World's Happiest Man - Matthies Ricard

A French genetic scientist,Buddhist Monk Matthies Ricard is given the title ‘The world's 

happiest man’ by scientists based on their research data. 

Matthies Ricard’s skull is wired with 256 sensors at the University of Wisconsin as part of 

research on hundreds of advanced practitioners of meditation by the neuro-scientist Davidson.

The scans showed that when meditating on COMPASSION , Ricard's brain produces a level of 

 gamma waves - those linked to consciousness, attention, learning and memory - 'never 

reported before in the neuroscience literature', Davidson said.


The scans also showed excessive activity in his brain's left prefrontal cortex compared to its 

right counterpart, giving him an abnormally large capacity for happiness and a reduced 

propensity towards negativity, researchers believe.

 The title ‘The World’s Happiest Man’ is not based on subjective opinion but based 

on objective scientific evidence.

So, now it is scientifically established that by changing mind (Thoughts) through meditation or 

mental-training one can change brain (physical neural connections).

 That is ‘Mind over Matter’ is a fact not a wishful thinking and compassion is the highest form of 

human emotion that can induce the change.

Evolution of Consciousness(Post 9)-Uni Being(Objective Reason)

 Ego-Self, Real-Self and Uni-Being (Objective Reason)

 

So far we have seen quiet a bit Personality (Ego Self), Essence (Real Self), and now we

will move over to the next level termed by Gurdjieff  as ‘Objective Reason’.

The first two levels of ‘beings’ sound quite personal referring to an individual,

But the third one do not sound personal pertaining to an individual but a sort of

intelligence.

Yes, it is so.

Different traditions call this with different names like ‘Enlightenment’, ‘Samadhi’,

‘Nirvana’, ‘Christ Consciousness’, ‘Cosmic Consciousness’, ‘Union with God’ and so on.

It is very difficult to describe this being, even the ‘Chosen Ones’ are not very successful .

May be because,

‘Uni-Being’/ ‘Objective Reason’ is a non-dualistic entity, where as ‘Ego-Self’ and ‘Real

Self’ are dualistic entities and so also our life and language.

But we will try to understand through comparison and example.

What are the characteristics of ‘Uni-Being’ / Objective Reason in relation to Ego-Self

and Real-Self ?

Let us consider common feeling ‘SYMPATHY’ to understand this.

What is called ‘SYMPATHY’ in ego-self can become ‘EMPATHY’ in real-self and that

in turn can become ‘COMPASSION’ in Uni-being .

  Let us see how the depth is generated .

Ego-Self

Outlook here is personal, that is ‘My Suffering’ is different from ‘Other’s Suffering’.

It can show only SYMPATHY towards other’ suffering, nothing more.      

Real-Self

The outlook here universal, it is not ‘My Suffering’ or ‘Other’s suffering’ but ‘human

Suffering’.

So it can go further; and show EMPATHY towards other’s suffering.

That is to put oneself into other’s position and feel other’s pain.

Uni-Being

The out look here is absolute, that is ‘Suffering’ as such is a phenomenon of lower self.            

Uni-being do not suffer because there no ‘I’, ‘ME’ to suffer.

So it can go much further, and show COMPASSION towards other beings who are

suffering.

And Uni-Being works to end other’s suffering by lifting them from lower self to

‘Objective Reason’.

Evoution of consciousness(Post 8)-Healing Touch

Choice by Essence – Healing Touch

In the last post, we talked about Choice – By Essence (innate quality) or 

Personality (Outer skills).

We also saw probable difficulties one would encounter by making choice 

entirely based on one’s Personality.

More than mere difficulties, failure can create rejection and that in turn 

creates stress,frustration, anger which are manifestation of behavior of 

failure, and may lead  to simple or complex psychological problems.

We have seen in the media about random shooting or targeted shooting, the 

offender claiming that ‘ Now the world knows me’.

The offender’s declaration explains the reason behind his insane behavior.

Reasons being Rejection, Failure etc.

We already mentioned that a person is always seeking a place in the scheme 

of things which brings Acceptance, Recognition and Security.

On failure, one’s mind may goes to pieces and depending on the Personality 

either he/she becomes depressed or turn anti-social, and might do anything 

to gain attention.

