To Establish Inner Contact

Yesterday the question came up of how we come into touch with a higher energy… a finer rate of vibration… an experience of presence and Being.

Of course if anyone had the real answer to this, it would change everything. Yet despite the efforts (in the Gurdjieff work, that is) of thousands of people over many millions of hours, no clear answer has emerged. The exhortations… my own included… stand as testament; but even the best suggestions seem to consistently fall short of the mark.

Like others, I can speak only from my own experience. While there are points of contact between me and others, each case is unique, distinct and individual—and there are no guarantees.

Last night and the night before, as I listened to exchanges on this subject, again and again my thoughts—which were then and are now specifically grounded in this absolute sensation of Being—returned to the themes and understandings I have come to on my own, from my own work—not a reiteration of what others have said in the various books on the subject, but how it arises within and feels to me.

This may, perhaps, be idiosyncratic; yet I doubt it. There’s an objectivity to the arising and manifestation of any gravitationally sound sense and state of Being that does not permit of variation.

It is molecular; by this I mean that an organic sense of Being is grounded never in the thought, but always in the finest particles of Being that compose our state. This finer energy is not “above” us in the sense that one might think it is (and there are indeed such energies) but below us; and yet it encompasses a higher rate of vibration within me at a lower level than the one “I” am on.

This may sound like a paradox, but understanding it is essential to understanding both what organic sensation consists of, and how it supports the rest of our efforts towards Being.

The second thing that occurs to me is the manner in which intimacy comes into question here. If I don’t develop an instinctive intimacy directed (quite gently) at my Being and its parts—if I don’t cultivate a quiet, loving, intelligent relationship within myself— then I can’t begin to initiate the kind of inner contact that will attract what’s needed here.    

Warmly,

Lee

Announcing the publication of 

The Reconstruction of the Soul

The Reconstruction of the Soul is a wide-ranging investigation of symbolism in High and Late Medieval art. It includes detailed analyses of the Unicorn Tapestries at the Cluny Museum and the Cloisters in New York, as well as detailed examinations of the mysterious, erotic and bizarre symbolism in The Cathedral of St. Lazare in Autun.

Along the way, it traces the roots of Western esoteric art from Babylon to ancient Greece, revealing traditions that are still alive today, some 3000 or more years later.

The material is illustrated with photographs taken by the author on location in France and New York, as well as source material from various museums.

It will appeal to anyone interested in the symbolic transmission of the world's Western esoteric heritage.

All funds from your purchase of this book will go to support the translation of important historical documents related to the Gurdjieff tradition.

The author is currently at work on a second volume which will explore even earlier (!) influences on esoteric art and practice. Anticipated publication of this follow-up work will be late 2019.

Lee van Laer is a Senior Editor at Parabola Magazine.