Being Partkdolg Duty

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BEING PARTKDOLG DUTY

“conscious labours and intentional sufferins!" T#is

belons tot#e s$iritual realit% and &e cannot t#in'

belons tot#e s$iritual realit% and &e cannot t#in' about

about

it in an

it in an% ordinar% &a%!

% ordinar% &a%! Unless &e can see

Unless &e can see so(et#in

so(et#in

be%ond t#is &orld

be%ond t#is &orld being-partkdolg duty

being-partkdolg duty

cannot (ean

an%t#in to us! It is about oin be%ond t#is &orld into

so(e different 'ind of action!

)onscious labours (ust al&a%s co(e

under t#e re*uire(ent of actin &it#out reard to t#e

fruits of action!

Mr Bennett gives a A fine example of seeing a spiritual

Mr Bennett gives a A fine example of seeing a spiritual reality

reality

something beyond our world...Air gives us a picture of

limitless generosity, giving itself

freely to all. Everything—large and small, necessary or

destructive, good or bad —is given the same air to

destructive, good or bad —is given the same air to breathe.

breathe.

Air

Can be for us a representation of the limi

Can be for us a representation of the limitless compassion

tless compassion

by

which everything is supported. n

which everything is supported. n reality,

reality, air is that

air is that

compassion!

it has the "ualities we ascribe to i

it has the "ualities we ascribe to it not by virtue of our

t not by virtue of our

thin#ing but in a way far more

thin#ing but in a way far more concrete than we can imagine.

concrete than we can imagine.

$e are surrounded by spiritual "ualities, but they do not

belong to beings and certainly not to us people. %hey are

part

of the wor#ing that sustains this life. &

'urd(ieff uses the words )conscious labor.* $hat #ind of

labour can be called conscious and what is it

labour can be called conscious and what is it to ma#e efforts

to ma#e efforts

consciously+ Everything that lives

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has to thrust its roots down into the ground and thrust its

leaves

up into the air. Everything has to wor# in order to live. %his is

not conscious wor#, it is a necessity of functioning at all. All

that lives has got to fulfil that minimum re"uirement and so

have we.

I

t can be put as plainly as this whenever we see something

that must be done it means that we become conscious.

-eeing

what is necessary and seeing what is necessary, as

necessary, is

the first condition of conscious labour. t is only when we do

what has to be done simply because it has to be done that

wor#

can liberate us from our own egoism. f we wor# for a

reward,

this reward is bound to be connected with the satisfaction of

something in us and almost certainly this something will

include our own egoism, selflove.

'urd(ieff always presents the idea of conscious labour as

connected with service to the future, as the sower sows the

seed in hope but unconcerned with who will reap the

harvest.

n

Beelzebub’s Tales

_{all those who reach ob(ective reason}

through

conscious labour and intentional suffering are people who

serve the future of man#ind. %his connection with the future

is

intrinsic to what conscious labour is! it is not (ust a matter of

emphasis, ta#ing for granted ordinary ideas of service in the

present situation. Conscious labour is preparing a better

future.

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%he sower is followed by the reaper who in his turn is

preparing the future. %he grain is not to be consumed in the

harvest field! it is to be stored and converted into flour and

later made into bread. At every step the fruits of action are to

be en(oyed in the future. $hy must this be so+ t is because

the

future is the realm of creation! it is open to be created while

the

present is closing up, perishing, coming to an end. %he

closer

we come to the present moment of time the more this

perishing

is inevitable.

Q. In what you have said there is something very true, very substantial. It had a profound eect. But now it all begins to recede when I think of the prospect of doing something in the world. How are we to conduct ourselves. What are the diculties What sort of attitude should we have

J. G. B. If you come into this Work only for what you can get for yourself, you will be disappointed. But something else can enter, the reali!ation that it does not matter what one can get for oneself as long as one can do something that is necessary. "hat is a real step in our transformation.

