Review of Maurice Nicoll′s Commentaries
By Sam Copley
It appeared in the quarterly magazine "Light" in 1952
It is good news that Dr. Maurice Nicoll′s "Commentaries" have
been republished in paperback and will be more readily available
than in recent years. These volumes were born of necessity:
originally a series of papers written in the early days of the war
when members of the Nicoll Groups were widely dispersed in the
forces and elsewhere and travelling was difficult. Dr. Nicoll had
moved from London to Birdlip and provided a refuge for some of the
wives and children attached to the Group as well as a meeting place
for those on leave who could find petrol coupons and otherwise to
overcome the difficulties of travel. The pages were widely
distributed so that, where possible, distant members could meet to
discuss them and keep a common line of work alive amongst
themselves. The contents were based upon the meetings held at
Birdlip and the Work conducted by Dr. Nicoll amongst the people
immediately around him. This probably accounts for the liveliness
and immediacy that makes the "Commentaries" unique amongst books
written by others than Gurdjieff and Ouspensky themselves, about
their teaching. It should be remembered Ouspensky′s "In Search of
the Miraculous" and Gurdjieff′s "All and Everything" were not
published in England until 1949 and 1950 respectivily, whereas all
the wartime "Commentaries" had been privately published in 1949.
Maurice Nicoll wrote from the experience of the day with a kind of
alchemy that could transmute the base metal of humdrum life into
gold of a different quality of experience without necessarily
changing external circumstances; a change of inner attitude. It
seems that Nicoll had assimilated the essence of Gurdjieff′s method
into his being. The papers continued after the war when groups
reassembled at Amwell House and some pupils had been delegated to
conduct sub-groups in other places. Once again they provided a
common line of work.
Knowing the conditions in which these papers were written, readers
may be willing to accept repetition where it occurs. Dr. Nicoll
wrote from a definite place in space and time and a definite place
in his psychology on each occasion.
For some time we were obliged to read the short "Introduction to the
Commentaries" (Vol.1, p.15) before proceeding to another commentary.
The writer was anxious that his commentary should not be confused
with The Work itself. The formulations, diagrams and cosmology
were to remain inviolate and not subject to ornamentation or change
at the whim of a sub-group leader. Nevertheless the commentary
insists that one object of the Work is to make people think for
themselves from the ideas.
Truth is truth and there is no copyright when a man sees it for
himself and it becomes a part of his being. He will remain ever
grateful to the guide who led him to the truth. But henceforth it is
his own. In such a way Dr. Nicoll assimilated the truth and goodness
of the Work, as the Gurdjieff teaching is usually called, and he
became a transmitter for the benefit of others who had ears to hear
what he was saying. Very many people remain inexpressibly thankful
for his existence. Perhaps the paperback "Commentaries" will expand
their number, particularly among the younger generation who, in many
ways, seem more open to receive than their elders.
Nicoll′s remark on Goodness and Truth
If you connect yourself by your own inner perception with the truths of the Work and by doing them realize their good, you will receive the two foods necessary for the development of Essence. Just as the physical body requires literal food and drink for its nourishment, so does the psychological body require the two psychological foods of good and truth, which the Work can supply.
(Maurice Nicoll - Pyschological Commentaries, vol.5 page 1621)