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THE FOURTH WAY www.gurdjieff.es
ENG // English version
Study notes
#01
LaTeca Institute for Harmonious Development
Exploring the System
The Law of the Three Principles Unknown ancient rituals
The Mystery of the Four Baptisms
The dynamics of negative thought
Everything… Goes Back to the Source!
Gurdjieff-Ouspensky
The Wedge Between Them…
LaTeca Institute for Harmonious Development
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www.gurdjieff.es
THE FOURTH WAY EN // English version Number 1 Study notes // Official Press Body of the LA TECA Associations
Chairman Giovanni M. Quinti From an original idea by Luigi Di Sante and Sonia Iacoangeli Publisher La Teca Association, Barcelona - SPAIN Graphics José L. García Muedra Printing
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BARCELLONA Gran Via, 204 bis, local 4 08004 - Barcelona - Spain Contact: Giovanni M. Quinti +34 (630) 618422 Access by invitation only
APUNTS - Barcelona Contributors to this edition Eva M. Franchi, Prof. Piero La Mura (Stanford University), David Peretti, Gisella di Palma, Sonia and Luigi di Sante, Giovanni M. Quinti.
"The Fourth Way" study notes are an international publication produced by the La Teca Association, Barcelona - Spain. For information on prices and subscriptions, visit the website: www.gurdjieff.es. On the same site you can purchase back issues, subject to availability, and with a surcharge. You can also take out a subscription and receive our study notes at home each month. Manuscripts, photographs and drawings sent to us will not be returned, even if they are not published. Please inform us in good time of any change of address, being sure to specify your old address as well as the new one. La Teca Association - Any reproduction, even partial, is prohibited if not authorised in writing by the editorial office. Registration n°. B-32081-2008
Other Study Groups are operative in the following cities: AREZZO, VICENZA and CATANIA For information on the headquarters of each Study Group, contact one of the Central Brotherhoods.
Cover illustration "Hermes Trismegistus and the creative fire that unites the polarities" D. Stolcius von Stolcenberg, Viridarium chymicum, Frankfurt, 1624
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THE FOURTH WAY _Contents
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CONTENTS 3
Sufi Tales
The Dream of Jalal ud-Din Rumi Our page for tales related to the teaching.
4
Editorial Instructions for use…
A new look to go with the new use of this tool, why?…how?…
page 5
5
The Words of Master Tierno
Everything… Goes Back to the Source
"He who has done an atom's weight of good shall see it. And he who has done an atom's weight of evil shall see it." (Koran, xcix, 7 and 8). Study
page 7
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Gurdjieff and Ouspensky The Wedge Between Them Analysis of the reasons why Ouspensky abandoned Gurdjieff.
Study
11 Esoteric Christianity
The Mystery of the Four Baptisms
page11
Taken directly from the exchanges that occurred during a conference held by our study groups. Study
16 Exploring the System
The Law of the Three Principles
An exploration of this law that underpins the teaching of the Fourth Way.
20 Today's pupils
Acting Experiences
The personal experience of an actor from the theatre company "Gli ascoltatori della Voce".
22 Unknown texts
The Secret Words of Jesus
The second part of the oldest apocryphal gospel, that of the apostle Thomas.
page 20
25
Letters Correspondence with searchers Interesting replies to our readers' questions, sharing so as to help in each others' personal growth.
26 The verses of the mystic poets - Najm ud-Din Razi The verses of a modern searcher - Gisella di Palma
page 22
Our little poetry page for the reflections of our hearts…
Study
The indicated Articles have been read, studied and analyzed by the Study Groups La Teca, present in Italy and in Spain. If you wish to participate, send a request to: LA TECA - Gran Vía, 204 bis (local 4) - 08004 Barcelona or email to: info@gurdjieff.es We will send you as soon as possible the address and the hours of our Study Groups meetings.
THE FOURTH WAY _Sufi Tales_Dream
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Tales of the heart |from the teachings of the masters
The Dream of Jalal ud-Din Rumi
bow-w ow bow-wow w -wo bo w
One night, a dervish, on retreat in his cell, had a dream. He saw a pregnant dog, and heard the pups barking. He found this very strange. "How can these puppies bark before they are even born?" he wondered. "No-one in the world has ever heard of such a thing!" When he woke up and thought about his dream, he was even more astonished. And since he was alone in his cell and nobody could help him to fathom this mystery, he turned to God: "Oh Lord! I am astonished at this mystery!" From the world of the un-known came this reply: "This dream represents the words of the ignorant. This is what happens when they speak although they have not freed themselves from the veils that envelop them. Their eyes are closed and they chatter inanely. This is as futile as a puppy barking in its mother's belly. It barks, but it does not know what it means to hunt, or to keep guard. It has seen neither wolf nor thief". The desire to draw attention to themselves blinds the ignorant, and their words are rash. They describe the moon without ever seeing it, and sell hot air to their clients. Seek clients who really love you. Do not worry about any random one of them. For it is wrong to love two beloveds.
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THE FOURTH WAY _Editorial
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editorial Instructions for use Editorial by the Founders of the Study Notes It is difficult to get used to all the changes that we have made in this publication in just a few months. Of course, this is not on a par with the feeling that drove our G. to say that he never cooked the same dish twice in the same way. No, the reasons that convinced the editors to adopt some actually quite radical changes lie in the need to improve the validity of these study notes. From two points of view. On the one hand, as a means of spreading the Fourth Way method, and on the other, as a teaching aid in the study of the topics it deals with. Thus we are publishing this edition with some particular features, to offer a different, more useful perspective for each searcher. The differences are considerable, not only a new graphic style, but above all more beneficial contents for our readers, in order to achieve an understanding closer to "know-how" than to "knowledge". First and foremost, the main articles are used as study modules. They will be used during the conferences held by our groups. For this reason there are notes in the margin of these articles, containing questions or reflections. These will be explored further during the discussions held at our Sunday conferences.
"When we learn, we listen only to our thoughts. This is why it is not possible for us to take in new thoughts, unless we use new methods of listening and studying" London 13-02-1922 G.I.Gurdjieff
This important innovation is a response to the need to continue to study the topics dealt with, even after the Sunday meeting has finished. Also, given the complexity and vastness of the topics covered, it is particularly useful for searchers to have a written record of concepts that are rarely obvious or easy to understand. Not everything has been changed; some of the columns that many of you have particularly appreciated have been kept. These include the Sufi tales, which have proved to be a very important source of food for thought.
