A Woman's Work with Gurdjieff, Ramana Maharshi, Krishnamurti, Anandamayi Ma & Pak Subuh: The Spiritual Life Journey of Ethel Merston

A Woman's Work

Jean Vayasse (1917-1975), Gurdjieffian!

Jean Vayasse (1917-1975) 

Jean Vayasse was born in Le Mans, France.  Very little has been written about Jean Vayasse outside of his medical accomplishments and brief mentions of him in conversations of the Fourth Way.  In ordinary life Jean Vaysse participated during the 1950s and 1960s in the great discoveries of modern surgery: renal grafts, cardiopulmonary bypasses, and surgery for arterial hypertension.

"His quest to understand the meaning of life brought him in 1947 to an encounter with the teaching of Gurdjieff. Working in the groups in Paris and later helping to lead them through the 1960s, Jean Vaysse felt the time had come to express Gurdjieff's written teaching in a more coherent and logical way in order to bring it within the range of the average educated reader."

  "Jean Vaysse was a long time pupil of Jeanne de Salzmann."

 

He is well known for writing Toward Awakening: An Approach to the Teaching Left by Gurdjieff.  Some quotes from his book:

Page 35, "We live in self-forgetfulness, and it all happens without leaving any trace.  Life lives itself, but there is no 'fruit' for the one who lives it."

Page 41, "But a real feeling would be something quite different.  We live with nothing but automatic emotional reactions, feelings that follow each other in rapid succession at each instant of our lives and cause something in each circumstance to please us or displease us, attract us or repel us."

Page 42,"Thus the struggle against automatic habits established in each of our centers can be a support for the early stages of self-observation, just as later another kind of struggle -- of oneself with oneself (between two aspects of my nature) -- will be necessary to serve as a basis for the appearance of a 'presence,' and later still the struggle between the yes and the no (that is between these two natures) will be necessary for spiritualization."

Page 79, "In my ordinary state, I have no true feelings, I have only automatic emotions, the emotions of reaction, depending entirely on which personage is present."

Page 80, "The emotional center becomes capable of real feeling only when a stable presence, relatively independent of surrounding circumstances has been developed... The feeling of self that accompanies awakening to oneself is the first real feeling that human beings can have;..."

Page 90, "... the sensation of ourselves is there or it is not there, depending on whether we are turned toward ourselves or attracted outside, and this is why it can be considered one of the best tests for verifying the reality of efforts toward self-awareness."

Page 92, "And above all, as I become more able to see myself, the inadequacies and failures that I record no longer arouse regret and resolutions or impulses 'to correct myself,' but bring instead the true 'subjective' feeling of remorse of conscience."

Page 98, "When the emotional center works for another center, it brings with it its sensitivity, its speed, its intensity and above all, an egocentric quality that gives it away more than another sign does.  When it works instead of the intellectual center it produces nervousness, feverish and unnecessary haste, exactly where, on the contrary, calm judgement and deliberation are called for.  When it works instead for the moving center, it produces impulsiveness and a tendency to be carried away rather than making the right movement.  In the place of the instinctive enter, it produces exaggerated effect and too much or too little activity."

Page 99, "The intellectual center is neither capable of substituting for the moving center nor of controlling movements-- sensation does not exist for it, sensation is a dead thing for which it substitutes visualization."

Fourth Way Seminar in September 2010

Seminar

Theme to be Announced

Friday, September 3 to Monday, September 6, 2010
San Juan Bautista, California
(1 hour from San Jose Airport)

Through guided meditation, Conscious Body-Breath Impressions™, dialogue and private interviews, William Patrick Patterson explores the theme. Open to all levels of simplicity. No previous experience necessary.

Because space is limited and past seminars have filled quickly, please make your reservation early. The total cost of tuition, lodging (double occupancy) and meals is $575 with reservations received by August 15, 2010. Afterward, the cost is $675. Space is reserved with a deposit of $300.

To reserve a place, send your deposit by mail or reserve electronically below. There is a small surcharge when using the latter.

To reserve a place by mail, send a check made out to Arete Communications to the following address:

Arete Communications
773 Center Boulevard #58
Fairfax, CA 94978-0058

If you have questions, email us at: Introduction@Gurdjieff-Legacy.Org or call (800) 470-3086

The Five Being Obligolnian Strivings of Ashiata Shiemash

The Five Being Obligolnian Strivings of Ashiata Shiemash (All and Everything by G.I. Gurdjieff, page 385.)

And this took place as follows: "All the beings of that planet then began to work in order to have in their consciousness this divine function of genuine Conscience, and for this purpose, as everywhere in the Universe, they transubstantiated in themselves what are called the 'being-obligolnian strivings' of which there are five, namely:

First Striving: "To have in their ordinary being-existence everything satisfying and really necessary for their planetary body."

Second Striving: "To have a constant and unflagging instinctive need for self-perfection in the sense of being."

