Post on 29-Mar-2023
What We Are Obliged To Do: Thoughts on the Strivings.
Introduction
Throughout Gurdjieff’s tome, Beelzebub’s Tales to his
Grandson, we are told that the inhabitants of this planet do
not act in ways which are ‘becoming to three-brained
beings.” Humans, rather than fulfilling their lawful role in
the cosmic and universal scheme of Reciprocal Maintenance,
according to Beelzebub, are subject to negative behaviors
such as “cunning, contempt, hate, servility, lying, flattery
and so on.” (pg. 384) How we got this way is described over
and over as the “consequences of the properties of that
maleficent organ, Kundabuffer, which unfortunately their
ancestor possessed.” (pg. 119) Although relieved of this
organ, we still operate in ways which do not recognize our
place in the universe and so have no ‘genuine conscience.’
Gurdjieff postulated a ideal age, called the Ashiatian
Epoch, after his divine messenger, Ashiata Shiemash. During
this time, human organization changed for the better, so
that all the “chiefs, directors and specialists’ “ were
chosen by “objective merits which they personally acquired
and which could be really sensed by all the beings around
them.” (pg. 385) Gurdjieff makes it plain that whatever the
manifestation of this personal work was, it was perceptible
to others. Although not specified there, some examples are
given before and after. For instance, and, of great meaning
to those of us who strive to ‘work’, is the following.
During this more spiritually appropriate era , humans began
to ‘pay respect to each other only according to the merits
personally attained by means of ‘Being Partkdolg-duty,’ that
is by persons of personal conscious labor and intentional
sufferings.” (pg. 384) Also ‘there ceased to exist there the
two chief maleficent forms of their ordinary existence,
namely, their separate independent communities and the
division of themselves in these communities into various
castes or classes” This had the effect that people now
looked upon each other, not as members of separate group
affiliations or ‘Thems” , but as beings ‘bearing in
themselves particles of the emanation of the Sorrow of our
Common Father Creator.” We can extrapolate from this
statement that all the divisions, whether social or
religious are false when one begins to follow the Strivings
with rigor. For instance, Christianity, as well as all other
major religions, including Buddhism, Islam and Judaism has
its separate sects which feel that the others are wrong-
headed and even apostate. In fact, religion itself, by
division into groups which follow this or that ‘divine
messenger’ are themselves out of balance. The Work, too, has
divided itself up into which branch is the ‘real’ work and
holds other branches to be suspect. By following the
Strivings, if Gurdjieff himself is to be believed, we would
not just ameliorate but nullify this tendency to ally
ourselves with the ‘correct’ lineage. To perceive oneself as
part of the whole, if only a small particle, is to stop
comparing one’s worth, through personal interaction or
assumption of superiority due to being in the “right” group
whether large or small, such as nationalism, classism and
all the other divisions that one can name all around in the
world. We can all see the tendency in ourselves, or if not,
in others, to seek to gain ascendancy, whether by having
more money, being of a higher caste, taller, more attractive
sexually, more light-skinned, not this, not that, ad
infinitum. It is all around us, this need to see ourselves
as better or different, smarter or even more accomplished at
being what we all are, human. Even in spiritual pursuit, the
hankering to ‘rank’ oneself, to be a more favored student or
have a ‘better’ teacher of the Way, all fall into the same
malady that occurs when the ego is in control.
I have quoted from a small amount of pages in order to set
up several points about the Strivings that have occurred to
myself and others over a period of study. The first point is
that this Work is for all people. During the Ashiatan epoch,
again, just before the introduction of the Obligolnian
Strivings, Gurdjieff says that “All the beings of the
planet” began to pursue the course of self-study. To keep
the work ‘hidden’ as has been done in the past is obviously
not on point here. On this path, the results of inner work
will appear as “objective attainments, perceptible to
others.” (pg. 386) It is inner work made manifest in one’s
behavior and being, behavior which then was in accordance
with what was “becoming to three-brained beings” and
therefore must, by definition, be overt. Again, the
standard Gurdjieff sets is that the results of inner work is
perceptible to those around us. This is reminiscent of the
Biblical exhortation to ‘let your light so shine before
men., so that they may see your good works and glorify your
Father, which is in Heaven.” (Matthew 5:16) The Work as
source is praised and not the individual. I hope, along this
path, we all have met individuals to whom we are attracted
because of their being, acts, and demeanor. Kinder, more
attentive and accepting, engaged with the world and a beacon
to the sore at heart, these are qualities I have experienced
in individuals who have come some way along this path. These
and other qualities are perceptible, palpable, even to those
who are not seeking.
