Zigzag Idiot and the ladder of Objective Reason

[Zigzag Idiot]

Thanks @Applegarden , I fell asleep last night while forming a response centered around my interpretation of Gurdjieffs idea of Kundalini. By the way,, very impressive guitar work!

A part of my ongoing troubles also is that I have a throat chakra that near chronicly malfunctions. I have hope because at times I catch a glimpse of what George Gurdjieff metaphorically referred to as the organ Kundabuffer. This metaphorical organ Kundabuffer represents the curse of our unconstrained imagination which pollutes our objectivity. It's my hypothesis for now that working with this notion of Kundabuffer will eventually undo the twist that exists for me in regard to the fifth chakra. After studying Beelzebub's Tales To His Grandson, I produced the following homemade equation around my interpretation of what Gurdjieff was trying to get at.

• Kundalini = Prana = Kundabuffer = uncontrolled  imagination = dispersed attention and chi/ Prana energy

 versus

• Kundalini + 3 Centered Awareness = Holy Prana which leads to full awakening and Self realization through the ability of Consciously directing one's attention.

3 Centered awareness is synonymous with his invented word fulasnitamnian awareness.

Itoklanoz awareness represents an imbalance of the instinctual, feeling, and intellectual centers resulting in 'waking sleep' or spititual sleep.

A numerology reading of my numbers indicates a struggle with imagination until the latter years of this current lifetime. I've always been a daydreamer who builds castles in the air. This seems to be a part of my delimma. I don't know whether it may be considered karmic or not. Anyway, In my interpretation, this is a condition Gurdjieff considered the main downfall in the psyche of all contemporary humanity.

 

8 hours ago, Applegarden said:

I know there is some intuintive sense of my left side of heart center i have noticed. Something is there. Its like a chord with some other people i fancy i guess and i can feel how they are feeling. 

This statement of yours reminded me of the Sufi's notion of " the Lataif.

Presence of the Lataif Can be Overlooked

This particular one of the lataif, the heart center, is connected with the experience of compassion. At this level of experience, all of the excitement, glitter and drama of the heart chakra are gone. Instead, what is experienced in the chest cavity is emptiness. The whole chest feels as if it is gone. There is nothing left but a very clear, peaceful and silent emptiness. It feels as if nothing is occurring there, yet it is open and lucid. If the person pays closer attention, it will become apparent that this peaceful emptiness is pervaded by a very fine and subtle Presence, so fine and subtle that it is usually overlooked by the one having the experience. This fine and subtle Presence pervading the emptiness of the heart is the latifa or the first manifestation of it. The person will experience a subtle but exquisite sense of compassion, for himself and all others. 

Essence with the Elixir of Enlightenment, pg. 31

For more info. about the Lataif : https://www.diamondapproach.org/glossary/refinery_phrases/lataif

[Applegarden]

@Zigzag Idiot Thank you! The guitar work is still in progress, somehow slowly going. x)

[Zigzag Idiot]

When I was an active alcoholic, my favorite time to be completely snockered was on Monday or Tuesday mornings when the rest of the world out there became serious with work responsibilities, time cards, traffic laws, being productive, work orders, commitments, goals, self righteous indignation, political opinions, sincere identifications, and all the other things that gives one the right to be a breathing, voting, American citizen.  But I was also raised a halfway fundamentalist Christian, by very well meaning parents. This, though, left me beginning everyday as a lowly unworthy sinner stained with guilt.

Now there's a good reason to drink and dissociate! 

What a vicious cycle that kind of confusion creates. Confusion which perpetually perturbs the mind and keeps one divorced from the natural essence of one's Being. Or in hindsight, it seems to play out that way.  It's no wonder orange Spiral Dynamic materialists have such devotion and determination. Abstract philosophical ways of being appearantly quickly leads to insanity or at least, maybe just becoming a loser. The Buddhist definition of Wisdom as - understanding silence, seems to  make no sense at all to those of the western mindset. 

