The next Fourth Way seminar is in Orlando Florida December 12th through the 15th. The theme is “The Knowing Awareness of Presence.” It includes guided meditation, Conscious Body-Breath Impressions, dialogue and private interviews with William Patrick Patterson. Hope to see you there!
The details are located on Gurdjieff Legacy.
It is available at Gurdjieff Legacy
The spiritual life story of Ethel Merston based on her diaries and recollections is an important historical work, as well as a keen insight into many of the seminal teachers of her times. Merston was one of Gurdjieff’s first English pupils and lived at the Prieuré from 1922 until 1927. Her seriousness and organizational abilities led Gurdjieff to put her in charge in his absences. Fritz Peters gives a wonderful account of what she had to put up with (he gives her the name Miss Madison) in his Boyhood with Gurdjieff. In India, she lived at Ramana Maharshi’s ashram for many years. She gives a first-person account of his death and also the meeting between The Mother and Sri Aurobindo and Anandamayi Ma (with whom she often traveled). She also attended many of Krishnamurti’s talks and seminars in the 1930s, was a friend of Sunyata, Alain Daniélou, Krishna Prem and Swami Omananda. In the 1950s she was initiated into Subud by Pak Subuh at J.G. Bennett’s Coombe Springs study house. At Mendham, she met again her friends from her Gurdjieff days—Mme de Salzmann, Mme Ouspensky, Olga de Hartmann and Peggy Flinsch—and was introduced to Lord John Pentland.
The section of the main site MesoAmericas.com for the people of the ancient cultures has been started. Here is the first paragraph:
Olmec Mother Culture
The earliest known civilization in Mesoamerica is the Olmec. It appears they are the genesis of most of the aspects of the Mesoamerican cultures. The form of their government, pyramid-temple building, writing, astronomy, art, mathematics, economics and religion became the template for succeeding cultures. The questions of where the Olmec received their inspiration and knowledge, not to mention the required force, to create the Mesoamerican culture is rarely examined deeply.
More to come…
There is a new site UsedEsoteric.com which offers a large selection of used books on diverse esoteric subjects. Selections include books by or on Gurdjieff and The Fourth Way, as well as books on Christianity, Advaita Vedanta, Ancient Egypt, and Western and Eastern spirituality.
There is an upcoming seminar in Maryland August 29th through September 1st. The theme is “Sex, Money & Conscience.” It includes guided meditation, Conscious Body-Breath Impressions, dialogue and private interviews with William Patrick Patterson. It’s open, as it says, to all levels of simplicity. See you there!
The details are located on Gurdjieff Legacy
I had read a number of Carlos books a long time ago and my interest was captivated by Carlos finding a teacher and a path to self knowledge. I felt as if I was on the journey with him, a true journey. Yet, his books became a bit strange around the 4th or 5th one and interest was lost after that.
Carlo’s life, what he learned from don Juan, what was taken from Gurdjieff’s Fourth Way—rephrased to hide its origin, his strengths and weaknesses are all explored in The Life & Teachings of Carlos Castaneda.
Of particular interest was the chapter Ideas & Sources. Carlos appears to have definitely learned something from don Juan but he used many of the ideas from The Fourth Way and expressing them in sorceric terms. Unfortunately sometimes Carlos expressed those ideas in personal terms.
Even though Carlos broke the human mold it appears there were many things or something he still did not understand or was not aware of about himself. In The Summing Up it speaks of his guilt, the guilt of his killing someone or something he judged as equivalent. It appears to me he really didn’t travel the full path of heart as he spoke of, or only up to a certain point, but was diverted by the guilt and judgment he could not absorb.
The book is well worth reading, especially anyone who has heard of Carlos or read some of Carlos’ books. It sheds light on a lot of what I did not understand about Carlos Castaneda when I first read his books and even for years after.
What mystery was evoked,
Seeing hieroglyphs for the first time,
With no comprehension of the mind,
To resurface at a later time,
What does this riddle represent to me?
Maybe unraveling it, unravels something in me.
Ages, ages,
Come and go,
Love, sadness, loneliness, gladness,
Here for a time.
Ages, ages,
Come and go,
Blossoming like a rose,
Here for a time.
Ages, ages,
Come and go,
What is Imperishable,
Here for ever.
Gurdjieff came to give the western world a shock in the hope to advert the destruction of the world. What is different is the stress on man’s individual development within group work. Quite different than our belief and hope in salvation through mass movements of religion, politics and philosophy. The full video for this trailer is available in the Gurdjieff Legacy Bookstore.
Some friends and I are cooks for hire. We do full service (appetizer & champagne, 4-course dinner with wine and after dinner drinks), appetizer & wine/champagne service and buffet service. We customize every dinner we do so we are great for those special occasions and celebrations for you and your friends.
We can be emailed at contact@MenWhoCookandServe.com and videos of a buffet and full service job can be viewed here Men Who Cook & Serve (& Clean Up, Too!) Videos