Besides the diminution of the tendency to affiliate with
social groups and become identified with such, what other
behaviors could be a manifestation of the acquisition of
genuine conscience? Beelzebub states that one manifestation
was that war ceased in Asia and continued in places only too
distant from the center of the teaching. Also, both the
death rate diminished as did the birth rate, rather
different than on our planet where the death rate is
diminished but the birth rate is rising, out of balance with
the equilibrium of our planet.
More specific items can be extrapolated in accordance with
these dicta with little effort. The statement about
equilibrium of vibration resulting in human balance with the
planet gives rise to the many other ways we are out of
balance. We drive large gas-consuming cars, eat food that is
factory farmed, resulting in air, water and soil pollution.
Our industries pour poison into the seas as do our
biological waste and the detritus of factory fishing
practices. Humans work for money, of which there is never
enough. The Catholic Church long ago recognized (if not
practiced) that there are behaviors that prevent attainment
of conscience and therefore a balanced, becoming, ‘right
life.’ Sloth, greed, wrath, gluttony, lust, envy and pride
are delineated but there are many others that slow or
prohibit becoming behavior based on conscience. Perhaps the
venial sins can include shopping in venues for cheap prices
when we know that the company pays low wages. Even the just
man in Proverbs sins seven times a day. We need a functional
conscience to keep it at that low number.
It has become evident to me is that the practice of the
Obligolnian Strivings, which sit in the middle of
Gurdjieff’s teaching, do not make us ‘special.’ The secrecy,
the identification with lineage, all these issues have given
a ‘esoteric’ edge to the Gurdjieff work, which Gurdjieff
himself did not promote. Gurdjieff was known to talk to
everyone, the common people in his daily life and to
literally pull people off the street to come see Movements
demonstrations. He manifested towards both his students and
the people in his world with great kindness, even when that
kindness took the form of ranting at someone. By undertaking
the practice of the Obligolnian Strivings, and the beginning
of the workings of genuine conscience, we become “normal”
human beings. Remember that the ‘three-brained beings”,
those slugs, are functioning abnormally and are not
fulfilling their role in Reciprocal Maintenance. Application
in the real world of the aspects of the Strivings makes us
as we should be. The tendency to suppose that one is living
a higher spiritual life, one that is deeper or more in touch
with the wishes of ‘Endlessness’ is another function of ego.
All the above points are to predicate the study of the
strivings in context. First, the Strivings are the only way
to genuine conscience, as the other divine impulses, Love,
Faith and Hope, are atrophied in us. The Strivings sit in
the middle of the chapter about an ideal age, when humans
acted according to their role in Reciprocal Maintenance.
Two, we are told that the strivings are for everyone, that
all beings began to work in such a way. Three: the strivings
produced effects that were easily perceived by others and
those individuals were a source of inspiration to all.
Therefore, the fruits of our work (as opposed to the
techniques which are rightfully doled out in their proper
time) should not be secret or hidden, thought of as too
difficult for others to understand but by our actions and
attitudes we produce a change in the world. And Four:
following the strivings as our main practice does not make
us special. We work to be normally human, in equilibrium
with our fellows and the planet.
The Five Being-Obligolnian Strivings
1. The first striving: to have in their ordinary being-
existence everything satisfying and really necessary
for their planetary body.