Maybe the times are slowly changing though.

[Zigzag Idiot]

I'm interested in the change of direction Leo has taken. 

He makes a good point about rewatching his previously released episodes. The talk he gave a week ago was over 3 hours yet   I watched it twice and would probably gain something if I watched it a 3rd time. His series on self deception is one I watched repeatedly.

The idea of observing and processing one's own schadenfreude is something I've kept returning to. Purifying the emotional center is another way of putting it. The way it's expressed in Gurdjieff groups or Fourth Way Work,,,

Metanoia is another rarely used word that has significance in regards to personal transformation. In the King James Bible, this Greek word - 'metanoia' was horribly translated as repentance.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metanoia_(theology)

Martin Butler's last podcast is relevant to the idea that it's negativity that makes the world go around.

How does ordinary resentment feed schadenfreude?

Negative, lower emotions like resentment trashes out our third eye or intuitive capacities. 

[Zigzag Idiot]

Alarm Clock. ? Has some good descriptions.

[Zigzag Idiot]

To experience Love means having basic trust in others. To have trust means to be open. 

So the first thing to do is to Let Go.

Let go and be empty and receptive.

[fridjonk]

20 hours ago, Zigzag Idiot said:

To experience Love means having basic trust in others. To have trust means to be open. 

So the first thing to do is to Let Go.

Let go and be empty and receptive.

Beautifully said! Resistance is truly the root cause of suffering. 

Edited March 8, 2020 by fridjonk

[Zigzag Idiot]

Thank you, @fridjonk  

Also, in regards to resistance there is a saying in the Work that says the act of opposing second force only increases second force. An example is trying to oppose alcoholism with will power. One reason why that method doesn't work very often. Whatever I fight only increases the power of whatever it Is I fight. What a weird thing,,, ?‍♂️

--------------------------------

Now, metaphorically, I'm going to write a little bit about my struggle with the issue of gossip.

In the right hemisphere of my brain, there is a tiny strip mall. One of the establishments in this strip mall is a magnet for juicy gossip. There's a pretty steady hand running the joint now, finally. It hasn't always been that way.

I drop in there now from time to time and put out some special air freshener that secretly neutralizes cynicism. That seems to help a lot.

Resisting the temptation to gossip has been a long ongoing battle among my ship of fools. 

There's law somewhere that states if you hold your tongue and successfully outmaneuver acting out the inner gossip Queen, you get bonus points in addition to attracting even more juicy gossip which presents to you once again the temptation associated with knowing secrets.  A part of this law states that if you spill your guts in order to get the short lived inner sunburn of relating juicy gossip; then all your power is swept away, a quick amnesia appears and you're also automatically cast into the cultural storm of confusion-ignorance. Gossiping dims third eye capacity.

Gossiping can have an especially pernicious tendency with some people. Having compassion towards these people helps me which secretly helps them I discovered. We're all alike in ways and connected too.

One bad mood with an episode of word vomit in accompaniment can temporarily destroy it all. The stakes are high in this game. But the fact that it's a game that's so big that we're in the middle of it and can't even see its a game, is also our saving grace. 

So, that makes it a really weird game,,,,

A few months ago I watched a Brad Warner podcast that opened up a can of worms about a spiritual teacher who was in the process of having a messy separation from Jack Cornfields Retreat Center out in California called Spirit Rock. I like Brad and really do consider him a contemporary Zen Master. The manner in which he was addressing these issues were appropriate in my estimation. A part of all this scuttlebutt was that Jack and his crew had supposedly declared that a certain kind of psychedelic was more or less now a part of their spiritual practice.

I didn't relate this to the forum at the time because it just felt like gossiping.

For reasons I can't explain it no longer feels like gossip but as a relevant issue and consideration.

I like Jack Cornfield. The dude has been around awhile. I've been waiting to learn more about this story as well as what the "substance" they have allegedly incorporated into their practice is.