Members' active participation in our association's various groups, located in cities around Italy, has contributed enormously to the development of this new magazine. Really it is no longer just a magazine, we should now define these publications solely as study notes. With this in mind, any suggestion that you may like to send us will be received with pleasure. And, as we have done previously, we would like to renew our invitation to you to take an active part in your personal development with the aid of this little working tool. This invitation is now double, because the completion of the project underlying this publication can be continued by taking part in the meetings held every Sunday in various towns and cities by our friends from the study groups. And our work does not stop here. Our constant search for any ideas that might improve and facilitate understanding of the Fourth Way method continues. This will be reflected, as it has been until now, in the changes that will be seen from time to time in these study notes. Luigi and Sonia Di Sante
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THE FOURTH WAY_Blessing our enemies
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EVERYTHING‌
GOES BACK TO THE SOURCE From "A Spirit of Tolerance: The Inspiring Life of Tierno Bokar" published in English by World Wisdom
Blessing our enemies There is a diverse and varied system of information that is still today foolishly defined as "paranormal or supernormal psychology". This happens because to date too few studies have been made on the link between "mind" and "body", and "sense of the sacred" and "psyche". Does this interaction exist? How can we learn to cultivate a positive, harmonious interaction? Can we catalyse and produce constructive, beneficial energies for ourselves and the people we love? In this regard, we bring you an article extrapolated from a wonderful book, here translated from the Italian, but now also published in English by World Wisdom - "A Spirit of Tolerance: The Inspiring Life of Tierno Bokar", which describes the life and words of Master Tierno from Bandiagara, a little African town. '‌ He not only abstained from judging others, he also tried to show that a good thought is always better than a bad one, even about people we consider to be our enemies. He was not always easily convinced, as we can see in the following anecdote about white birds and black birds. That day, Tierno had commented on the verse: "He who has done an atom's weight of good shall see it. And he who has done an atom's weight of evil shall see it." (Koran, xcix, 7 and 8).
We asked him to explain about good deeds, and he told us: "the most useful good deed is praying for your enemies". "What," I exclaimed. "Most people would curse their enemies, not bless them. Wouldn't we look a bit stupid praying for our enemies?". "Maybe," replied Tierno, "but only to those who don't understand. Man certainly has the right to curse his enemies, but in this way he does far more harm to himself than by blessing them". "I don't understand," I replied. "If a man curses an enemy and his curse works, it can destroy the enemy. Why would that not be helpful to him?" "It apparently seems possible," answered Tierno, "but this would only bring satisfaction to the selfish soul (nafs, the ego), thus a lower-level, inferior satisfaction. On a hidden level, blessing the enemy is far more beneficial. Even if imbeciles take you for a fool, it is an action that effectively shows your spiritual maturity and level of wisdom". "But why?" I asked. So Tierno, in order to help me understand, spoke of the white birds and the black birds.
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THE FOURTH WAY_Blessing our enemies
Blessing our enemies Men, he said, in their relations with each other, are like walls built opposite one another. Each wall is studded with many holes, in which white birds and black birds make their nests. The black birds are bad thoughts and words. The white birds are good thoughts and words. Because of their respective shapes, the white birds can only get into the white birds' holes and, equally, the black birds can only fit into the black birds' holes. Now let us imagine two men who believe they are enemies. We can call them Yussuf and Alì. One day, Yussuf, convinced that Alì hates him, feels angry with him and sends him a terrible thought, in other words, he sends him a black bird, leaving the corresponding hole empty. The black bird flies to Alì, looks for a suitable empty hole to settle into. If Alì has not sent any black birds to Yussuf, because he has not emitted any bad thoughts, he will have no black holes available. When it fails to find a hole, Yussuf's black bird will have to return to its original nest, bringing back with it the ill-will that it carried, which will end up eating away at Yussuf himself, and destroying him. Let us imagine, on the other hand, that Alì has also emitted a bad thought: by doing so, he will have freed a hole where Yussuf's black bird can nest and lay down some evil, thus completing its destructive mission. Meanwhile, Alì's black bird will have reached Yussuf, slipping into the hole vacated by his black bird. Thus both black birds will have achieved their goal, and will work to destroy the man for whom they were destined. However, when their mission has been completed, each bird will return to its nest of origin, for it is said that "all things go back to their source". Since the evil with which they were laden has not yet been used up, the same evil will turn against its originators and will ultimately destroy them. In a word, the sender of a bad thought, ill wish or curse is damaged both by the enemy's black bird, and by his own when it returns. The same thing happens with white birds. If we send our enemy only good thoughts, whilst he is sending us evil ones, his black birds will find nowhere to nest in us, and will return to the sender. As for the white birds, laden with good thoughts that we have sent, if they find nowhere to nest in the enemy, they will return to us complete with all the positive energy they took with them. As a result, if we issue only good and kind thoughts, no evil or curse can ever reach our being. That's why we should always bless friends and enemies. The blessing not only reaches the target to carry out its mission of peace, but sooner or later, it comes back to us with all its goodness. This is what Sufis call "desirable egoism". It is legitimate Love for Oneself, linked with respect for oneself and for others, because every man, good or bad, is the receptacle of a particle of Divine Light. And this is why Sufis, in line with the teachings of the Prophet, do not wish to sully their mouths or their souls with bad words and thoughts, nor even with apparently benign criticism.'
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THE FOURTH WAY_Why Ouspensky broke away from Gurdjieff
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Why Why Ouspensky Ouspensky broke broke away away from from Gurdjieff Gurdjieff Giov a nni M. Q ui nti After eight years of apprenticeship alongside Gurdjieff, why did P.D. Ouspensky decide to undertake his own path, freeing himself of that of his Caucasian master?
This is no trivial question, because Ouspensky was Gurdjieff 's main pupil, and he spread his method, which would not otherwise have reached us as it is today. In order to answer the question as completely as possible, we need to get a number of fundamental passages from Ouspensky's writings into focus, particularly from the book In Search of the Miraculous, which represents the studies made, the reflections that emerged and the conceptual links that together make up what we now call G.'s "method". The first passages are probably those found on page 28 of the work, which date back to the early days of his time with Gurdjieff, and which demonstrate the strong impression that the latter made on this man, who had chosen to devote his life and mind to the teachings: "… There were ideas which I could not accept and which appeared to me fantastic…" and again, "…I had an inner conviction that something had already changed for me and that now everything would go differently." (1)
Whilst on the one hand Ouspensky's interest for Gurdjieff's philosophical reflections is evident, on the other hand we see a clear and almost immediate detachment from some of his ideas. It would take several years for Ouspensky to elaborate this detachment, which ultimately led to their separation between 1917 and 1918 in Essentuki, but only became definitive in 1924, when Gurdjieff left France for the United States of America.
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In what way do you think Ouspensky influenced the interpretation and exposure of Gurdjieff's method?
We should bear in mind that Ouspensky was an intellectual and essayist with a personal mystic vocation, combined with analytical and psychological reflection. At just 18 years of age he made the Great Knowledge the purpose of his life, and his philosophical interests led to his discovery of Theosophy and to his travels in Russia, the Orient and Europe, where a strong drive to study the higher dimensions lay behind his constant research, which also included people who might offer him further stimuli.
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THE FOURTH WAY_Why Ouspensky broke away from Gurdjieff
Study
The wedge between them
Gurdjieff-Ouspensky
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Giovanni M. Quinti
? So it is no great wonder that he expressed surprise at those people who believed they already understood Gurdjieff 's entire teaching system when they had only been with him for a short time, whereas for him many things were still far from clear. (2)
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What is the meaning of the fact that some novices seem to have understood everything immediately? do you think this can really happen?
