Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 10h"It is a very good thing, which is worth doing, to work on oneself in the early morning, before, as it were, descending into life and duty. A little conscious work at that time, noticing the small beginnings of worrying or negative thoughts or self-pity, etc., etc. and saying no to them..." 120
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 06/10/2026"Electricity: in our usual opinion there are two forms of it, positive and negative; but there is also a third form, viz., the field within which the positive and negative forms are related to each other…" 101
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 06/10/2026Gurdjieff speaks of the divine impulse of genuine love in compelling terms in his writings, and yet also very witheringly about the degenerate forms that it has taken. Love is an evocative word, yet one that is prone to sentimentality... 110
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 05/10/2026"Ordinarily impressions are received in a mechanical way. They are received by our personality, which reacts with automatic thoughts and feelings that depend on its conditioning. We do not assimilate impressions because personality itself cannot be alive—it is dead…" 120
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 03/10/2026"The broadening of consciousness does not proceed in one direction only, that is, in the direction of the higher cosmoses; in going above, at the same time it goes below. " (Gurdjieff speaking in "In Search of the Miraculous" by P.D. Ouspensky, p.207) 120
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 03/10/2026"There is a movement of Presence, a passage, which I need to value. I see that when the attention of the head turns toward the body, the body also becomes attentive." (Jeanne de Salzmann - "The Reality of Being," p.194) 010
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 02/10/2026"The object of this Work is to increase Consciousness. We do what we do because we are not properly conscious. We are the people mentioned in the Gospels who live in darkness..." 130
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 01/10/2026"...no one can ascend onto a higher step until he places another man in his own place. What a man has received he must immediately give back; only then can he receive more. Otherwise from him will be taken even what he has already been given." (Gurdjieff) 101
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 30/09/2026"Gurdjieff once said: ‘I have very good leather to sell to those who want to make shoes out of it’ …No better description than this could be given of Gurdjieff’s role as a teacher..." 110
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 28/09/2026"I learn to purify my power of seeing, not by dismissing what is undesirable or turning away and settling on the agreeable. I learn to see everything without refusing the details. I learn to see clearly…" 110
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 28/09/2026"…in order to become receptive to the higher matters or influences he has to produce in himself sufficient corresponding hydrogens to set his higher centres working." (Ouspensky - The Fourth Way, p.232) 010
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 27/09/2026"[Gurdjieff] Always do only one thing at a time, that of the present moment. But do it well, be in it entirely. Man is always doing seven things at once; if he does as I say, even for one little thing, the other six will look after themselves." (René Zuber) 110
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 26/09/2026"Everything in life that we really accept undergoes a change. So suffering must become Love. This is the mystery." (Katherine Mansfield) From a piece under the title "Suffering," 19-12-1920, in "Journal of Katherine Mansfield," Alfred A. Knopf (New York), 1927, p.167. 021
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 25/09/2026"In order to regulate and balance the work of the three centers whose functions constitute our life, it is necessary to learn to economize the energy produced by our organism…" 120
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 23/09/2026"In each of those present here one of his inner machines is more developed than the others. There is no connection between them. Only he can be called a man without quotation marks in whom all three machines are developed. A one-sided development is only harmful…" 110
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 22/09/2026"If one ceases to keep the Work warm and viable in oneself, if one lets it get cold too long, punishment comes. It takes the form of a cessation of meaning, of a deadness inside." (Maurice Nicoll - "Commentaries on the Psychological Teachings of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky," Vol. V, p.1637.) 100
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 21/09/2026"Gurdjieff spoke and wrote in a picture-form of speech, symbolical language, which is necessary for understanding, because words, being counters or characters of account, result in definitions, and definitions eventually freeze language..." 100
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 20/09/2026"Heat and light are the remorse of matter. When we are in a state of self-remembering, elements in our body experience remorse, not a feeling of inferiority but a kind of sorrow for what we are, combined with aspiration, and a light dawns on us..." 100
