The Fourth Way

Hiiiii... Vians?, are you there?

I thought I would get into some spontaneous free flow writing here and perhaps insert an image or two that can be more or less related. I figure now that AI has begun to generate written content, which was not the case when I was more active on Hive, I don't need to worry so much about the quality of my writing; the fact that a human wrote it makes it valuable somehow. I for one do see the irony there.

Most of the value proposition of AI is to accomplish things that I can do myself and that I want to continue to do without help, thank you very much.

That said, I realize that what works for me may not be what others want to do. I also may change my mind so, I avoid speaking in certain terms and celebrate having lived in a world without the current advancements epitomized by ChatGPT and DeepSeek.

I am on a spiritual journey that requires me to stay grounded in the material world, away from automatic thinking and reflexive behaviour. I am an observer in this fast-paced world that seems very intent on evolving furiously.

Work by one of the students in my Mindful Artist class. It is all part of the Work

I find peace in song and in using my voice, harmonizing with other people. It helps me deal with the trauma of constant bad news and complex geopolitical situations like war and climate change.

I seek wisdom beyond what the common of mortals may be used to, a poem for eternity where I can remember self. It is called self-remembrance and was pioneered by Gurdjieff and Pyotr Ouspenskii
through their so-called fourth way.

In a world where free will is but an illusion, I see value in this concept of attention, and how it is the only thing that is truly our own, free of the influence of culture and ethics. I believe in a balanced approach to enlightenment encompassed by the way of the fakir, that of the monk and even of the mind.

This is it for today, my 15-minute timer is running out, I hope you enjoyed my musings, I will see you soon.

I leave you with a recent vlog including my singing but starting with the #HumanGarage Fascial Maneuvers. Enjoy!

I will show you the farmer's market.

If you stick around a little longer, you will find me singing with my lovely Shape Note group out of the Shenandoah Valley book.

Check out my recent video on crypto as well, it makes me upset that people associate this topic with the right wing. I made this video because I love crypto, and because I am an early adopter of the BAT rewards program with the Brave browser. As the Uphold wallet is withdrawing from Canada, I received a 40 CAD e-transfer to my account, and this is the first time that I am exchanging crypto into FIAT currency. This is, of course, a love letter to the naysayers but more importantly, it is hopefully somewhat educational.