Another event further clarifies Ouspensky's nature as a pupil, and gives us a more detailed picture of his uneasiness, so to speak; we find it on page 262 of the book. It all takes place in Finland. The year is 1916, and Gurdjieff meets with his group of pupils at one of their homes. Here Ouspensky experienced an extraordinary event that he considered almost "supernormal", in which he attempted to understand the reason for his own dissatisfaction: "It all started with my beginning to hear his thoughts. We were sitting in a small room with a carpetless wooden floor as it happens in country houses. I sat opposite G... He sat still saying nothing. After a while I heard his voice inside me, as it were in the chest near the heart. He put a definite question to me. I looked at him; he was sitting and smiling. His question provoked in me a very strong emotion. But I answered him in the affirmative (out loud). "Why did he say that?" asked G., looking at the others. "Did I ask him anything?" And he at once put another still more difficult question to me (in the same way as before). And I again answered it in a natural voice. (The others) ... were visibly astonished... G. put questions to me without words and I answered them speaking in the usual way. This conversation, if it can be called a conversation, proceeded in this fashion for not less than half an hour… I was very agitated…" (bracketed comments added by the editors).
This experience shook Ouspensky deeply, as is clear as we read on through his narration on page 263. He felt disturbed because the questions that the "inner voice" was asking him were remarkably pertinent to his life, to his problems, perhaps even to the obstacles that he was unable to overcome: all of a sudden he was fully revealed, fully facing himself. "… Finally, at the moment of what felt like the climax of contradictions and of inner turmoil, there flashed through my mind a thought following which I very quickly came to a clear and right understanding of all G. had said, and of my own position. I saw that G. was right; that what I had considered to be firm and reliable in myself in reality did not exist…"
For the moment we won't start trying to work out what Ouspensky's experience was, or the value or origins of this "inner voice", which, nonetheless, is worthy of detailed exploration within the System. (3)
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What kind of voice are we talking about here? Have you ever experienced anything similar?
?
However, it is interesting to note what happened after: Ouspensky tried to exploit that state of altered consciousness to reflect on all that was not yet clear to him regarding the System. What happened was important, it enables us to understand has tensions, as well as his nature as a philosopher and intellectual with a strong drive towards the higher dimensions. He wanted to take advantage of the opportunity: his mental clarity, arising from the abovementioned psychic state, could become a tool in understanding the "missing piece", the key that he considered fundamental, but which he had yet to find. What was it? What had G. not yet revealed to him?
THE FOURTH WAY_Why Ouspensky broke away from Gurdjieff
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The wedge between them
Study
Gurdjieff-Ouspensky
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Giovanni M. Quinti
And yet that occasion did not give him the answer he was seeking: the time was not yet right. The opportunity probably arose a little later. But again on that occasion he was not yet ready. The revelation of the "missing piece" in Gurdjieff's system gave rise to a refusal within Ouspensky, but this was no longer intellectual, as we might have expected given his propensity for exquisitely rational analysis. It was emotional. We could call it the victory of the irrational over the reasoning intellectual. That missing piece was the true cause of his separation from G. What was it?
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If you have not yet read the article through to the end, try to answer the question yourself.
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What was it? (4) Some believe that Gurdjieff and Ouspensky didn't get on well together. There are even some who (wrongly) claim that Ouspensky criticised Gurdjieff as a man, for unfathomable reasons, labelling him a "sorcerer". Many, indeed, too many rumours have been spread that have no basis in reality. Ouspensky actually had nothing against Gurdjieff. Indeed, when the master's wife died, he brought him his condolences and remained alongside him, and also, in the period between 1917 and 1924 the two had many an occasion to meet and work together: Ouspensky actively contributed to supporting G.'s projects, and took part in many meetings, from Constantinople to France to London, and he always considered the new frontiers of his teachings to be deeply rewarding. What actually led to their separation was a purely "theoretical" reason, or perhaps a different interpretation of the method, of how Ouspensky perceived and experienced it. He explains the reasons for this separation on page 413 of the book: "‌ In regard to my relations with G. I saw clearly at that time that I had been mistaken about many things that I had ascribed to G. and that by staying with him now I should not be going in the same direction I went at the beginning. And I thought that all the members of our small group, with very few exceptions, were in the same or in a similar situation. This was a very strange observation, but it was absolutely a right one. I had nothing to say against G.'s methods, except that they did not suit me. A very clear example came to my mind then. I had never had a negative attitude towards the "way of the monk", to religious mystical ways. At the same time I could never have thought for one moment that such a way was possible for me, or suitable. And so, if after three years of work I perceived that G. was leading us in fact towards the way of religion, of the monastery, and required the observance of all religious forms and ceremonies, there would be of course a motive for disagreeing with this and for going away, even though at the risk of losing direct leadership. And certainly this would not, at the same time, mean that I considered the religious way a wrong way in general. It may even be a more correct way than my way, but it is not my way."
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What we know today of Gurdjieff's philosophical system is, in reality, strongly influenced by the thinking of Ouspensky himself, by his intellectual characteristics, with all the limits that an exclusively intellectual approach, with an imbalance towards the emotions, can entail. What does he mean by, "G. was leading us in fact towards the way of religion, of the monastery"? What are the mystic and theological implications of Gurdjieff's system?
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THE FOURTH WAY_Why Ouspensky broke away from Gurdjieff
The wedge between them
Estudy
Gurdjieff-Ouspensky
? ?
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Giovanni M. Quinti
The etymology of the word "monastery" is clear: we recognise the Greek root "monos" or "single"; thus the monastery is the place where the single, stable, indivisible element is built. Could there be a better concise description of the objectives of Gurdjieff's system? (5) After his studies and in-depth research, Ouspensky realised that something was not clear, that the whole system, the exercises and the work were lacking something. To Ouspensky's mind, Gurdjieff seemed to want to lead his pupils slowly towards religious mysticism, a tendency that Ouspensky could not bear, probably for emotional reasons regarding a specific inner experience, but which he never carefully explored or explained in his writings. He could not understand that G.'s approach towards mysticism was profoundly different from any form of established religious life, and that, on a certain level, the path can take the form of a mystic way (6), but it can also assume other forms. On page 387 Ouspensky tells us of the time when the Caucasian master explained the three types of breathing, considered fundamental to his method. Gurdjieff said:
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In your opinion, is it the system that is similar to the way of religion, or the way of religion that "ought" to be similar to the System?
"… so that this should happen, many conditions are necessary, fasting and prayer are necessary, and little sleep and all kinds of difficulties and burdens for the body… You think there are no physical exercises in Orthodox monasteries? Well, you try to carry out one hundred prostrations according to all the rules. You will have an aching back that no kind of gymnastics could ever give…"
And perhaps we can identify here the point from which the separation began. Several times Ouspensky tells us that it was a difficult choice, and indeed it took him several years to carry it out.
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Gurdjieff seems to refer to the monastic life and its rigidity, borrowing them as functional parameters solely in order to attain a precise goal. Ouspensky, on the other hand, reads into these statements the desire to lead the pupils into some sort of seclusion.
