OUSPENSKY & GURDJIEFF-

GURDJIEFF created THE STRUGGLE OF YES & NO(that of the MAGICIANS) in OUSPENSKY who did not realize that everything he puzzled about was given, was under his very nose, and may well seem apparent to others but not to Ouspensky. GURDJIEFF,knowing OUSPENSKY'S resistance and reluctance to conditions and following things without a goal under immediate obligation and/or commitment, particularly of a 'religious' nature without intellectual discussion and 'knowledge', seemed to emphasize all thse things to arouse, initiate,awaken OUSPENSKY,who could not bridge the gap between mind(thought) and emotion(feelings) nor go to the point of controlling the body, the physcial, so that THREE GAPS in his machine, his existence, his 'being' remained..... GURDJIEFF always seemed to 'mirror' certain traits,types, and characters of his folowers,disciples, students, which many could not stand, admit,accept, or work on beyond a certain point or else they abandoned all efforts. OUSPENSKY kept exerting a sor tof 'stubborn' effort along lines and a direction he considered or claimed was the same a GURDJIEFF'S, at leas originally and also rationalized that he was 'saving the system', keeping it 'pure' etc.ignoring that all he learned about it, such as it was, came from GURDJIEFF. But Ouspensky,like others and myself,also, find an urge, a tendency, even a perversity, to mix other ideas and practices,and beliefs and attenuate the WORK, the SYSTEM, etc. in some way. WE ALWAYS THINK AND FEEL WE KNOW MORE AND CAN DO BETTER OR IMPROVE THE SYSTEM....such is our human weakness....

PRE-SAND EGYPT & GURDJIEFF

After attending a lecture and slide presentation,etc. on 'Sacred Dance(s)' given in Vermont recently, the various Ancient Dances of Egypt,Crete, Greece, and Rome, in particular,seemed more relevant to the Teachings of Gurdjieff and some of his travels in Egypt,Nubi,Abyssinia(Ehtiopia) and Crete as well as Greece....many might wonder why he seeming ignored Rome and Roman dances,etc....well, he might have known of Etruscan, Sicilian, and, of course, the Lascaux Caves /'dances' and 'rituals' etc. which need further discussion but at another time..... The Romans, from what I recently read in a book I shall list when I have time, apparently took the 'mystery' out of religion and replaced it with 'doctrine'......thus,undermining the 'esoteric' basis for religious conformity among other things.... The Ancient Mystery Religions of the Near East dwelt often on the notion of 'sacrifice'and the last ceremonies of such are said to reside in THE LAST SUPPER but not the original one with CHRIST or JESUS....many 'magicians' and 'occultists' of all varieties have considered the MASS,especially the special masses and High Masses, as 'magical ceremonies', magical rites and rituals' that evoke and invoke various 'gods' and 'angels' and other entities,usually descending from Heaven or God,etc..... However,the BLOOD & FLESH of which CHRIST speaks and gives to his disciples at the LAST SUPPER,which some relegate to a simple 'Passover' meal(which commemorates another 'sacrifice of Egyptian firstborn' that many have forgotten as far as Christianity goes),was according to Gurdjieff, as mentioned by Ouspensky, the actual Blood and Flesh of Christ that was consumed by the Disciples at that Supper-an 'initiation' ceremony possibly, but one that was to keep the Presence of Christ within them, through 'magic'....that is, the astral body of Christ would be connected to theirs.....as He knew he was to die and each disciple apparently knew beforehand,especially at this Supper, the Last One, what his role was to be in all the coming events until the Resurrection. Certainly, some psychoanalysts and psychologists and anthropologists, etc. have described the EUCHARIST or the LAST SUPPER AND MASS as 'ritual cannibalism'....and certain 'black magicians' have seemingly adopted some literal aspects of such ceremonies as have some groups in rather wild circumstances or among 'so-clled' primitive and superstitious persons or cultures or tribes, etc. and also some serial killers of note.... As somewhat disturbing for ordinary minds, these considerations do have a mystical/arcane/occult significance and meaning but I shall have to leave all this to another time for practical reasons...