While this first striving may seem the most straightforward,
it is anything but. One tends to see these words in a
context such as Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs’, but what
indeed is satisfying about just food, shelter and warmth? In
the West, most of us have achieved such, even if our
financial issues may be fraught. There are other
necessities, exercise, impressions and community, that act
to be satisfying in a psychological sense. Do these qualify
as part of the planetary body? I believe so, since the brain
is a physical structure and is subject to pressures that are
psychological as well as physical. We say in the Work that
worry is a negative emotion, yet it has impact. We can stay
awake worrying and so lose necessary sleep. So psychological
health is as important as physical needs.
Impressions, have a huge impact. There are qualitative
differences in impressions of even simple items. High
quality food, well-prepared with attention and intention,
for instance, imparts a different impression than eating
frozen corn-dogs or fast food. Wearing natural fibers as
opposed to polyester or nylon also affects our being. We can
make choices, not out of specialness, but because the
attention implicit in the act of choosing and the effects on
the greater environment that is shared by all. In Ayurvedic
medicine, certain substances are considered to impart more
favorable impressions, including gold, silver, ivory and
more. Art and beauty also could be said to be necessary for
the planetary body and its impressions. There are many more
aspects that one individually could choose but it enough to
know that it is not just animal needs that are indicated in
the first striving.
1. The second striving: to have a constant and unflagging
instinctive need for self-perfecting in the sense of
being.
No one feels that they have achieved a ‘constant and
unflagging instinctive need” to be self-evolving beings.
This is one of the barriers that I find people encounter
and, feeling not ‘cooked’ enough, put themselves back into
the crucible of sittings, movements, super-efforts in
practical work and all the other techniques they have been
shown or developed in order to achieve this aim. However, it
is time to note that all the strivings are just that,
efforts that we come back to again and again. What keeps us
coming back could be seen as instinct, a small pricking of
the conscience that Gurdjieff says happens to us. Unflagging
is more difficult as we all find our efforts are sometimes
superseded by impatience, anger, sleep and all the other
ills that the flesh is heir to. However, my experience is
that one keeps coming back to the taste of the real. If one
makes efforts, one does have feedback, experience energies
that are not normally available to oneself, especially in
group work. Perhaps this ‘coming back’ to the practice, even
if one takes a hiatus, that can be said to be unflagging.
Unflagging does not necessarily mean always active but in
one’s awareness.
The definition of (large B) Being itself is hard to
determine. As noted elsewhere, Madame Ouspensky defined
Being as ‘what one can bear.’ Of course, we all know about
‘bearing the manifestations of others unpleasing to oneself’
or sometimes written ‘the unpleasant manifestations of
others.’ These two phrases have different implications. The
first one says that the psychological repugnance lies in
oneself, a problem of intolerance in ourselves. The
behaviors may have no or little effect on others but we find
that person and his or her manifestations unpleasant. I
usually find that it is because some aspect of myself that I
have repressed is mirrored in that person and so, as well as
denying that such exists in me, I actively dislike it in
others. The second phrase implies that the behavior of a
person is objectively unpleasant and yet that behavior may
arise out of problems that the individual is unable to deal
with effectively. It is our work, in this case, to bear the
behavior, even if it is unpleasant because of the
opportunity to work. A person like this serves our own inner
work tremendously and, as Gurdjieff reminds us, we should
thank them. Bearing their unpleasant manifestations is a
golden opportunity. There is a further issue here also, that
by being borne, the individual or situation has an
opportunity to perceive a better way to be and so, without
resistance, can change more easily. Putting negative energy
into an already unpleasant situation or person compounds
rather than soothes the moment. It is in the moment that we
have an opportunity to change the energy to one of greater
possibilities and pleasing outcomes.
With our group’s work with this second striving, there
appeared a common theme. Most all of the observations about
working on our own being is in relationship to others. I
have come to believe that one can sit in meditation for
years, work diligently on the study of self, and acquire
huge powers in effort, counting, inwardly reciting the
Kyrie, zikr or the Lord’s Prayer and still be without being.