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Are there differences between the way of religion and the Fourth Way system?
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And did the concept of the attention to be paid to the Divine, which Ouspensky so strongly repudiated, have any particular influence on him? What did Gurdjieff think about God, and how did he lead his pupils to experience the sacred? And what if precisely this were Ouspensky's great, insurmountable barrier? It is not easy to answer these questions, although judging by his writings, a hypothesis of this kind does not seem unfounded. In conclusion, we would like to make it clear that Gurdjieff's system has been profoundly misinterpreted by those basing their ideas solely on Ouspensky's writings, since these only represent his point of view, important as it may be. The system proposed by Gurdjieff is far broader and more complex than a simple philosophical approach to fundamental matters. It is a path to reawakening which leads to the construction of the Indivisible Element. It is an all-encompassing way, a path made up of active self-sacrifice and profound transformation. It is the narrow way that only the few can travel.
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THE FOURTH WAY_The mystery of the four baptisms
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THE MYSTERY OF THE FOUR BAPTISMS Study
Giovanni M. Quinti
This picture represents a mistaken interpretation of baptism: by "sprinkling".
Unknown aspects of the sacrament in the original Christianity In the Gospel of Matthew, 3.13-17 we read: 'Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptised by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, "I need to be baptised by you, and do you come to me?" Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness". Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptised, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased" '. The term "baptism", from the Greek baptĂzein, "to immerse", represents the two phases of the alchemic Work of dissolution and reconstruction, in other words, solve et coagula. This, then, is the meaning of all of primitive Christianity, of all the Ways of Growth: the destruction of the old man and the reconstruction of the new man.
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In your opinion, could there be a sense to infant baptism?
This sacrament was not originally practised on children, but only on adults, because baptism in water was the public profession of a choice: the will to begin walking the path towards Growth. (1) However, it is likely that no-one has ever told you of the existence of three other baptisms, two of which follow baptism with water, and which take place, naturally, in the lives of those who are on the Way: baptism with air, with fire, and finally with earth.
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THE FOURTH WAY_The mystery of the four baptisms
Study
The mystery of the four baptisms
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Giovanni M. Quinti
Baptism with water ?
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Do you think a physical Master can claim to be greater than the inner Master?
In the Gospels we find two significant characters: Jesus, and before him, John the Baptist. The Baptist represents the physical Master, the external master; he baptises with water, and thus performs the first type of baptism. Baptism with water is an outer confirmation, material testimony of the will to start again from the roots, to be born again: it is an initiation. The time comes when Master and disciple meet. According to the representation given in the Gospels, the Way is a useful symbolic tool, just as the Baptist symbolically represents the physical Master, i.e., the initiator, the one who baptises. The moment arrives when the physical Master makes way for another, far more important Master, Christ, who, however, submits to the Baptist's role. There is actually no need at all, he doesn't need a physical Master.(2) "I need to be baptised by you, and do you come to me ?" It is in actual fact the divine Master, the "anointed" Master (the name "Christ" derives from the word for "the anointed one"), the hidden Master who offers himself for initiation by the physical Master. Only when the Baptist has performed his work can he make way for the true Master. Continuing in our reading of the Gospel story, it is written that Jesus, due to certain doubts expressed by John the Baptist, says this of him: "... he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he". At a certain point along the Way, the physical Master becomes the least important thing, and yet without him nothing would have been possible. An eastern story, handed down through the centuries, gives an excellent explanation of the hidden meaning of baptism by immersion.
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What other meanings does this story hold?
'A disciple, who had been following a master for some time, would complain to him because he felt that he was not making progress on his path. "I can't feel the ultimate Essence," he would often say. One day the master said that he wanted to go to the river, and the disciple followed him. All at once the wise man asked him, "How's your spiritual life going?" To which he replied, "I'm not making any progress". "Would you really like to make some progress?" the master asked him. "Yes, I really would". At which the wise man, with all his strength, leapt upon the young man and pushed his head under the water. He held him under with all his might, whilst the disciple tried in vain to struggle free. What was going on? Had he gone quite mad? Was he trying to kill him? All these thoughts flashed through his mind. He reached a point where he felt that his life was slipping away from him, he realised that he was about to die and that he couldn't do anything about it. The master's grip was too strong, and he was drowning. He relaxed, accepting his fate, since he had no strength left in him. At that very moment the master pulled him back up and, blue in the face, he struggled for breath. "Why did you do that?" he asked. "What did you feel?" the master asked him. "That I was about to die!" "Now, my boy, you have been granted an irreplaceable experience, do not waste it. If you concentrate on those moments, you can never be the same as before" '.(3)
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THE FOURTH WAY_The mystery of the four baptisms
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Study
The mystery of the four baptisms
Giovanni M. Quinti
Baptism is a symbol, the person is immersed in the water and then pulled out, to remind us that everything is ephemeral, that we cannot put down roots, that we will die, but we can also be "born again" if we have become human. This is the baptism born of the soul, and esoterically, the soul is the symbol of our will: the will to renounce the old and make way for the new.
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The wind symbolises he who is born of the spirit. Why? Read John 3:8 what impression does it give you?
Baptism with air and baptism with fire We mentioned two other baptisms: baptism with the Spirit, the wind, the air, Ruah (the Hebrew for "breath"); and baptism with fire. In Matthew 3:11-12 John the Baptist speaks clearly of it (although modern theologians seem to have forgotten all about it): "I baptise you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful that I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire". The physical Master says: I am not worthy, I cannot bring you to complete realisation, but I can become a tool so that this realisation can begin ‌ there is someone far greater than me who can baptise you with the Spirit and with fire. (4) The following verse tells us what baptism with air and with fire entail: "His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering the wheat into his barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire". The air is needed to remove the waste from the grain. This is baptism with air, which takes place in the work on ourselves, when we are completely purified of all that we do not need. "... burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire".
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Can you draw any parallels between the 4 baptisms and the 4 centres (Intell. Em. Instin. and Mot)?
Those who are baptised with fire are then able to burn all that is not useful to their growth, and to become a fire and a light themselves. These two forms of baptism are deeply interconnected: fire burns what has been freed by air. They are two linked phases, the first representing separation, and the second, the dissolution of all that is heavy and prevents growth. Baptism with earth on the other hand, baptism in earth, is the baptism that awaits us all: physical death. Thus we can understand that in our lives, most of us will experience only baptism with water by sprinkling (as infants if we were born in a Catholic family, for example) and baptism in earth, or the death of the body. Only those who walk along a Way of Truth will know the two wonderful baptisms of air and fire, which will make them "sons of God", i.e., vibrating with the same Essential Energy. (5)
The Divine Master Let us read Matthew 3:13-17 again: 'Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptised by John. But John tried
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THE FOURTH WAY_The mystery of the four baptisms
The mystery of the four baptisms
Study
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What´s the difference between these two voices?
