This past Wednesday evening we learned a little bit about the philosophy of G. I. Gurdjieff as part of West Grove Quaker Meeting's series of lectures on different faith traditions.
The three speakers, all longtime students of Gurdjieff's teachings, explained different aspects of his beliefs, one of which is that we humans tend to operate on automatic pilot and need to become more conscious of our existence. (How ironic that I was knitting during the presentation -- talk about a "mindless" action!)
One of the ways Gurdjieff suggested waking ourselves up is by engaging in a series of dance-like movements.
Would we like to try one? the speaker asked.
We all stood up, and he demonstrated some simple arm movements, done while the feet are tapping out a sort of shuffle. Another one of speakers went to the piano and started playing a slow, cadence-like tune to accompany the movements, which we all performed in unison.
It was definitely my kind of lecture format.
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