Gurdjieff Canberra conducts a number of study groups for new and more advanced students.
Activities follow the traditional forms employed by Gurdjieff.
Once
a week, members meet to study the ideas, methods, practical instructions and
inner tasks that form the substance of the teaching. These gatherings
allow for an exchange of observations that emerge from one’s personal
efforts and are initially guided by those more experienced. At a later
stage, exchanges are between peers with no one predominating.However, the practice is a work in life. The aim is to persevere with certain inner tasks while living normally without outward change. To aid this, work days are organized from time to time. Members participate in practical tasks - cooking, carpentry, craftwork and so on. These days form a useful bridge between the inner work and life and aid more intensive study supported by the group.
The Gurdjieff work is far from monastic and does not involve retreats, but has its quiet times as well. Occasionally 'sittings' are held to promote more intensive inner awareness.
The system of instructive 'dances' brought by Gurdjieff called The Movements, is another area of study.
Ouspensky, an early pupil of Gurdjieff, explains that humans do not evolve according to laws of heredity and selection - that the only evolution possible for us is by making a certain conscious effort. This extract is from his book, The Psychology of Man's Possible Evolution:.
"Man as we know him is not a completed being. Nature develops him only to a certain point and then leaves him to develop further by his own efforts and devices, or to live and die such as he was born, or to degenerate and lose capacity for development.Evolution of man in this case will mean the development of certain inner qualities and features which usually remain undeveloped, and cannot develop by themselves.
We must start with the idea that, without efforts, evolution is impossible. Without help it is also impossible.
After this, we must understand that in the way of development, man must become a different being and we must understand what this means.
Then we must understand that all men cannot develop. Evolution is the question of personal efforts and that, in relation to the mass of humanity, is the rare exception. It may sound strange, but we must realize that it is not only rare but is becoming more and more rare.
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