Being is both acquired and manifested in our treatment of
others, both those like ourselves and ones of other forms.
Gandhi once said that the measure or moral progress of any
civilization is how they treat animals. A quick look at
American factory farming will be instructive in our national
level of being. As is said in the Tales, real being is
perceptible to others. Perhaps another Biblical quote (since
Gurdjieff referred to his system as esoteric Christianity)
can show us the meaning. In Paul’s letter to the
Corinthians, he says about our relationship to others, “If I
speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not
love, I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal.”
Love in this case is translated as caritas or charity. If we
cannot hold charity in our heart towards our fellow beings,
of similar or other forms, then all the spiritual practices
in the world will not avail. We are empty of the one of the
most, or according to St. Paul, THE most necessary aspect of
being, charity.
1. The third: the conscious striving to know ever more and
more concerning the laws of World-creation and World-
maintenance.
Why should this be? The laws as presented by Gurdjieff
frequently sound arcane and inaccurate according to high
school science books and to emotional or body-centered types
pose obstacles to pursuing them deeply. Other types,
especially those predisposed to the intellect do nothing but
study the laws. I have found this to be the case in much of
the Work, which seems to attract those with a taste for the
esoteric detail in which study and individual effort in
techniques replaces the emotional experience of insight and
sacrifice. Along with this tendency to ‘hide one’s light
under a bushel’, I view such as a flight from the messiness
of humanity, those ‘sleepers’ who are not part of the hidden
world of the spiritual cognoscenti. Indeed, I have
experienced many times, those with compendium knowledge of
the text use such as a way of putting others down and thus
support ego. Obviously, the striving exists for a much more
serious and practical reason than ‘angels on a pin’
arguments. The questions are universal and should stun us
all with their impact.
Where do I belong in the universe? What is my role as a
human species member? Can I, as a person who takes these
Strivings seriously, use them to behave becomingly? For
instance, when one reads of Reciprocal Maintenance, and
takes the time to study a simple ecosystem on earth, one can
see interconnectedness. So to take such a concept further is
not a huge step but to SEE how one personally can act in
ways which are a benefit and not a negative, both act upon
but with the right attitude and experience how the
atmosphere changes. One can begin to extrapolate from
experience upward and downward, to see how one thing impacts
another, both physically and in ‘atmosphere’ or energy.
Many people today are beginning to understand that their
impact on the earth is far more than what they give. The
‘debt of our existence” is huge. In the soil beneath our
feet are micro-organisms who are also ‘feeding and breeding’
on the planet Earth. These organism, in their processes,
enrich the soil in a variety of ways. Working with
sunlight, water and mineral earth, which has been formed by
geological processes, microorganisms break down the organic
materials available to them, dead plants and animals,
creating humus, which holds minerals together to form soil.
The greater the number of organisms, the richer the soil
formation and the more fertile the land is to grow grasses,
forests and shrubs, which in their turn, transform carbon
dioxide into oxygen. . These in turn are eaten by
herbivores, which then become prey to carnivores or complete
their existence and die, returning to the soil via the same
microorganisms, beetles, worms etc. This transformational
cycle enhances the planetary life-carrying ability and
serves all species.
Man has broken the cycle. Although he partakes of the
abundance provided by the cyclic transformation and in some
instances, enhances it, through good husbandry, more often,
he is a drag on the earth, taking more than he provides.
Even by being cremated, he denies worms their food, as
Gurdjieff said, was proper. We deny to these ‘primary
producers’ their due. If, indeed, we have to pay our debt
quickly, in order to fulfill our purpose, how can we begin?
Many people ascribe to certain behaviors, recycling,
composting, vegetarianism and more in order to lessen their
consumption. Perhaps they have given up their vehicle, or
choose an electric hybrid car, use pubic transport or ride
share. All these behaviors lessen our impact but do not put
a positive movement towards our debt. It is like a loan that
we struggle to cover the interest but the balloon payment
awaits, at the moment of our death. What is this pay now or
pay later debt? And how can it be discharged? It is only but
finding our purpose, in the Kirkegardean sense of making a
meaningful decision about one’s use in the world and
discharging it. It is not that all the above small efforts,
which require a conscientious approach, are not without
value but they are preparatory, a keeping of that debt
before us. They are indeed practices that we choose but
insufficient in themselves. We need to do more.
