GI:

I met up with Jan in the late '70s. He ran around in a jogging outfit and red tennis shoes. When I first saw him he was buffed out and drove around in an old 914. He fit just fine in his '"Waffle House" environment, which to him could have been a four star, and if you had the opportunity to meet him, other than getting a hint of an outgoing personality of a fairly bright fellow, you'd probably peg him as a plumber or a roofer. This is despite the fact he was born into a wealthy publishing family. He lived in a sprawling single level ranch style house, built from cinder block if I remember correctly, and had this funny little taffy-colored terrier he was always playing around with - he loved that dog. At the center of his house was this huge carpeted room lined with records, thousands upon thousands upon thousands of them. It was my understanding that he had one of the world's largest collections of early rock and blues. Beer continued to pour in and the music, most of which I had never heard the likes of, filled the room and people danced themselves silly. The man knew how to party.

Jan traveled around by car and plane to spread whatever it was that he was spreading. He looked goofy, dressed goofy and laughed and talked a lot, though there was certainly another side of him, and if he turned his eye on you he could charge you up or simply melt you. He understood what made people tick, and he knew how to light a fire under them, get that psychojuice flowing through their veins. He'd turn business people into rock stars and doctors into bricklayers and clerks into writers. He had a knack to find the last possible activity you could ever see yourself doing, and I mean the LAST, and get you to do it and get you to do it well. He demanded an hour of exercise per day from everyone who hung around him, and had them meditating and stretching themselves into knots and staying up all night again and again and partying at the beach. He had attorneys begging with dark glasses and tin cups on shady street corners and he'd put chocolate sauce on your green beans. And people had a pretty darned good time. He was good at finding weaknesses and transforming them into strengths. This was tough for some and they bounced themselves out, sometimes pretty hard.

At some point he started showing up with bandages around his neck and then he started losing weight. He kept on going as long as he possibly could. Books that went out were put together by students who might have been waitresses or lab techs. He joked about these works frequently, and since he was connected with the publishing industry, I assume he got them printed for nothing - they were his bookmarks, his advertising tools. His serious material was held close.

So, other than a book title, which I'm not even sure was his idea - I really don't think what he did, "This Thing" as he called it, bore any resemblance to typically what would be thought of as a "Fourth Way" group or "The Work". I'm sure he was familiar with G's ideas but he mentioned them rarely, no more than he would have mentioned the name of Buddha or Jesus. And I have a fairly good idea of what "The Work" is from a Gurdjieffian point of view, since I worked for many years with several 4th Way Teachers and taught myself here in the US and abroad. Jan did his own thing. I spent time with Pentlam and several of Gurdjieff's and Ouspensky's students, which were themselves teachers, and believe me, they would have no part of much of what Jan did, and Jan would have no part of what they did. The concept of what the Work is varies dramatically between teachers as it does students. Jan held regular meetings where he spoke and answered questions, but what was discussed and how it was discussed bore no resemblance to any typical 4th Way type meeting that I had ever experienced.

As far as my thoughts on Gurdjieff - well, I never knew the man, though as I mentioned above - I did know several of his students and spent a fair amount of time with them. At that time in my life, my younger years, I was simply blown away by what I was learning, and for many years my life revolved around the Work. At some point I felt that my connection with formal groups was counterproductive, that it was time for me to become the Work, so that is what I did - and that too became counterproductive and another avenue appeared. When G died, his work died. There is no real Gurdjieff school other than his. All Gurdjieff teachers are imitators. Contrary to popular belief, there is no passing the torch. Real teachers come out of nowhere, burn their mark and go away.

You mention Fellowship of Friends as not being a real school. I knew Burton and a number of his people. They are as real or unreal as any other group. I've never met a teacher who didn't have weaknesses, nor have I met a student without weaknesses. The only thing real about any school is its ability to afford students the possibility to make connections FOR THEMSELVES. There is nothing that a teacher can give to a student. There is no Shaktipat, no tapping on the forehead and bringing forth consciousness. There is no such thing as lineage. Ultimately, there is only the essence of the moment, which is fleeting for all students and teachers alike, despite how they might want you to otherwise believe. Average levels and degrees of penetrating the moment may vary with health, genetics and level of dedication. Humans were simply not designed to remain in the moment. What we are talking about is delusion propagated by schools - teachers, students and their associated literature - belief, not reality. Now this doesn’t mean you can’t try to do the impossible; it’s the trying that’s the fun part. Just so you don’t get too shaken up when you see how pathetic your attempts are. These thoughts, of course, are contrary to what most groups or schools or whatever they call themselves want you to believe.

I read the books of Nicoll and Bennett over 3 decades ago. I can most assuredly say that I was mesmerized when I read them. I can also assuredly say that I don't now remember a single thought from them. I just glanced at the few remaining rows of work books in my bookcase, the ones I haven't given away over the years, and other than "The Psychology" by Ouspensky, there's not a single one I wouldn't be willing to part with. And I couldn't even locate that title. Rather than reading any of this material I’d rather go out and see the latest action movie.

And Rudra, if you haven't burned up in the atmosphere and you're still out there listening - lighten up a little - get a massage or something.

Regards,

C

Absolutely Ken Wilbur has a propensity toward wordiness! However, the only book I've read of his is "A Brief History Of Everything", which, from what I've heard, is a more essentialized presentation, pared down to digestible chunks.

I have a good buddy who's a Wilbur freak, and of course, he's read "The Atman Project", amongst others. Wilbur himself admits that he is no spiritual teacher but a scholar. He is heavily influenced by the work of Adi Da, who I personally feel to be a bit...suspect. But the thing about Wilbur I like is the fact that he's read everything under the sun and had an obsessive tendency to try to put all of what information he'd retained into final and definitive categories. His Four Quadrants, Levels and other maps, are nothing short of brilliant. I do feel that postmodern mentality is in painful need of reality maps that match the speed of life as it is today. Jan's maps were of that sort as well. Although, as has been said ad infinitum, "the map is not the territory", I do feel, nonetheless, that it's a worthwhile pastime to to view the many assorted maps of consciousness/reality. Taking the analogy of maps of the U.S., you can have a road map, a weather map, a geophysical map, etc. And although these aren't the territory, familiarity with various facets of the geography can certainly help when actually traversing the real ground.

I hope there's an upsurge of discussion and curiosity in this tribe. Certainly, the ideas brought up are of value. For example, I was under the impression that virtually no one knew of Jan's work. It's refreshing to see stuff like this arise.

My take on it is that he ACTUALLY IS Gurdjieff, and therefore never actually read his own works.

He just wrote them. And after all, G. was known to occasionally hit the bottle.