Cuaresma

1. CUARESMA Dear friends of the work, for the last ten years our group has been celebrating the 40 days of Lent according with the teachings of Gurdjieff , Bennett and Pierre. This is a very special time where we as a group and as pre Christians prepare to be able to put in practice the real teachings of Christ. (See Attachment) Follow link: http://www.gurdjief fdominican. com/christianity .html Lent is a very special time of the year and in All an Everything we find that Christians should perform this 40 days fast and abstain from introducing into their body any food that derive from animals or the by product of animals, in order to provide the necessary shock to the planetary body and create favorable conditions for the growth of the Higher Being Bodies. Follow link: http://gurdjieffdom inican.com/ Beelzebub_ chap_42.htm Lent finish in Palm Sunday which is the entrance of Jesus in Jerusalem. Then for one week we celebrate Easter with various practices and rituals understanding that we are participating in an event of universal significance not linked to any particular creed, believe, church or organization.

(These are only suggestions) . Also each one must choose something that his body craves or likes very much and abstain from it until Easter Sunday. General precepts: -Abstain from: -Alcohol -Tobacco -Coffee -Any habits you have observe in yourself -Wearing or buying new clothes -Places where they play loud music -Places where there are people drinking -Sex or touching adults (as far as possible) -Eating between meals -Expressing negativity

-Talking about your fast -Unnecessary talking -Criticisms Try to: -Extended arms 5 min the first five days, 10 min the next 20 days and 15 the rest of lent -Reading and meditation on the Gospel of Saint John -Read the Sermon of the Mount every day, so that at the end you can say it by heart. -The Rosary as a Zikr -Prayer of the Heart -Touch a child each day. -Wear old clothes (as far as possible) -Bear the unpleasant manifestation of other people. -Remember those who have not eaten. -Remember your Friend (God) -Be present in everything you do -Remember that you are traveling from the world of illusions to the world of Reality. Be content and contained. -Sitting or Meditate for 10 to 30 min. everyday Fasting: (Read chapter 42 Beelzebub in America from page 1011 to page 1022) -The fast should be intelligent and if at some time you feel your body is not responding or is getting sick you should modify your fast. · Abstaining from meat · Abstaining from meat, eggs, milk, butter, and cheese · Abstaining from meat, eggs, milk, butter, cheese, and fish · Abstaining from meat, eggs, milk, butter, cheese, fish, oil, and wine · Abstaining from all foods and beverages except bread, water, juices, honey, and nuts. -Never red meat. - Once a week 24 or 36 hour without food. (The ancient Jews fasted on Mondays and Thursdays. The ancient church fasted on Wednesdays and Fridays)

"Real Love is Christian, religious love; with that love no one is born. For this love you must work. " Gurdjieff, Prieure, May 24,1923

“The object of all real esotericism is to connect Man with the will of God”

-Maurice Nicoll

Gurdjieff talk - The role of Judas >>

Christianity "The Teaching of Truth" This Crucial Concept can be taken as the essence of Gurdjieff’s Teaching. It is important for us to understand, that what Gurdjieff brought to us, is a New way to approach Christianity, -a new way of becoming ‘Real Christians’-. When talking about the aim of his institute Gurdjieff stated: "The Institute can give very little. The program of the Institute, the aim of the Institute, the possibilities of the Institute can be expressed in few words: the Institute can help one to be able to be a Christian. Simple! , That is all!" -G.I.Gurjieff / Views from the Real World,

Everyone who is seriously following this Work, must try to understand the role that Christianity played in Gurdjieff’s life, and in the teachings he brought to the West. Gurdjieff’s nature was profoundly spiritual, but this is not taken seriously by people who favor the idea -that the Fourth Way is a teaching which leads to transformation through different methods and forms without any deeper spiritual significance -. Contrary to this idea, the Fourth Way as Mr Gurdjieff intended to transmit it, approaches genuine transformation through Love and compassion, where efforts toward spiritual evolution are not divorced from our “Common Father Creator” as he calls him in "All and Everything". “Real love is the basis of all, the foundations, the Source. The religions have perverted and deformed love. It was by love that Jesus performed miracles. Real love joined with magnetism. All accumulated vibrations create a current. This current brings the force of love. Real love is a cosmic force which goes through us. If we crystallize it, it becomes a power—the greatest power in the world.” -G.I.Gurdjieff – from Meetings at 6 rue des Colonels-Renard, Paris -1938

