How did you find the 4th Way?

First time I came in contact with 4th Way material of any sort was back at the end of high school when I started to really question some basic things about my self and the world. When I was 8 years old when Yugoslavian war started and I was in the middle of it, and have seen some disturbing during those periods of time or better said things that had big impact on me.

Post 8 grade and start of high school things start to come to the surface and depression was lose word for the state I was in. In that turbulent times I had no support of parents and my grandma, that was some sort of guide to me has died. Things for me at that time didn't look good at all I closed to my self since there was no understanding from the people to who I cried for help. Since I lost hope for anyone to help me at that time questions also start to arise, it was only later at the end of my high school that things gain really a momentum in my search for answers when questions i had led me first to Carl Jung and archetypes, later came across Castaneda and his The Eagle's Gift, and than things start to complicate, seeing things in myself that I never wanted to see led me deeper into Esoterica.

Last grade of high school I basically passed without even knowing how, since I was immersed into finding answers to at least some questions I had. In that time searching over internet for some Esoteric work I came across Gurdijeff teachings and 4th way. When that happen I think the only time I spilled more tears was when grandma died, for the effect it had on me. Well to cut the story short (too late XD) that was about it, in short how I came across 4th Way.
 
Short version: Came upon the concept by reading the Wave.

Slightly longer version: I guess that I've always had an interest in finding out what's true or real concerning our existence here. Once Christianity no longer gave me the answers, I went back to the drawing board so to speak. I spent some dabbling in Buddhism and New Age stuff and researching "fringe" phenomena (like NDE and prophecies), until I came across a link to the wave series, which later led me to the teachings of Gurdjieff.

Of course it's a different matter to just read "fragments of an unknown teaching" and actually taking an active part of it or applying some of those teachings, cleaning your machine, etc.
 
Jonathan said:
I still don't really know if I found the Work or if It found me.
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Same kind of dilemma here. Maybe it was both simultaneously, like an end in a beginning. I guess to be more specific would require me to think about how the work is defined in terms of its boundaries of teachings, but I don't want to be arbitrary about that since a book is not actual work.

I don't really remember any part of my life when I wasn't searching for answers to the questions I had - some of them burning questions to which no one and nowhere else seemed to offer satisfaction. In retrospect, I think I intuited quite a few tentative answers, to some questions, in some form or other, but had few ways to confirm them for real on my own. In functional terms of patterned behaviors, I felt like I could see a lot of what was wrong on the surface but couldn't grasp deeper organizing principle(s) that made sense to me. Maybe I was even too scared to dig too deep on my own. Plus I knew my patience for detailed work was subject to spontaneously evaporate and I didn't know what to do about it, assuming it was a problem in that context. Heck, I couldn't even decide that on my own.

In terms of G's actual work, I followed a path to here and participated on this forum for awhile before reading anything more than Gurdjieff quotes and excerpts provided by others. Laura's and other's words when they realized I hadn't yet read Gurdjieff still ring crystal clear in my ears. :)

When I did finally read the books, everything people were talking about made much more sense by comparison to what I thought I knew from other ways of hearing about him and 4th Way work.

Then, I started on a kind of research journey, attempting to trace both orthodox and gnostic foundations while looking for contemporary neuroscience confirmations while also implementing whatever practices I could to the best of my ability. Which wasn't much, due to attention and impulse issues needing to be worked with.
 
Back in 2009 (ish), I was on deployment with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit and we were off ship in Kuwait for training. One morning, I awoke early to wake up my Marines, and on the way back to my tent I had the strange sensation that I was being looked at. Instead of turning around to look at a person, I found myself looking at a star. But it wasn't a star. It was a pulsating light with a hollow circle in the middle. I had a flash where it seemed like my life glitched, and the next thing I know, it was gone. I found it to my left, still in the sky, but by now I was scared. I felt my heart speed up, and this thing began changing colors, from green to red to blue to yellow. Suddenly, this thing blinked out of existence, and ended up to my right, still high in the sky. I found it again, and it did this one more time, moving to my left again, before shooting up into the sky like a laser. I yelled for everyone to wake up and asked if anyone saw it, but no one did.

