P.D. OUSPENSKY PART I

Of all the 'disciples' or 'followers' of the late G. I. Gurdjieff,PETER D.OUSPENSKY may be the most important, since he was the first to bring the Teachings,the System, The Fourth Way,etc. to the WEST in that, going from Russia at the time to Europe, notably England, he actually came ahead of Gurdjieff and was known before G....Of course,some will dispute this....tecnically, sine Turky is both half in Europe and half in Asia, it could be said that G & O brought such to Europe together....of course, others will say the ancient doctrines and concepts came much earlied as part of 'Esoteric Christianity'. Ouspensky was also known in America through his writings before Gurdjieff....and so, since he was the first one whose writings that I encountered 1957, I owe a great deal to the late Ouspensky for bringing me to the Fourth Way,which I do not pretend to follow or know, and to the teachings,mainly his writings and the writings of others on or about him,etc. Ouspensky's works gave me the taste of the work and I must say that he is not an easy read, and can be tedious in places as anyone will find when attempting to look at his mathematical/scientific discussions and writings in print......yet, with persistence, one can arrive at many conclusions and verify a few things for their own...as Ouspensky and Gurdjieff stated as being necessary.. Although Gurdjieff had many followers fo note and fame, his more articulate ones were English or from England and I shall discuss them later one...One in particular, RODNEY COLLIN, a controversial person and considered by a few as the last student or pupil of Ouspensky, and to a rare few as the inheritor of O's system,etc. has left an ample amount of material that can be read with benefit and which will attest to Ouspenki's teachings.... Ouspenksy's writings are much more extensive and detailed and appeal strongly to those of a philosophical or intellectual bent and inclination....that is to the MENTAL CENTER or MENTAL MACHINE.... MADAME OUSPENSKY is another matter for discussion and both of them have a great importance for the ideas, the system, the WORK,etc. Ouspensky, in his book FURTHER TALKS OR A FURTHER TALK has given some hints as to eternal recurrence and the fact that sometimes children are important to understanding this....if asked things before they ar too old, which gives a certain support to the practice of selecting the various LAMAS,especiall the Dalai Lama in a special manner,etc. More on this another time, however....

J.G. BENNETT

JOHN G. BENNETT deserves to be discussed and mentioned for several reasons, which will take up a lot of space and time in order do things justice, that is, rightly and efficiently, and to counteract some impressions others may have on the man and his work, particularly in reference to his relationship with GURDJIEFF...... His book, GURDJIEFF A VERY GREAT ENIGMA, which consists of three lectures he gave and then had published under this title....a copy of which is shown on this blog, is, in my humble estimation, one of the best ever written on Gurdjieff. First, it is not an 'expose' or a complete description of things to be found in Gurdjieff's own books exactly, but more a perspective on Gurdjieff that looks at facets of G in relation to the area where he was born, grew up, received an 'education', and of his possible travels and likely associations with groups and persons of all kinds, amid a region of turmoil,war, hardships, and various political/economic,etc. expansions and conflicts and more importantly, the conflicts between and among religious/mystical/occult groups of all sorts found in that area and elsewhere, with a deep historical basis and mentioned by Bennett, who, unlike some writers, actually spent time in all those regions both before and after his association(s) with Gurdjieff and from experiences he gained from these and from his association with Gurdjieff....which place him in the forefront along with others of note who also deserve to be mentioned....even if they all differed in fact from each other to the total and partisan perspectives of one another...... The reason as to why no one can ever nor ever could agree on anything about Gurdjieff is stated by Bennett in this book and from reading all accounts of the life of Gurdjieff,whether what he wrote or others wrote, separating such from the reports that come from secondary and speculative sources, it is easy to see why Bennett is correct as far as he goes..... This aspect of Gurdjieff is difficult to assess let alone describe in the way most of us expect or demand since none of us are actually on or have been on the path that Gurdjieff personally took.....from his youth to his death......nor shall we ever be.....our lines of transformation and development, our own re-generations and transmutations must go along other lines worked out by us personally and 'suffered' by us with conscious intent in accordance with our AIM(s) which is much more than can be stated in these words, obviously if one has any intelligence or understanding, however limited such may be, about any of this.......many will argue and disagree but one has to verify, as Gurdjieff insisted, for one's own self....and this is the one thing on which most of the 'disciples', 'followers','devotees', etc. can and did agree on, even if they failed to do any of this for themselves or to achieve the aims and results they set for themselves, often due to personal weaknesses, impressions and influences that prevented them from so doing and may have, as some think perhaps, 'died like dogs' without becoming 'immortal within the solar system' and ended up as 'food for the moon', statements that one can only verify for themselves, often when it is far too late.......