At the extreme they could become suicidal or homicidal.

This happens because ‘Personality’ is taken as the ‘Self’, not that ‘Self’ has 

‘Personality’.

When traits of Personality is rejected by the Society, it is taken as one’s very 

being or presence is rejected or banished and tragic/Horrific incidents follow.

This is not case with one, who make choices based on the Essence.

Essence being innate, it is UNIQUE to the person.

Being Unique, there ought to be a place for him in the scheme of things.

Anybody, who is unique won’t compare him/her self with others. (Comparison 

defies Uniqueness).

Since there is no comparison, the person won’t be trapped in psychological 

complex of any kind (Superior /Inferior).

Person is FREE, free from psychological ailments, if there is any it will be 

healed.

Person won’t seek undue, undeserved recognition or attention from others 

because one is doing what one is comfortable with and for his/her own sake.

In difficulties or failure, He/She will study the outer world and mould the 

personality accordingly to realize its potential – mind won’t get shattered.

So, it is imperative that one should take Essence into account while making 

choices and should develop effective Personality to succeed in their ventures.

In short, ‘Personality Alone’ is blind and ‘Essence Alone’ is lame.

One has to find balance to attain the objectives.

More next.

Evolution of Consciusness(Post 7)-Essence & Choice

Essence and Choice.

In the last post 

We went about Gurdjieff’s  idea of Personality ( Social Construct) and 

Essence-(Innate Inclination,Talent,Strength etc) with an illustration and How 

flowering of essence coupled with balanced personality can bring about 

excellence and beyond.

Now we will see what Essence can do in the beginning leave alone excellence.

We know people get offended at remarks like ‘You are not important or 

relevant’,

Because one always feels that he/she is important and has a place in the 

scheme of things.

To remain relevant or important one has to make right Choice.

‘Out of Place’ choice will make one irrelevant and unimportant.

To make right choice regarding ones’ place, one should know his/her essence, 

that is His/her innate inclination, talent and strength.

(Here ‘Place’ could mean channel of expression, role, carrier etc. )

If essence is not known,

Choice will be made based on the Personality instead of Essence.

What could go wrong?

 Personality can not make right choice, because it is just a package of outer 

social skills and traits, it can be influenced by prevailing ‘popular opinion’ and 

would yield to it irrespective of one’s inner Essence( innate inclination, talent 

and strength).

As the  choice is not supported by Essence, in course of development he/she 

will find themselves inadequate to meet the challenges.

Let us consider a simple example on physical plane,

One is shorter than average height (say 5’5”), swayed by the popular opinion 

chooses to become professional basket ball player. He could master ball skills,

 but bound to feel inadequate because of his height or lack of it.

And in the court he becomes a pushover – unimportant and irrelevant.

He could have excelled in Football or Boxing.

Here, ‘Height’ is obvious, so one could easily calculate the odds before making

 choice.

But when it comes to Essence, it is not so obvious especially among adults.

Precisely because, as one grows up personality gets stronger and stronger 

pushing back the real Self ( Essence) deeper.

In time one is not even aware that there is Essence.

Childhood  memory could give some idea about his/her essence because 

conditioning of the mind is least at that point of time.

To bring it to awareness, one has to look beyond or through the personality.

In other words one should begin to  dismantle the conditioned mind.

Gurdjieff calls this process as ‘Work’ or ‘Work on Oneself’.

More on ‘Work’ later, in the next post we will see what happens if choice is 

based on Essence.

Evolution of Conciusness(Post 6)-Personality & Essence

Personality and Essence

Gurdjeiff’s emphasizes that Essence of a person should have precedence over

Personality and if not, personality can damage the essence.

What happens if personality damages essence and it is lost?

One leads entire life mechanically dictated by the personality and withers 

away like a machine.

What happens if Essence pervades the Personality?

One is propelled to excellence in their vocation knocking at the doors of 

Absolute.

Let us look at this through two different people of different times and 

different trades.

Can we find a common element in their poetic expressions below?

Yes, one can see the focus of their expression is bringing out the significance 

of PRESENT in relation to the PAST and FUTURE.

