Challenge
When your direction is diverted by the spell of a voice that assumes it is right, splay your fingers, and remember your purpose.
CHALLENGE ◆ DISCUSS ◆ BEELZEBUB'S TALES
First Sunday of the month
in-person
9 to 10:30am Fee: £15
More info:
thework@gurdjieffmeetings.com
When your direction is diverted by the spell of a voice that assumes it is right, splay your fingers, and remember your purpose.
Experiences
After reading a promotional article by the company building smart motorways, T had pursed her lips, recognising the claim of improved safety contrasted with fatal accidents caused by the removal of hard shoulders. She had noted the reliance on 'refuges', which offered no help if breakdowns occurred between them. She had also reacted similarly to Rachel Reeves' spring statement, which had portrayed the financial state as sound. However, she had observed that it failed to acknowledge widespread business failures, and redundancies due to people being more expensive to hire.
L had responded to a news report about a car ramming incident in Germany. The media had described the perpetrator as someone known to police with mental health issues. L had pursed his lips and reframed it. It had later emerged that the driver was a far-right German. No further details had been released since. L had also awoken one night from a dream with a law in mind, that all human actions must inevitably diverge from their intention. He had seen this as related to the challenge, suggesting distortion was not necessarily deliberate. Later, he had responded to a government statement about restoring democratic NHS oversight by reframing it as a move to centralise control under direct government authority.
Responses
Responding to T, L said that the original motorway design had a clear mission — including a hard shoulder and other safety features — which had been compromised. N highlighted the danger caused by the new design, while T added that the changes had likely been driven by the political need to show progress, even at the cost of safety.
N reflected on the law L had mentioned, suggesting that such divergence is common in life. T noted how easy it is to lose momentum on the monthly challenge — strong intentions often fizzle within days. L agreed, saying that even if one begins awake, there is always a drift once attention weakens. N linked this to Gurdjieff himself, who had to abandon his original plans in Russia but found ways to realise them elsewhere through extraordinary effort.
Passage
Most recently, by the way, when I was on this ill-fated planet a new maleficent means began to flourish there for doing the same with the psyche of the beings there, as there did and still does this branch of their science hypnotism.
And this new maleficent means they call ‘psychoanalysis.’
You must without fail also know that when beings of the period of the Tikliamishian civilization constated for the first time about this particular psychic property of theirs, ... then the process itself of bringing someone into this state began to be regarded by them as a sacred process and was performed only in their temples before the congregation.
But in the presences of your contemporary favorites ... not only do they not consider its concentrated manifestation, intentionally yet unavoidably evoked by them, as ‘sacred’; but they have already adapted it, the process itself and the accidentally obtained results, for serving them as a means for ‘tickling’ certain consequences of the properties of the organ Kundabuffer firmly fixed in them.
Discussion
T was struck by the use of the word tickle, both in the passage and in the name of the ancient Tikliamishian civilization. She wondered whether the similarity might be intentional — a kind of linguistic clue. L agreed it felt suggestive.
N picked up on Beelzebub’s framing of psychoanalysis as a modern offshoot of hypnotism. He noted that early figures like Charcot and Freud had indeed used hypnosis before moving to the more familiar image of the analyst listening invisibly behind the couch — a structure which L linked to the Catholic tradition of confession.
Passage
For bringing them into this state, I had at first recourse to the same means by which the beings of the period of the Tikliamishian civilization brought each other into this state, namely, by acting upon them with my own Hanbledzoïn.
But when later there often began to arise in my common presence the being-impulse called ‘love-of-kind’, and, apart from my personal aims, I had to produce this said state in very many three-brained beings there for their personal benefit, and as this means proved very harmful for my being-existence, I invented another means, thanks to which I obtained the same effect without the expenditure of my own Hanbledzoïn.
Discussion
N observed that the passage describes two forms of hypnosis: one that was energetically costly to Beelzebub, and a second that achieved the same effect without that cost. L suggested that Beelzebub may have been helping people with little motivation — those seeking change “cheaply” — and that this might have been ethically problematic, especially since it was draining to him.
T pointed to the mention of the being-impulse of love-of-kind, and suggested that Beelzebub could not have continued the work without that impulse arising. N agreed, saying it seemed he was doing it for humanitarian reasons, and that this made the energetic cost more serious.
T related this to the demands on therapists, especially in the NHS, where support and supervision are often lacking. She noted that without support, therapists can burn out. N added that the same applied more broadly: many people don’t recognise how much energy they use in everyday work and creative life, and don’t take steps to replenish it.
