"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

Showing posts with label Being. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Being. Show all posts

04 July 2014

GENES OF WAKEFULNESS



To actively participate in my life, I must be present – not just any which way, but present with all of my senses, fully aware of myself as a living breathing organism on the earth. Only when I AM engaged thus am I Living outside of dream and illusion.

True BEING does not happen in the brain, I AM when my entire organism is fully awakened and conscious.


“There is a quality of wakefulness that has no fixation, ...  It is egoless. We could call this quality the genes of wakefulness, or genes of emptiness. Wakefulness is not a game or a technique. It is clear and spacious, very basic and ordinary, with no self-consciousness.”

FROM: “Enlightened Genes” in The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma. Volume Two: The Bodhisattva Path of Wisdom and Compassion by Chögyam Trungpa



For those with no teaching and no daily practice it is impossible to live this way. The illusion is easier and is always preferred. 

TBC, L.

15 March 2014

Where am I in my [inner] work today?



Originally Posted:  2011 May 17

I picked up Life Is Real Only Then, When I AM  (by G.I. Gurdjieff) this morning to look for some help before moving into my day of outer work around the house. As I started to leaf through the pages looking for the table of contents, the page fell open to the prologue which appeared to be speaking directly to the question I have:”Where am I in relation to my inner work today?” I thought I’d share it here. Hopefully it will be useful to you as well.
***
“I am…? But what has become of that full sensing of the whole of myself, formerly always in me in just such cases of self questioning during the process of self remembering…

Is it possible that this inner ability was achieved by me thanks to all kinds of self-denial and frequent self-goading only in order that now, when its influence for my Being is more necessary even than air, it should vanish without a trace?

No! This cannot be! …

Something here is not right!

If this is true, then everything in the sphere of reason is illogical.

But in me is not yet atrophied the possibility of actualizing conscious labor and intentional suffering! …

According to all past events I must still be.

I wish! … and will be!!

Moreover, my Being is necessary not only for my own personal egoism but also for the common welfare of all humanity.

My Being is necessary to all people; even more necessary to them than their own felicity and their happiness of today.

I wish to be … I still am!”

“This fantastic soliloquy proceeded in me on the 6th of November, 1927 early in the morning of one of the Montmartre night cafés in Paris when, tired to exhaustion from my “black” thoughts, I had decided to go home and there once more to try whether I might perhaps succeed in sleeping at least a little. …”
***
Gurdjieff then goes on to give an account of his state at the time of writing this book and what lead up to it. Perhaps, here, in this prologue left by our dear old rascally teacher, we can find some clues in relation to our own question of “Where am I in relation to my inner work today?” It is certainly worth re-reading.

11 February 2014

Love

February 11, 2014
"LOVE AS A BUSINESS DEAL
It is very difficult to learn to love. If an object of fascination or some kind of dream or promise is presented to you, you might fall in love. But it is very hard to love if it means purely giving love without expecting anything in return. We can only fall in love if we think our expectations will be fulfilled. In most of our love affairs, our love is conditional. It is more of a business deal than actual love."
  ~ “Planting the Moon of Bodhi in Your Heart” in Volume Two of The Profound Treasury of the Ocean of Dharma by Chögyam Trungpa

01 January 2013

BE

Know yourself

***
Remember yourself, Always & Everywhere ~ G.I. Gurdjieff

*
BE
Listening
Sensing body
Breathing In

Listening
Sensing body
Breathing out

Listening
Sensing body
Listening
Letting Go

Sensing body
Listening
Sensing body
Repeat Repeat Repeat
~ L.L. 2012

30 August 2012

External Considering





I receive weekly quotes from Pema Chodrun. This morning's quote was a good reminder to me about what Gurdjieff called internal and external considering.


"August 29, 2012
THINK OF OTHERS

Sharing the heart is a simple practice that can be used at any time and in every situation. It enlarges our view and helps us remember our interconnection.

The essence of this practice is that when we encounter pain in our life we breathe into our heart with the recognition that others also feel this. It’s a way of acknowledging when we are closing down and of training to open up. When we encounter any pleasure or tenderness in our life, we cherish that and rejoice. Then we make the wish that others could also experience this delight or this relief.

In a nutshell, when life is pleasant, think of others. When life is a burden, think of others. If this is the only training we ever remember to do, it will benefit us tremendously and everyone else as well. It’s a way of bringing whatever we encounter onto the path of awakening bodhichitta."
~~~~~~~

...again for those who tend to romanticize everything they hear or read,*"remember yourself" while practicing this. The saying "Fake it til you make it." is only helpful while you are learning to walk. By now most of you have been walking on your own for long enough to no longer 'fake it'. I had to remember this myself this week while in the company off a difficult person who commented and criticized everything at every turn.

 At one point I noticed I was feeling quite irritated by the incessant stream of criticism and negative commentary and became very quiet inside. I "remembered" myself and listened from a more centered space. I let go of the life conundrums I was wrestling with, stopped and "shared" my heart. The irritation vanished and just by making this little adjustment my friend was able to relax for a bit as well.  What held me in it's grip no longer held me and, for a time my friend became less embroiled in his life dramas as well. 

*Self Remembering: In Search of the Miraculous, Chapters: VII, IX, 


OPEN to the moment
BE Peace
 

08 April 2012

The Gift of Easter

"By far the strongest poison to the human spirit is the inability to forgive oneself or another person."  - Caroline Myss
~~~

Luke 23:34 KJV:
 "Then said Jesus: Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do ..."

