Healing kitchen...

When Katherine Mansfield the writer
was in the last part of her life, Mr. Gurdjieff
allowed her to stay at his Institute in France.
He had a hayloft built for her in the stables,
as he believed the healing breath of the animals
would help her condition.
He told her to go and sit in the kitchen every day.
She could observe the life of a busy and active
environment, where there were pots, and fires,
and food, and life. All designed to help her.

When she finally died, he received much criticism
as perhaps the man who had "killed her" with his
strange methods. Later in his life he said:
"She my friend". She is buried close by his grave.

More about dinner...

To make a dinner, to have a dinner,
to arrange a dinner, to keep a momentum
of meals, all require effort.
Mr. Gurdjieff was constantly with his students.
There was always plenty of food, even during the
war. Something in us relaxes when there is plenty
to eat. A certain "tension" goes out of our lives.
Have you ever noticed at a party, or with friends,
you often end up in the kitchen, chatting, drinking
after a meal? We have seen this many times,
we get drawn there. The kitchen is where the life
and soul of the house resides, the least used room
in the house, is often the formal "living room".

Smelly cheeses...

On a train trip through America,
according to Mr. Gurdjieff's companion,
Fritz Peters, Mr. Gurdjieff made it a point
to cause as much trouble as possible for
his fellow passengers.
Arriving late, holding up the train, moving
through the sleeper carriages late at night
waking the occupants up.
And when one episode in a carriage settled,
he proceeded to produce a number of very
smelly cheeses for a snack.
He was perhaps illustrating to Fritz Peters
the way he had broken societal taboos,
he no longer felt embarrassment or shame.
The emotions that are instilled in us when young.

Dinner and drinks...

At dinner, Mr. Gurdjieff would enjoy
Amagnac. A high quality brandy.
He would have rounds of toasts with
vodka, Armagnac to get his students
to the point where they would start to
drop their normal social personalities.
And the truth, who they were, could
start to emerge.
He could then work on them.

You need.....

You need friends.They are your mirror.

Your day...

Your day is your mirror.

Travelling together...

Mr. Gurdjieff described the friends who

travelled with him on his great quest for 

objective knowledge as 

The "Seekers of Truth".

It may be that what he meant by this,

is that your friends, those with whom you

have enough trust to reveal yourself, your

weaknesses, your old self, are  your own

"Seekers of Truth".

The greatest thing...

Being where you are is the
greatest accomplishment on earth.
Being present to your life.

Views....Book

Here is another book,
"Views of the real world",
The early talks of Gurdjieff.
It was a great breakthrough
to finally find this book after
years of disappointment and
searching.

In Search of patience...

Throughout Mr. Ouspenky's book
"In Search of the Miraculous",
Mr. Gurdjieff emphasizes that need
for patience, and long and prolonged efforts.

Patience...

The work, the real work,
is an effort more than anything
else, of great patience.

Monasteries in Mongolia

According to John Bennett,

Mr Gurdjieff received his initiation into

the work in monasteries in Mongolia,

where the methods used were very brutal.

24 hours

Mr. Gurdjieff would sometimes work

through an entire 24 hours to accomplish

his goals.

In this weather? :)

When it was very cold in England,

Mr Ouspensky used to humorously say that

"No one can remember themselves

in this weather".

Monday mornings...

Rodney Collin wrote that life is full of Monday mornings.

Mr. Gurdjieff...

Mr. Gurdjieff said he used to ask his
students about the meeting he
gave the previous day.

Invariably he said, they forget.
The subject, the discussion.

To remember the meeting, is part
of the work. Mr. Gurdjieff said,
"Accustom yourself to forget nothing".

Mr. Ouspensky....

Mr. Ouspensky used to ask his
students, "what did you learn
since your last meeting?".
He did not want them just to
walk around in "automatic".

It is Sunday

It is Sunday as we write.
The world is still here.
It is December, another year
has almost completed it's cycle.

This was...

A famous band of the 1970's,
titled an album: "This was".
The notes explained,
"This was how we were playing then..."
Knowing, that many years down the road,
that would be true.

This was.....how you are now.
It is a good thing we have the possibility
to change.

Why am I alive?

Why am I alive?
To grow and learn.
And to let go of your fears.

The state is the work.

The work is not the words.
The state is the work.

The thing is to find your balance...

The thing is to find your balance in life.
People are so easily irritated, upset,
moody, we lose ourselves so easily in
bad moods, or when things don't go our way.
Mr. Gurdjieff said that his aim was to be
objective in all situations.

The best dressed man in Paris...

Gurdjieff was born in a simple house.
The house is still there.
He came from a peasant background.
And yet you see him in later life, looking
like a wealthy french millionaire.
In fact in the thirties, he walked into a cafe
and a journalist or pupil described him as
the best dressed man in Paris.
This was his journey.

Sorry, don't buy the expensive one.

Sorry, having a bit of a fight with the internet today.
Don't get the expensive copy of the Collins book.
It's a book.

Theory of Celestial Influence link

Theory of Celestial Influence link

Theory of Celestial Influence

Here is a link to Rodney Collin's book
Theory of Celestial Influence

Gurdjieff passed the system in technical
language to the intellectual Ouspensky.
This is written by Ouspensky's major
student Rodney Collin, and represents
a marvellous marriage of the technical,
scientific, and emotional understanding,
of the real work of cultures, civilizations,
and schools.

Digital ego

It seems that in this digital age,
the big companies like google and
facebook are seductively
getting people to give up their
personal information, their privacy
and their rights, or....
they'll just take them.
Like the way the google cars photographing
streets, were capturing wireless data, and
claimed it was a "mistake". Yes right.
Be always on your watch.
We have just noted that Google is now
trying to force us to use names.
We are trying to keep the ego out of this.

Best to be...

Best to be small, simple and secret.
Little by little, it seems that Facebook
is starting to know too much.

Thanks to all our new followers.

A big thank you to all our new friends.

Twitter gave us a message that we need
to wait to follow you back, but we will shortly.

Thanks for following our blog.

The cycle of 2012...

The cycle of 2012 is coming to a close.

The old year is about to die.

Some say that 2012 has been predicted

to be the end of the Mayan calendar and 

indicate that it is a period of destruction.

Members of the Mayan culture have attempted

to correct this concept recently, it means really that a 

cycle is coming to an end, which also means

that a new cycle is about to begin.

This might be of interest:

What could have been more destructive than

WWII? Mr. Ouspensky and Mr. Gurdjieff survived

during this war, through the great depression,

the Russian Revolution and more.

