Reading List
6/4/2000 CE/XXXV AES
It has been said, 'Thinking about the work is not the same as doing the work'. The experience of pursuing Xeper and Remanifest would seem to bear this out, as our deeper and more permanent experiences of being and knowing tend to come not from the texts of others, but from our own direct experience of life and perception of 'the self as it truly is'.
Yet knowledge and being can never develop, except in relation to one another.
Mr G. once said "For an exact study, an exact language is necessary". Therefore, exploring the following collection of titles from a body of literature created in the light of a certain question should prove useful, so long as we remember to come back to that question. In familiarizing ones self with the ideas of the various books on this reading list, one might form a basis from which this question might be approached.
Titles which also appear on the Temple of Set Reading List will bear those same research level numbers ascribed, plus the level indicated by Triamazikamno (TRI-#)
Triamazikamno Research Level Numbers:
-1: The information contained in this book is integral to work in Triamazikamno. The book's treatment is unique, and substitution of another book is not recommended
-2: The information contained in this book is generally useful to work in Triamazikamno. The books treatment is not unique, and other books covering approximately the same material may be substituted.
-3: This book should be considered supplementary to 1 and 2 books. It is not essential to work in Triamazikamno, but is recommended rather for those who have a special interest in the particular line of thought.
-4: This book is highly technical or esoteric, and is liable to be confusing or misleading to readers without previously acquired knowledge of the subject.
A New Model of the Universe - P.D. Ouspensky. #19O (TOS-1)(TRI 3). PFM III*: This is collection of essays covering a variety of esoteric themes which will be of interest to Setians generally -- the fourth dimension, the 'Ubermensch', the Tarot, Yoga, Hypnotism, to name a few. It is of especial interest to Trimazikamno as most of the essays were begun before Mr. O's introduction to the system, and completed afterward. Thus his insights may contain more esoteric value than other occult writers on similar themes.
A Record of Meetings - P.D. Ouspensky (TRI-3). PFM III*: Similarly to The Fourth Way, this book is a collection of transcripts from lectures, given to Mr. O's groups in London and New York in the Thirties and Forties. It gives a unique view of the evolution of Mr. O's ideas as he neared the end of his career.
Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson: All and Everything, 3rd Series - G.I. Gurdjieff (TRI-4). PFM III*: This book is considered Mr. G's magnum opus, and many say this is the 'only' book one really needs to explore the self and it's relation to the universe. It produces different results when read aloud in a group setting. It introduces much of Mr.G's 'exact language', to quote Don Webb V*, "G's wasn't just being a pain-in- he-ass when he came up with all of his funky neologisms. Why do they all have one Greek/Latin part and one Armenian part? What is he doing? There are political, historical, collective -unconscious things going on here. (See for example B's "Opinion on War") G. is the most dangerous sort of hypnotist -- the one that says he isn't hypnotizing you. We call these people Fifth Degrees".
The Fourth Way - P.D. Ouspensky. #19C (TOS-4)(TRI-2). PFM III*: A collection of transcripts of lectures and discussions with Mr. O's groups in London and New York, 1921-1946. It provides an indepth and more rounded exploration of the essential themes from PMPE, with the addition of more 'question and answer' forums.
Frogs Into Princes - Bandler, Richard. and Grinder, John Ed. Andreas, S. Real People Press. Moab, Utah. 1979. (TRI 3). A. Cheak II*: The best general introduction by the dynamic duo who created NLP. Neurolinguistic Programming is a unique and highly useful approach to subjectivity, concentrating on the structure rather than the content of subjective experience. Main topics introduced include Representational Systems (internal sensory experience), Accessing Cues (non verbal communication), Anchoring (conditioned responses), and Reframing (re-organizing experience, transformation of meaning). This, like many of Bandler and Grinder's books, is transcribed from live workshops, and so one is presented with many interesting (and often humorous) anecdotes which exemplify the models and techniques described.
The Gurdjieff Work - Kathleen Riordan Speeth. #4O (TOS-2)(TRI-2). PFM III*: Explores many of the same themes from PMPE, and goes beyond elaborating on such confounding subjects as the Food Diagram, Conscious and Unconscious Shocks, the nature of the Movements, etc.
In Search of the Miraculous - P.D. Ouspensky. (TRI-1). PFM III*: The story of Mr. O's search for the miraculous -- how he eventually found G's group in Moscow, advanced through the work, and inevitably left to form his own schools. Gives many insights into Mr. G and his ideas, as well as his unique methods for communicating them, and explores in a round about way the student/teacher relationship. We may be tempted to think Mr. O's treatment of Mr. G to be skewed, however Mr. G himself said of this book "Very exact is, Good memory, Truth was so." Compare with Dr. Aquino's Church of Satan.
Magi: The Quest for a Secret Tradition - Adrian G. Gilbert (TRI-3). PFM III*: Gilbert was one of those individuals who thought often of the work but never actually did it. Never the less, by combining his knowledge of astronomy, Near-East and Egyptian anthropology, and Mr. G's odessy, he retraces Mr. G's travels from Meetings with Remarkable Men, and concludes with a the very strong possibility that the Three Magi who visted the infant Jesus in the New Testament were none other than masters or the elusive Sarmoung Brotherhood. Also points toward possible Pythagorian, Egyptian, and Sufi origins for much of the system.
Meetings with Remarkable Men: All and Everything, 2nd Series - G.I. Gurdjieff (TRI-4). PFM III*: Far more than it seems on the surface. On the surface it seems to be an autobiographical treatment of Mr. G's early development, and his own 'search for the miraculous' throughout Turkey, Iraq, and Egypt, culminating in his discovery of the 'Sarmoung Brotherhood' -- the Sufi order from which Mr. G claimed to have learned many of the Movements.
