Laura said:
Beelzebub's Tales is on the reading list, but it's not at the top.
I've read Beelzebub and also listened to the audio book, and just this evening, I had the audio book playing again as I was working around the house. You know, it strikes me that one of the beautiful things about Beelzebub's Tales is that it is a tale of the Work, though not at all obviously so. That seems a simplistic thing to say, and it is, but, basically, to sum it up very, very simply: Beelzebub engaged in a 'negative feedback loop' with his associates about things he was dissatisfied with while in union with 'the sun/one' - this lofty place he had attained.
Due to his actions, and words, he and all his friends, those who not only fed his 'negative feedback loop' but also those who were silent witnesses and basically didn't object or correct him, were banished, cast out. Through this banishment, he learned - he suffered - he began to understand, due to a great extent to his experiences on that 'ill-fated planet Earth', and at the end of all that, after 1230 pages, or so (and a very long period of time), he 'grew his horns', which basically means he manifested his Being.
He was only able to 'grow the last tips of his horns' (manifest the true extent of his Being) by sharing his learning and knowledge with others, due to an unexpected delay in his return trip from his banishment (due to a passing comet that promised harm if he did not delay).
It is applicable on so many levels - for humanity as a whole, as the 'fallen' - for a single human struggling to do the Work - and the amount of information he packs in there regarding almost all aspects of life in a 'being body' is absolutely astounding, including psychopathy.
It is a masterpiece, I think - and it really does read as if it were written for us - those in this time line who would qualify, in one form or another, as Gurdjieff's grandchildren.
Just my take, of course - and apologies for resurrecting this old thread, but it popped to mind while listening this evening... and with all that said, I don't think it should be at the top of the reading list, but it really is a gem if one gets the time and opportunity. :)