It is always an opportunity to grow if you 

are in the work.

Mr. Gurdjieff said: "We always make a profit".

It's simple really...

The work is to be...now.

A real teacher teaching...

Stanley Nott described that

when he first went to the Prieure

in the 1920's, that as a young student,

he was intimidated

by Gurdjieff's massive and powerful presence.

One day, Mr. Gurdjieff was making his rounds

of the property, giving instructions to the various

work groups working in on the grounds of his 

chateau. 

He beckoned Nott to climb up and sit

next to him as he continued on his morning

inspection.

As Nott describes it, nothing was said during this

time, Gurdjieff would ride around and give instructions

to the leaders of the different projects, forest work,

bricklaying, etc. But something like electricity passed

between the two men, and after this, he was no

longer nervous of Gurdjieff.

This is the sign of a real teacher, he took away

his pupil's unnecessary suffering with his love.

Teaching methods...

Mr. Gurdjieff taught with 

food, movements, music,

exertion, creating situations,

writing books, and directly

imparting his conscious energy.

He emphasized relaxation after

periods or hard inner work.

He would make car trips to the 

mountains, enjoy meals and 

armagnac, he enacted generosity

of spirit and above all friendship

and love for his fellow human beings.

Leonardo...

Mr. Gurdjieff said in Beelzebub's tales 

that in regard to the law of Octaves, 

Leonardo had figured it out himself.

Such was his genius.

Shakespeare...

Shakespeare was from a school.Very likely the Rosicrucians.

He wrote school teaching into his plays.

There is a scene in "The Winter's Tale",

where scholars have said,

the Rosicrucian teaching is described.

Similiarly, Mozart was probably a low level

freemason, and introduced masonic teaching

into his works. This is perhaps most clearly

done in his opera, "The Magic Flute".

The moon...

The Fourth way system teaches that

the moon exercises an influence upon

the earth and it's inhabitants.

Mr. Ouspensky's student Rodney Collin

wrote in his book: Theory of Celestial Influence,

that the pull of the magnetism of the moon

upon the earth, is the equivalent load as if you

went outside and swung a one pound weight 

around you in a circle, on a thirty foot rope.

Don't believe in this relationship? 

Simply look at the pull of the tides.

Intentional movement...

The movements and dances

of Mr. Gurdjieff are very beautiful

in many cases. The trick is whether

or not you actually do the dances,

is to introduce intentional movement

into your daily life.

A fanatic...

We just recently came

across this wonderful quote:

Mr. Gurdjieff said, 

"A fanatic is a man

who knows something".

Lessons...

We arrive on this planet,
we embody a spirit.

We have experiences,
life, loves, money, little money,
see beautiful landscapes and cities
and moments of desperation.

And then it is complete and we
move on to our next level.

Hopefully we learn and grow,
if not, we have to re-take the
lessons.

Like the sea...

Mr Gurdjieff called time
the merciless heropass.

All the heroes, all your heroes
will quickly become history.

Time swallows us all like the sea.

How quickly time passes...

October 29th is the date that Mr. Gurdjieff
completed his life on this planet, fifty plus
years ago. It is interesting that there are
people alive who met him as children.
And strange as we accelerate into the end
of 2012, how quickly time passes.

Freedom...

It would have been difficult in the extreme
for Mr. Gurdjieff and his pupil Mr. Ouspensky
to have continued to live and teach in Russia.
Stalin came to power after Stalin's death, and
systematically developed a control and surveillance
stranglehold of  Russia where one would have needed to be
very intelligent and "lucky" to survive.
The teaching needed to be transmitted to the west
for it to have the freedom to truly develop.

Seeds for the future...

Having traveled much and absorbed the
ancient fourth way teaching in the east,
Mr. Gurdjieff finally settled in Paris, spending
a substantial amount of time in America,
where he laid many "seeds" for the future
of the teaching.

The age...

The teaching of Mr. Gurdjieff is the same,
it just is "coated" by the age
and culture in which it is presented.

Like the movement of a pendulum...

Mr. Gurdjieff said that there are many

momentums insides us that are working

all the time. Our energies constantly go

positive then negative.

Like the movement of a pendulum...

Dirty dogs...

Sometimes, one can be quite

down about oneself.

Mr. Gurdjieff said that 

"There are many dirty dogs inside us,

that wish to destroy us".

The way you escape...

The way you escape...is through this life.

There comes a time....

There comes a time...

To put your books aside....

And start to "do"...

A masterpiece...

Mastery, comes from balance,

lightness, insight.

Compassion, objectivity.

Love

Practice, struggle, overcoming

inertia, working with one's energy.

Putting the world aside to "play".

Acceptance and knowing the

"rules of the game"....

The discipline of a teacher...

Mr. Gurdjieff trained himself to be

ruthless and objective towards the 

weaknesses of his students.

The trouble is, you can support,

or "rub" or "press" someone's weakness.

We tend towards comfort, and 

become angry when our weaknesses

are evoked.

One has to go beyond this, 

beyond being merely "liked".

It takes courage to confront mechanicality.

The discipline required of a teacher...

Cutting down Mr. Gurdjieff's tree...

We heard.....

That Mr.Gurdjieff did visit London

in the earlier part of the last century.

He planted a tree at a house in Hampstead

where a group he founded resided.

Many years later, a young member of the

group cut the tree down, perhaps

for no real reason. 

This upset the group, it was possibly 

a last physical tie to the great teacher.

Perhaps in some way, he had caused

this to occur. He trained himself to be

ruthless and objective towards the 

weaknesses of his students.

Insane asylum...

Mr. Gurdjieff said that he spent

four years in the largest insane

asylum in the east.

This could be a "tall story",

this could be "real".

Certainly he had to be exposed

to powerful and demanding 

circumstances, to become

powerful and demanding.

Cafe society...

Mr. Gurdjieff learned how to 

live in a city.

He met his pupils in busy café's in 

Moscow, Paris, New York.

It seems he went out of his way

to "live in" the world, deal with

material things, rather than avoid 

this part of life.

Misery and Grief...

Mr. Gurdjieff had a saying.

"Happy is he who has a soul.

and happy is he who has none.

But to he who has a soul 

in gestation, misery and grief".

Stage two...

Meher Baba said that there are 

three stages in the journey of evolution.

The first stage...

The joy of finding one's teacher.

Beginning of work...

The third stage....

Being awake...

The hard part, is the second stage...

Evolution.

He said: This is the most difficult part

He said, "Do not desert me during the second stage".

The esoteric economy...

The esoteric economy.

The teacher puts his energy 

out there.

