Article 10, July 1st 2012 AJN/RFB

Paragons that formed my Life

Torn between religious and philosophical systems, which's programs correspond to other societies and cultures and therefore to another human way of thinking, man today rambles aimlessly about, driven by an evolutionary power within. This force, not only making man follow one's demand to know, but also the demand to be, is the reflection of another dimension, hidden in oneself. Albeit there have always been manifold influences that man has been subject to for hundreds of years, there is still a place inside, even in modern man, where the memory of a possible development of the conscious lies untouched. This simple chance alone gives his existence purpose and builds his greatness. As I write about the paragons of my life, I write about these persons, and those influences, having formed my taste in that direction. At first I would like to put my family, especially my grandmother from the father's side, descended from an old noble lineage, which used to pass on a certain knowledge. At the age of 10, I got in contact with Karate. Before that I had two years of experience in Judo. I of course watched the films of Bruce Lee and basically wanted to learn what he did. As there were no possibilities for that, I began studying Karate, and it henceforth formed my youth. Wado-Ryo at first, under one of Shibamori-Sensei's pupils. Then Shotokan-Karate, under one of Kawasoi-Sensei's pupils, where I also got the chance to get to know Sensei Kanazawa on a seminar, who impressed me deeply with his natural and simple way. And finally there also was the practice in an Okinawa GoJu-Ryu related style. Through the Karate I began to occupy myself quite a bit with the Japanese Zen. Here especially with the Soto-Zen by Taisen Deshimaru Roshi, attracting me by it's simplicity at the time. The path towards Kendo and Aikido is not far from here. A second thing, that brought me in contact with people, was my passion for history, in connection with philosophy and secret societies in that context. Through a friend, whom's family was rooted deeply in free mason circles, I got into contact with the Rosenkreuzers, and within their circles with the Martinists. From these contacts grew my deep affection for France. I began to engage with the philosophies of Blavatsky, Levi and Crowley. I began asking myself at the time, what might be the source of these implementations. At the time I asked myself "What are the forces of insistence in a human, that resist any change of consciousness and circumstances thus persistently?" One day I came to find the book "In Search of the Miraculous: Fragments of an Unknown Teaching" by P.D. Ouspensky. I started reading in it and every line was like a revelation. It is not a simple book. The "Miraculous" is surprisingly enough described rather objectively. But exactly that sober style held a strange kind of fascination, charm on me. Ouspensky describes in this book the teachings of a Caucasian Greek, who through a newspaper note on a ballet scenario with the title "Struggle of the Magicians" called attention. The year was 1915 and the First World War had just begun. Ouspensky, a journalist and mathematician, who had already

been to India searching for the "Miraculous", but had not found it, was skeptical. On his friends' urge he finally met this "master" and their first encounter completely changed his opinion of him. This man's name was G.I. Gurdjieff.

Gurdjieff`s Grave in Fontainebleau-Avon close to Paris

The book "In Search of the Miraculous: Fragments of an Unknown Teaching" to me was something like a door opener to a first serious path of work on oneself. I realized, I had found a key to a gate to - to me - so far unknown realms of ideas. The antiseptic language gave me the rest, as I despised blurry thoughts on the world, and moreover pious testimonies about god and the world. Ouspensky's book was not a workbook; however it gave concrete hints like the method for introspection. Introspection is all about getting aware of one's three "main centers", the Center of Motion, the Center of Emotion and the Center of Thinking, with the aim to harmonize and synchronize them. This idea was completely new to me, and no philosopher, psychologist and secret societies' teachings ever mentioned it. Gurdjieff called the human a being with three brains, although only potentially, as they usually are neither developed very well, nor mutually connected. As of then, I exercised myself in introspection of the three brains and naturally tried to bring them into harmony. After some time I actually had the "feeling", that I became more aware of my centers, as Ouspensky described them. I even thought they were connecting better through my attempted exercises, exactly as it was described in the theory, as crucial base to the "Awakening", the becoming conscious of oneself. In fact, this "awareness" was just of a mental kind. I only deepened the imagination, that the three centers now were synchronizing that I would be more aware, but I was still almost exclusively aware in one center: the Center of Thinking and even that only when I made the effort "to be aware", which happened rarely. Usually I forgot to remember, that I wanted to introspect. I continued to occupy myself with Gurdjieff and one of his pupils J.G. Bennett. Aside from his "Movements", to his own and Hartmann's music, Gurdjieff in certain circles in the east and later also in France, introduced a specific form of martial art. He called it the true "Jiu Jitsu". Jiu Jitsu was very popular at that time, and the principles of the art, that Gurdjieff had brought with him, were made understandable to that audience best through that comparison. But the time was not yet ripe. At that time I was living in Gmunden, where I visited a bookshop. A beautiful book caught my eye, called "Schlssel und Schloss" (Key and Lock). I wanted to buy it, somehow, however, it was not listed in the book shop's inventory and no one knew how it got there. They let me take it.

