"THERE DO EXIST ENQUIRING MINDS, which long for the truth of the heart, seek it, strive to solve the problems set by life, try to penetrate to the essence of things and phenomena and to penetrate into themselves. If a man reasons and thinks soundly, no matter which path he follows in solving these problems, he must inevitably arrive back at himself, and begin with the solution of the problem of what he is himself and what his place is in the world around him. For without this knowledge, he will have no focal point in his search. Socrates’ words, “Know thyself” remain for all those who seek true knowledge and being."

VIEWS FROM THE REAL WORLD, BY by G.I. Gurdjieff, p 43

30 January 2010

Children's books from before 1984 banned by US government.


"What you read as a child is very likely now considered dangerous contraband under CPSIA. Don't know what the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) is? It's a good idea gone horribly awry that means we can't offer children's books from 1984 or earlier for sale because they are considered inherently dangerous. (we also can't give them to literacy programs either) There are ZERO cases of children having been injured by books." ~ Owner, Rainy Day Paperback.com
See some of these banned books in the Flickr slideshow: Rainy Day Paperback.com"

Books were my refuge when I was a child, they were my mentors, best friends, and baby sitters; they were the places I went when no place else would do. I am sorry and heartbroken to hear they have been taken away from those brilliant minds to come... and from You. 

BE Caring
BE Kindness
BE Love
BE

28 January 2010

GRACE




BE Grace

BE Good - not in mean and petty selfishness born in calculating snakiness.
Nothing purchased in that way will ever be yours.

BE Selfless – not from romantic notions, not as an actor in that movie in the head brain.
Nothing purchased in that way will ever be yours.

BE Generosity of Spirit - not as a ticket to getting more for self, nor from foolishness.
Nothing purchased in that way will ever be yours.

BE Gratefulness and Love – not as a con man's transparent gesture.
Nothing purchased in that way will ever be yours.

BE a true Helper of God - not a criminal in your mechanicality always cheating and hurting others.
Nothing purchased in that way will ever be yours.

BE Brave – not like a star in your imagination, but like a Man or Woman – without those famous quotation marks.

BE Truthful - not this wriggling worm caught eternally on that internal hook of lies, justifications, "rationales" and false belief systems.
Nothing purchased in that way will ever be yours.

BE Working – not for street change,but for real Change ~ learn How to BE a real Human in and from your Heart as God intended.

Put away childish things.
Nothing purchased with lies and imagination, nothing purchased in that way will ever be yours.

BE in Grace
Just
BE

Photo Above

25 January 2010

The "Five Rememberances" of Zen





"I am of the nature to grow old. I cannot escape growing old. 
I am of the nature to have ill-health. I cannot escape having ill-health. 
I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death. 
All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change. 
There is no way to escape being separated from them. 
I inherit the results of my actions in body, speech and mind. 
My actions are the ground on which I stand."

~~~~~

Where do I take these words in to my self?
How do I take them in?
Are they thieves sent to rob me of happiness
Or little jewels
Sent to remind me
Of who I AM
and
What I Wish?


Be Blessed Today
BE Pleasant
Be Peace

Be Happy
BE

13 January 2010

WORK




The story below is from Meetings with Remarkable Men, from the chapter on Pogossian by G.I. Gurdjieff
“Pogossian was always occupied; he was always working at something. He never sat, as is said, with folded arms, and one never saw him lying down like his comrades reading diverting books, [today I am sure G would add playing on the computer and many other idle pastimes used in present day society to “kill” time] which gave nothing real. […]"

"I once asked him why he was such a fool as to not rest since no one would pay him anything for all these useless exercises."

“Yes indeed”, he replied, “for the present no one will pay me for these foolish antics of mine – as you and all those pickled in the same barrel of brine think they are – but in the future either you, yourself or your children will pay me for them. Joking apart, I do this because I like work, but I like it not with my nature, which is just as lazy as that of other people, and never wishes to do anything useful, I like to work with my common sense.”

“Please bear in mind”, he added, “that when I use the word ‘I’, you must understand it is not the whole of me, but only as my mind. I love work and have set myself the task of being able, through persistence, to accustom my whole nature to love it and not my reason alone.”

“Further, I am really convinced that in the world no conscious work is ever wasted. Sooner or later someone must pay for it. Consequently, if I work now in this way, I achieve two of my aims. First I shall perhaps teach my nature not to be lazy, and secondly, I will provide for my old age. As you know, I cannot expect that when my parents die they will leave me an ample inheritance to suffice for the time when I will no longer have the strength to earn a living. I also work because the only real satisfaction in life is to work, not from compulsion but consciously; that is what distinguishes a man from a Karabakh ass, which also works day and night.”

"This reasoning of is has been fully justified by the facts. Although he spent his youth-the time most valuable to a man for securing his old age-in as it were, useless wanderings and never concerned himself with making money for his later life, and although he did not go into a serious business until the year 1908, he is now one of the richest men on earth. As for his honesty in earning his wealth, that cannot be questioned."

"He was right when he said no conscious labour is ever wasted. He did, indeed, work consciously and conscientiously, day and night, like an ox, all his life, in all circumstances and under all conditions."

"May God grant him now, at last, his well earned rest."

