The Grand Emporium of Spiritual Deceit

I’m not a fan of Gurdjieff. This is mostly because my path is different. It is also because, regardless of the appearance of balance that most teachers insist that they project, Gurdjieff’s teachings are predominately ‘left-brain’. Some of us (me, most certainly) are predominately ‘right-brain’. Of course, balance is the key but the means of acquiring it differ. I understand things intuitively and others understand things via their reason. More on this later, even though different examples may be used at that time, this is not about intuition or reason anyway.

There’s a rumor that has persisted in occult circles that Gurdjieff didn’t like Ouspensky and deceived him in certain respects. It’s also been said that there is much he didn’t tell him. Certainly there would have been reason for this. Osho, nee Bhagavan Rajneesh puts an elevated spin on it. I’m no fan of Osho either. It’s not the 90+ Rolls Royces, though that’s a problem. It’s not the security guards with the machineguns, though that’s a little too Elizabeth Claire Prophet paranoid for me. It’s not the excessive, protected, casual sex with the burning 50 gallon oil drums at the communes for incinerating the used condoms; although that’s problematic too. It’s more along the lines of my experiences with his followers that I have encountered and the life choices they have prevailed in since Osho’s departure from this plane. I do judge a tree by its fruit.

I have read Gurdjieff, except for his larger works, which I freely toss into the burning oil drums. I’ve read Rajneesh though I am a little appalled at the way he lifted ideas, so freely and still intact, from great minds which preceded him. We all (unconsciously) plagiarize to an extent but there are degrees of what is acceptable. Gurdjieff had encounters with groups and individuals who initiated him and opened his centers to the deeper universal truths. Rajneesh had experiences that gave him certain Siddhis. In both cases, former lives played no small part in what followed.

As is the case generally, these early paragraphs are a setup for something I hope I am able to effectively outline in order to make my case.

A very powerful teacher, whose company I was in for a time, once explained that he was like a traffic cop. He sees you coming and he waves you to the right or the left or straight ahead. Sometimes he holds up his hand to stop you. Perhaps it is in order to allow the other traffic to flow or perhaps it is for other reasons. This man was/is a living saint and I saw other teachers tremble when they sat next to him, even though he was possibly not five feet tall and certainly weighed no more than 80 pounds. When I met him he was over a hundred years old with the unlined face of a young boy.

Spiritual masters are not something you can fathom with the self-conscious mind. The best thing any seeker can do in their presence is to control the reactive mind. Let the information pass unfiltered and do not attempt to interpret it. It is directed at a place within for a purpose that is compromised by any interference on the part of the listener. I am, of course, speaking about real spiritual masters and referring to the time when you finally realize this. Otherwise it is good to be watchful.

Spiritual masters and spiritual teachers are not the same thing; for the purpose of this argument. A spiritual master has the force of the divine rooted in their being. A spiritual teacher is a conduit. All spiritual masters are spiritual teachers. All spiritual teachers are not spiritual masters. I should also mention that there are a number of so-called spiritual masters/teachers who possess certain powers which come to them due to past life effort, present life effort or a gift from the divine in order to show what happens when someone undeserving or poorly seated in the truth is given something they can’t handle. These people appear to be a source of wisdom or a font of truth but this is not the case. They possess the special effects but not the essence and one should be on the lookout via ‘trust but verify’. There are quite some number of these roaming around at present and their powers are going to become more dramatic because of the dynamics of the needs of the times in relation to the points that are about to be made in real time.

What a real spiritual teacher can do is dependent upon the capacity of the seeker. The first thing the seeker has to do is empty out. Sometimes, for whatever the reason, this is done for the seeker. If this is not done then the capacity to receive can be very limited and the seeker won’t be staying around long. The seeker has to realize his/her responsibilities in the exchange. A spiritual master can put you in the shit as easily as take you out of it depending on what you are demanding. This is why seekers need to avoid filtering the information. Often what they are hearing is not what is being said. The words are only transport vehicles carrying passengers which, once arrived, leave the vehicle and become the information.

The seeker needs humility and those other ‘protections’ which you would think any real seeker should possess; sincerity, purposefulness and determination, attentiveness, endurance and so on and so forth. Why do I call these protections? How hard do you want to make it on yourself? The spiritual master may be human but there is something else present as well and it deals in results. It does not cater. It activates and eliminates. The master could well deceive you if you are deceptive. He can confound you if you have ill intents. No one should come to a spiritual master unless they are willing to let go of everything they want and think they know. It’s the difference between something falling away from your skin and something being ripped from your skin and perhaps taking some skin with it. I speak from experience.

There will always be far more false teachers than real ones. There will always be more Hollywood gurus than real ones. It will always be more about the money and exposure than it is about the work itself. The pull is just that great and especially so now. Look at this website and then click on ‘events’ at the masthead. Then there’s ‘gift’ and ‘kits’. You can also search out the Las Vegas style new age conventions for this year via any search engine. It should make you cringe. As vapid and self promoting as these slaves to self-interest appear under the guise of helping you, there are worse dangers. Some seeming masters/teachers can appear to be very real and cause you real problems. It’s been said, “When the student is ready the master appears”. This is the gospel truth. Only the seeker can prepare the ground even though the master may be doing it. If that makes no sense it is supposed to and if that makes no sense it is supposed to also.

The seedy, pandering, low rent humbuggery that you see at this website is also present in yogic circles, occult societies and traditional religious organizations. One needs only visit a place like Assisi to wish they hadn’t had lunch before they arrived.

I’m not here to criticize names mentioned in this posting. Many people have gotten real value from some of these individuals and even more people think they have. It’s also a well-known truth that a false teacher can be the cause of enlightenment in a follower depending on the sincere intensity of the follower. However, you have only to look at a road atlas to see just how many roads there are and how many ways there are to get to the same place. You can go around the world and still do it but is that what you want? Actually, in many cases that is, ‘just so’.

Real spiritual masters/teachers are exceedingly rare; humming bird’s teeth comes to mind. Real spiritual understanding is just as rare. There is no limit to how deep you can go but there is a limit to how deep you want to go. This is where genuine conviction and the varieties of casual interest part ways. This is where one finds out about themselves and it is often not pretty. I’ve said enough for now.

Visible sings: ♫ Everlasting Love ♫
'Everlasting Love' is track no. 2 of 10 on Visible's 2006 album 'Songwriter'
Lyrics (pops up)



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Strange Days Have Found Us.

This last link has hours of video that can make you wonder, laugh, furrow your brow and etcetera. I'm only putting it up for your perusal. I don't subscribe to it though I am well aware that some form of what they are talking about exists. I'm just not sure they're speaking for them although they may well be.