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 20/09/2026"Be aware of yourself in as many different ways as possible at the same time, at all times. Be especially aware during times of emotional and intellectual activity, always observing the physical changes." (A.R. Orage in "Gurdjieff's Emissary in New York," p.437) 001
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 19/09/2026"The third state of consciousness is Self-Remembering or Self-Consciousness or the state of Self-Awareness. It is usual to consider that we have this state already and are always aware of ourselves and that we act, think and feel with full consciousness of what we are doing…" 121
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 18/09/2026"If a man is held by Personality and by nothing deeper he is not a man at all & there can be no individual evolution of him. When, however, a man is held by something internal to Personality he begins to be a man & is capable of an individual evolution into a conscious being..." 100
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 15/09/2026"[Gurdjieff] I speak scientific, very simple I speak. Why learn idiot words good only for idiot talk? I not have time." ("Gurdjieff and the Women of the Rope," p.186) 000
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 14/09/2026"…one year from the day [Gurdjieff] told me to go review all my science studies and report. I had written out a report on my year’s work, my conclusions and “discoveries," I took it to the café and he gave permission to read it, and looked at my chart of head and body systems… 100
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 13/09/2026"My object is to try to make you think about the Enneagram and bring it to some kind of life in your mind and directed imagination." ("Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky," p.385) journalgurdjieffstudies.substack.com/p/reflection...journalgurdjieffstudies.substack.comReflections on Maurice Nicoll’s Enneagram Series of CommentariesHow to make things fall on higher parts of centres? 010
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 13/09/2026" 'Learn to separate the fine from the coarse'—this principle from the 'Emerald Tablets of Hermes Trismegistus' refers to the work of the human factory…" (Gurdjieff in "In Search of the Miraculous" by P.D. Ouspensky, p.180) journalgurdjieffstudies.substack.com/p/fragments-...journalgurdjieffstudies.substack.comFragments, Chapter 9, pp.180-.... - Reading Club posting 33" 'Learn to separate the fine from the coarse'—this principle from the 'Emerald Tablets of Hermes Trismegistus' refers to the work of the human factory, and if a man learns to 'separate the fine from ... 000
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 11/09/2026"Are you not all convinced that your views, your judgments, the way you take things, and the ways you touch life, are right? Yes, of course you are. To realize that you yourself must change is an awkward business. It ceases to be a joke..." 110
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 11/09/2026"Here is the secret—to see and to suffer." (Jeanne de Salzmann - "The Reality of Being," p.188) 010
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 10/09/2026"Memory working together with sense, makes attention. Important - sense have two meanings - in English no two words - but is something like feeling and sense - feeling in solar plexus region and sense in spinal cord.” (Gurdjieff in "Gurdjieff and the Women of the Rope, p.11) 110
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 10/09/2026"You lack a critical mind. You must not believe anything in you. Have the attitude of Thomas. He was a great apostle who contributed very much to the Christian religion..." 100
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 09/09/2026"Real Conscience…is utterly different from acquired or educated conscience. G. said that Real Conscience is the same in everyone, whether they be pink, yellow, blue or green." (Maurice Nicoll - “Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky," Vol.IV, p.1466) 000
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 09/09/2026"Tomorrow is a disease of the Will." (A.R. Orage - Gurdjieff's Emissary in New York, p.450) 010
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 08/09/2026"In MEETINGS WITH REMARKABLE MEN Gurdjieff represented himself as searching for answers to questions, particularly the basic one: What is the end and aim of existence? It is through our own inner questioning that we find the way to his ideas." (A.L.Staveley - "Memories of Gurdjieff," p.1) 000
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 07/09/2026"Do you not understand that the Sermon on the Mount, about being humble and so on, has nothing to do with ordinary life but applies to this third stage of a man when he comes to the point of feeling empty…" 100
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 06/09/2026“…our highest attainment is to be conscious of our function.” (A.R. Orage - "WHO ARE THE BEST PEOPLE?” in “Psychological Essays”) Is this so? journalgurdjieffstudies.substack.com/p/14-ar-orag...journalgurdjieffstudies.substack.com(14.) A.R. Orage - WHO ARE THE BEST PEOPLE?"WE NEEDS must love the highest when we see it, sang Tennyson; but how shall we ever see it if we do not know what to look for?..." 000
