First Contact with Gurdjieff
“What’s there to live for
Who needs the Peace Corps
Think I’ll just drop out
I’ll go to Frisco
Buy a wig and sleep on Owsley’s floor”
Frank Zappa
My first encounter with Mr. Gurdjieff’s teaching began many years ago in the Ouachita Mountains of far western Arkansas, a bit more than a stones throw from Oklahoma. Since moving there I had become interested in what Gurdjieff would label as Western Occultism; Theosophy, Rosicrucianism and other so called “esoteric” teachings. Interestingly, spiritual ideas and groups were initially resisted, I had been exposed to the some of these ideas at school, indeed had almost been swept away by a certain group with a strong leader, that some of my friends were involved/infatuated with. At the time I was very immature, though of course this wasn’t realized, not having even reached what Gurdjieff calls the age of responsibility. My oldest Brother and his girl friend had come down for a visit and in the course of the various shenanigans’ that occurred, the girl friend took off leaving a copy of In Search of the Miraculous, by P D Ouspensky (Uspensky). At some point I began to read the book which is considered a primary book of the Gurdjieff teaching, and though I understood mere bits it was enough. The book deeply resonated with me.
I had moved to this area because it was simple, natural and beautiful, to quote a song by Merle Haggard, “…away from those dirty old sidewalks…” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzWdap8Y3tU)The world was really messed up, but the conclusion come to, after a year or so, was: yes, it is true the world is really messed up, but so am I. The external world of men and their worldly manifestations is simply a reflection of the sum total of Earth’s three-brained inhabitants internal worlds, which have created what Gurdjieff calls, “The abnormal conditions of external being existence.” Leaving or trying to leave a screwed up external world for a seemingly more pristine external life would not change the inner world, other than, perhaps, on a very temporary level. What was intuited was that something radical was needed. A work that involved self-exploration and self-transformation, though those words were not clear or used.
“Wanting to reform the world without discovering one’s true self is like trying to cover the world with leather to avoid the pain of walking on stones and thorns. It is much simpler to wear shoes.”
Ramana Maharshi
All legitimate teachings will state that one cannot engage in any real work, of an esoteric nature, without direction from someone who knows. Knows in the sense of understanding, one who is “being the understanding“; a guru/teacher, leader or higher perhaps. On the face of it this should be obvious: how can one know what is hidden or at best hinted at? There was considerable resistance to the concept of the teacher as the only way forward, additionally, on a practical level where I was living was not exactly a hot bed of spiritual activity. And so certain exercises and meditation as well as ascetic practices such as isolation, fasting and sexual abstinence and so forth, methods mostly derived from books were worked with, no drugs were used. And oddly there were results, quite remarkable experiences. The conclusion drawn from this time was, yes this is real, but also, so what? In the quiet of the Arkansas night and early morning I had results but there was no substantiality and importantly no real understanding. One puts the right conditions in place and very interesting experiences can occur, but the experience wanes. There was to a degree a mental knowing from reading but that is very limited, and so began a search for a teacher of the Fourth Way. End post
Open to Openness 