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

and to take upon themselves the work of organizing twice a weekgeneral meetings of the members of their group, at which I wouldalways try to be present; and also to see to it that on other days nobodyshould disturb me by personal visits, by letters or even by telephone.After this, we decided together, in order to economize my time andalso for many other considerations, to hold the proposed generalmeeting in my apartment and, in view of the limited size of the largestroom there, which was a kind of hall, not to admit to these meetingsmore than fifty persons and, for the remaining members of the group, toarrange meetings in the studios of Carnegie Hall or in other privaterooms where, without my necessarily being present, there should beread aloud by one of my translator-secretaries everything taken down inshorthand of the questions that had been asked me, and my answers tothem.As a conclusion, I begged them as yet not to tell anything of what Ihad said that day to any of the members of their group and added:"According to the deductions after the observations and questioningsmade by me during these days, to my great regret, I shall be compelledduring my present stay in New York to take various measures towardmany of your comrades in order that either they should becomecompletely disappointed in my ideas or there should disappear the faithcrystallized in their individuality during these years in regard to Mr.Orage and his authority."