J e a n n e in S a i/m a n n the Reality o f B ein g The Fourth Way of Gurdjieff A Nostalgia for B eing Man remains a mystery to himself. He has a nostalgia for Being, a longing for duration, for permanence, for absoluteness— a longing to be. Yet everything that constitutes his life is temporary, ephemeral, limited. He aspires to another order, another life, a world that is beyond him. He senses that he is meant to participate in it. He searches for an idea, an inspiration, that could move him in this direction. It arises as a question: “W ho am I— who am I in this world?” If this question becomes sufficiently alive, it could direct the course of his life. He cannot answer. He has nothing with which to answer— no knowledge of himself to face this question, no knowledge of his own. But he feels he must welcome it. He asks him self what he is. This is the first step on the way. He wants to open his eyes. He wants to wake up, to aw aken. S h a m b h a la Boston & London ased on notebooks kept by G. I. BGurdjieff’s closest follower, this book offers new insight on his spiritual teach­ ing— a way of gnosis or “knowledge of be­ ing” passed on from remote antiquity. It is a complete and uniquely authoritative guide to the great teacher’s ideas and to his meth­ ods for liberating ourselves from the state of “waking sleep” in which most of us live our lives. Gurdjieff respected traditional religious practices, which he regarded as falling into three general categories or “ways”: the Way of the Fakir, related to mastery of the physi­ cal body; the Way of the Monk, based on faith and feeling; and the Way of the Yogi, which focuses on development of the mind. He presented his teaching as a Fourth Way that integrated these three aspects into a single path of self-knowledge. Progress in the Fourth Way comes through conscious effort toward a quality of thinking and feel­ ing that brings a new capacity to see clearly and to love. JEANNE DE SALZMANN was born in 1889 in Reims, France, and raised in Geneva, Switzerland, She married Alexandre de Salzmann, a well-known Russian painter, in 1911 and returned to his home in Tiflis in the Caucasus mountain region of south­ ern Russia. She met Gurdjieff in 1919 in Tiflis, became committed to his work, and remained close to him until his death in Paris thirty years later. Before he died Gurdjieff charged Mine, de Salzmann to live to be “over 100” in order to establish his teaching. He left her all his rights with respect to his writings and dance exercises called the “Movements.” During the next forty years she arranged for publication of his books and preserva­ tion of the Movements, and established Gurdjieff centers to practice the teaching in Paris, New York, and London, as well as Caracas, Venezuela. Mme. de Salzmann died at the age of 101 in Piiris in 1990. S h a m b h a l a P ublications , In c . Horticultural Hall 300 Massachusetts Avenue Boston, Massachusetts 02115 www.shambhala.com The Reality o f B eing The Fourth Way of Gurdjieff Jeanne de Salzmann S H A M B H A L A Boston London 2010 Shambhala Publications, Inc. Horticultural Hall 300 Massachusetts Avenue Boston, Massachusetts 02115 www.shambhala.com © 2010 by the heirs of Jeanne de Salzmann All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. 987654321 First Edition Printed in the United States of America © This edition is printed on acid-free paper that meets the American National Standards Institute Z39.48 Standard, This book was printed on 30% postconsumer recycled paper. For more information please visit www.shambhala.com. Distributed in the United States by Random House, Inc., and in Canada by Random House of Canada Ltd Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Salzmann, Madame de (Jeanne), i 889?-i 99o . The reality of being: to live the Fourth Way of Gurdjieff / Jeanne de Salzmann.— 1st ed. p. cm. Includes index. is b n 978-1-59030-815-8 (hardcover: alk. paper) . Gurdjieff, Georges Ivanovitch, 1872-1949. 