Blog Archives

March 27th, 2017

3/27/2017

Entering the void: A regionless region
Part I

The thought of entering the void appears to be a dilemma.

If one steps outside reality one and into the void, the void, being nothing, collapses leaving simply reality one or one could say reality one simply expands to fill the void.

Understanding the solution to the apparent dilemma comes easily if one can grasp the concept of reality being composed of two worlds.

The two worlds are not separate from each other as demonstrated in Fig. 3.7 …

… for in that case the question becomes what lies between the two worlds.

Rather the two worlds lie one within the other.

Reality one lies within reality two and the silence separates the two worlds, separates the two realities.

Ones true essence lies within the silence separating the two realities.

‘I begin to see that I live between two realities. On the one hand, there is the reality of my existence on the earth, which limits me in time and space, with all its threats and opportunities for satisfaction. On the other hand, there is the reality of being that is beyond this existence, a reality for which I have a nostalgia.’
The Reality of Being, The Fourth Way of Gurdjieff, Jeanne De Salzmann, Shambhala, 2010, p 135.

The understanding of one’s true essence lying within the silence does not imply one’s true essence is condemned to exist within the void for the free individual is just that: free to roam where they will.

0 Comments

March 25th, 2017

3/25/2017

1 Comment

The void is not a reality: The void is nothingness
Part III

Some would suggest the void, the silence; nothingness is not nothingness if an existence exists within the silence.

While it may be true the void, the silence, nothingness is not nothingness if an existence exists, is found, within the silence, finding an existence within the silence does not negate the concept of nothingness since the silence exists as the fabric within which an existence can find itself immersed.

In other words, it is possible and logical to suggest items exist within, are surrounded by, are immersed within the silence unless, of course, one does not believe in the nothing, unless one does not believe what it is religions tell us, unless one does not believe in mathematics, unless one does not believe in science, unless one does not believe in philosophical dialectics, unless ... since all of the aforementioned depend upon the silence, depend upon the nothingness for their more significant dialectics, observations and conclusions.

The significance of the void, the nothing, applies to more than scientific, philosophical and religious dialectics.

The silence’s significance applies equally to the journey of finding one’s true essence.

The silence is a state within which one is capable of finding one’s true self.

One’s true self need not remain in the silence, one’s true self is able to leave the silence and come into contact with any of the three forms of experiencing what it is the cosmos has to offer.

Next: Entering the void: A regionless region

1 Comment

March 24th, 2017

3/24/2017

0 Comments

The void is not a reality: The void is nothingness
Part II
If we expand the width of the circle itself we obtain:

Considering only one circle, further thickening the circle itself and replacing the concept of the ‘inside of the circle’ with the concept of the cosmos, the universe, the physical, we obtain:

The silence, the circle, separates world one, reality one, the cosmos from what?

The silence separates world one from world two (see Understanding Reality – book one of this trilogy)

Adding world two to the diagram we obtain:

The void, the silence is nothing, yet it plays a significant role in mathematics, in the language of science, in religion in terms of creation, and in philosophy in terms of rational dialectics.

0 Comments

March 22nd, 2017

3/22/2017

2 Comments

The void is not a reality: The void is nothingness
Part I

A circle divides a surface into three parts

1.     Inside the circle

2.     Outside the circle

3.     The circle itself

The inside of the circle represents Reality One, represents the physical, the physical universe, a location of time, a location of space, a location of matter, represents any of many universes for just as one circle can be created so can many circles can be created giving us:

Each ‘Inside the circle’ could conceivably have its own unique existence or, on the other hand, have the same form of existence.

Regardless of the number of circles and variations within the circles one may envision, there is one commonality pertaining to all circles. The inside of the circle is confined to what it is.

The operative word of the statement: ‘The inside of the circle is confined to what it is,’ is the word ‘confined.’