It was a book about a non-islamistic Sufi-tradition in the west and also included a contact post-office box. I read it several times and also bought the books in the literature reference. Names listed hear included Omar Ali-Shah, Indries Shah, G.I.Gurdjieff, Ouspensky, Bennet, Doris Lessing, Karl Valentin, Carlos Castaneda and Ernest Scott. I began engaging myself with them intensively. It was new sustentation for my awareness and had a strange effect on it. I finally decided to get in contact, and this should change everything. It was the year 1988, I wrote to the given post-office box and a few days later I got a letter with a telephone number. I called and was asked, how I had got hold of this book and therefore tried to explain the whole story, which the man on the other side of the wire found quite peculiar. I was given an address in Munich and we arranged a meeting. This meeting went completely different than from what I had expected. I went to the address; there was a man in and a woman in their thirties and a young man in his early twenties from Vienna. The place was set up in a western fashion; still there were countless Arabian carpets. Nothing spiritual was discussed. It was not esoteric at all. People were having small talk, but in a manner, I was somehow remembered of a scalpel. Razor-sharp, clear, they reacted almost crude towards memorized talk. In me, they initially were just interested due to the matter of the book that no one could explain, later we began to talk about my interests in Karate and Kung Fu as well as playing the piano. They asked me why I was there and what I could contribute to their TRADITION. They explained martial arts and music were amongst others tools of the TRADITION, of it's work in the west in this phase. Their teacher or master was "Valdosar", a pianist from Argentina with Sicilian roots, they told me, who was Karate as well as Kung Fu Master. His first wife and his son were living in Munich. He and his then current wife, a Viennese, were living in Gran Canaria for most of the time.

Valdosar

In this context I would also like to mention Gurdjieff, his development and teachings in the "TRADITION". His task was to distribute propaedeutic material. The martial arts form he "brought" over with him, and which he called the true "Jiu Jitsu", I think today, was a variation of modern Wing Tsun. Of course it was not called Wing Tsun, as he had not got it via China. His main teacher, a Russian ringer, however, might not have been an appropriate communicator, and the time was not ripe in Western Europe anyway. As an alternative he began teaching the Movements to music, using them as tools. It should get to be a journey without return for me.

Following now, a few thoughts on the "TRADITION": Naturally the "wise Elder" have been doing research at all times - thoroughly, apparently. As you come to look at the communication of the teachings of different spiritual traditions, you get the impression, a particular line of tradition only exists through the propagation of fixed exercises and rituals, for decades and centuries passed on in an invariable form. The living heart or the people, knowing what and why they do or teach something exist no longer. Visions, revelations, insights and much more can be passed on and many cognitive developments in all areas of knowledge are based on the genius insights of early scientists. But also spiritual epiphanies and the people of that age develop, so we have to reconsider which kind of exercises are reasonable for what kind of people and what they can cause. Exercises are tools, causing something, for a certain time, in a certain place, for certain people. Let's take the dervish's dances for an example: The Sufi master Rumi wrote, he had created this exercise for the people of Konia in Turkey in the 12th century to counteract their phlegmatic temper. In order to become a good Turk of Konia in the 12th century, this is a perfectly adequate exercise. This does not mean that a skilled teacher could not deliberately use it sensibly. With exercises from living traditions people act as they were savages, lacking appropriate knowledge they hang a broken radio around their neck as it is shiny and entertaining to watch. The TRADITION, the Friends, People like Us, People of Canopus (which are those people of the west, until the end of last centuries' eighties, who kept calling themselves Sufi): All those expressions have been abandoned meanwhile. Firstly one should explain what the TRADITION is not: It is not a cult, no religious organization, no therapeutic system and also no secret society, no political party, no order, no martial arts organization. It is a practical, active philosophy. A philosophy, which's workshops take a time-, place- and environment-adequate form. A sign, a word from which it's activities evolve. It also functions in the western, highly technical world, without losing it's nativeness. There are no secrets, no arcane, ungraspable knowledge for someone who is willing and has the necessary personal strength to understand. Who does not have the required coordinates though, might be confused or frightened by it. Note here, that you are dealing with the most difficult of matters, the human being. The basic idea is that mankind is capable of nearly endless inner development. Therefore the grand masters described the necessary steps in detail, for someone aiming for and willing to go through such inner development. Doing that they well considered, one also has to pursue other activities as well: One has to work, has relationships, there are health-factors and loads and loads of distractions. Applying the following rule suggested itself: To be in the world, not off the world. Perception is essential. Perception means to look, realize and watch. Introspection for example does not mean, to undergo a hostile and aggressive analysis in order to find one's weaknesses. Instead one takes a journey through one's own inner life, views and contemplates oneself calmly to find out, how to take better care of certain feelings. In the TRADITION, 8 senses are mentioned: Hearing, Seeing, Smelling, Feeling, Touching, Tasting, Inner Perception, Inner Hunger. During every activity you can watch yourself and try to find out, which of these senses is being used at the moment, and which you can also include. Trying that is, not forcing.

