sides of the selfish competitive ego.
Gurdjieff was well known for his “Toasts to the Idiots!” where he asked new students, and older ones, what kind of an idiot they were. And when they had no reply, he told them. And this information could tell much of the inner blockages and psyche of the student and could help him much. The student’s reaction also revealed his inner self.
For example, Frank Lloyd Wright, the famous American architect, was visiting Gurdjieff in Paris as his wife was one of Gurdjieff’s pupils and had stayed with him for some time.
One of the students there that night knew Lloyd Wright and expected to hear some interesting questions and answers, but he said Wright behaved like a brilliant undergraduate, and it was clear that of real spirituality, he knew nothing.
He seemed to regard Gurdjieff as having achieved almost the same level as himself, even though knowing more about some things than he, Wright did. It is sometimes gratifying to discover that “great” men have their weaknesses, their vanity and self-love, the same as oneself; and, “I noticed that when Mr. Gurdjieff provoked Wright’s prickly vanity, something malicious in me had a feeling of mild satisfaction”.
During the toasting of the idiots, Wright said, “Mr. Gurdjieff, I’ve found some of these “Idiots” very interesting, I’ve invented some myself.”
Reading Beelzebub’s Tales to his Grandson to the assembled people, Wright said, “This is very interesting Mr. Gurdjieff. It’s a pity it’s not well written. You speak English very well. It’s a pity you can’t dictate. If I had the time you could dictate to me, and I could put it into good English for you.”
Gurdjieff had told him to read a section of Beelezebub which was telling