Shortly after the earring episode with Mme. Stjernvall, he brought up once again the question of men and women, their roles in life, and, as an additional element, the specific roles of the sexes in his work or, for that matter, in any religious or psychological work which had self-development and proper growth as an aim. I was surprised and puzzled then, and many times later when he spoke on the subject, by his reiteration of the fact that not only was his work "
not for everyone" but that
"women did not need it." He said that the nature of women was such that "self development" in his sense of the phrase was something that they could not achieve. Among other things, he said:
"Nature of woman is very different from that of man. Woman is from ground, and only hope for her to arise to another stage of development— to go to Heaven as you say—is with man. Women already know everything, but such knowledge is of no use to her, in fact can almost be like poison to her, unless have man with her. Man have one thing that not exist in woman ever: what you call '
aspiration'. In life, man use this thing—this aspiration—for many things, all wrong for his life, but must use because have such need. Man—not woman—climb mountains, go under oceans, fly in air, because must do such thing. Impossible for him not to do; cannot resist this. Look at life around you: Man write music, man paint pictures, write books, all such things. Is way, he think, find Heaven for self."
When someone did object that the sciences and the arts were not, after all, exclusively confined to the world of the male, Gurdjieff laughed: "You ask question about woman artist, woman scientist. I tell you world ill mixed up, and this true thing I say. True man and true woman not just one sex—not just male or female. Even you," he made a sweeping gesture covering all of us, "sometimes understand this because sometimes you surprised when you see man who feel thing like woman, or woman who act like man; or even when in self feel feelings proper to opposite sex. "We all live in what we call universe, hat this only very small solar system, smallest of many, many solar systems— even very unimportant place. For instance, in this solar system, people bi-sexual: necessary have two sexes for reproduction of kind—primitive method, which use part of a man's aspiration for creation of more people.
Man who can learn how to achieve higher self—how go to proper Heaven —can use all this aspiration for development of self, for what you call immortality. In world as row exist, no man able do this: only possibility for immortally is reproduction. When man have children, then all of him not die when his body die.
"Not necessary for woman do work of man in world.
If woman can find real man, then woman become real woman without necessity work. But, like I tell, world mixed up.
Today in world real man not exist, so woman even try to become man, do man's work which is wrong for her nature."
Fritz Peters - My Journey with a Mystic p.124