You should try in every situation to use, to utilize, as many of these senses as possible and supplement them with Imagination, Gift, Skill and Memory and by that raise the qualities. Right from the start you would face the obstacles and difficulties of our language. One for example wants to explain something from the evolutionary point of view. Still the word "human" itself holds in our regular language no better fitting variations, no gradation. The human being, which is never conscious, which has no suspicion; the human being, that struggles to become conscious, aware; the human being, which is fully conscious; they all are called the same in our language. To avoid this problem and make integrating and arranging new ideas easier, people humans are divided into seven categories. The first three categories are practically on one level.

Human Number 1 is someone, in whom the instinctive and motor center is stronger active than the intellectual and the emotional, the body-human. Human Number 2 is someone, in whom the emotional center is stronger active than the intellectual and the motional, the emotional-human. Human Number 3 is someone, in whom the intellectual center is stronger active than the emotional and the motional, the intellectual-human.

In the daily life we usually just find these 3 categories of human beings; even whole cultural circles can be dominated by just one of these 3 types.

Human Number 4 as such is normally not born this way. He or she is the result of an evolving. He is different from Human Number 1, 2 and 3 through his or her gnosis, awareness of oneself, through a grasp of one's own situation and the fact, that he or she has a constant balance point in oneself. This means that person, that for him or her the wish for unity, awareness, a stable "I" (Ego) and a free will, thus the idea of an evolving has become more important, than all other interests. He or she has all three centers through evolving of one's qualities, using certain tools, equally developed and connected. Human Number 5 is someone, who has gained the unity and awareness of oneself. He or she is someone, other than a regular human, for in him or her the quality of "Silent Knowledge" has evolved. Human Number 6 is someone, who has unfolded the "Clear Thinking" in oneself. His or her quality transcends the comprehension of a regular human by far. Human Number 7 is someone, who has reached everything a human being can reach. He or she has a constant "I" and a free will. He or she can control all possible states of mind, and can, of all that, no longer lose anything.

Each of these 7 human types has it's own philosophy, art, science and religion, according to one's insight. You can thus part life in two circles: in the inner and the outer circle of mankind. The inner circle is built up of Human Number 5, 6 and 7, the outer of 1, 2 and 3. The humans that would count to Number 4 would be on the borderline between inner and outer circle, meaning they would be between them.

The outer circle, in which we are living has several names, describing it's basic aspects. It is also called the mechanic circle, as everything happens there. Everything there is mechanic, the people there live like machines. This circle is also called the confusion of tongues' (languages) circle, as all in it speak a different language, not only according to the form, but also to the content, and therefore are never really able to understand each other. For the possibility, the qualities of mutual understanding are given only in the inner circle. The different kinds of paths are gates, through which human beings can enter the inner circle. These gates in certain places, to certain times, under certain conditions as an evolvinging-result of the involved people, from both sides, take an actual manifestation, form of appearance. One has to work on one's being, one's existence, in order to alter one's being. It is obviously not easy, to study a creature as the human being. A creature, not knowing what is truth and what imagination, hallucination. A creature that thinks, what others think of it, were the truth. A creature busy keeping up a white facade, embodying and according to it's fellows expectations. A creature that does not take it's inherent animus, intent for the actual and omnipotent truth. A creature, that in the passing of time, more and more comes to belief only in it's own web, or rather building of lies. A creature for which reality is turned upside down. Therefore we better begin to draw a distinction between the actual real and the imaginary human. It is impossible to study man as a whole, as it is parted in two: in one part that in certain cases is almost real, and in the other part that is in certain cases almost completely imagined. For the majority of people these two parts are mixed, and therefore not easy to distinguish them, although both are present, and both have their own meaning and result. In the TRADITION, these two parts are called essence core and personality. The essence core is that, which is inborn in human beings and is supposed to be evolved through the process of life. The personality it that, which is acquired, conditioned, identified. The essence core is the real property of every human, it's portal. The personality is not him, or her, it doesn't actually belong to someone. The essence core can not be lost, it can neither be changed nor decreased. The personality can, in the tradition of exterior influences and circumstances, be changed almost entirely; it can get lost, and easily harmed. The essence core is the basis of physical and psychical structure of man. The personality is everything, which can one way or another, in the common language consciously or not, be learned. That is usually through imitation. In fact imitation has a core role in the buildup of personality. Even in instinctive functions, which should naturally be free of personality, there are usually many so called acquired biases, meaning all kinds of artificial: "I like" and "I don't like" are acquired, learned through imitation and conceit. These play a significant and potentially disadvantageous role in human life. Naturally, man should "like", appreciate what is necessary for it's evolving and "dislike", avoid what hinders it. That maxim however is only so long valid, as the essence core is controlling the personality, which should be the case as long as a human being is healthy in body and mind. When the personality starts ruling the essence core, and the human is therefore less healthy, he or she also starts loving which is harmful to oneself, and despising what is bringing on development. Whenever the personality can be conditioned fast and early, growth and evolvement of the essence core can come to a standstill in early years of life. With the result that we see men and women, who apparently are adult, who's essence core however got stuck in development at the age of 8, 10 or 12. I do not mean an infantile appearance or behavior, but their after the theoretical exclusion of personality real drive of human beings.