ETHIOPIA & ABYSSINIA

It would seem that GURDJIEFF was interested and had traveled to Ethiopia and insisted that it had or has great importance for those on the 'esoteric quest' or 'search for truth' and similar ventures.... Well, we now seem to think that man had his origins in that part of the African Continent, migrated to other places, but also it is where COFFEE, an important drink that G always seemed to have about him,especially when seated at cafes in Paris, or one particular one he used for his 'office' and 'writing' stand....the Cafe De La Paix...on Rue De La Paix....( I stayed at Hotel De La Paix in Paris and also at one in Siem Reap,Cambodia)........Ethiopia is also the site of where many hold the notion, or consider it, that THE LOST ARK OF THE COVENANT is to be found, and possibly in a certain church or monastery......and, of course, the proximity of Egypt and perhaps some of the origins of the ancient doctrines came from there, maybe long before Moses and maybe afterwards.....still one can only wonder and hope....then there is the modern history of Ethiopia and Mussolini's conquest of it.....and we all like to drink Ethiopian coffee if we are true coffee lovers......strong and dark, unsweetened and unsullied by milk.....

ഊഡീഏ'സ മേജര്‍ AIM

AIM is important in life and unless one has such, life will be simply an endless array of accidents and happenings until death.......GURDJIEFF insisted on aims of some kind in all who pursued his teachings....even if they were good or evil, extravagant or cheap, important or mundane,etc.... GURDJIEFF'S AIM was, as he codified it, at various times, TO UNITE EAST & WEST.....that is, to unite the WISDOM OF THE EAST WITH THE SCIENCE OF THE WEST in order to save the EARTH & HUMANITY....and unless this could be done, then both would perish...... This AIM is not quite like a lot of other aims that various groups or persons have put forth.....at various times in history.....and in this, this UNION OF 'EAST' & 'WEST' has a much deeper meaning that the ordinary conception....for it could also mean THE UNION OF RELIGON & SCIENCE or SPIRIT & MATTER.....a union of dualities....

MOUNI SADHU & GURDJIEFF PART ONE

In my researches on the internet, I came across to references and statements that MOUNI SADHU, who was POLISH or possibly also PRUSSIAN, and who traveled around the world in various places and who also was involved in several 'occult' groups and undertakings it would seem, had what can be described as 'a serious emotional reaction to GURDJIEFF that happened when he first met GURDJIEFF before G died and this affected him so deeply, he never got over it for the rest of his life. Various attempts to explain such on the parts of those who,either have followed GURDJIEFF at some time and who also either knew or met MOUNI SADHU and also liked him or appreciated his 'knowledge',' experiences in the occult, his practices and writings,etc., have been made but I think they have not seen what this is exactly. THAT MOUNI SADHU WAS VISIBLY SHAKEN BY GURDJIEFF'S WORDS TO HIM is without doubt and we can compare this to another such instance when GURDJIEFF CONFRONTED(though there are contradictory reports on this by several writers) ALEISTER CROWLY,THE GREAT BEAST who had come to see him as Sadhu had. BOTH being under the IMPRESSION(and possible ego-state) that GURDJIEFF WOULD ACKNOWLEDGE THEM AS HIS EQUALS!

MOUNI SADHU

The writings of Mouni Sadhu, which I translated as meaning, 'LONELY PILGRIM' have had an influence on myself and a great many others and,for me, his actual identity was a mystery, until recently when I decided to search on the internet and found some interesting items about him, his life as much as is known, and his books,etc. I have read his books on CONCENTRATION, THE TAROT, & WAYS TO SELF REALIZATION-a modern evaluation of occultism & spiritual Paths. The latter I have here in the States, but the others are, if the termites have not consumed them still abroad with other books of all kinds. Right off I should mention that Mouni Sadhu translates his name as ,SILENT PILGRIM, but his writings seem to contradict this except that he does veil and omit certain details in many, if not most of his materials that have been published. He was, as I was, influenced by the books of PAUL BRUNTON and corresponded with him around 1952, after reading the books during 1945-46, apparently. Like Brunton, Sadhu, and a great number of others,including Miss Ethel Merston a follower at one time of Gurdjieff, became 'devoted' to RAMANA MAHARSHI. I will discuss RAMANA MAHARSHI under the WAY OF THE YOGI when I have time. He has been compared in some ways to Gurdjieff by some but this seems to me to be 'subjective' and dependent on actually having contacted or l ived with him. When the MAHARSHI was alive a great number of Westerners in search of TRUTH, WISDOM,etc. visited him and also grouped themselves into certain enclaves to study or practice this particular path.

THE PATH OF SKILLFULNESS

THE PATH OF SKILLFULNESS is also known as The Path of Craft & Slyness, both 'ENERGY YOGAS',split into THE ARISING & PERFECTING YOGAS. In many of his writings and talks, Gurdjieff is said to have mentioned 'THE SLY MAN' and some persons reading or hearing of this 'topic' have 'shied' away from some of its implications,just as they have from his 'ballet' THE STRUGGLE OF THE MAGICIANS'. In VIEWS FROM THE REAL WORLD,Early Talks of Gurdjieff, he discusses magic,both white and black, and compares it somewhat to GREAT KNOWLEDGE and connects both to Universal Laws,thus making one who knows and uses such as 'magicians'. From this he asserts that 'civilization' has two aspects: THE EXOTERIC & THE ESOTERIC. Both lines are parallel and independent. This means that, if we want and know how, we can work on both lines,perhaps succeeding along one and failing on the other. Of course, most persons cannot maintain any work for very long on either line or direction,let alone both at the same time or nearly the same time.