When Gurdjieff was just a child of nine, his dying father said to him, "I cannot give you anything except the one deep thing that I have experienced in my life. There is only one thing that I have gained that I can give you as my heritage: whenever someone is angry at you, don't react immediately. Wait for twenty-four hours and then reply."
Later on Gurdjieff was to say that this simple teaching transformed his whole life -- he promised his dying father that this rule would be binding on him for his whole life. If someone insulted him, scolded him, or abused him, he would remain a witness to it with no immediate reaction -- and not only outwardly but inwardly also. He would listen patiently to whatever was being said or done to him and then say, "I cannot react immediately. I will come back after twenty-four hours. This is a promise that I have given to my father. So I will come back after twenty-four hours and then I will react."
Obviously, he never reacted. He found himself coming back after twenty-four hours and saying, "At the moment I could not react because of my promise. Now, too, I cannot react."
His whole life was changed by it, because the opening for the lower became closed. Twenty-four hours is too long a period to wait. The mind opens only when there is a certain pressure -- and then only for a moment. If you wait, the mind will close again. If you don't allow the pressure to affect you, then after twenty-four hours the situation will have become cold and dead. Only in a heated moment is the mind ready to react.
Because anger had become an impossibility, Gurdjieff tried this technique in other areas also. For example, sex. Whenever the urge was there, he would wait. After twenty-four hours there would be no urge: the mind would no longer be pulled by the lower force.
If someone is angry at you, remain closed; don't react. I don't mean fight against what you are feeling. I mean just be aware, wait; consider the whole situation and analyze it impartially; take every point of view. If someone is angry at you, first begin by considering whether he is right or not. If he is right, then be grateful to him. If you analyze very impartially and he is wrong, then there is no need to react because that will be his problem; you will not be part of it at all.
This is a very deep psychological insight: that if someone is abusing you, you begin to react only if you unconsciously feel that he is right. If you feel that he is absolutely wrong then you can laugh. If someone comes to you and says, "You are impotent," you will become furious only if you feel some sort of impotence somewhere, otherwise not. Only if what is being said hits something hidden within you is there a reaction. So analyze the whole thing, and if he is right then be thankful to him.
You are not aware of your deeper attitudes, your deeper longings, your deeper suppressions, but others become aware of them. So learn to analyze what is happening. If someone is angry at you, analyze the situation. Maybe he is right. Then you will become aware of a part of your unconscious that you were unaware of before. Or he can be partially right and partially wrong -- this is the third alternative. If he is partially right then be partially grateful and don't be bothered about where he is wrong. If he is totally wrong, then the statement is not about you; it is his problem.
You can either be angry or you can be mindful. You cannot be angry consciously because unconsciousness is the basic requirement for anger to happen: you can be angry only if you are unaware.
- Osho
Later on Gurdjieff was to say that this simple teaching transformed his whole life -- he promised his dying father that this rule would be binding on him for his whole life. If someone insulted him, scolded him, or abused him, he would remain a witness to it with no immediate reaction -- and not only outwardly but inwardly also. He would listen patiently to whatever was being said or done to him and then say, "I cannot react immediately. I will come back after twenty-four hours. This is a promise that I have given to my father. So I will come back after twenty-four hours and then I will react."
Obviously, he never reacted. He found himself coming back after twenty-four hours and saying, "At the moment I could not react because of my promise. Now, too, I cannot react."
His whole life was changed by it, because the opening for the lower became closed. Twenty-four hours is too long a period to wait. The mind opens only when there is a certain pressure -- and then only for a moment. If you wait, the mind will close again. If you don't allow the pressure to affect you, then after twenty-four hours the situation will have become cold and dead. Only in a heated moment is the mind ready to react.
Because anger had become an impossibility, Gurdjieff tried this technique in other areas also. For example, sex. Whenever the urge was there, he would wait. After twenty-four hours there would be no urge: the mind would no longer be pulled by the lower force.
If someone is angry at you, remain closed; don't react. I don't mean fight against what you are feeling. I mean just be aware, wait; consider the whole situation and analyze it impartially; take every point of view. If someone is angry at you, first begin by considering whether he is right or not. If he is right, then be grateful to him. If you analyze very impartially and he is wrong, then there is no need to react because that will be his problem; you will not be part of it at all.
This is a very deep psychological insight: that if someone is abusing you, you begin to react only if you unconsciously feel that he is right. If you feel that he is absolutely wrong then you can laugh. If someone comes to you and says, "You are impotent," you will become furious only if you feel some sort of impotence somewhere, otherwise not. Only if what is being said hits something hidden within you is there a reaction. So analyze the whole thing, and if he is right then be thankful to him.
You are not aware of your deeper attitudes, your deeper longings, your deeper suppressions, but others become aware of them. So learn to analyze what is happening. If someone is angry at you, analyze the situation. Maybe he is right. Then you will become aware of a part of your unconscious that you were unaware of before. Or he can be partially right and partially wrong -- this is the third alternative. If he is partially right then be partially grateful and don't be bothered about where he is wrong. If he is totally wrong, then the statement is not about you; it is his problem.
You can either be angry or you can be mindful. You cannot be angry consciously because unconsciousness is the basic requirement for anger to happen: you can be angry only if you are unaware.
- Osho
No comments:
Post a Comment
Be the first to comment!
Don't just read and walk away, Your Feedback Is Always Appreciated. I will try to reply to your queries as soon as time allows.
Note:
1. If your question is unrelated to this article, please use our Facebook Page Global Holistic Motivators.
2. Please always make use of your name in the comment box instead of anonymous so that i can respond to you through your name and don't make use of Names such as "Admin" or "ADMIN" if you want your Comment to be published.
3. Please do not spam, spam comments will be deleted immediately upon my review.
Regards,
Global Holistic Motivators' team
Back To Home