Questions and Answers Along the Way

416 Pages·2010·13.572 MB·English

by  Hugh B. Ripman

Hugh Brockwill Ripman
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
ALONG THE WAY
A HANDB0P& * .COMPANION TO
T R U T H
BY
HUGH BROCKWILL RIPMAN
Forthway Center Press
Washington, D.G
First Edition
Copyright ©2009 Christopher Hugh Ripman
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or copied in
any form or by any means—graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including
photocopying, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems—
without written permission from the publisher.
Selection of material for this book, as well as design and artwork, areilBy
members of the Washington groups.
Photographs illustrating the book are from the collections of members of
the Washington groups.
Printed in the United States of America
Forthway Center Press
2009
INTRODUCTION
This book|^s^lc|ions from Gurdjieff group meetings with
Hugh Brockwill Ripman l|a| been prepared as a companion to his
autobiographical account, Search for Truth, in which he describes
his early life in^ngland H his pursuit of answers to “haunting
questions” about the mystery that lies behind the surface of life;
That search led him to^become a pupil of P.D.Ouspensky in
London in It was irf this context that he met his wife,
Mildred Geiger, who had been introduced to the Gurdjieff Work
by her friend Janet Collin-Smith and who shared his passion for the
teachings of the spilMMl traditions. In 1941, the Oüspenskys
moved a^Mendham, New Jersey, and the Ripmans followed them
rc© America at the end of Ih© war. Mr, Ripman worked at first for
the British Embassy and then the World Bank in Washington
Dpi, initially commuting from Mendham, but then moving per­
manently to Washington in .1947.
||§3pie,r the death of ©Uspensky in 1947, Mr. Ripman was
among those who—at the urging of Madame Ouspensky—went to
be with Gurdjieff when he came to New York during the winter of
1948. When Gurdjieff returned to Paris, people were given the task
of finding new candidates who might be interested in the ideas and
preparing them in anticipation of Gurdjieff’s return the following
-y£ar. But Gurdjieff’s death in 1949 led to work in a new direction.
In Hugh Ripman’s own words:
The death of Gurdjieff was the beginning of a new phase in
. my search for understanding. I had gathered together a number
of people who were interested in the ideas. I felt a responsibility
towards these people, and I was given permission to try to share
with them what I had understood.
Questions and Answers Along the Way
I approached this task with mixed feelings. fflrreilised* that. I
owed a debt to those who had taught me and helped me towards
self-knowledge. I could never repay thaevdebf to themduectly,
but I could make some attempt to' do so by iffytag to pass oil
what I had received to others, as My teachers had done to H.
For the next 30 years, Hugh Ripman led Jjhe,Gmdpeff groups
in Washington. Mildred Ripman was his partner in tMstlsk taking
responsibihty for the MöyimieflEs^sacrgid dances and exercises
brought from the East by Qplpej^^whiieh make ä sllsISUn'ed
demand on the attention ^d^e considered an essential part of the
Work. Often she invited t&ehers fe® Mew ¥prk 81;# EjOffope to
work with the classes. After Mr. Ilpmai’s death in Mrs.
Ripman carried <® mppnsiblity' for daif^asWpgüöa jpfOups with
great determihktioifr^ro®eyÖtioh tanoil! she dle#li TfpF.
At first, meetings were field at the Rin^nsffltpmeP fat after
1957 (and until 1995) the meetings and Movements were held at
the Friends Meeting House of Washington. The V^JfrfrgtOn Work
expanded steadily in the 1960’s.and^ this was; accelerated in
the 1970’s when Mr. Ripman gave several pufele lectin-res at a local
bookstore. New groups were Started M^M^eyery'-ye^^ml^mior
pupils were given the opportunity pf working with ’small grtiupsföf
younger people, alternating with Mr. Mpman ®ten'§
group every other week. They also. tönfe^i^oS'sllfty pit? ifce gEomp
when he was abroad for the World Bkrik: Bf T 98 Q^ere^e^^ver
200 members of the Washington groups, ariff there were' QWying
groups in Virginia, North Carolina!*arid?Alkainisaisi liiH %y Mr.
Ripman s senior pupils, which he visited fromtime tb’time.