About a month after I got back into the states, I had a sleep paralysis episode where I awoke to a shadow figure standing over my bed staring at me. This experience induced a sleep disorder in me and nearly led to a mental breakdown after about a year. After I got out of the Marines and moved to Canada with my new wife, I had a lot of time off. I began researching and trying to find answers to what happened on both of those incidents. I got sucked into the New Age movement for a while, all the while knowing that I wasn't quite on the right path. After a few months, having believed I had finally figured out what was really going on in the world, I came across the Youtube video made by the QFS..I believe it was called Aliens, UFOs and the Question of Contact; and had my mind blown with what I had known all my life but never given serious thought to. I went into a DEEP state of depression, not knowing where to go. I ordered a bunch of Laura's books, starting with High Strangeness (still my favorite book of all time); and after several more months, finally found The Way. Finding the Way, to me led me to believe that It was what I was put on this planet to do. I had never believed or bought into the whole work 9-5 your whole life, retire, get sick and die thing...it just didn't seem legit.

Looking back now, I can see the different crossroads that put me closer and closer to The Way, and I am truly thankful for each lesson that I learned that got me to where I am today.
 
For me I had just bought my first laptop and prepaid internet. I had this burning desire to look into The Pyramids of Egypt and find out how the megalith stones were really put into place, the moving rooms, the pyramids being electricity conductors, why they were built to line up with certain stars etc.

My biggest question was HOW those HUGE stones were put into place so high off the ground in a time where no machines great enough to lift them existed. The fact that those huge stones where there meant in my head that there WAS a way and I wanted to know how. My curiosity wanted answers.

Over a few days and long nights and hours of researching and questioning eventually led me to question the elongated heads on the hieroglyphs, and this led me to the connection between the Egyptian and Mayan Pyramids and the crystal skulls and the reptilian bird gods, which then led me to David Ike and Montalk and finally to The Cassiopaean Experiment and The Wave. And here I am, roughly 8 years later :) Still learning and discerning :) Oh and I got my answer to how the megalith stones were placed :D
 
Kindle said:
For me I had just bought my first laptop and prepaid internet. I had this burning desire to look into The Pyramids of Egypt and find out how the megalith stones were really put into place, the moving rooms, the pyramids being electricity conductors, why they were built to line up with certain stars etc.

My biggest question was HOW those HUGE stones were put into place so high off the ground in a time where no machines great enough to lift them existed. The fact that those huge stones where there meant in my head that there WAS a way and I wanted to know how. My curiosity wanted answers.

Over a few days and long nights and hours of researching and questioning eventually led me to question the elongated heads on the hieroglyphs, and this led me to the connection between the Egyptian and Mayan Pyramids and the crystal skulls and the reptilian bird gods, which then led me to David Ike and Montalk and finally to The Cassiopaean Experiment and The Wave. And here I am, roughly 8 years later :) Still learning and discerning :) Oh and I got my answer to how the megalith stones were placed :D
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I had that SAME question when I was in middle school. I want to say grade 6 or 7, and I was sitting in a social studies class. In this huge 300 page text book, the part about Egypt and the pyramids was probably a page long. I remember reading a part about the pyramids one day while the class was going through something else; and as I was staring at the picture and reading the caption that said that a bunch of slaves built it, something in my mind said 'that can't be true'.

Even when I was in the Marines and spent time in Cairo, getting to actually climb on the pyramids; something didn't seem right. In trying to discuss my worries with fellow Marines, the assured me that slaves using scaffolds, ropes and hand tools built them; you know, because there's no other way for them to get there :rolleyes:
 
All that started some four years ago when one day, after having been reading a text on Sumer, I went to look up the Annunaki on the internet...

Then I found the Wave series by chance and started reading it and after that happened I began to familiarize myself with some names such as Gurdjieff, Mouravieff, Fulcanelli and everything else.
 
