Work for Next Meeting

Challenge

Once a day, when you switch on an electric light, clench your teeth and notice how you feel about a current bureaucratic obstacle.

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Automatic-Habit

Reflections on the Challenge

The first time you notice the sun this month, be aware of any thought; thereafter, recall what you thought about the last time, deliberately try to think of something different, and if you succeed, make a Eureka gesture and notice how you feel afterwards.

• Experiences

  L described several occasions during the month when he noticed the sun and worked with the challenge. About a week after the meeting, during a cloudy period, he noticed the sun appearing while writing his morning journal. As this was the first instance, there was no previous occasion to recall. On the next clear day, he saw the sun and remembered that earlier moment and deliberately thought of something different, making the Eureka gesture. He noted a feeling of increased energy and a sense of promise. A few days later, while using a virtual reality environment, he again noticed the "sun". He recalled the previous instance, made the gesture, and felt anticipation connected with his creative work. Another day, on his way back from an art session, he noticed the sun once more, remembered the virtual reality occasion, and repeated the Eureka gesture. He observed that the challenge required sustained continuity of attention, both in recalling previous instances and in consciously registering what he was doing at the time.

  T described an instance that occurred while she was waiting at a railway station in the late afternoon. As the setting sun shone along the railway lines and illuminated the railings and ramp where she was standing, she recalled her earlier thought on first seeing the sun blazing across the scene. That earlier thought had arisen from something she had recently read: that the Sun, in relation to other stars, is a yellow dwarf. She noted that this felt ego-crushing, particularly given her human inability to look directly at it. On this occasion, she deliberately thought something different. She reflected that although she loved to see the Sun, it exerted power over her physical being, as it was too bright and blinding to look at without damaging the very sight through which she perceived the world. She then made the Eureka gesture.

Beelzebub’s Tales, Chapter 33

• Passage

  And they did not know this, as I later understood, simply because no one had ever applied to them for this permit, and on this account these unfortunate beings had not acquired the customary for them what is called ‘automatic-habit’ for the manifestation of such a ‘being-duty’ as theirs of this kind.

• Discussion

  T suggested that people entered bureaucratic roles in order to earn a living and, in doing so, gradually lost their own sense of agency. She described this as a process by which individuals became increasingly automatic, almost zombie-like.

Bolshevism and Other Stories

Reflections on the Challenge

When you realise you are walking, bring to mind a creative project you are engaged in, and briefly alter your gait with a swagger or tacking motion. Notice how close it is to your heart, then relax your walk into what feels natural.

• Experiences

  L had become aware that he was walking along a road, and deliberately altered his gait from side to side. He brought to mind a creative musical project he was working on and sensed it lay very close to his heart. He then turned his attention to a second creative project – developing a web-based application – and noticed that, although it also felt close to his heart, it drew him away from the act of composing itself. Having observed this distinction, he allowed his walking to return to what felt natural.

  T described two occasions during the month when, while walking, she had remembered the challenge. On the first, she was walking towards the studio in order to work alone and without distraction. She had brought to mind her creative project of regular daily work there. While remembering this, she swayed her hips as she walked, before resuming a normal forward walk. On another occasion, she was walking to get somewhere on time and had remembered the challenge while aware of a list of tasks that needed to be completed beforehand. She recalled that her daily Pomodoro of composing was the third item on that list. She tacked back and forth across the pavement several times, and it started to feel like a dance. As she did so, the stress of the to-do list eased, and she sensed her composing practice as a kind of lighthouse beacon she was steadily moving towards, despite the other demands along the way.

  J described one occasion during the month when he had deliberately altered his walk while thinking about his creative projects. He had noticed that adopting a swagger-like movement brought with it a heightened sense of personal ownership of the work – a feeling of “this is my project” – he disliked this feeling of 'self importance' which stood out clearly to him as different from his usual engagement with the creative process.