2. Fourth W ay (Occultism) 3. Spiritual life. I. Title. BP605.G92S36 2010 299' 93— dc22 2010006464 Contents Foreword xiii Introduction i I. A CALL TO CONSCIOUSNESS 7 I Am Asleep 9 1. A nostalgia for Being 9 2. T h e life force 9 3. I do not know myself 11 4. "I” am not here 13 To Remember Oneself 15 5. Where our attention is 15 6. The first initiation 16 7. Can we become conscious? 18 8. The watchman 20 The Need to Know 2 2 9. N ew know ledge is necessary 22 10. Self-observation 23 11. Conscious effort 25 12. The sacred manifests as inner consciousness 27 II. OPENING TO PRESENCE 29 In a Passive State 31 13. My functions are passive 31 14. I need impressions of myself 33 v i Contents 15. Hypnotized by my mind 34 16. W h at is up to m e 36 An Experience of Presence 39 17. The awareness of "being here” 39 18. Conscious of inner being 41 19. An echo of “I" 42 20. T w o currents 44 A Movement of Availability 46 21. A new way of functioning 46 22. Aw akening to a new force 47 23. The attitude we take 49 24. Coming together 51 III. IN A COMMON DIRECTION 53 A Free Thought 55 25. The functioning of the mind 55 26. N ot know ing 56 27. A new thinking 58 28. Beyond our usual consciousness 60 An Inner Sensation 62 29. An instrument of contact 62 30. Obeying the attraction of the earth 64 31. A global sensation 65 32. To be spiritualized 67 A New Feeling 69 33. I blindly trust my feelings 69 34. Feeling allows relation 70 35. I feel “I am ” 72 36. Love of being 74 IV. THE WORK TO BE PRESENT 77 In a Quiet State 79 37. A way of understanding 79 38. Each day 81 Contents v ii 39. T h e w ay up 82 40. An exercise is a tem porary aid 84 In the Activity o f Life 87 41. Only in everyday life 87 42. The source of manifestation 89 43. A measure from above 90 44. T h e w ay dow n 92 Staying in Front 94 45. To "know myself” 94 46. O nly contact, only relation 96 47. The struggle for being 97 48. Playing a role 99 V. WITH OTHERS 103 A Special Current 105 49. We say we are “in the Work” 105 50. Why together? 106 51. To organize 108 52. A school of the Fourth Way no Exchange in a Group 113 53. A special condition for exchange 113 54. I need to speak 115 55. Real exchange 116 56. This form 118 Work in Movements 120 57. A double aim 120 58. Why Movements? 122 59. Part of the teaching 124 60. Only with a stable Presence 126 VI. T O BE C E N T E R E D 129 A Sense o f the Whole 131 61. The aim of my effort 131 62. The first feeling of unity 133 63. Centered through consciousness 135 An Inner Center of Gravity 137 64. Our vital center 137 65. Situating the center of gravity 138 66. Becom ing second nature 140 67. M y true form 142 Breathing 145 68. An imperceptible current 145 69. Stages o f breathing 146 70. I live in m y breathing 148 71. Without fear of losing myself 149 VII. WHO AM I? 153 Ego and Illusion 155 72. The imagination of myself 155 73. Ferocious egotism 157 74. Free of fear and illusion 159 Toward the Unknown 162 75. I do not know 162 76. The resonance o f “I am ” 163 77. Silence 165 78. Inner solitude 167 My True Nature 170 79. A veil over my reality 170 80. What I really am 172 81. W h o am I? 173 82. My true nature is consciousness 174 VIII. TOWARD A NEW BEING 177 My Being Is What I Am 179 83. Can being change? 179 84. The intensity must increase 181 85. Degrees of the octave 183 86. First and second conscious shocks 184 Contents ix A Collected State 187 87. Repeat, repeat 187 88. My thought does not wander 189 89. I feel, I sense, I watch 190 90. H ow do I listen? 192 From Another Level 194 91. A more intense energy appears 194 92. Exercise o f divided attention 194 93. M y body needs to open 197 94. A cosmic scale 198 IX. IN A STATE OF UNITY 201 The Act o f Seeing 203 95. Another vision 203 96. Seeing is an act 205 97. Beyond my usual perception 206 98. The most important thing 208 Conscious Sensation 210 99. Life is in m e 210 100. An inner stillness 212 101. A conscious posture 213 102. In a quiet body I breathe in 215 Voluntary Attention 217 103. The feeling of lack 217 104. Obedience and will 219 105.