The student's job is to stay 

in that energy...

...no matter what.

Possible to work...

Mr. Ouspensky said to Mr. Gurdjieff

that he felt that one could not work well

during the upheaval they were experiencing

during the Russian Revolution.

Mr. Gurdjieff advised him, that not only was

that wrong, but that it was especially possible

to work during times like this.

When the attention of humanity was focused

and distracted in other directions.

A bit of a riddle...

Being is for you,

it is not possible to,

and cannot 

be given to others.

You earned it yourself.

But you can give energy

and allow others sometimes

to step into that space with you,

...if you wish.

They cannot stay in that space

until they have earned their place.

This tweet, is a bit of a riddle, 

this is difficult for us to explain.

Something experienced.

The occupation of Paris...

As the Germans invaded France

and  approached Paris,

one writer said that Mr.Gurdjieff's pupils

persuaded him to leave the city in the 

opposite direction.

Within 24 hours, he realized perhaps that

he was leaving an enormous opportunity 

to grow, he turned around and returned to 

live out the war-time occupation in his

apartment. 

Trading with the German soldiers

for food and supplies, holding meetings,

and connecting with his French pupils in a way

that had perhaps been overshadowed for most

of the preiod he had been teaching, by his

Russian, American and English students.

Difficult times...

Difficult times bring a great possibility of real growth.

You can be now...

You can be now...

There is no strain in masterpieces...

Someone knowledgeable once 

pointed out, that:

"Everything great, is done lightly".

There is no strain in masterpieces.

Strain only looks good in movies.

Or, it is to be noted, that sometimes

a great work, is the result of 

transforming suffering.

It is the intelligence behind

the brush or the pen that truly

creates.

Theory of Eternal life...

When Mr. Ouspensky, perhaps

Mr. Gurdjieff's chief pupil died,
Rodney Collin his chauffeur and
follower, went into the bedroom
where Mr. Ouspensky had completed
his journey, and locked the door.

He stayed in there for a number of days
without food or water.
The other followers of Mr. Ouspensky
were furious that he did this, and banged
on the door, to get him to unlock it so that
they could also experience the energy
in the room, but Rodney Collin would
not come out or respond.

Finally after several days, they put a
ladder up to the window,  and found
Rodney Collin sitting on Mr. Ouspensky's
bed in only his underpants, in a child-like state.

There had been a communion between
his great teacher who had just passed to
another level, and the student who was
his closest and most devoted follower.

Out of that came this book:

Theory of Eternal Life

It was apparently written over three days,
and Rodney Collin always stated that he
did not write it, but indicated that he was
merely the channel through which this
great knowledge was transmitted.

He gives a clue in the book when he offers
some thoughts about the final months
of Mr. Ouspensky.

The absurd behaviour of grown up people...

C.S. Nott wrote two excellent

books on his experiences as a
pupil of Mr. Gurdieff and the
Fourth Way.

"Teachings of Gurdjieff: a pupil's journal...

"Even when quite a young child in the Hertfordshire village
where I was brought up, there often seemed to me to be
something strange and even absurd in the behaviour of
grow-up people; Their attitude to one another in public,
and what they said about each other in private, did
not agree...

To be...

Being is to "be".

In the end...

Eventually one will be given a
"flash", of one's higher self.

Almost like one is setting out on a
thousand mile journey. But,
at the beginning, one is given the
privilege of viewing the
destination for just a few brief moments.

This is so that one can
travel with confidence in one's teacher,
that all the pain and difficulties one
experiences on the journey,
are all worthwhile in the end.

Unconscious acting...

Mr. Gurdjieff taught that we are
all enacting our parts in life
unconsciously. We have learned and
imitated roles, perhaps mostly
to defend our sensitive inner selves
(The part of us that is our essence)
against the shocks and psychological
impacts that life brings us.

In order to die he must first awake...

A man may be born,
but in order to be born he must first die,
and in order to die he must first awake.

George Gurdjieff

Bombshells...

One of the reasons that we need a
group, as advised by Mr. Gurdjieff;
is that a man cannot keep watch on all
parts of himself.

The members of a group build emotional trust
between each other. This takes time.

Then, when the time is right, you start getting
"bombshells", that slowly start to dismantle
the old self, so that a new man can begin
to emerge.

Answering back...

Mr. Gurdjieff said also, that sometimes
one needs to answer someone back in
such a way that he "forgets his grandmother".

One can get caught in "fake humility".
One may likely go through the stage of
being a "stupid saint".

One of the esoteric interpretations...

Jesus said, "Turn the other cheek".

Aramaic Bible in Plain English (©2010)
"But I am saying to you, you shall not rise up
against an evil person, but whoever strikes you
on your right cheek, turn to him also the other."

The evil person, is not necessarily "evil",
but is your old self, the being you have to grow
out of. When a true friend points out the truth
about you and how you behave, your "sleep",
you have a choice.

Rather than responding with "evil" and arguing
back, and pointing out why you are "right",
best to accept with humility, that he may actually
be telling the truth about you, information that you
need to hear if you wish to evolve as a person.

Do not protect yourself...

Why did Mr. Gurdjieff accumulate and attain
the level of being that he did?
Because he suffered more and faster.
He said: "Do not protect yourself".

Rapid change...

He also expressed wonder, that growing up
in what has been described as "near biblical"
circumstances. That in his life there was such
a rapid change, that a young boy could now read
a newspaper, and could be aware almost
immediately of what was happening around the world.

The harder the conditions...

The harder the conditions of life,
the more can be gained for one's work.

During Mr. Gurdjieff's lifetime, world events
included: The Russian revolution, the first
world war, the great depression, prohibition,
the second world war, the Armenian massacre.

The art world experienced post impressionism,
cubism, Dada, surrealism, expressionism.

The Titanic sank, radio came into use,
Henry Ford developed mass production,
television was invented, and the first recorders
became available, which is how, as his pupils
demonstrate to him,  we have recordings of his voice.
(He starts to speak about 44 seconds in)

The Soviet Union launched Sputnik into a low
Earth orbit on 4 October 1957 just eight years
after his life had been completed, twenty years
after his death, man was standing on the moon.

Dissipation...

Mr. Gurdjieff said that his work
would disappear after the
fourth generation.

It feels that he was indicating that
the energy he was infusing into his
students, eventually would dissipate.

This too is a law.

However, there are many "children" of
his work, there is no need to despair.

One has to teach...

It feels that enlightened men
are not so much "in" their bodies,
but more "out" of their bodies, and
just see it as a tool to navigate their
path through the earth and to teach.
It is a law that their understanding
must be passed on.

