Then again people choose Yoga over Gurdjieff….
Greetings,
While exchanging posts with an enigmatic and very well read Zero Hedgian, going by the Handle Gully Foyle, he said this:
Then again people choose Yoga over Gurdjieff….
Really got me thinking.
What is all this choice con-fronting us for? Con-front is “with” front. In your face. And why is it such a mantra, a must have, a right, by god, give me choice….
Yoga over Gurdjieff is a topic for a book. Especially if you have read his master tome and other books. Beelzbub’s Tales to his grandson. A must read. A mind-twisting attempt at “perfect” literature, perfectively objective that is. Possibly the best I’ve read, and I’ve read a lot.
So choice. Talked about it before, Choice = Cognitive Dissonance.
Choice enables the splitting of our personae. What a great argument for simplicity. The less you have, the less you know you need. That is the virtuous cycle inverse of the current mantra….the more you have, the more you need to have.
Look where they end up….. Spare and alive vs. bloated and barely so.
The line that brought me here is multi-contextual for me, so please forgive the meandering.
Yoga is the most completely mis-understood exercise form of this time. Why? First, occam’s razor and Cui bono…. who wants you to be healthy? Does a healthy person benefit the Pharmaco-government complex?
The dominant trend-setters of this version of Mother Culture’s dystopia are all life-negative archetypes. The sportsperson, the actor, the politician, the banker, the industrialist. And they all espouse Yoga. Big red flag.
You see, the rub and the nub and the hub of the issue is that Yoga was never about exercise. Yoga was/is all about self-restraint. Fractal self restraint. The focus on strength inverts the very foundation of Yoga, physical Yoga that is.
It was always meant to be a way in, not a builder of muscles or fine physiques.
Also, the topic of my short exchange with Gully was about Science fiction becoming science fact.
If I look at the world around me today, the Solution Set that leaps out at me would have all of the terminology and naming from Dune, the mind-bending work of Frank Herbert.
Also, so much happening since the Stairwell Sigtar dot joining exercise of a week or so ago.
The bird and fish deaths continued unabated, though were neatly kept off the mainstream press after a brief ratings surge. Un-abated. Please goole the phrase and check. Massive fish kill off Maryland, 2 million (how do they count two million fish? makes me suspicious of their counting methodology).
And a twin cyclone system bears down on flood ravaged queensland. I hope the significance of Queen’s Land being flooded is obvious. What does it foretell for London?
And what of those poor Queenslanders, all prepared for Centuries of Global Warming induced droughts, now caught in flooding of biblical proportions. Australia rapes it’s land on a massive scale, especially in the resource rich Queensland State (Coal is the big one, also wheat)…. we are going to learn, faster and faster what the payback for 4 centuries of scorched earth capitalism will look like. May I suggest that it is going to be a little harsh?
Egypt is afire. Or so main stream and alternative media will have us believe. Live pictures tell no lies. The people are furious. But mis-directed anger, righteous especially, is such a huge waste of human energy. And no one knows what the game is, for this North African/Middle East Crisis is engineered. Food shortages soon to add to the tinder-box. Israel, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, Jordan, Saudi Arabia….
And flooding in Saudi Arabia? Hmmmmm……
And in the interesting parallism, fractalism that is life, I’m reading a book called Inhuman Architecture by Hugo Kukelhaus.
Brilliant work, making a strong case for why these buildings of hard lines, bland surfaces and poor ventilation and lighting, robbing us of everything we need, to grow… have been harsh prisons for our nurturing, not wombs, but prisons.
He said >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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So true and yet we consume out of convenience and consumptive compulsion……think about how closely food is tied to culture and then look at the focus on food in today’s times (form over function, in food…truly a bizarre world) and how much we all over-eat.
What drives us to this un-natural state of dis-ease. Look around. We are soft and round while our manufactured world is hard and straight.
And since we cannot be hard and straight on the outside, try as we might, we become hard and stiff on the inside. Unbending minds in yoga-flexible bodies.
Such a paradox and such a sign of these times.