In 1971 a woodland property in the ^earByf co^fr^side w|^
purchased for work on weekends. Architects in the' Gurdjieff Wofkv
designed a building with a large Movements hall1, rooms for meets
ings and crafts, a carpentry shop, kitchen, and s® Ibjdk Tihi Ifafa
ing was designed with many skylights and Windows openin^^nto
the woods and surrounded by a balcony drf threesidesf A large veg­
etable garden was planted. Since it was decided to'ftave the%rpup
vi
Introduction
members do - as much of the construction as possible, this 'project
became thedocak poi^nkwork for the next decadeslEackiiJune,■ one
^^^Orweeiks of im^sly^^^^atjihe property ^otd^srancIuHe the
^s'chpollyear^ofimeetihgs ^äbMoVehientSii although Sunday Work
da”s<sejnunued duSugl^mjhhe ^slhuhiei?^^
In* thei^^^s'MrlBäphian? inttddücedM^K Weekends’dürihg
yhich^there^o.tddebe novtalidng^^readihg,' or writing.vThese week-
Swdrk, interspersed»wjdi periods fof-iphysical(exereises and practical
l^hpus ekeepii^l carp entry, - gardening] and sbraorth.
äyÄ^pman^lacied^^^^^^^evemphasisr on thj^elweekendssdur-
lasryears5;^^^^^^
^Ero^^^’iWgiMung^l^tigj^Riprffffi" developed his Own chärac-
of m^^^djieff-iWptb?; bSsed^in
[Sga measure 'upon hjs' inM^^x^MiieB^bf- working with the
^^^e^skyst^b^inflüenced M^hy^n^S^etmg^^thi (lurdjieff and =;
^?%is 'relWi^phip> tofl^lmfev Jear^^de'Sal^Q^rSanids M. Henri
rehgious
|Banky ■ he met*"^mi^Qähy
^^ i^^^^m^^^Bhddliist? Miiflim, l€hnstian\ He ,:
i^pßlMn^P^^^^^ilfiphiliip^^idi‘ some.; In tm^way the Work
^^jj^s|mtiM^^^Mhat has called p^bme throtighout history.
V i Mr. Rlpmai^ll^^^^^^Bth^dxad^aliW of dfllwork: par-
'gdpamir^: must Hegt ändl jpfOve each idea äpfegt Aek own experience
and Bolt1 the growth ©if iheif own understanding. His
approach was both systematic and rigorous. Each group worked
through irom'gMf the same series of assignirnents, revised and refined
over tiknf:, which eventually covered the first eight years of group1
iferk* WifMy äBsSgÄ!€®tSi had three parts: first, a specific focus for
^^^tudy^^^pH iegulkrM^^^^^hg^V^Jb^.ColIeöion.s; and
thirdra ^k^inyolvirig attention to physical awareness such as inter­
rupting ha hits, relaxing unnecessary tensions, or awareness of
L breathing. Following these initial years, specific assignments were
vii
Questions and Answers Along the Way
generally abandoned, and work continued on an individual basis as
well as with a shared focus or topic for group exploration.
The taping of group meetings began in 1968 and continued
until Hugh Ripman’s death. More than 600 meetings were taped.
This book consists of selections on various aspects of the teaching
taken from these tapes. Sometimes the questions have been clarified
or omitted, often because they were not audible on the tapes. Each
chapter consists of material on a specific subject taken from many
different groups over a period of years.
Moving from the spoken word to written text presents many
difficulties and can never frilly recapture the atmosphere within a
group that is searching together. Nevertheless, it is hoped that the
quality of informal, spontaneous response that characterized Hugh
Ripman’s meetings will be felt in these passages. Certainly this
record of Mr. Ripman’s spoken words to his pupils will convey the
clarity and depth of his teaching. One thing that is not apparent in
the text is that, in responding to a question or observation, Mr.
Ripman would often leave long pauses—pauses filled with a vibrant
silence—which would give the listener time to receive, at a deeper
level, the impression of what had been said to him and to connect
the words with a living, inwardly experienced meaning.
CONTENTS
Introduction
Chapter 1 First Meeting of a New Group
Chapter 2 Groups
Chapter 3 Aim
Chapter 4 The Silent Witness
Chapter 5 Collection
Chapter 6 Physical Awareness & the Sense
of Physical Presence
Chapter 7 Self-remembering
Chapter 8 Attention
Chapter 9 Identification
Chapter 10 Considering
Chapter 11 Centers
Chapter 12 Thinking and Understanding
Chapter 13 Energy
Chapter 14 Impressions
Chapter 13 Negative Emotions
Chapter 16 Attitudes and Expectations
Chapter 17 Repairing the Past
Chapter 18 Change of Being
Chapter 19 Work
Chapter 20 Suffering and Remorse
Chapter 21 Prayer
Chapter 22 Death
Chapter 23 Who Am |f
Epilogue
References