Third Striving: "The conscious striving to know ever more and more concerning the laws of World-creation and World-maintenance."

Fourth Striving: "The striving from the beginning of their existence to pay for their arising and their individuality as quickly possible, in order afterwards to be free to lighten as much as possible the Sorrow of our Common Father."

Fifth Striving: "The striving always to assist the most rapid perfecting of other beings, both those similar to oneself and those of other forms, up to the degree of the sacred Martfotai, that is, up to the degree of self-individuality."

Jean Vaysse, Student of the Gurdfieff Teaching

Vayasse, Jean (1917-1975) was born in Le Mans, France (1). In his ordinary life Jean Vaysse participated during the 1950s et '60s in the great discoveries of modern surgery: renal grafts, cardiopulmonary bypasses, and surgery for arterial hypertension. (2) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11255978

"His quest to understand the meaning of life brought him in 1947 to an encounter with the teaching of Gurdjieff. Working in the groups in Paris and later helping to lead them through the 1960s, Jean Vaysse felt the time had come to express Gurdjieff's written teaching in a more coherent and logical way in order to bring it within the range of the average educated reader." (1) "Jean Vaysse was a long time pupil of Jeanne de Salzmann." (3) http://gurdjieff.org.au/resources.html

"Working in the groups in Paris and later helping to lead them through the 1960s, Jean Vaysse felt the time had come to express Gurdjieff's written teaching in a more coherent and logical way in order to bring it within the range of the average educated reader." (1) He wrote "Toward Awakening: An Approach to the Teaching Left by Gurdjieff."

Jean Vaysse helped produce the film documentary:

Georges Gurdjieff

A Documentary Film

Produced by Jean-Claude Lubtchansky

(4) http://www.gurdjieff.org/lubtchansky1.htm

Jean Vaysse is best known for his book,

Toward Awakening: An Approach to the Teaching Left by Gurdjieff (1979) San Francisco: Harper & Row, ISBN 1-85063-115-8

Very little has been written about Jean Vaysse outside of his medical accomplishments and brief mentions of him in conversations of the Fourth Way.

References:

(1) Toward Awakening: An Approach to the Teaching Brought by Gurdjieff by Jean Vaysse (Hardcover - Mar. 17, 2009) ISBN: 978 1 59675 030 2 , page 159

(2) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11255978

(3) http://gurdjieff.org.au/resources.html

(4) http://www.gurdjieff.org/lubtchansky1.htm

Kathryn Hulme (July 6, 1900 - August 25, 1981) was born in San Francisco

Kathryn Hulme (July 6, 1900 - August 25, 1981) was born in San Francisco. She survived the San Francisco earthquake and fire of 1906. (1) She died in Kauai. (2) She is best known for her book The Nun's Story that was later made into a movie starring Audrey Hepburn. Kathryn said that "Between the lines of that biography is the story of my own years of inner struggle with the 'Gurdjieffian' work aim." (3) Her book Undiscovered Country includes descriptions of her association with Gurdjieff, his students and his Work.

Kathryn Hulme started studying the ideas of Gurdjieff with Jane Heap in 1931. She first met Gurdjieff in Paris February 1932. She recognized him in the Café de la Paix from the descriptions that she had heard of him from Jane Heap. She introduced herself to him. (4) She spent several months pursuing him to teach her. When Jane Heap left for London on October 18^th, Kathryn went straight to the Café de la Paix and entreated Gurdjieff to take her as a student. Gurdjieff nicknamed her Crocodile on the evening of October 18^th, 1935. (5) Kathryn and her friends became a unique group of women studying with Gurdjieff. They were called "The Rope." She met routinely with Gurdjieff until May 3^rd 1937 when she had her last lunch with him. (6)

During the years before his death she made several visits to Gurdjieff. She visited him in July-August 1938 in when she was in Paris for three weeks. (7) She visited him with other students when he came to NYC in spring 1939 until May19th.(8) In July of 1945 she visited him for a few hours in Paris.(9) In June 1946 she visited him and brought her friend, Marie Louise Habets, who was the subject of the biography, A Nun's Story. (10) She last saw him alive in 1948 at Christmas when Gurdjieff came to New York. (11)

Kathryn Hulme is a key person in the historical account Ladies of the Rope by William Patrick Patterson.

Kathryn Hulme's books:

We lived as children. Reference: http://lccn.loc.gov/38027542

The Nun's Story

Undiscovered Country: A Spiritual Adventure

Annie's Captain

The Wild Place

Au risque de se perdre

Merry Christmas, Mr. Baxter

The Success

The Diamond Hitch

The Sleeping Partner

La Història d'una monja

Arab Interlude

Look a Lion in the Eye: On Safari Through Africa

Reference: http://www.librarything.com/author/hulmekathryn

Desert Night

Reference: http://www.rhoenline.de/kathryn_hulme.html

Footnote:

1. Undiscovered Country by Kathryn Hulme, Boston, Little, Brown and Company, 1966, page 6.
2. Ladies of the Rope by William Patrick Patterson, Fairfax California, Arete Communications, page 246.
3. Undiscovered Country, page 1.
4. Undiscovered Country, page 60.
5. Undiscovered Country, page 74.
6. Ladies of the Rope page 129.
7. Undiscovered Country page 162.
8. Undiscovered Country page 173.
9. Undiscovered Country page 211.
10. Undiscovered Country page 254.
11. Ladies of the Rope, page 185.