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 06/09/2026"…negativeness submerges you like a flood. If you have not made an ark within you, you can be spiritually drowned. 111
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 05/09/2026"He must pay attention to this new-born thing in him which is the beginning of his own re-birth. This new thing, this child, can easily die if he goes to sleep. When this child exists in a man or woman it must be given the right food and they must be very careful of it..." 110
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 04/09/2026"We must die to the known in order for the unknown to be revealed." (Jeanne de Salzmann - "The Reality of Being," p.167) 010
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 03/09/2026The subject of fire, both literally and metaphorically, is a frequent one in Gurdjieff’s writings, and those of his immediate pupils. I repost this piece from a few years ago, the scenarios within which are interesting to ponder upon... 100
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 03/09/2026"You have no business to believe me. I ask you to believe nothing that you cannot verify for yourself." (Gurdjieff - "Views from the Real World," p.78) journalgurdjieffstudies.substack.com/p/piquant-so...journalgurdjieffstudies.substack.comPiquant sources and other flavours - Section 1Is it important to know the source? 000
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 02/09/2026If you find the quotations and commentaries on here useful, please consider “buying me a coffee.” Every little helps. Thanks. buymeacoffee.com/journalgurdj...buymeacoffee.comTill SpiegelSeeking to understand and apply the teaching of G.I. Gurdjieff. Responsible for Journal of Gurdjieff Studies, a Substack journal newsletter, which explores Gurdjieff's writings and talks, and tho... 010
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 02/09/2026"It is necessary for us to be inwardly impartial. For the moment, this is impossible. We regard everything, animate or inanimate, always partially - that is our weakness. We don't need to look for new ways to get help. Impartiality is what we must acquire." (Gurdjieff) 111
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 02/09/2026"Everyone, when he begins in this work, wishes to do big things. If you start on big things you will never do anything. Start on small things first." (Gurdjieff speaking in "Teachings of Gurdjieff" by C.S. Nott, p.21) 000
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 01/09/2026"If we take an average cultured man, we shall see that in the vast majority of cases his personality is the active element in him while his essence is the passive element. The inner growth of a man cannot begin so long as this order of things remains unchanged…" 100
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 31/08/2026"It must be understood that man consists of two parts: essence and personality. Essence in man is what is his own. Personality in man is what is 'not his own.'…" 110
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 30/08/2026"The idea of good and evil is sometimes connected with the idea of truth and falsehood. But just as good and evil do not exist for ordinary man, neither do truth and falsehood exist…" 110
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 29/08/2026"Each truly conscious perception and expression of a man must be the result of simultaneous and co-ordinated working of all three centres, each of which must take its part in the whole task; that is to say, it must supply its quota of associations…" (A.R. Orage) 120
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 28/08/2026"...the higher must exist before the lower can undergo transformation. ...the higher forms the lower so that, if the lower seeks transformation, the higher is there awaiting it." (Maurice Nicoll - "Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky," Vol.II, p.433) 110
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 26/08/2026"…Even when I believe I am simply watching the breathing, I intervene. It is my way of watching that is not right. I cannot prevent my 'I' from believing that it is more intelligent than the life force contained in my breathing…" 110
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 25/08/2026Gurdjieff indicated that before productive work for harmonious development is possible, it is often necessary to correct pre-existing functional disorders in a person… journalgurdjieffstudies.substack.com/p/the-normal...journalgurdjieffstudies.substack.comThe Normalisation of FunctionsGurdjieff indicated that before productive work for harmonious development is possible, it is often necessary to correct pre-existing functional disorders in a person. The word “function,” for Gurdjie... 100
Gurdjieff Studies @gurdjieffstudies.bsky.social · 24/08/2026One of the number of "subjective sayings" of Gurdjieff's father: "A representation of Hell—a stylish shoe." (Gurdjieff - "Meetings With Remarkable Men," p.46) journalgurdjieffstudies.substack.com/p/exposure-t...journalgurdjieffstudies.substack.comExposure to New InfluencesDangers and possibilities. 000