A Master Poet and a Master Martial Artist arrived at the same ‘ARTISTIC 

TRUTH” that ‘NOW’ is everything, it alone matters.

Absolute Truth of ‘All NOW’, when expressed in human activities becomes 

relative to the art as ‘ARTISTIC TRUTH’.

That is what Essence does to the Personality, taking it to perfection or 

wholeness. Material gain or loss becomes secondary.

There are gaps,

Anyway, I hope this will throw some light on Gurdjieff’s ideas of Personality, 

Essence and 7-Types of Men.

See you soon.

4 Steps to beat Laziness-Spritual Excellance

Evolution of Consciusness (Post 5)-Personality & Self

Personality and Self.

In the last post we saw about Personality Consciousness, its inevitability, 

usefulness and as well its negativity.

We will go in to it further.

Gurjieff’s contention is that over time personality is taken for the true self of 

the person.

One might ask, what is wrong with taking the Personality as the True Self?

Or what else is there?

To see what is wrong, first one must see clearly what Personality is.

We have seen that Personality is not an innate quality of a person but

imposed,Learned and cultivated trait. So there is something else behind it.

Now,

Generally one’s basic objective is find a place in a society where one has

security, position, recognition and so on.

In contrast, one may rebel against the society. That is not important for us.

But in both situations one has to cultivate certain psychological traits which 

will be helpful in attaining the objectives.

Composite of psychological traits emerges as a personality.

It is a TOOL likes any other physical tool. Nothing more or less.

It must be treated as a tool only.

If it is not effective, it must be changed.

How it works?

Personality categories, labels everything with well defined purpose and 

motive, everything in it is concrete, nothing is abstract.

It operates through categories and labels to reach the destination.

Categories or Labels do not cause any problem in the physical plane.

A ‘Car’ is car; ‘Hammer’ is a hammer, even Institutions.

There is hardly anything outside the Label.

But, when it comes to human beings, ‘Labels’ and ‘Categories’ creates havoc 

in the relationships.

Let us take an example.

It is hardly possible for anyone to go beyond the labels ‘Wife/Husband’ and 

look at ‘Woman/Man’ behind it, which is a fact.

This fragmented look will invariably create conflicts.

Failure to see the fragmentation is because one is almost entirely enveloped 

by the personality/ego.

That is one can see only Wife/Husband not Woman/Man.

Let us put it differently.

Personality can see ‘Wife/Husband’ as FACT (Concrete) and the ‘Woman/Man’ 

behind it as IDEA (Abstraction)

But,

Self can see ‘Woman/Man’ as FACT (Concrete) and the ‘Wife/Husband’ as 

IDEA (Abstraction).

So personality posses conditioned outlook, where as Self has unconditioned 

outlook.

Anything conditioned can have only partial, biased and prejudiced view .

Anything unconditioned is free, it can see things as they are, it is not tainted 

by any bias or prejudice.

One can test it out with any personal-view (Label).

It is fun, and it won’t make anybody an unbalanced cuckoo; rather it may be 

helpful.

Now,

Personality being a conditioned and limited entity; it can not be taken as self,

 which is all encompassing and unconditioned.

So it is the personality which should protect and serve the self by nurturing 

its essence and raising it to higher truth.

If personality is taken as the self, then the self and its essence are 

compromised.

It is something like a solider sacrificing his life to preserve his weapon.

We will see more of it later.

RAP Video

Most watched & liked RAP! video in recent times - Park Jae-sang's RAP

Park Jae-sang (Korean: 박재상, 朴載相; born December 31, 1977), better known

 by his stage name PSY  is a South Korean singer, songwriter, rapper, dancer,

 and record producer. 

The music video for “Gangnam Style” is the most viewed 

K-pop video on YouTube, and also the most “liked” video on the site.


Published on July 15, 2012.

Psy has appeared on numerous television programs,including The Ellen 

DeGeneres Show, Extra, Good Sunday: X-Man, The Golden Fishery, The Today 

Show, Saturday Night Live and Sunrise.

Evolution of Conciousness ( Post 4) - Personality

Personality Based Consciousness

We have seen the list and attributes of  7 – Types of Man in the earlier post.

