The Fourth Way and Esoteric Traditions
Every effort to be present comes from essence and is an act of love. The conscious effort to be present The efforts we make to maintain the state of presence are sustained by a deep love. This love, like an uncomfortable and permanently-lit flame, maintains the necessary desire to self-remember, to be present. During the state of […]
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I quite enjoy one of Mahler’s songs, set to a poem by Friedrich Rückert, “Ich bin von die Welt abhanden gekommen,” or “I am lost to the world.” The piece begins with a beautiful and haunting English horn solo against a background of woodwind and harp, followed by strings. Lost to the world – an […]
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Presence and imagination – are they opposites? Sincere work on oneself is work on being, as well as knowledge. Thus a crucial point in the work is to recognize the difference between presence and imagination. Using these terms can help to understand each other when communicating about this subject. Imagination is the state where our focus is on things […]
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Struggle of the Magicians – the Battle for the Higher Self Many myths and spiritual traditions describe a struggle between competing inner entities in man or woman. Some term these entities the lower self and the higher self. Gurdjieff described this struggle as ‘the struggle of the magicians.’ Curiously, this struggle becomes apparent when the […]
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Movement and Stillness, Balance and Harmony In the Book of Balance and Harmony, Li DaoChun writes, “The Absolute is movement and stillness without beginning, yin and yang without beginning.” Movement and rest manifest on all scales and take on different meanings. Movement and rest can be either mechanical or a more conscious movement and rest. […]
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Experiencing Movement and Rest in Music What denotes movement and rest in music? And what did Jesus mean by telling his disciples that “the sign of the Father in you” is “a movement and a rest?” Movement is a familiar impulse, as rest is an equally familiar instinct. They are components of our bodily existence, […]
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How can we utilize the law of octaves to help continue progressing in our work to awaken? Movement forward also requires rest, where new shocks can enter. “Life is a movement and a rest.” – Gospel of Thomas Motion and Repose in Spiritual Life The word movement comes from the Latin, movere; “to move, set in motion.” […]
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The act of creation implies movement and rest. What does the Sabbath represent, for our inner work along the Fourth Way today? Starting with Genesis: Movement and Rest From the very first chapter of the Bible, we read of the idea of movement and rest. The act of creation represents movement, over the first six days, […]
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How does the study of octaves and intervals help us understand our own efforts to be more present, more awake? The Natural Law of Octaves and Intervals The Law of Seven can be observed everywhere in the natural world and in everything we do internally and externally. If we understood the law of octaves, we […]
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How do we use the highest parts of ourselves to work towards awakening, and rest when needed? Intellectual parts of centers need to work together for us to truly remember ourselves. The Four Lower Centers Fourth Way authors alert us to the fact that we have seven brains, rather than one. Two of them function in times […]
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