The Secret History of the World and How to Get Out Alive

[Meg]

Re: Secret History of the World

Oh, Please, please, please tell me that Chapter 1 of The Secret History of the World is not indicative of the style of writing for the rest of the book. One of the things I've loved about Laura's writings is their "readability," "no confusion." Laura’s writings have always flowed, like a regular person having a regular conversation.

Hi Granmoomie,

Secret History is full of knowledge. I have experienced confusion reading it too and there is lots of 'dictionary time'. My take on the book today is that if I want to grasp the knowledge presented I have to set aside my expectations of learning new things. I also think that the confusion comes from the Predator's Mind to prevent me from having the knowledge in that book. fwiw

I'm in Chapter 1, page 70 of The Secret History of the World, and it's like another person wrote it. I feel so stupid that I’m not really comprehending it. It’s like I’m oil floating on the surface and can’t dive down into the depths. I’m looking up all words and derivations I don’t understand, and I think I’m getting the basic concept, but it’s not an engrossing, captivating read. So far, it's kinda excrutiating! I’ll keep plugging along, and hope for the best. GranMoomie

I'm on page 162. Whoopie doo I don't think the book was meant to engross or captivate. Knowledge wasn't handed to Laura on a silver platter. She had to work for it. So, It's work for us to assimilate it too. Hope that doesn't confuse! Learning is fun

 

[GranMoomie]

Re: Secret History of the World

Thank you for your replies. I was feeling blocked, and was just contemplating the possibility of the Predator's mind blocking me. Great minds run along the same path.... or something like that. I had also just cognited on the fact that learning this information is not just a matter of reading and absorbing, but actually digging in or diving into the depths. Gee, I do have a brain and it's not just there to separate my ears.

Thanks again. Ya'll make me feel more connected, and in every since of that concept.

GranMoomie

 

[Alice]

Re: Secret History of the World

I'm in Chapter 1, page 70 of The Secret History of the World, and it's like another person wrote it. I feel so stupid that I’m not really comprehending it. It’s like I’m oil floating on the surface and can’t dive down into the depths. I’m looking up all words and derivations I don’t understand, and I think I’m getting the basic concept, but it’s not an engrossing, captivating read. So far, it's kinda excrutiating!

Hi,

I know exactly how you feel ;) It may be connected also with the main purpose of that book - to put many, many things together and to explain them with enough details for reader's understanding, yet not to get involved into too many details and create an encyclopedia. Just imagine how hard it must of been for Laura to choose which way to go, with all the informations (which makes a perfect connection in her mind), but she had to decide how to represent as many of them and not to get lost.. Or to cause an explosion of reader's brain ;P

Maybe, being a best way to go, is like when I was 15 yo kid and tried to read Hawkin's books - millions of thing's I couldn't possibly understand at the time, but just had to know what's all the fuss about... So I did, I've read them all the best I could, with my temporary understanding, determined not to give up. Many informations were lost on me but the essence got caught and I finally understood a bit more about what everyone's talking about. I simply loved Physics and new possible explanation of the Universe was a 'must know' ;) So, try that approach - kid's desire to learn and understand as much as it can, not being stopped by a strange terms, unknowing fields, just keep on reading although many things will make sense only later and probably when less expected... And don't forget to Enjoy your voyage :D

 

[Gawan]

Re: Secret History of the World

Hi GranMoomie,

some things need time to understand and this book is really worth for it to take some. osit.

But if you are not sure with words or even concepts, you can also have a look in CASSIOPEDIA GLOSSARY and as well in the forum.

And the one thing what can happen to you, as already Vide suggested, you can only learn. ;)

 

[T.C.]

Re: Secret History of the World

I'm in Chapter 1, page 70 of The Secret History of the World, and it's like another person wrote it. I feel so stupid that I’m not really comprehending it. It’s like I’m oil floating on the surface and can’t dive down into the depths. I’m looking up all words and derivations I don’t understand, and I think I’m getting the basic concept, but it’s not an engrossing, captivating read. So far, it's kinda excrutiating!

Hi GranMoomie.

Your post reminds me of something Gurdjieff said:

"A great deal can be found by reading. For instance, take yourself; you might already know a great deal if you knew how to read. I mean that, if you understood everything you have read in your life, you would already know what you are looking for now. (...) But you do not understand either what you read or what you write. You do not even understand what the word 'understand' means. Yet understanding is essential, and reading can be useful only if you understand what you read.

If you're finding it hard to read the book, then it might be better for you to go back to the beginning. I know that sounds like a pain after getting to where you are already, but I don't think you should just plough through it for the sake of it.

If you were to start again, (and remember, there are well over 500 pages so it's not so much) and try to "understand" how, why and what Laura is writing in each paragraph (not just individual words), you'll be building a much stronger foundation for the rest of the knowledge in the book and it might not be so excruciating. Ask yourself, "Why is Laura telling me this particular thing, at this particular moment?" because it's probably for a very good reason.

