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Theme of the current platform meetings: play your role and observe
your 'eyes' out
In the newspaper, I read an article recently on the occasion the
hundredth anniversary of Friedrich Nietsche's death (1844 - 1900).
He contrasted light-footedness, 'dancing', with the heaviness of
Christian morality. He favoured the Dionysian, the earthly and the
powerful, in a time when the body was still disguised in all respects.
Christian morality holds up an ideal to us of a virtuous life. Disunity
of body and mind is the result. Such an ideal picture, powerfully
projected in the mind of the spiritual seeker, may lead to blindness
to the manifestations of his more Dionysian other side, his physical
and more earthly sides.
One of Gurdjieff's merits is that, both in his writings and with
his movements, he tries to help us to counterbalance this disunity
without fail. It is characteristic of him that he avoids the creation
of ideal pictures. In fact, rather the contrary! The first step
of the spiritual seeker is the rational recognition of 'seeing the
exaggerated importance he attributes to his pretended individuality,
which according to his own impartial judgement, in a state of rest,
is just a well-nigh utter 'nothing.''
In the passages below, Gurdjieff describes a process of the spiritual
seeker's increasing capacity for playing his role and not to identify,
i.e. "...continuing to observe his inner and outer manifestations
with a simultaneous domination in himself of various feelings of
partiality which are becoming inherent in him, and thus constating
still more deeply various factors, abnormal even according to his
own consciousness, and existing in great number in his psyche as
well as in his physical body." (from: Life is Real only then when
I Am)
To observe the Dionysian side of yourself in all its manifestations
and to let these observations lead you to the insight that you genuinely
wish to work on yourself is the way Gurdjieff shows us. If you want
to follow that way and if you want to avoid the pitfall of the excessive
seriousness of 'thinking', humour will help you to be mild about
your undoubtedly sharp observations.
As from Sunday 17 September, platform meetings will start again,
which, by means of focussing on 'playing your role and observing
your 'eyes' out', will pay attention to subjects such as the first
and second conscious shock, the law of three and seven, the enneagram
and sexuality.
We are looking forward to seeing you.
Jac Veugelaers
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