Here I refer to the initial encounter instead of the first session, because every part of your first meeting with the prospective customer is Crucial. Everything you say and do must create a definite, unforgettable Impression on him.

      Here Magic Formula Number Two comes into play: Flamboyance of your dress and behavior must be in direct ratio to the vigor of your personality.

      If you are a fairly low-key individual who has trouble keeping up a running monologue to impress people, then smite them by the strangeness of how you look and act. On the other hand if you are a born speaker who has opinions on everything and can hardly control yourself when it comes to explaining the Truth, then you can dress more conservatively. And if you are an obsessive talker who can't let people get a word in edgewise, wear a business suit with a fire-engine red hanky cascading out of your breast pocket.

      The key elements in the initial encounter are: hair (length and style), clothing, handshake or bowing with palms together under your chin, a look of Fierce Gravity in your eyes, and precisely what words best suit the customer and the occasion.

      As styles now stand, I would advise you to give the prospective customer the impression that you are not moving toward him but that she must move toward you. Let the would-be disciple seek you out. Have one of your disciples tell the customer/mark something strange about you so she'll try to find you. Then do not extend your hand unless he first extends hers. If possible, just as he is extending her hand, move away, inviting them to see another part of the Center.

      The first words to the prospective disciple will set the whole tone of your relationship, so begin by asking a question which puts them on the defensive. Something of this nature: "Do you come to this bar often?" or "Why are you looking at my red hanky?"

      Plan each segment of the Initial Encounter to produce maximum effect on the prospective customer. If you already have some disciples/students, instruct them to meet with the newcomers. Rehearse them carefully to give a brief outline of your Higher Teaching. They should emphasize your Esoteric Understanding and Supernal Wisdom, and how long and difficult a task it is for students to learn this Wisdom. They should especially emphasize how long it will take. I'm sure, if you're an intelligent candidate for guruship, you can see why. If you have done your work well with your disciples/students, their own veneration of you will impress itself on the newcomers as bizarre.

      In the first actual session emphasize the Impotence and Ignorance of would-be disciples. In this connection I especially recommend the Gurdjieff/Ouspensky teachings which, if used craftily by the guru can impress on the students how Asleep they are. You can interpret the concepts of Sleep and Addiction in whatever way best suits your teaching goals.  ¹

      One of the most disconcerting factors any Modern guru faces is the present decline in respect and deference shown gurus. Students now think they already know the truth and judge gurus by their own shoddy, untutored standards. Any tactic to shake their presumptuous irreverence is justified a thousand fold. The Gurdjieff/Ouspensky teaching is especially effective in this regard because it teaches that men are Asleep - But Unaware of their Sleep.

      That is exactly the kind of element which can provide you with an entering wedge against the students' impertinence. No matter how often they flaunt their specious understanding or awareness, you can point out to them that unfortunately they are only unaware of their sleep and their addiction to internal forces which control them.

      All of this must of course be done with complete control of your own emotions. Presumptuousness on the part of the student must be met by the Semblance of Serenity in you. The Third Magic Formula applies here: Never argue, for he who argues appears unsure of herself.

      When a student picks an argument, simply inform her, with your usual air of unshakable superiority, that the Way you teach is above argument. If he persists, it only makes her look ridiculous before his peers when you refuse to dignify her verbal assaults with a counterattack. Remain silent with a small wisp of a smile playing around your lips. The students will read this as a sign of your own inner smugness and self-assurance.  ²

     An indispensable element in your Initial Encounter - which should also be methodically and liberally sprinkled throughout your teaching sessions - are occasional flashes of Silence.

      Silence gives the unmistakable impression of sagacity and creates an air of effective mystery. You must learn the precise psychological moment to say nothing. A good time is right after a student has asked a question you don't know the answer to.

     In this age of noisy clack, any Guru who can hold his tongue, in the teeth of his intense desire to pontificate on some fine point, is sure to receive the deserved respect of the more astute students/disciples. At times allow disciples to ask their inevitable rambling, disconnected, confused questions without replying. They cannot tolerate silence and will continue to blather until they have either forgotten the original question or answered it themselves. The knowing smile works best, or, if you must, say, knowingly: "You answered your own question, didn't you?"

     However, no one technique in your repertoire should dominate. Achieve an invigorating and impressive Variety.

     In ending the Initial Encounter, thrust home to the would-be customer that she must actively seek to apply for acceptance into your Teaching Programme. (I would use exactly those words underlined.) The prospective student must receive the distinct impression that you have no real interest in having him as a disciple/customer. In fact, you should deliberately emphasize the difficulty of your Programme and point out some deficiency in her interest, desire, or commitment which militates against his being accepted as a student.

     Magic Formula Number Four states: Today's student is best encouraged by being discouraged. Few people can withstand the challenge of being told they can't do something or aren't worthy of acceptance into some unknown swindle. The equalitarian streak courses through our veins; we can't allow ourselves to be excluded from something others are admitted to.

     The technique we're discussing at this point - deliberately discouraging the prospective disciple - is absolutely essential. You likely feel it to be counterproductive, pushing away cash customers before they even begin paying. But believe me, today's would-be disciple is no easy mark. The guru who remains in the Valley of Past Tradition and fears to tread on the Plateaus of the Newly Contrived will make no money. Cast your bread upon the waters and Hope that it will return to you as something other than soggy wholewheat.

¹  In this regard, you should learn to adapt any teaching to your own special purposes. Do not shrink from asserting your interpretation of a teaching, no matter how the originator of the teaching may have misconstrued it. Have the courage of your own presumptions.

²  You can unleash your own understandable anger by writing in your special Guru Journal--which I will discuss later--or picking a fight with a stranger.