Issue #41 Apr 2025
“Man learns in three ways: Competition, Example and Magnetism.”
~Jane Heap
In The Tales (on page 919), writing about America, Gurdjieff says:
“On the other hand, with the trades and ‘professions’ indispensable in the process of being-existence, exclusively only those beings are occupied among them, who have gone there from other continents temporarily, and for the purpose, as is said, of ‘earning money!
“Even in this respect, the surrounding conditions of ordinary beingexistence among your contemporary favorites, chiefly among those breeding on this continent, have been transformed so to say, into Tralalaooalalalala, or, as our respected teacher Mullah Nassr Eddin would define it, ‘a soap bubble that lasts a long time only in a quiet medium.’
I have often pondered these words, as they portend a very definite shock to America and its people. If America is such a soap bubble, then the events of April, which herald a trade war, political turmoil, and much else besides, may well have burst that bubble.
In general ‘politics’ is of little interest to those of The Work, (what can you expect from mechanical man?), but the conditions of our lives cannot be ignored. The World changed this April as much or even more than it did with the fall of the Berlin Wall.
We can only stay aware and wait to see what transpires.
Take care.
RB
The Tales: The Toomer Version
A very old version of The Tales, or better put, a partial draft version of The Tales has emerged. It is an edited version of parts of The Tales that Jean Toomer worked on back in the 1920s. It was rescued from waste-bin (or fire) and personally kept by someone for many years. The text of this manuscript is, in some parts, distinctly different from the published edition and even the 1931 Manuscript…
The Riddle
I am each and all of these;
A king of liars, a prince of thieves,
A weary soldier seeking peace,
A jealous soul, a righteous priest,
A clown, a fool, an artisan,
Midnight cowboy, mystic man.
A joyrider that journeys far,
I ride the rollercoaster car,
From generous, to `wary of’,
From hate, to greed, to lust, to love,
Inner Silence
The Work advocates “Inner Silence.” It means ignoring inner chatter: the stream of automatic, often negative, internal commentary. This naturally leads to suppressing outer chatter, particularly gossip and meaningless talk. You can think of this as reducing inner and outer noise. You create a quarantined environment, isolated from ‘mechanical’ life and its prattle. Our Work requires…
Evolution Synchronicity?
The Sword-billed Hummingbird is a native of the Andes. You find it in Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador. Hummingbirds are remarkable among bird species – being able to fly backwards, possessing a heart that can beat 1200 times per minute, and living entirely from the nectar that flowers provide. The Sword-billed Hummingbird is more remarkable still. It has a bill that is astonishingly long – reaching to…