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Giovanni M. Quinti
to deter him, saying, "I need to be baptised by you, and do you come to me?" Jesus replied, "Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness". Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptised, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" '. Do you remember the enneagram drawn by Gurdjieff in Tbilisi in 1919? At the centre there was a dove. The dove is a symbol of the higher centres, which "speak" to the lower centres (as Ouspensky often states). "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased". In whom, inside, within "whom I am well pleased": this means that the Voice is inside, this Voice that comes from within is the most subtle and archaic voice of the human machine.
The physical Master Let us read Luke 3:4. Here the Baptist says of himself: "I am the voice of one calling in the desert". This is the role of the physical Master, because he too is a voice, but this time external, exterior, announcing and opening the doors to the inner, intimate voice. The physical Master's voice is that which calls, that of the divine Master is the voice that whispers. (6)
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The human Master calls in the desert; wherever there is a desert, he goes there and baptises with water. The symbology of the four baptisms represents the Path, the Way of Growth. The initiate is baptised with water (thus expressing the desire to work on himself) and, subsequently, he/she is baptised in the Spirit and in fire, before ultimately knowing physical death (the fourth baptism), and then rebirth (represented by the resurrection of Jesus). What are the functions of a physical Master? From Luke 3:7-14: 'John said to the crowds coming out to be baptised by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?" ' One function of the physical master is to correct people and exhort them to change: 'Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, "We have Abraham as our father." For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire". "What should we do then?" the crowd asked. John answered: "The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same". Tax collectors also came to be baptised. "Teacher," they asked, "what should we do?" "Don't collect any more than you are required to," he told them. Then some soldiers asked him, "And what should we do?" He replied, "Don't extort money, and don't accuse people falsely - be content with your pay" '.
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THE FOURTH WAY_The mystery of the four baptisms
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The mystery of the four baptisms
Giovanni M. Quinti
The human Master reprimands and shows the way. Another function is to bring to the light, to "baptise" the invisible Master, our Incorruptible, Whole I. (7) I would be glad to answer any question you may have for me.
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Can you suggest ideas of other functions the Physical Master may develop?
Question 1
Do the roles of the people to whom he speaks, such as the serpents or the soldiers, have a symbolic meaning? Answer: Everything in the Gospels has a meaning. That is why the Gospels should be the subject of study and meditation. The comparison with vipers refers back to the snake, and in our tradition the snake is the cause of the entire current process of destruction. When the Baptist speaks of Abraham, telling the listeners not to call themselves his sons, he is trying to take a strike at their pride, their belief that they are the "chosen people". The pride of believing ourselves to be already whole, without any need for help, is the first obstacle that prevents our initiation towards growth.
Question 2
I was thinking of all the symbols that from four become five, like the pyramid, which has four elements, and the fifth at the top: thus the four elements can be linked to the four baptisms. Answer: Yes, and the uppermost of these is the Resurrection. That is the fifth baptism, something we cannot know at our level: not even Jesus could know it while he was alive on earth. In numerology, the number five represents the new man.
Question 3
Can we tell on our own whether we are making progress on the Way? Answer: Yes, absolutely. But making progress does not mean learning the Bible or the Koran by heart, it doesn't mean gaining intellectual understanding, but rather, gaining skills. I draw upon the fire within me to help me extinguish my mechanical behaviours, to destroy my inner enemies. This fire is a hive of activity, an erupting volcano‌ it cannot be quenched. Yes, we can tell, indeed, it is impossible not to be aware of it. You will be a different person.
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THE FOURTH WAY_Exploring the System
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THE LAW OF THE THREE PRINCIPLES Eva Maria Franchi
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THE FOURTH WAY_Exploring the System
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The Law of the Three Principles
Eva Maria Franchi
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What is the Third Force in your opinion? Try to give some examples.
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Quotation In Search of the Miraculous, page 77
In "In Search of the Miraculous" Gurdjieff begins to speak of the Law of Three when he is asked why the influence of the Absolute does not reach us 1 He states that in order to answer, we must examine "the fundamental law that creates all phenomena in all the diversity or unity of all universes," better known as the Law of Three. "According to real, exact knowledge, one force, or two forces, can never produce a phenomenon. The presence of a third force is necessary, for it is only with the help of a third force that the first two can produce what may be called a phenomenon, no matter in what sphere. "2
Whilst the concept of dualism seems clear (positive and negative magnetism, force and resistance, male and female cells, etc.) it is not so easy to grasp the third force. And yet Gurdjieff claims that without this third force, which he defines as the "neutralizing force", no phenomenon can be made manifest. (1) However, "people cannot perceive and observe the third force directly any more than they can spatially perceive the 'fourth dimension'. " He also specifies that "the third force is a property of the real world. [We] cannot observe phenomena as manifestations of three forces because we cannot observe the objective world in our subjective states of consciousness... If we could see the manifestation of three forces in every action, we should then see the world as it is "3
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Try to act out the situation described. Two actors discuss the matter for a few minutes without making a decision. The third eventually decides.
In order to try and understand this phenomenon, let us look at some examples of paradoxical situations: A man goes into a shop to buy a suit. There are two that he likes, but he can't decide which one to choose. Centuries go by, but the gentleman still has not come out of the shop, because he cannot make a choice. Now let us imagine two friends discussing whether to go to the cinema or the theatre. One chooses the first, the other the second. Hours go by, and the pair continue their debate, without coming to any decision. (2) These paradoxes help us to understand the function of the law of three. If there were no force driving towards the production of a result, no Creation could ever have appeared. This law is present in various religious cultures, and is represented in esoteric symbology by the triangle. In our Christian tradition, we can find it in the mystery of the Holy Trinity, also represented by a triangle containing the divine eye. The choice of this particular shape is no accident: two lines alone are not enough to form a closed, defined shape. It takes at least three lines to form a shape: the triangle is the first possible expression of a geometric shape. (3)
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Can we draw a parallel between the three Forces and the Trinity of Christianity?
In order to try and gain a deeper understanding of the law of three we need to illustrate the concept of "ray of creation" as Gurdjieff meant it. He states that in the Absolute, and in all manifestations of his Creation, three forces are at work: the active, passive and neutralising force. In the Absolute these three forces, whilst constituting a whole, can also manifest themselves separately, according to Divine Will.
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THE FOURTH WAY_Exploring the System
active neutralize passive
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Do you think there is a relationship between the moving triangle and the enneagram?