Experiences
L had not taken notes this time but often noticed light reflections - on leaves or car bonnets - which reminded him of the challenge. Snapping his fingers, he questioned whether he was following his own path or external demands. He found that, more often than not, he was engaged in his own pursuits, particularly composing or work related to Gurdjieff. Occasionally, obligations to others arose, such as community projects or invitations, which sometimes carried a sense of duty rather than personal alignment.
T had managed the challenge several times but felt something was missing. On one occasion, she fully engaged with it and recorded her experience. Walking down a sunlit, rain-wet path, she questioned whether she was following her own path or someone else’s. She realised that everything around her - the pavement, buildings, fences, and even planted trees - was the work of others. Even her own existence had been shaped by others’ choices and influences. The only thing truly hers was her daily walk, which she resolved to continue regardless of the weather. Smiling did not come naturally to her.
N had engaged with the challenge several times, using the finger snap as a reminder. The question of whether he was following his own path or someone else’s had surfaced repeatedly throughout the month. He reflected on the idea of disruption, seeing Gurdjieff as a disruptive yet healthy force. A lecture on disruptors in marketing reinforced his awareness of how people are conditioned to follow external paths rather than their own. This led him to consider how his life might differ if he fully followed his own path, allowing his essence to flourish rather than conforming to external expectations. Moments of sunlight and encounters with people whose smiles radiated naturally served as triggers for these reflections. He also pondered how, in youth, people often have ideals they rarely realise in adulthood.
J had engaged with the challenge only once, upon noticing a shiny locker coin at the swimming baths. Remembering the instruction to smile, he struggled with the act itself, questioning whether it should be spontaneous or performed. He realised that, as a child, a shiny object might have brought him joy, but as an adult, the smile felt artificial. Instead, he reflected on the reasoning behind the challenge and thought of L, which prompted a genuine smile. He recognised that his response had been influenced by the instruction itself rather than an intrinsic reaction, leading him to consider how often people follow external directions rather than their own thinking.
Responses
L noted that the challenge did not specify smiling but rather allowing it, which could be difficult - smiling usually arose naturally from amusement rather than conscious effort. J responded that he only found it difficult to allow himself to smile in diplomatic situations where reactions must be managed. Otherwise, he saw smiling as either a natural response or a deliberate form of communication. T pointed out the paradox of the challenge: it was about following one’s own path, yet it instructed participants to do something unnatural—smiling on cue. Since they had chosen to take part, the challenge became part of their path, but the act of smiling still felt externally imposed.
Passage
...they then soon became categorically convinced, firstly, that in almost any one of the three-brained beings without distinction of sex who gazes for a long time at shining and brilliant objects of a certain kind, there begins to proceed a state ... and secondly, they noticed further that the form of manifestation of the subject during the state varies and is found to be dependent on the former being-experiences which chanced to be predominant and on the shining objects with which a connection was accidentally established during such experiences of theirs.
... these latter also began wiseacring about it, and finally when by chance, as it usually happens among them, they learned that it is possible in beings similar to them when in this state, to change in an accelerated way the impressions formerly fixed in them to new ones, then certain of them began to use this particular psychic property inherent in them for the purpose of curing.
Discussion
N spoke of susceptibility to hypnotism - some people were more easily influenced or persuaded than others.
T pointed out that this described the replacement of impressions, suggesting that people might seek to free themselves from the influence of past experiences.
Passage
Thanks merely to this branch of their science, there was acquired in the psyche of the ordinary beings of this ill-fated planet several still new forms of what are called ‘being-Kalkali,’ that is, ‘essential strivings’ which became cast into forms of definite ‘teachings’ existing there under the names of ‘Anoklinism,’ ‘Darwinism,’ ‘anthroposophism,’ ‘theosophism,’ and many others under names also ending with ‘ism,’ thanks to which even those two data of their presences, which still helped them to be at least a little as it is becoming to three-centered beings to be, finally disappeared in them.
Discussion
N observed that Darwinism can take on a dogmatic character, pointing out that figures like Richard Dawkins defend it as rigidly as religious fundamentalists defend their beliefs. T noted that theosophy (Blavatsky) and anthroposophy (Steiner) have also solidified into fixed doctrines, reflecting the process described in the extract.
