I have mentioned this book before, especially on THE FOURTH WAY,LA, and wish to make mention of it once more. The previous blog on another book entitled,OUR MANY SELVES, discussed some things that might be helpful in one's own WORK in or on THE FOURTH WAY,while this one comes from one who devoted many years to the work without leaving it or the groups,etc. It is crammed full of information that may prove helpful to those who wish to form groups of their own for study rather than work alone or by themselves, without feedback.
I have found some of the diagrams most useful and so on. These diagrams are those used in meetings and groups and of a specialized nature for the most part and not the general ones that most other works consider or attempt to explain and elucidate.
Friday, January 25, 2013
OUR MANY SELVES-by ELIZABETH O'CONNOR
The author of this book is/was associated with THE CHURCH OF THE SAVIOUR in Washington,DC, and its unique coffee house called, THE POTTER'S HOUSE. I became personally acquainted with both back in the late 1960's when I was there and I also stayed or roomed and boarded briefly at a house they maintained. To stay there, you had to eat at least on meal with them a day.Eventually, they sold this house and I had to move. They also had a bookstore there and did a lot of work in that area which was in NW DC.
I became friends with many of the persons who stayed there. One lady worked for THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY, of which I was, at that time, A LIFE MEMBER and I used to spend a lot of time looking at the various exhibits as well as at the Smithsonian Institute. I only went a few times to the Coffee shop with a friend whom I met and also a member of the church for special reasons. He had been in the Navy and so on but I can't recall even his name now without consulting my diaries,journals and notes of that time. However, I did attend on church service if I recall and met the Minister whose name escapes me also.
I do not recall meeting the authoress of this book but when I picked it up I decided to buy it and read it. I skimmed through it and only now have re-read it. For those in the FOURTH WAY, it may prove a bit helpful in some ways. I have not read her other books.
In this book she tells of joining and 'working' with a group to read books on THE WORK and about Gurdjieff and Ouspensky, of whom she,like so many others, relied on and used the latter's IN SEARCH OF THE MIRACULOUS. I suspect this was the case because some of the other works had not been published or released at the time or were too expensive to obtain back then,etc, or if you did not know of their existence you might not search for them.
She tells us that she eventually left the work group and gives her reasons, some of which may not seem important enough to warrant giving up work with others along similar lines. I did not encounter any group devoted to the work at that time but met other groups of interest which I may or may not mention in other blogs or even this one.
I will comment on this book when I have more time to do so and mention the things that I feel or think may be useful in some ways. The authoress quotes from works that she has found useful and interesting and compatible with her views at the time of its publication.
The CHRISTIAN ORIENTATION will be obvious in this book but it is not strictly what might be 'traditional' or 'sectarian' in-so-far as being allied with the major groups and churches now more familiar to us, whether CATHOLIC OR PROSTESTANT and the political aspects of church operations and missions,whatever they might be or how they might be described.
However, there is some hint of 'ancient' & 'early' Christianity in the book but you have to find it and relate to the actual history of EARLY CHRISTIANITY AND/OR THE CHURCHES & GROUPS AT THAT TIME, namely the first and second centuries, or the TIME CHRIST WAS THERE.
I became friends with many of the persons who stayed there. One lady worked for THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY, of which I was, at that time, A LIFE MEMBER and I used to spend a lot of time looking at the various exhibits as well as at the Smithsonian Institute. I only went a few times to the Coffee shop with a friend whom I met and also a member of the church for special reasons. He had been in the Navy and so on but I can't recall even his name now without consulting my diaries,journals and notes of that time. However, I did attend on church service if I recall and met the Minister whose name escapes me also.
I do not recall meeting the authoress of this book but when I picked it up I decided to buy it and read it. I skimmed through it and only now have re-read it. For those in the FOURTH WAY, it may prove a bit helpful in some ways. I have not read her other books.
In this book she tells of joining and 'working' with a group to read books on THE WORK and about Gurdjieff and Ouspensky, of whom she,like so many others, relied on and used the latter's IN SEARCH OF THE MIRACULOUS. I suspect this was the case because some of the other works had not been published or released at the time or were too expensive to obtain back then,etc, or if you did not know of their existence you might not search for them.
She tells us that she eventually left the work group and gives her reasons, some of which may not seem important enough to warrant giving up work with others along similar lines. I did not encounter any group devoted to the work at that time but met other groups of interest which I may or may not mention in other blogs or even this one.
I will comment on this book when I have more time to do so and mention the things that I feel or think may be useful in some ways. The authoress quotes from works that she has found useful and interesting and compatible with her views at the time of its publication.
The CHRISTIAN ORIENTATION will be obvious in this book but it is not strictly what might be 'traditional' or 'sectarian' in-so-far as being allied with the major groups and churches now more familiar to us, whether CATHOLIC OR PROSTESTANT and the political aspects of church operations and missions,whatever they might be or how they might be described.
