The children were always allowed to buy things, but at one sale we proposed a task: buy only what remains unsold at the end of the day. This condition was accepted by the children but soon ignored. They engaged in a brisk clandestine trade of bargains from their various tables, for the boxed games priced at one dollar, the working toys, the more interesting junk. They reported later that a kind of fever had gripped them, particularly the younger ones, and they simply could not allow someone else to buy and take away the toys they coveted. They were able to glimpse what controlled them in that moment—and how a little bit of stuff could become their master. They discovered greed.
Rather than rejecting what is considered “bad,” Mr. Gurdjieff’s methods include using the contradictions of our many traits to understand ourselves more deeply and to acknowledge our inner reality as it is. This could lead to a contact with our deeply buried conscience and perhaps an eventual freedom from some of the myriad features of our inner slavery.
In reading this excerpt, the major stock markets came to mind, markets, garage sales, car boot sales, reports of scarcity, impending doom, shortages because of weather, snow, storms, blizzards, it would appear that this is strongly attached to our survival instinct.
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