Mr. Ouspensky stated that it is
a necessary principle that to learn
more, one has to teach.

By what you are not...

It is not how strong you are.
How active you are.
How smart you are.
How beautiful you are.
How wealthy you are.

It is not how you are.

You live sometimes best,
and most deeply and truly,

by what you are not...
trying to falsely be.

But by being what "you" are...

The eternal now...

It is hard to believe that,
in this day and age.

All the noise, all the activity,
movement, digital information.

Quietly, looking at your computer,
glancing out the window, listening
to the sounds around, of your family
and friends, perhaps.

Brings you
closer to yourself.
The eternal now.

How do we define "being"...

How does one define being?

We have all met people who
are "different". People who,
if you are sensitive, or
searching, "draw"
your attention in some way.

They have a quality of presence
without trying to impress,
are quieter, more self contained.

You know they have within
them, some level of truth.

Focus, intelligence, an ability
to view events from a higher
perspective.

You know in your gut instinct,
that this person has integrity,
will keep their word, and
can be trusted.

This possibility to have this
in oneself, comes as a result
of work.

Feed yourself, the three centers...

Don't forget to feed yourself.
Not just food, but impressions.

You need emotional food, for example
going to a gallery, or a positive movie
or concert, walking in nature.
Gardening, painting, something that
feeds your growing soul.

Mr. Gurdjieff said we must "keep",
the three centers in balance: he is
referring to what we call in the 4th way,
emotional, intellectual, and moving/instinctive.

Peace comes.....

Peace comes when you are no
longer fighting with yourself.

It also comes because you have suffered
yourself, you mistakes, your identifications,
the damage you have done to others and
yourself with your negativity.

Acceptance, love, forgiveness, presence.

Sex and money...

Mr. Gurdjieff said: "That nothing shows
so much what a man is, as much as his
attitude towards sex and money".

Which book to read...

Mr. Gurdjieff was once having coffee with
a student at a cafe, and the student asked
him: "Mr. Gurdjieff, what book should I read?".

Mr. Gurdjieff leaned over and gave him a hard
slap on the chest: "This book!".

The "undiscovered" self.

The "other side"...

Television and radio now have
many shows on the paranormal,
ufo's, aliens, healing powers, the
supernatural.

Our human aspirations are for what
is on the "other side" if you like.

However, the real "other side",
is inside.

see our next post.

Intervals...

Mr. Gurdjieff said that:
"Intervals are the bearers
of new directions".

We ran into technical problems
with our blog some months back,
perhaps it was time for a break.
We can start to post more regularly now.

At the end of the day...

At the end of the day,
we will have done the best
we can with our experiences
on this planet.

The best thing to do

Sometimes the best thing
to do, is to quietly be to
oneself.

Concentrated knowledge

One thing that Mr. Gurdjieff said,
is that "Knowledge is material".
It is important to concentrate this
knowledge among small groups of
students, to get real results. Mr. Gurdjieff
called his followers "pupils".

Replace the state

Awakening, is learning to
operate the machine consciously.
Replacing this awakened state with
the dream world you exist in currently.

Children grow up too fast

In this digital culture, perhaps essence
can be smothered faster than in any
other age. Children grow up too fast.

Look how people are now

The work by it's very nature,
cannot be for everybody.
Look how people are now.

Maximum distractions

When writing Beelzebub's tales,
Mr. Gurdjieff would often write
in the Cafe de la Paix in Paris.
Rather than choose a quiet side street,
he chose a cafe at one of the busiest
traffic intersections in Paris.
Maximum distractions.

Rats

Mr. Gurdjieff said:
"I need rats for my experiments".
Objective view of humans?
Perhaps, perhaps an insight he
was showing someone to help them lose
their sentimental attitude about people.

The office

Mr. Gurdjieff would often
work with, and meet his students
over coffee. Whether it be in Paris,
or New York. His local coffee shop
was called his "office".

Ordinary places

Awakening takes place
in the simple ordinary
places of one's day.

You must make "tzchik"

Mr. Gurdjieff said...
You must make "tzchik"
(sound of crushing a beetle)
of the old world, (old you),
to make the new world.
(The new you).

Out of the chaos of this world

Out of the chaos of this world,
all we can do is be.

Release one from a cycle of karma

Part of the work exercise,
to not express negative emotions,
is not only to save a very volatile energy
for conscious development. But also to
help release one from a cycle of karma.
It is purifying.

Tread softly on the earth

Be kind to those around you,
tread softly on the earth.

This is already high work

Mr. Gurdjieff advised his students
to try to say "I am" (be present and remember
themselves) every hour on the hour.
This is already high work.

The chain of conscious teachers

The chain of conscious teachers
in history. May never have been broken.

Forget the numbers.

Forget the numbers.
We do our best.
The best is to be.

Where you are right now

For each conscious being.
There is a starting point.
Where you are right now.

Watching oneself

Mr. Gurdjieff advised that one cannot
keep watch on all sides of oneself alone.

Living vine

The work, is a living vine.
Are you connected?
Make yourself connected.

Time: don't read this if you are an Elvis fan

Mr. Gurdjieff called time the "Merciless Heropass".
All the heroes? time gets them all eventually.
We recently saw some pictures of Elvis Presley
the great entertainment figure of Rock and Roll.
Unfortunately, we learned he needed to dye his hair
even though he was 42 when he died, there are a few
images in existence from his classic jumpsuit years
where one can see grey hair in his sideburns and
around his temples. He needed to keep dying his
hair to keep projecting the image. We live in a world
of smoke and mirrors. We try to put off death.
Apparently even though only in his forties his hair
was turning grey, such were the pressures and
intensity in his life.

Unique individuals.

Don't get lost in the story, lineage or numbers.
We are not meant to be "accountants" or
"historians". It is not even a matter of direct
connection, the "sons of" are rarely as good
as the master. History produces unique individuals
with unique energies, drives and mindsets.
Picasso, Rembrandt, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan.
They are meant to be unique and not reproduceble.
With teachers, these beings have highly specific
lives, nothing is accident, even the accidents.

First recorded student

We have read in one book that Mr. Gurdjieff's began to
connect to pupils in the early 1900's. His first student
was an Englishman in Russia called Paul Dukes in 1911.

A master script writer

By the time Gurdjieff appeared in the west,
educated and wealthy Europeans were starting
to travel and explore, impressionism was a mature
art movement, Picasso and Braque had developed
cubism. (Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon
was begun in 1907). Howard Carter had not yet
found the tomb of Tutankhamen, and WWI had
not begun yet. It was a masterstroke of design
that he appeared when he did.

