In a previous blog-post, I gave a beginning work exercise, a breath meditation, which was used at Claymont and by my group leaders in Ontario:

http://fourthwayforum.ning.com/profiles/blogs/fourth-way-techniques-part-one

This breath meditation has a deep connection to the theme of 'beginnings,' because of the way it works on the attention. Done well, it purifies and calms the subtle energy associated with the power of attention. It facilitates the gathering and focusing of one's attention.

Mor… Continue

I will be adding to this blog from time to time, as I find sources in which I personally feel at least some confidence. (And thanks to Debra Strickland for giving me a little nudge along these lines.)

Work weekends and seminars, from people with a great deal of experience in the work:
http://www.campcaravan.org/

- I am aquainted with some of the people involved in Camp Caravan. I feel respect and liking for them.

An excellent source for all things John G. Bennett, including books, CD's and… Continue

Behind the idea of ‘courtesy’ is the idea of ‘sincerity.’ Sincerity is a condition of courtesy, in the material world, in the world of ‘qualities,’ and in the world of ‘spirit.’

People – including myself, I am sorry to say – often think they can be ‘sincere’ and ‘rude’ at the same time. We shout at someone, tell them off, reel off a list of their faults – and we think are being sincere because, at that moment, the ‘I’ that is in charge of our attention sincerely believes every accusation we… Continue

I spent a few years in Turkey on account of a Sufi who was revered throughout Turkey: Ahmet Kayhan, mostly known to his disciples as Ahmet Dede ['Grandpa Ahmet,' his personal favourite] or as Ahmet Effendi [Master Ahmet]. I have written briefly about Ahmet Dede in a post on another site of mine:

http://fakirscanada.blogspot.com/2008/08/post-15-interlude-2-haci-ahmet-kayhan.html

Ahmet Dede once said of himself: "I am a shaykh [spiritual teacher] of the Nashqbandi* way. I teach 'edep.' [meani… Continue

I have been nudged by several online acquaintances to share practical techniques passed down to me from teachers in the Gurdjieff-Method, as Bruno Martin calls it, and in other Fourth Way* systems, such as those which may be found within the Sufi and Buddhist traditions. The theory behind Gurdjieff’s approach to spiritual enlightenment is widely available in books; the exercises in attention and other techniques are not, for the most part, available to the general public.

The reasoning behin… Continue