I wish for Immortality

Olgivanna Lazovic

She told me about their life in the Caucasus with Gurdjieff. In Tiflis he had asked her if she had a wish, a real wish. She said, ‘I wish for immortality’. He said, ‘What you do now?’ ‘I look after my house and servants,’ she replied. ‘You work yourself? Cook, look after baby?’ ‘No, my servants do that for me.’ ‘You do nothing, and you wish for immortality!’ he said. ‘But this does not come by wishing but by special kind of work. You must work, make effort, for immortality. Now, I will show you how to work. First, tell servants to go and begin by doing everything yourself’

‘He did show me,’ she added. ‘He showed me how to do ordinary housework, not as a servant would do it, but to work and at the same time use his method.’

Like all the women who really worked with Gurdjieff, she was remarkable and unusual; she possessed an inner something, she had individuality, and she could turn her hand to anything.

C.S. Nott - Teachings of Gurdjieff p.84