Repackaging

Part of Mr. Gurdjieff's genius, was to take
a vast body of "eastern" estoeric knowledge,
and repackage it for the scientific western minds
of the early twentieth century.

Prayer

Mr. Gurdjieff said man does not
know how to pray. Sportsmen in
our age pray for victory, thank "god"
if they win their game, or race.
Children are taught to pray for a bike,
but sometimes a pure thought may
help someone, perhaps even a prayer
may project thousands of miles.
Mr. Gurdjieff worked on healing a pupil's
mother in the USA, telepathically, while
he was all the time in France.
He said real prayer, is with all three
of our centers, emotionally, intellectually,
and physically. This is science and art
combined. Working with the complex
human mechanism to achieve results.
Refining one's energy fields, fasting,
chastity, may all have been
part of this process.
And truly, may only occur in it's
highest form, in a being with a developed
astral body.

Movements, how alike they look.

Gurdjieff's movements.
Compare this to the previous
post: http://tiny.cc/taahgw
How like the people meditating in
the maze of Chartres they look.

The great maze

How like Gurdjieff's dancers they look:

http://tiny.cc/o69ggw

Not so primitive

The designers of the pyramids,
cathedrals, mosques, and so
called "primitive" cave drawings
were in many cases the result
of esoteric school work.

For the cave dwellers, their art represented
the best visual technology of their age.
Archeologists are now finding that they
were also not so primitive.
http://tiny.cc/yu9ggw

It has also been claimed that cavemen
were better parents than we are.

Secret history

The secret history of our planet,
is the history of esoteric schools.

The Little Prince

The writer of the great classic:
The Little Prince knew of Gurdjieff
or may have been a pupil according
to some writers.

t is much more difficult to judge oneself
than to judge others.
If you succeed in judging yourself rightly,
then you are indeed a man of true wisdom.

Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900 - 1944)

Don't get lost in the numbers.

Mr. Gurdjieff said that the work explains
that there are different levels of men.
This is part of how we explain a person's
psychological development.
But don't get too lost in the numbers,
it is another way to fall asleep.
Identifying with what the Fourth Way
system as taught to us by Mr. Gurdjieff.

Tools for work

Look and see your environment.
How you act, how you react.
Can you hear? Can you smell?
Do you feel your breathing.
You look, but do you see?
These are all tools for work.

The antlers of the stag.

The work goes back to the dawn
of civilization. Mr. Gurdjieff was very
impressed when he visited the caves
at Lascaux in France towards the end
of his life. He knew he was seeing signs
of a school. He said of one image that
the antlers of the stag signified of an
enlightened man, a symbol the of
attaining being.

Many cultures place
something on or around the head to signify
a developed soul. Halos, Caps, cones,
horns, symbols of the third eye.

An enlightened man is just like you

An enlightened man is just like you.
He has a body like you.
But through his inner work, he has created
a second body, made of his finer energy
and accumulated attention.

Awake is aware.

Awake is aware.

You must make Baba inside

Meher Baba the great teacher said:
"You must make Baba inside".

Thank you new friends

Thank you all our new friends.
Thanks for following.
We hope you enjoy our little blog.
Sending you a ray of love from
across the world.
Mr. Gurdjieff always acted from love,
he watched his children grow.
He watched the child in his students grow.
For this he dedicated his life and spared himself no effort.

The only "real thing".

The only "real thing" one has,
Is presence in one's life.

Falling apart

Are we not seeing a world,
starting to fall apart at the seams?

The world is "upside down, and back to front".

http://www.filmsforaction.org/watch/inside_job_2010/

Mr. Gurdjieff said that we look at the world
"upside down, and back to front".

The documentary above is well worth watching.

Some of the most useful books...

A good point to start is Mr. Ouspensky's book:
http://tiny.cc/5k2hew
And his other great book: http://tiny.cc/zn2hew
We would say do not worry too much about
"Enneagram type" books. They can be good for
studying processes, But Mr. Gurdjieff approved
when he first saw "In Search of the Miraculous".
He said: "Before I hate Ouspensky, now I love him".

But because of him, there are some...

Mr. Gurdjieff said:
"I teach way to become man not found
in the west".

East to west

Luba, Mr. Gurdjieff's niece, said that her uncle
would sometimes arrive home from his travels with
his clothes in tatters, completely spent.
His efforts were enormous, and we are sure, often
lonely, he did this to bring this great and ancient knowledge from
the monasteries he found in the east, to the
civilization of the west.

Our choice

There is a great order to the universe.
We may "sell" ourselves to things, or
we may with efforts, possess ourselves.
We have a choice at times to follow
one path or the other.

Absolutely charming, must watch this.

An unusually beautiful and deeply affecting parable, presented through the magic of stop-motion puppet animation. Picture a nineteenth century carriage, with an old-fashioned carriage, but a crowd of strangers steps out. Thus begins a series of mythic adventures in which the driver must struggle to face his inner obstacles, all the while searching for a true master. This charming film is beloved by both adults and children. "The charm and apparent naivete in this short film are deceptive. The viewer, like the carriage driver, may well be called into posing a serious question: Am I master of myself?" directed by Cyril Lanier. 43 minutes.

Very charming and interesting, you will enjoy this, we are watching this right now.
Absolutely lovely.
Enjoy friends!

Our "masters"

Our "masters" on the planet,
government, banks, major
corporations, the media they
own, the politician they own,
all seek to keep us distracted
from ourselves. Hypnotized into
waiting like sheep to be "sheared".
Mr. Gurdjieff said this in the early
part of the last century. This has
only become more and more of
a truth.

Giving up

We are designed to get lost
in money, things, and those we
are attracted to, and status and
power, ultimately survival.

Giving these up, letting go, somehow
they come back to one at a higher level.

Once an hour

Mr. Gurdjieff gave his students the
exercise to say "I am", remember
themselves, once an hour.
This is how hard it actually is to do.
Even one hour can be a major
accomplishment.

Food packaging

Look at your food packaging
carefully, is everything listed
good for you and your children?

Your world is small

Your world is small.
They say that previous to the
industrial revolution, or if there was
a war, you did not really travel too
far from where you were born.

Essentially, we live our lives in
small spaces, meeting the same
people, going through the same
track each day.

Mr. Gurdjieff kept to a strict and
disciplined routine. The way out.

The dawn

If you are doing the work,
you are following an esoteric
tradition that began with the
dawn of man.

Patience

Life is a work of patience.

