Gurdjieff on Fear

I came across one of my readings of Gurdjieff's works, Views from the Real World, and found one of the most intriguing excerpts. This one is on fear and identification. With all the terror and fear going on in this world, it is well worth a while to see a unique perspective on fear...

Once upon a time, a man by the name of Gurdjieff began thus:

Sometimes a man is lost in revolving thoughts which return again and again to the same thing, the same unpleasantness, which he anticipates and which not only will not but cannot happen in reality.

These forebodings of future unpleasantnesses, illnesses, losses, awkward situations often get hold of a man to such an extent that they become waking dreams. People cease to see and hear what actually happens, and if someone succeeds in proving to them that their forebodings and fears were unfounded in some particular instance, they even feel a certain disappointment, as though they were deprived of a pleasant expectation.

Very often a man leading a cultured life in cultured surroundings does not realize how big a role fears play in his life. He is afraid of everything: afraid of his servants, afraid of the children of his neighbor, the porter in the entrance hall, the man selling newspapers around the corner, the cab-driver, the shop assistant, a friend he sees in the street and tries to pass unobtrusively so as not to be noticed. And in their turn the children, the servants, the hall porter, and so on, are afraid of him.

And this is so in ordinary, normal times but, at such times as we are going through now, this all-pervading fear becomes clearly visible.

It is no exaggeration to say that a great part of the events of the last year are based on fear and are the results of fear.

Unconscious fear is a very characteristic feature of sleep.

Man is possessed by all that surrounds him because he can never look sufficiently objectively on his relationship to his surroundings.

He can never stand aside and look at himself together with whatever attracts or repels him at the moment. And because of this inability he is identified with everything.

This too is feature of sleep.

You begin a conversation with someone with the definite aim of getting some information from him. To attain this aim you must never cease to watch yourself, to remember what you want, to stand aside and look at yourself and the man you are talking to. But you cannot do it. Nine times out of ten you will become identified with the conversation and instead of getting the information you want, you will yourself tell him things you had no intention of telling.

People have no idea how much they are carried away by fear. This fear is not easily defined. More often than not it is fear of awkward situation, fear of what another man may think. At times this fear becomes almost a mania. (p. 260-1, Views from the Real World)

By identifying with fear, one is merely sleeping and hardly ever conscious. To identify with or not to identify with, now that is a question...

The Cosmic Serpent & The Cosmic Winter (reviews)

I have read a short while ago of two important works by two British astronomers, Victor Clube and Bill Napier.

The Cosmic Serpent, published in 1982, focuses on the origins of the comets, historical impacts, and mythology equals history of comets. With roughly 280 pages and eleven chapters (including Epilogue), this book is quite a fascinating read.

The first part of the book deals with an interesting perspective of our galaxy involvement in the cosmic processes and how other stars can possibly deflect or "knock" the comets in the direction of the Sun, as well a look at the question of where the comets come from. Then, the authors go on to discuss the question of impacts and the role of cometary bombardment in mass extinctions and the Earth changes, including that of the ice ages.

The last part of the book, which intrigued me, focuses on the examination of ancient history, archeology, and mythology where the comets were seen. The authors then pointed out that the comets were originally the principal mythological sky gods, such as Zeus of the Greek mythology and Osiris of the Egyptian mythology. And, because they were "gods," they tend to be dismissed and become "meaningless" in the eyes of the modern scientific community. Chapter Nine of this book focuses on the battle of Zeus and Typhon, which may have taken place in 1369 BC (which is further discussed in tenth chapter), and the question of clues in the myths as cosmic connections. The authors made strong point that the comets were seen number of times in our prehistoric skies and they were depicted in our mythology as well in the biblical accounts.

They also mentioned that the scientific community had overlooked the seriousness of so-called short-period comets in our past and dismissed the possibility of comets in disguise of mythological sky gods. It is not just the mythologies that can be an evidence for the cometary events, but it is the physical evidence of catastrophic events in the past, including the Tunguska event and the craters on the Moon, Mars, and Earth.

Then a second work of Clube and Napier, as published in 1990, is The Cosmic Winter which is as close to being an expansion of their first book, "The Cosmic Serpent." In "The Cosmic Winter," with 280 pages and seventeen chapters, the authors bring forth the role of impact events in creating the cosmic "winters" and the further discussion of the mythological sky gods as evidence of comets in our prehistory era and a look at cometary events towards the present era.

