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

"All present sat or kneeled quietly, and, in the well-knownatmosphere called forth by the incense, they first chose from amongthemselves the worthiest by age and reputation, as leader. And thenthey began to give themselves up to the contemplation of theinevitability of their own death."At certain intervals, the leader would say to all present thefollowing:" 'Do not forget how he has lived, whose breath has not yet vanishedfrom this place, how he behaved unworthily for a man, and did notaccept the fact that he, as well as all others, must die.'"After such an utterance by the leader, all those present had to singtogether the following:" '0 ye holy, higher forces, and immortal spirits of our ancestors,help us to keep death always before our eyes, and not to succumb totemptation.'"I will not add more but will leave it to each one of you to decide forhimself what advantage there might be if such a 'savage' custom couldbe established again."I hope that you now partially understand why just these 'expressionsof sympathy' of yours affect my inner being almost in the same way asyour American 'products' of nourishment affect the English system."It would be desirable for all, for God, for the deceased, for you, forme and even for the whole of humanity, if, at the death of any person,instead of the process of the expression of senseless words, the processof the real grasping of your own forthcoming death would take place inyou."Only the complete realization by man of the inevitability of his owndeath can destroy those factors, implanted thanks to our abnormal life,of the expression of different aspects of our egoism, this cause of allevil in our common life."Only such a realization can bring to birth again in man