I've Found It Helpful...

I've found it helpful when judging another,

to go from judgment to observing. 
 I find myself saying, "So that’s what it looks like"

because I have done what they are doing

and it needs to have a light cast on it. 

Then my judgment is not 
thrown on them

but comes to me 
in an observation 
of myself 
and the 
human condition.

~M

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Writing On the Sand...

William Blake

I was intrigued by William Blake' s painting
 of Jesus writing on the sand. 

Why did Blake chose to depict that? 

Perhaps if I write my judgement I's about someone on sand,

instead of carving them in stone, and use them as a mirror 

to see my self, then I can grow in understanding. 

And if I can see myself honestly. 

If I bring presence into the picture 

and pray for guidance many times, 

I end up in complete awe of the perfection 

of how things work out, 

how the play is there for us 
to be able to see.

~L

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I Had A Piercing Moment...

I had a piercing moment in my small terrace garden 

several years back. 

In presence, 

I was regarding the plants which were in a riot of growth, 

both planned and unplanned. 

As I started to weed and prune, 

I realized this was a lesson for my life. 

Sometimes we need to clear away what is unnecessary, 

in order for harmony and beauty to shine forth. 

Sometimes it is the unquestioned complications of our lives, 

the trivia, the excesses, which take over. 

In order to get back to the heart of things, 

sometimes it is important to clear the detritus away. 

Hard to see this, to see what these things even are sometimes. 

But when we see past the I's

and the unnecessary struggles to "survive," 

a calmness takes hold, 

and what is real can come into view. 

We need to tend the gardens of our lives carefully.

~J

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Observation Is...

Caravaggio

Observation 
is such a beautiful method with presence.

Eventually, one can slow down the features 
from running the show. 

One begins to have a choice as to how one responds 

when a feature is
 ignited. 

Also, I have found it useful 

to see the positive side of the feature, 

and work with that. 

For instance, without some vanity, 

I would probably not be a successful performer. 

And yet when presence is added to the mix, 

I can gently release the feature, 

and go higher,  

something mysterious can enter 
and play the music 
through
 me.

~J

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The Only Way to Live...

The only way to live is to accept 

each minute as it really is,

an unrepeatable 
miracle.

~Anonymous

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How Then Can We Change Being...

How then can we change being? 

By applying the knowledge of the Work 

through self-observation to ourselves. 

And remember that you do not change 

by being told what to do. 

You only change 

through seeing what you have to do 

when you realize what your Being is like.

~Maurice Nicoll

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The Other River

Gurdjieff talks about how we can enter that other river 

which flows nearby our mechanical lives 

where all is in harmony, where the soul is in charge. 

Whereas Emerson says, "all the parts and particles 

form the whole, the “oversoul.” 

But we cannot live in this second stream, he tells us,

until we loosen our attachments to this other life. 

So hard to do, but little by little we try, 

with acceptance, of ourselves and others.

~J

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I Wish I Could Show You...

I wish I could show you 
when you are lonely

or in darkness

the astonishing light 
of your own 
being.

~Hafiz

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O Human Race...

"O human race, born to fly upward, 

wherefore at a little wind dost thou so fall?"

~ Dante Alighieri

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Music Is ...

Carmen Guedez

Music is the one incorporeal entrance 

into the higher world of knowledge 

which comprehends mankind 

but which mankind cannot comprehend.

~Ludwig Van Beethoven

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I Am Reminded...

 I am reminded of the higher right 

being that which helps us to be most present and in the moment, 

so by definition that which helps us be present is 'good' 

and that which puts us under 

too many laws to be present is ' not good'. 

We must guard our state 

and sometimes it can seem cold and distant to those in our lives 

to turn away from them but if we are in a situation 

of almost constant negative emotions from those around us, 

then the higher right is to walk away.

~M

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Nearly Every Action...

Giotto Di Bondone

Nearly every action or thought process 

that takes place in the world contains judgement. 

It is a big opportunity to change level of Being 

and be able to step forward and embrace new understanding 

and let go of stale behaviors and wrong thinking. 

~C

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One Has No Right...

“One has no right to love or hate anything 

if one has not acquired a thorough knowledge of its nature. 

Great love springs from great knowledge of the Beloved object, 

and if you know it but little, 

you will be able to love it only a little or not at all.” 

~Leonardo Da Vinci 

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Real Suffering Seems Obvious...

William Holman Hunt

Real suffering seems obvious

but when the feature or center of gravity is doing its thing

it's not always clear

because of the intensity of the emotions in the moment. 

One feature of unnecessary suffering that seems to manifest

is imagination usually coupled with inner-considering, 

and both needing identification. 

As students, 

we are learning to more rapidly discern 

what is actually happening and to observe our state 

so that we can more quickly introduce divided attention 

and hopefully self-remembering to the situation 

and begin to see things for what they are.

~J

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