GURDJIEFF & TAOISM

In my recent readings and re-readings of both GURDJIEFF & TAOISM and also some other materials I have, the possible connections between G & TAO seem more likely than most might suppose.....Those who see Gurdjieff as a'dancing' teacher and ' Tibetan Buddist' and also as an 'Esoteric Christian'have all plastered. pasted, and tacked on those labels and G,in his usual ways that he made good use of, allowed them to do so, since they had to all determine their own 'aims' if they had any....that is, axes to grind, even if to lop off their own heads with his help... My sense & feeling arises in this matter from several things, one being G's interest in ancient dolmens, the Caves at Lascaux France, and various 'shamans' and similar things.....TAOISM is essentially derived from SHAMANISM found in Asia, Siberia,etc. and also in Tibet,etc.....I am quite sure that G. in his study of 'tibetan' musice, rites, medicine, etc. became most versed and familiar with this. Other indications or 'clues' about this come from the various 'dualities' he mentions and makes use of,etc. and their extensions....YES & NO, for instance, are the workings of YIN & YANG and the insistence of G on MASCULINE & FEMININE is also well-known...certain 'alchemical' operations and 'yoga' etc. also seem to be 'taoistic' in his and others discussions of the WORK although not openly stated......I hope to point out more specific things as I go along this path of TAOISM...though temptations to leave it and go to other topics come to mind and bubble up as I try to do this..... If I can find what I have written on TAOISM which I misplaced or 'hid' from myself, I will try to post it on my blogs....this will perhaps annoy and irk some practitioners of TAOISM and 'NEW AGE' devotees, no doubt....but the goals and aims of Shamans is often to change how we perceive 'reality', 'existence', 'life' etc. and to open up things for us that ordinary life keeps from us....

'THE HARMONIOUS CIRCLE'

'THE HARMONIOUS CIRCLE',The Lives & Work of G.I.GURDJIEFF, P.D. OUSPENSKY & Their Followers, by JAMES WEBB, 1980, is a fascinating book that I first read in 1987 and have re-read since them and more recently yesterday. My first reading of this book gave me some interesting information and clues and hints on things which any reader on GURDJIEFF can discover for himself or herself, depending on their 'aim(s)' in doing so. I only became somewhat recently aware of Webb's death, by suicide, and yesterday when I concluded the final chapter of the book, or section of it, realized that this chapter contains some clues as to why he took his own life.....though this is my own personal conjecture and observation..... The chapter is perhaps the most 'negative' one in the entire book because he attempts to consider GURDJIEFF from the point of view and by the criticisms and somewhat 'scandulous' tidbits surrounding the 'WORK' and discusses the 'disillusionment' and 'disappointment' some ended up with...which I think partly is projection/transference by him of his 'suicidal tendencies' that occultism sometimes brings into focus.....GURDJIEFF, himself, as mentioned in many works on him and by him, considered apparently at one time suicide..... Occultism can be a'dead-end' for many,especially those who seek some kind of 'power' or 'abilities' ion such realms and who want to obtain things for nothing and not pay for them....sometimes they have to pay with their lives, of course,sometimes by despair, futility, and other morbid senses and feelings, sometimes aroused and concentrated by the condition of their bodies and force of their emotions as well as sometimes some 'loony', 'misguided' ideas and theories....Gurdjieff warned of this sort of thing and pointed out how certain impressions and influences could affect one in all the ways he mentions in his writings. I do not have time to delve into this event of Webb's death but will say that considerations and fantasies on or about suicide are many....in seemingly 'normal' persons....however, those who 'attempt' suicide and who are not successful beyond a certain degree of injury and efforts, usually do not do so, but hold back at the last minute unless they make 'a serous mistake' in their attempts, which are, after all, a form of communication, an asking, a pleading for not only attention, but for love and consideration....as when a woman does so because her husband has numerous affairs and other things that threaten her status, her life, and her beliefs,etc. I was acquainted with a Filipino Movie Star who always made the newspapers with her 'unsuccessful' attempts at suicide and usually was hospitalized.....it was not, as some reporters at the time claimed, just for 'publicity purposes' or 'ego-trips' or to gain advertising for the films she was working on or to stimulate her fans sympathy...I do not know if she is still alive as I lost touch with her after some years.....that is, I do not know if she actually ended up committing suicide...if she did it was because she might have become frustrated by her efforts to receive the love and attention she so much craved...Suicide is often a substitute for murder, for anger, for rage, and focused on one's own body rather than others...it is not merely,though it can be, feeling sorry for oneself.