Each inner portion of circles is ‘confined’, limited to what it is. It may be true that a universe has infinite space and infinite time but the inside of the circle is limited nonetheless by the concept of a universal fabric of time and space while outside such a circle is timelessness and spacelessness. (For further details see: Understanding Reality, Daniel J Shepard, Create Space, 2011, ISBN-13:978-0615478968)

The ‘Outside the circle’ is all the same and is where regions 5, 6 and 7 are to be found, but more of that later.

What then of the circle itself?

2 Comments

March 21st, 2017

3/21/2017

0 Comments

The silence: The region between two worlds

'It is necessary to pass through the world of the known to enter the world of the unknown, the void, the real.'
The Reality of Being, The Fourth Way of Gurdjieff, Jeanne De Salzmann, Shambhala, 2010, p 167.

'There was chaos … There was no shape; nothing moved, there was not even a name for it. But in all this emptiness, Earth and Heaven parted and something emerged between the two.'
The Kokiki (also known as Fursukotofumi, in English, The Record of Ancient Matters) is the oldest surviving book in Japan (completed CE 712 and one of two master Shinto sacred texts: p 33

'To live the teachings would be to awake, to die to identification of one’s ordinary level of functioning, and to be reborn to the experience of another dimension, another world.'
The Reality of Being, The Fourth Way of Gurdjieff, Jeanne De Salzmann, Shambhala, 2010, p xiv

'For the world to exist, God, who was everything and everywhere, consented to shrink, to leave a vacant space not inhabited by Himself: it is in this “hole” that the world occurred.'
E. M. Cioran, 1911 – 1995, Romanian-born French philosopher and essayist: p. 28, All Gall is Divided, translated by Richard Howard, New York: Arcade Publishing, 1999

0 Comments

March 20th, 2017

3/20/2017

0 Comments

Stepping into the silence: Walking over the abyss of fear

Who better to describe the silence, the void, than poets, philosophers, song writers and playwrights?

'I can’t take the noise here, my soul shudders at every sound, I shudder all over, but I can’t go off by myself, I’d be terrified to be alone in silence.'
The Cherry Orchard, In The Complete Plays: Anton Chekov, translated and edited by Laurence Senelick. New York: W. W, Norton, 2006, Anton Chekhov

'I was frightened upon finding myself amid nothingness, a nothing myself. I felt like suffocating, thinking and feeling that everything is nothing, solid nothing.'
Giacomo Leopardi, Italian poet, writer, and philosopher, Zihaldone: A Selection,
Translated by Edward MacCurdy, New York: Garden City Publishing, 1942

'A lunatic is a man who sees an abyss and falls into it.'
Honore De Balzac, French novelist and playwright

'Experience teaches that silence terrifies people the most.'
Bob Dylan, Like a Rolling Stone, New York: Columbia, 1965

0 Comments

March 19th, 2017

3/19/2017

0 Comments

March 17th, 2017

3/17/2017

0 Comments

(Should one get this far in the blog, The Fourth Way, one can obtain the full book of this work minus the fourth way quotes within the '24 free books' of this site listed as 'panentheism addressing the journey of a soul' under the first classification titled 'Generically Oriented'.)

Taking a Peek: Viewing the void
Part IV

Again we begin to understand why it is difficult to step into a pure void.

If one ever gets to the point of being capable of stepping into pure silence, into the pure void, the ability to repeat the experience may or may not ever again be duplicated. If, however, one is able to repeat the experience, the experience again may or may not be reproducible but the potential to again enter the void repeatedly increases.

The more one enters the void the easier it is to step back into the void, step back into a pure silence.

Some would say: If an individual truly steps into region 4, said individual cannot be brought back to this reality by any outside influence. To say ‘this’ or ‘that’ regarding an individual experiencing region 4 applying universally for all individuals entering region 4 is to suggest individuality does not exist when it comes to being a level 4, is to suggest region 4 is filled with benign experiencing, is filled with the blandness of repetition.

