Although Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson is written in the form of stories told by the protagonist, there is material that can be compiled and studied topically.
As an example, in the text, Gurdjieff lists hereditary and acquired tendencies towards weaknesses in behavior that are unbecoming for one who is created in the image of God.
I’ve compiled them into a list below, with page references.
1. Adultery (p. 626-7)
2. Arrogance (p. 356)
3. Ambition (p. 379)
4. Bootlicking (p. 539)
5. Bragging (p. 356)
6. Condescension (p. 539)
7. Contempt (p. 379, 383-4, 539)
8. Credulity (p. 107)
9. Cringing (p. 539)
10. Cunning (p. 379, 383-4, 625-6)
11. Double-Facedness (p. 379)
12. Egoism (p. 107, 1059, 1183)
13. Envy (p. 324, 379, 512, 515-6, 521, 626-7, 701, 718-9, 1048)
14. False Humility (p. 539)
15. Flattery (p. 383-4)
16. Gluttony (p. 782)
17. Greed (p. 114, 323-4)
18. Hate (p. 379, 383-4, 512, 626-7)
19. Haughtiness (p. 379, 539)
20. Hypocrisy (p. 379)
21. Imagination (p. 356)
22. Jealousy (p. 718-9, 1048)
23. Laziness (p. 111)
24. Lust (p. 794)
25. Lying (p. 383-4, 515-6)
26. Offensiveness (p. 512)
27. Occupation with affairs higher than our reason and power, ‘Teaching others sense’, ‘Putting them on the right road’ (p. 1073)
28. Partiality (p. 1059)
29. Patronage (p. 539)
30. Pride (p. 107, 356, 512, 515-6)
31. Self-Abasement (p. 539)
32. Self-Conceit (p. 107, 356, 512)
33. Self-Enamoredness (p. 512)
34. Self-Love (p. 107, 356, 394-5, 512, 515-6, 1059)
35. Servility (p. 379, 383-4)
36. Slyness (p. 379)
37. Suggestibility (p. 107)
38. Swagger (p. 356, 394-5, 500-1, 512)
39. Sycophancy (p. 539)
40. Timidity (p. 626-7)
41. Vanity (p. 107, 356, 394-5, 512, 515-6, 1059)
42. Wishing death/weakness on others (sandoor, p. 718-9)
In the specialized language of Beelzebub’s Tales, these are called “the crystallized consequences of the properties of the maleficent organ kundabuffer“. More are implied in the text, but they require much reading between the lines.
This is also just the beginning of a potential topical study. The study can be take further by answering some questions from the text, for example:
- What causes these crystallized consequences?
- What methods are given to decrystallize these crystallized consequences?
- What squelches any remorse of conscience one might feel from the manifestation of these consequences?
This method of study is not intended as a deep dive into the meaning of the text; rather, it is another tool for simply grasping what was written in this difficult text.