Tags
art, gurdjieff, julie, mystic, philosophy, plato, s., scott, the 'work', woodstock
s. had already met fitzgerald. he was the guy who helped bob tate with setting up his coffee shop. bob was the proprietor of "the cave" a real tourist trap on mcdougal street, in greenwich village.
"portrait of julie"
neither s. nor julie had ever really talked to him. besides, he was in the 'enemy' camp. but one day, when julie and s. dropped down to the corner cupboard for some bacon and eggs, s. spied the title of a slim blue book fitzgerald was toting around.
when they sat down, s. leaned over to julie and whispered, "he's reading "meetings with remarkable men". by this time s. knew that g. had written "all and everything", and this was the second series, after "beelzebub's tales to his grandson". julie said something like "small world. go over and talk to him."
"eh, i couldn't help noticing the title of the book you are reading. do you know anything about gurdjieff?" at that time, s. didn't really know that 'the work' had blossomed in major cities all over the globe. he suddenly suspected fitzgerald of being involved; mostly because of his coy secretiveness. fitzgerald was friendly though and offered to lend s. his copy.
"thanks anyway, but i haven't read the first series of g's writings and as you know he recommends reading them in order."
s. invited his new best friend to dinner in the studio. bob came, and after a simple meal of chili con carne with saffron rice and a gallon of hearty burgundy and espresso, he read until 2:00 a.m. from "all and everything, an objectively impartial criticism of the life of man".
from then on, whenever he was in town visiting his father, a retired railroad man, bob would read late into the night from that book. sue bertram joined the little group. we all asked bob all kinds of questions. he mostly didn't answer them. he said something about our not being a 'real' group per se, and left it at that.
in the dead of winter s. painted or drew most days. christmas came and went.
julie had ordered "all and everything" from mr. bland and had it nicely wrapped under the tree with a bookplate inscribed with the proverb, "happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding" proverbs 3:13
s. went into a kind of ascendant spiral of psuedo-mystical bliss which embued every painting except still lifes with a kind of sappy religiosity. years later, he was more than just embarassed by these paintings; although he had always had a penchant for allegorical content. bob anderson was trying to cure him of that tendency.
sitting by the potbellied stove late into the night, imagination inflamed with the tales of beelzebub to his grandson, s. was temporarily transformed into an active mystic. doors were opened into his unconscious. night dreaming became phantasmagorical.
on the other hand, he was experimental. some of the ideas in ouspensky's follow up to "in search of the miraculous", called "the fourth way" which was a collection of questions and answers regarding the cosmology and science of g's system.
in other words he began to verify that he was 'asleep'
he observed in himself the chaos and cacophany of multiple "i"s" and the lack of any proof that he had any willpower at all. (this was an illusion he had counted on in order to work). through self-study s. saw that he could never go from point "A" to point "B"; that everything just happened.
julie's wish was expressed by her one night as, "i just don't want to die like a dog." s. knew what she meant. sue was a natural philosopher-investigator. she was like a gold prospector. having found nuggets at the door of the cave, she was hot on the trail of a verifiable motherlode. she came up with rene daumal's book "mt. analogue" a clever analogy about his experiences with 'the work' and mr. gurdjieff himself.
plato's analogy for sleeping 'man' is in the 'cave'. he demonstrates that we are trapped in a lower realm of mechanicality ruled by the 'law of accident'. once realized one must never rest until one escapes from the oppression of 'sleep' into the higher realms of being by mastering one's self and beginning to see the world with skinned eyes. the illusions are not necessary; and certainly can't be said to be preferrable.
thank you john grigsby and bullhead entertainment.
the universal language is song. so i am including…
http://my.opera.com/thefairy19/blog/2009/05/29/one-love?cid=8020364#comment8020364
Still reading, still enjoying. From the inside of my little cave.
hey allan, nice to see you. didn't you have to leave the cave to comment?
s. is becoming more enjoyable and a little more relaxed/more of a reader,I think s.is in a good time of his life… 🙂
yes meli, :heart: his mind is being re-activated. he always was an insatiable reader. but that kind of stopped during the decadent years in manhattan. also, what else can you do at night in a vermont winter. :heart:
Didn't have to leave that cave. Wireless Internet.
what a wonderful world.
thanks david. i always appreciate your input. :happy: i am sure you know how hard we try to capture the depths of our subjects. the being within a person can be so elusive. and even getting close is a victory.