Fascinating…
For today’s visual shocker… Chinese Oil Inferno…
For the rest, please see: Chinese Oil Inferno Pictures on Rense.com
And then, the Ship on which I’d done my training in the Indian Navy, INS Vindhyagiri, hit a merchant vessel in Mumbai Harbour and is sitting on the bottom, listing, aflame.
Thanks for reading, definitely strange days…..
By the way, I’ve discovered that it’s perfectly okay to be serious.
Seriously!
well i thought this was going to be about yoga. i don’t know any a thing. i do yoga or stretching or my personal self-restraint. it really is a challenge for my body to do my session. if i am upset i don’t go that way, usually. but just to let you know, i start with my sitting poses first. plus, some times hard to read you with your use of big words.
Kathy, Yoga as physical exercise is less than half the story. To each his/her own path though, eh? What “form” do you practice? I hope not Bikram!!!
what form do i follow. i don’t follow no F O R M. i write my own script, until i can’t. i will see what happens, when i see it. thanks, your new best reader, i really try with all of your words.
Awesome kathy. Listen to your “self”. Even my words are hardly necessary.
Your body IS a temple.
Appreciate your sincerity.
Bikram’s yoga makes me feel better pretty consistantly. It is more effective than drugs or alchohol, more effective than therapy, and more effective than “exercise.” bikram is an offshoot of sivananda, yogananda’s brother is bikrams guru. bishnu focused on physical culture, ie training the body. this is a deviation or an extraction of the whole picture but still serves a purpose. bikram choudury is a pompous ass and objectionable on many levels but he did synthesize a good routine, distilling his experience perscribing asanas to patients in the ayruvedic way, into a safe and thorough work through of the muscle groups, joint structures and organ systems. It clears pathways and facilitates better flow of prana. i agree though western hatha practice is not inward seeking, but then neither is western culture. the essence of meditation that i derive from my bikram practice is a triumverate of braided heierarchy: aware, create, surrender. remain aware- observe, remain creative within each moment, asanas are like slow moving ballet, an art, surrender -it is this that lets us in, it is letting go of fear, letting go of resistance within the elasticity of the body that then gets mirrored into psychology. we learn to let go of limiting beliefs or misunderstood perceptions. granted, you will not hear this from most bikram instructors, but i do know one!
Interesting exchange at ZH here and also the one a few days ago regarding collectivism….the times are getting curiouser and curiouser….
It seems our present pardigm is one focusing/preying heavily on that limbic/mammalian part of our brains. An overdosed, dopamine-addicted World…no balance whatsoever. And especially no emphasis on developing our higher prefontal cortex region. And, apply a little bit of usury coupled with those “7 deadly(mammalian)sins”, it always ends up in these boom-bust cycles. And maybe this time around, we finally will come to the end of a grand supercycle. Since we are in Mother Culture’s womb, maybe our gestation period is over?? We are having a few pre-labor contractions here and there with birth pains soon-to-be everywhere???
…..wikileeks, ufos over jeruesalum, hollywood surreality….there has to be a biblical tie-in at some point before 2013. A manisfestation of pure fabrication to set further dominoes in motion. The Dominionists rising………
Curiouser and curiouser indeed Scout.
Nice Mother Culture/timing analogy. Gestation period over, we’re going to slide down a dark tunnel into an alien(to us) world.
Exciting eh?
Thanks for your well considered thoughts.
I think Gurdjieff, Ouspensky and Nicoll would remind us about the perils of identification. There is no possibility for the machine of organic life, to outpace that which resides above, or for that matter, that which resides below. Everything happens in the only way it can happen. The individual is another matter, like a solitary prisoner that escapes during the mass riot, while the guards are otherwise occupied.
I like your sardonic references to the culture of yoga, perhaps someone will look closer at the origin of that school.
Thanks for sharing your stimulating ideas and clarity. It provides good food for thought.
Eso
Glad you find this mind-tickling Eso. That is the idea.
And yes, the automaton is an automaton till he isn’t. It’s a binary moment at the end of a long road (or ladder as G described the Fourth way).
Thanks for writing in.