Looking back on it now, my whole life has been a search for the next transcendence of knowledge. I spent a long time stuck in collecting lots of apparently disjointed fragments of knowledge. But in due course the began to make a whole that was bigger than the sum of the parts.

My cosmology as I had derived it before finding the 4th way globally looked as follows:

1. Everything had to be One and this One had also to be Nothing. The simple reason is that Nothing is the only thing about which you can not ask questions.
2. Everything that is has to have its opposite. Otherwise you can not make Nothing out of the something that we know to exist.(source, Stefan Denaerde)
3. Every apparent contradiction has to have an answer. If two opposites exist, there has to be something I am not getting.
4. A primary purpose of existence is the practice of universal selfless love.
5. There is no other truly objective law than the golden rule, to do unto another what you would want another to do unto you
6. Within their own realm, the laws of physics had to be objective reality and whatever else i accepted could not go against them. OTOH I did realize their limits as defined by both the borders of the physical world without and Godel's incompleteness theorem within the system which physics seeks to describe.
7. I was very much wrestling with the problem of free will. I had a hard time deriving it from the laws of physics which would either lead to determinism or coincidence. I know I had to go beyond our single timeline and I had narrowed it down to it being some kind of post selection in the many worlds complex of possible events. Such a post selection would never be detectable from within the timeline.

It was at the above point that my life got a bit stuck with no clear direction to go in. I work in tax advice and it wasn't answering the questions i was asking any more.
I joined up with some people on a privately set up spirituality forum but it was more than obvious that my rationalism didn't link up with the other members experiential approaches. I could not replicate any of their experiences and was loathe to risk using any kind of chemical aids. I don't want to mess with my brain.

However about two weeks ago, one of the other members, a woman from Canada, advised me to read Ouspensky's in search of the miraculous and for some strange reason what he had to say dragged me right into the world of Gurdjieff. I found that it in so many different ways linked all that i already knew together and added so much more on top. I also began actively practising the methods of awareness that were described, as a first step on the way to self knowledge and awakening.
 
I think the 4th Way first started with me while studying the Martial Arts. The teachings and life style seemed to lead me to be more open minded. It often showed the ability to tap a power outside our physical bodies... The wheels started spinning...

Then many years later I came across a news castor George Napp in Las Vegas who covered many topics not in the lame stream media. This lead me to ET’s, EBE’s, Area 51, the Zeta story then many, many topics and web sites later this lead me to Project Camelot and eventually to an interview with Laura and the C's material...

I've read the Wave series, Horns of Moses, dozens of sites online, countless posts, and on and on for the past seven years. A lot of dis-info on a lot of sites to be sure but also many questions have been explained in a way that make sense to the mind, heart and to the spirit... Truly life changing when the light clicks on!!!

The material here is staggering in the volume and significance and over time, like pieces of a puzzle, things start to paint a big picture and it all starts to really make sense...

So much to learn and ponder... I truly enjoy still being in school and am humbled by the Cosmic Mind's grand design.... I can't get enough and have a loooong way to go.

It’s as scary as it is wonderful…

The Universe seeks balance, so shall I...

Thank You All and maybe see you in 4D
 
I got a bit lost in the New Age drivel in my 20s. After much meditating, repeating affirmations etc amd seeing no evidence of anything other than my wallet being emptied out, I realised that I had been scammed. In my 30s I was busy dealing with raising a family and dealing with their father who has Passive Aggressive Disorder (I posted about this condition earlier and my experiences), and didn't have time for much. Day to day life consumed me. All the while though, I was aware that there was something very wrong with our world.

It was really 9/11 that was a turning point for me. Researching that, I came across refences to Illuminati Illuminati and conspiracies etc. And COINTELPRO, which led me to bibliotheca.com, where I read Laura's most excellent article on "How to spot COINTELPRO." The vitriol on some the websites attacking her, actually made me want to check out her stuff even more... And well, here I am! Funny how COINTELPRO nut jobs actually sent me here. :)

I find Gurdjieff hard to read, and was wondering if someone here has distilled his teachings into a "Gurdjieff for Dummies" version. I refer to Cassiopedia a lot, I've got Gnosis queued up next, after I finish Horns of Moses.
 