As one first read the beginning of this book in a prologue chapter, there will be an experience of a fictional encounter between the Earth and a cometary bombardment and how the United States government would react. Then, the authors pointed out that "a great illusion of cosmic security thus envelopes mankind, one that the 'establishment' of Church, State and Academe do nothing to disturb. Persistence in such an illusion will do nothing to alleviate the next Dark Age when it arrives" (p 12-3). There's nothing further from the truth!

There are three parts of this book, with first part being concerned with the mythologies as the history of comets, such as "sky gods" were being comets in disguises. And, they were seen by ancient human beings in our prehistory periods and they may have misinterpreted these comets as "gods." Towards the end of this first part, the authors stated that "swarms of asteroids periodically exist in Earth-crossing orbits and that these are responsible for producing an erratic sequence of cosmic winters, sudden coolings of the globe" (p. 127), which is important to keep in mind.

The Part Two reveals the essential scientific knowledge about the comets and how they can be the cause of "terrestrial" catastrophe as well a look at the periodic meteoroid streams (where Earth passes through late June and Early November annually). The authors further their discussion on Comet Encke, the Tunguska event of 1908, ancient comets as depicted in Chinese records (e.g., symbols), and more on historical comets in our prehistory yet they were being ignored. The authors also mentioned that "our distant ancestors...have been telling us in simple language that celestial catastrophe has struck, probably more than once, but the message has been lost through the ravages of time" (p. 192).

The final part of this book brings more focus on the scientific evidence of the cosmic events, such as geological, sea-level variations, fossil, ice cores, iridium, Earth's magnetic field, and the cratering record. And, the final chapter brings home a point of how serious a cosmic impact hazard really is and how likely that our civilization would be "plunged into a New Dark Age." Will the human race become extinct?

This book became very difficult to obtain and one has to wonder why there are such a shortage of copies of this most important work, and it is a must read for everyone.

The authors ended "The Cosmic Winter" with one very simple yet most critical line:

"There is a need for this book."

Personally, I found these works to be of most importance for many whom needs to be aware of the cometary threats, especially in our near future. Both "The Cosmic Serpent" and "The Cosmic Winter" are important works by Clube and Napier, yet not easily available, and they should be published once more for the public. I would strongly recommend these books.

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Free Speech On Internet Under Threat (News)

This following news release came in today on PRnewschannel.com:

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Free Speech On Internet Under Threat
International lawsuit filed in Oregon threatens Internet forums and bloggers.
March 11, 2008 - SOTT.net

Toulouse, France - First Amendment rights and free speech on the Internet are under threat as Internet news web site Signs of the Times (SOTT.net) today announced that its founder, Laura Knight-Jadczyk, a resident of France, is being sued in an Oregon court by 'Higher Balance Institute' (HBI), owned by Eric Pepin and based in Oregon.

HBI markets metaphysical products and claims to sell "the world's most advanced sixth sense meditation" program and a dietary supplement, "Magneurol6-S," that is guaranteed to make the consumer an "instant telepath." Pepin claims that users of his "psychic pill" find that "extended wireless phone use can cause discomfort." Consequently, they suggest "limiting the use of cell phones."

SOTT.net is an international, user driven alternative news site with volunteer editorial staffing around the globe. Quantum Future Group, Inc.(QFG), a California non-profit created by mathematician-physicist, Arkadiusz Jadczyk and Laura Knight-Jadczyk to fund independent researchers engaged in collecting social and historical data for mathematical systems analysis, is also named in the suit as defendant despite the fact that QFG does not own SOTT.net, nor does it have any controlling interest in the site.

HBI alleges in the suit filed by Bullivant Houser Bailey, PC, Portland, that the operators of SOTT.net "published false and defamatory statements" regarding HBI and Eric Pepin on the SOTT Web site forum. Pepin is seeking approximately $4.5 million in damages.

The suit stems from information posted on the SOTT.net forums [1] where globally based forum participants uncovered and reposted public-domain information and newspaper records showing that Pepin had recently faced numerous sexual abuse charges in an Oregon court involving a child and former employee of HBI. A grand jury found enough evidence to indict Pepin who admitted in court to having sexual relations with his employees. According to The Oregonian newspaper[2] Judge Steven L. Price, who presided over the case, stated that it was "probable that the conduct alleged in all counts occurred," but that the absence of a date stamp on a video proving that the events occurred while the complainant was still a minor meant that the allegations could not be proven 'beyond a reasonable doubt'. Judge Price was therefore obligated to acquit.