The world died months ago. I live in this cave. I never leave. Just drink fresh water, read through the internet, download ebooks, hundreds of them, thousands of them, I read and I write. I do nothing else now. They won’t let me out until I have finished this book. I am surfing through an seemingly endless sea of words, dots, letters. I’ve turned to all the gods I could find. Cali, Baal, Jahwe, Allah, desert gods, godesses of the moon and the sun – Osiris in that boat, crossing the skies to meet the snake at night.
The world is in turmoil. At first I was in denial. Left or Right was the question of the hour – neither I was, neither I will be. But when the house of the gladiators collapsed, one autumn day, I was terrified.
Air, Fire, Earth and Water – oh Heraclit, my old, old friend, where are you now? It seems an eternity since we met. And where is Schopenhauer, my old enemy? A man who poisned so many souls. I’ve watched with awe the rising of Aurelian – emperor one day, dead and almost forgotten the other. They buried him by the river.
I was born in this divided town, full of smog and weapons, that one day opened up. Those sharp lines, that inhumane architecture which contained desperate and brave voices. I’ve seen the end of a system. My body hurts. My heart races. Is it night? – I lost the idea of night – where is Cassiopeia now? The stars of my youth – do they still exist? Cassiopeia – you’ve always led me – winter, spring,summer,autumn, winter… The songs of the Upanishads – the rivers of words…
I am afraid of death. Then I remind myself, I am not afraid of death, I am afraid of pain and of dying. Not being able to finish this damn book. To rest another eternity in my prison. It is not natural for man to stay so long in a cave. But alas, I am not allowed to go. I have to write, I have to read. I hope, I’ll survive = I and the idea of me. All my breath is focused on this book. But then: isn’t a word also a prison of thought? What I describe is not what I’ve imagined. The words are now like desert gods and I feel alone in this horrible sandstorm.
Beautiful Sahadatti.
Is this purposeful prose or your reality?
Thanks for sharing.
Between the Dome Of The Rock U.F.O and a rare Houston snowstorm this has definately been a hectic week.
Indeed Limic. How about the mega-snowstorm in the US and a once-in-a-lifetime Typhoon Yasi in Australia.
And this is just a fore-taste of things to come.
Just spoke with my aunt in Cairns. Prayers answered – Cairns spared the worst of Yasi.
Interesting interview on (government-run) ABCTV with outspoken independent MP from Far North Qld late last night. He accused media of spreading “terror”, “terrorising” people in days leading up to Yasi, due their excessive hyperbole. Went on to try and give some confidence to viewers and listeners, by highlighting that houses in region are built to Australian Standards viz. withstanding cyclonic conditions, so, even if damage and even some collapses, with sensible precautions (re bunkering in strongest room etc) there’s little reason to be terrified for personal safety. A good man.
Thanks for that on ground update TBI. Never imagined that “they” would be hyping Yasi more than they needed to, fear-mongering. Now that you say it, makes perfect sense.
*head shake*
Thank you for this introduction to Gurdjieff.
Was helping a friend with a customer job recently, feeling frustrated in waiting for him, having promptly completed my assigned half of the task. Sat down outside customer’s garage, shaded from a very hot sun by the eave. Was still. And found calm again.
The following thought sprang to mind. Interestingly, in light of comments above, I really felt a strong need to blog the complete thought, including what would normally have not occurred to me. An otherwise superfluous clarification (“in times like these”). Now I understand why. Thank you to the commenters above:
I Don’t Know why we think strength is seen in action.
I do know, in times like these it takes more strength to be still.
I do know, in times like these it takes more strength to be still……
Excellent observation TBI. It does indeed and there is a huge secret of incercise. (as opposed to ex-cersice).
And with Gurdjieff, if you feel called read In search of the Miraculous and Meetings With Remarkable Men. Just superb. Then, his masterpiece. Glad to make the introduction.
Thank you for the advice re starting point with Gurdjieff. Much appreciated.
Ha! Yet again you remind me of books I’ve read and should read again. BTTHG I read when I was 20 and didn’t understand, but the images have remained with me. G recommends reading it 3 times. I shall start on the second read and maybe in 25 years time I’ll read it for the third time!
