Chapter#10

From what does "the way" start? The "way" starts where ever you are; but to be on the "way", that is a different story. The law of accident. Final Version #1

The main ideas in this chapter are (1)What does it mean to be on the Way, and how does it start? (2)The Magnetic centers and the different kinds of influences,(3) the Law of Accident, (4) Large cosmos is the world, the small cosmos is man. (5)The idea of time and the fourth dimension.
From Richard Liebow:"Nobody is concerned about an unwritten poem except the poet." Also quoting from Gurdjieff "Sometimes there are difficult times, but events are not neccessarly against us." Richard used to respond to this "But some people are always making a profit. Somewhere in the bowels of the city money is made all the time. Our needs are always changing, and I need a lot of everything." He also said "This transformational knowledge is probably no more than understanding things better and because of that make changes in one's life."
Objectives (Celok):To do the work:One have to face oneself and that means suffering, but the "work" is not has to be always suffering.

Outline Points
From what does "the way" start? The law of accident. Kinds of influences. Influences created in life. Influences created outside of life, conscious in their origin only. The magnetic center. Looking for the way. Finding a man who knows. Third kind of influence: conscious and direct. Liberation from the law of accident.( No one can escape the laws of the Universe. See Glossary) "Step", "Stairway" and "Way." Special conditions of the fourth way. Wrong magnetic center is possible. How can one recognize wrong ways? Teacher and pupil. {Nowdays we trust very few to be our teachers, but there was a time when such relationships (teacher and pupil) were comon even in Europe.} Knowledge begins with the teaching of cosmoses. The usual concept of two cosmoses: the "Macrocosmos"; and "Microcosmos." The full teaching of seven cosmoses. Relation between cosmoses: as zero to infinity. Principle of relativity. "The way up is at the same time the way down." What a miracle is. (See Janet's article, but it's not available just yet.) "Period of dimensions." Survey of the system of cosmoses from the point of view of the theory of many dimensions. G's comment, that "Time is breath." Is the "Microcosmos" man or the "atom"?

And for our review of the content of Chapter Ten we address some of these questions:
Developed by Richard Liebow.

Are you becoming more sensitive to the difference between accidents that might be prevented as opposed to accidents that are totally beyond your control?
Does the term C-Influence have any practical meaning for you--and can you do anything to guarantee access to C-Influence?
Are these meetings strengthening your magnetic center--or or have these meetings become for you ust another kind of convenient way to kill time ?
Do you sense that you are studying a discipline that may lead to liberation from the Law of Accident--or may lead to just another form of reactionary mechanical behavior and slavery ?
Does the suggestion that knowledge begins with the teaching of cosmoses have any practical meaning for you--does it expand your sense of yourself, your world, your attitudes, and your perspectives?
Which do you prefer: A cosmology consisting of two cosmoses--or a cosmology consisting of seven cosmoses?
Do you have any sense of the magnitude of the difference between zero and infinity? Do you have any sense of the magnitude of the difference between a quantity of one and a quantity of two? Can you appreciate the difference between a point and a line, a line and a plane, a plane and a cube having length, breadth, and thickness?
Does the concept "Principle of Relativity" have any practical meaning for you?
What is it that you are referring to when you use the word miracle?
Does the term "Period of Dimensions" have any practical meaning to you?
Do you have any sense of the meaning of the suggestion that time is breath?
Do you ever think of yourself as a micro-cosmos?
Do fantasies of seeing yourself as a direct disciple of a Buddha or a Christ sometimes enter your imagination?
Do you see any connection between the Law of Accident and your tendency to live passively rather than proactively?

