The Fourth Way and Esoteric Traditions
What is Simplicity? The ancient masters were subtle, mysterious, profound, responsive. The depth of their knowledge is unfathomable. Because it is unfathomable, All we can do is describe their appearance. Watchful, like men crossing a winter stream. Alert, like men aware of danger. Courteous, like visiting guests. Yielding like ice about to melt. Simple, like […]
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Our Winter Issue – Our January 2018 issue is on simplicity, the essential part of our nature–essence. What steps can we take to return to it, from a Fourth Way perspective? Life requires many masks, but who are we, truly? Show me your original face, before your father or mother were born. – Zen master […]
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Pottery and Decoration Speaking of essential purity, Liu Yiming wrote these words. Pottery has a basic constitution, and is without artifice. Decorate it with colors, inlay it with gold and jade, and though it may be beautifully adorned, it has lost its basic constitution. What I realize as I observe this is the Tao of returning […]
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Essence and Presence – What is presence, and how does it relate to essence? How do the Fourth Way and other traditions use these terms? From the Sufi Tradition – Zikar In Sufism, the word zikar means “remembrance of the Presence of God while losing oneself in a sacred experience.” Truly, it is the remembrance of a […]
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Bread and the Essence of Craftmanship – How does a master craftsman use bread-making for presence? Amidst these days of mass marketing and food production, one man here makes bread by hand for his community. Craftsmanship requires attention in the moment for a finished product to be both useful and beautiful. Presence to detail creates […]
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Little Firefly – To tell the story of Little Firefly, you must know that once upon a time, on the shores of a great lake, lived a hunter, a widower with three daughters. Every day when he went into the forest, the hunter would leave his daughters with instructions to clean the wigwam, repair his […]
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What is essence? – Essence is the real part of one and is often compared to a child within. While it is childlike, it is not childish. Young children have this state. Essence includes our type and center of gravity. Ouspensky says it includes the structure and capacities of the lower centers, while the contents […]
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– Quotations on the necessity of inner simplicity, from writers, mystics, and artists. Leonardo da Vinci: Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. Michel de Montaigne: Others study how to elevate their minds and hoist them up tight; I, how to humble mine and lay it to rest. Goethe: This is the most difficult thing of all, though it […]
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