Shields

We all carry "shields" to protect
our sensitive inner selves.
One suffers one's way out of
having to carry a shield.

Kathleen Speeth

More of the interview with Kathleen Speeth:
http://tiny.cc/70uadw

Jeanne de Salzmann dances

Here is the part 1 to the Jeanne de Salzmann
clips: http://tiny.cc/cwuadw

Jeanne de Salzmann

Here is a video of Jeanne de Salzmann,
Gurdjieff's pupil speaking with clips of
students dancing.
http://tiny.cc/zsuadw

Special interview

This is really a special interview
with Kathleen Riordan Speeth who knew
Gurdjieff as a child:
http://tiny.cc/cduadw

Polished

There is an Eastern saying,

Unless you are rubbed and polished

(suffer) , how will your lamp shine?

(Paraphrased)

Kinder and gentler

Mr. Gurdjieff became kinder as he became older.

He was tough and fierce when he began to teach.

The years and suffering "smooth" one.

East to West

Mr. Gurdjieff arrived in the west, and from this one man,

a complete esoteric teaching was brought into the 

20th century. 

As if from another planet...

Mr. Gurdjieff based the scenario of his great book Beelzebub's tales,

on a space ship, his idea was to look at the life of man objectively,

as if from another planet.

The Odyssey

Odysseus, the journey of the Odyssey,
is man's search for himself, but all he
seeks is his homeland. These are vastly
symbolic archetypal depictions.

The seeker

The searcher, the eternal image
from the Tarot, the fool, the seeker,
he who wanders in search of the truth.
It seems part of our journey is to leave home,  
Something in our nature, impels us to seek.

Something wrong

Many of the people who found Mr. Gurdjieff
in the first half of the last century,
were desperate for some kind of change,
they knew the life they were leading,
had something "wrong" going on.

The way out...

Every person who has ever existed,
even going quite far back in time, has
held the possiblity of enlightenment.
The culture of each age, to a great extent,
seeks to drown this opportunity out.
Mr. Gurdjieff suggested that we observe
people, how they become lost in conversations,
things, we can also add the mass media in
this age, the celebrity and sports cultures,
politics, talent shows, the "news".
There is however, a way out.

The seed

A man or woman, contains the
seed of an enlightened being.
The question is, can they actualize
that possibility in this lifetime?

What does Easter symbolise?

What does Easter symbolise?
Here is one possibility:
Mr. Gurdjieff said that first a man
must awake to himself, the next stage
is that he "dies" to his old self, then
he is reborn at a new level of being,
as a new man. (Paraphrased).

You need other people...

The Fourth Way is pursued along 

three lines, work for oneself, work

for others, and work for the group.

Rajneesh

The teacher Rajneesh had interesting

things to say about Gurdjieff. Just before

he died, (we heard), he told his students

to find Gurdjieff groups to continue their

development.

Why we are here...

When Mr.Gurdjieff played his harmonium,

the special music was designed to evoke 

the higher part of a person's emotional center.

Not just crowd emotions, or jokes, but 

emotionality with a deeper

reflective quality. A state more connected to

who we essentially are, and why we are here,

in this body, this life, on this planet.

The celebrity culture we live in...

The celebrity culture we live in,

harvests the fine energy of millions

and millions of people.

How else may one grow...

How else may one grow but throughoneself and one's own efforts.

We seek...

We seek self mastery.

Video clip of Mr. Gurdjieff

If you have not seen it:

Video of Mr. Gurdjieff starts about 1.08.
The music is a recording of him playing his harmonium music

Fawlty Towers and the chicken.

In another scene from John Cleese's
comedy series: "Fawlty Towers".
The Chef chases a chicken through the
hotel kitchen, so the diners can see
they are serving real chicken.
This is straight out of Mr. Gurdjieff's
book: "Beelzebub's tales".

A guided course of self-observation

John Cleese of the Monty Python
comedy team from the 70's and 80's,
knows about Gurdjieff. In their movie,
"The Meaning of Life", there is a scene
where they have asked someone to
research the meaning of life.
The answer is given in their non-logical
format:
"A guided course of self-observation", or "Hats".
 

Bill Gates, the Dalai Llama and a Hippie

A big snow storm is looming, and Bill Gates,

A hippie, and the Dalai Llama, who are all trying

to get to Tibet, they grab the last private single engine

flight across the Himalayas before the weather hits.

The pilot warms them that there are only three 

parachutes, and there are four of them, they agree

that the pilot will have one of the parachutes 

in the event of an emergency.

They take off and fly towards Tibet and gradually ice

forms on the wings and the plane gets into trouble

and the engine dies.

The pilot comes into the cabin from the cockpit

and says, " Guys, we got a problem, the engine

has cut out, we gotta jump, I got two kids, sorry, 

we made a deal", he grabs one of the parachute packs

and jumps out the door at 5000 feet. 

Bill Gates says: "Guys, I'm Bill Gates, one of the 

richest men in the world, I can't die! sorry guys". 

He grabs a pack and jumps out the door.

The Dalai Llama turns to the Hippie and says, 

"My son, it is now you and me, I have lived

many lives in many reincarnations, I am old,

you are young, take the last parachute and live

with my blessing".

The hippie says:

"No problem Dalai Llama, that was not parachute that

Bill Gates grabbed, that was my rucksack!".

Boom! Boom!.

Hope you enjoyed this. :)

Dalai Llama joke... :)

The Dalair LLama walks into a Pizza 

restaurant, he tells the waiter behind

the counter:

"Make me one with everything!"

After the grind.

Awakening is not a rapid process.

It may only appear rapid, because

after a long period of "grind", accumulating

conscious moments, it finally all comes

together. Be aware of this.

Small efforts...

The answer, to be in oneself.
To make efforts, small efforts,
for oneself.

So few laugh...

Every day has it's own momentum.
It is a prison of habit for many people.
You can see on their faces, they are
resigned prisoners, just go to any
majoy city and look at the commuters.
So few laugh.

Did you...

Did you make a small aim today,
an aim around some area in which
you need to grow?

Where is your life?

Where is your life, but now?

Being fresh

However, doing the work

of trying to be aware in one's life,

never grows old, stale, or boring.

Children live in the moment.

Boredom

The pursuit of awakeningmay often feel boring.

He has found himself.

An awakened man is complete,

and no longer "just" a man.

He has built a higher conscious world

within himself. He has found peace.

He has found himself.

911

As of this writing, our little blog has 911 followers.
9 11 means something different in the world now.