Notes:
Meister Eckhart(1260–1328) From Wikipedia: The Meister Eckhart portal of the Erfurt Church. Johannes Eckhart O.P. also known as Eckhart von Hochheim and widely referred to as Meister Eckhart, was a German theologian, philosopher and mystic, born near Erfurt, in Thuringia. Come into prominence during the decadent Avignon Papacy and a time of increased tensions between the Franciscans and Eckhart's Dominican Order of Preacher Friars, he was brought up on charges later in life before the local Franciscan led Inquisition. Tried as a heretic by Pope John XXII, his "Defence" is famous for his reasoned arguments to all challenged articles of his writing and his refutation of heretical intent. He purportedly died before his verdict was received, although no record of his death or burial site has ever been discovered. Well known for his work with pious lay groups such as the Friends of God and succeeded by his more circumspect disciples of John Tauler and Henry Suso, he has gained a large following in recent years. In his study of medieval humanism, Richard Southern includes him along with Bede and Saint Anselm as emblematic of the intellectual spirit of the late Middle Ages.[1]
Maimonides Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon(1135 - 1204), known commonly by his Greek name Maimonides, was a Jewish rabbi, physician, and philosopher. Maimonides held that no positive attributes can be predicated to God. The number of His attributes would seem to prejudice the unity of God. In order to preserve this doctrine undiminished, all anthropomorphic attributes, such as existence, life, power, will, knowledge - the usual positive attributes of God in the Kalām - must be avoided in speaking of Him. Between the attributes of God and those of man there is no other similarity than one of words (homonymy), no similarity of essence ("Guide," I 35, 56). The negative attributes imply that nothing can be known concerning the true being of God, which is what Maimonides really means. Just as Kant declares the Thing-in-itself to be unknowable, so Maimonides declares that of God it can only be said that He is, not what He is. Maimonides wrote his thirteen principles of faith, which he stated that all Jews were obligated to believe. The first five deal with knowledge of the Creator. The next four deal with prophecy and the Divine Origin of the Torah. The last four deal with Reward, Punishment and the ultimate redemption. The principle which inspired all of Maimonides' philosophical activity was identical with the fundamental tenet of Scholasticism: there can be no contradiction between the truths which God has revealed and the findings of the human mind in science and philosophy. Moreover, by science and philosophy he understood the science and philosophy of Aristotle. In some important points, however, he departed from the teaching of the Aristotelian text, holding, for instance, that the world is not eternal, as Aristotle taught, but was created ex nihilo, as is taught explicitly in the Bible. Again, he rejected the Aristotelian doctrine that God's provident care extends only to humanity, and not to the individual. But, while in these important points Maimonides forestalled the Scholastics and undoubtedly influenced them, he was led by his admiration for the neo-Platonic commentators and by the bent of his own mind, which was essentially Jewish, to maintain many doctrines which the Scholastics could not accept.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe(1749–1832) was a German polymath: he was a painter, novelist, dramatist, poet, humanist, scientist, philosopher, and for ten years chief minister of state at Weimar. Goethe was one of the paramount figures of German literature and the movement of German classicism in the late 18th and early 19th centuries; this movement coincides with Enlightenment, Sturm und Drang, Sensibility ("Empfindsamkeit"), and Romanticism, in all of which he participated to varying degrees. The author of Faust and Theory of Colours, he inspired Darwin with his independent discovery of the human premaxilla jaw bones and focus on evolutionary ideas. Goethe's influence spread across Europe, and for the next century his works were a primary source of inspiration in music, drama, poetry, and even philosophy.
Karlfried Graf Durckheim (1896-1988) German diplomat,psychotherapist, and zen master. He was a leading exponent of the Western esoteric spiritual tradition, synthesizing teachings from Christian Mysticism, Depth Psychology and Zen Buddhism. In an over-crowded 'New Age' marketplace, his attention to the psycho-spiritual dangers of Initiation and on-hands approach to the 'core transformation' process of Individuation is both authentic and unique. Much scholarly attention has been paid to organizations like the 'Hermetic Order Of The Golden Dawn' and the guru-lineage of Theosophical influenced schools. Durckheim was not alone in his Understanding that contemporary spirituality would have to be a synthesis to be truly effective in the technology-deluged contemporary environment - similar warnings can be found in the writings from George Gurdjieff to Joseph Campbell, A.H. Almaas and Ken Wilber. R.A. Schwaller De Lubicz's exhaustive re-creation of long-lost Egyptian religious mysteries; Julius Evola's study of Hindu imagery and Kali-yuga meditation and Henri Corbin's exposition of Sufi practices are other worthy examples of postmodern synthesis. But Durckheim's 'initiation therapy' (which stripped away the egoic personality distortions wrought by hyperculture to uncover the 'diamond jewel' of serene essence) is worthy of study for several important reasons. Spiritual practices that modify the psyche can be dangerous, like casually playing with highly volatile chemicals (not because of superstitions like 'demonic possession' or 'evil spirits', nut because of the inevitable fragmentations that can occur during cathartic confrontations with the Deep Self). The rise and subsequent decline into controversy of teachers like Osho Rajneesh and Avatar Adi Da highlights that even at very advanced stages of spiritual growth, distortions can occur. Law-suits surrounding the Enneagram and Neuro-linguistic Programming indicate the problems that can occur when a practice becomes commercialized. Durckheim managed to avoid these mistakes, drawing upon over eight years of study with Zen monks in Japan, and a wealth of 'Daimonic' insight. At a time when many spiritual seekers were looking towards the East for insights, Durckheim was significant for integrating Zen Buddhism practices with Depth Psychology, and for highlighting the wealth of frequently overlooked monastic and meditation practices within esoteric Christianity. Alongside the Alchemy resarech of Carl Gustav Jung, this represents a powerful regeneration of spiritual practices within the Western social and cultural matrix. Greater familiarity with the values and practices of these teachings overcomes the potential alienation that can be caused by exploring foreign gurus and schools. Gurdjieff and Jung both beleived that it was important for the Western encultured 'Seeker After Truth' to make peace with their childhood religion, and to uncover the common core teachings that are often manipulated by institutions, hierarchical priesthoods and 'leader-follower' congregations. Thanks to the hard work of a small group (particularly Theodore and Rebecca Nottingham), the serious practitioner can now discover the sublime writings of a Western Master for themselves.
Glossary:
Influence:a power to affect persons or events especially power based on prestige etc; "used her parents' influence to get the job"
Magnetic Center: Sensativity?
Third kind of influence:Teaching from teacher to student orally.
Special condition of the 4th Way:
Macrocosmos: The world
Microcosmos: Man
Cosmos: The world
Infinity vs Forever: Forever is a long time, but it's not infinity
Reality: The material world
Dimentions: There are 4 dimentions lenght, hight, depth and time
atom:(physics and chemistry) the smallest component of an element having the chemical properties of the element
Opening the way Wende Zum Wege: Inward Knowing(Inhesein): otherwise knowing your karma. This is when you can change your destiny in some sense you override God, or rather He gives you another life. The way starts wherever you are. It can not start from some place else, but to be on the way, is something else. Paraphrazing from Karlfried Graf Durckheim from page 33 in "The Way of Transformation" : To be on the Way to progress on it has very little to do with our usual methods of discipline. What is involved is not merely the discipline by which we master our instinctive drives and overcome them, nor is it to aquire those virtues that will subjugate the small ego for the sake of the community. Neither has it anything to do with with the personality of a person who loses face when he does not succeed in the world and is dishonered when he fails to accomplish a task or proves to be an unreliable member of the community. All these are necessary steps and must be taken on the way toward maturity. But to be really on the Way where the injunctions one blindly obeys are no longer those that conform to the world's scale of values, but it is rather which accord with the Divine Being whitin him or her - that Being which constantly strives to reveal itself in him and through him to the world. Even the most correct and resposible behavior is unable to satisfy these high demands if it is solely the result of an ethical discipline instead of being an expression of man's inner essence. This essence is able to manifest itself freely only when the depths in which it dwells have been cleansed and purified.,
Because Gurdjieff says "one has to make a choice, to decide to seek either to become completely mechanical or completely conscious. This is the parting of the ways of which all mystical teaching speaks.
Accident is when something happens to you that does not properly belong to you. You are under karmik influences. Man changes at each moment. And these changes are produced by exterior shocks, which he can never foresee, as he can never foresee his own interior changes. Thus he goes, carried by the streams of life and by his own mood fluctuations. In his illusory life, ordinary man is governed by the Law of Hazard, or Law of Accident. To escape from its influence, Gurdjieff suggests specific methods — like self-observation, working on oneself (individually and in groups), doing exercises and movements — so that man can become master of himself.
More useful things " ... if I could remember myself for long enough, I would make fewer mistakes and I would do more things that are desirable. Now, I wish to remember, but every rustle, every person, every sound distracts my attention, — and I forget."
No one escapes the natural laws. (a Gurdjieff’s pupil)

