Identity and Distraction

At the start of the Meeting, RM recommended a new film Hugo he had recently seen which provides insights into the human machine through the metaphor of historical automata. It is based on the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick.

Each person present then gave an example of relevant experiences from the previous month, using Nancy Kline's structure.

RM had been reading the accounts of Gurdjieff's meetings in Paris and New York which reiterated that we are all machines. The only way to wake up is by paying attention. There are schools in London based on the teachings of a guru in India, which are not receptive to any talk of Gurdjieff. Once a group becomes closed to differing ideas, progress slows.

M had been reviewing methods of being awake. He observed negative emotions whilst meditating, and gave attention to the source of emotional distractions. He was able to trace these mental processes to imitation of his parents when very young. If one can notice these thoughts when they enter the mind one is more aware and can decide whether to go along with the distraction. He observed this ten times in a day and changed direction each time.

L had been spending fifteen minutes every day on clearing at home. Sometimes, when returning home late and tired, with other things to do, it can be tempting to omit the fifteen minute session, but habits are hard won and easy to break. He felt that if he can do the fifteen minutes every day without fail, that he can accomplish anything, but if he can't do it with consistency, then he can accomplish nothing, for what do words and intention mean if they are not carried through?

Following Nancy Kline, there was then a period of review.

L confirmed RM's point, mentioning that a school associated with Ouspensky is much more connected with the same source he had mentioned.

RM said that groups need an identity, but once they are given it, it becomes a doctrine. For example, the group he referred to, had no interest in the Ramakrishna Vedanta Centre, which is nearby in England at Bourne End. Gurdjieff advised to discover the truth as you find it to be true for yourselves, it is a process of discovery. The observer has no identity - the identity moves further back and back into being the observer, it is a comparable to stepping back toward a cliff where identity will end. He has been reading One Minute Wisdom by Anthony De Mello. In one section the teacher asks students if God exists. Both those who answer yes or no are wrong, as if God has no form, how can you give it an existence? As soon as you answer the question you are wrong. L commented how well this fits into quantum physics, as merely to look at something changes it. RM finds he keeps turning back to the Bhagavad Gita.

L said that it is hard to do art without a reason, but reasons are usually associated with identity. RM thought that in the case of music there is a valid purpose - music symbolises the sense of harmony which makes the youthful illusion of duality disappear. L asked if it is a purpose or a function - these may come down to the same thing.

Continuing the Kline method, each person now optionally had a further brief time to speak to attentive listeners.

RM continued by saying that it has made him fearful when organisations suggest he become a speaker or representative official - he would have to take on and present the dogma of the organisation; he wants to learn from all doctrines - we can only grow if we are challenged. He has been looking for the root source of anxieties accumulated through childhood, marriage and work, which he thinks is his image through the eyes of others. By thus going to the root of issues causing identity, he is waiting to find out if he will in fact then feel free.

Following the reviews of the month, the Meeting continued reading Beelzebub's Tales.

"... there immediately comes to my brain ... the following words: "every stick always has two ends. ... In trying first to understand the basic thought and real significance hidden in this ... formulation, there must ... first arise ... the supposition that ... every cause occurring in the life of man, ... as one of two opposite effects of other causes, is in its turn obligatorily moulded also into two quite opposite effects ..."

There was some discussion as to what this means. L commented that things do not have clear causes and effects. There is a saying that for every great truth, there is an equal and opposite great truth. For example, do the achievements of our society follow from capitalism or socialism, for example?

In closing, it was noted that the next Meeting would be, as usual, on the first Sunday of the month, New Years Day 2012 at 9am.