Now, among the seven types the first 3 – Types are “normal/common” people. 

All the first 3 Types possess Personality-Based Consciousness with strong 

attitudes related to the dominant center.

From Type-4 onwards one moves away from Personality-Based consciousness 

to Essence-Based consciousness depending on the hard work one puts in.

 What is personality-Based Consciousness ?

We are familiar with the term ‘Personality’ and know what it is about. 

According to Gurdjieff,

Personality is an acquired, learned or imposed trait from outside world,

Where as ‘Essence’ belongs to the original self and is innate. 

It is difficult to pin point or find out the qualities of one’s Essence because 

one is almost entirely enveloped by the personality.

 There are lots of theories about Types of personalities and their attributes.

 We are not going into that precisely because; we are going to ‘dump’ the 

personality to reach the essence.  Not exactly, rather we will put personality 

where it belongs and use it where it is necessary like a tool.

One acquires Personality while growing up in a particular Political, Social, 

Cultural and economic background.

One do not consciously cultivates personality in the beginning but 

unconsciously adopts values to gain acceptance and a place in the family/clan

/society.

First one adopts unconsciously, and then it is acquired, imposed and learned.

Development of Personality is unavoidable and it is pretty useful in our 

personal and societal life.

The problem with it is, according to Gurdjieff , Over time it  becomes  the  

sole identity of the person not only for others but also for himself. 

The person eventually lose sight of the fact that it a imposed/cultivated trait 

to serve him and takes it as the SELF itself. 

Once Personality is perceived as the True Self, then one tend to believe that

-         one is  awake and aware

-         one is making choices out of ‘Free Will’

-         Responses are consciously made

-         Desires and Ambitions are freely chosen and so on.

but in actuality all the values, ambitions, pursuits, desires, behavior, choices 

and reactions are dictated by the personality.

And one is mechanically acting it out in their life like a robot. 

Gurdjieff further observes, ‘Strong Personality’ can also damage qualities of 

one’s  ‘Essence’.

We will see more of it!

Level Cross Accident

Level Cross Accidents – Less known CAUSE

In unmanned level crossings, we have seen too many collisions between 

Trains and crossing  Vehicles.

Normally it is believed that wrong timing causes the accidents.

Another probable cause behind is Static Current.

On coming train generates static electricity on the rails, which is capable of 

switching off the ignition of crossing vehicle, stopping it dead on the track.

So even if  there is more than sufficient time to cross the tracks, static 

current might prove it wrong. 

So it is safer to let the oncoming train to pass and cross.

Felix Baumgartner - Highest Skydive Record ( 1,28,000 Ft)

Evolution Of Consciousness (Post 3)

The Evolution of Consciousness (Post-3)

.
So far we have seen the fundamental principles (3-Centers, Dominant Center, 

Interference and Awareness) and also 3-Types of fundamental (common!) Men,

 in fact we know them already; we have only categorized them according 

Gurdjieff principles.

But as mentioned earlier Gurjieff categorized human beings into 7-Types.

Before going into detail we will list all the seven types with their attributes.

The seven types can also used as a scale to see one self where he stands in 

the ladder of ‘Conscious Evolution’.

Now the List.

Man Number 1 is centered in Instinct; primarily he is motivated by the 

pleasures and needs of the physical body. Dominant center is Instinct.

Man Number 2 is centered in Emotion; primarily he is motivated by emotions,

 relationships, Art, Music etc. Dominant center is Emotion.

Man Number 3 is centered in Intellect; primarily he is motivated by 

reasoning and intellect. Dominant center is Intellect.

Man Number 4 is free from the Dominant Center and has removed 

contradictions /Imbalances among the centers.

Consequently achieves certain level of Personal Unity, self-knowledge, 

Objectivity, sense of purpose and harmony among the centers. 

Here ‘certain level’ means they can slip back to the former mode of 

Consciousness.

What is ‘Known’, is not ‘experienced’ by the Centers

Well, we always come across phrases of this kind in ‘Spiritualism’. 

Let us put it this way 

‘I can intellectually understand, but I can’t .feel  ...”

Here, what is ‘known’ is not ‘experienced?’

