'ON THE 'FOURTH WAY', considering the writings of MR. P.D.OUSPENSKI

There is a beauty and a significance in the writings of OUSPENSKI in the English Translations that exist, such as they are. His 'FOURTH WAY' is reflective of 'G's system as filtered through his(O's) 'psyche', that totality of his life and experiences as well as through his formidable intellect.
  
Those who find themselves or are deeply attracted to 'The Ideas', The Work', 'The System', etc. usually are, like myself, and/or generally 'OUTSIDERS', often in perpetual search or quest, which, however 'abstract', or 'miraculous' or 'intense' or 'limited', remain or focus on this particular path despite barriers and byways as well as uncertainties and opposition, which include misunderstanding and ignorance.

OUSPENSKI for all his 'human failings' such as 'rigidity' and 'intellectualism' was the one pupil of GURDJIEFF that he always tried to 'tie-up' and implant his teachings & methods but could not.

ORAGE was another pupil who was 'groomed' by GURDJIEFF but of a 'softer' character or 'shell' and the second great 'GURDJIEFFIAN' if there ever was one. His, ORAGE'S death left 'G' 'stranded', 'dazed', and left a space, a gap, in the 'WORK'

 The only other person that could carry on the 'work' or 'the methods' was a WOMAN.

JEANNE DE SALZMANN became the heir of GURDJIEFF. Her relationship with GURDJIEFF is easily misunderstood by most, and any exactness of description is speculation in the long run ad CONTRAVERSIAL for several reasons most issues probably which few of us can understand, let along accept, if we are to continue along the lines that GURDJIEFF left us to complete even if, like myself, never met any of them in the flesh and this task can never go beyond anyone's own sphere of LIFE.

The result of such despite groups, related activities, or the like must remain 'secret', 'personal', even intellectual, with mixed 'emotions' and very difficult to let others know or share, should one try to do so. NO ONE WILL BE CONVINCED BY YOUR OR MINE 'EFFORTS' ,'THOUGHTS', OR 'IDEAS' OR 'DISCUSSIONS' OR 'WRITINGS'...

One thing must be realized or understood when you have assimilated, 'eaten' & 'digested' and 'considered' GURDJIEFF'S  IDEAS  is that it destroys mercilessly your world picture and replaces it, substitutes another REALITY!

Just as scientific/technological ones are demolishing the conceptions and structures of the material world and universe.....fo which more will be said at another time, perhaps in another way .
  

'IMPOSSIBLE' FEATS: THE 'TWO STOOLS'

'MODERNS', called 'contemporary peoples' can be described as those who 'ATTEMPT TO STRADDLE TWO STOOLS AT THE SAME TIME.

BUT, nowadays they also at the same time, try this and MANIPULATE TWO OR MORE DEVICES as well!

That is a better description, of course, the advertised 'EPIDEMIC seen on some television announcements as public service messages on automobile safety and 'TEXTING' while walking, driving, watching television and answering incoming calls ,texts & tweets- OPENING themselves to an early ACCIDENTAL DEATH, that is to join 'graphs and charts of such statistics, but not just mere and minor tragedies for those who end up crying and mourning or injured in many ways, some traumatic, as well as expensive ,especially for those who have to bury them, etc.

These 'victims' of accidents fall under what used to be called 'DAMN FOOLS' by old Yankees who did things one at a time, and who could find time to answer some questions of tourists,passerbys,and 'flat landers' and evangelicals, who queried them as they sat on their front porches 'WHERE DOES THIS ROAD GO?' and answer , 'IT DON'T GO NOT WHERE, STAYS RIGHT WHERE IT IS'

MORE THOUGHTS ON 'THE LAW OF ACCIDENT

For MANKIND, their 'LIFE' and 'EXISTENCE' are A SERIES OF ACCIDENTS.FIRST

FIRST: 'THE ACCIDENT OF BIRTH'::
      
        Regardless of how  much 'family planners' & 'population experts' in their 'scientific and genetic' interventions and disruptions consider human births, the consequences which has a long history, since the Ancient Greeks, notably SPARTA, left 'weakling babies on hillsides to starve or die( which I learned about in third grade through sixth in elementary school, toe the realities of 'backyard or back street abortions in town while in High School,to the use of condoms or 'beetle skins' also learned about at age seven and again all through elementary school and beyond, with other facts of 'sex education' which were troublesome for many, if not most, adolescents, of both sexes as well as of the 'third' sexes, the birthrate may change and the tables of statistics indicate various trends, births do tend to continue, whether artificially done, in special ways and the like, which are now openly demonstrated on various media and dramas of all kinds.


SECOND: ALL OF YOUR 'EDUCATION' IS AN ACCIDENT BECAUSE:
        it is not garnered from LIFE or real experience but from 'PROCESSED' and 'MANUFACTURED' goals and aims not having a SOURCE from within or by you, but is decided by others, who, in their 'wisdom' and 'benevolence' (harsh or gentle), have prepared 'MENUS' & 'CURRICULA' for you to learn, conform and continue to maintain all 'proper' and 'unique'                 characteristic of your 'immediate' and eventual 'future' environments.

