Claymont work weekend
AN EXPERIENTIAL WORKSHOP
March 10-12, 2023
“With the present, repair the past and prepare the future” – G. I. Gurdjieff
This workshop will be an open-ended investigation into the boundaries and relationships between our essence and our personality. We will both examine and challenge our view of this distinction by means of our own moment-to-moment experiences of who we take ourselves to be. Our view for this workshop will be oriented toward the embodiment of Presence. We will locate and focus our work within the present moment: “All experience is contained within the Present Moment. This is the only immediate and irreducible certainty. The present moment is not a dimensionless point, but a finite region of experience. – J. G. Bennett
“Essence is what you are born with,” Mr. Gurdjieff said. We will examine some implications of modern ideas, including the role of trauma, about how we each actually developed from an essence being into a personality. We will practice inquiry to build competency to subtly shift our felt experience toward essence-as-presence. A further question to be addressed is: What exactly happens to our experience of personality, if and when our work unfolds so as to result in these experiences of essence and subsequent development of essence?
During the workshop we will practice: Sensing and breath-awareness exercises; Subject-matter talks, including the Systematics of Essence and Personality (two pentads); Spoken inquiries into the felt sense of personal truth; Gurdjieff’s Movements exercises; Practical work sessions for abiding in presence-in-action.
The seminar will begin with dinner at 6:30 pm on Friday March 10 and end after lunch on Sunday March 12. Suggested donation for the event is $150 if you are staying at Claymont, and $100 if staying off-site. However, do not let cost prevent you from attending as financial assistance is available.
For more information, and to register, please contact Amy Silver, Registrar, at Claymontgathering@hotmail.comChuck Riley will facilitate this weekend. He is a former President of The Claymont Society, who taught on several Claymont courses, including as lead teacher on two four-month residential programs. During 1972-1973, he attended J. G. Bennett’s Second Basic Candidate’s Course at Sherborne House. Chuck is also a long-time student of The Diamond Approach to inner realization.