Gurdjieff Himself calls the Fourth Way “Esoteric Christianity”, leaving the door open for research and investigation, instead of accepting blindly what is stated by the church and different religions. “The object of all real esotericism is to connect Man with the will of God”

-Maurice Nicoll

This idea of “Esoteric Christianity” was emphasized from the beginning of Gurdjieff”s teachings, as we can see from different manuscripts and talks given by him. Somehow the Christian approach has been push to the background, as if it was something non essential, presenting the Work -cold and devoid of real feelings, making it only an intellectual proposition-. After Gurdjieff death many Fourth Way groups around the World have tried to put the idea of Christ aside or even completely forgot about it. “Inner Morality is your aim. Your aim is to be Christian. But for that you must be able to do –and you cannot. When you are able to do, you will become Christian.” G.I.Gurdjieff / Views from the Real World,

Gurdjieff was always very straight forward when he was asked about Christ and Christianity, or whenever he wrote about it.

Here are few of the many examples : "If instead of religion in general we take Christianity, then again there exists a “Christianity number one, that is to say, paganism in the guise of Christianity. Christianity number two is an emotional religion, sometimes very pure but without force, sometimes full of bloodshed and horror leading to the Inquisition, to religious wars. Christianity number three, instances of which are afforded by various forms of Protestantism, is based upon dialectic, argument, theories, and so forth. Then there is Christianity number four, of which men number one, number two, and number three have no conception whatever. "In actual fact Christianity number one, number two, and number three is simply external imitation. Only man number four strives to be a Christian and only man number five can actually be a Christian. For to be a Christian means to have the being of a Christian, that is, to live in accordance with Christ's precepts. "Man number one, number two, and number three cannot live in accordance with Christ's precepts because with them everything 'happens.' Today it is one thing and tomorrow it is quite another thing. Today they are ready to give away their last shirt and tomorrow to tear a man to pieces because he refuses to give up his shirt to them. They are swayed by every chance event. They are not masters of themselves and therefore they cannot decide to be Christians and really be Christians.” G.I.Gurdjieff/ In search for the Miraculous / Chapter 4

******* "First of all it is necessary to understand that a Christian is not a man who calls himself a Christian or whom others call a Christian. A Christian is one who lives in accordance with Christ's precepts. Such as we are we cannot be Christians. In order to be Christians we must be able 'to do.' We cannot do; with us everything 'happens.' Christ says: 'Love your enemies,' but how can we love our enemies when we cannot even love our friends? Sometimes 'it loves' and sometimes 'it does not love.' Such as we are we cannot even really desire to be Christians because, again, sometimes 'it desires' and sometimes 'it does not desire.' And one and the same thing cannot be desired for long, because suddenly, instead of desiring to be a Christian, a man remembers a very good but very expensive carpet that he has seen in a shop. And instead of wishing to be a Christian he begins to think how he can manage to buy this carpet, forgetting all about Christianity. Or if somebody else does not believe what a wonderful Christian he is, he will be ready to eat him alive or to roast him on hot coals. In order to be a good Christian one must be. To be means to be master of oneself. If a man is not his own master he has nothing and can have nothing. And he cannot be a Christian. He is simply a machine, an automaton. A machine cannot be a Christian. Think for yourselves, is it possible for a motorcar or a typewriter or a gramophone to be Christian? They are simply things which are controlled by chance. They are not responsible. They are machines. To be a Christian means to be responsible. Responsibility comes later when a man even partially ceases to be a machine, and begins in fact, and not only in words, to desire to be a Christian." G.I.Gurdjieff/ In search for the Miraculous / Chapter 6

