Source Text
JERRY BREWSTER SPIRITUAL PHYSICS Another Generations’ View of the Work of G. I. Gurdjieff
WARNING All men are dead, except those who know. All those who know are dead, except those who practice. All those who practice are dead, except those who act. All those who act are dead, except those who act with righteous intent. All those who act with righteous intent are in grave danger! Twelfth-century Egyptian Sufi
It was Jerry’s stated intention to publish this material to help future group leaders and other seekers and their successors and to aid in their movement to the next rung.
When P. D. Ouspensky was asked if he intended to publish his lectures, he answered: “What is the use? The most important is not the lectures, but the questions and answers.”
Someone once asked Gurdjieff, “From what does the Way start?”
He also said: “The moment when the man who is looking for the way meets a man who knows the way is called the first threshold or the first step. From this first threshold the stairway begins. Between ‘life’ and the ‘Way’ lies the ‘stairway.’”
In the second triad it would be true self-remembering, the sensation of I to the feeling of I; this is quiet mind receiving impressions for the sake of [i]unity. Everything comes down to the unification of the centers, what Gurdjieff called a permanent I, which comes out of the unification of centers.
There is a phrase I came across recently that I think explains this: “Detachment, separation, unification, the three stages of attention.” First to detach oneself, to be unidentified; second, separation, to actually sense part of one’s body while in action. As I
said earlier, in order for there to be unification, two centers are brought together at first, but eventually I must inhabit all three centers simultaneously. This can facilitate a separation from your personality. It’s not personality seeing itself, it is now an objective part observing.
“One center: hallucination; two centers: half hallucination; three centers: awake.” In a way you are trying to cure an addiction to one-centeredness. It’s one thing to be in a coma and another to be awake with your eyes open lying in bed. It is something else to be awake, totally in action.
AI Summary
Spiritual Physics by Jerry Brewster, John Anderson, and Marshall May presents key insights from the Sufism tradition. The 10 passages above capture the essential teachings.
Core Themes:
- [To be expanded]
Key Passages: Highlights 1, 3, and 10 are particularly representative.
This entry was generated from Readwise highlights. Expand with additional context as appropriate.