Experiences
T had experienced multiple instances of the challenge throughout the month, initially not recognising the trigger but becoming more aware as time passed. One moment stood out—while waiting for a train, she had heard someone coughing and remembered the challenge. Clearing her throat, she had noticed she was leaning against the wall, appearing relaxed but actually holding tension due to discomfort with the underground and anticipation of a busy meeting. Pushing off the wall, she had regained physical balance and realised her tension. Standing firmly on both feet had withdrawn her focus from external anxieties, bringing a sense of being upright, grounded, and genuinely relaxed—contrary to her initial assumption.
L had engaged with the challenge on multiple occasions. After hearing a cough, he had cleared his throat and reflected on what was out of balance, realising he needed more sleep to improve all his senses rather than just one. Another time, upon hearing a sneeze, he had considered his new watch, which was heavier than necessary. Wanting the highest-performing model, he had chosen the heaviest one but recognised that a 100% solution was not always best. He had decided to exchange it for a lighter option.
Responses
L agreed with T’s idea that balance is not a fixed state but requires continuous adjustment. He likened it to steering a boat, where small course corrections keep it on track. The goal is not achieving a static equilibrium but staying attuned to imbalance and responding appropriately.
Passage
Though this ‘hypnotism,’ or as they prefer to say this branch of their ‘science,’ arose and became official only recently, yet it had already had time to become for them another of the very serious factors which brought about a still greater ‘confusion’ of their psyche, already muddled enough without this in the majority of them, and which still further deranged the functioning of their planetary body.
Discussion
J said the phrase about confusion of the psyche encapsulated one of Beelzebub’s core concerns - trying to unravel the extraordinary confusion that clouds human thought.
Passage
he first of all asked the nun Ephrosinia to be sure to bring with her to the next confession the portrait of her sweetheart together with the frame.
At the next confession the nun took with her this said portrait.
There was nothing very special about it but the frame indeed was unusual, it being all encrusted with mother-of-pearl and various colored stones.
While the abbot and the nun were together examining the portrait in the frame, the abbot suddenly noticed that something particular began to proceed with the nun.
Discussion
L said that the adornments on the picture had presumably had a hypnotic effect on Ephrosinia. T agreed, saying it might be the light in the crystals.
Experiences
N had had a long conversation over the phone with an old friend. He noted the friend’s precise, well-spoken English, and his manner of emphasising words. They had known each other since childhood. N believed his friend’s charisma was innate, like a force of nature, which he remembered from school. After the call he reminisced about thsoe days, and also completed the physical exercise with the toes.
L had encountered charismatic figures in real life and media and had gained the impression that charisma was often linked to ego, which could wear thin after a while. He felt art was served better without charisma, citing exaggerated gestures by conductors, chess players, and pianists as unhelpful. He believed charisma was neutral. It could influence positively, as with gurus fostering discipline, or negatively, as with agitators inciting mob violence. He had remembered to flex his toes afterward.
Responses
Responding to L, N said that some people with charisma could misuse it and it could take them to dangerous places. They sometimes developed an appetite for risk, and N described a friend of that nature.
Responding to N, L said he also had had a similar charismatic friend, likewise with a distinctive manner of diction and a penchant for risk-taking.
Passage
those definite crystallizations foreseen by Great Nature—which crystallizations are the most important part of the composition of the second-being-food, and which when assimilated by beings are transformed into substances for the coating and for the further perfecting of their higher-body-Kesdjan—ceased, owing to their abnormal being-existence, to be assimilated either consciously or automatically for the purpose indicated, then in consequence of this and also because the afflux of these substances, transformed in other concentrations and getting into the atmospheres of the planets, continued all the time to flow into the atmosphere of your planet, the result was that on this ill-fated planet, among your unfortunate favorites, there arose still another definite ‘disease’ which has already become quite definite in its harmful action upon them.
Discussion
T said that there was now a complete disconnect between those who work the land and the politicians in government. Farmland was being repurposed for solar power collection, and much of it was therefore being covered with black panels New inheritance tax was forcing smaller farmers to sell their land, which might no longer be used for producing food.
Passage
... since they lost the possibility of existing according to the Fulasnitamnian principle, certain of the ingredients of the substances of the second-being-food continue to serve only for assisting the transformation of the first-being-food and for removing from the planetary body certain elements already used by them.
Discussion
L said that Gurdjieff’s controversial thesis was that because people were not thinking correctly, they developed an emotional imbalance, which then led to physical illness.
N added that this imbalance was clearly affecting us, as we were failing to transform energies that come into this planet properly. He noted that we should be able to ingest these influences and become stronger, but instead, they negatively impacted us.
