his chief fault, by himself. This is practically a law. The teacher has to point out this feature to him, and show him how to fight against it. No one else but the teacher can do this.
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On another occasion, speaking of groups, G. said: “Do not think that we can begin straight away by forming a group. A group is a big thing… We shall prepare ourselves so as in the course of time to become a group. And it is only possible to prepare ourselves to become a group by trying to imitate a group such as it ought to be, imitating it inwardly of course, not outwardly.
“What is necessary for this? First of all you must understand that in a group all are responsible for one another… This is a law. And…as you will see later, what one acquires is acquired also by all.
“The rule of common responsibility…has another side also. Members of a group are responsible…for the mistakes of others, (and) also for their failures. The success of one is the success of all. The failure of one is the failure of all…
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Later, in 1917…in the Caucasus, G. …added…
“There is no particular benefit in the existence of groups in themselves, and there is no particular merit in belonging to groups. The benefit or usefulness of groups is determined by their results.
“The work of every man can…be useful to the work… to me… and…to himself… But if…a man…remains such as he was before, then…his usefulness does not last for long. The work grows and changes. If a man himself does not grow or change he cannot keep up with the work. The work leaves him behind, and then the very thing that was useful may begin to be harmful.”—Chapter 11
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The Reality of Being
We can do nothing without one another. The exchange we can have together is more necessary than our daily bread. We make efforts alone—we struggle alone, suffer alone, respond alone. But a moment comes when exchange is indispensable… And without this exchange, we cannot go further…
Only in the beginning is it necessary to create groups artificially with a leader answering questions… Later the organism forms itself naturally among those of the same level who together feel the need… We may work separately, each making efforts alone. Yet at certain moments it is imperative to come together to verify and exchange, and in order, by a certain common effort, for truth to emerge more strongly…
There is a time for everything. I speak of the form that our work today has taken, of groups, and of the possibility that has been created. If this possibility is not sufficiently realized, this form will degenerate by itself, and will never give birth to a new, more inner form, with a new possibility…
How much more time should this form last? This depends on the depth of work of a certain number of people, and the relation established between them—the quality of their exchange. I need to collaborate in a common effort of ascent. If I do not, whether or not I wish it, I am responsible for the stone I do not bring to the edifice. So, we have to reflect deeply on our work together… —56. This form
Dr. Michel de Salzmann
…don’t pretend. If you pretend, it is finished… But if the Master is there when we speak there is transmission; it does not lie. It is easy to speak about things, but there can be no transmission unless I am living what I speak about. Transmission is very, very delicate. —to Forman groups at Beau Préaux, 2001.
This Fundamental Quest, Henriette Lannes
…We have to recognize a master in ourselves. We are alone in the face of this, as we shall be alone in the face of death. You may say to yourself, “How is it possible? Mr. Gurdjieff is dead!” It is true that he is no longer “here,” and yet it is equally true that we can come to recognize him.
…The ideas are here, and his being, which embodied them, can…together…act on us as they have already acted on others. —To Recognize a Master
Views From the Real World
(G:)…Only a man in the highest state of being is a complete man. All the others are merely fractions of man. The outside help which is necessary will come from teachers or from the teaching I am following. —London, 1922