• Responses

  L observed that J seemed to relate to his creative work with sincerity rather than self-identification, and suggested that this might have made the swagger element of the challenge feel unnecessary or ill-fitting for him. J agreed with this characterisation, adding that altering his gait had introduced a sense of self-consciousness and grandiosity. He felt that concentrating on changing his walk had reduced his ability to concentrate on his creative project, fragmenting rather than strengthening his focus. L replied that such interruption could itself be valuable, suggesting that breaking habitual movement might also interrupt habitual patterns of thought. He added that even creative work, while not habitual in content, could become absorbing in a way that risked a comfortable loss of awareness.

  T emphasised that the challenge was not intended to assess the creative project itself, but to bring thinking, feeling, and moving together in the present moment. She noted that the moving centre is often neglected, and that deliberately altering movement could counter its tendency to operate unconsciously.

Beelzebub’s Tales, Chapter 33

• Passage

  ... the majority of them carried in themselves the germ of that ‘particular-functioning-of-their-common-presences’ which had already long before been habitually arising in your favorites owing to a certain combination of two independent causes coming from outside.

  The first of these causes is a common cosmic law which exists under the name of ‘Solioonensius,’ and the second is a sharp deterioration of the conditions of the usual being-existence of the beings on some part or other of the surface of this planet of yours.

• Discussion

  L pointed out that this second cause was readily recognisable, referring to the way social and organisational conditions often degrade over time. He suggested that deterioration was treated here not as accidental, but as something with its own momentum.

  T added that such deterioration could make escapism more understandable, as people seek relief from constricting or dehumanising conditions.

• Passage

  ... the totality of these manifestations among the beings of the large community was this time called there ‘Bolshevism.’

  ... I touched upon this question in this place only to give you a representation of the already particularly abnormal conditions of being-existence among which my activities among the beings of this large community flowed at this period

• Discussion

  T drew attention to the wording of the passage, noting that Gurdjieff first referred to a “large community” and then stated that it was “this time called there ‘Bolshevism’.” She observed that the emphasis lay on how a name was applied to the community as a whole, rather than on any detailed explanation at this point.

The Wisdom of the Crows

Reflections on the Challenge

When you see or hear a bird, does it touch your feelings? What aspect of yourself might the bird express? Let your hands lift like wings.

• Experiences

  T had noticed the challenge several times during the month and recorded brief notes near the end. While walking through quiet gardens at sunset, she had heard birds singing from an unseen perch above her. Remembering the challenge, she had gently lifted and moved her hands at the wrists, which brought a feeling of enjoyment, gladness, and connectedness through listening. She had felt a wish to share the experience, though she had been alone. On another occasion, at a leafy overground station, she had heard intense twittering from hedges and trees without seeing the birds. She had again moved her hands by her sides and sensed the wrists as if they were the pinions of wings. This had brought an awareness of the contrast between the impossibility of flight for her and the natural reality of flight for birds. She had become aware of different birds through their distinct sounds – robins, parakeets, crows, magpies, gulls – and later seen a robin hopping among foliage and feeding. Moving her hands had felt like an imitation of flight, linking her wrists and fingers to the beating of wings and feathers.

  L had found that it took about a week after the meeting before the challenge began to register. On first hearing a repetitive bird song whose source he could not identify, he had raised his hands and noticed a feeling of slight self-consciousness. Later, hearing seagulls calling in the evening, he had felt their sounds echo his own thoughts about finishing the day and returning home. On another occasion at sunset, he had seen a dark bird flying in a straight, purposeful line, which had evoked for him a sense of purposeful freedom. A further repetitive bird call at sunset had brought an association with uncertainty. A few days later, seeing dozens of birds together had stirred a feeling of determined mobilisation. Throughout these moments, he had observed how each encounter evoked a distinct emotional quality in himself, linking the bird’s presence with his own inner state.

