When Gurdjieff (George Ivanovich Gurdjieff was a mystic, philosopher, spiritual teacher, and composer of Armenian and Greek descent, born in Armenia, Gurdjieff's method for awakening one's consciousness referred to it as the "Fourth Way") was a small boy, his dying grandfather summoned his beloved protégé to be by his side. Of Greek descent, the old man had studied the great Greek philosophers all his life and had a compelling piece of advice to pass on.
“Life is a constant stream of moments,” he said, drawing the nine-year-old Gurdjieff closer. “On their own, those moments are good and pure. But, the path of this stream is littered with the snares of urges and immoral choices. The more you give in to temptations, the worse your life will become. You understand what I’m saying?”
Gurdjieff nodded, his eyes welling up to hear the feeble voice of his grandpa. He knew this was perhaps their last interaction.
“I have no wealth to give you, no houses, no horses,” the old man said, “but, I have some golden words for you. You etch those on your mind, and you will never regret a day. You see, my boy, life will put you through innumerable tests and temptations. Don’t let them drag you down the perilous road of conceit or self-destruction. Carefully separate the good from the bad and then choose the former. Good choices lead to good outcomes.”
“But, how will I know what is good?” Gurdjieff asked.
“It’s hard to say. There’s no certain way of figuring that out but I can give you the rule of thumb: whenever you are hurting anyone or telling lies, it’s unlikely to be a good thing. One day, it’ll come back and haunt you. Remember what Aristotle said, ‘A pursuit of honor or material wealth can’t be the highest good. Instead, it is what helps you maximize your faculties as a human being.’ In simple words, you must strive to become a better human being. You understand?”
Gurdjieff nodded again and said, “I promise you, Grandpa, I will.”
“Now that you have given me your word,” the old man said, “I can give you the secret of happiness, of living a life of goodness. You listening carefully?”
“Yes.”
“Whenever you are tempted to do anything bad, or you are angry and want to give someone your piece of mind, just delay it by twenty-four hours. Never respond in haste. And, any time you have the opportunity to do any good, never postpone it. Do it immediately.
A series of good choices, a series of right actions eventually come around to insulate you from the undesirable situations and events in life. Really, it’s that simple. Good thoughts, words and actions culminate to become your shield. It’s not that life will stop shooting arrows, but you stand protected.
Source: ”The Secret of Secrets ” by Osho