George's Aphorisms
Gurdjieff's lectures which were always given at unexpected moments were for most of us the high spots of life at the Prieure. One in which Gurdjieff explained the working of 'higher emotional energy' made a great impact upon me, because it followed a day of the most intense experiencing, when I for the first time discovered that it is possible to make contact with a source of energy that is beyond consciousness. This coincided with a time when I was seriously ill, indeed all my experiences were coloured by my health. I had a return of dysentery contracted in Izmir in 1919 and I recklessly overworked myself.
The work in the gardens reminded me of Dervish communities in Turkey. The hot summer of 1922, the constant need for water, the Turkish bath and feasts on Saturday evenings were all reminiscent of the East. But, most of all, the Study House reminded me of the Sema Hanes of the Dervish communities outside the walls of Constantinople. In such an atmosphere, it was strange to see English men and women at home, though it must be confessed not one of them gave the same impression as the Dervishes I had seen only three or four years earlier.
In place of the inscriptions from the Qur'an and sayings of the Prophet, that one would see in a Sema Hane, Gurdjieff had placed round the ceiling a series of his own sayings. These were written in a strange script slightly resembling Arabic but reading vertically. We were expected to learn this script and I preserved all the aphorisms. There were about a dozen when I was there, but they were constantly added to and the final series was so interesting that I reproduce it in its entirety:
1. If you have not a critical mind by nature it is useless your staying here.
2. Only he who can look after another's can possess his own.
3. The more difficult the conditions of life, the greater the possibility for work, provided you work consciously.
4. Only he can be just who can enter into the position of others.
5. We can only strive to be able to be Christians.
6. I love him who loves work.
7. Judge others by yourself and you will rarely be mistaken.
8. Here one can only create and direct conditions, but not help.
9. Know that this house can be useful only to those who have already recognized their nothingness, and believe it possible to change.
10. The best means of obtaining felicity in life is the ability to consider externally always, internally never.
11. Man is born with the capacity for a definite number of experiences. Economising them he prolongs his life.
12. Consider only what others think of you – not what they say.
13. Love not art with your feelings.
14. Take the understanding of the East and the knowledge of the West, and then seek.
15. He who has got rid of the disease of "Tomorrow" has a chance of achieving what he is here for.
16. The highest achievement of man is to be able TO DO.
17. Here there are neither English nor Russians, Jews nor Christians, but only those following one aim – to be able to do.
18. Help only him who strives not to be an idler.
19. Judge not by tales.
20. It is a sign of a good man that he loves his father and mother.
21. Respect all religions.
22. If you know what is bad and continue to do it, you commit a sin that is difficult to forgive.
23. Only conscious suffering is of use.
24. Better be temporarily selfish than never to be just.
25. Like what it does not like.
26. Remember that work here is not for work's sake but a means.
27. Energy used by an act of inner work is immediately converted for fresh use; that used by passive work is lost forever.
28. Practice conscious love on animals first; they are more responsive and sensitive.
29. One of the strongest motives for wishing to work on yourself is the realization that you may die at any moment.
30. Always remember that you are here having realized the necessity for contending with yourself; therefore thank everyone who affords an opportunity.
[Bennett]