THE GURDJIEFFGOURMET-'EATING THE I'

'EATING THE I' by William Patrick Patterson is a a 'FOURTH WAY' account of remarkable honesty and 'self' revelation which still leaves one wondering about many things,possibly in one's own 'ordinary life in ordinary time' which has always to be placed in juxtaposition to ETERNITY. All of Patterson's efforts,particularly his literary and lecture/workshop ones,seemed focused on maintaining 'THE GURDJIEFF MAINSTREAM' which has a few major tributaries and many minor streams and rivulets flowing from it. The videos that have been produced by his efforts serve well as a great stimulus to possible students of the 'arcane,esoteric, occult and related 'ologies' but also keepthose with 'longings' & 'aims' for THE FOURTH WAY on whatever trail they find themseves in 'ordinary life and in ordinary time': Watching and Re-watching over periods of time one gets many 'impressions' on all levels and on different scales.

C.S NOTT Part I

Two books by C.S. NOTT are important reads for persons interested in GURDJIEFF and will appeal to certain individuals more than to others, as my discussion(s) of him and his writings may show more clearly as we proceed. The first,'TEACHINGS OF GURDJIEFF' 'THE JOURNAL OF A PUPIL','AN ACCOUNT OF SOME YEARS WITH G. I. GURDJIEFF AND A. R. ORAGE IN NEW YORK AND AT FONTAINEBLEAU-AVON' and the second,'JOURNEY THROUGH THIS WORLD' METINGS WITH GURDJIEFF,ORAGE & OUSPENSKY' contain information of a 'detailed' nature which I had read years ago, but being concerned with certain 'work ideas', had overlooked despite numerous readings and re-readings. For example, I now see some of the dance descriptions have actual names and places associated with them as regards to what NOTT claims to have witnessed when GURDJIEFF came to New York City and which he claims to have seen in his own 'pre-Gurdjieff' trips and travels in the Near East, China, India,etc. But I have not read of anyone verifying any of this,but why would they? How reliable is any dance of song or music from the East that Westerneers all lump together as 'ASIAN', 'EASTERN', RUSSIAN' CHINESE' GYPSY' 'PERSIAN' OR 'HINDU' OR 'JAPANESE' etc. when they hear 'THE EXOTIC STRAINS' OF NOTES AND CHORDS FOREIGN TO THEIR EARS? They also lack precise knowledge or one that is based on actual experience such as, dancing or playing or singing such things, though there are some very wonderfully rare exceptions to this state of affairs and have been over the centuries. There are academic studies and the like to be sure and these can help one at times, but the effort to do so, to experience such for any prolonged term is difficult, if not impossible to sustain for contemporary peoples of 'pop' culture usually. How can you remember 'foreign' names and titles and 'replay' such? That is from your memories of any such listening,hearing, playing, dancing,etc. in the ordinary way one does such? Can you recall any tunes or songs of 'native' bands or groups in far-flung lands and exotic cultures in any 'exact' way? Most of us can't and I am not real exception to this sad state of affairs and I can give many excuses and 'reasons' for such 'deriliction of duty'. I look at music that I can recall and name and of what does this consist? I cannot distinguish between 'ancient funeral dirges','Caucasian Waltzes' or 'Hindu' Ragas or 'Sufi'whirls to any great extent,if at all...My ignorance is overwhelming to me...on all of this....and some might well ask, why make any effort to know or find out or experience such? But one would ahve to SENSE, FEEL and UNDERGO the actual VIBRATIONAL RHYTHMS FROM ACTUAL PERFORMANCE(s). SUCH MUSIC IS NOT MERELY A 'SESSION' OR A 'PERFORMANCE' OR A 'CONCERT' but should be an EXPERIENCE THAT AFFECTS ALL OF THE CENTERS IN MAN.....OBJECTIVE MUSIC, ART, ETC. rather than merely 'subjective' as most of this stuff is in contemporary culture....which blends, indiscrimantly all musical forms and brands and vibrations etc. in a huge tub that anyone and everyone can take a bath......or shower....as the case may be

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.....