Hi Scott,I like the pensive expression that you captured on 'Julie' above. Good work! :yes:
Hi Scott,That is precisely why your medium is superior to photography. Only Ansel Adams and W.H. Mortensen even came close…..:)
You're much more senior to me and sophisticated than me,Scott.I love your posts.:up:
Kate Bush was kinda-sorta a Gurdieff person. Evidentally hung out at the Institute in London.
david, i agree ansel adams is a consummate darkroom master. kyren, thanks for the vote of confidence. i am so happy to have you as a friend.ed, i didn't know that. i'm not much into names. for a while i was kind of dependent on that angle; as if to corroborate my interest. but soon realized it doesn't help a bit. it's just the odds at work again. the odds are that some famous people will be interested in anything at all. it's never a proof of value. the work is a little like alcoholics anonymous in that it just isn't cool to expose anyone's anonymity. it's the ideas that count, not the people. thanks for dropping by, i really appreciate you commenting. :happy:
Love the dream painting with the train, the dog and the sleeping boy. I can almost put myself into a dream state staring at it. You read alot when you were young. I didn't till I was much older. I do remember reading Les Miserable when I was 16 and a couple of stories by Poe but that was about it. I didn't become an avid reading till early in my forties.
pam,reading is a family tradition. when you have a supportive father who is extremely literate and loves books himself… it's kind of contagious. also i had a brother a year older who passed on his findings with enthusiasm. our father even read the Iliad and the Odyssey to us. we loved tarzan and the kipling books and all of sherlock holmes. after a while it's just like drinking water. it may have helped not to have a television until i was sixteen.
ah how wonderful i was reading about plato's allegory too a couple of weeks ago, and was posting in the literature network about him and his ideas. i referred to the same youtube link- although it left much out i enjoyed this simple version of the allegory.http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43996
nice article. good questions. in the beginning we grope. have patience, pondering will eventually unify these fragments.and don't let form get you down. 'form' is just a way to conceive in the abstract. just as phenomenon is an 'image' of the noumenal. or a 'word' like 'dog' is not a dog. or an experience is not at all the same as a description of it. but the idea which supports the reality of forms being universal is that of the a priori existence of all things that are real. they are manifestations of higher intelligence than ours. that than which nothing greater can be conceived… that is the creator…. has these ideas which cause the material world. consequently, the source is more real than the manifestations. hense, the world is an illusion.don't worry, i don't get it either. :heart:
Apologies for delay Sir Scott, i have lots of reading here in your chamber. And i am doing it right now. :up: love this. 😉
glad you finally came around anyway… hurrah! the queen has visited scott 'earthstong' :heart: :happy:
😆 😆
NEW KID ON THE BLOCK SAYS THIS S. GUY IS INCREDIBLE :whistle: I WILL BE SPENDING ALOT OF TIME ON YOUR BLOG. THANKS FOR SHARING
you are welcome kat. so glad that i have piqued your curiosity. and i am so glad that you commented. i was losing heart that anyone was really interested in my story… now definitely, titled "the river and i", i even stopped adding to these posts of personal history thinking that it wasn't garnering any readership. you have encouraged me to pick it up again. :happy:
"it will keep me out of trouble " :jester:in that case, i will be doing a great service to humanity. now, all i have to do is find a way to keep myself out of trouble. :cool:an ode to the wondrous bubbleto wax some wily wordskeeps scott out of trouble.immersed in whey and curds.
Well Good ! With your site, my brothers etc… it will keep me out of trouble :jester: Seriously though, I love poetry, art, and lots of humor. All are great medicine which opera folk like you are providing.
That is GREAT !!!!!
*i really did laugh out loud.what's funny is that it is always worth the effort to throw a little more fuel on the fire.thanks kat. :happy:
o.k. jon. i am planning to pick up where i left off. (sometime before the chimney business.)
yes,yes, keep the blog going!!!