Work for Next Meeting

Challenge

When you notice a media statement that feels as if it distorts reality, purse your lips and formulate an alternative statement about the same issue - whether contrasting or subtly different - which feels better to you.

Reading

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The Shining

Reflections on the Challenge

When you notice something shiny, snap your fingers and pause. Ask yourself, ‘Am I following my personal path or external demands?’ Allow yourself to smile.

• 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.

Beelzebub’s Tales, Chapter 32

• 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.

The Abbot and the Nun

Reflections on the Challenge

When you hear someone coughing or sneezing - or do so yourself - clear your throat and consider one centre (thinking, moving, or feeling) where balance could be improved. Take a moment to sense how this awareness resonates within you.

• 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.

Beelzebub’s Tales, Chapter 32

• 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.

Food for Thought

Reflections on the Challenge

When you notice someone charismatic, consider how you are affected, and what may be their motivation. Move your big toes up and down.

• 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.

Beelzebub’s Tales, Chapter 32

• 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.

Remember to breathe

Beelzebub’s Tales, Chapter 32

• 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.

Sensorium

Reflections on the Challenge

When you awake with a dream in mind, observe any insights or emotions that arise. Allow space for hidden wisdom to surface. Stretch your arms.

• 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.

Beelzebub’s Tales, Chapter 32

• 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.

Education, Education, Education.

Reflections on the Challenge

When you find yourself pecking at your phone, keyboard, or food, without attention, pause. Then resume the action more slowly and consciously, observing any change in the way you feel.

• Experiences

  L had become aware, one evening, that he had been pecking at his food over supper. When he chewed more slowly, he felt calmer. Generally, he had observed that slowing down brought a feeling of calmness. Recently, he had acquired a virtual reality headset and found that when he felt distracted or busy, putting it on and entering a peaceful natural environment had helped him appreciate the calmness real nature can provide.

• Responses

  T was intrigued by L’s mention of virtual reality as a tool for appreciating nature. She had initially viewed it as unnatural, but could now reconsider it, as if VR can help one appreciate nature more deeply, it might enhance the real-world experience of being in nature.

Beelzebub’s Tales, Chapter 32

• Passage

  And all cosmic truths usually become known to all on these planets, thanks to the fact that the beings of the given planet who by their conscious labors learn some truth or other share it with other beings of their planet, and in this way all the cosmic truths gradually become known by all the beings of the given planet without any distinction.

  Thanks to this sacred process, intentionally actualized by our ALL-FORESEEING COMMON ENDLESS FATHER, it is foreseen that in the three-brained beings of the given planet, during the process in their presences of the fundamental cosmic holy law of Triamazikamno, the superfluity of its third holy force thereby obtained, namely, the force of the ‘sacred reconciling,’ should by itself crystallize data in them for engendering that something which is what is called ‘being-Egoaitoorassian-will.’

• Discussion

  N compared the sharing of cosmic truths to sharing scientific advancements, though in the case of modern science complications had arisen, notably because of quantum mechanics, in the pursuit of a unified cosmic understanding.

  L supported the idea that over time, planets and life forms naturally progressed toward harmony and consciousness.

  T commented on the uniqueness of Earth’s development, reflecting the special condition mentioned in the extract. N thought likewise that the Earth’s conditions had been absolutely right for fostering human evolution.

• Passage

  And the second fact ... they intentionally try by every kind of means, for the purpose of making them respond to these abnormal conditions round them, to fix in their ‘logicnestarian-localizations’ as many impressions as possible obtained exclusively only from such artificial perceptions as are again due to the results of their abnormal existence—which maleficent action of theirs towards their offspring they call ‘education’ ... and the totality of these artificial perceptions is then perceived by them, owing to their naïvete, as their real ‘consciousness.’ But as for the sacred data for genuine being-consciousness put into them by Great Nature ... which engender in them the genuine sacred being-impulses of ‘faith,’ ‘hope,’ ‘love,’ and ‘conscience’—these data, becoming gradually also isolated and being left to themselves, evolve independently of the intentions of the responsible beings, and of course also independently of the bearers of them themselves, and come to be regarded as what is called the ‘subconsciousness.’

• Discussion

  N said Gurdjieff was trying to explain why humanity was in its current state of artificial consciousness. We were not allowed our any other because education put us in the wrong place, and we just then followed what our parents and teachers told us. Gurdjieff was suggesting that true responsibility and the more authentic aspects of human nature resided deep within the subconscious.