Passage
they soon understood and found the possibility of actualizing this by means of what is called ‘being-Hanbledzoïn,’ namely, that cosmic substance, the essence of which the three-brained beings of the contemporary civilization came close to understanding, and which they called ‘animal magnetism.’
Discussion
T said the term animal magnetism related to a form of charisma where the three centres and will-power were all connected up. L said it did not mean they were good people, but it did mean thay could manipulate people.
Passage
At the beginning, ... this second-being-food was normally transformed and all the fundamental elements proper to it, those which arise from the transformation of their own planet and those which flow into their atmosphere from the transformation in other concentrations of their solar system, were assimilated by their common presence according to the definite data already present in them, and the superfluity of certain of its component elements not used by individual beings automatically passed, as in us, into the possession of the surrounding meritorious beings similar to them.
Discussion
N thought that second-being-food probably referred to breathing.
Experiences
L had dreamt of guiding a young American woman through London, describing a piano-shaped cinema, now demolished. She was indifferent, and if anything, annoyed. This led him to realise his role was not to seek shared enthusiasm but to create authentically. In another dream, he was discussing the ‘Four Principles’. He remembered Covey had seven and subsequently found multiple sets of principles in Mormon teachings.
T had dreamt of a criminal man in power who executed those who knew his crimes. She described a horrific scene where he came across a line of people sitting, and shot one at point-blank range, his head collapsing as if swallowing the bullet. This evoked reflections on the line of defenceless people who sat knowing the truth but were powerless to act. She stretched out her arms and this action brought to mind the sculpture of the Angel of the North, symbolising full embrace and openness, contrasting the violence she witnessed in the dream. She also reflected on V, a rigid and emotionally closed individual, unable to progress in playing a musical instrument, due to a lack of humility. She noted that true mastery in any art demands continuous striving and vulnerability, traits that V had rejected in favour of avoiding this challenge and taking up control over others, in other areas of life.
J had recalled the challenge on one occasion upon waking, and stretched his arms - but was then unable to remember his dream. This set him reflecting about forgetting dreams, which he likened to former incarnations. He reasoned that just as dreams can slip away despite effort, past existences might similarly fade from memory.
Responses
N noted the rise in political violence and unrest, emphasizing the dangers of anarchy and the pressures individuals face under systems of control. He reflected on how fear and violence have become increasingly visible in societal structures, leading to a climate of uncertainty and suppression.
Passage
all the sacred data put in by Great Nature Herself for forming in them their real being-consciousness become isolated and remain during the entire period of their existence in their almost primitive state, ...
Although such a ‘localization’ of accidentally perceived ‘impressions’ is found in them and although they are aware of its action, yet, in respect of any functioning inherent in their planetary body as well as in respect of the acquisition in their common presence of Objective-Reason, it plays no part.
All these impressions, intentionally or accidentally perceived, from which the said localizations are formed ought to be in them only as material for confrontative logic for that real being-consciousness which they should have in themselves, ...
Discussion
N said the five senses were not enough to acquire objective reason. T said that objective reason wins, but were we not utterly subjective? N said that for most of the time, we were living in subjective reason. Gurdjieff, all the time, was stressing objectivity and objective reason. N said he thought we found it very hard to pronounce objective truths or objective beauty. We may see it once in a while, like when walking into a Gothic cathedral, when you will for a moment have an experience of objective beauty. T said that through creativity there might be some deep connection with something that was outside of us, and it gets through to us.
Passage
of at least adapting their famous education to the said subconsciousness of their offspring, but that they always and in everything intentionally assist every one of the rising generation to perceive impressions only from the abnormally artificial, then thanks only to this, when every one of them reaches the age of a responsible being all his being-judgments and all his deductions from them are always purely peculiarly-subjective in him and have no connection not only with the genuine being-impulses arising also in him, but also neither with those general cosmic lawful phenomena, to sense which by Reason is proper to every three-brained being ...
Discussion
J said we acquire many concepts externally, which may not originate from within ourselves, suggesting these are artificial constructs rather than genuine impulses.
N thought the text contained a message that we did not grasp objective reason, and that Gurdjieff placed objective reason as a high-level goal for humanity.
We look forward to the time when the Power of Love will replace the Love of Power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace.
William E. Gladstone, 1809-1898
Source ⓘContradiction is not a sign of falsity, nor the lack of contradiction a sign of truth.
Blaise Pascal 1623-1662