In response to the HBI suit, Laura Knight-Jadczyk, founder of SOTT.net and named as a defendant, said "This is an attack on freedom of speech, plain and simple. The issues SOTT.net are concerned with - the pathology of power and conspiracies among those in power - are specifically targeted in the suit. A victory for Pepin, considering the international nature of this suit, would therefore set a dangerous precedent in US courts and carry serious implications for Internet freedom of speech and ultimately civil liberties everywhere."

SOTT.net is requesting that all those with an interest in safeguarding Internet freedom of speech make an effort to ensure that this information reaches the widest audience possible.


For more information visit SOTT.net:

[1] http://www.sott.net/signs/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1360&p=1
[2] http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2007/05/leader_of_washington_county_in.html

About SOTT.net: Founded in 2002, Signs of The Times (SOTT.net) is an alternative news research resource and news analysis site.

Media contact:
sott@sott.net
http://www.sott.net/

This press release was issued by PRNewsChannel.com. For more information, please visit http://www.prnewschannel.com/.

A Sexual Predator Suing SOTT

I came across this article this morning, and found it to be rather interesting and unexpected. I've read about Eric Pepin and his so-called "Higher Balance Institute." There was enough evidence to indict Eric Pepin by the jury on charges for having sex with underage boys, and a good deal of articles on him as being a sexual predator. And, because of the informative SOTT forum discussion about him, BASED on the trial, news articles, and his website, he is now taking it out on SOTT?

He is obviously offended because he seems to be afraid that he will not be doing what he wanted to do if his predatory actions are continuing to be exposed. And, he certainly is very dangerous to the innocent people.

I do think everyone needs to be learned and warned about this obvious sexual predator.

Anyway, check out the article

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End of Eden: Book Review

I have brought this book, "End of Eden: A Comet That Changed Civilization," by Graham Phillips, out of curiosity as well to further study the subject of and the history of the comets, and an interesting theory of this book caught my attention as I became quite skeptical. The choice for the title, "End of Eden," reflected the whole thesis of this book as initially the comet of 1486 BC brought about a major change from peaceful/egalitarian to violent/aggressiveness societies.

This interesting work discussed the shifts in the social institutions/orders as coincided with the appearance of the comet, namely 12P/Pons-Brooks. It is stressed that Earth has passed through the comet's tail or the meteoroid stream in the past as ancient human beings became exposed to certain chemical (i.e., vasopressin), which triggered the mass aggressive tendencies. Before the appearance of the comet, the civilizations (Megalithic, pre-Olmec, Mehrgarh, etc.) were very peaceful egalitarian societies and after the comet's appearance, these mentioned civilizations changed in a massive scale and revealed their violent/aggressive tendencies, and it also brought about the birth of the monotheism. He proposed that the mentioned comet was the common cause of such major shift in our history.

While I was impressed with his presentation of historical researches to explain the evidence behind the pre-written historic societies before and after the passing of the comet in 1486 BC, I am not quite sure if the Phillips' theory of the number of ancient civilizations as being remarkably peaceful as factual. There were histories of violence, war, death, and aggressiveness having been occurred numerous times and long before the passing of comet in 1500s BC.

Also, while the author brings a good and important point about the cosmic event having such an impact on the human societies in the past as it was taken in a similar approach as Immanuel Velikovsky did in his Worlds in Collision, as Richard Firestone did in his The Cycle of Cosmic Catastrophes: How a Stone-Age Comet Changed the Course of World Culture, and as Mike Baillie did in his New Light on the Black Death, I would question about the chemicals from the comet (such as vasopressin) that triggered the aggressiveness in human beings. An epidemic of mass aggression as occurred in 1500s BC can be as a result of having seen the passing comet in the sky, but it is highly uncertain if it was only caused by the chemicals like vasopressin from the comet's ion tail. If this was true, not only would we face a possible plague from the comet impact, but we would have people killing other people on our hands as well. I think the chemicals/aggression/comet equation may require more scientific research as part of this aspect of the theory.

However, overall, I think this work presents an interesting look at the affects of the comet on the ancient civilizations and how imagery of the comet was depicted in the historical records (such as monuments, ancient texts, mythology, hieroglyphics, etc.). This book is a very readable and well-written, with just close to 200 pages, fourteen chapters and six pages worth of bibliography.

It is certainly the book that I could not put down as it was very intriguing to read.