Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson, G.I. Gurdjieff
“…Great Nature most wisely adapted the inner organization of beings in such a manner that the substances which had to enter into their common presence for the coating and feeding of their ‘second being-body,’ or ‘kesdjan body,’ that is, the totality of cosmic substances your favorites call ‘air,’ … …enter the presence of beings through the nose and, gradually evolving with the cooperation of various processes… are transformed in what are called the ‘lungs’… —Chapter 39 – The Holy Planet Purgatory
“…the process of… nourishment by the ‘second being-food,’ which your favorites call ‘breathing,’ takes place… not only through the ‘organs of breath’ but also through the ‘pores’ of their skin. —Chapter 34 – Beelzebub in Russia
“At first… this second being-food was transformed normally, and all the principal elements composing it… were assimilated by their common presences…
“But later… when most of them began to exist in a manner unbecoming to three-brained beings… those definite crystallizations… which compose the most important part of the second being-food, and which… are transformed into substances for the coating and perfecting of their ‘kesdjan body,’ gradually ceased to be assimilated either consciously or automatically for this purpose… —Chapter 32 – Hypnotism
In Search of the Miraculous, P.D. Ouspensky
La 6 is the highest matter produced by the organism from air, that is, from the second kind of food. This however is obtained only by making a conscious effort at the moment an impression is received…
“…We all breathe the same air. Apart from the elements known to our science the air contains… higher ‘hydrogens’… present in every small particle of air ‘we inhale. By inhaling air we introduce these higher ‘hydrogens’ into ourselves, but if our organism does not know how to extract… and retain them, they are exhaled back into the air… Some extract more, others less.
“In order to extract more, it is necessary to have in our organism a certain quantity of corresponding fine substances. Then the fine substances contained in the organism act like a magnet on the fine substances contained in the inhaled air… —Chapter 9
Teachings Of Gurdjieff: A Pupil’s Journal, C.S. Nott
In reply to a question about the second food, air, Gurdjieff said: ‘There are two parts to air, evolving and involving. Only the involving part can vivify the “I”. At present this involving part serves only for general cosmic purposes. Only when you shall have in yourselves a conscious wish will you be able to assimilate this, for you, good part of air, which comes from the prime source.
‘In order to be able to assimilate the involving part of air, you should try to realize your own significance and the significance of those around you. You are mortal, and some day will die. He on whom your attention rests is your neighbour; he also will die. Both of you are nonentities… At present you cannot see this. Try to put yourself in the position of others… they suffer as you do, and, like you, they will die. Only if you always try to sense this significance until it becomes a habit, whenever your attention rests on anyone, only then will you be able to assimilate the good part of air and have a real “I.” —New York And Fontainebleau 1925-6
Gurdjieff’s Emissary In New York: Talks and Lectures with A.R. Orage 1924-1931
Physiology has the two names, respiration and expiration. But there are two other forms, which are aspiration and inspiration. But these cannot be done mechanically. This kind of breathing comes about, and is possible only when one is in a certain attitude.
…Everyone knows that posture affects breathing. An attitude is a “psychological posture.” In certain attitudes aspiration and inspiration are more possible.
If you are trying to aspire to something, above your ordinary plane – e.g. a higher state of being – you will find that you will be breathing differently… —Tuesday, 7 April 1931
As our body depends on the thorough digestion of food, our emotions depend on the thorough digestion of air. Higher emotions are possible only through the assimilation of the “vitamins” of the air. This assimilation is the result of a certain kind of breathing, for which there is no name in current physiology. —Tuesday, 7 April 1931
…The food for the emotions is described as “ideals” peculiar to you (not supplied by society). They are what you wish. When you have made concrete what you find desirable, you begin to breathe towards it; aspiration is “breathing towards.” This changes the character of the breathing; the lungs function differently… —Tuesday, 21 April 1931
To induce in the lungs the rhythm in which breathing changes from respiration to aspiration, it is not necessary to have any particular state of the body. It is induced by presenting to the emotional center certain ideas, or images, which are associated with “the promise of more being.”..
In respiration, generally speaking, we assimilate substances from the moon, the earth, and other planets. The substances from the sun and galaxy are digested only when the form of breathing is changed from respiration to aspiration. —Tuesday, 5 May 1931
The Reality of Being, Mme. de Salzmann
In becoming conscious of the act of breathing, we will understand better the laws governing life and how serving them brings meaning to our existence. Real understanding of respiration comes through the experience of different stages.
The first stage is to become conscious of the physical breathing and to let it be. The respiration goes on by itself… The first thing to learn is to let the breathing be without the intervention of my ordinary “I.” I have to let the breathing move lower in the body, and let the air go out entirely.
The second stage in breathing is to… no longer place emphasis on exhaling completely, but instead let myself go with the exhalation… I relax the whole of myself. I see that… It is not my body but “I” who is not breathing in a right way… It is like a resistance to the fundamental rhythm of life, a fear of losing myself, a lack of trust in life.
The third stage will be to experience that it is not I but “It,” the universal Being, which is breathing, and to see that breathing is a fundamental movement of a living whole… conscious of a rhythmic order in which we are included… —69. Stages of breathing