******** "Generally speaking we know very little about Christianity and the form of Christian worship; we know nothing at all of the history and origin of a number of things. For instance, the church, the temple in which gather the faithful and in which services are carried out according to special rites; where was this taken from? Many people do not think about this at all. Many people think that the outward form of worship, the rites, the singing of canticles, and so on, were invented by the fathers of the church. Others think that this outward form has been taken partly from pagan religions and partly from the Hebrews. But all of it is untrue. The question of the origin of the Christian church, that is, of the Christian temple, is much more interesting than we think. To begin with, the church and worship in the form which they took in the first centuries of Christianity could not have been borrowed from paganism because there was nothing like it either in the Greek or Roman cults or in Judaism. The Jewish synagogue, the Jewish temple, Greek and Roman temples of various gods, were something quite different from the Christian church which made its appearance in the first and second centuries. The Christian church is—a school concerning which people have forgotten that it is a school. Imagine a school where the teachers give lectures and perform explanatory demonstrations without knowing that these are lectures and demonstrations; and where the pupils or simply the people who come to the school take these lectures and demonstrations for ceremonies, or rites, or 'sacraments,' i.e., magic. This would approximate to the Christian church of our times. "The Christian church, the Christian form of worship, was not invented by the fathers of the church. It was all taken in a readymade form from Egypt, only not from the Egypt that we know but from one which we do not know. This Egypt was in the same

place as the other but it existed much earlier. Only small bits of it survived in historical times, and these bits have been preserved in secret and so well that we do not even know where they have been preserved. "It will seem strange to many people when I say that this prehistoric Egypt was Christian many thousands of years before the birth of Christ, that is to say, that its religion was composed of the same principles and ideas that constitute true Christianity. Special schools existed in this prehistoric Egypt which were called 'schools of repetition.' In these schools a public repetition was given on definite days, and in some schools perhaps even every day, of the entire course in a condensed form of the sciences that could be learned at these schools. Sometimes this repetition lasted a week or a month. Thanks to these repetitions people who had passed through this course did not lose their connection with the school and retained in their memory all they had learned. Sometimes they came from very far away simply in order to listen to the repetition and went away feeling their connection with the school. There were special days of the year when the repetitions were particularly complete, when they were carried out with particular solemnity—and these days themselves possessed a symbolical meaning. "These 'schools of repetition' were taken as a model for Christian churches—the form of worship in Christian churches almost entirely represents the course of repetition of the science dealing with the universe and man. Individual prayers, hymns, responses, all had their own meaning in this repetition as well as holidays and all religious symbols, though their meaning has been forgotten long ago." G.I.Gurdjieff/ In search for the Miraculous / Chapter 15

********** “A Christian is a man who is able to fulfill the Commandments. A man who is able to do all that is demanded of a Christian, both with his mind and his essence, is called a Christian without quotation marks. A man who, in his mind, wishes to do all that is demanded of a Christian, but can do so only with his mind and not with his essence, is called pre-Christian. And a man who can do nothing, even with his mind, is called a non- Christian.” G.I.Gurdjieff /Views from the Real World / Separation of Oneself from oneself

*** ____________________________ “ Not all are united with Jesus, but Jesus is united with all. There are many possibilities of union which for us are both different and not different.” J.G.Bennett – Intermediate state of Salvation / The way to be free.

Lent begins - Ash Wednesday, Every Year Lent is a forty-day period before Easter, beginning on Ash Wednesday. We skip Sunday when we count the forty days, because Sunday commemorate the Resurrection. Lent begins on February 25 - 2009 - Ash Wednesday. Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy week - April 5 - 2009 Good Friday - commemorate the death of Jesus on the Cross - April 10 2009 Easter Sunday marks the end of the Holy week - April 12 - 2009

This is a time of struggle, renunciation and intentional suffering. As it is mentioned in "All and Everything" by G.I.Gurdjieff, it is a time to provide shocks to "the Planetary body", by means of abstinence. This period of the year is an opportunity open to us to acquire the strength necessary to overcome the impulses of our denying forces, by creating conditions of sacrifice and intelligent suffering, like "fasting and prayer. "The-result-of-the-manifestation-is-proportionate-to-the-force-of-strivingreceived-from-the-shock" The arch-preposterous / "All and Everything"

Fasting means not eating anything, while abstinence means not eating some things. Fasting is what Muslims do during the Ramadan between sunrise and sunset. The Christian Lent meant in its origins abstinence of all food of animal origin. Ideally there was only one meal a day. "Traditionally, in its origins Christians abstain from meat consumption during Lent" "During the six weeks between Carnival and Easter (forty days of the withdrawal into the wilderness of Jesus) there was an extra prohibition.

