Questioning

Spiritual Pilgrimage Wins Gold at 2016 WorldFest

http://www.gurdjiefflegacy.org/worldfesthouston2016.htm

 

Book Review: Georgi Ivanovitch Gurdjieff — The Man, The Teaching, His Mission

Link to Parabola Magazine Review.

When I was young and very dissatisfied with the world, and with myself, I was drawn to G.I. Gurdjieff’s  All & Everything, or Beelzebub’s Tales to his Grandson. The book was not like anything I had read before, in content, style or language. It was in a way, peculiar. And in some sections nearly incomprehensible. But it deeply struck something in me. There was presented a vast perspective of the universe that shook my preconceptions of history and humankind. Although it  presented an unflattering picture of us humans and starkly pointed out our shortcomings, it was also playful, often hilarious, and very moving. An attitude of impartial love comes through. This began my interest in Gurdjieff’s teaching.

 As I read more and became involved in the teaching I was surprised to find so many people that said they could not get through the book. “It was too hard.” “Too strange.” Too...whatever.  To me it is endlessly fascinating, invigorating, and is infused with humor and a palpable feeling of care and love.

For many years I was a voracious reader and gobbled up any and all books by and about Gurdjieff and his teaching. Many were valuable and excellent in many ways. But none struck nearly as deeply as did All & Everything.

 I was excited when I learned that William Patrick Patterson was releasing Georgi Ivanovitch Gurdjieff: The Man, The Teaching, His Mission because I knew Mr. Patterson has long practise of the teaching and had done extensive research into unpublished accounts and memoirs about Gurdjieff and would likely add both new material and incorporate the various reportings of Gurdjieff and his teaching in new, intriguing, and enlightening ways.

The new book greatly exceeds what I had hoped. My experience in reading this book comes close, though in a different way, to that original experience of reading All & Everything. It is also seemingly much more straightforward than All & Everything but much depth is there to be plumbed for those who wish to dive deeper. Mr. Patterson’s book gives a chronological reporting of Gurdjieff’s life but more importantly it connects seemingly disparate events and experiences into a whole that greatly exceeds the parts. There is information here, yes. But for me, it is an emotional experience to read this book. The teachings of Gurdjieff, presented through the experiences of those who were drawn toward his ideas, and through the inevitable life difficulties, trials, and tribulations we all face, shines with a caring and a love for all humanity.

 

I highly recommend Georgi Ivanovitch Gurdjieff: The Man, The Teaching, His Mission to those interested in a spiritual teaching that faces the stark reality of our situation in such a comprehensive and caring way.

This is a book for grown-ups. Those open to the truth and willing to work for what matters. Who will take the challenge?

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What Secrets Are in the Body?

Some time ago I had the opportunity to attend a four day workshop exploring the F.M. Alexander Technique, which is an approach to understanding the body from the inside by learning to consciously experience movement.

During one of the sessions I was being ‘experientially instructed’ on how to stand up  from sitting in a chair and how to sit down. It’s amazing how much goes into such a “simple” movement. At one point a rush of energy went through my body. There was a feeling that something had been released. The energy was so strong that I passed out for the first time in my life. The instructors were concerned, but I felt great. Something was different.

Soon after I went to a wedding in which I had a supporting role. I had always been very nervous in such situations. But something had changed, I could now be (somewhat) present in my body, there was no nervousness, I was able to play the role, and be aware of much more of the event.

The body is a mysterious creation. The Gurdjieff Work is the only spiritual practise that I know of that gives awareness of and through the body a major significance.

An extremely good blog about the Alexander technique can be found here.

Scientists Now (partially) Agree With Gurdjieff About Free Will

The headline of a recent Scientific American article here is Scientists say free will probably doesn't exist, but urge: "Don't stop believing!"  Why “Don’t stop believing?” Well, the gist is: We don’t have free will. We are influenced by everything. Our basic beliefs are our strongest influence.  If one comes to truly deeply unflinchingly believe that free will does not exist, then any kind of behavior is as good as any other. The researchers in the article found that even having someone read a single article about human behavior being determined results in measurably ‘worse’ behavior, “when people believe—or are led to believe—that free will is just an illusion, they tend to become more antisocial."

Also from the article, “…the findings reveal a rather strange dilemma facing social scientists: if a deterministic understanding of human behavior encourages antisocial behavior, how can we scientists justify communicating our deterministic research findings? In fact, there’s a rather shocking line in this Psychological Science article (one easy to overlook): If exposure to deterministic messages increases the likelihood of unethical actions, then identifying approaches for insulating the public against this danger becomes imperative. Perhaps you missed it on your first reading too, but the authors are making an extraordinary suggestion. They seem to be claiming that the public “can’t handle the truth,” and that we should somehow be protecting them (lying to them?) about the true causes of human social behaviors.”

How does this relate to Gurdjieff?

According to All & Everything, Gurdjieff’s great cosmic myth, early in our history the Higher Powers implanted a something in Mankind to make us see reality upside down, fearing that if we humans saw our real role and significance, we would commit suicide. Later, the something was removed, but its effect still continues in us. So, we believe we have many things, an indivisable “I”, consciousness, free will, etc. and blithely go along living our lives based on these beliefs. But science now is saying that there is no free will, and that if we lose our beliefs, our behavior will degenerate.

Is there a connection? Maybe, maybe not. Impossible to verify.

But Gurdjieff offers more to those who can take it in. He states that we can not “do” (no free will), we are asleep, and we have no unity. BUT, that we have the potential to develop them. He offers a “science of being.” He says, to paraphrase, Free will does not exist as we are. Do not believe. Verify for yourself. The Gurdjieff Work is a path of verification and development.