Continuing, G. quoted some very interesting examples of the explanations of various parts of orthodox liturgy. Unfortunately no notes were made at the time and I will not undertake to reconstruct them from memory.
The idea was that, beginning with the first words, the liturgy so to speak goes through the process of creation, recording all its stages and transitions. What particularly astonished me in G.'s explanations was the extent to which so much has been preserved in its pure form and how little we understand of all this. His explanations differed very greatly from the usual theological and even from mystical interpretations. And the principal difference was that he did away with a great many allegories. I mean to say that it became obvious from his explanations that we take many things for allegories in which there is no allegory whatever and which ought to be understood much more simply and psychologically. What he said before about the Last Supper serves as a good example of this.
"Every ceremony or rite has a value if it is performed without alteration," he said. "A ceremony is a book in which a great deal is written. Anyone who understands can read it. One rite often contains more than a hundred books."
Indicating what had been preserved up to our time, G. at the same time pointed out what had been lost and forgotten. He spoke of sacred dances which accompanied the "services" in the "temples of repetition" and which were not included in the Christian form of worship. He also spoke of various exercises, and of special postures for different prayers, that is, for different kinds of meditation; about acquiring control over the breathing and of the necessity of being able to tense or relax any group of muscles, or the muscles of the whole body at will; and about many other things having relation, so to speak, to the "technique" of religion.
On one occasion, in connection with the description of exercises in concentration and bringing the attention from one part of the body to another, G. asked:
"When you pronounce the word 'I' aloud, have you noticed where this word sounds in you?"
We did not at once understand what he meant. But we very soon began to notice that when pronouncing the word 'I' some of us definitely felt as if this word sounded in the head, others felt it in the chest, and others over the head—outside the body.
I must mention here that personally I was entirely unable to evoke this sensation in myself and that I have to rely on others.
G. listened to all these remarks and said that there was an exercise connected with this which, according to him, had been preserved up to our time in the monasteries of Mount Athos.
A monk kneels or stands in a certain position and, lifting his arms, which are bent at the elbows, he says—Ego aloud and drawn out while listening at the same time where the word "Ego" sounds.
The purpose of this exercise is to feel "I" every moment a man thinks of himself and to bring "I" from one center to another.
接着葛吉夫引证了一些非常有趣的例子来解释希腊正教圣餐仪式的各个部份。很不幸那时没做笔记，我也不打算凭记忆重建它们。
他的说法是，圣餐仪式由开始的几句话起，经过整个创造的过程，记录下其中所有的阶段与转折。在葛吉夫的解释中特别让我惊讶的是有那么多东西以纯粹的形式保存下来而我们却了解甚少。他的解释大大不同于一般神学甚至神秘的诠释，而主要的不同则在于他废除了很多的寓言，我的意思是，从他的解释可以很明显看出，有很多我们看成是寓言的实际上根本不是寓言，而应该以更简单更心理学的方式来了解，他以前所说过的耶稣最后的晚餐就是一个很好的例子。
「每个仪式或祭典如果原封不动去执行就会有价值」他说，「一场仪式是一本书，其中记载了非常多的东西，任何了解的人都能读它，一场祭典含有的内容经常超过一百本书所记载的。」
除了指出什么东西被保存到今天之外，葛吉夫同时也指出有什么已经失去与被遗忘。他说及神圣舞蹈，其在「重复吟唱的寺庙」中伴随着「礼拜仪式」，却没有被包含在基督教的礼拜形式当中。他也谈及各式的练习，不同的祈祷各有其特别的身体姿势，也就是适用于不同种类的冥想；关于获取对呼吸的控制以及能够拉紧或放松任何一组肌肉的必要性，或者全身的肌肉都在意志的控制之下；还有很多其它关于所谓的宗教「技术」。
有一回，在描述关于专注力的练习与引领注意力从身体的一部份到另一个部份时，葛吉夫问说：
「当你们大声发出『我』这字时，你们有没有注意到这字回响在你们里面的什么地方？」
我们没有立刻明白他的意思，但我们很快就开始注意到，当发出「我」字时我们有些人的确感觉到这字好象回响在头脑里，其它人感觉它在胸腔里，还有人感觉在头上——身体之外。
在这必须一提的是，我个人完全无法在我里面引发这感觉，我必须依赖其它人的观察。葛吉夫听了所有这些观察之后说有个练习与这有关，根据他的看法，这练习在Mount Athos的寺庙中被保存至今。
一个僧侣以特定的姿势跪下或站着，伸起他的双手，手肘弯曲，他大声说——自我(Ego)，并将声音延长同时仔细听「自我」在何处回响。
这练习的目的是当一个人想到他自己时就去感觉「我」，并且将「我」从一个中心带到另一个中心。
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