To Be in Question
Many of us are looking for a path that will lead to happiness, health, and a sincere expression of compassion towards others, especially those of us who have come to question the meaning of life in the face of the suffering, stress and uncertainty of today’s world. A growing number are exploring meditation, yoga, t’ai chi and other expressions of knowledge that have come from a more ancient time in human history in the hope that something about their lives will change. But do we ever question whether or not the kind of change we think we’re looking for in life will put us on a path that can actually put us in contact with something higher?
Do I ever honestly reflect on my wish for change? Upon reflection, is it possible that I’m trying to fit meditation, yoga and the like into my life as if they were made just for me, to be manipulated? Might there be some value in shifting my point of reference away from viewing myself as the center of the universe, as one who can consume all that is around me? Is there room in myself to consider facing the question of how I, as I really am, might fit into already-existing laws of the universe, infinitely greater than I, from which yoga and meditation have surely been drawn?
This shift in perspective, this opening up to question all that I think I know, may very well be the vital clue to what makes the Gurdjieff tradition so unique…a perspective that may provide the first taste of hope through its provocatively different approach to finding meaning and happiness in life.
Many of us are looking for a path that will lead to happiness, health, and a sincere expression of compassion towards others, especially those of us who have come to question the meaning of life in the face of the suffering, stress and uncertainty of today’s world. A growing number are exploring meditation, yoga, t’ai chi and other expressions of knowledge that have come from a more ancient time in human history in the hope that something about their lives will change. But do we ever question whether or not the kind of change we think we’re looking for in life will put us on a path that can actually put us in contact with something higher?
Do I ever honestly reflect on my wish for change? Upon reflection, is it possible that I’m trying to fit meditation, yoga and the like into my life as if they were made just for me, to be manipulated? Might there be some value in shifting my point of reference away from viewing myself as the center of the universe, as one who can consume all that is around me? Is there room in myself to consider facing the question of how I, as I really am, might fit into already-existing laws of the universe, infinitely greater than I, from which yoga and meditation have surely been drawn?
This shift in perspective, this opening up to question all that I think I know, may very well be the vital clue to what makes the Gurdjieff tradition so unique…a perspective that may provide the first taste of hope through its provocatively different approach to finding meaning and happiness in life.