water cont. enlightenment, Gurdjieff

Good sign.. I woke up early, did yoga, wrote down fascinating dreams – turned my hotel room into a theater, dragon bracelets & flying cars. Have juicing procedure started, fruit all ready and time to type this. Wow.

I am on water theme lately, one of my fav themes, being a water sign & everything.
From Power of Now, pg 161:

The Nature of Compassion

Having gone beyond the mind-made opposites, you become like a deep lake. The outer situation of your life and whatever happens there, is the surface of the lake. Sometimes calm, sometimes windy and rough, according to the cycles and the seasons. Deep down, however, the lake is always undisturbed. You are the whole lake, not just the surface, and you are in touch with your whole depth, which remains absolutely still. You don’t resist change by mentally clinging to any situation. Your inner peace does not depend on it. You abide in Being – unchanging, timeless, deathless – and you are no longer dependant on fulfillment or happiness on the outer world of constantly fluctuating forms. You can enjoy them, play with them, create new forms, appreciate the beauty of it all. But there will be no need to attach yourself to any of it”

When you are in touch with your Being you can look past the surface of another person and feel the other persons Being through your own. On this level suffering is an illusion. Healings can happen by awakening the Being-consciousness in another person – if they are ready.

Water is a very big deal for me. I remember my Mom asking me once who I was inspired by.. and I remember not being able to think of a person & told her I was inspired & aspired to be like water. She liked that answer.. I did, and still do too.


Story told by John, one I had just read elsewhere.. I think it bears repeating here.

Another Enlightenment story: There was a man who, before becoming a Zen master, spent many years searching for enlightenment. One day he walked into a butchershop and overheard a conversation between a butcher and a customer. The customer asked which was the best cut of meat. The butcher replied that they were all the best. Upon hearing this the man gained enlightenment.
Explanation - when you accept what is, consider every moment as the best – that is enlightenment.

Gurdjieff had a group at a center in Paris (perhaps the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man south of Paris which he established in 1922) There was one guy here who used to drive everyone crazy; no one could stand being around him. Then one day the man left. Gurdjieff inquired where he went & went off chasing him.. when he found him he not only asked him to come back but even paid him to come back to the group.

Because “Growth only happens outside of our comfort zone” –John

Every bad situation is good, every good situation is bad.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurdjieff
Georges Ivanovich Gurdjieff - (1872? - 1949), was a Greek-Armenian mystic and 'teacher of dancing'. His teaching is about becoming more aware of oneself in daily life.
Some of those who had contact with Gurdjieff saw him as a Master - able to practice self-remembering, and work on oneself; in other words a human being able to be conscious of himself. Others saw him as an esotericist or occultist.
About his teaching, Gurdjieff once said, "What do I teach? I teach people how to listen to themselves." The teaching addresses the question of man's place in the Universe and his possibilities for spiritual development.
Gurdjieff believed that man lives his life in a form of sleep, and that higher levels of consciousness are possible. In developing the inner possibility of becoming more aware of ourselves in our daily lives, one is shown a whole new way of living that can enrich our experience of life and acquaint us with our real selves. 'Know thyself' takes on a more concrete meaning. The ability to be 'present' more often (instead of being absent as we usually are in our lives), requires work on oneself over time


Its easy to be a Zen master according to John. There are 3 things you need to know: 1) the ‘don’t know’ mind, 2) no checking (non-judgmentalness) & 3) non-resistance to what is.

..but just how many girlfriends did Nietzsche have???