Say, Head and Heart are not in the same wave length.

So, Dominant Center may take charge and Man Number 4 might slip back to 

Man Number 1 or 2 or 3.

Take another one,

 ‘Tallest Building’ is pride of a nation, why not the ‘broadest’,

Is it because primitive man had ‘prideful’ advantage being at a height seeing

danger early.

 This primitive man stands pretty good chance to become the Head of the tribe.

Is that the reason why Nations and Leaders are after the Tallest?

Now see the connection. Here

‘Pride’ factor is ‘experienced’ even now but the cause behind it is buried deep, 

not ‘known’.

One can explain these things with ‘Conscious’, ‘Subconscious’ and 

‘Unconscious’ and so on.

We do ‘explain AWAY’ many things through Science or Belief Systems.

 ‘Known’ become more detailed in this process but not ‘experienced’

One can go on like this and find most of the ‘known’ things are not 

‘experienced’ as such. 

Examples are not apt or perfect, but can show the direction.
 
Man Number 5 is the result /destination of Man Number 4, if Man Number 4 

keeps Working on it.

Man Number 5 achieves complete unity of the Centers. 

 “Known” is experienced equally in all of the Centers” 

Say, what is known in the Head is also experienced in the Heart.

So there is no contradiction in the Centers, therefore there is no slipping back

 to former mode of Consciousness. 

Since no slipping back, Achievement is permanent.

Unified Centers gets ‘Crystallized’.

Since there is no contradiction, fragmentation or friction between Centers, 

energy is not wasted, 

There is no to be / Not to be or to do / Not to do dilemma 

Therefore Man Number 5 pursues his Aim with abundant energy and focus.

But his Aim could be beneficial or destructive depending on ego-centric 

elements.

 Man Number 5 can become a Tyrant or a Peace Maker depending on the ego-

Centric elements but will be a good one at it.

Nevertheless he will be an achiever in this World.

Now we are approaching the ultimate.

Man Number 6 is the result if Man Number 5 proceeds relentlessly with his 

work to  get rid of ego-elements.

In Man Number 6 the remaining egocentric elements purged off. 

This causes immense suffering, a sense of anguish and so on.  Because 

dissolution of ‘Ego elements’ is dissolution of identification with personal 

body, personal feelings and Personal mind as such (i.e. what is so far 

preserved, nurtured and considered As ‘ME’ will be burnt to ashes).

That is DEATH of a different kind- Psychological Death.

So one has to experience Death – Psychological Death to go to the other side.

In mystical literature, it is referred as ‘DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL’.

At the ‘death’ of relative/personal qualities, emerges an absolute/universal 

(Divine!) quality.

But these qualities can be lost if not worked further towards ‘ESSENCE’ of 

oneself.

According to Gurdjieff, ‘Essence’ is the true nature of a person unlike 

personality which is an acquired trait.

We have reached the Ultimate

Man Number 7

If Work continues, man Number 6 becomes Man Number 7 – the ONE.

Everything about the person is perfect in the sense that achievement is 

permanent, balanced, and functions with full potential since all the aspects 

which blocked and/or wasted the energy have been purged off  including the

 ego. 

 Real Individuality is realized which is based on Essence not on ego.

Identity of the person is not ego anymore, it is shifted to essence.

Since personality is dissolved and ego purged, Man Number 7 has pure 

perception and insight ( Ego – which caused conditioned  perception and 

partial perception is gone).

In the absense of EGO , there is Nothing personal to Achieve in this world.

Now, he is an expression of the Absolute in the human form.

Based on the skills acquired and essence, his work will continue in this world 

to liberate others from relative existence to absolute.

In traditional/religious terms he is considered as Avatar, Boddhisatva or Christ

 Manifest or some other label.

Many will Follow, Worship, Accept, Ignore or Reject, some even kill them (It 

is in History).

Very few do none of the above, what they do?

End of list.

We got to the Ultimate pretty quick. It is too good to be true.

Yes, we spent some time on the Centers but glossed over ego, essence, work 

and so on.

Let us get back to the basics.

