Enough is enough, you don't need to stuff!

During the days following
this event, nothing particular
happened in my general state,
unless it was that I walked
more often than usual with
my feet in the air, that is
to say, on my hands.

My first act that was
obviously not in accord
with the manifestations
of others, though without
the participation either
of my consciousness or
of my subconscious,
occurred on exactly
the fortieth day after
my grandmother's death,
when our family, our
relatives, and all
those who had esteemed
my dear grandmother, who
was loved by everybody,
were gathered in the
cemetery, as was the
custom, to perform
over her mortal
remains reposing
in the grave
what is called
the "requiem service."
Suddenly, without rhyme or
reason, instead of observing
what was conventional among
people of all degrees of
tangible and intangible
morality and of every
station in life, that
is, instead of standing
quietly as if overwhelmed,
with an expression of grief
on one's face and even if
possible with tears in
one's eyes, I started
skipping and dancing
around the grave
and sang:

Let her with the saints
repose, She was a rare
one, goodness knows! . . .

and so on and so forth.

And from this moment on,
as regards any form of
"aping," that is,
imitating the
habitual automatized
manifestations of those
around me, a "something"
always arose in my presence,
engendering what I should
now call an "irresistible
urge" to do things not as
others do.

At that age, for example,
I did such things as the
following: when my brother,
sisters, and the neighbors'
children who came to play
with us were learning to
catch a ball only with the
right hand, and threw it in
the air, I would first bounce
the ball hard on the ground,
and when it rebounded, after
first doing a somersault,
would catch it, but only
with the thumb and middle
finger of the left hand;
or if all the other
children slid down
the hill headfirst,
I would try to do it,
and moreover better and
better each time, "backside
first"; or if we were given
various kinds of Abaramian
pastries, and the others,
before putting them into
their mouths, would first
of all lick them, evidently
to try their flavor and
prolong the pleasure, I
would first sniff one on
all sides and perhaps even
put it to my ear and listen
intently, and then, almost
unconsciously, though very
seriously, I would mutter
to myself, "enough is enough,
you don't need to stuff!"
and humming to an appropriate
rhythm, would swallow it whole
without savoring it, and so on
and so forth.
--Gurdjieff
--ch 1, arousing of thought
--Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson

"The fact is," Beelzebub continued,
"the three-brained beings of the
planet Earth are inconceivably proud
and touchy. If someone does not share
their views OR AGREE TO DO AS THEY DO
or criticizes their manifestations,
they are very offended and their
indignation knows no bounds.

"And if one of them should happen to have
some power, he would order anyone rash
enough to criticize his conduct or to
behave differently from himself to be
shut up in the sort of place usually
crawling with 'rats' and 'lice.'

"And if the offended one should be
physically stronger, and no one were
looking—-at least no important power-
possessing being with whom he happened
to be on bad terms—-he would simply give
the offender a good thrashing, as the
Russian Sidor once thrashed his
favorite goat."
--Gurdjieff
--ch 20, third flight

Here it does no harm to notice:

"Here it will do no harm to point out
that, owing to the abnormal conditions
of ordinary existence there, the only
beings of that strange planet, especially
during recent centuries, who become notable
and are therefore honored by the rest, are
those who manifest themselves somehow or
other more absurdly than the majority.
And the more absurd their manifestations,
the more stupid, mean, and insolent the
tricks they play, the more celebrated
they become, and the greater is the
number of beings on their own
continent, or even on other
continents, who know them
personally, or at least
by name.

"On the other hand, an honest being who
does not behave absurdly has no chance at
all of becoming famous, or even of being
noticed, however kind and sensible he
may be."
--ch 20, third flight

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Gurdjieff
• Ouspensky
• Jung
• psychology

[gurdjieffmik]

Not identify.

 Interesting read as ever James.