L mentioned two recent events, both of which relate to the honest experiencing of existential reality with its attendant challenges. He is going the following day for an ultrasound test of a lump in his neck. If it turns out to be a serious problem, he intends to expand his work in creative art from 50% to 100% of his time. The reminder of physical death brings home the idea that we are all in a ship of fools. As we get older and closer to death, reality is not very pleasant. In contrast, he recently went to a concert at a Christian group where music from opera was played and sung, usually depicting the death of the hero or heroine. The Christian message was the reverse, the music to sweeten the belief in eternal life in heaven. Had he spoken of other views he would have been an enemy in the temple. "R" suggested that L had described two different subjective impressions of reality, with neither being right or wrong. RM talked of Christianity's belief in rewards for good behaviour, and punishment for bad. "R" considered the tents protest outside St Pauls Cathedral as an interesting demonstration of church and individuals being present, which is making a debate happen.
M recounted exploring the concept of the Third Force. Gurdjieff's writing on the subject had seemed unnecessarily complicated, so he referred to Maurice Nicoll's commentaries. There were so many interesting references that in fact he followed up other subjects instead. "R" asked M to cite an example of the Third Force. M gave an example of preparing a meal. The Second Force is resistive balancing the First Force of intention (e.g. wanting a meal); the Third Force is within yourself. What is making the decision?
T said the fact M followed up other subjects instead was a good example of the Second Force at work.
"R" referred to page 752 of Beelzebub's Tales, which links the three forces to the phrase Gurdjieff expounds on at the beginning of the book:
"three holy forces ...
the first, 'God-the-Father';
the second, 'God-the-Son';
and the third, 'God-the-Holy-Ghost';
and in various cases expressed the hidden meaning of them and also their longing to have a beneficent effect from them for their own individuality, by the following prayers:
'Sources of Divine
Rejoicings, revolts and sufferings,
Direct your actions upon us.'
or
'Holy-Affirming,
Holy-Denying,
Holy-Reconciling,
Transubstantiate in me
For my Being.'
or
'Holy God,
Holy Firm,
Holy Immortal,
Have mercy on us.'"
RM said that creativity cannot happen without the three forces coming into play. The reconciling force and the forces of fear and desire disappear in Vedic teaching. God endures the balance and things continue in the creative process. The force of love is a harmonising force. Balance can be allowed to occur naturally. We can't choose at all.
D's experience from the month was of noticing that he was categorising people as he walked down the street, trying to slot them into categories. He remembered the words "Judge not, less ye be judged". Discernment was preferable to judging. L said he did the same, but noticed that he himself often fitted into the same categories he ascribed to others. However in D's case, as a writer, he thought it might be constructive to think about and observe others in terms of it being raw material for books.
"R" spoke of visiting her mother twice a day, who is in a care home and has become more gloomy and more miserable. "R" feels that her work there is to be there and soak up the negativity. The caring staff are limited by their state of sleep both physical and emotional; they might bring a meal but forget the fork or spoon, acting like that with everybody.
D said that there is a general malaise in the world. There is more to distract people. He saw a man on his mobile phone walking across the lights when they were green. The man thumped a car which braked with his hand in anger! RM suggested that maybe both pedestrian and motorist were asleep, and that the pedestrian had awoken the motorist.
RM has been reading The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. Tolle writes about different thinking levels above and below the conscious. Below you are a machine. Above you are paying attention. Ego pains become apparent. He has been using the mantra "every cell in my body glows with conscious attention", which has been very powerful, but he has been having difficulty sleeping because of the mantra. The process of becoming aware cannot be rushed and has to take its time. How should a person rest when one not consciously working?
T suggested swimming, which distracts the body because it is in a medium that is not the usual medium, and touches the body all over. The mind is stilled because the body is awakened. It is a simple activity going up and down the lengths of a pool but is complex and distracting for the body to experience. This distracts the body and the mind keeps going, directing the swimming.
D said that while waiting for something to happen, the human psyche experiences pain and boredom. The more enlightened you are, the more difficult things become. With more power comes with more temptation.
L suggested that this form of sleep might be a sound mechanism for psychological balance, just as physical sleep helps the physical body. Becoming awake might entail experiencing pain.
T's experience related to how a busy therapy session made her late for a following meeting. Although the work with patients had been rewarding and interesting, she was in a state of sleep, and criticism for arriving late awoke her.
E talked of Wilfred Bion, who ran sessions which aimed to be in the present, without connection to any earlier sessions, without memory and desire. The ego can be lured to sleep by giving it a repetitive activity to do, like focusing on the body, the breath, knitting, or repeating a mantra, allowing the higher self free to be present. Referring to earlier discussion of the Third Force, E also talked of Kurt Lewin's concept of Force Field Analysis, which examines the balance of motive and resistive influences and looks for ways to break through resistance. D talked of Gurdjieff's musical metaphor of resistance in the Enneagram symbol, with tonic sol-fa, and L said that, whilst it might not apply exactly to the symbol, in classical music harmony fa is a point of resistance where music naturally falls back to me.
It transpired that in fact, with all the ensuing discussion, the time taken had expanded to ten minutes each on average (which with seven present had used most of the meeting's scheduled time), so that an adaptation to the structure was needed. E suggested drawing from the ideas of Nancy Kline (the "Thinking Environment"). Rather than five minutes, each person in turn would speak for two minutes while everyone else was fully attentive.There would be then be a period for discussion, after which each member in turn could, if they wished, speak for a further two minutes. It was agreed by all that this be tried at the following meeting to allow more time to consider the writings of Gurdjieff.
The Meeting then returned to reading from Beelzebub's Tales, Chapter I, The Arousing of Thought.
L initially mentioned there had been email correspondence from BS in India. [Removed at the request of BS.]
L continued with the reading:
"That is why I now, also, setting forth on this venture quite new for me, namely, authorship, ... begin by pronouncing this utterance and moreover pronounce it not only aloud, but even very distinctly and with a full, ... 'wholly-manifested-intonation' ..."
L suggested that maybe, with such extraordinary drawing of attention to the phrase and its enunciation aloud, Gurdjieff is advocating its recitation as a mantra, as BS has been experimenting with.
Talking about his new venture in writing, Gurdjieff continues: "Having thus begun, I can now be quite at ease, and ... be beyond all doubt assured that everything further in this new venture of mine will now proceed, as is said, 'like a pianola.'... I have always done everything, absolutely everything, not as it is done by other, like myself, biped destroyers of Nature's good. Therefore, in writing now I ought, and perhaps am even on principle already obliged, to begin not as any other writer would. In any case, instead of the conventional preface I shall begin quite simply with a Warning."
The reference to a pianola reminded L of E's reference to automatic following of breathing, or other physical activity, as a mechanism for lulling the ego to sleep.
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