Understanding the Laws allow us the chance to take up our
position as co-creators of this world, as Gurdjieff himself
saw the work. J.G. Bennett called his introductory book
“Gurdjieff: Making a New World.” We indeed, as the people in
the Ashiatan Age, need to make this world new by our
manifestations. Our understanding of the Laws allow us to
see our place in that task.
4. The fourth: the striving from the beginning of their
existence to pay for their arising and their individuality
as quickly as possible, in order afterwards to be free to
lighten as much as possible the Sorrow of our COMMON FATHER.
The fourth striving has several demanding aspects that I
shall attempt to parse. Perhaps the first note should be to
speculate on what it means ‘from the beginning of their
existence.” We, of course, exist from birth in this world
and could not have taken up the work at that moment. Nor can
we be blamed as schoolchildren of having shirked this
exhortation. (although we could speak about how we ‘educate’
our children and to what real end). However, there is a hint
in Gurdjieff’s book title, Life is Real, Only Then, When I
Am. Gurdjieff marks the beginning of ‘real’ life when one
has gotten a taste of “I Am”. This is the beginning of real
existence and where we become responsible beings. Now it up
to us to work on ourselves, ‘as quickly as possible’ in
order to move to our real purpose. There is a certain
pressure here not to immerse oneself in one’s own interests;
there is a greater task awaiting us. This does not imply
that we need to be done with the work of transformation, to
be enlightened or wise or to have finished paying for our
arising and individuality, only that there should come a
time-quite early in our Work, where the focus must shift
from ourselves and our personal transformation to our lawful
and intended purpose, being-Partkdolg Duty, conscious labor
and intentional suffering, service and sacrifice.
Take a moment to contemplate the frank ‘before and after’
construction of this striving. It tells us that we have done
the beginning work of the first, second and third strivings
and that “afterwards” comes a pivotal moment of focus. The
strivings are constructed in an order, using ordinal numbers
that openly delineate sequential movements and the fourth
striving gives us not just a feeling of accumulation of
effort but also direction. Direction is aim. Nothing happens
without aim. The aim is genuine Conscience. Conscience
allows us to function becomingly, and act according to our
purpose in World-Creation and World-Maintenance . Becoming
behavior also lightens the ‘Sorrows of our Common Father’,
however you choose to define such and parenthetically
creates a better world for all of us.
Does this mean that one can only work on one striving at a
time and only in sequence? Of course not, however, some
issues apply. It is very hard to work, for instance, if one
is without life necessities, food, shelter and safety.
Gurdjieff spoke of the role of the “obyvatel,” the good
householder as a beginning place for work. A Czech word,
meaning peasant or inhabitant, the obyvatel, according to
Gurdjieff, is one who can ‘support twenty.’ Perhaps this
may be objective, but consider, in our family and community,
how many you, yourself, support. We pay taxes that support
those less fortunate and help our elders to appointments and
social interactions. Supporting twenty is not really that
hard, even if one is not deeply invested in volunteerism or
has a large family. Beginning with the first striving, we
can work toward not just satisfying our own needs but
support the needs of others. Such behavior opens the door to
the second striving as does practice in sittings, movements
and practical work in groups. Experiencing the different
energy produced by these practices gives rise to the desire
to study how the world of energies and our role in them
functions. Indeed, the first three, coupled with the drive
to reach a higher level of understanding for oneself,
dovetail nicely.