~~~
What is your relationship with your outer work  - whether at work outside the home or in the home? Is it just a job you do for money? Do you do chores while daydreaming about being done and what you will do when you are done? Do you know how much of your life is wasted in this kind of daydreaming, or are you aware that jobs and chores are a part of your life that can be quite fulfilling and satisfying - regardless of what the outer work is?

Most people have to work and often circumstances have led them to work at jobs they would not have normally chosen.  Most people would rather be elsewhere, which causes them to spend their days in intense
habitual negativity at these “undesirable” jobs.  Time and energy are wasted; whole lifetimes of time and energy that could be claimed by using the jobs and chores for inner work, inner work, which will give you inner freedom, which will lead to freedom from negative circumstances and undesirable jobs, which are attracted by the habitual negativity. 

Do you have the sense that you are moving further away from your Hearts desire and what you really want in your life? The habitual negativity toward the job or chore keeps you from being  organically engaged and participating in your own life.  It is not the job, but the negativity and the negative attitudes in which you indulge day and night, day after day, week after week, month after month, which keep you from cherished aims and goals, it is not the job.

Inner work is not a part time occupation or a hobby. You will get no lasting results that way. So many people attend meetings, read the works of great teachers, profess to be 'interested' in inner work, but put many things ahead of the inner work. They talk a good game but when it comes to walking the talk, they are sadly lacking. It is clear who they are. I have even met so called teachers in the work who talk a good game. It is clear who they are too. Gurdjieff suggested we use everything for our inner Work. “Eat or be eaten.” he warned us. 


Ponder this: How can you look at each circumstance and situation in your daily work differently? How can one do this and become enlivened and more whole in oneself instead of  disappearing as time slips by? Think about this while sensing the soles of your feet for five minutes.  Be aware of your feet while thinking.

Interesting, no? It feels good to Be Alive and not just a talking head, eh?

 Strive for Being
Work consciously
Do no harm
Help God
BE

11 January 2010

Teachers and Students (Part V)

“It is not because the truth is too difficult to see that we make mistakes... we make mistakes because the easiest and most comfortable course for us is to seek insight where it accords with our emotions - especially selfish ones.” 

~ Alexander Solzhenitsyn

 

"How do I live from my soul?" the snake asks. 

Lalo sighs; it is almost time.
"Turn Disrespect into Respect." Lalo replies as she cleans the Sacred Blade entrusted to her by her first friends in the woods. She sets her face, there is grim work ahead." 

  from Lalo the Snake Catcher: King Snake,the Last Chapter

                     

For some, true Being is unattainable, they cannot, will not give up illusion. As long as you hold to your selfishness, your insincerity and inner bias impede and eventually stop all inner work. You end up wandering in circles, descending. Even the "tricks" will be forgotten.

 

Lalo to King Snake:

"I am not fooled by your lies;

Neither the ones you tell me 

Nor the ones you tell yourself.

I See you quite well from Here.

Your lies soil the atmosphere."

   from Lalo the Snake Catcher: King Snake,the Last Chapter

 

Without honesty and sincerity, you cannot develop true Being. You cannot live in "theory", nothing real develops in there - in that devious head brain. Eventually anything you've managed to earn will drift away and become part of the illusion your cowardice prefers. Real possibility is eaten by the dream. Veils do fall back into unnatural place. It is Lawful. Your chance is running out. It is true that "you cannot sit between two stools". Your illusion cannot be in reality, reality cannot Be in your illusion. The Work is not a hobby and this School is not a country club. Choose.

 


Work

Live

BE Respect

BE Truth

BE Sincerity


BE


Teachers and Students (Part IV)



"All major religious traditions carry basically the same message, that is love, compassion and forgiveness the important thing is they should be part of our daily lives." ~ HH Dalai Lama

Be Love
Be Forgiveness
Be Compassion
BE

10 January 2010

Teachers and Students (part III)


"No doubt there are things which pass the ordinary comprehension of man. There are things one can teach only by speaking or by acting; but there is a way of teaching (which is called Tawajjuh), and this way of teaching is without words. It is not external teaching, it is teaching in silence. For instance, how can man explain the spirit of sincerity, or the spirit of gratefulness? How can man explain the ultimate truth, the idea of God? Whenever it has been attempted, it has failed; it has made some confused, and it has made others give up their belief. It is not that the one who tried to explain did not understand, but that words are inadequate to explain the idea of God."...

"However, no one can give spiritual knowledge to another, for this is something that is within every heart. What the teacher can do is to kindle the light which is hidden in the heart of the disciple. If the light is not there, it is not the fault of the teacher."


