2010 Intensive Course Description
Description: Inspired by the experiences at Sherborne House, the Claymont Society, and related to the program of those attending Gurdjieff’s Prieuré at Fontainebleau, France, the intensive is a unique immersion for those looking for the opportunity to work with daily practice and ideas.
We have called this course an “Intensive” because you will immediately test, verify, and apply almost everything you learn here. It will be an intense immersion in self-observation and practical self-discovery.
This residential program is situated on a forested fifty-acre property in central Massachusetts in the United Stated of America. The course runs seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day, with occasional days off. Students typically have two days of study and then one day of cooking, cleaning, gardening, construction, and other practical activities to maintain the operations of the school. These “house” days are integral to the learning process, as the inner work continues and even intensifies during the activities of ordinary daily life. A typical day starts with a morning sitting where Gurdjieff’s inner spiritual exercises are taught. After breakfast, those not on house duty attend classes in Gurdjieff’s Movements (sacred dance), psychology, cosmology, energies, art, and music. During the evening there may be meditations, discussions, or other creative activities. Our aim is that you leave with the knowledge, practical experience, understanding, and confidence to continue your own journey toward becoming a full human being.
The interview shown below, with two senior members of MREC, provides an excellent description and history of how we use residential courses (Intensives) to transmit our understanding of the Work. It was conducted in August of 2009 by John Amaral.