None of these, however, in my opinion, are what is the aim
and the direction of the strivings. Wanting enlightenment or
personal control over emotions or a kesdjan body are still
about self. The fourth strivings calls us to turn away from
our own self-interest to what is our real function in the
cosmos. It is only in doing so, this whole-hearted volte-
face, that anything further can be reached for us. In fact,
sacrifice of spiritual ambition is the ONLY things that
allows us to progress beyond a certain point. We may sit, do
movements, attend meetings, make efforts but until the
hoped-for result of such is truly sacrificed, we will go no
further. Verily, our reward will be being good at movements
or able to sit for long periods, leading to false self-
regard and soi-disant ‘puffery.’ One is even in danger of
becoming an ‘Enlightened Idiot,” an unenviable position.
1. And the fifth: the striving always to assist the most
rapid perfecting of other beings, both those similar to
oneself and those of other forms, up to the degree of
the sacred ‘Marfotai’, that is up to the degree of
self-individuality.
This striving, the fifth and last, holds danger even as we
contemplate it. Helping can become a disease very easily and
ego can take root as one does “good.” I remember, many years
ago when I was studying the Alexander Technique in London,
being given a book entitled, The Zen of Helping, by Andrew
Bein. The problem with any therapist, body worker, social
worker or charity person is that they may fall into a
pernicious form of self-congratulations. Yet we are enjoined
to do just that, assist others on their way. How can be we
work at this striving while being aware of the devil
tempting us to vanity and self-love?
To me, the answer lies in the fourth striving, the sacrifice
of personal fulfillment in the Work that we do. I am
reminded here of what J.G. Bennett referred to as the Master
Parable, that of the Sower and the Seed. He points out in
this lecture how the sower is neither the reaper nor the
eater of the products of his labor, another word for Work.
Indeed, not only is the results of his labor in the future
but he demonstrates indifference to the result, casting
everywhere. We cannot know what influence we have in these
instances and so must not attribute virtue to ourselves by
dint of what we do.
Probably the most common interpretation of this striving is
that one moves up to being a group leader, perhaps giving
lectures about the Work. Indeed, in my time with the
Gurdjieff Work, I have met many who wish to see themselves
as ‘teachers of the Work.” Most of these individuals, sadly,
have come to some sort of hopefully reversible disaster in
their Work. Here, too, the need or wish to be helpful needs
mitigation with at least a ‘practice’ of being a sower,
indifferent to outcome but sowing because he or she must. It
is in indifferent imperative that we can find the narrow
path. Then one is faced with the second temptation of
gratitude, and must be also well-prepared for it.
But there are other manifestations of Work that can be seen
as ‘assistance.’ I have mentioned a few, for instance,
bearing the manifestations of others unpleasing to oneself.
In fact, in every moment, we have the opportunity to
manifest in ways that bring help into the world as we
function as conduits from the unseen world of values into
this physical one. One can think of such systems of Karma
Yoga, from the Bhagavad-gita, where one’s actions, when in
tune with one’s Work, to surrender to what is conscionable
without expectation of outcome, good or bad. We all can
ascribe to such values as love, peace, patience, attention,
kindness, and charity and yet find ourselves manifesting
their opposite. It is in the present moment that we can
assist others, both those like ourselves and those of other
forms, by being true to those values we know are becoming to
us.
Again, I will beg your attention for a short recap. As I
have come to experience the strivings, and I am not done
yet, if ever, these are tentative conclusions I have reached
with the help of others.
1. This Work is for everyone. We can no longer be secret.
That doesn’t mean that all is revealed to everyone. The
Work has a functioning system of groups but many are
confined in their activities to those ‘similar to
themselves.’ The Work needs to be inclusive, both of
other paths and those whose life work lies in other
areas.
2. This work does not make us special in any way. We begin
as being abnormal and strive, through this teaching, to
become as we should be, participators in the cosmic
order; in many ways, co-creators of our world.
3. The strivings, while not entirely sequential, do have a
pivotal moment in the fourth that is a profoundly
necessary sacrifice, in order to proceed. There is no
doubt in my mind that we need to give up all hope for
personal spiritual attainment to actually reach such.
4. The Strivings are at the center of the teaching, the one
guide, and everything else is very similar to Hillel’s