Once, Gurdjieff was sitting surrounded by his students and said:
“Until you discover your chief feature and become conscious of it, you will not be able to realize your true nature.”
One of the students asked:
“Could you give us an example, please?”
“Very well,” Gurdjieff replied. “Look at the man sitting in front of me. His chief feature is that he is never ‘at home.’”
Everyone looked at the absent-minded expression on the student’s face, and he suddenly started and asked:
“Excuse me, what did you say?”
Gurdjieff said:
“He is constantly absent, and yet he wants to grow. That is impossible; in order to grow, one must be ‘at home.’”
Then Gurdjieff turned to another student:
“Look carefully at this man. His chief feature is that he is constantly arguing.”
The student burst out:
“That’s not true! I never argue!”
Gurdjieff said:
“Clarify for yourself what it is that you are defending. That may become the key to self-knowledge.”
