VBT – Meditation 38.5

VBT – Meditation 38.5

No Communication

Gurdjieff used to give long silent periods to his disciples, and then he would insist that not only was language not to be used, but there was to be no communication, no gesture – neither with the eyes nor the hands. No communication was to be used. Silence means NO communication. So he would force the group to live in a house – twenty, thirty or forty people in one bungalow, in one house – and than he would say, “Remain here in this house as if you are alone. You cannot go out.” Forty persons would be there, and he would say, “Move in the house, live in the house as if you are alone. No communication! Do not recognize that the other is, not even by the eyes. Move completely as if you are the only person residing in the house.” With three months of living in this way, absolutely dumb and deaf, with no possibility of communicating, there would be no possibility to move out.

I do not know whether you have observed or not, but in society those who can talk much become prominent; those who can communicate their thoughts easily become leaders – religious, political, literary, any type. Those who can communicate their thoughts, those who can talk efficiently, they become leaders. Why? They can reach more people, they can reach greater masses.

Have you ever heard of any dumb person becoming a leader? You can find a blind man becoming a leader; there is no problem. And sometimes he may become a great leader, because all that his eyes are not doing, all those energies will be transferred to his ears. But a dumb man cannot become a leader in any walk of life. He cannot communicate, he cannot become social.

Society is a language. Language is basic to social existence – to relationships. If you leave language, you are alone. The world may be filled with millions, but if you lose language you are alone.

Gurdjieff advised his disciples to have sudden changes. He would insist on fasting and then he would say, “Now eat as much as you can.” Then suddenly he would say, “Go on a fast.” Then again he would say, “Start eating.” He would say, “Be awake for a few days and nights continuously, then fall asleep for a few nights.” This movement between the polar opposites gives you a dynamism, an aliveness.

OR, BY PUTTING THE FINGERS IN THE EARS, HEAR THE SOUND OF SOUNDS. In one technique, two opposites have been shown. BATHE IN THE CENTER OF SOUND, AS IN THE CONTINUOUS SOUND OF A WATERFALL – this is one extreme. OR, BY PUTTING THE FINGERS IN THE EARS, HEAR THE SOUND OF SOUNDS – this is another extreme.

One part is to hear the sounds coming to your center; another part is to stop all sounds and feel the soundless center. These both have been given in one technique for a special purpose – so that you can move from one to the other.

The OR is not a choice to do this or that. Do both! That is why both have been given in one technique. First do one for a few months, then do the other for a few months. You will be more alive, and you will know two extremes. And if you can move to the two extremes easily, you can remain young forever. Those who get fixed at any extreme become old and die.