Gurdjieff was a renowned spiritual teacher who lived in the early part of the twentieth century. There was a man in his community who was really bad tempered. Nobody could stand this guy because he was so prickly. Every little thing caused him to go off on a tantrum. Everything irritated him. He complained constantly, so everybody felt the need to tiptoe around him because anything that might be said could cause him to explode or cause looks of distain. People just wished he would go away. Gurdjieff liked his students to do things that were completely meaningless. One day there were about forty people out cutting up a lawn into little pieces and moving it to another place out on the grounds. This was too much for this fellow; it was the last straw. He blew up, stormed out, got in his car and drove off, whereupon there was a spontaneous celebration. People were thrilled, so happy he had gone. But when they told Gurdjieff what had happened, he said, oh no! and went after him in his car. Three days later, they both came back. That night when Gurdjieffs attendant was serving him his supper, he asked, Sir, why did you bring him back? Gurdjieff answered in a very low voice, Youre not going to believe this, and this is just between you and me; you must tell no one. I pay him to stay here. So you see, difficult people can help us learn and grow. - Pema Chodron
Posted on: Fri, 18 Apr 2014 04:39:39 +0000
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