by Steve Tanham
In every mystical gathering, of whatever nature, there comes that moment when a correctly constructed ‘vessel’ is taken over – however fleetingly – by a sense of ‘otherness’. Experience teaches us that this is actually paradoxical. What is ‘taking over’ is the very state that is the goal of the activity, be that a deep talk, a shared, group exploration of a key … Read More The Touch of Otherness
by Steve Tanham
Jerome (not his real name, but those are his hands) had been teaching us some elementary Spanish. We had been advised that the lesson was half an hour later than billed, but it had started on time. By the time we got there, the other two students were well ensconced in the picture cards that matched local Mexican animals with their Spanish names. I … Read More Unexpected Shaman (1)
by Steve Tanham
We live, increasingly, in an age of mistrust. It can be seen as cool, savvy, to doubt what we hear–an expectation of deceit in the ‘other’, as though trust belonged to the infant’s playground; something to be outgrown in the face of maturity in the world and in life. As ‘humanity’, if such a concept is meaningful, we yearn for the true values of … Read More The Flowers of Mistrust – #Silenti
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by Steve Tanham
What is it to be intimate? The touch of a lover’s hand or lips, perhaps? Two bodies locked together in desire for a common fulfilment; the intellect muted while the emotional and sexual energies dance their own bolero? We generally associate intimacy with the body, but it’s not always so, and the exceptions can point the way to something much deeper… The body has … Read More Intimate Flames – #Silenti
+ #Silenti, Consciousness, esoteric psychology, Gurdjieff, Mystery Schools, nature, Silent Eye School, Spirituality
by Steve Tanham
In parts one and two of this set of three posts, we have examined how the development of the individual, the ‘self’, is a different process from the development of our young bodies, and relies upon our departure from ‘oneness’ in the womb towards a reaching for individuality – a process that eventually matures into what psychology calls the ego. From a psychological … Read More The Finding of Polarity (3) – #Silenti
by Steve Tanham
“As I begin to understand how ‘I’ am made I begin to see that infinity can largely be equated with what is formless and not with some mathematically and useless hugeness” I wrote that down some time ago. From one perspective, it describes the beginning of the real search for what uncovers the heart of polarity – rendering it useful, at last. We live … Read More The Finding of Polarity (2) – #Silenti
by Steve Tanham
We can speak of mysticism, of magic, of meditation, of psychodynamics and many other labels, but all these refer to the attempt by the human consciousness to become aware of a deeper level of existence than our normal day-world. In dreams, we experience another ‘world’ but it is often confusing and seldom follows the laws of cause and effect with which we … Read More The Finding of Polarity (1) – #Silenti
by Steve Tanham
The pre-born, living within Mother, but increasingly alive, knows only the dual world of She-and-me. The new-born, finding itself in an undefinable aloneness yet reassured by a Mother now separated, clings to her now-externalised warmth and nourishment. But a dramatic change has taken place. There is an imprinting within consciousness of separation and the key to the rest of life will be the question … Read More Freedom via Relationship #Silenti
by Steve Tanham
I remember my first journey into the world of being conscious of identification. I had been particularly struck by its description in the book In Search of the Miraculous by P D Ouspensky – considered to be one of the key works in the exposition of Gurdjieff’s ‘4th Way’; a path of psychological and spiritual self-exploration that caused great interest in the first half of the … Read More The Holes in the Boat -#Silenti
by Steve Tanham
During a recent journey to visit our family in Australia, we were on the long second leg from Dubai to Australia. Two middle-aged women of Arabic origin were seated in the row ahead and had caused considerable disruption for both the crew and fellow passengers. For want of a better word, their behaviour lacked what we might call social graces, though there was a … Read More Love in the time of prejudice -#Silenti
by Steve Tanham
Krishnamurti was not afraid of the radical. “The moment there is radical change in what we are,” he said. “we shall bring about peace in the world…” It’s a very simple thing to say: change ourselves and we change the world. How could this be viewed as anything but fanciful? Physics would certainly not allow such a postulation. There is no provable, repeatable … Read More #Silenti – A Rose Beyond Violence, part four
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by Steve Tanham
In part one, we examined Krishnamurti’s view that the individual could, with considerable effort, ‘unclip’ themselves from their society (though not broadcast it) and begin to separate out the pieces of their world in order to contemplate violence in a new way… This would begin the process of giving the objective world (what IS) some initial power over the egoic self, which had grown to … Read More #Silenti – A Rose Beyond Violence, part two
Sun in Gemini 