  N had come to the challenge later in the month and noticed that encounters with birds immediately evoked personal associations. During a long walk in the park, he had seen many magpies and recognised in them a quality he also saw in himself – a tendency to gather and store things, particularly information, for its own sake. Seeing the magpies together had brought this aspect of himself into clearer awareness. He had reflected on how different birds seemed to mirror different inner qualities, and how noticing them in daily life deepened his sense of connection and enjoyment. These moments had drawn his attention to the way encounters with birds could illuminate patterns within himself rather than remaining abstract ideas.

• Responses

  Responding to N, L noted the long human tradition of associating birds with wisdom and meaning, suggesting that N’s instinctive associations were not idiosyncratic but echoed something ancient. He pointed out that birds had long been taken as carriers of knowledge, reinforcing N’s experience of recognising qualities in himself through the birds he encountered.

  N followed up T's question, “Where is your song?”, and suggested that many people’s voices become constrained through upbringing and education. He felt that this suppression could distance a person from their authentic expression, making T’s experience of loss and longing for voice particularly significant. L appreciated the poetic quality of her description, and linked her experience to the broader question of creative expression. He suggested that just as birds sing according to their nature, the question for a human being becomes where their own genuine creative expression lies.

Beelzebub’s Tales, Chapter 33

• Passage

  “And it is thanks to this lack of foresight in these German beings that the scandalous misfortune for the poor Russians came about—that is to say, it is owing to the fact that the feathers of the crows are dyed by nature ... a genuine black, which, even with these aniline dyes invented by themselves, cannot possibly be dyed any other color owing to the said vile imperfection of these dyes—that these poor Russian ‘crows’ cannot therefore possibly become peacocks. And what is worst of all, having ceased to be crows and not yet having become peacocks, they willy-nilly turn into the bird turkey, which expresses ideally, as has been formulated by our dear teacher, ‘Half-with-a-quarter-plus-three-quarters.’

• Discussion

  L took the passage as a warning against trying to become something other than what one is, by taking the image of the crow as pointing to the necessity of remaining true to one’s own nature, rather than imitating an idealised form from elsewhere.

  N responded to the description of the turkey by noting the recognisable physicality of the “strut”. He remarked that this exaggerated, lifted gait could still be seen in military marching, and that it appeared oddly laughable — an outward display that did not correspond to inner reality.

Birds of a Feather

Reflections on the Challenge

When you express an opinion, listen to the sound of your own voice. Does it ring true, as if from the heart? Consider on what experience it is based.

• Experiences

  L had worked earnestly with the challenge and noticed that his voice changed not when he was being insincere, but when he spoke from the heart. In today’s climate, he felt it difficult to speak openly unless with someone deeply trusted. His observation was that the voice itself revealed this tension — becoming different precisely when sincerity was present.

  J reflected that his tone differed according to how deeply his emotions were engaged. When speaking from conviction, he aimed to express genuine feeling rather than detached commentary. He noted the importance of pausing before speaking — ensuring his words conveyed sincerity rather than cleverness. In practice, however, he found that when offering what he believed to be genuine advice, his tone hardly changed; the real work lay in maintaining that inner check before opening his mouth.

  N had found the challenge revealing, recognising that his voice changed noticeably when he spoke without real knowledge or conviction. As a lawyer, he was accustomed to projecting a certain tone in court — persuasive but not wholly authentic. He saw that this professional habit could carry a subtle falseness, detectable in the voice itself. At moments he could hear the difference: a faint echo of self-awareness reminding him that he was speaking beyond his true understanding.

• Responses

  L responded to J by noting that his account illustrated Gurdjieff’s Law of Three in action. The initial impulse to speak formed the affirming force; the awareness of slipping into wiseacring became the denying; and the conscious decision to speak sincerely was the reconciling. Turning to N’s experience, L likened the lawyer’s performative voice to a necessary role within an adversarial process — affirming and denying forces awaiting reconciliation in the judge’s discernment.

  T picked up on N’s remarks, recalling the courtroom oath “to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth,” and asked whether this applied equally to lawyers.

