Talk by Gurdjieff, Prieure 1923 - Hip Forums

Talk by Gurdjieff, Prieure 1923

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This is a talk given by Gurdjieff at the Institute in Fontainbleau. It is taken from J.G.Bennett's 'Gurdjieff - Making a New World'. I have found it quite valuable.

“Freedom leads to freedom. Those are the first words of truth. You do not know what truth is because you do not know what freedom is. All the ‘truth’ that you know today is only truth in quotation marks. There is another truth but it is not theoretical; it cannot be expressed in words. Only those who have realized it in themselves can understand that truth.
Now I will give you a detailed explanation of those words I have spoken. It rests on the following basis. The freedom I speak about is the freedom that is the goal of all schools, all religions, of all times. And in truth, I tell you that this freedom can be a very great one. Everyone wishes for it: but it can never be attained without the first kind of freedom that I will call the Lesser Freedom. The Greater Freedom is the liberation of ourselves from all influences acting outside ourselves. The Lesser Freedom is the liberation of ourselves from all influences acting within ourselves. For a start – for you who are beginners – the Lesser Freedom is a very big one indeed, as it is not subject to your dependence upon outside influences.

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