THIRDLY: 'THE ACCIDENT OF 'EMPLOYMENT' & 'OCCUPATION'. your 'NICHE' in the tribal/ethnic, national, religious/social/economic etc world of 'CIVILIZATION's assigned ROES for you to mimic and march to and from and for both the 'march of time' and the 'cause' whatever is popular and ordered and lucrative.


FOURTHLY: RETIREMENT & DEMISE:
Whether by your seemingly 'choice' or a planned affair, that might include many 'options' (with an elaborate catalog of up-to-date views) such as NARCOTIC dependency, medical controls and experimentations as well as 'planned' suicide which will include the reduction of any remains to ash, scattered or burned, the last traces of any existence did not make as significant beyond the demands of GREAT NATURE.

TODAY, THE GEOGRAPHIC AREAS THAT GURDJIEFF LIVED IN AND VISITED IN THE EAST ARE IN TURMOIL

The areas known as THE NEAR EAST, THE MIDDLE EAST & THE FAR EAST are all in TURMOIL and various conflicts(madness) are going on, with the devastation and destruction of ANCIENT SITES on and over which invaders of all descriptions and agendas step and fight upon WITH OUT KNOWING THE PAST AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THEM.

Those who have been in those areas in the past, that is, within the 20th Century particularly, have seen the emergence of revolutions and conflicts arising to the present level in the 21st Century, showing that decisions made in the past are still operating in the present and will continue in the future AND THAT THE USUAL EFFORTS TO MAKE PEACE (or war) will not work.

The FIRST WORLD WAR led to the problems in this area and other parts of the world.The SECOND WORLD WAR did not solve the problems but sort of delayed them to this century, the 21st. The creations of 'artificial states' like YUGOSLAVIA & IRAQ are prime examples in which diverse groups, religions,ethnic values,  and other issues eventually led to disruption and violence as well as some poverty with excessive ELITES, POWER POSSESSORS, TYRANTS/DICTATORS,and shifts of political,social, and economic trends and the destruction of NATURAL AREAS of the EARTH in pursuit of  warfare and teh overconsumption of  resources.

Now the changing of cultures is undergoing a rapid pace and the gross materialism due to digitalization where every unit of time is MONEY and which controls nearly all human activities and existence and the rise of STATISTICS and more elites on a GLOBAL BASIS will affect life on earth and humanity in particular, perhaps as some predict, the extinction of life and man on earth.

Governments along with their military focuses are attempting to explore beyond the earth and look for other plantes to exploit as well as explore and use the 'SEARCH OF LIFE ON OTHER WORLDS' to motivate humans and nations they collect themselves within. But some of these nations and familiar groupings are being challenged by the very inventions and researches being conducted, as in genetics and medicine and education.

Thsi will be a great problsm for those individuals who wish to survive and evolve.

OUSPENKY'S 'BREAK'or SPLIT WITH GURDJIEFF New group members seek to find possible answers to this question on FACEBOOK GROUPS

HERE ARE TWO COMMENTS I MADE SOME YEARS AGO ON THIS SUBJECT. Please let me know your thoughts on this if possible. Many thanks in advance.

11/11/2009 Written in my copy of IN SEARCH OF THE MIRACULOUS, by P.D. OUSPENKY,softcover along with other notes since I bught the thing more years than I can exactl remember.These are from my re-reading this book in 2009. copywrited in 1949 by Harcourt,Brace &World, Inc. a HARVEST BOOK.

Here is what I wrote years ago:

OUSPENSKY goes in search of: a school or schools -he does not say he went in search of a teacher or  teachers or even teachings.

His QUEST was for a form, an abstraction, a proces, and not a person, a living being, who embodied, lived and practiced WISDOM and perhaps TRUTH, KNOWLEDGE, & LOVE.

His 8 (EIGHT) YEARS WITH GURDJIEFF-from the first meeting to the last meeting WERE NOT 8 CONTINOUS YEARS 'AT THE FOOT OF THE MASTER' but BROKEN LINKS, that is, with intervals and discord as well as some 'harmony'


This does not duplicate my original handwriting but for legibility purposes, etc


2011  I WROTE THE FOLLOWING THAT YEAR

In a sense, OUSPENSKY 'saved' these 'FRAGMENTS OF AN UNKNOWN TEACHING'from be coming merly another 'ism' or 'personality cult' and becoming another 'religion' which, of course, points to its (or theirs) Origins in the ANCIENT PAST, and put these 'fragments' into a 'PSYCHOLOGY' and therefore did not, as others did, or have done,focus on the body, its physical movements, 'the dances, or on teh physical senses,or 'the psychic-occult' powers or development.

From another perspective, the system  omposed of these 'unknown fragments' appear intellectually focused and 'lop-sided' or 'mental' rather than physical,emotional,or sexually oriented and may be seen by some as not being 'harmonious' or 'balanced'.