  N replied that advocates were indeed bound by strict duties to the court, though not all upheld them. He reflected that even outside legal settings, people’s voices often betrayed when they strayed beyond real knowledge. This, he said, showed the emotional centre intruding into intellectual speech — a covering of uncertainty with feeling.

  L quipped that such composure was rare among politicians, provoking comments that many leaders spoke entirely “from the head,” lacking heart.

  J then returned to L’s point, agreeing that the threefold process applied, but adding that awareness should ideally arise before speech — the mind engaging before the mouth. He compared courtroom or public presentation to chairing a meeting or compering an event: one must address the audience sincerely, even when not emotionally involved. Sincerity, he suggested, depended on conscious awareness of one’s audience, not on emotional intensity.

  N agreed, observing that in advocacy, as in ordinary conversation, truth could blur when the wish to protect or persuade became dominant.

  L concluded by distinguishing the Law of Three at the moment of speech from the broader Law of Seven, which governed the unfolding of any event. Speaking or chairing, he said, followed a seven-stage rhythm: preparation, opening, climax, and resolution — each with its own energy.

  T observed that once others were involved, the dynamic became less controllable; new forces entered from outside.

  L expanded that these influences — whether from people or the “numinous nature of reality” — could appear as coincidences or interruptions, from neighbours’ music to unexpected alarms. Such moments, he said, illustrated how processes at different scales interweave within the pattern of sevenfoldness.

Beelzebub’s Tales, Chapter 33

• Passage

  ... the people who represent the very “Tzimus” of contemporary European civilization, namely, those who arise and dwell on the continent Europe, must infallibly be called peacocks, that is, the birds who have the most beautiful and most gorgeous exterior, while the people who dwell on other continents must be called crows, that is, the most good-for-nothing and dirty of all birds.

  ...for those contemporary people who, on the contrary, appear on “God’s Earth” on any continent and obtain their further “stuffing” under the conditions arising and reigning on the continent Europe, no better “comparison” can be found than the bird turkey.

  “‘This latter bird, more than all other birds, expresses a something which is neither fish, flesh, fowl, nor good red herring, but which represents in itself, as is said, “a-half-with-a-quarter-plus-three-quarters.”

• Discussion

  J reflected on the curious phrase “a-half-with-a-quarter-plus-three-quarters,” seeing it as Gurdjieff’s caricature of pretension—people or nations puffing themselves up to appear more than they are.

  N added that the three birds suggest stages of aspiration: the coarse crow seeking refinement, the turkey striving toward the peacock’s brilliance. He compared this to peoples or individuals borrowing the manners of a “higher type” while lacking its substance—a pattern still visible in modern life.

Group Therapy

Reflections on the Challenge

When you encounter an official statement that feels inauthentic, hold your nose, and inwardly rephrase a true version.

• Experiences

  T said the challenge had presented itself almost daily. The incident that struck her most was hearing the Prime Minister extol England’s breakfasts and pubs while presiding over their decline through taxation and closures. She instinctively held her nose, inwardly rephrasing a truer version that would never have been spoken publicly. Later, recalling the imprisonment of a woman for an impulsive tweet and contrasting it with leniency in other cases, she again felt the need to restrain her thoughts — aware that even honesty might risk censure.

  L noted several occasions to practise the challenge. Hearing the Prime Minister declare, “We will never surrender our flag,” he inwardly rephrased it as an admission of regret over leaving the EU. The same day, an email from a software company announced “new payment plans to better serve your needs,” which he translated as a blunt demand for higher fees to retain essential features. Later, watching Sir Geoffrey Hinton warn that AI would destroy the world, he again held his nose, reimagining the lament as something more personal — perhaps resentment that ChatGPT had disrupted his relationship.

• Responses

  L, replying to T, said that a “white lie” may spring from kindness, and thus not "smell", yet in politics the same impulse can become deliberate deceit. There was a spectrum of lying, which stretched to lying to oneself — when identification replaces the inner observer, and inauthenticity becomes habitual.