~~*~~

You cannot know what being forgiving is until you are able to do.

For your own well being and that of others, practice forgiving.

To practice forgiving is to practice unconditional love.

To practice unconditional love is to practice Being.

To practice Being is to Work.

Know that to forgive is not to allow those you forgive to continue to abuse you.

Know yourself
Know your boundaries,
Honor value, cherish and respect yourself - not from ego but from Being in an awakened, and conscious state.

To Know yourself is to Be present.

To Be, you must practice the Work every day, in every way.

Nothing is more important. 


25 February 2012

Weekly work for 25 February 2012

I may not be available  to post weekly tasks and readings from time to time during March. Until the new task and reading are posted please continue with the previous week's task. There is no reason to stop making efforts just because something new hasn't been given.


Thank you,
L.

19 February 2012

Resistance to Waking (Re-post from 2010.6)

I had a conversation with someone very new to the work about resistance to sitting and to doing the tasks. Hopefully the following post from 2010, June will help.


"Question:  http://ajourneymanswayhome.blogspot.com/2010/06/resistence.html"

Comment:
 "So, who (which part or "i") wakes up prior to the part of you that appreciates Qi Gong? "It likes, it doesn't like." as G said, eh? So, which "i" wakes up, unaware that another part of you likes Qi Gong and appreciates how it helps the total Being?"

"I wonder [must see] who [what part of self] is awake first in the  [morning] when I become aware of my own being as I wake from deep sleep and the rest of me begins to catch up. Who is it that resists and does not want to proceed into the next moments? Just then, in those first moments of becoming aware of self awakening, there is a small space in time to watch those first "i's" gather and and to hear their individual songs (stories). I have the opportunity to objectively observe them "waking" up in their sleep, already talking, complaining, etc. ..."

We can apply this question at any moment we begin to awaken a bit from illusion or daydreams, etc. We can be curious about what is really going on in those moments. That kind of curiosity, [that of the 'watcher' or 'observer'] - allows me to silently, without the 'head brain' [picking away at or analyzing or judging what it sees], gather more information about my little devils - those illusive little "i's".



Be Observing
Be Peace
BE

12 February 2012

Demons, Identification & Being

 
We all have our demons. Sometimes they win and that is a very big sin against self. Why are some of us equipped to beat them and some not? What does it take to win over habit, addiction and the stories in our heads that drive us to abuse self and others in all manner of ways?

Inner Demons: Decending ~ L. Lopez, Sculpture:1990's


The Following is from: "Conscience" by P.D. Ouspensky:

"The term 'negative emotions' means all emotions of violence or depression: self-pity, anger, suspicion, fear, annoyance, boredom, mistrust, jealousy and so on. Ordinarily, one accepts this expression of negative emotions as quite natural and even necessary. Very often people call it 'sincerity'. Of course it has nothing to do with sincerity; it is simply a sign of weakness in man, a sign of bad temper and of incapacity to keep his grievances to himself. Man realizes this when he tries to oppose it, and from . this he learns another lesson. He realizes that in relation to mechanical manifestations it is not enough to observe them, it is necessary to resist them, because without! resisting them one cannot observe them. They happen so quickly, so habitually and so imperceptibly that one cannot notice them if one does not make sufficient efforts to create obstacles for them.

These negative emotions are a terrible phenomenon. They occupy an enormous place in our life. Of many people it is possible to say that all their lives are regulated and controlled, and in the end ruined by negative emotions. At the same time, negative emotions do not play any useful part at all in our lives. They do not help our orientation, they do not give us any knowledge, they do not guide us in any sensible manner. On the contrary, they spoil all our pleasures, they make life a burden to us and they very effectively prevent our possible development because there is nothing more mechanical in our life than negative emotions.
Negative emotions can never come under our control. People who think they can control their negative emotions and manifest them when they want to, simply deceive themselves. Negative emotions depend on identification;1 if identification is destroyed in some particular case, they disappear. The strangest and most fantastic fact about negative emotions is that people actually worship them. The most difficult thing for an ordinary mechanical man to realize is that his own and other people's negative emotions have no value whatever and do not contain anything noble, anything beautiful or anything strong. In reality negative emotions contain nothing but weakness and very often the beginning of hysteria, insanity or crime. The only good thing about them is that, being quite useless and artificially created by imagination and identification, they can be destroyed without any loss — and this is the only chance of escape that man has.

In reality, we have much more power over negative emotions than we think, particularly when we already know how dangerous they are and how urgent is the need to struggle with them. But we find too many excuses for them, and swim in the seas of self-pity or selfishness, as the case may be, finding fault with everything except ourselves."

<<<<<<<<<< * >>>>>>>>>>


 Thank you for sharing your beautiful voice and talents with us. May you Be in Peace now. 
Whitney Houston 1963 ~ 2012 : WireImage/Tibrina Hobson

31 January 2012

Lotus Flower
 
 
When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.
Lao Tzu