Not only meat, but also milk, butter, cheese and eggs were banned from the table." - Lent History / Catholic Source

"Every week Day in Lent is a fast day..." 1858 Church Calendar, given out to all priests. Catholic Source Book / by Krein, Peter ___>

Now all that is left for very few catholic is Friday as an obligatory "fish day" In this way one was weekly reminded of Jesus who died on the cross on what we call "Good Friday". "And even this one surviving food custom is either already fading completely out of the ordinary life of the followers of this religion, or its observance is so changing year by year that no shock is obtained from it for the fasters, though it was just for that shock that this "fast" was established" "All and Everything" -

Extract from “Lent” by Pierre Elliot Lent is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning Spring (Lenten). In France the season is known as Careme; in Italy as Quaresirna, both from the Latin Quadragesima. All these names are derived from the fact that the first Sunday in Lent was originally called Quadragesima. the fortieth day before Easter and for those liturgies still using Latin words in their calendars, Lent is actually divided from Epiphany by the so-called pre Lenten season, the three Sundays of Septuagesima, Sexagesima and Quinquagesima. These three Sundays preceding the beginning of Lent (or Quadragesima) take these names by analogy and not because they are respectively the fiftieth, sixtieth and seventieth days before Easter. The purpose of Lent is not primarily to commemorate the forty day fast of Christ in the wilderness which immediately followed His baptism. In the ancient church Lent was above all things the period of spiritual training and instruction which preceded initiation into the Christian mysteries by the sacrament of baptism. The proper time for initiation was Easter Eve, because the Sunday of the Resurrection is the greatest feast of the whole year for Christians; Christmas is only the beginning. …Although Lent was primarily a period of preparation for the catechumens before their baptism, the period of forty days became one devoted to fasting and abstinence for penitents and faithful alike. The fasting itself consisted in special acts of piety as well as abstention from flesh food. By flesh food is meant blood both Hebrew and Christian symbolism identify blood with the life principle, and abstention from blood is in recollection of the shedding of the blood of Christ, symbolically the pouring out of the divine life into human nature. At present, however, the penitential observances of the church have in practice sentimental rather than a spiritual atmosphere; they express a sort of feeling of remorse rather than the "metanoia" of which the Philokalia speaks… How are we to take the time of Lent, which for so called Christians is a time for penance, fasting and also vigils? I say so called as Mr. G. might well have reminded us, because for most people Lent will be a season simply for a few formalized penitential practices, half understood and undertaken without interest and which for some will be an occasion for giving up sweets or chocolate. "There is, however, a paradoxical aspect of Lent which can be a means of looking into ourselves, really looking into what we are,

an acceptance of one's actual condition and if one does this deeply the acceptance of reality and the shedding of the burden of illusion brings a special kind of reward and joy. There is the story of the rending of the garments which, if done perfunctorily, lets in nothing but the cold, and some start Lent with ashes on their foreheads. I believe that for us none of these practices is appropriate. We should not take upon ourselves a burden of penance but rather start Lent with an effort to realize what we have not seen before. By all means practice some kind of fasting as a reminding factor, but do it invisibly and intelligently. Fasting is a good thing because food itself is a good thing. But the good things of this world have this about them, that they are good "in their season" and not out of it.

I would suggest that for us the key word of Lent should be moderation. Look at the meaning of this word in all aspects of your life. I would not suggest that anyone sets himself, for example, to follow Mr. B's example of reading "Beelzebub" aloud at one sitting of over 24 hours until his whole tongue became swollen. Rather take on a judicious series of daily readings for oneself, each according to his and her capacity in moderation, but without fail. -What is the appropriate attitude to fasting? To me the answer is very clear: fasting should be something spiritual. It implies inner exercises or prayers, silence, an internal disposition of mind, an attempt to be charitable, kind, tolerant etc. Fasting is not to be identified with a good deed that merits a reward, in the sense of what shall I give up by way of fasting or let fasting be something instrumental and not an end in itself. Fasting in other words is but a means of reaching a spiritual and therefore for us an integral part of our inner work.