Nevertheless, this 'system',  this 'work', this '4th way' as described and taught etc. by OUSPENKSY
made it better known and attracted many who might have avoided 'the teachings', especially as presented o r demonstrated by GURDJIEFF and others of his folliowing,

JOHN PENTLAND

JOHN PENTLAND-His name escaped me for many years but eventually it cropped up,shining through the various clouds of gathered writings on THE FOURTH WAY. Ignored by me in my search, I had overlooked his name and contributions to keep 'THE TEACHINGS OF GURDJIEFF' working for us through the efforts and filters of others.                                                                                                             What are 'THE TEACHINGS OF GURDJIEFF'? AND, why did so many people flock around and under his 'tents', attempt  THE MOVEMENTS',  and undergo  'ORDEALS OF SELF-OBSERVATON/SELF-REMEMBRANCE' ?                                                                                                                                   Certainly the "IDEAS' that GURDJIEFF presented did not come out of a vacuum,though some might insist or suggest they came out of  THE VOID!                                                                                                                                                        People,drenched in theories, vain imaginings, as well as fetid lusts,desires, and commands of others,need to dry off and find time for 'themselves' !                                                                                                                     At any rate, whether or not they realize this or acknowledge this, they owe JOHN PENTLAND a DEBT OF GRATITUDE even if they never met him and if they have met some of his 'pupils','students', 'associates' etc. they should also acknowledge their efforts and work when possible.                                                      

THOMAS & OLGA DE HARTMANN

The book, "OUR LIFE WITH MR. GURDJIEFF" by THOMAS & OLGA DE HARTMANN, is the New Revised and Expanded Edition of 1983 which I began to read in 1985, which, at that time, was read by me to find out more about Mr.Gurdjieff and his life and methods and I read it in the ordinary way one does such things and also found some things of interest. I began to re-read it in 2011 and again in 2012 and now in 2013 have again revisited this for several reasons which I hope to make clear here if possible.                            

Many readers of this find it an interesting account of things, no doubt, if they are somewhat interested in 'ideas' and the 'work',etc. and Mr. Gurdjieff while others simply find it a biographical account of a time long ago and of two persons associated with Mr. Gurdjieff and thereby will probably not look further and also not examine this work in more intense detail and scrutiny, and certainly not in the way I approach such materials now. So those who come to this blog are urged to begin reading this work if they have not already done so and those who have read it, are urged to look at my comments on this work and also respond if they wish to my conclusions, suggestions, and notions,etc. For this, I immensely thank them for doing this, well in advance of any comments thus far.                                                                                                                                       The book gives us a glimpse of life in Russia and the areas in which the DE HARTMANNs traveled with Mr. Gurdjieff and also of the ordeals these 'aristocraticall educated and talented' persons had to undergo and survive and, of course, never be able to return to their previous life, which vanished with the Bolsheviks, a group that eventually became better known as, and controllers of, so-called 'communism', at least in Russia. In fact, the group that came out of Russia with Mr. Gurdjieff experienced somewhat similar 'ordeals' and a few, like Mr. Ouspenksy,  have written some accounts here and there,while others did not..These experiences were prior to World War II, and during and before and after World War I, the effects of which we still can feel in some instances and the decisions made during those times are still being felt and 'payed for' in some ways, even if the present generations in their 'historical-hysterical' bliss of ignorance do not.

 In reading any of these accounts or any account of adventure, ordeal, trial, and other difficult, unusual, weird, or otherwise experiences of people who have written rather well of such, there are two or three ways to read these and not the usual ones. First, most of us read such on a 'mental' or 'intellectual' basis or, if not, on an 'emotional/devotional' basis, looking for thrills, romance, excitement, etc. as a change of pace from our ordinary life, that is, if we read and not succumb to 'the hypnotic powers' of the 'BoobTube' or  the 'MONITOR'  and the internet and other cultural diversions of modern day gadgetry.    Few of us read anything with our bodies,however, although our bodies are present, no doubt, in either a chair, bed, couch, floor, seat, etc. somewhere, maybe in a library, a school, an office, a lunchroom,etc. or any place we can 'snatch a read' and hardly as an actual undertaking to read for a specific and intense experience with our three machines: the body(physical), the mind (mental) or the emotions(feelings) and never 'sensing' with our nerves and arteries,etc. or kinetic positions what is being described for us to absorb in such accounts. We may feel sex urges if the material calls or evokes such in an erotic fashion or anger over some description of things or even anxiety over a situation a hero or heroine has to resolve, but seldom do we go beyond that and make those micro, minimal, miniscule movements, those tensions, those contractions, etc. that underlie our bodies and which only a sharp observer can detect in us. Sherlock Holmes would often use such and so would Houdini in some instances to read the 'body language' which a powerful account can make manifest if it really affects and impresses and influences you. That is the kind of reading all these things needs and I hope to emphasize this as I discuss the various books in this blog that I have planned.