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

Expecting with indubitable certainty that this series of myexpositions, as I have already said, will be really "edifyinglyinstructive," that is to say, will serve if only for the automatic formationin those creatures of Our Common Father, similar to myself, of data ofall kinds, which ought to be, according to my understanding, present ina real man and not only of such data which are generally formed in thecommon presence of people, especially the contemporary ones, makingthem quite will-less, manifesting themselves in every way like mereanimals, exclusively through the reflexes of the functioning of theirorganism, I want, right from the beginning of this series, to speak alsoof such external facts, the description of which for a naive reader mightappear at first sight almost a meaningless, mere succession of words;whereas for a man who has the habit of thinking and of searching forthe sense contained in so-called "allegorical expositions," on conditionof a little strengthened mentation, they would be full of inner significance,and, if he makes the slightest effort "not to be a puppet of hisautomatic reflection," he will grasp and learn very much.As perfect "showing material" for searching and understanding theinner sense in the description of similar, at first sight seeminglymeaningless, external facts, there may serve what I said then at the endof the evening, on leaving the studio where this meeting had beenarranged with the Americans gathered there to wish me personallywelcome.Walking out and pausing on the threshold, I turned round andaddressing myself to them in that half-joking, half-serious tone at timesproper to me, I said:"Half-and-quarter powerful Gentlemen and to the extreme degreepowerful Ladies of this 'dollar harvest continent' . . . I was very, veryglad to see you and, although sitting so long among you this evening inthe blissful sphere of your 'canned'