T.C.

 

[genero81]

Re: Secret History of the World

Hi, don't waist your energy worrying about whether your smart enough to comprehend every last sentence. Your not. I'm not either. Thing is; we all want to identify with what we are reading, or watching or whatever. SHOTW is a book of knowledge, and therefore is difficult to read. We've been spoon fed junk food, both literally and figuratively. Take it in small bites and meditate (contemplate) and have a dictionary with you.

I had a hard time with 'who wrote the bible." That was so convoluted with one story morphing into another, and all those names to keep up with

However, I kept at it. Now it's definitely a reference book for me. I want to read it again but have stuff I still have not read. It might be the most knowledge packed book ever written. Why should anyone complain because they have to work mentally to even just read the book, cover to cover? That's not even including comprehension, reading between the lines, and basically adjusting your understanding of what is real.

That's what I told myself. That book was Laura's unselfish, gift to everyone who professes to care about finding truth. That book is an example of an important part of "the truth," which is; acting on the knowledge you have uncovered. That book is a "Treasure," given by someone who is opening the door, creating a path, for the return of "The Goddess." Which is my hypothesis. ;D

Bottom line here is; think about how much more went into it's creation, as opposed to what goes into just reading it.

 

[Approaching Infinity]

Re: Secret History of the World

Keep in mind that a good understanding of Secret History depends to a large degree on previous knowledge of the topics discussed. It is a "radical" work, but in order to see how it is radical, you need to know what the common consensus view is. For example, you need to know a bit about the conventional views of biblical history, the rise and spread of civilization, parapsychological theories, the catastrophism controversy, depth psychology, psychopathy, etc. The first time I read the book, I think I understood about 7% of it. ;)

 

[Bobo08]

Re: Secret History of the World

Hi GranMoomie,

What I find works for me is just to read through a book as best as I could. Then put the book aside and go on with others. After a few months, go back and read again. You'll be amazed how much more you understand.

Thing is: you're not going to get proper knowledge from one book, or one point of view. The point is to read as many as possible and try to compare and digest them using your critical thinking to come up with your own understanding. That's what the learning process is all about. And it's fun :)

 

[Thomas Alan]

Re: Secret History of the World

Hi GranMoomie,

Parts of Secret History were difficult for me as well. I didn't at the time see the point of some of the in-depth very detailed history.
But other parts opened many doors for me. For instance I had never heard of Gurdjieff or Mouravieff, organic portals, adamics and preadamics. Shocks, revelations, and a new hunger to learn. Well worth the effort.
Secret History is not easy reading but Pow! Might knock you socks off! ;) Persevere.

Mac

 

[Redrock12]

Re: Secret History of the World

Hey Granmoomie!
I bought SHOTW about three years ago, and I am still re-reading huge chunks of material. And only now is it starting to come together for me.
Also, I would highly recommend-if you haven't done so already-is get a copy of High Strangeness.
At least for me, it was much easier to understand the material, and it helped me to tie some of the ideas and concepts in SHOTW together.
As well, remember that you're also dealing with the Predator's mind, and he won't give up without a fight. So hang in there.

 

[GranMoomie]

Re: Secret History of the World

Thanks again to all of you for taking the time to write your comments. They have all been received with gratitude.

T.C., I did go back to where I was last comprehending what I was reading - to page 57, "A Knight on a Quest" and am reading forward again. I felt pretty good about what I was reading up to that point. The blocks that the Predator put up have subsided, and I'm comprehending what I'm reading again.

BoBo08, I've reread the Wave series 3 times. FANTASTIC! Each time I read it I get more out of it. L. Ron Hubbard said something to the effect of, "Many times over the material equals certainty." How true.

Again, thank you all for the great advice. I really, really needed all the input and kicks in the keester to get me out of the slump and see that the Predator was sneaking around and trying to sabatage my Quest - AGAIN.

GranMoomie

 

[Bo]

Re: Secret History of the World

Remember what Gurdjieff said about Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson?

Gurdjieff advised us to read, reread and then read this Book again many, many times. Read it aloud with others and read it to yourself. Even if you read it thirty, even fifty times, you will always find something you missed before—a sentence which gives with great precision the answer to a question you have had for years.”

I think this fits pretty much for every good book out there. There is always something that you miss or not understand when reading a book for the first time.

just like Approaching Infinity said:

The first time I read the book, I think I understood about 7% of it.

Then imagine reading a book a second time, it will probally go from 7% to 20%? or 50%? it all depends on the invidual.

If one really is sincere about wanting to do the work, finding answers and all of that, one also will understand that he has to invest time, a lot of time in gathering data and research.