If anyone runs across any recent articles or podcasts which are credible and shed light on this, please share,,,

It seems like sometimes what determines the difference of whether something feels like gossip or not is simply the presence of a cynical atmosphere. ?‍♂️

I could be flacky also. That's always a possibility, as well. One which is most often never recognized until the revelatory perception of hindsight. It's not the end of the world though. I've been busted a lot of times for being flacky. ??‍???❤️

[fridjonk]

8 hours ago, Zigzag Idiot said:

Also, in regards to resistance there is a saying in the Work that says the act of opposing second force only increases second force. An example is trying to oppose alcoholism with will power. One reason why that method doesn't work very often. Whatever I fight only increases the power of whatever it Is I fight. What a weird thing,,, ?‍♂️

Yeah, I hear you on that, often for example when I "try" to do nofap, it usually ends up collapsing a week or two in. But sometimes when I just quit because I don't feel like doing it and the timing feels right, I can go on for a month or two with ease. Then there is no barrier which I can break down and fail, because It originated out of self-love instead of some sort of ego manipulation, same with eating healthy. Truly is weird. 

Edited March 11, 2020 by fridjonk

[Zigzag Idiot]

                                                                          Magnetic center

Ted brings in the specific Fourth Way term "magnetic center" which refers to those who have a hard-on for spiritual awakening more than the average person. Arnold Keyserling gets credit for the earthy phrase of someone having a hard-on for spiritual awakening. ? This attribute is also indicated by a certain line in the palm of the left hand. See the end of Chance and Choice chapter 7 - http://www.chanceandchoice.com/course-overview/energy/ Interesting theory anyway,,,,

From a certain angle, prayer has become a polluted concept/activity,  tangled with magical thinking along with a childish petitionary helplessness. Petitionary Prayer is most often divorced from authentic reverence, gratitude and the law of attraction. Ken Wilber has described petitionary Prayer as - " Hey God, here is my ego,,, now give me something." 

In this ten minute talk, Ted offers some good articulation.

 

I used to follow abstract thinker,  Jonathon Zap, in years past. Below this link to his website is an article he wrote and later made into a podcast which gives good food for thought. https://zaporacle.com/

 

[Zigzag Idiot]

About 3 years ago I learned a couple of practices that incorporate sensing the actual physical heart. Physical sensing on the outbreath and then feeling with the inbreath. Sensing with out-breath,,,, feeling with inbreath. I find myself being surprised by how powerful these practices are when only just practiced for a short time. Making the difference between sensing and feeling pays good dividends. Feeling through the physical heart seems to  open my space up.

Doing this for only three minutes a couple of times a day does some good.

[Zigzag Idiot]

taken from -

[Zigzag Idiot]

I did a trip on an auyawasca compound today. A friend was with me who took 5 dried grams of Cubensis.

During the peak of the trip I had a vision of sorts. We were in my bedroom letting the conversation flow

where it wanted to. I've painted this room black and have strung some Christmas lights around so It makes for a good setting.

Staring into a bookshelf, some small items within transformed into an image of  a person sitting in

meditation next to a tree. The canopy of the tree no longer stretched toward the sun but instead bent

over and drew to a concentration over the top of the meditator where it was then feeding on chi energy flowing out the top of the meditators head.  ?‍♂️ 

 

 

 

[Zigzag Idiot]

Life is beautiful.

The paradox of existence.

Maurice Nicoll referred to life on earth as a pain factory.  

“Saints are the eaters of suffering.” 

said Ocke de Boer

 

Life is still beautiful.

 

[Zigzag Idiot]

                          From narrative (egoic operating system) to witness Consciousness 

Going back and rereading in my journal has helped me to see how much I repeat myself. Some of what I've written, I feel, is pretty good, though. Some of it is a little embarrassing. I probably quote A.H. Almaas too much but that's okay in part because no one else hanging around Actualized.org. quotes him at all and he deserves to be quoted some.

One reason for my reviewing was to look for and retrieve the following quote by Cynthia Bourgeault.