Beelzebub’s Tales, Chapter 33

• Passage

  And thanks to this, day by day, instead of improving the conditions for a speedy realization of the aim which has been set as a basis for my dear Fatherland, there only increases among the separate members of our Trusteeship all kinds of misunderstandings, personal considerations, gossip, intrigue, plots, and so on and so forth.

  During recent times I have thought and consulted much to find some way out of this sorrowful situation, until I nearly fell ill and was compelled to go to Egypt for rest. But alas, even there my black thoughts give me no peace, for my present spiritual unbalance leaves me no rest.

• Discussion

  J said the passage evoked the United Nations of today, where noble aims are undermined by factional tension and rivalry. L agreed, going further by suggesting the Governor’s plight was inevitable, as human actions must diverge from their intention over time. T linked this to the modern political scene, where leaders must juggle party loyalties, public opinion, and international pressures. True authenticity, she felt, became almost impossible when intellect and feeling were divided; only great emotional intelligence could sustain integrity of speech.

• Passage

  Further I said to him: ‘At the present time I have but one aim, namely, specifically to clear up for myself all the details of the manifestations of the human psyche of individuals existing separately as well as in groups. Well now, for the elucidation of the state and manifestations of the psyche of large groups, Russia would perhaps be very suitable for me ...

• Discussion

  J remarked that the scene moved from abstract theory to a practical problem — how insight can be translated into action. It showed, he said, the moment when ideas begin to take form in life.

  L built on this, distinguishing individual from collective work. The Trusteeship, he said, represented an early attempt at group therapy: to cure not one man but a whole social organism.

  T was struck by the phrase “individuals existing separately as well as in groups.” She recalled the powerful emotion of walking in a mass demonstration and how easily personal awareness dissolves in collective energy.

  L referred to Elias Canetti’s Crowds and Power, noting that such collective forces often reverse their own intentions. High ideals, he said, become ironic in their outcome — movements drift from their original purpose.

  J agreed, calling irony itself a mark of cosmic law: every generation’s conviction becomes the next generation’s error.

• Passage

  I began, however, during that time, to go about everywhere as is usual for me, and to frequent the beings of this city, belonging to various what are called there ‘classes,’ in order to become acquainted with the characteristic particularities of their manners and customs.

  Well, it was then that I constated, among other things, that in the presences of the beings belonging to just this contemporary community, their, as it is called, ‘Ego-Individuality’ began during the recent centuries to form itself particularly sharply dual.

  After I had constated this and began specially to investigate this question there, I finally elucidated that this dual individuality obtained in their common presences, chiefly owing to a noncorrespondence between what is called the ‘tempo-of-the-place-of-their-arising-and-existence’ and the ‘form-of-their-being-mentation.’

• Discussion

  T found the phrase “dual individuality” striking, saying it described the same inner split the group had been exploring all evening.

  N linked it to ordinary experience: every person, he said, lives between the outer tempo of events and the inner pace of understanding. When these move at different speeds, imbalance and confusion appear.

  L reflected that this non-correspondence might now be greater than ever. Inner change, he said, is slow and almost timeless, while the world’s tempo races ahead — communication that once took weeks now occurs in seconds. The Governor’s “illness,” he suggested, could symbolise the strain of that acceleration.

  T agreed that the passage touched the core of modern disquiet: our outer circumstances demand immediacy while feeling and thought lag behind.

  N added that Gurdjieff’s insight was both psychological and cosmic — he grasped that the tempo of a place shapes consciousness. A mismatch between the two produces the divided self Beelzebub describes.

The Sands of Time

Reflections on the Challenge

When a smell stirs a memory, pause. How does it feel? Recall what you can. Does it relate to the present? Turn your head and look back. Let the memory settle in.

