The Precept of Non-Lying and the Gurdjieff Teachings, by Elisabeth Barrett

Andrew Tootell's OzZen Podcast

Sono asked me to talk on Gurdjieff and the zen Buddhist precepts. Gurdjieff didn’t teach on things like the precepts e.g. do not kill, do not steal, do not lie, do not gossip etc. His teaching is about becoming conscious as opposed to the awake-sleep state in which we live almost all the time. Consciousness will, by its very nature include all the “do nots” and will mean a life lived through our true natures. In awake-sleep we are like machines, automatically reacting to everything according to our individual experiences of life.