“The repetitive motion of finding oneself through Identification (even true and worthy descriptions) keeps the being energy just below the critical velocity needed to escape the gravitational field of narrative selfhood.” - Cynthia Bourgeault 

 

The internal dialogue you keep up inside yourself, regardless of whether it's praise or blame, cuts you off from Witness Consciousness. Witness Consciousness is a state of consciousness that's a treasure which is also a container of being. Witness Consciousness is a state of equanimity that has within it the inherent capacity for self observation. Not so when I'm caught up in my own narrative and opinions and looking for validation of some kind.

To bask in the inner silence of Witness Consciousness is unexpected and a felt blessing that was never anticipated. For me, anyway.

Witness Consciousness is a state of consciousness. States of consciousness come and go. States of being identified with the story we may have in our head is like unknowingly hitchhiking into hell. The "gravitational field of narrative selfhood" is a state when one is identified with one's own thoughts and emotions. It's easily seen at times in the facial expression of others but rarely recognized about oneself.

[Zigzag Idiot]

Good video!  ?

Thanks, Marc

[Zigzag Idiot]

I thought some contemporary students of Teilhard de Chardin had proposed the idea that the internet was connecting us together, manifesting as the noosphere or global mind. ?‍♂️ There is probably more to it than what I summarize with just one sentence. 

Jung brought the notion of individuation being a crucial aspect of Actualization. Individuation requiring integration of our varied aspects. This is where I see the genuine True Self and false self acting as basic mirrors or templates to one another. The false self acting unconsciously and the True Self rising from the ashes of the Alchemical fire or switching metaphors  being born out of the processes of integration and individuation.

Ive said that what Almaas refers to as the "Diamond Guidance" is the same thing as the Holy Spirit in the Christian Tradition. This note is just a preface to a quote of his below from The Pearl Beyond Price.

 

Ever-Deepening and Expanding Individuation

The presence of the Personal Essence makes it possible to have direct contact with present-centered experience, to be present, open and vulnerable to experience. This capacity, aided by the operation of the objective understanding of the Diamond Guidance, makes it possible to absorb present experience readily. One’s life becomes the metabolism of the interaction of the essential aspects with the environment. This continuing and ever expanding integration is the process of development of the Personal Essence. This ever-deepening and expanding individuation and maturity leads ultimately to the nonpersonal realms of Being, like those of Cosmic Consciousness, Nonconceptual Reality and Absolute Truth; this is the natural and spontaneous outcome of the development of the Personal Essence. It is part of the human potential, and if the process of maturation is proceeding in its correct path, then it is bound to occur. The presence of the Personal Essence is a sense of Being, of experiencing “I am.” There is presence without resistance. So it is bound to go deeper into more expanded realms of Being. This understanding that the experience of “I am” can lead directly to the nonpersonal realms is not an uncommon one among teachers of Being.

Pearl Beyond Price, pg. 195

from: https://www.diamondapproach.org/glossary/refinery_phrases/individuation

[Zigzag Idiot]

I got started making comments above about the Terence McKenna clip below regarding the idea of the noosphere.

Guess I should have mentioned that and maybe include the clip. 

 

[Zigzag Idiot]

                                     Psychonaut report

On Lsd my boundaries disappear for the most part = Love

Although chemically induced, it provides one with the experience of 'stepping onto the ground.'

Under the influence I've noticed I'm really in tune with my cat as opposed to when I'm in narrative consciousness.

No problems.

Terence McKenna prefered mushrooms as a psychedelic over Lsd. He said lsd was like Psychological drano. 

I get along with both ok.

Everyones chemistry is different. Using psychedelics needs to be approached with caution and common sense. Being in tune with ones inner truth every now and then as a signpost on the path is a necessity.

[fridjonk]

@Zigzag Idiot I find I get more mental work done on LSD and I integrate more of the trip rather than Mushrooms.

Love both tho.

Can't be a carpenter and only use a drill, you need a saw too.