The new Gurdjieff Journal is out!

http://www.gurdjieff-legacy.org/10journal/tgjcurrent.htm

Read below.

The Gurdjieff Journal™

Current Issue - #51 Volume 13 Issue 3

Certainty in a Time of Uncertainty	The financial meltdown, doomsday scenarios, the Mayan Calendar's 2012—how to come to certainty with so much uncertainty?
Gurdjieff & Food Part I	The prolongation of human life is key in developing higher levels of being and bodies. What part does physical food play? What did Gurdjieff serve at his table?
In Search of The Soul Part IX Buddhism Part I	The continuing exploration of how different religions and paths view the soul.

Faith, Love, and Hope

Faith of consciousness is freedom

Faith of feeling is weakness

Faith of body is stupidity.

Love of consciousness evokes the same in response

Love of feeling evokes the opposite

Love of body depends on type and polarity.

Hope of consciousness is strength

Hope of feeling is slavery

Hope of body is disease.

Quoted from "All and Everything" by G. Gurdjieff

page 361

ISBN: 0-89756-022-1

Awakening to One's Real Self - The Gurdjieff Approach

See you at the seminar!

Epistemology

You my anticipate that the point I'm leading up to is that the difference, if there is one, is a matter of "what is the basis of knowledge." Ayn Rand and Gurdjieff both had a lot to say about this. I intend to explore the record on this as we continue.

As a good philosopher you probably recognize that the basis of knowledge is sensation followed by perception, organized by conception. So what are the essential differences between Objectivist Epistemology and Gurdjieff's knowledge? What are the Mystical Parallels. Perhaps Mystical is a misnomer?

First of all Gurdjieff insists on a wider scope of sensation that Ayn Rand acknowledges....

Initial Setup

For a long time, maybe 15 years or so, I've wanted to write a book about the parallels between the writings of Ayn Rand and the writings of G.I. Gurdjieff as found in his books and as reported by Ouspenski.

I will probably never write the book, but I want to get the ideas of these parallels out to interested people, hence this blog.

I'll try to document my ideas with references but I won't let the lack of easily accessible reference material stop me from writing from my memory of what I read, perhaps 10, 20 or 30 years ago.

Comments are welcome. I'll refrain from wiseacreing in this blog and if I catch myself I'll clean it up. If I don't, the wise will be warned.

Spiritual Survival in a Radically Changing World-Time

William Patrick Patterson's book is incredibly valuable to a sincere seeker. It is the most concise formulation of basic transformational experiences that I have ever read! The book is a powerful, compelling invitation to the Fourth Way! He probes deeply into behaviors that I had never noticed or always taken for granted -- cuts me to my heart! The Gurdjieffian view provided by Patterson of current issues evokes a deep re-evaluation of my own opinions and values!

Hofstadter has it Right!

It came to me as I was busting my gut running up hill through the woods that Hofstadter does have it right, but at a much deeper level than he talks about in his epilogue. (My first impression is that he has dualism and non-dualism completely mixed up but I'm willing to ponder his interpretation further before final judgement.) 

Feedback is another term for self-awareness.  With self awareness, feedback, we begin to integrate, consume, digest, introject, the previously unknown (consciously) parts of our selves and we become a bit freer and less constrained in our life, awareness and ability to live!  For another view point with specific examples from real life read "EATING THE  'I' A DIRECT ACCOUNT OF THE FOURTH WAY -- THE WAY OF USING ORDINARY LIFE TO COME TO REAL LIFE"  by William Patrick Patterson.

  (http://www.lightworks.com/MonthlyAspectarian/2001/February/Conversation%20.htm

  http://www.gurdjieffstudiesprogram.org/patterson.htm)

Strange Loop and Fourth Way

I've had some additional promptings from my subconscious since the last entry on Douglas Hofstadter. There are added key names that I would expect to find in a study of feedback as the structure of human identity: Gurdjieff, Elmer Green.

Elmer Green is a western scientist and the pioneer of clinical biofeedback.

George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff, teacher of the Fourth Way, showed us how to use conscious feedback to come to real life.

Why would Hofstadter leave these names and other associated resources out of his investigation? Is he trying to present a view point based only on his own technical research, yet he lists many others in his bibliography, Rudy Rucker, Dennet, Dawkins, Ambrose Bierce?

Perhaps he is trying to present a 'Western' viewpoint, but then why would he leave out Elmer Green?

I suspect that his work is more autobiographical than it is a serious argument. I will read further and find out more about what he has to say.