Very many factors in modern life benefit the underdevelopment of the essence core. Like for example the overemphasized bias for sporting competition can slow the development of the essence core, sometimes in thus young an age, that as a result the essence core is barely able to continue developing on it's own. Or just consider those parents, who as soon as possible condition their children to according to their beliefs grown up "responsible" behavior and even proudly brag about it. Or our economic system, deriving harvestable markets from people's felt developmental deficits, which mimics and simulates fulfillment to them in having them chase a bait tied onto themselves, only fueling jealousy and greed in the process. After this short trip into the field of the " TRADITION " I would like to come to a further impulse in my life.

Carlos Castaneda and Tensegrity

Carlos Castaneda

I would only like to go into that briefly as it would go beyond the scope of this article. For the TRADITION, Castaneda's way was a contemporary implementation. Carlos Castaneda, who was also well experienced in the area of martial arts he was Tai Chi Master created, based on the "magic movements" and other coordinates given to him, a lore of movement, which he called Tensegrity. The elder masters of his line "discovered" this way of moving in their states of trance and called it magic, due to the long lasting effect, they had on the consciousness and the perception. I came in contact with Castaneda's books quite early and it was the "taste" emitted by them and that I had also known from some of my own life experiences that brought me in contact with these people.

Martial Arts - Wing Tsun especially Martial arts, especially Wing Tsun is a keen instrument to me, which someone can effectively use to free him- or herself from one's own prison and use to develop in any direction. Through a balanced evolving of the basic qualities Attention, Elasticity, Balance, Sensitivity, Whole-Body-Control, Timing, and Will, a human being has the chance, by training the principles or the usage of sinews, powers, to bring his line of existence, and his line of knowledge into equilibrium. One can so bring his "vehicle" into a running condition. With this tool one can learn acting out of necessarily, can develop a taste for actual acting, meaning of course if it is the right people to the right time, in the right place. One can freely abandon all alien, conditioned behavior and ways of thinking and find back to one's original naturalness. If one succeeds in doing so, one will realize what he is missing and how he can find it.

"To recognize the sun, some sun has to be inside of you" Goethe once said. About people of an organization I have practiced martial arts in for 17 years I do not want to write here. Just that be said: I was surprised by the amount of disappointment and duplicity I witnessed, as I did not think it possible until then. So I see, next to my family, as the three most important impulses in my life: The TRADITION (Gurdjieff, the Sufis in the west and their implementations in western secret societies), the Mexican tradition of Carlos Castaneda and the martial arts. In all these "ways" the same "taste" is present. This taste taught me especially the following three aspects: Form and content: Content can be consistent with the form, but does not have to. Not the form of an action is relevant, but it's content, meaning the intention behind it. Correctness: Not political or sexual correctness I mean hear, but in dealing with one's environment in general. In short: keeping the give-and-take in equilibrium as contrary to the constantly propagandized power and wealth maximizing strategies and the parallel struggle to keep a clean record. Commitment: Commitment is true friendship in all variations, with or without sex involved. Commitment exists beyond time and space, or as Goethe said: "Seelenverwandtschaft", spiritual kinship. You cannot look for it, you can only find it again. Beyond any convention, independent of age, race, social status and so forth, commitment means, standing behind someone and all his or her strengths and weaknesses, that you would be ready to give everything for that person, which he or she needs. It is not limited by anything. Encountering a commitment, the process of accepting is bound to a decision of will. It has nothing to do with possession or control. Most cultural variations of human coexistence in relationships and communities try in their early stages to establish rules and norms specifying and regulating Commitment, which simply is not possible.

Finally, at the end, I would like to give a short quote of Sifu master Rumi: "Man is like a book, everything is written down. Only his blurry vision does not allow to see, what he knows."

Salve we move people!