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XXXVII
WHAT WITH
ADOLESCENCE, lack of supervision, lack of
interest, and just plain laziness, I managed to do as little work
as possible in the Herb Garden. I avoided going there except
when it was necessary for me to bring various herbs to the
kitchen. When the quality of the herbs became noticeably
poorer and when I was at times unable even to supply a small
quantity of some particular herb, someone must have taken it
upon themselves to investigate the garden and report their
findings to Gurdjieff.
The result was that Gurdjieff made a personal inspection
of the garden with me, walking up and down between all the
small beds, examining every plant. When he had finished he
told me that as far as he could see, I had done absolutely
nothing at all there in the way of work. I had to admit that
I had done very little work, but defended myself to the extent
of pointing out that I had done some occasional weeding. He
shook his head and said that in view of the state of the garden
it would be better not to defend myself at all. He then assigned
several of the children to work with me in the garden until it
was in proper shape, and instructed me as to what had to be
done to the various plants: hoeing between the rows, trimming
certain plants, dividing and replanting others.
Although the children were very annoyed with me for
having shirked my own work and thereby caused them to have
to work on "my" garden, they all pitched in and we carried
out Gurdjieff's orders very easily and quickly. It was a very
small plot of land and it could not have taken us more than
a day or two. When we had finished the work, Gurdjieff
pronounced it satisfactory, complimented all the other children
on their work, and said that he wanted to have a talk with me,
alone.
He first told me that I could see for myself that I had not
performed a task that had been assigned to me, and that it
had been necessary for him to intervene in my work and take
measures to repair the damage that had been caused by my
neglect. He said that this was a very good example of the way
in which one person's failure to accomplish his duty could
affect the general welfare of everyone else and that, while I
might not think of herbs as important, they were important to
him and were needed in the kitchen; also that I had caused
him an unnecessary, if minor, expense because various plants
had had to be purchased, which would not have been necessary
if I had done my job properly.
He went on to say that it was true, in one sense, that the
herb garden was not important; what was important, however,
was to be responsible and to do one's work, particularly when
that work could affect the welfare of others. However, there
was another, still more important reason for accomplishing any
assigned task, which was for one's own sake.
He spoke again about the exercise of "self-observation" and
said that since man was a three-centred or three-brained being,
it was necessary to do exercises and perform tasks that were
valuable for all three centres, not just the physical or "motor"
centre; that "self-observation" as I knew it was a purely
physical exercise in that it consisted in the observation of one's
physical body and its movements, gestures and manifestations.
He said that there were various important exercises having
to do with "self-remembering" which was a very important
aspect of his work. One of them was to conscientiously and
with all one's concentration, try to remember, as on a movie
film, everything that one had done during each entire day.
This was to be done every night before going to sleep. The most
important thing in the exercise was not to let the attention
wander -- by association. If one's attention did wander from
the focus upon the image of oneself, then it was absolutely
necessary to begin all over again at the beginning each time
this happened -- and it would, he warned, happen.
He talked to me for a very long time that morning, and
emphasized the fact that everyone had, usually, a particular,
recurring problem in life. He said that these particular
problems were usually a form of laziness, and that I was to
think about my laziness, which took a fairly obvious physical
form, as in the case of the garden: I had simply put off doing
anything in the garden until someone had taken notice of
that fact. He said that he wanted me to think seriously about
my laziness -- not the outward form, which was not important,
but to find out what it was. "When you see that you are lazy,
necessary find out what this laziness is. Because in some ways
you already lazy for many years, can take even many years
for you to find out what it is. Must ask yourself, whenever you
see your own laziness: 'What is this laziness in me ?' If you
ask this question seriously, and with concentration, is possible
someday you will find answer. This important and very
difficult work I give you now."
I thanked him for what he had said and added that I was
sorry that I had not done my work in the garden and that I
would do it properly in the future.
He brushed aside my thanks and said that it was useless
to be sorry ."Is too late for that now, and is also too late to do
good work in garden. In life never have second chance, only
have one chance. You had one time to do good work in garden,
for self; you not do, so now even if you work all your life, in
this garden, cannot be same thing for you. But also important
not be 'sorry' about this; can waste all life feeling sorry.
There is valuable thing sometimes, thing you call remorse.
If man have real remorse for something he do that is not good,
this can be valuable; but if only sorry and say will do same
thing better in future is waste of time. This time is already
gone forever, this part of your life is finished, you cannot live
over again. Not important if you do good work in garden now,
because will do for wrong reasons -- to try to repair damage
which cannot be repaired ever. This serious thing. But also
very serious not to waste time feeling sorry or feeling regret,
this only waste even more time. Must learn in life, not to make
such mistakes, and must understand that once make mistake
is made forever."
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