The Law of the Three Principles
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Eva Maria Franchi
At their meeting points, the three forces of the Absolute create phenomena that give rise to "worlds". We could define the first world created by the Absolute as "world number two". World N째. 2 is directly influenced by the Will of the Absolute, and is pretty much perfect. World N째. 2, which also contains the principles of the law of three can in turn give rise to a new world, which we can call "world number three". This third world, unlike the second, is no longer a direct emanation of the first world, but begins to move away from the Single Will, and thus its expression becomes more mechanical. The third world in turn gives rise to a fourth world, which gives rise to a fifth world, and so forth up to a seventh world. According to Gurdjieff's cosmogony, the earth where we live belongs to the sixth world, and is therefore very far from the Absolute. The seventh world is represented by the moon. The further we move away from the Absolute, the more the mechanical laws to which life in that particular world is subject increase, and consequently, the conditions for survival increase in difficulty. In esoteric geometry, the distance from the First Creative Principle is represented by the downward-pointing triangle, associated with the feminine principle: God taking form in matter. In contrast, the upwardpointing triangle is associated with the masculine principle: man seeking to return to the Source. If on the one hand this representation can help us to sense the phenomenon of creation, we should not forget that, as Hermes Trismegistus said, "that which is on high is like that which is below". Everything is in movement. Rather than two static triangles, one pointing upwards, the other downwards, in order to understand the law of three, we need to try to imagine a single rotating triangle, which, as it rotates, assumes both the feminine (downward-pointing) and the masculine (upward-pointing) function. (4) The aim of Gurdjieff's cosmogony is to show us that the further we are from the First Cause that gave rise to creation, the more the manifestation of the Law of Three, which originally took place directly through the Will of the Absolute, in turn becomes a mechanical principle. Now let us return to our example of the two friends who cannot agree whether to go to the cinema or the theatre. The friend with the more submissive character, who is unable to say "no", will adapt to the other, more active and authoritative friend's choice. In this case, the character of the first friend ensures that the will of the second prevails. Let us suppose, on the other hand, that both friends are strong-willed in character; they decide to entrust the decision to the toss of a coin. Random chance will make the decision for them. Either way, there is no conscious will making the choice. Let us now link back to the first example, where, due to paradoxical "strike action" on the part of the Law of Three, a man remained the eternal prisoner of a clothes shop. The Universe now resumes its movement and the man is finally about to make a decision. The shop assistant is influencing his choice towards the more expensive suit, which the man, who has a vain streak and a strong sense of style, would normally be more likely to buy. If his typical nature prevails, and he chooses the nicer, more expensive suit, we can say that the Law of Three has expressed itself in its mechanical form. If, on the other hand, he goes against his nature and buys the
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THE FOURTH WAY_Exploring the System
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The Law of the Three Principles
cheaper suit, spending the money saved on his family, then the Law of Three has expressed itself in its evolutionary form. The man has proved capable of taking conscious voluntary action. In our "world n°. 6", the mechanical expression of the Law of Three Principles is prevalent. (5) Its influence tends to preserve the "status quo", both in nature and in the manifestations of our psyche.
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How do you think distance from the Absolute manifests itself in our world?
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Can you give any more examples?
In nature this phenomenon is easily observed. For example, a farmer who wants to plant some spinach knows that it cannot grow without his intervention and hard work, because on all land, natural weeds tend to predominate. Before sowing the spinach, the field needs to be cleared of all its weeds, and then they will need to be cleared again every time they grow back. It is almost impossible for the spinach to grow "on its own". If this is clear and irrefutable in "practical" life, it is less so when we get into the territory of our psyche. (6)
Eva Maria Franchi
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Are we really the owners of our decisions? The Law of Three in relation to the essence and the personality How to apply the Law of Three to transform events in our life.
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THE FOURTH WAY_Drama Workshop
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DRAMA WORKSHOP Davide Peretti
Today's pupils I never took any interest in drama until I was 30, other than the plays that I was made to read and study at high school. I was - and still am - more attracted to other art forms, which I felt were less "mixed" than drama, mainly music and poetry. What convinced me to enrol for the workshop was the impression - gained during the introductory seminar - that the aim of the work would not be limited to learning the basics of theatre arts, but would also, and especially, include stimulation and activation of a greater self-awareness on the great stage of everyday life. The need for each one of us to root ourselves in our "inner director", for which the leader expressed a strong desire, immediately brought to my mind the famous image of the carriage drawn by a horse kept in check by a coachman, but without a master to harmonise the work of the three units and direct their path. So I enrolled with the attitude of those who hope to experience things that will stimulate them to a better way of living everyday life (truer and more complete), where we tend to be too strongly identified with the masks of our roles. The work during the course focused more on the aspects of emotion and bodily expression than on technical matters (voice, memory, diction, etc.): this orientation certainly made the meetings more challenging - at least for me than a theoretical seminar or a technical/methodological analysis. Initially, the idea of entering into an emotional state and expressing and communicating it in front of an audience, was inhibiting and frustrating for me, due to certain barriers, which I will now describe.
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THE FOURTH WAY_Drama Workshop
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Today's pupils Firstly, the ability to self-induce an emotion without any external stimulus, using only one's creative imagination, seemed to me like a superhuman skill, and not something an ordinary man could achieve. The image described by the Master - of an empty bamboo cane through which emotions flow, was very evocative, but only served to highlight the enormous distance between that state and my own situation, in which emotions are not self-induced, but only provoked by external stimuli. So learning to exercise my creative imagination represents an imperative challenge and commitment. After all, I have observed in my own self that the other kind of imagination, involuntary imagination, of which I make great use, does not lead to anything useful in terms of time, energy and mental balance. In addition to this barrier to calling up emotions, I found great difficulty in communicating them to the audience, due to the usual sense of shame that takes hold of us (me) when we wear different masks from the usual. However, I also noticed that the diminished performance caused by the interference of shame decreases, and self-remembering increases, as if the fact of focusing on ourselves weakened the power of external judgements (be they real or imaginary). A third barrier regarding contact with emotional subtext was its harmonisation with motor and intellectual/mnemic functions. I must be honest, the few times when I managed to "enter" an emotion, I had some difficulties in controlling my memory of the script and of the body movements I had studied. So, yes, I think it's a really tough task to get the three centres working so that they are consciously harmonised. These three barriers that I have just described can actually be seen in everyday life: we can in fact decide to channel cheerfulness instead of coldness or anger... Aren't these emotions aroused in us (often inappropriately) by external situations without our permission? Are we so well centred that we are not affected or conditioned by the judgement of others, or our own? At this precise moment, are we present to ourselves, or are we somewhere else? On top of this series of barriers, a number of
logistical obstacles and difficulties arose, with growing intensity, during the final period. Changes in venue and the increasing frequency of meetings combined with less-than-ideal weather conditions and the considerable distance from my home, really testing my mettle and my initial commitment and enthusiasm for the activities to be carried out. Thank God, all the accumulated irritability and tiredness disappeared during the Workshop's final performance, with which I feel reasonably satisfied. I would now like to spend a few words on my relations with the teacher and with the group of pupils. Working with the master was not easy, due to the level of attention that his method requires, the unpredictability of the situations created, and the fact that he did not give way to the pupils' whims. With time, I have begun to realise that this kind of attitude actually stimulates pupils not to allow themselves to settle into lazy-mindedness, dreams or selfcongratulation, and to be alert and ready to bring into play their ability to respond instantly to the constantly changing situations that life presents to us. The composition of the working group was another good stimulus for self-observation, not only during the rehearsals and exercises, but also whilst eating and spending time together. Particularly in the last month, when I was the only man left, I had to make quite an effort to adapt to a typically female way of relating, managing time and making decisions. Thankfully, the teacher knowingly channelled our attentions and energies towards the pursuit of the course objectives. I also observed that, on the rare occasions when the meetings took place without the master, the group's attention and energy tended to be scattered, or at least, work tended to fairly unproductive. I think this is a useful fact to consider for the future. Despite all the inner barriers and outer obstacles, I hung on in there and completed the Workshop, but I realise that I have only just begun to work with my masks‌ and daily life always proves to be rich with situations where I have the opportunity to act as the director of myself, an excellent and cruel stage for experience and experimentation.
