...His father died when Gurdjieff was only nine years old...
...and must have been a very unique man...
...He called Gurdjieff close to him and told him...
...I'm dying , and I don't have anything as a heritage for you...
...I'm leaving you poor and orphaned...
...Just one advice I want to give to you -- that is the advice given to me by my father...
...I have found that that advice...
...has proved to me the richest thing that any father can give to his son...
...You are so young... perhaps you may not be able to understand it...
...Just remember it... soon you will be able to understand it also...
...and whether you understand it or not , start behaving accordingly...
...Listen very closely and then repeat to me what I'm saying...
...It was simple advice...
...The advice was that...
...If somebody insults you , humiliates you , hurts you , you are not to react immediately...
...You have to say to that person...
...You will have to wait twenty-four hours , and then I will come to answer you...
...This is something sacred to me... I have given a promise to my dying father...
...So wait twenty-four hours and then go to the person...
...In those twenty-four hours you will see that he was right, or you may see that he was not right
...but it is absolutely stupid to get into a quarrel...
...Those twenty-four hours will have given you a chance to be more alert...
...People react immediately -- there is not time enough to be aware...
...They react just like machines...
...So if you find that he was right , go and thank him...
...If you find he was wrong , there is no need to go...
...or if you want to go , you can go and say...
...You seem to be in a misunderstanding...
...And Gurdjieff used to say , later in his life...
...That simple advice of my dying father has transformed my whole life...
...because it gave me a certain awareness , a certain awakening...
...I could not do anything immediately , instantly...
...I had to wait for twenty-four hours...
...And you cannot remain angry for twenty-four hours...