Additional Notes:
Richard Liebow thought that
there's some resemblance betwee Gurdjieff and Stalin. This is not relavent here and it will be moved

We elect to control more and more of our lives, and thus liberating ourselves from the Law of accidents.
Patriarcal values!? Well anyway ; The way in the mystical sense starts where ever you are, but to be on the Way is to be on a different level. One is still in the vortex of life, but does not know who he is. You find who you're on the Way and not before. Passing the Torch of Wisdom to Future Elders by Rich Schwab All things start with a story. A long time ago, when people still lived close to nature and grew along beside the seasons, this exposure left them quite cold. But these people kept warm with what they considered to be a divine gift. The gift which we take for granted of a simple tiny spark, meant life through the clean but desolate snowy moons. They knew life as we cannot, as they lived so close to death. They appreciated life, and loved all things which gave them life. So their spark-borne fire soon became sacred. So sacred that a ritual was borne to care for the endurance of life, symbolized with a fire which was kept strong and passed down from old oaken elders to the young elders
Swedenborg had a prolific career as an inventor and scientist. At the age of fifty-six he entered into a spiritual phase, in which he experienced dreams and visions. This culminated in a spiritual awakening, where he claimed he was appointed by the Lord to write a heavenly doctrine to reform Christianity. He claimed that the Lord had opened his eyes, so that from then on he could freely visit heaven and hell, and talk with angels, demons, and other spirits. For the remaining 28 years of his life, he wrote and published 18 theological works, of which the best known was Heaven and Hell (1758), and several unpublished theological works.