POEM by a Child

This poem, written by an African child was nominated for the Best Poem of 2005.
Colour 

When I born, I black; When I grow up I black; When I go in sun I black;
When I scared, I black; When I sick, I black;
And when I die, I still black;                  

And U White fellows;

U born, U pink;
U grow up, U white
U go in sun, U red;
U cold, U blue;
U scared, U yellow;
U sick, U green;
U die, U grey;  

And U call me colored

The Evolution –NEXT STAGE (Post 2)

In the previous post, we started with ‘Evolution –Next Stage’, Gurjieff and the 4^th Way

Now we will look at the principles behind this idea/philosophy.

The Three Centers

We are familiar with concepts INSTINCT -Body, FEELING-Emotion and INTELLECT -Knowledge,

Gurdjieff calls them THREE CENTERS.

We can understand better relating to the expressions

- I acted Instinctively
- I acted out of Emotion
- I acted after giving sufficient thought 

We can figure out  which center is behind which expression.
 
Now a little detail about  each Center and their  Objectives.

INSTINCT – Primary Motivation and Objectives are dominated by Body i.e.  Physical needs, pleasures etc..

EMOTION – Primary Motivation and Objectives are dominated by Emotions i.e. relationships, Art, Music etc.

INTELLECT – Primary Motivation and Objectives are dominated by reasoning and intellect.

Dominant Center

 It is common knowledge that no person can be entirely Instinctive, Emotional or Logical

 and we see people( and ourselves as well)   reacting  some time Instinctively sometime 

Emotionally and some time with Reason.

Nevertheless we always tend to define a person. See the expressions below

- You can't reason with him, he is devoid  of feelings as well (Instinct)
- He is an emotional guy (Emotion)
- He is a man of reason (Intellect)

Again one can see the connection between the expression and the corresponding Center.

It is also evident, if all the centers plays equal role , one can not categories anybody as above

Then how we categories the way  we do.

Let us get Gurjieff here,.

 According to Gurdjieff  among the 3 Centers , one Center plays  the DOMINANT role 

with Other 2 Centers acting in a subtle and 'unconscious'  manner(interference). 

Now it is clear, how we categories people - Based on the 'Dominant Center ' (Without any of this 

knowledge anyway)



In fact the DOMINANT CENTER more or less defines the  personality traits of the individual or vice verso.

Interference from Other 2 Centers

Gurdjieff said one center plays dominant role and other 2 center acts subtly in an unconscious manner.

He says further, 2 other centers can interfere with dominant center.

What is this 'Interference' ?

Inteference is caused if non-dominant centers takes the contradictory position to the Dominant Center,

 it causes disharmony in the decision making process.

Let us look into this with simple and uncomplicated situation

Take this situation, one is quite HUNGRY –  Simple uncomplicated physical need

Thoughts raising in the mind

1.      Eat at the immediate restaurant  (INSTINCT)

2.      Don’t FEEL like eating , not in mood (EMOTION)

3.      Food may not be hygienic , it is better elsewhere (LOGICAL/INTELLECT)

What decision one would take?

That is clear; person’s Dominant Center should prevail over the other two centers.

Let us say person's Dominant Center is Instinct. Then his decision would be to eat immediately ,but


the other 2 centers have taken  a contradictory position.

This is the cause of disharmony.

This makes the person feel that he is not entirely with the decision he made or he would say it was hasty or

half baked decision.

If all the centers are in agreement , then there won't be any friction or residue of dissatisfaction.

These descriptions are only to understand the different aspects involved. We may have to visit them with more complex scenario to get to the bottom of  things..

Now Let us recap !

we have seen briefly important 'principles'

1- Three Centers, 2- Dominant Center, 3 - Interference from other two centers.

Now we will add one more aspect to the above three  i.e.

4. Awareness

Well,we won't  discuss  'Awareness'  now- I reserved it for future post deliberately because we need more input.

But keep it in mind  'Awareness' is most important aspect, we can even say that the ultimate factor which

makes the difference between 'Common People' and the 'Chosen ones' !..

In the next post we are going to see '7-Types' of Man living amongst us and possibly within ourselves as well.

We know only 3 types of Man (Instinctive,Emotional and Intellectual), who are the other 4 Types,

We will take a break