Throughout the text, nuances of meaning that have given Gurdjie’s writing a magical

quality have been spoiled by the revisions.

e have come to understand for ourselves that a very real aspect of !eel"ebub’s Tales is

not readily accessible to the formatory apparatus of the head#brain. $gain and again, this

can be seen whenever people obstinately go on trying to %&gure it out’ upon encountering

the unfamiliar word or locution. 'n the other hand, when we simply listen to it being read

( relaxed, attentive, and open li)e a child ( %something’ real is de&nitely received. e

have experienced a broadening of our understanding, little by little, to encompass a

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is re*ected by

+ouise elch in %'rage ith Gurdjie n

$merica’-!eel"ebub’s Tales produced a powerful eect, but that is not to say it was readily

grasped. There were

layers of meaning that people were touched by, but could not in any way

formulate/0ould one listen, as

'rage advised, without giving way to constant verbal associations and unrelated

imagery1 /2uch of the

narrative was addressed to dierent levels of perception in people 3Gurdjie had said

seven4. The tas)

was to respond with the whole of one’s mind, and not just with what Gurdjie called the

%formatory

apparatus’, that part of the brain which was busy classifying ideas and objects, putting

them into pigeon

holes, and thereafter returning mechanically to them as statements of truth. This was all

before the days of

the computer, but his description of the conclusions of the formatory apparatus bears a

0lose resemlance to a computer

To speak of Being-Partkdolg-duty without reference to Beelzebub’s Tales to His

Grandson (BTTHG) is like speaking of baseball without ever g oing to a baseball game or classical music without ever going to a concert !t is an integral part of BTTHG. The term "Being-Partkdolg-duty# was first introduced in Tales !t is then repeated in Life is real only then, when “I am.” !t is an integral ase!t of the Li"ing Tea!hing #r.Gurd$ieff

brought to humanity in his Legominism $ll and %verything To be even more specific& the term appears for the first time in the book on page ' and continues to appear

throughout the book until page ''*+

Here& we are in the face of what maybe the most central essential idea in the ,iving

Teaching that r Gurd.ieff brought to us !n this respect& it would be worthwhile to /uote from one of the most serious followers of the ,iving Teaching& namely 0en1 2uber (%ho are you #onsieur Gurd$ieff &3 pp45-4+

How often he "oi!ed the idea that there are only two ways of freeing the man &not yet born' from the animal &who !arried the man in embryo'( !ons!ious labour and suffering "oluntarily underta)en.

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This was the *lha and +mega of his tea!hing, his final message, the bottle whi!h he !ast uon the waters, before disaearing into the o!ean.

+ne would ha"e to be deaf and blind not to re!ognize that this thought and the hristian tradition are identi!al in essen!e.

But what is being-Partkdolg-duty3 6hat are conscious labors and intentional suffering3 7irst of all& conscious labors and intentional suffering are described as the sole possible means foreordained by our common father creator endlessness " for the assimilation of the !osmi! substan!es re-uired for the !oating and erfe!ting of the higher being bodies.# (BTTHG& p *+8)

9uring a recent gathering of several students of the teaching of r Gurd.ieff these /uestions were asked ! went with a conviction ! knew what being-Partkdolg-duty was and ! left with the sensation that ! did not know That to me means that ! now understand less which means that ! am beginning to really understand y participation in that

gathering was centered on e:posing my views on what being-Partkdolg-duty is for me as ! saw it

6e cannot approach the understanding of being-Partkdolg-duty by the positive 6e have to do it by the negative 6e cannot say what being-Partkdolg-duty is because it is never said in Tales The only time in which the term intentional suffering is specifically alluded to in very clear terms is when ;aint Buddha tells His disciples that "the greatest

intentional-suffering can be obtained in your presences if you compel yourselves to be able to endure the <displeasing-manifestations-of-others-towards-yourselves=#(BTTHG& p 88) 6e can only approach the understanding of conscious labors and intentional

suffering in the same way that the impulses of 7aith& ,ove& and Hope are approached> not by saying what they are but by saying what they are not (;ee chapter "The ,egominism

