To be in question

II

...we are called to turn to the Source, to the Silence at the very core of our being, to the unmanifest that informs all forms. To accept to be in question. And to open to the unknown transforming force.

Reference: "A Return to Tradition," an interview with Frank Sinclair, president of the Gurdjieff Foundation of New York in PARABOLA's Winter 2007 issue on The New World.

Our intention in these pages is not to answer questions, but by discussing Gurdjieff’s ideas, to raise them, both for ourselves and for the reader.

Gurdjeff asks us to put aside our assumptions and what we think we know, and to study how we are. This is very hard to do. As human beings, we are always looking for answers and conclusions. This is true even though we also know, at least with our minds, that it is not possible to know something new if I already think I know it. Even in ordinary life, the new insight appears as a shock, something I hadn’t anticipated.

But it is very difficult to apply this to self-study. So Gurdjieff brings us the idea and the practice of “remaining in question”.

When I believe that I know my situation, something is static. I know and I don’t need more. On other hand, if I can stay open, I see that my inner state is always changing.  This in not comfortable but it is the dynamic inner state where it is possible to observe myself, and eventually, to change something.

Gurdjieff’s ideas say that we mostly live in a world of dreams and interpretations –not reality. We drown in life’s problems and our reactions to them, and forget ourselves. He says that we live our lives in sleep, on automatic pilot. So the call is to be more awake; to be available to receive more and more impressions of how I really am.

To stay in question means to make thinner the crystal through which I am watching the reality. This inner state, gives us a true dimension of the things. The important occupies the right place and the shallow goes leaving us a real inner space that, perhaps, lets us change.

            There are many ways to make the crystal thinner. When I experience a strong impression, cognitive process may break, and perhaps, I am able to see in another new way. But to be able to receive an impression I have to be available, I need to find in myself certain fine attention that will make it possible.

To remain in question cannot happen by accident. It is often a painful effort because I can see parts of myself that I don’t like and I cannot accept. But it is also an open door through which something new can come in.

Introduction from the authors of this site

I

"You have no business to believe me. I ask you to believe nothing that you cannot verify for yourself."

Views from the Real World: Early Talks of Gurdjieff. Page 78.

Gurdjieff asked anyone interested in his ideas not just to believe but to verify everything for him or herself.  So we suggest the same approach for the ideas and questions you find in these pages.

The purpose of this site is to introduce people with an inner search to G.I. Gurdjieff’s Work. As authors of this site, we have worked for some years with Gurdjieff’s ideas and hope to share perspectives on these ideas and the practice of Gurdjieff’s work.

One of the central questions Gurdjieff asks us to approach is “Who am I?”  This is a profound question..

We are all influenced by our genes and upbringing, as well as by the large social, political and environmental forces of our time. Perhaps I am healthy, have some disposable income and live in a relatively safe environment.

But is this who I am? Is my identity defined by my body, my past and whether if live in a war zone or a privileged society? These things are all real and they do influence my life, often profoundly. But what percentage of my life do they absorb?

I can spend my energies in many ways: submerged in distractions, or trying to “fix” the things in my life that I perceive to be problems, or even in the worthy and necessary activities of life such as learning, work, and relationships with families and friends.

Gurdjieff never denies ordinary life. On the contrary, he asks us to live fully in our ordinary lives. But his ideas speak to life in a much larger arena -- to the possibility of developing a finer attention and a new valuation of my life.

Sometimes it takes a shock – seeing how I repeat the same patterns in my life over and over; a failure at school or work; the loss of a lover or friend, to provoke a question about who I am and what’s truly important.

If this question interests you, the ideas of G.I. Gurdjieff may enliven your question.

This site is for anyone who has an inner search and wishes to keep alive the transcendent questions of the human being:

Who am I?

Why am I here?

What is real?