I haven't begun practicing the Fourth Way yet, but I guess I've still found it.

5/7 - Very interested in UFOs but also very scared of them. Had seen a few.

14/15 - Started learning about pathological government, but didn't understand that psychopathy played a role. Read up on philosophy on the internet. Became very concerned about civil liberties. Had a bit of a existential crises about the idea of afterlife, God and things like that, so I began researching these things. Started using Cannabis.

16/17 - Lots of Cannabis and Alex Jones style conspiracy theories, as well as a frantic search for answers about the UFO phenomena. Had a brief stint experimenting with unguided meditation. I started to get a glimpse at how the UFO phenomena was somehow tied into government conspiracies as well as spirituality. Got briefly involved in the Disclosure movement and other disinformation. Short New Age phase. At some point I accidentally stumbled onto Cassiopedia, and started reading the transcripts on my own (a bad move.) Started trying to "enlighten" people due to lack of understanding but learned the hard way that this isn't the way.

18/19 - Stopped using Cannabis. Here I am.
 
Arwenn said:
I got a bit lost in the New Age drivel in my 20s. After much meditating, repeating affirmations etc amd seeing no evidence of anything other than my wallet being emptied out, I realised that I had been scammed. In my 30s I was busy dealing with raising a family and dealing with their father who has Passive Aggressive Disorder (I posted about this condition earlier and my experiences), and didn't have time for much. Day to day life consumed me. All the while though, I was aware that there was something very wrong with our world.

It was really 9/11 that was a turning point for me. Researching that, I came across refences to Illuminati Illuminati and conspiracies etc. And COINTELPRO, which led me to bibliotheca.com, where I read Laura's most excellent article on "How to spot COINTELPRO." The vitriol on some the websites attacking her, actually made me want to check out her stuff even more... And well, here I am! Funny how COINTELPRO nut jobs actually sent me here. :)

I find Gurdjieff hard to read, and was wondering if someone here has distilled his teachings into a "Gurdjieff for Dummies" version. I refer to Cassiopedia a lot, I've got Gnosis queued up next, after I finish Horns of Moses.
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Unfortunately, the only "G for Dummies", and it really isn't simple, is In Search of the Miraculous.

Gurdjieff is hard to read, and that is by design. There is an experience to be had by sticking to it, however. Eventually, at least this happened to me, a period of true 'befuddlement' comes, and it is in that state that the layers underneath the text start 'waving little flags'. I would urge you to keep with it.

:)

Kris
 
RflctnOfU said:
Arwenn said:
I got a bit lost in the New Age drivel in my 20s. After much meditating, repeating affirmations etc amd seeing no evidence of anything other than my wallet being emptied out, I realised that I had been scammed. In my 30s I was busy dealing with raising a family and dealing with their father who has Passive Aggressive Disorder (I posted about this condition earlier and my experiences), and didn't have time for much. Day to day life consumed me. All the while though, I was aware that there was something very wrong with our world.

It was really 9/11 that was a turning point for me. Researching that, I came across refences to Illuminati Illuminati and conspiracies etc. And COINTELPRO, which led me to bibliotheca.com, where I read Laura's most excellent article on "How to spot COINTELPRO." The vitriol on some the websites attacking her, actually made me want to check out her stuff even more... And well, here I am! Funny how COINTELPRO nut jobs actually sent me here. :)

I find Gurdjieff hard to read, and was wondering if someone here has distilled his teachings into a "Gurdjieff for Dummies" version. I refer to Cassiopedia a lot, I've got Gnosis queued up next, after I finish Horns of Moses.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, the only "G for Dummies", and it really isn't simple, is In Search of the Miraculous.