Thanks again mate, top blogging.
Your appreciation is sincerely appreciated.
red fox siting @ 3:30 AM mr fox looks at me when i call his name. when it snows i can see tracks. or in the mud you can see tracks, as well†
nice work, sir. i answered U, or Gully Foyle, as it turns out, on p2 of “Your Life According To The Goobermint”. this is war. maybe cosmic, probably not, but then, again, that hourglass is getting pretty full, eh? hopefully, the planet will not come apart, quite yet. somebody has read Nicholl? the commentaries? OM MG!
Hmmmm, I replied, it got lost. So, short, Nicholl? Care to expound?
hi again, ORI. RU familiar w/ Helen Palmer’s “The Enneagram”?
and the writings of Dr. Claudio Naranjo?
here’s some cog-disinfo: http://old.disinfo.com/archive/pages/dossier/id144/pg1/
Si and si Slewie. Gurdjieff has been under my skin for a long time now. And the Enneagram is a geometric crazy piece that even his work left just a tad unfinished. I resonated with the octaves. Are you well versed? What do you find fascinating in/about/under it?
altho G’s 9th sympho, John G. (gandolf) Bennett. whose auto-bio (Witness) is a must read also published “The Enneagram”—about the process which goes to completion. short, xtremely dense, like the Table of H’s, or the ‘weights’ of the links in the Big Chain, and the “side octave” of the sun.
hewever he also spoke of idiots in the psychological sense==psychological types, which is the key to understanding self in that it can help the student to figure out the “sly wo/man’s” approach to start to disable False Pers, and change the valence between P and Essence, so that E can start to “eat” P and absorb the knowledge, which results in understanding. altho lesser und. comes from ANY application of knowledge to BEing, i think this is the big enchilada. E+, P-; rather than the sleeper @ P+, E-.
claudio naranjo (Disinfo) brought the PSYCHOLOGICAL e-gram out, via oscar & john lilly, with whom he worked, in chile. Helen Palmer learned it from claudio, and got so antsy-pantsy about claidio being so manana and relaxed abt. things that she finally said “screw it” and published the info herself, breaking her covenant w/ the Seekers of Truth. but it is a fabulous book. HP is a “psychic” who can, apparently, “read” other people’s “rolls” or recordings, in at least 2 outa 3 of the “brains”. i was not in the group, but found 1 of it’s members, who is “out” via her intro, by “accident” and , already reading In Search Of , i was able to recognize the Mother Lode.
Maurice Nicholl, student of O, at least as we are given it, was a jungian psychiatrist who was given the ok to teach in England, as was JGB:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=&q=maurice+nicoll+commentaries&sourceid=navclient-ff&rlz=1B3GGGL_enUS304US305&ie=UTF-8&aq=5&oq=maurice+nicho
MN, apparently w/out the psych enneagram, teaches how to understand the 3 main centers, both structure and content. he gave weekly talks to his group and they are in these rainbow-colored volumes. again, dense matter-ial, at least for me.
When Idries Shah, sheikh of the naqshbandi order, aka “sheikh of sheikhs” came to england, bennett gave him his school, lock stock and barrel. Shah didn’t teach dancing, either, at least as the main course.
this stuff is fascinating b/c i think it works. G: “I teach esoteric christianity.” this is the same “system” as found in the parables and teachings, esp. via Luke, but as G warned, the instructions aren’t “given” in the right order. MN, son a preacher man, like Jung, is very good @ biblical symbology, also the old test., which i find useful.
my brother studied under Sri Swami Satchadananda, in the US. Both my children have studied in CA and india. i learned some hatha from a V happy man who came to CA for a year or two, Ponderendadas (Sp?). My son, 2-3 yrs. old, called him ponderingaduck. Peace.
Super Slewie. Glad to have met another Gurdjie-ruffian. Thanks for the link and the background information.
And I really felt and feel drawn to G’s laborious style, gold is always hidden, deep with-in. Have to mine it. People are lost today because everything is served on a platter.
