Beelzebubs-Tales-to-His-Grandson-by-G-I-Gurdjieff

ing them into that psychic state by making them look fixedly at a shiningobject, but this method does not work with all beings there—far from it Andthe reason for this is that, even though fixing their gaze on a shining objectmay bring about a change in the 'extent of the filling of the blood vessels,' thechief factor for this change must be their own intentional or automaticconcentration of thought and feeling."And this concentration can only be obtained from an intense expectation,or from a process taking place in them which they express by the word 'faith,'or again, from the emotion of 'fear of something about to happen,' or finallyfrom those passions whose functioning has become inherent in the presenceof these beings, such as 'hate,' 'love,' 'sensuality,' 'curiosity,' and so on and soforth."That is why in beings who are called 'hysterical,' who have lost for atime, if not forever, the ability to concentrate their 'thought' and 'feeling,' it isimpossible to bring about a change in the 'extent of the filling of the bloodvessels' by having them fix their gaze on a shining object, and hence it isimpossible to induce the 'hypnotic state' in them by this means."But with my invention, that is, a specific action upon the 'blood vessels'themselves, it was possible to bring into this state not only anyone you pleaseof these terrestrial three-brained beings, but even many one-brained and twobrainedbeings breeding there, as for instance various 'quadrupeds,' 'fish,''birds,' and so on."As regards that impulse of love of kind, which led me to seek a newmeans of bringing your favorites into this state which had by now becomeproper to them, it arose and gradually became dominant in me chieflybecause, during this period of my therapeutic activities, the ordinary threebrainedbeings of all castes everywhere soon began to love and respect me,regarding me almost as one sent from