Gurdjieff is hard to read, and that is by design. There is an experience to be had by sticking to it, however. Eventually, at least this happened to me, a period of true 'befuddlement' comes, and it is in that state that the layers underneath the text start 'waving little flags'. I would urge you to keep with it.

:)

Kris
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Thanks for the input, I never thought of it that way. I think sometimes I throw myself in the deep end by trying to do/read everything all at once. I'm sticking with the SHOTW series, and then return to ISOTM. Then I'll go to Mouravieff. You are absolutely spot on, in that, with literature (& even film) more layers are revealed on subsequent reads/views.
 
What can truly be said to introduce oneself to another over this interlocking web of thought and word. For a long time this has been contemplated, struggled with and set aside. (The content in this thread http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,13842.0.html has got one thinking about this this morning.) As these words are typed the body vibrates with anxiety and fear, the predator inside being shown in the light. For the longest time it has been difficult to even get to this point, of contemplating an introduction to this online discussion, to contribute something so the act of networking can be worked upon and furthered. Moving in an upward spinning motion toward less fragmentation, to solidify/crystalize with in the self an ever present conscious “I”. Yet, when the time came where an introduction was to be made, some small distraction, some thought that was totally out of context would appear, taking the mind in another direction. A majority of the time it was a reminder of what time one had to go to work, which brings up a hurried, anxious state all it's own. Other times a phone call about something to distract away from the act of the moment, helping in the loss of momentum towards the very act that is taking place here and now.

The fourth way was not so much found as dropped in my lap one day after a long struggle with addiction of many sorts. At a bonfire with a group of people that are no longer a part of my life, there was this man, playing his guitar and rolling his own smokes and we got to talking. This conversation, which spread out over the next year to year and a half, was not always long, yet it carried with it a feeling, an understanding that this man and all we talked about is something that has been looked for since the days of my youth. There has always been, deep within me, a longing for knowledge and growth, and a longing for a group of friends that sought the same, no matter how unconscious the thoughts of it may have been at times. One day, it was a late October afternoon, there was a feeling of being lost, ever looping in the same spot in thought and action. This man, we can call him J, introduced me to another man, lets call him M. (As this is being written the realization of what time it is happens. Time for work. Yet, this is an unfinished piece. The story goes on.)(Hours later the story goes on.) At the point of meeting M I was an alcoholic and drug addict. Noisy as all get out in the mind, and misunderstanding the steps needed to dig myself out of a hole. On this night I sat in a chair at a table at a loss of words from all the questions that were thrown at me. Probing questions, yet question that opened up to more questions. In this chair and almost spun out, all that would come out in the form of words is “I don't know.” There was an inability to lie to this man. His eyes so soft and sweet yet piecing the soul like a dagger.

Over the next few months, in small chunks, I was introduced to the fourth way. Gurdjieff, Ouspensky, Mouravieff and Castaneda where a part of this period of time. Yet, having no understanding about what I was reading, it all appeared to have some importance felt deep in my gut. The information appeared to contain keys that were once looked for to open the doors that, at that time, were locked tight. The wave series followed some time later. I am on book #7 as these letters are typed, and find myself wanting to flip through the previous 6 to refresh the mind on some of the information. Which is another reason I may be considered a board lurker. The amount of information that one takes in while flowing through the site can smack one in the noggin, making posting at times somewhat difficult. I thank you all for the work that you do, and have done. You all have opened a door way for me to pass through. Slowly I pass through this door as I work on networking with both the group I am surrounded by on a daily basis and all those that are a part of this site.

Salutes :)
 
Ouspensky suggests that you cannot go it alone. London school of economics was started by a pupil of Ouspenky's; The school is now international
_http://philosophyschool.com/ and seems to have combined the teaching of the fourth way with Aidwata philosophy from India. My journey started at 13 when a rather becoming student teacher gave an intro to transcendental meditation ;hallucinogenics and attempted astral projection during military conscription; psychologist; the wave and currently the above school.

Edit: Link deactivated
 
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