Incidentally, I had a ‘boosted” re-learning experience in Marin County, Fairfax and San Rafael.
speaking of gold,
http://www.google.com/search?hl=&q=e+j+gold&sourceid=navclient-ff&rlz=1B3GGGL_enUS304US305&ie=UTF-8
i don’t know him personally, but did some psychological “work” with one of his clones.
we did many moons of galvanic skin resistance, or “holding the cans & getting ‘read’ “:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=&q=e+j+gold+and+galvanic+skin+resistance&sourceid=navclient-ff&rlz=1B3GGGL_enUS304US305&ie=UTF-8
funny, but we had a teacher in the east bay in the late 70′s, i found out later, who recommended this, altho i didn’t do this “process” until about a decade later, thru a real estate firm, no less.
and, the teacher in the east bay told his stu’s to go to the Scientologists to get “cleared” for free! truth stranger than fiction, indeed. He said that the Sci’s, go THRU this stage beFORE they ask for money, so just go do it, and when you’re done, and they ask you to join and donate $$, just say “no thanx” and walk.
the gsr, or “electrodermal response” is, i think, 1/3 of the “lie detector test”.
i’ll leave you to go from there, if you’re not familiar w/ this process, already.
having a fear-point personality, approaching this process just scared the living hell outa my defenses, but once i started, it was 6-10 on a scale of 10, over many FREE sessions, like 25-35, ?.
the gsr guys in cali are licensed and accredited, but i don’t know what the Scientologist do, but if X recommended it, maybe he felt they were ok, huh?
the administrator goes thru pre-determined questions, such as: “what’s the matter with anger”, and then he would look at a meter, attached to the “cans” and if the needle jumped in response to a question, would say “that reads”, and we would go in the Q or scripted subroutines, until the needle didn’t jump, any more. and that would then be “clear”.
i had chronic trouble b/c i am, basically, a paranoid personality.
e.g. i would respond to the FORM of the question. after about 10X “that reads”, when i didn’t
honestly know or get to what was reading, i would say: the question ASSUMES there is some thing “wrong” w/ a, b, or c. i would tell the guy: try asking me: is there anything wrong with, say, b? so he would, and would give the SAME response, and it wouldn’t read!
this happened more frequently than expected, so “we” (including the RE broker, ok, who stayed “blind” from me, so i don’t REALly know), needed to try to figure if this was “right” or if my defenses were so awesome as to be able to pull this shit off.
so i went thru about 4 tech’s, back and forth, to try to get a handle on this. i think.
this was amazing b/c the “process” was diff for the diff personality types of the the tech’s! at least subjectively, to me. Plus, i didn’t trust the RE broker, either! the guy would con his mother, if he could!
also, i was smoking a ton of weed and drinking like a stage 2 alkie!
we would start a session, and the tech would hafta “calibrate the meter”.
every time no matter who, i would get: jeez slewie, you’re stress levels are lower than most people who are LEAVING a session!
once, i had been playing video golf with my room-mate and we were having so much fun, we polished off 6 six paks and almost all the weed in the house, playing for nickels! very competitive!
the next morning, i did my usual routine of a brief swim @ the club, a hot tub and sauna, and a doobie on the way over, and then on the way to “work” at about 10:30 that day.
the guy goes to calibrate and sez: you’re reading, like, dead!
so i told him: so what? he wanted to know what the hell was going on, so i told him, and then…well, you can imagine the conflict, there, eh?
i stopped drinking in ’88 and stopped smoking the chronic about 1 month before Bush Jr was “elected” in ’90, for 9 years! i gained almost 50 pounds! all i wanted to do was eat my comfort food of potatoes—baked, then fried up nicely brown in a skillet, plus anything else
i could get my hands on.
i finally figured that my “addiction” had caused me to not want to eat b/c it would mess up my AM “high”, so i would have a salad in the morning, before i teed off for the day, and then dinner, in the early evening, by which time, no horse was safe!
so, i thought, this is HEALTHY? 240+? i’m an enneagram 7: generalist/GLUTTON. so, i started smoking weed again, for my Health!!! and i’ve lost all the weight in about two years!
strange, but true. i think…lol…
see ya at the funhouse!
moi.