• Experiences

  While walking on the day of the meeting, L had smelled honeysuckle, which recalled an elderly friend in Exmouth who had been proud of her honeysuckle bush. She had given him a book of her poems, and he had composed for a show she organised. Remembering her, and her nephew, a composer, both now deceased, stirred nostalgic feelings. Later, smelling burnt toast at the studios reminded him of cafés in Finchley, and he turned his head to let the memory settle. During morning meditation on the 21ˢᵗ, he remembered his father’s advice about deep breathing, which linked past and present. A few days before, the honeysuckle smell had returned with the same association.

  J explained that he had little sense of smell, but while in France a plate of eggs and chips at breakfast, with its aroma, reminded him of what he had left behind and gave him a mild sense of homesickness. He reflected that such simple food could feel symbolic of identity, more than just a meal.

  Passing lavender, buddleia, and other garden plants stirred memories for T of her father, who used to invite her to share his delight in their fragrance. Now, on walks, she often stopped to smell overhanging blossoms and encouraged companions to do the same, repeating the gestures he had made with her. The joy of the scents outweighed the sadness of his absence, as their immediacy brought her into the present. On several walks she remembered the challenge, turned back, and felt how past and present were held in one glance, realising the transient nature of both.

• Responses

  Responding to T, J asked whether it was possible to recall a loved one with warmth and gratitude without the inevitable tinge of grief. T replied that the intensity of scent could blot out sadness, overwhelming it with direct sensory delight. She reflected that her father’s love of fragrance had been a gift to her, something passed on like a baton, and that gratitude now outweighed mourning.

  J remarked that the strength of olfactory experience varied; for some it was less profound. He gave the example of his grandmother tending injured birds, suggesting that early influences continued to shape his own habits, such as feeding a crow each morning. L added that actions from the past could gain greater meaning over time if their effects endured.

  Turning to L’s account, J asked whether memories of people and events might distract from the immediacy of scent. L replied that the challenge itself had prompted the associations, allowing both elements to be held together. J noted that intention and receptivity increased the chance of recognising such moments. L agreed, explaining that he reminded himself of the challenge each morning so it stayed alive during the day.

Beelzebub’s Tales, Chapter 33

• Passage

  “The program of my external existence in this said Egypt included among other things, the practice of taking a walk every morning in the direction of what are called the ‘Pyramids’ and ‘Sphinx.’

  “These Pyramids and Sphinx were the sole, chance, poor surviving remains of those magnificent constructions which were erected by the generations of the most great Akhaldans and by the Great Ancestors of the beings of this said Egypt, and of which I was a witness at my fourth sojourn on this planet of yours.

• Discussion

  J questioned how Beelzebub could know these were only remnants, suggesting the claim implied omniscience. L replied that within the story, Beelzebub’s long lifespan allowed him to witness past epochs directly. T pointed out that as the devil figure, Beelzebub was literally “devil’s advocate.” J reflected that the grandeur of the pyramids is diminished in the text as fragments of a forgotten science.

• Passage

  ‘since he appeared to be sympathetic,’ and furthermore because I myself had already thought of establishing here also corresponding mutual relations with someone, in order as a rest from active mentation to converse sometimes by following only the course of freely flowing associations, I at once agreed to his proposition and from that day forth began to spend the time of my morning strolls with him.

• Discussion

  T highlighted Beelzebub’s wish to rest from ceaseless observation through freely flowing conversation. J compared this to “wu wei,” the principle of going with the flow rather than exerting effort. L said that the Gurdjieff work, in contrast, entailed struggle and effort.

• Passage

  ...they there and then decided to found a society under the name of “The Trusteeship of People’s Temperance,” and they chose me to be the head of this enterprise...

  “‘In my opinion, the whole evil consists in this, that this Trusteeship is under the protection of several groups, upon whom any realization of its task just depends, but as these groups each follow their own particular aims and wishes concerning each separate question, then, over the solution of each separate question concerning the basic aim of the Trusteeship, controversy always reigns.

• Discussion

  J drew a parallel with the problems of committees and organisations everywhere, such as the United Nations, where personal agendas obstruct collective purpose.