Such a perception is no less rational than to suggest anyone entering level two, experiencing the emotional will feel the same as everyone else entering an emotional state. Such a perception is no less rational than to suggest everyone will experience love, jealously, a sunset, the spray of salt water, the thrill of a new idea, the satisfaction of comprehending division, addition, multiplication … in exactly the same manner as everyone else.

To expect the lack of diversity of experiencing within region 4 is to suggest diversity is only an aspect of the physical.

The very understanding of diversity existing in region 4 is what validates the concept of group sharing, group discussions, group work as it pertains to assisting others accomplishing the journey of entering region 4, accomplishing the effort of stepping into region 4.

Some things can be said about region 4 just as some things can be said about region one about the region of physical sensory input.

If one places their hand in a hot fire, it can be said with some degree of certainty that they will feel pain. The concept of one feeling pain if one places their hand in a fire is not an absolute, however. There are individuals who have no nerves in their hand and thus feel no pain when they ‘hurt’ their hand.

Are there commonalities regarding region 4? Are there aspects of region 4 one can, for the most part, expect to find within region 4 which others will also experience?

The answer to the question is yes there are commonalities one can, for the most part, expect to find within region 4.

The word ‘expect’ again makes its appearance. There are experiences regarding level 4, region 4, which one cannot describe other than through the use of language and language is perhaps one of the most elusive tools one finds necessary to use when discussing the seven levels/regions open to humans.

Without language, how is one to share experiences one may have when returning from region 4 not to mention returning from regions, levels 5, 6 and 7.

Language may be inadequate when it comes to describing one’s experiencing of regions 4, 5, 6 and 7 but language is an important tool we have available to communicate and as such should not be discarded just because it is limited in nature.

Personal note:
Other tools our species has at its disposal are: Art, Music, Mathematics, …

The word ‘expect’ entered into our conversation earlier but as stated before: To enter region 4, to be completely immersed within the void, completely immersed within region 4, one must not only leave regions/levels 1, 2 and 3 behind but one must leave ‘expectations’ behind as well.

So where does all this verbiage take us?

All this verbiage up to this point takes one to the edge of darkness, takes one to the brink of eternal darkness, takes one to the next step which is to step over the cliff and into the eternal pit of nothingness in order to understand what it is one potentially may find awaiting one’s self as one enters the void repeatedly.

0 Comments

March 16th, 2017

3/16/2017

0 Comments

One is sure to notice there are no apparent bridges ‘into’ level 4. The bridge exists as a process. The process is one of balancing the three regions of physical desires, emotional feelings and mental thoughts followed by quieting all three.

The concept of gaining entrance into region 4 through a ‘process’ is no different than walking the bridge from the region of the emotional into the region of the mental. Moving from the emotional to the mental involves a process of quieting the emotional and then stepping into the mental.

Being completely immersed within the void, surrounded in the infiniteness of pure nothingness is often experienced with breathtaking awe and sometimes with great fear. If, however, one experiences either awe or fear one has not truly entered the void in its purity for fear and awe are elements of one’s level two, elements of emotion and as such one has carried an aspect of one’s emotional self/level 2 with one as one entered the void.

The silence/void is only pure silence if one has carried no elements of levels one, two and/or three with them as one allows the silence to envelop one’s self.

0 Comments

March 15th, 2017

3/15/2017

0 Comments

<<Previous

primer_for_the_fourth_way_minus_most_of_gs_quotes.pdf
File Size:	4904 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

Part I: For the novice
Intro & General Comments
10/16/16 - 12/31/16
The work begins:
Reality 1: World One: The physical
1/1/17 - 2/6/17
The Silence: The Void
2/7/17 - 2/23/17
Preparation: Conquering the Physical Machine
2/24/17 - 3/11/17
Taking a Peek: Viewing the void
3/12/17 - 3/17/17
Stepping into the silence:
Walking over the abyss of fear
3/2o/17
The silence: The region between two worlds
3/21/17
The void is not a reality: The void is nothingness
3/22/17 - 3/26/17
Entering the void: A regionless region
3/27/17 - ...

RSS Feed