Zen, Yoga, Gurdjieff- perspectives on inner work: Why Can't You Be Happy?

Friday, November 5, 2021

Why Can't You Be Happy?

Photograph by the author, from the garden

This song is the most recent entry in a series of dystopic pieces which otherwise remain unpublished. I'm trying to think of what to do with them. Maybe I'll put out a collection of angst ridden rock music. There's certainly enough precedent for it. I started it out intending it to be funny, but it wasn't, and it insistently dragged me forward into what it is now. Songs are like that; when you start writing them the good ones take on a life of their own and do whatever they want to. One ends up following them to where they go, rather than taking them somewhere. Most of my creative projects, whatever they are, have ended up that way over the years. I don't make things. I grow them. Serious Science-fiction fans of my age will undoubtedly remember Harlan Ellison and his famous short story, “Repent, Harlequin, Cried the Ticktock Man.” How strange that we have a whole Internet platform called TikTock now. I feel a minor regret the song turned dark, but at least it's got some ironically pleasing inflections.

If you like, try and pretend that there's something happy about it if you check it out.

with warm regards,

Lee

Lee van Laer is a Senior Editor at Parabola magazine.

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Recommendations and current reading list

Lee's current reading list (all recommended)

The Iceberg- Marion Coutts. This extraordinary book deserves to be read by every individual engaged in an inner search. The questions it raises about life, death, and relationship are framed by the authors responsibilities to her very young child and her dying husband. This is a book about real work in life, not esoteric theory.

Far From The Tree: Andrew Solomon. Parents, Children and the Search for Identity. Highly recommended.

Inner Yoga, Sri Anirvan—This extraordinary book is essential reading for any serious student of Gurdjieff or Yoga practice. Written at a level of both practical and philosophical discourse well above other contemporary work, Anirvan investigates the deep roots of Yoga practice, theory, and philosophy in a deeply sensitive series of insights. Of particular interest is the extraordinary and challenging piece on Buddhi and Buddhiyoga, which examines the questions of practice, life, and death with an acuity rarely encountered in other work of this nature.

Divine Love and Wisdom, Emmanuel Swedenborg. Swedenborg gives us a detailed report on Reality as received from higher sources, reflecting many Truths one would be wise to study carefully. Readers will be astounded by the extraordinary degree of correlation between Swedenborg and Ibn 'Arabi. Many fundamental principles introduced by Gurdjieff are also expounded on in fascinating detail by Swedenborg. All of Swedenborg's works are well worth reading.

The Divine Governance of the Human Kingdom, Ibn 'Arabi. Another real gem, this book ought to be read by every seeker on the spiritual path. If you can only find the time to read one book by Ibn 'Arabi, this ought to be the one. By turns lighthearted, serious, insightful, and ingenius, al 'Arabi introduces us to our inner government character by character, explains their relationships, and indicates how to bring them into a state of harmonious cooperation. Written with love, the book deftly manages to avoid being didactic, delivering instead a sensitive, poetic, and even romantic look at how to organize our inner Being.

The Bezels of Wisdom—Ibn al 'Arabi. A compendium of observations about the nature of "The Reality"—what al 'Arabi calls God— from a 13th century Sufi master. This towering work easily holds its own against—and is worthy of comparison to—13th century masterpieces from other major religious traditions such as Dogen's Shobogenzo and Meister Eckhart's sermons.

Also worthy: William C. Chittick's The Sufi Path of Knowledge, an extensive review of al Arabi's works.