?oncerning the 9eliberations of the @ery ;aintly $shiata ;hiemash Ander the title of <The Terror of the ;ituation=&# pp 44-C)

$nd since the teaching in BeelDebub is essentially by e:ample& we can also understand what conscious labors and intentional suffering are by following the e:amples of beings like Belcultassi& Hamolinadir& ?hoon-Eil-TeD and ?hoon-Tro-Pel& Had.i-$svatD-Troov& akary EronbernkDion& and many others Ff course& not by imitating what they did because that by itself violates the in.unction r Gurd.ieff=s grandmother gave to him before she gave up her soul directly into the hands of His Truthfulness& the $rchangel

Gabriel>

“/ldest of my grandsons0 Listen and always remember my stri!t in$un!tion to you( In life ne"er do as others do.1 “/ither do nothing2$ust go to s!hool2or do something nobody else does.

6e do not imitate what others do we use their e:amples as a way of bringing conscious labors and intentional suffering to our being according to one=s individuality Being-Partkdolg-duty is not a theory but an actualiDation in our lives 6e actualiDe

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being-Partkdolg-duty by practicing conscious labors and intentional suffering in our everyday life and we share about them with others via e:amples

Example of Conscious Labors

6riting this paper is a very good e:ample of conscious labors $ll throughout the writing ! had to labor consciously in order not to fall prey to the numerous being-impulses arising from the crystalliDations in me of the conse/uences of the organ Eundabuffer& impulses such as suggestibility& vanity& self-pride& arrogance& fear& envy& laDiness& and man y others ,ike Belcultassi ! had to work on developing the potency to be sincere with myself and leave behind the lies coming from my abnormalities ! was very lucky that all the time during the editing of this paper ! had near me three ladies who have followed the teaching of r Gurd.ieff for many years& all the time reminding me to come down to a more

normal level of e:pressing myself 6ith me& they too labored consciously or tried to in order to produce a final result that would conform faithfully to the real spirit of the teaching of r Gurd.ieff

!n writing this post& ! became fully aware of how conscious labors demand discipline and dedication y own e:perience in this respect resonated with the call from r Gurd.ieff for the need of a concrete program of work and how the so-called "disease of tomorrow# affects my life There were times in the writing of this paper when ! had to remember myself again and again of the importance to me of undertaking this endeavor This

e:perience in conscious labors also showed me the meanings of being responsible and of fulfilling what may be called one=s word of honor ! saw very clearly that the real

meaning of one=s word of honor is to complete what one has in one=s essence promised oneself to do !n this sense it became clear that conscious labors come from essence and leads to the fulfillment of the wish of our essence

Example of Intentional suffering

! was at a faculty meeting at the university where ! teach $nother professor who is well known around for his offensive remarks during faculty meetings (he has been advised to attend sensitivity training programs but has always refused and since he is a tenured professor no other way is available to deal with him) referred to me by saying that ! had

not done something ! was supposed to have done His remark immediately stirred

negative emotions in me !t was not the first time this has happened but this time my life of reaction became the center of gravity for hours to come

That evening while driving home ! was submerged in my negative emotions 6hy had he told me that in front of my other colleagues3 6hy had he not called me apart and let me know what he thought about me3 These were the /uestions ! was asking myself with my feelings more than my thoughts The negative feelings lasted the rest of the evening and ! went to bed with them

The ne:t morning& during my morning sitting& ! could see how the negative emotions were coming back& proving that old devils know how to reincarnate ! felt very

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uncomfortable and all ! wanted was to get rids of all those bad feelings but ! could not do it ! was the slave of my feelings !t was a bad sitting