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THE FOURTH WAY_The Secret Words of Jesus
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The Secret Words of Jesus The Nag Hammadi Library Translated by Thomas O. Lambdin
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The Gospel of Thomas These are the secret sayings which the living Jesus spoke and which Didymos Judas Thomas wrote down. (1) And he said, "Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not experience death." (2) Jesus said, "Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds. When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over the All." (3) Jesus said, "If those who lead you say to you, 'See, the kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and it is outside of you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will become known, and you will realize that it is you who are the sons of the living father. But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty." (4) Jesus said, "The man old in days will not hesitate to ask a small child seven days old about the place of life, and he will live. For many who are first will become last, and they will become one and the same." (5) Jesus said, "Recognize what is in your sight, and that which is hidden from you will become plain to you . For there is nothing hidden which will not become manifest."
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THE FOURTH WAY_The Secret Words of Jesus
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The Gospel of Thomas
(6) His disciples questioned him and said to him, "Do you want us to fast? How shall we pray? Shall we give alms? What diet shall we observe?" Jesus said, "Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate, for all things are plain in the sight of heaven. For nothing hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain without being uncovered." (7) Jesus said, "Blessed is the lion which becomes man when consumed by man; and cursed is the man whom the lion consumes, and the lion becomes man." (8) And he said, "The man is like a wise fisherman who cast his net into the sea and drew it up from the sea full of small fish. Among them the wise fisherman found a fine large fish. He threw all the small fish back into the sea and chose the large fish without difficulty. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear." (9) Jesus said, "Now the sower went out, took a handful (of seeds), and scattered them. Some fell on the road; the birds came and gathered them up. Others fell on the rock, did not take root in the soil, and did not produce ears. And others fell on thorns; they choked the seed(s) and worms ate them. And others fell on the good soil and it produced good fruit: it bore sixty per measure and a hundred and twenty per measure." (10) Jesus said, "I have cast fire upon the world, and see, I am guarding it until it blazes." (11) Jesus said, "This heaven will pass away, and the one above it will pass away. The dead are not alive, and the living will not die. In the days when you consumed what is dead, you made it what is alive. When you come to dwell in the light, what will you do? On the day when you were one you became two. But when you become two, what will you do?" (12) The disciples said to Jesus, "We know that you will depart from us. Who is to be our leader?" Jesus said to them, "Wherever you are, you are to go to James the righteous, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being." (13) Jesus said to his disciples, "Compare me to someone and tell me whom I am like." Simon Peter said to him, "You are like a righteous angel." Matthew said to him, "You are like a wise philosopher." Thomas said to him, "Master, my mouth is wholly incapable of saying whom you are like." Jesus said, "I am not your master. Because you have drunk, you have become intoxicated from the bubbling spring which I have measured out." And he took him and withdrew and told him three things. When Thomas returned to his companions, they asked him, "What did Jesus say to you?" Thomas said to them, "If I tell you one of the things which he told me, you will pick up stones and throw them at me; a fire will come out of the stones and burn you up." (14) Jesus said to them, "If you fast, you will give rise to sin for yourselves; and if you pray, you will be condemned; and if you give alms, you will do harm to your spirits. When you go into any land and walk about in the districts, if they receive you, eat what they will set before you, and heal the sick among them. For what goes into your mouth will not defile you, but that which issues from your mouth - it is that which will defile you." (15) Jesus said, "When you see one who was not born of woman, prostrate yourselves on your faces and worship him. That one is your father." (16) Jesus said, "Men think, perhaps, that it is peace which I have come to cast upon the world. They do not know that it is dissension which I have come to cast upon the earth: fire, sword, and war. For there will be five in a house: three will be against two, and two against three, the father against the son, and the son against the father. And they will stand solitary." (17) Jesus said, "I shall give you what no eye has seen and what no ear has heard and what no hand has touched and what has never occurred to the human mind."
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THE FOURTH WAY_The Secret Words of Jesus
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The Gospel of Thomas
(18) The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us how our end will be." Jesus said, "Have you discovered, then, the beginning, that you look for the end? For where the beginning is, there will the end be. Blessed is he who will take his place in the beginning; he will know the end and will not experience death." (19) Jesus said, "Blessed is he who came into being before he came into being. If you become my disciples and listen to my words, these stones will minister to you. For there are five trees for you in Paradise which remain undisturbed summer and winter and whose leaves do not fall. Whoever becomes acquainted with them will not experience death." (20) The disciples said to Jesus, "Tell us what the kingdom of heaven is like." He said to them, "It is like a mustard seed. It is the smallest of all seeds. But when it falls on tilled soil, it produces a great plant and becomes a shelter for birds of the sky." (21) Mary said to Jesus, "Whom are your disciples like?" He said, "They are like children who have settled in a field which is not theirs. When the owners of the field come, they will say, 'Let us have back our field.' They (will) undress in their presence in order to let them have back their field and to give it back to them. Therefore I say, if the owner of a house knows that the thief is coming, he will begin his vigil before he comes and will not let him dig through into his house of his domain to carry away his goods. You, then, be on your guard against the world. Arm yourselves with great strength lest the robbers find a way to come to you, for the difficulty which you expect will (surely) materialize. Let there be among you a man of understanding. When the grain ripened, he came quickly with his sickle in his hand and reaped it. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear." (22) Jesus saw infants being suckled. He said to his disciples, "These infants being suckled are like those who enter the kingdom." They said to him, "Shall we then, as children, enter the kingdom?" Jesus said to them, "When you make the two one, and when you make the inside like the outside and the outside like the inside, and the above like the below, and when you make the male and the female one and the same, so that the male not be male nor the female female; and when you fashion eyes in the place of an eye, and a hand in place of a hand, and a foot in place of a foot, and a likeness in place of a likeness; then will you enter the kingdom." (23) Jesus said, "I shall choose you, one out of a thousand, and two out of ten thousand, and they shall stand as a single one." (24) His disciples said to him, "Show us the place where you are, since it is necessary for us to seek it." He said to them, "Whoever has ears, let him hear. There is light within a man of light, and he lights up the whole world. If he does not shine, he is darkness." (25) Jesus said, "Love your brother like your soul, guard him like the pupil of your eye." (26) Jesus said, "You see the mote in your brother's eye, but you do not see the beam in your own eye. When you cast the beam out of your own eye, then you will see clearly to cast the mote from your brother's eye." (27) <Jesus said,> "If you do not fast as regards the world, you will not find the kingdom. If you do not observe the Sabbath as a Sabbath, you will not see the father." (28) Jesus said, "I took my place in the midst of the world, and I appeared to them in flesh. I found all of them intoxicated; I found none of them thirsty. And my soul became afflicted for the sons of men, because they are blind in their hearts and do not have sight; for empty they came into the world, and empty too they seek to leave the world. But for the moment they are intoxicated. When they shake off their wine, then they will repent." TO BE CONTINUEDâ&#x20AC;Ś
EL CUARTO CAMINO_Las Cartas al Fundador
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Letters to the Founder
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// Answers from Giovanni M. Quinti
Send your questions to: informazioni@quartavia.org
A
Dear Mr. Quinti, I know that the concept of a school is inherent in Gurdjieff's teaching. My question is this: is there a way to take part in seminars or to attend a school with the aims expressed in "In Search of the Miraculous"? Thank-you for your time.
