In Search of the Miraculous
Chapter 10
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. A group is begun for definite concerted work, for a definite aim. I should have to trust you in this work and you would have to trust me and one another. Then it would be a group. Until there is general work it will only be a preparatory group. 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. A mistake on the part of one is considered as a mistake on the part of all. This is a law. And this law is well founded for, as you will see later, what one acquires is acquired also by all.
“The rule of common responsibility must be borne well in mind. It has another side also. Members of a group are responsible not only for the mistakes of others, but also for their failures. The success of one is the success of all. The failure of one is the failure of all. A grave mistake on the part of one, such as for instance the breaking of a fundamental rule, inevitably leads to the dissolution of the whole group.
“A group must work as one machine. The parts of the machine must know one another and help one another. In a group there can be no personal interests opposed to the interests of others, or opposed to the interests of the work, there can be no personal sympathies or antipathies which hinder the work.
Later, in 1917, G. once added several interesting observations to the general principles of the formation of groups.
“You take it all too theoretically,” he said. “You ought to have known more by now. 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 Reality of Being
#55. Real exchange
The current practice of questions and answers is exterior, outside oneself, both for the questioner and the listener. It is, of course, necessary that a question appear, but also silence. The question is the opening to silence, the gateway to the unknown. What is the new inner condition brought by the question?
A false attitude develops in the groups between those who put questions and those who respond. This in effect becomes questions-with-answers or answers-to-questions, not a moment of presence together in pursuit of a new understanding, a new way of thinking and feeling. Here questioner and listener are relying on some knowledge, and there is an event that does not take place. This is not because nothing could take placeÑthe elements are hereÑbut because what is put forward is not the right material.
When I exchange in a group, I need to know to what I am calling the other person, to what participation. At the very moment of speaking, I may be awkward or insufficient. I do not know what to trust and I agree too easily to lie in affirming a false image of myself. Nevertheless, I need to know the nature of the cooperative effort in which I am engaged. How can I stay in front of what is in question? How can I understand the other, understand his question and relate it to my own in order to have a real exchange? The most important thing is for me to open to my question and to remain open. We wish to learn together, to open to the unknown.
There is an attitude that we must not allow in ourselves, which ruins our work and that of others. We are here with the others to see our nothingness, which otherwise is too difficult to perceive, and to open to the possibilities in ourselves and with others. This requires a desperate effort to find again our measure between these two things. Instead of this, either with our questions or in our responses, we affirm our ordinary “I” and even presume to teach the others.
Nobody can teach. We can only work. And before working we must have taken our measure in order to be convinced of the effort we have to make. Nobody can ask us to be more than we are. But we have no right in the name of the Work to pretend in front of others to something that is not true. Above all I need to work myself, to take my measure. When the others bring questions, it is I who must put a question to myself as well as to them. If I am able to respond a little to the question, it is to myself that I am responding.
We need to exchange what we have received in order that this material remain alive in us. If it is not exchanged, it will not live. But an exchange cannot be unilateral. At the moment of exchange, I need to be in question myself, open to my inquiry, truly living it, sensitive to all my own reactions and to those of the others sharing my experience. In this moment, thirsting to be free enough to obey the law of the highest force and aware of my incessant reactions, I know what I am. I know my weakness. Yet if I see that the sense of my life is here, only here, I have a constant direction for my effort, an effort to be a responsible individual. All the restÑfor example, that I know more than othersÑis in the realm of dreams.
#56. This form
… The need we each have depends on the truth of our work. In fact, we depend tremendously on one another. We can do nothing without one another. The exchange we can have together is more necessary than our daily bread. We make efforts aloneÑwe struggle alone, suffer alone, respond alone. But a moment comes when exchange is indispensable, when we need to nourish one another with the fruits of our efforts. And without this exchange, we cannot go further. The more we value our existence, the more the question of relation appears.
… 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.
… 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, which little by little must manifest itself in our lives. We must reflect on our relation, on the form of our life together, and, above all, on our exchange.