“He was sitting on his divan and nodded as we filed past him and found places around the Christmas tree. He seemed rested.… He asked Canary [in later years, Gurdjieff customarily gave special names to his pupils] to put out all the lights and to plug in the contact that lit the tree. We sat in silence for several minutes. Then Gurdjieff said: “This I like. Such tree makes you quiet, peaceful inside. It is like sitting before an open fire. Coziness.”
"The mirror over the mantel reflected the tree’s colored lights. Wendy whispered, “I see two trees …” and started our master talking about reflected light, a chapter out of his unknown past."
“It would be better if it was candlelight,” he said. “Candlelight blends better; electricity does not blend. But the most beautiful light I know, is the light I saw many times in Persia. They make a clay cup, fill it with mutton fat, put twist of cotton in, and this they burn for holiday, fete, wedding. This light burns longer than any other kind of light—even for two days one such small cup will burn. And such light—the most beautiful for blending. For Mohammedan fete, once I saw a whole house lit by such lights … such brightness you cannot imagine, it was like day. You have seen Bengal lights? This I speak about was even more bright. For man, it is the best light for reading …” A note of nostalgia for the Near East came into his voice. “In Persia, they even arrange rooms for such light. Once I saw one I can never forget. They hang mirrors everywhere, even floors and ceilings have mirrors—then around, in special places to make decoration, they put such clay cups with mutton fat, and when you see—it makes the head spin. Wherever you look, you see lights, endless, thousands. You cannot imagine how it was. Only, one must see—and when you see you would never imagine that such a beautiful sight comes from such small idiot thing as this clay cup of mutton fat.…”
“One other thing about such lights,” he went on, “is most original. When they make them with frozen fat, this they put together in layers, each layer with a special perfume, with separations between layers so that when they burn—first you smell, then the room fills with one perfume; after half an hour with another, and then another—all planned exact! Such knowledge they had before … such candles they made consciously and everybody had them. Such was life then! Now … they make them automatically …”
"A sadness settled over our spirit after he had spoken, as so often happened when he made a glowing picture of how man once was—simple, unspoiled, aware of his soul and its needs.” ~ Kathryn Hulme, New Year’s Eve, 1936
"The mirror over the mantel reflected the tree’s colored lights. Wendy whispered, “I see two trees …” and started our master talking about reflected light, a chapter out of his unknown past."
“It would be better if it was candlelight,” he said. “Candlelight blends better; electricity does not blend. But the most beautiful light I know, is the light I saw many times in Persia. They make a clay cup, fill it with mutton fat, put twist of cotton in, and this they burn for holiday, fete, wedding. This light burns longer than any other kind of light—even for two days one such small cup will burn. And such light—the most beautiful for blending. For Mohammedan fete, once I saw a whole house lit by such lights … such brightness you cannot imagine, it was like day. You have seen Bengal lights? This I speak about was even more bright. For man, it is the best light for reading …” A note of nostalgia for the Near East came into his voice. “In Persia, they even arrange rooms for such light. Once I saw one I can never forget. They hang mirrors everywhere, even floors and ceilings have mirrors—then around, in special places to make decoration, they put such clay cups with mutton fat, and when you see—it makes the head spin. Wherever you look, you see lights, endless, thousands. You cannot imagine how it was. Only, one must see—and when you see you would never imagine that such a beautiful sight comes from such small idiot thing as this clay cup of mutton fat.…”
“One other thing about such lights,” he went on, “is most original. When they make them with frozen fat, this they put together in layers, each layer with a special perfume, with separations between layers so that when they burn—first you smell, then the room fills with one perfume; after half an hour with another, and then another—all planned exact! Such knowledge they had before … such candles they made consciously and everybody had them. Such was life then! Now … they make them automatically …”
"A sadness settled over our spirit after he had spoken, as so often happened when he made a glowing picture of how man once was—simple, unspoiled, aware of his soul and its needs.” ~ Kathryn Hulme, New Year’s Eve, 1936
And as I read the above, a personal habit born early on in the work when I was much younger is triggered. I too become nostalgic - for work days and experiences from long ago. I also begin to become sad; a longing for the past welling up in my chest. It would be so easy to slip into a daydream, a "romancing" of days gone by, but then I remember that I do not have to be taken by the memories. I can have the memories and Be present to the now at the same time. Now I can choose how my now will be, I can Be present and I choose to Be - simple and unspoiled, aware of my soul and it's needs and I can go about fulfilling those needs for myself.
Now I AM filled with a quiet Joy and Gratitude for having been born again and again and again... each time I remember myself; a Gratitude for the Work and all and everything that came before me which has brought me to this moment.
Now I AM filled with a quiet Joy and Gratitude for having been born again and again and again... each time I remember myself; a Gratitude for the Work and all and everything that came before me which has brought me to this moment.
In this moment, I look to see what is here inside of me and outside of me; I do this for me - for all of us and to "relieve the suffering of God". I feel appreciation in each moment I AM present, in movement, organic, connected to the sensations of my body. I AM alive, here in this room in this place on this planet connected to and part of everything that is happening in this moment on Earth and beyond. I am vivified, I AM "forest and trees" all at once.
Birth and rebirth – isn’t that the big message at this time of the year and of Christ Mass? All of that – everything that came before us brought each of us to this moment and this moment and this moment and this moment and this moment and this moment... so that we may Live – this moment, this moment, and this moment… and so on.
Best wishes for a Love Filled Christmas
and Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!
and Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!
2012 is going to be AMAZING!
Be Good
Be Well
Be Love
Be Love
Be Peace
Be the Light
Be the Light
BE,
Warm Regards to All,
Laura