 

[Laura]

Re: Secret History of the World

GranMoomie, I apologize for some of the complexity, but there is a reason for it. You see, I wanted to put together in one book all the information necessary for any individual to have the Key to the deepest secrets of our reality, but I also knew that the effort to understand it was part of the key and that could not be gotten around. The book is designed to give you data AND make suggestions about what that data means that will make you think. And then, at the end, when I begin to be more explicit about the inner alchemy, if you have "worked" your way to there, things begin to fall together. Consider this:

"Like attracts like."

When a candidate has developed virtue and integrity acceptable to the adepts, they will appear to him and reveal those parts of the secret processes which cannot be discovered without such help.

This happened for me. So the question became, how can I help to facilitate it for others in a single book?

More:

Those who cannot progress to a certain point with their own intelligence are not qualified to be entrusted with the secrets which can subject to their will the elemental forces of Nature.

And, believe me when I tell you that this is not just a fluffy saying.

"By invigorating the Organs the Soul uses for communicating with exterior objects, the Soul must a acquire greater powers not only for conception but also for retention, and therefore if we wish to obtain still more knowledge, the organs and secret springs of physical life must be wonderfully strengthened and invigorated.

I spent my life doing this, Secret History is the map of where I have been so that others can follow...

Certainly, there are those who read it and ONLY find it to be a "difficult read" in parts; some parts are not so difficult, though there is a hidden meaning to those parts; you have to ask yourself "why" did I include that bit of information? Why did I think it was important for you to know it? And the reasons are not always the same for each part.

At the same time Secret History is a book that can bring you to understand what powers a man has, or can have, and what is his true place in the universe, it is also designed to "turn off" those who want easy answers or who just want "power". The keys to "power" are concealed in things that require understanding and once you have understanding, power becomes a different thing in that understanding.

"Man's quest for gold is often his undoing, for he mistakes the alchemical processes, believing them to be purely material. He does not realize that the Philosopher's Gold, the Philosopher's Stone, and the Philosopher's Medicine exist in each of the four worlds and that the consummation of the experiment cannot be realized until it is successfully carried on in four worlds simultaneously according to one formula.

"Furthermore, one of the constituents of the alchemical formula exists only within the nature of man himself, without which his chemicals will not combine, and though he spend his life and fortune in chemical experimentation, he will not produce the desired end...

"The subtle element ... comes out of the nature of the illuminated and regenerated alchemist..

"He must have the magnetic power to attract and coagulate invisible astral elements."

Another way of saying this is:

We must regard the present state of the universe (or of a man/woman) as the effect of its past and the cause of its future.

Consider an intelligence which, at any instant, could have a knowledge of all forces controlling nature together with the momentary conditions of all the entities of which nature consists. If this intelligence were powerful enough to submit all this data to analysis it would be able to embrace in a single formula the movements of the largest bodies in the universe and those of the lightest atoms; for it, nothing would be uncertain; the future and the past would be equally present to its eyes. Pierre Laplace

It is this state that I hope to induce in the reader...

And by writing about the topics I have chosen, the "forces controlling nature" are exposed to the reader in conjunction with certain "momentary conditions" that suggest a principle. It is in the process of deriving principles that the understanding comes. It's not any easier than reading Fulcanelli, certainly, but it is framed in more modern terms and concepts.

 

[T.C.]

I'm rereading SH at the moment and I came across this passage where Laura quotes Mouravieff:

... as we have already stated, all the 'A' [influences] have counterparts which neutralise them - ['B' influences].

In Gnosis I, Mouravieff wrote:

The black arrows represent influences created within life by life itself, this is the first variety of influence by which man is surrounded. These are called 'A' influences. We will notice that they are distributed almost equally over all the surface of the circle of life. As in the case of all radiant energy in nature, their effect is inversely proportional to the square of the distance; thus man is subject most of all to arrows influencing him from those immediately around him. He is pulled every instant by the way they act at that moment.

The influence of the 'A' arrows on exterior man is imperative; driven, he wanders in the circle of his life from birth to death, following a broken line which is sometimes subject to dangerous changes of direction.

The ensemble of 'A' influences forms the Law of Chance or Law of Accident. Man is subject to its rule, yet if we examine the figure more closely we will perceive that each black arrow is counterbalanced, neutralized in some other part by another arrow equal in force and diametrically opposed, so that if we had left them to effectively neutralize each other the resultant force would have been equal to zero. This means that in their ensemble the 'A' influences are illusory in their nature, although the effect of each one of them is real, so that exterior man takes them for reality.

I thought that what cancelled out A influences were other A influences?

T.C.

 

[Mountain Crown]

TC,

Mouravieff's statement that 'A' influences neutralize each other was to show that they, when taken alone and corporately, are illusion.

'B' influences, when looked at alone and as an ensemble, do not have a net effect of "zero" and are real.

The neutralizing of 'A' influences by 'B' influences is the liberation from illusion.