"There is a verse by Hafiz in which he says, 'However great be the teacher, he is helpless with the one whose heart is closed.' Therefore, initiation means initiation on the part of the disciple and on the part of the teacher, a step forward on the part of both. On the part of the teacher, a step forward with the disciple in order that the pupil may be trusted and raised from his present condition. A step forward for the pupil because he opens his heart; he has no barrier anymore, nothing to hinder the teaching in whatever form it comes, in silence or in words, or in the observation of some deed or action on the part of the teacher."   ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan



  "On this mystical path, courage, steadfastness and patience are what are most necessary; but also, trust in the teacher at whose hand initiation is taken and the understanding of the idea of discipline. In the East, where for thousands of years the path of discipleship has been understood, these things are regarded as most important and acceptable from the hand of the teacher. How few in the world know trust! What is necessary is not trusting another, even the teacher, but trusting oneself; and one is not capable of trusting oneself fully when one has not experienced in life how to trust another. Some will ask, 'But if we trusted and our trust was in vain, should we not be disappointed?' The answer is that we must trust for the sake of trust and not for the sake of a return and to see what fruit it brings. The utmost trust is the greatest power in the world. Lack of trust is weakness. Even if we have lost something by trusting, our power will be greater than if we had gained something without developing trust." ~ Hazrat Inayat Khan

Be Good
BE Peaceable
BE Love
BE

08 January 2010

Students and Teachers (part II)

"Also, there are no fixed rules to follow on this path. For every person there is a special rule. But there is one law which applies to everything in life: sincerity, which is the only thing that is asked by a teacher of a pupil, for truth is not the portion of the insincere.

Several initiations may be given to the pupil whom the teacher has taken in hand, but his progress depends upon the pupil himself. Just as parents are anxious, so the spiritual teacher is naturally anxious to see the advancement of his pupil. There is no reason for the teacher to keep any pupil back from success. For, as the happiness of the parents lies in the happiness of the child, so the satisfaction of the teacher lies in the advancement of the pupil." ~Hazrat Inayat Khan Volume X_2_2

07 January 2010

Teachers and Students




~
'However great the teacher be, he is helpless with the one whose Heart is closed.' ~ Hafiz
~~~
"Initiation by a spiritual teacher means both a trust given by the teacher to the pupil, and a trust given by the pupil to the teacher. And the progress of the one who is initiated depends upon how much he gives himself to the teacher's guidance. One might give only a finger, another even a part of a finger, while a third would give his whole hand. That makes a great difference. A pupil says, 'Well, I will give a certain amount of my time and thought to your guidance, will that be enough?' Then the teacher says, 'Yes, if you think it is enough.' In reality, however, it is never enough. Then one might wonder if one would not be giving up one's own point of view in order to follow someone else's point of view; but actually, if one has a point of view, one never loses it. The point of view that one loses is not one's own. By looking at a thing from another person's point of view, one only enlarges one's own. Then, one has two points of view instead of one. If the thought of the pupil happens to be different from that of the teacher, then by taking the teacher's thought, his own is doubled. The pupil keeps his own point of view just the same, only now he has something for his vision from which to make his choice. The horizon of his thought is expanded. But the pupil who closes himself and says, 'I will guard my point of view or it will escape me,' will never derive any benefit from this attitude."

"The mystical path is the most subtle path to tread. The relationship between teacher and pupil is too subtle for words to express. Besides, the language of a mystical teacher is always elusive; you cannot, so to speak, pin him down as to his words. You cannot ask him to say clearly that something is so and so, or such and such. If a mystic does so, he is not a mystic, for a mystic cannot do this. The mystic may seem to be standing on the earth, but he is flying in the air. The air cannot be made into a rock, nor can the mystic be made into a gross entity. His 'yes' does not mean the same as the 'yes' of another, nor does his 'no' mean the same as the 'no' of others. The language of the mystic is not the language of words; it is the language of meaning. It is the greatest distress for a mystic to have to use the words of everyday language, which are not his words. He cannot express himself in these words. We find the same in the actions of the mystic. His outward actions will not express to everybody the meaning which is behind them, and that meaning may be much more important inwardly than the action is outwardly."

"The teacher, therefore, tests his pupil continually. He tells him and he does not tell him, for everything must come in its right time. Divine knowledge has never been taught in words, nor will it ever be so taught. The work of a mystical teacher is not to teach, but to tune, to tune the pupil so that he may become the instrument of God. For the mystical teacher is not the player of the instrument; he is the tuner. When he has tuned it, he gives it into the hands of the Player whose instrument it is to play. The duty of the mystical teacher is his service as a tuner."

"Dispute with a spiritual teacher is never any good, for the pupil may be speaking one language, while the teacher speaks another; and when there is no common language, then how can the dispute be profitable? Therefore, in the path of mysticism, there is no dispute."
...continue reading

~~~~

There is much more to this chapter written by Hazrat Inayat Khan, in which he discusses the valuation, respect and attitude necessary in the student for a viable relationship with his/her spiritual guide.  No teacher will carry a false student for very long. It is better to ask the student to leave.

False students are thieves, they steal energy, time and more from the teacher and other students and muck up the atmosphere; slowing and sometimes even stopping growth for everyone. Their selfishness affects the Whole world in ways they cannot fathom. 


BE Real
BE Peacable
BE Loving
BEhave
BE