It is a more fearful world. But we have our work
to protect us. Rodney Collin wrote of Mr. Ouspensky
that he used self remembering to explore other
worlds, other experiences.
Peace.

Love of the master...

A great enlightened Indian master, Meher Baba
was one who had also attained great inner growth.

It is said that when he walked into a vast tent filled
with many hundreds of his followers, his energy would
fill the room and affect the complete mood of the gathering.

No ordinary man can do this, it comes after having made
a huge payment of suffering to overcome one's weak and
false self, destroying the ego once and forever, and
fulfilling the arduous path of awakening.

Becoming Love itself. His students wrote of feeling a
great love for all mankind flowing from Mr. Gurdjieff.

Complete man

When his students or people who met Gurdjieff,
spoke about the power that radiated from his body.
It was the energy of his will, his concentrated and
focused inner energies. And the special and fine
emanation of a fused and complete astral body
inside a human body.

Meeting a remarkable man...

Mr. Gurdjieff drove himself on behalf of his students
for many years. He could have had an easier life with
his powers, noted John Bennett. But he chose a harder
path. Endless teaching dinners, even when he was quite
old and ill. Working with the demands the work made on
his finances. His patience, his efforts, have left us a remarkable
legacy. Think, all the great books about the work, and stories
about Gurdjieff, came from encounters with just one man.
Remarkable!

Build conscious energy and will

Mr. Ouspensky, a chief pupil of Gurdjieff,
said, to create will, we begin by not doing
something that we do mechanically.
We cannot do. But we can remember ourselves.
We can not express negativity. This will save
energy, and build conscious energy inside us.

These two actions, repeated many times,

Some one said that Mr. Gurdjieff never said
that awakening is actually a simple process as
we stated recently. This is likely true, he
probably did not say that.

He was described as simple, honest, direct.
At some point, you need to purify yourself
of your own bs. The process is simple in
the sense that we meant. Being present
to one's life. Not expresssing negative emotions.

This is what he taught. These two actions,
repeated many times, (non-actions)
this will guide one down the right path.

The digital age...

We said before that the world is getting stranger.
Perhaps it would be an improvement to say that
it is getting faster, it is speeding up. Perhaps
part of this process is "global warming".
There are different schools of thought on this.

We are seeing a financial and economic power shift
from the west to the east. There are more and more
digital devices everyday. It was announced last week
that Apple does an amount of business about equal
to that of the US economy. It has more money than
the US government.

So much so that it almost does not know what
to do with it. To think all this came from computer
and handheld devices; smart phones only came
into existence relatively recently.

The industrial revolution has turned into the
digital age, we are living in historical times.

Fortunately, the work can absorb this, and
we can continue to make our own personal
efforts to grow.

An ordinary person, in an ordinary world.

Nowhere is it better emphasised that one
needs to be an ordinary person to evolve, than the great bible.
Christ chose fishermen to become his disciples.
However, not just an ordinary person,
but one with a great need for  "something more".

Awakening is a simple process

Awakening is a simple process,
it has to be.

Social conditioning serves an important function.

Social conditioning serves an important function.
William Golding's great story, "The Lord of the Flies",
is an excellent deptiction of what may happen
when normal social controls break down.

Say thank you (read me)

"Say thank you".
"Say hello".

When a mother says
this to a child, she forces
them out of their moment.
Out of their purity.

To say something that
conforms to society.

This is the beginning of their
social programming and induction.

When Mr. Gurdjieff would give children a
handful of sweets and candies after
the war,
(When such things in Europe were very scarce),
he  would be manifest anger
towards the parents they said:

"Say thank you".

"They not spoiled yet". He would say.

Inward truth.

Every man or woman who ever awakened,
was just like you. Look at your hands,
what is looking at them, is the same.
One works inward towards the truth.

Every school

Every school of enlightenment,
the schools that produced the Cathedrals,
the Pyramids, the Sphinx, and the great
temples, esoteric poets, writers, artists,
dancers, carpet makers, mythologists,
astrologers, mathematicians, and even
furniture makers and potters, to some
degree, were given the secret.
To guard and pass it on to future
generations. Christ was not the first,
but one in a long tradition of esoteric
teachers. But he was among the greatest.

What is the answer?

What is the answer? That is a secret,
but it is not, it is there for you to find.
Nature did something else for humans,
something it built into the human
machine.

The certain point.

Mr. Ouspensky said that nature
only develops one up to a certain point.

Polite robot.

Society and one's parents,
make a polite robot out of one.
It is a neccessary step, but,
not the only one.

What Gurdjieff's Russia looked like.

Here is a special collection of images
from Russia before the revolution.
It gives one a taste of what the land looked
like described in Thomas de Hartmann's
book, "Our life with Gurdjieff".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-17449958

Coming back to basics

It seems it is getting stranger out there in the big world.
The only way out, is self remembering. Doing one's personal work.

Energy

Mr. Gurdjieff said that to create an astral body, it will
take all the fine energy that one's body can produce.

Saving energy

Part of our work is conserving our energy,
which can be lost through excessive laugher,
moodiness, negativity, loud shouting and anger.

No one can do it for you

You have to make your work your own.
No one can do it for you.

Purgatory

Purgatory for us,
is the inability to do.

Choice or programming?

Active self questioning, why do you
hate, judge, love, spend, save, think,
dress the way you do? Is it choice,
or the environment that made you?

Question

Part of the introduction to Mr. Gurdjieff's book,
"Meetings...." states, "Mr. Gurdjieff calls
everything back into question".

The problem with the world.

Mr. Gurdjieff said that the problem with the world is that men
are not men, and women are not women.

Be your own King

Mr. Gurdjieff indicated that one must develop one's
inner king, be king of one's checkbook, king of how
you manage your life. Be a man.

Like Donkey

Mr. Gurdjieff said: "It is neccessary have plan
and not live day to day like donkey".

Stale moments

There are many moments when
one's work becomes stale, the trick is
keep going.

Resilience

Many times in the work,
one can get stuck. You have to
keep going. One cannot evolve in the
long term without resilience.

In a single day

Mr. Gurdjieff said that everything,
can be seen in a single day.
Your weaknesses, your strengths.
It is all there. You just need to be
conscious enough.

Acceptance

Acceptance will also be one of the skills to learn
on your journey, because without it, you cannot go
forward, acceptance is perhaps the most important
ingredient in the new self you are building.

The threshold

The threshold you will reach, as Mr. Gurdjieff
said, "After long and prolonged efforts", is that
you will achieve the quiet intensity that is required
to work and overcome your weaknesses. Until that
point is reached, you will be nothing but excuses.

