Gurdjieff Dominican
Extract from “Lent”
by Pierre Elliot
Lent is an Anglo-Saxon word meaning Spring (Lenten). In
The purpose of Lent is not primarily
to commemorate the forty day fast of Christ in the wilderness which immediately
followed His baptism. In the ancient church Lent was above all things the
period of spiritual training and instruction which preceded initiation into the
Christian mysteries by the sacrament of baptism. The proper time for initiation was Easter
Eve, because the Sunday of the Resurrection is the greatest feast of the whole
year for Christians; Christmas is only the beginning.
…Although Lent
was primarily a
period of preparation
for the catechumens before their
baptism, the period of forty days became one devoted to fasting and abstinence for penitents and faithful alike.
The fasting itself consisted in special acts of piety as well as abstention
from flesh food. By flesh food is meant
blood both Hebrew and Christian symbolism identify blood with the life
principle, and abstention from blood is in recollection of the shedding of the
blood of Christ, symbolically the pouring
out of the divine life into human nature.
At present, however, the penitential
observances of the church have in practice sentimental rather than a spiritual
atmosphere; they express a sort of feeling of remorse rather than the "metanoia" of which the Philokalia
speaks…
How are we to take the time of Lent,
which for so called Christians is a time for penance, fasting and also
vigils?
I say so called
as Mr. G. might well have reminded us, because for most people Lent will be a
season simply for a few formalized penitential practices, half understood and
undertaken without interest and which for some will be an occasion for giving
up sweets or chocolate.
"There is, however, a
paradoxical aspect of Lent which can be a means of looking into ourselves, really
looking into what we are, an acceptance of one's actual condition and if one
does this deeply the acceptance of reality and the shedding of the burden of
illusion brings a special kind of reward and joy. There is the story of the rending of the
garments which, if done perfunctorily, lets in nothing but the cold, and some start
Lent with ashes on their foreheads.
I believe that for us none of these
practices is appropriate. We should not
take upon ourselves a burden of penance but rather start Lent with an effort to
realize what we have not seen before. By
all means practice some kind of fasting as a reminding factor, but do it
invisibly and intelligently. Fasting is a good thing because food itself is a
good thing. But the good things of this
world have this about them, that they are good "in their season" and
not out of it.
I would suggest that for us the key
word of Lent should be moderation. Look at the meaning of this word in all
aspects of your life. I would not
suggest that anyone sets himself, for example, to follow Mr. B's example of
reading "Beelzebub" aloud at one sitting of over 24 hours until his
whole tongue became swollen. Rather take
on a judicious series of daily readings for oneself, each according to his and
her capacity in moderation, but without fail.
-What is the appropriate attitude to
fasting?
To me the answer is very clear: fasting should be something spiritual. It
implies inner exercises or prayers, silence, an internal disposition of mind,
an attempt to be charitable, kind, tolerant etc. Fasting is not to be identified with a good
deed that merits a reward, in the sense of what shall I give up by way of
fasting or let fasting be something instrumental and not an end in itself. Fasting in other words is but a means of reaching
a spiritual and therefore for us an integral part of our inner work.