Extract from "All and Everything" Chapter 42 /

“The changes now taking place in the process of this Christian custom of fasting are very characteristic and provide an excellent example for understanding how in general all the “good Christian customs” have little by little undergone change, until they have finally entirely ceased to exist.” “An excellent illustration of this is the manner in which this fast is observed at the present day by those called “Russian Orthodox Christians“ ‘These Russian Orthodox Christians took their religion in its entirety from the Orthodox Greeks, who passed on to them, along with other Christian customs, this same custom of “fasting. “Among the millions of these Russian Orthodox Christians the majority still continue to fast, as is said, “rigorously,” according to the “Orthodox code” now existing there.” “But as to the manner of their fasting, one cannot help recalling the saying of our dear Mullah Nassr Eddin in such cases: “Isn’t it all the same if I sing like a donkey as long as they call me a nightingale?” “It is just the same with the fasting of these Russian Orthodox Christians as long as they are called Christians and moreover Orthodox—what does it matter that they receive no “shock” whatever from the fast? “ ‘As I have said, these Russian Orthodox Christians of the present time still observe very strictly all the seasons and days of fast indicated in their code. ‘But as for what should or should not be eaten during a fast, it is just in that question that the “left paw of the curly-haired dog of ex-Emperor Wilhelm” lies buried. “You will understand clearly how these contemporary Russian Orthodox Christians fast if I repeat the exact words of one of them, spoken to me not long ago in Russia.” “I used to meet this Russian there on business and even became somewhat friendly with him and visited him at his house. ‘He was considered by those around him to be a very good Christian and the “patriarchal father of a family,” he came from the

sect of the “Old Believers. “ ‘Old Believers are those Orthodox Christians whose ancestors, several centuries ago, refused to submit to new rules then laid down by “somebody or other,” and who remained faithful followers of the previous rules, also laid down by “somebody or other,” only a century or two before this religious schism. “And so one day, when I was dining at the house of this worthy Old Believer in the company of several other Russians, also Orthodox Christians, he turned to me and said: “Ekh! old dear!” “By the way, I must tell you that the beings of this group have the habit, after the second glass of genuine Russian vodka, of calling their acquaintances by various pet names, such as “old dear,” “my zapoopoonchik,” “my pot-bellied beauty,” “my little brown Jug,” and so on and so forth. “And so this worthy Russian Orthodox Christian, addressing me as “old dear,” said: “Never mind, old dear! We shall soon be having Lent and then we shall feast together on genuine Russian dishes . “To tell the truth, here in Russia, during ‘meat days’ we almost always eat the same things . “But during fasts, especially during Lent, it is quite a different story! “Not a day goes by but one is privileged to enjoy the most succulent dishes…

…“These last researches of mine made it clear to me that although people’s psyche does indeed deteriorate from the constant introduction into the organism of the substance ‘eknokh,’ yet it is only at certain times of the year that this substance has a particularly harmful effect. “So, my brethren in Christ from all I have said and chiefly from my latest observations, made daily during a whole year on numbers of people, and which clearly showed me that the intensity of the harmful effect of the substance ‘eknokh’ increases at certain times of the year, I can only now make bold to express my personal opinion that if there were to be spread among the followers of the teachings of Jesus Christ the custom of abstaining at certain designated times of the year from the use of products in the formation of which the substance ‘eknokh’ plays a dominant part, such a custom could conceivably be observed and would bring the people a real benefit. “As my numerous alchemical investigations have shown me, the substance ‘eknokh’ participates in the formation of all living organisms without exception, wherever they may exist—on the surface of the Earth, within its depths, in the water, in the atmosphere, and so on. “This substance is also present in everything contributing to the formation of these organisms, as for example in the amniotic fluid of every species of pregnant female, and in such products as milk, eggs, caviar, and so on. “ ‘The ideas expressed by the great Hertoonano so astounded and agitated all the members of the Council of Kelnuan that the commotion made it impossible for him to continue, so he was obliged to abandon his speech and descend from the rostrum. “ ‘The manuscript stated further that by the end of the day the members of the Council of Kelnuan had come to a unanimous decision to specify, with the help of the great Hertoonano, those times of the year when the effects of the substance “eknokh” were most harmful for people, and to spread widely among the followers of Jesus Christ the custom of fasting at these times of the year—that is, of abstaining from products containing the substance “eknokh” injurious for them. “ With this, the Judaic-Essenian manuscript ended.”