However, there is some hint of 'ancient' & 'early' Christianity in the book but you have to find it and relate to the actual history of EARLY CHRISTIANITY AND/OR THE CHURCHES & GROUPS AT THAT TIME, namely the first and second centuries, or the TIME CHRIST WAS THERE.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
SOME THINGS COME IN PAIRS
There is a popular notion or 'superstition' that things come in pairs, such as in the saying, 'It never rains but it pours' and, of course, the animals loaded into Noah's Ark. But in the FOURTH WAY STUDIES things are apt to come in THREE'S,that is, follow THE LAW OF THREE, of which many do not understand or apply for many reasons. While the mind will accept such, the emotions often do not and the body also ignores this law at different times and sometimes at great cost or expense. The Law of Three also involves 'cause and effect' situations while other things determine our FATE.
Friday, January 11, 2013
THE LAW OF THREE: CENTERS, AN EXAMPLE
The LAW OF THREE in regards to the centers of man, body, mind, emotions, and also the instinctive, moving, sex,and two higher centers is often a concern for those beginning THE FOURTH WAY, especially for those coming from the three classic or traditional ways of THE FAKIR, THE MONK, THE YOGI.
Since these three ways are fairly familiar to those who have previously read this blog and some of the other related blogs of mine, I shall not go into these ways. Instead, I want to discuss this by giving an example that may be more familiar to many: THREE CHARACTERS FROM THE WIZARD OF OZ!
The author of the OZ BOOKS, which I had as child when I was around 6-7 years old, FRANK L. BAUM was an interesting person whose other talents and interests have faded a bit since the popular movie with Judy Garland. The movie,highly entertaining, colorful and musical, shunted aside the special things that can be found in this story.
FIRST, the three characters that concern us here: THE SCARECROW, THE TIN MAN, & THE LION. On the face of it, these characters are amusing and charming, with special problems and character traits and so on. THE SCARECROW LACKS A BRAIN. THE TIN MAN LACKS A HEART. THE LION IS COWARDLY AND LACKS 'COURAGE'. Thus we have THE THREE MAIN CENTERS: THE MIND, THE EMOTIONS, THE BODY.
They all have the PHYSICAL CENTER or BODY and can use the MOVING CENTER as the movie shows fairly well. In these three, we see the need to 'develop' these centers since from the beginning these do not function or work in them or only work inefficiently and therefore these three have to be 'transformed' or 'energized'. We see that these three 'center's in relation to 'DOROTHY' have to do battle with the 'WIZARD' plus deal with two WITCHES and a few other things. DOROTHY, of course, with her dog,TOTO, wants to get back to KANSAS from whence she was whisked by a cyclone/tornado.
I shall not delve deeper into this story but suggest merely that you read it in the original, first, on the literal level, then on the intellectual level, and then on the emotional level,etc. Try to see how the story affects you, if it does, and OBSERVE YOURSELF as you do this, especially under differing conditions, when sitting, standing, walking, lying down, etc. and when others are sure to disturb your reading or some other interruptions can occur. Be aware or you thoughts and your feelings and sense certain things in your body as you do this 'exercise'. Then try to recount everything and REMEMBER YOURSELF.
Since these three ways are fairly familiar to those who have previously read this blog and some of the other related blogs of mine, I shall not go into these ways. Instead, I want to discuss this by giving an example that may be more familiar to many: THREE CHARACTERS FROM THE WIZARD OF OZ!
The author of the OZ BOOKS, which I had as child when I was around 6-7 years old, FRANK L. BAUM was an interesting person whose other talents and interests have faded a bit since the popular movie with Judy Garland. The movie,highly entertaining, colorful and musical, shunted aside the special things that can be found in this story.
FIRST, the three characters that concern us here: THE SCARECROW, THE TIN MAN, & THE LION. On the face of it, these characters are amusing and charming, with special problems and character traits and so on. THE SCARECROW LACKS A BRAIN. THE TIN MAN LACKS A HEART. THE LION IS COWARDLY AND LACKS 'COURAGE'. Thus we have THE THREE MAIN CENTERS: THE MIND, THE EMOTIONS, THE BODY.
They all have the PHYSICAL CENTER or BODY and can use the MOVING CENTER as the movie shows fairly well. In these three, we see the need to 'develop' these centers since from the beginning these do not function or work in them or only work inefficiently and therefore these three have to be 'transformed' or 'energized'. We see that these three 'center's in relation to 'DOROTHY' have to do battle with the 'WIZARD' plus deal with two WITCHES and a few other things. DOROTHY, of course, with her dog,TOTO, wants to get back to KANSAS from whence she was whisked by a cyclone/tornado.
I shall not delve deeper into this story but suggest merely that you read it in the original, first, on the literal level, then on the intellectual level, and then on the emotional level,etc. Try to see how the story affects you, if it does, and OBSERVE YOURSELF as you do this, especially under differing conditions, when sitting, standing, walking, lying down, etc. and when others are sure to disturb your reading or some other interruptions can occur. Be aware or you thoughts and your feelings and sense certain things in your body as you do this 'exercise'. Then try to recount everything and REMEMBER YOURSELF.
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