The actual reality is, that you will not change

The actual reality is, that you will not change,
unless.....
You go through the laborious taks of observing
yourself, until you know how you work as a mechanism.
Then you will reach the threshold of the next stage.

One thing that has occured to us

One thing that has occured to us, is that these clips:

Are from the pre 9/11 world. Look at the energy, happiness and
creativity in these young people. We are in a different time now
with different challenges. Mr. Gurdjieff said we must make
"tzick" of the old world, (the sound of crushing a bug), crush
the old unconscious, sleeping self, so the new man in us may grow.

January is almost over Part II

Let's shake off the January blues,
(if you have them!)

Sometimes, doing something out of the ordinary, can be
good for one's work.

January is almost over, let's have some fun!

We don't know about you, but January has been a long dark
month this year, although, not as severe a winter as last year.
Let's have some fun, we found this 1966 classic on Youtube for
you to enjoy! Not Mr. Gurdjieff's sacred dances, but sometimes,
you need to shake the cobwebs off!

Different strokes.

Mr. Gurdjieff told a pupil that often behaved very emotionally:
"Your all is going out (losing too much energy in manifestations).
Keep something back". (Be more reserved).
For another student, he might suggest that they:
"Manifiest something". (Not just sit there silently, but partake in life).
The work is different for different people.

Standing alone

Mr. Gurdjieff said it is not good to be lonely.
But one must be alone. We think he meant
to not lose oneself in things, events, people.
To keep one's energy and integrity, even in
the midst of the madness of life.

Who was it that said...

What was it that said:
"Television is the opium of the masses".
Marshall McLuhan?

The distracted masses

Politicians and the controllers of the herd,
keep the slaves of civilization distracted.
Celebrity culture, the Oscars, sport, Eurozone,
constant financial crises that are hard to understand.
Protests, crime, unfairness, the media generated sense
of injustice, bankers and politicians making millions while
the slaves suffer! Mr. Gurdjieff advised that in these times,
rather than making things harder, it is especially possible to
do the work. When the crowd is serving the purposes of their
controllers, and their attention is distracted
and pointing away from esoteric ideas.

Two hours from now

The Russian Revolution was a period of such unrest that
at one point, Mr. Ouspensky's only possesion was his shaving
razor. A journalist suggested that they meet the following day,
Mr. Ouspensky replied: "We do not know where we will be two
hours from now!"

Dancing?

Do we need to do the dances?
It depends on your teacher. some may
use this method, and there are others.
Mr. Gurdjieff said that there were schools
of sculpture, painting, astrology, mathematics.
Dancing works well in an age of unrest, because
no special equipment is needed, just a room or
place to rehearse, and the teacher's knowledge.
Mr. Gurdjieff and his students threaded their way
through the Russian Revolution, WWI, WWII, the
Great Depression, and travels that took them from
Russia, to Turkey, to Germany, London, Paris,
Chicago, and New York.

Science and measure

Mr. Gurdjieff began teaching at the beginning of
the last century, (actually around 1911). It was
the age of scientific and technical discovery.
This is why he often explains things in terms of
quanitity, science, and measurability.

Speaking the language.

The work is adapted to each age,
each teacher, each culture.
The teachings are coded to the
age, mindset, and interests of
the students. The teacher however far
ahead, must be able to communicate
with his students.

The hardest place

The hardest place to be in the work is when you
have built up a knowledge of who you are, your laziness,
lack of being, your negative nature, your instinctive nature
(that has no friends), your lack of will, the neglected places
in your life. You see it all, and can do nothing about it but
watch.This may be what Mr. Gurdjieff called a "squirming
idiot". The psychological place of seeing your state, and being
able to do nothing about it.

Birthday

Greetings

For those of you who don't already know. If not remembering G, then remember
your parents, your neighbors, and finally, yourself.

Today is Mr Gurdjieff's birthday. (13 January)

"Any prayer may be heard by the Higher Powers
and a corresponding answer obtained only if it is uttered thrice:
Firstly—for the welfare or the peace of the souls of one's parents.
Secondly—for the welfare of one's neighbor.
And only thirdly—for oneself personally."

George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff
(January 13, 1872 – October 29, 1949)

from here: http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/WebORK/message/6772?var=1

Service

Mr. Gurdjieff lived a life of quiet dedication to the work.

However sensationalistic some of the writings about him

may seem, a real teacher, is based on service to his 

fellow travellers and students.

This new page would appreciate a "like" and will help the work.

http://tiny.cc/2ggub

You may ask questions about the Fourth Way

Thank you.

A Friend in the work.

Will

Mr. Gurdjieff said that if a man had enough will,he could make his life whatever he wanted it to be.

Sexy girls and The key

Throughout this year, the real work,
whatever happens, will be the effort
to be present and aware in one's life.
Mr. Gurdjieff said: "Say I am" once an hour.
Your self existing for a few seconds is a
major achievement. Go to a railway station
in a major city, and watch the people
walking blindly, sexy girls and worried
businessmen, young rebels, and weary workers.
This is life on the planet.
Be present, see how hard it is before
imagination takes you away.
There is the key.

We always make a profit.

This year will bring it's own difficulties.
Anyone sensitive can see that the pressure on people is increasing.
This is obvious to many of us that live in the
world's major cities. Prices and inflation are going up.
Jobs may be hard to come by. Housing is expensive.
We don't have much faith in our political processes and
the gap between the rulers, business and media controllers
seems to be decreasing. They control the circumstances and
energies in our cultures, and it is generally not positive, or
supportive to our growth as people. They just want to control
and direct the masses to spend, vote, and be entertained
(or distracted) as they wish. It is not possible to change this.
The only way out, is to evolve and use these circumstances
to gain being and grow. Mr. Gurdjieff said: "We always make a profit".

This knowledge is special

This is not to sound ominous.
But this knowledge is very special.
You do not need to be on top of a mountain
in the Himalayas, in a desert, or undergoing
an intense physical trial to pursue your own
growth. The Fourth Way takes place in life,
and has been given to us from a higher level
of humanity to help interested men and women evolve.
It is and always must be simple.
Sending you love from
Your friends in the work.
Happy New Year and many good wishes to
our friends around the world for 2012.

Important to remember

There are many stages one passes through in the work.
Often at the beginning, one may become like a
"wild eyed" dreamer, as a new world opens up, and
one starts to see mechanical laws operating.
Remember, if you are reading our little notes. This is not
ordinary knowledge. Mr. Ouspensky said at the beginning
of his book that this knowledge comes from a level above man.
It was not "made up" by man.