A man who is able to do all
that is demanded of a Christian, both with his mind and his essence, is called a
Christian without quotation marks. A man who, in his mind, wishes to do all that
is demanded of a Christian, but can do so only with his mind and not with his
essence, is called pre-Christian. And a man who can do nothing, even with his
mind, is called a non- Christian.”
G.I.Gurdjieff /Views from the
Real World / Separation of Oneself from oneself
"If instead of religion in general we take
Christianity, then again there exists a
“Christianity number one,
that is to say, paganism in the guise of Christianity. Christianity number two
is an emotional religion, sometimes very pure but without force, sometimes full
of bloodshed and horror leading to the Inquisition, to religious wars. Christianity number
three, instances of which are afforded by various forms of Protestantism, is
based upon dialectic, argument, theories, and so forth. Then there is
Christianity number four, of which men number one, number two, and number three
have no conception whatever. "In actual fact Christianity number one, number
two, and number three is simply external imitation. Only man number four
strives to be a Christian and only man number five can actually be a Christian.
For to be a Christian means to have the being of a Christian, that is, to live
in accordance with Christ's precepts. "Man number one, number two, and number
three cannot live in accordance with Christ's precepts because with them
everything 'happens.' Today it is one thing and tomorrow it is quite another
thing. Today they are ready to give away their last shirt and tomorrow to tear
a man to pieces because he refuses to give up his shirt to them. They are
swayed by every chance event. They are not masters of themselves and therefore
they cannot decide to be Christians and really be Christians.”
G.I.Gurdjieff/
In search for the Miraculous / Chapter 4
"First of all it is
necessary to understand that a Christian is not a man who calls himself a
Christian or whom others call a Christian. A Christian is one who lives in
accordance with Christ's precepts. Such as we are we cannot be Christians. In
order to be Christians we must be able 'to do.' We cannot do; with us everything
'happens.' Christ says: 'Love your enemies,' but how can we love our enemies
when we cannot even love our friends? Sometimes 'it loves' and sometimes 'it
does not love.' Such as we are we cannot even really desire to be Christians
because, again, sometimes 'it desires' and sometimes 'it does not desire.' And
one and the same thing cannot be desired for long, because suddenly, instead of
desiring to be a Christian, a man remembers a very good but very expensive
carpet that he has seen in a shop. And instead of wishing to be a Christian he
begins to think how he can manage to buy this carpet, forgetting all about
Christianity. Or if somebody else does not believe what a wonderful Christian he
is, he will be ready to eat him alive or to roast him on hot coals. In order to
be a good Christian one must be. To be means to be master of oneself. If a man
is not his own master he has nothing and can have nothing. And he cannot be a
Christian. He is simply a machine, an automaton. A machine cannot be a
Christian. Think for yourselves, is it possible for a motorcar or a typewriter
or a gramophone to be Christian? They are simply things which are controlled by
chance. They are not responsible. They are machines. To be a Christian means to
be responsible. Responsibility comes later when a man even partially ceases to
be a machine, and begins in fact, and not only in words, to desire to be a
Christian."
G.I.Gurdjieff/
In search for the Miraculous / Chapter 6
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