! drove to work with my heavy load $fter ! arrived to my office& my state of being began to change y thoughts began to separate themselves from my feelings 7or the first time in almost twenty-four hours ! was able to think Fne of the first thoughts that came to my mind was the idea ! had read so many times about enduring the displeasing

manifestations of others towards oneself y thoughts became focus and sharp& to the point that my negative feelings were gone The more ! thought the more my power of

reasoning somehow was amplified !t was as if the energy that had been driving my negative emotions had transformed itself and was now driving my power of reasoning Through my mind passed a detailed review of all the moments ! had thought on enduring the displeasing manifestations of others towards oneself ! concluded with a final and simple thought> Given the fact that ! had to share part of my life with this person& the source of my negative feelings& ! had better get used to endure his displeasing

manifestations towards me $t that very instant this simple realiDation became fi:ed in my being ! felt liberation $nd ! also felt sort of an electric current moving through my head accompanied by a pleasant sensation ! felt so light and good that ! even thought of searching for my colleague and thanking him for having given me the opportunity to work on myself That day ! gave one of my best lectures ever again ! e:perienced negative feelings towards my colleague and from that day on ! saw him as a friendly person ! have to add that the ob.ect of my negative feelings did not change it was my

attitude towards the ob.ect that changed

That evening while driving home ! still felt good and my thoughts were still active and clear& although not as powerful as in the morning ! became centered on the phenomenon resembling an electric current that had passed through my head during my morning e:perience By association ! remembered that ! had read in Beelzebub’s Tales something about some "psychic chemical results# but ! could not pinpoint the e:act conte:t in which these words had been used ! resolved to consult my copy of BTTHG as soon as ! got home

$t home ! went straight to the Guide 3 Inde4 to Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson and searched under "psychic chemical results# Anfortunately& there is nothing listed under these words (! later checked again and found out that the entry under which these words appear is "Trentroodianos# but who could remember this word and its conn ection with the other three words& that is to say& with "psychic chemical results#) ! had to search directly into the book 7ortunately& by now ! have a good feeling as to where different materials are more or less located in the book !t was not too difficult to find the place where the words ! was searching for are located ! found the material ! was searching for on pages 88 and 84 of the book ! will now /uote the part of that material concerning this paper Here is>

“1 and the greatest intentionalsuffering !an be obtained in your resen!es if you !omel yoursel"es to be able to endure the 5disleasingmanifestationsofothers towardsyoursel"es’1

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1 and so that by fre-uently rodu!ing in their resen!es this sa!red beinga!tualization toward the manifestations disleasing to them of other beings similar to themsel"es, there might thereby be e"o)ed in them what are !alled those 5Trentroodianos,’ or, as they

themsel"es would say, those 5sy!hi!!hemi!alresults’ whi!h, in general, in the resen!e of e"ery three!entered being, form those sa!red beingdata, whi!h a!tualizes in the !ommon resen!e of the three!entered beings, one of the three holy for!es of the sa!red beingTriamazi)amno6 and this holy for!e in beings always be!omes affirming towards all the denying roerties already resent in them1.

6hat surprised and elated me the most was the connection made between "psychic-chemical-results# and "intentional suffering# through enduring the displeasing

manifestations of others towards oneself ! now had a confirmation of my e:perience of that morning ! became also aware that my e:perience connected me with the practice of intentional suffering and that for this practice ! first needed to engage myself in conscious labors& while in my previous e:perience in connection with writing this paper& ! never e:perience intentional suffering or& at least& ! was not aware of this suffering so e:plicitly as it was the case with the matter of bearing the unpleasant manifestations of my

colleague This is another indication& at least to me& that conscious labors can e:ist without the practice of intentional suffering and that& furthermore& intentional suffering must always preceded by some form of conscious labors The se/uence is meaningful and inevitable

!n any case& after my being able to find a confirmation in BTTHG of my e:perience& ! felt real satisfaction 7or the third time in my life ! had been able to verify a concrete