GURDJIEFF, G.I. – Life is real only then, when I am - Integral Book

ers of his group, but all at once, remembering the alarming newsreceived by me one hour ago of the bad turn of my material affairsconnected with the liquidation of goods brought by my companions, Idecided to delay the answer in order to think it over well, because at thesame time a thought germinated in me: would it not be possible to usesuch a request to me for my aims, considering that my prime decisionnot to utilize the members of this group for the actualization of thepurpose of this trip of mine had by this time already been changed inconsequence of the manifestations of some of them, manifestationsquite intolerable and unworthy of people who had already been forseveral years in contact with my ideas, especially since it seemed thatthey had been thinking about them and had understood them well.Thinking over and confronting all kinds of results which might arisein various cases, I decided to answer him through the same secretary ofmine as follows:"Most calm, most promising and particularly most esteemed by meMr. Orage:"After everything that has happened here, as much as you know me, Ihave no more the right to meet you on the former conditions, evenmerely as an old friend!"Now, without breaking my principles, most of which are known toyou, I can meet you and even, as in the past, occupy myself with theprocess of 'pouring from the empty into the void' exclusively if youalso, Mr. Orage, will sign the obligation I proposed to all the membersof the group you have directed."Having received this answer, Mr. Orage, to the great astonishment ofthe people near me who had journeyed with me, came at once to thatflat of mine where some of the people lived who came with me, amongwhom was my secretary, and first of all, without arguing, signed theobliga-