Dear A., by School, we mean a place of knowledge: from the Greek Scholé (idleness, rest from physical exertion… the place where the Master reads and gives lessons). We could interpret the physical exertion as the labour of moving about frenetically without a precise destination, pointlessly wasting our energy. And so the School, the Scholé, is a special place where we can stop, nourish ourselves, and listen to the words of the Master. But I should emphasise that the School, at least as we here at the Fourth Way understand it, is not just a place where we acquire information, but where, together with others like yourself who wish to carry out research on themselves, we experiment/experience. These two elements are inextricably linked: experimenting and experiencing, each is both the consequence and the driving force of the other. Pupils at any School whose objective is the work on ourselves will develop an interpersonal relationship with their master. The master is a human being, but one who possesses a higher level of presence and ability to be awake and aware. The relationship between pupils and master can take two paths: the first is in the "fossilized" form of a formal institute. For many pupils seeking a school, this is the most reassuring solution. However, there is another way: that without a recognisable external appearance. A school of this kind may at times seem like a non-place, and thus lacking any label by which to classify it. Only a more careful eye can observe in this type of school all the characteristics of a school. But what are the its distinctive features? As I have already suggested, there is a master, who has in turn been a disciple. The master is such if he is dedicated to his pupils and guides them along the way of knowledge, making them in turn into masters. However, not all pupils will necessarily become masters. And what's more, the master is not someone who thinks (s)he has "arrived". On the contrary, he is constantly walking the path and - brace yourself - he too has much to learn from his pupils. He constantly measures himself with them by exercising humility and active dedication. Again, these two elements combine to form an inextricable whole: dedication and action. Secondly, the master must correspond, in our case, with the tradition that Gurdjieff himself drew upon, outlining the revealed. In a school that follows Gurdjieffian orientation, there will be no vain and empty attempts to gain converts or followers. A school of this kind must be sought with our whole heart, with all our small will (the use of the adjective small is no accident here, as you will understand one day if you come to take part in our school), and our desire to work on ourselves. So my wish for you is that you might find what is best for yourself, and even more, that your search might be wonderful. Don't give in. Ever. And if you wish to take part in our seminars, you can find all the information you need on our website: www.gurdjieff.es. With warm regards.
X
Please help me, I am looking for a guide, a spiritual master, but how, and where?
Dear friend, What is the nature of your search? Are you really, truly searching? And if so, where are you starting out from? What underlies the sense of desperation in your words that you feel the need for a guide… a spiritual master? Don't be offended by my blunt questions, but I believe they should be taking the place of the background noise generated by (albeit legitimate) fear and the (perfectly proper) request for help. A master can always be found, and will always be found. But I want to tell you that a master is not a replacement parental figure, and even less is (s)he willing to become a fetish object. The master is not a person who will shoulder anyone's burden, and is light years away from being a psychologist. Of course, a master is loving, compassionate, a good and attentive listener, but he will never indulge in pat answers, or tell his pupils how to deal with their personal problems. The master actually raises a lot of interrogatives, he destabilises, disorientates, and can at times be quite loathsome. Far from being a sadist, the master is there to help the pupils in their work of demolishing the hard, thick layer of illusions that is the result of layer upon layer of little "I"s that govern much of our existence. The master never holds anyone back, obliges or manipulates anyone, and he is anything but a reassuring person. It will be the master who finds you, and not the other way around. So what can you do to get yourself found? Search with all your heart, find your way through meetings, even with the wrong people, strive to sense and understand the best way to be in tune with your personal research. Be sure to go to bed wide awake, create a void within yourself, cultivate a little inner silence, never stop searching (especially in the darkest moments), take part in meetings, seminars, gain experience, experiment. Allow yourself to get lost in this early part of the journey of your research, test out your desire to find, never "make do", and climb mountains if need be. Only then will the master make himself known to you, even if you have the impression that it was not him that found you, but you that found him. With warm regards and… good luck.
The verses of the mystic poets A quatrain attributed to Najm ud-Din Razi
He who sees one man in one place, has seen all men, and all places. You, who are an example of the divine archetype, you, who are a mirror of royal beauty, Outside of you, nothing exists of that which can be found in the world: Whatever you want, look for it within yourself, for you are everything.
The verses of a modern searcher Gisella di Palma
BEING MYSELF I would like to be myself, with no excuses. To know my limits and accept them, not pretend I don't see them, not pretend to overcome them. I would like to be myself with love to bring my heart into this life. I would like to be myself with love to meet the heart of one who is himself in life with no qualms. I would like to be myself and be able to say to those who accept me "Fine!" and to those who do not accept me, "That's still fine, because I am not perfect". I would like to be myself with love.
www.gurdjieff.es
THE FOURTH WAY Monthly Study Notes
"THE FOURTH WAY" is the official press body of the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man - La Teca.
"When we learn, we listen only to our thoughts. this is why it is not possible for us to take in new thoughts, unless we use new methods of listening and studying." London 13/02/1922 G.I. Gurdjieff
Each edition contains lots of sections full of information that has never been revealed publicly before, practical exercises and original material on the teachings of the Fourth Way.
Topics covered will include: -
The meaning of the Stop Exercise The Enneagram and the Tree of life The Fourth Way method explained step by step What has never been said about the 6th Lower Centre and the 3rd Higher Centre The secrets of Gurdjieff's life The Hasnamusses: who are they? The Study of the Sacred Texts using the Fourth Way method Alchemy and the Fourth Way The influence of the Higher Centres Study of the Old Testament in light of the System Objective Music Where does Gurdjieff's teaching come from? How to work on ourselves The Origins of the Fourth Way Dante and the Fourth Way The Relationship between Master and Pupil The Spiritual aspect of the Fourth Way The power of conscious thought What is true Self-remembering? The Enneagram revealed: things that have never been written on the Enneagram
...AND MUCH MORE
IN THE NEXT EDITION VIA li TA ensi AR udio M QU di St LA dispense Le
The Prophets:
men with a direct contact VIAnsili RTAdio Me QUAdi Stu LA dispense Le
Homosexuality and the Fourth Way
VIAnsili RTAdio Me QUAdi Stu LA dispense Le
A "paranormal" experience ...AND MUCH MORE