Today I Had A Strange Observation...

 

Today I had a strange observation from Great Nature. 

I have been sitting outside 

making an effort to Be present 

and Observe the beauty of this season. 

And a beautiful yellow golden leaf fell on my lap. 

I made an effort 

to observe it a little more intentionally. 

And then I realized that it is a dying leaf. 

Letting go. 

And how strange that it is so beautiful. 

And the colors it gives to the senses. 

So Rich, so Objective in its beauty. 

It seems like a lesson, perhaps, 

for me to learn about death of the physical existence, 

not sure, but it was a shock to digest more. 

A lesson Great Nature is trying to convey perhaps.

~S

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I Was Once...

John Melhuish Strudwick

R: I was once told that Mervyn 

was determined to stay present 

when he was a struggling Man No. 4 . 

Desire or determination is intentional, 

not mechanical.

Mervyn talks about desire. 

We aren’t awake 

because we don’t desire it enough.

How can we get more desire - 

more Eros?

C: I’m reminded of making one’s environment 

conducive to self-remembering 

with beauty and music; 

the I of intentionally taking in the beauty

of art, people, etc., to build desire.

~From Illuminations

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The Heart Leads The Mystic Way

Fr Lawrence Lew, O.P. - St Theresa of Avila & St John of The Cross

To be like mystics stay with them awhile,

For even if you should be made from stone,

Through mystics as a jewel you'll soon be known;

Plant love of saints now firmly in your heart,

Submit your soul to those who'll never part,

While there's still hope don't wallow in despair,

Why choose the dark when there's a sun up there?

Your heart will lead you to the mystic way,

Your body drags you to its cell of clay,

So give your heart food from those in accord -

Seek fortune from the ones who know their lord!

Rumi - Extract from The Masnavi

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Nature Is...

 

Nature is more intelligent than you; 

she knows better than you 

which are the best conditions for your work; 

and if you work, 

Nature calls on conscious spirits 

who will arrange for you the conditions you need. 

For ordinary man, 

for the man who does not work, 

there is nothing but chance. 

But for the man who works, 

Nature gives him through conscious spirits all that he needs.

~ G.I. Gurdjieff

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An Interesting Happening...

 

ShamPow20

An interesting happening has entered my life recently. 

As many of you know 

my personal interests in an active life and training 

started after living the first half of my life 

caring little for my body. 

I've experimented and utilized 

many different training systems, 

forms of exercise, sport and activity.  

Recently the desire to move better 

became an aim since having felt my body slowdown 

in the last couple of years. 

It will be 50 in July.

It seems C influence has sent into my life 

a form of training without heavy weights 

or anything traditional. 

It focuses on the nervous system 

and utilizes extreme isometrics, 

holding positions for a long time 

and using all of your might 

to pull yourself deeper into positions. 

It hurts a lot and is quite difficult. 

So, the point is, after having held these positions 

last Thursday there was an increase in vitality, 

perception, connection from my nervous system to the world. 

My plan was to not attend the meeting here in Vallarta 

because mu son was with me 

and no help to babysit. 

We happened to be close to the meeting site 

ten minutes before it started and my heart wanted to go. 

So, listening to that, 

what now is understood 

to be the voice of my consciousness 

springing from the heart, we went. 

And there it was the best meeting we've had yet. 

Very high states, 

the original moderator was an hour late, 

and we explored many questions and angles 

in the work related to new students. 

It was a verification 

that when we heed the call to serve, 

the table is set and will be fed by the Gods.

Secondarily, the suffering of the body 

in that exercise woke something up in my system. 

Kundalini yoga does the same, 

where we go past our limits and endure pain. 

Rodney also documents it, and Gurdjieff - 

the holding of arms out for extended time 

to master pain in service to something higher is a form of payment. 

~O

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Mysticism - Raising The Sails

Rembrandt - Ship at Sea

Mysticism starts with the raising of the Sails 

and the Gods provide the Wind.

To go into the open Sea is different 

than rowing around the shore.

I sensed the limitations of rowing versus 

the Sail and started to overcome the criticism 

of others that in applying the Sails I was slothful 

and lazy. The criticism kept me rowing for many years.

I started to understand that to "Know" truths 

by a simple glance of the Soul was a Mode of 

Knowledge and Understanding far above 

the Human Mind. The Mind in its turn seeks 

after Truths by reasoning and will not tend 

to acknowledge the Superhuman Mode or 

Mystical Mode, or even their existence.

~Mervyn Brady - 

Extract from email to his students: "Mysticism Part 3" 

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Do Not Be Afraid...

 

Annie Stegg Gerard 

“Do not be afraid; our fate

Cannot be taken from us; 

it is a gift.”

~Dante Alighieri, Inferno

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Socrates Comes To My Mind ...

 

Carol Pearson

Socrates comes to my mind during this meeting. 

Known for his questions, 

he questioned himself and others 

so much of the time. 

And the way I have read him in recent times, 

it seems he never took for granted 

that he knew the slightest thing. 

His wisdom came from that he really understood 

that he didn’t know 

and could hold that higher unknown state. 

In this moment that helps me. 

It’s almost like I have to be come empty 

of all I know and come into this moment 

and wait and See and observe. 

This keeps the work practical 

and not too theoretical. 

What do I understand in this very moment? 

It always seems to be to come back to the state 

and BE and be humble 

to open up for something to Be revealed 

if it wants to be revealed and understood. 

It seems a bit mysterious. 

Waiting and observing the moment 

seems the key for the delicious higher understandings 

that come and I get out of the way with my ordinary self.

~S

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The Gift

Nicholas Roerich - Mother Of The World 

Our Union is Like this:

You feel cold

So I reach for a blanket 

To cover your shivering feet.

A hunger comes into your body

So I run to my garden 

And start digging potatoes

You ask for a few words of comfort and guidance,

I quickly kneel at your side offering you

The whole book 

As a gift.

You ache with loneliness one night

So much you weep

I say 

Here is a rope

Tie it around me,

Hafiz 

will be your companion 

For life.

Hafiz

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The Fourth Way...

 

AI generated image

The Fourth Way:

Q. Can you tell me what one should aim at? I mean, what is possible to acquire through the work?

A. As a general answer—the only aim is change of being. The aim is to reach higher states of consciousness and to be able to work with higher centres. All the rest is for that, in order to achieve that. It is necessary to do a thousand things that seem to have no relation to it, but they are all necessary, because we live below the normal level. First we must reach the normal level, and second, we must try to develop new things and possibilities. No one can help you in this, only your own work and your own understanding. You must begin with understanding. These lectures and this system are to give understanding. The next step depends on your own efforts. Change of being can be achieved only if you remember all that was said and if you do not make exceptions for yourself and leave out things you do not like. If you do this, you will not have a right relation to what was said, and even if you try to remember it, it will change nothing.

I WISH TO REMIND YOU that this system is based on understanding. Understanding must occupy the first place in this system. The more you understand, the better the result of your work will be.

 

Q. Why cannot I understand the least thing when I think about it, but sometimes understanding suddenly comes?

 

A. Understanding always comes that way—you understand, and then you cease to understand. But if all attempts to understand something go wrong, try not to think about it but try to remember yourself, that is, to be emotional, and in time you will understand. Understanding does not become permanent at once; as in everything else there are many steps and you can understand something one day and not understand it the next day, for you may be more conscious in the same circumstances one day and more asleep the next. So many days may pass before it becomes your own.

~P.D. Ouspensky

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