"A. You wrote: Yes, it's through NYC and Paris that I was put in touch with the teacher from India.
L) Good... ... ... What is your 'gut' feeling about the experience?
A) I value lineage as well, for the same reasons, except not wholeheartedly.
L) This is wise. Not everyone is what he or she appears to be. One must be patient and extraordinarily discerning - especially in the work these days - but where does that ability come from? This is a problem for most of us. As we mature on the way we get better and better at it (discernment) if we are making sincere efforts. It is a wait [actively] and see process. During that process infinite patience and sincere efforts are required. One has to always be in question about everything, like a clinical scientist. This is good inner work. So, whether the 'teacher/guide' or "foundation" turns out to be a looney or a sham or not you are still ahead of the curve any disappointment can wreak.
My very first guide in the work told me, "You must question everything, even yourself." and "This [work effort] is like trying to jump over your own knees." and "You will try a million, million times." And my beloved movements teacher shouted at me - "Keep moving, L, keep moving." (I had a tendency to give up when things became difficult). These seemingly simple cautions served me well while at the foundation and do to this day.
A) The Fourth Way, from what I understand, isn't supposed to be permanent.
L) I've discovered that many words like "supposed to be" and "should" shouldn't" don't really serve us well, to me they are red flags. Nor do labels serve us well either, have you noticed how everything has a label or a category? What is the "Fourth Way" anyway I wonder? http://laloblogs.blogspot.com/2010/10/let-dream-go.html. For those not on the actual way it is a label for a set of ideas in the formatory. For those truly on the way there is only the work [the activity - not the word or its definitions] and the work is far more and far beyond Gurdjieff and his teachings. G's method is what Ouspensky referred to as a 'map'. It is a wonderful map but not the destinations themselves. The destinations are inside each of us who sincerely perseveres - no matter what. Together we are a combination of forces - the work or the way on earth - and together we are connected with a higher combination of forces no longer in the earthly physical (except in that these forces are in us and accessible if we learn to be and are open to them).
A) It [meaning 4th way] comes in and out of history for a purpose, taking on a certain form, and then dying to it and vanishing from sight.
L) I agree, the label "Fourth Way" will disappear from *sight* - but only to those who are not searching. It will always remain visible and accessible to those who wish for it; those who practice the work with those who are now and have been on the way - just as it was for G and his friends and those who found G. When I refer to the way, it is to something higher, beyond "4th Way" theory. Many call the way God; again, a word meant to define what cannot be defined.
A) For it [ I hope by "it" he means the teaching] to not degenerate into its opposite would mean that the Foundation has at least some Men #5 at the helm, which I have no clue about.
L) "It" is not soley to be gleaned from the "Foundation" people [another label like the Sarmoung, etc.] Men and women #'s 5 - 7 do exist, a few may be here and there on earth. I often wonder if the Dalai Lama among others, 5th pr 6th - never having met him f2f I do not know. G and Madam are not gone, nor are Jesus, Mohammed, the Buddhas, or the Ghandis or any of the extraordinary guides who have left the physical body. We who seek, are less than drops of water in the Ocean they are; they still exist - a higher combination of forces - which we have access to whenever we sincerely wish for and work to be able to open to the higher. In my sleep, I doubt this truth; I believe this is a fairy tale, imagination, when I am Awake, I AM joined with that higher energy. Have you had glimpses of this experience?
Are you keeping up with______. I am finding it very interesting and receive notices when anyone posts there. It is more practical than theoretical - even though the usual suspects respond to posts there as well - not everyone on _____ is playing with a 'full deck" as you may have surmised from all the bickering that goes on. However, a task, any task is an opportunity to work with others and compare notes. Seek out those who have been educated at the source schools but don't believe everything you 'hear' verify everything for yourself through your own studies and efforts. What is real and true will become clear.
Be well, A
L ......::::::;;;;;;; wanders away to wash the dishes, wondering if her own deck is full today. ;-)*
