Comments on: William S. Burroughs, Whitley Strieber, and UFOs

By: JohnShirley

JohnShirley — Mon, 25 May 2009 12:11:53 +0000

The person who commented at some officious and important-sounding length on Gurdjieff makes all kinds of unwarranted assumptions about what Gurdjieff meant. Occasionally he may have engaged in ‘trickster’ sort of behavior, or anyway Crazy Wisdom, to shock people into waking up or seeing themselves, but the example your poster gave is not one of them. In Search of the Miraculous, first of all, is Ouspensky’s memories of what Gurdjieff said. Gurdjieff didn’t write it. So while much of it is accurate, much is left out (it’s subtitled FRAGMENTS of an Unknown Teaching), or slightly skewed. Further explanations of how these things might work would be transmitted in *person* by Gurdjieff, or by those he appointed to transmit his ideas (Jeanne de Salzmann, Lord Pentland, Michel Conges for example), is largely an oral teaching that is not in the books, in terms of methodology. Any notion that this person has understood a Gurdjieffian method from having read about it is, well, a mistaken one. The general outline of his cosmology and his point of view on humanity’s dilemma is to be found in books he wrote, and to some extent in the Ouspensky book. But methods are barely touched on, and can be received only in person, largely at the Gurdjieff Foundation (most other venues who claim to teach Gurdjieff’s methods and ideas are frauds, cults, caveat emptor - eg, Robert Burton’s “school”).

By: caroline wilson

caroline wilson — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 00:03:18 +0000

Dear Greg, in brief; having viewed a star in the sky i mentioned to friends that i felt this star had a life/soul -i can say that because i’m clairvoyant and have channelled for many people. Someone mentioned that it could be a satalite. On my walk home from work I snapped a shot on my nokia mobile and what appeared was a formation of spherical balls travelling in a straight line. I have read Streiber’s comment in Confirmation that this is quite common. I have other shots in the morning where these spheres of light are around me on my way to work. I would love to send them for your perusal. Could you please send an e-mail address. It is refreshing to communicate with someone who actually believes in this fantastic phenomeon. PS - my encounters albeit few are only fueled with a great love for mankind and our planet. kind regards, Caroline

By: Greg Bishop

Greg Bishop — Mon, 07 May 2007 06:19:29 +0000

24601,

“as long as he considered the possibility that the “Nova Conspiracy” had its source in the very beings he was seeking out for contact.”

I thought that I had implied that pretty clearly. If not, I apologize.

By: Jonah

Jonah — Sat, 05 May 2007 18:05:27 +0000

“He probably had a lot of contact with the Tykes through DMT.”

Or through his use of his “Dream Machine”

http://www.maps.org/sys/nq.pl?id=347&fmt=page

By: 24601

24601 — Sat, 05 May 2007 00:08:10 +0000

“William Burroughs’ reference points were outside most of ours. Like any explorer, he searched for the highest peak for a better point of view. If he could establish some sort of connection with non-human intelligence, he may have thought he could finally crack the hard shell of what he called the ‘Nova Conspiracy’: one of his models for the drive that makes some humans seek total control of others.”

Sounds like good thinking on Burroughs’ part—well, as long as he considered the possibility that the “Nova Conspiracy” had its source in the very beings he was seeking out for contact.

Sometimes the Abyss has a way of looking into those who peer too long into It.

By: DingoDog99

DingoDog99 — Fri, 04 May 2007 06:54:16 +0000

Greg,

Is there anyway to get Nicks e- mail?
I have tried to e- mail you or Nick a few times.

Jess

By: Bill Chalker

Bill Chalker — Thu, 03 May 2007 12:49:55 +0000

Barry Miles biography of Burroughs “William Burroughs - El Hombre Invisible - A portrait” (1993) mentions Burrough’s meeting Strieber. He seemed convinced of Strieber’s experiences and commented on missing out: “It may mean that it was not propitious for them to come and pick me up at that particular time. It may mean that they would contact me at a later date or it may mean that they regard me as the enemy … We have no way of knowing what their motives are. They may find that my intervention is hostile to their objectives. And their objectives may not be friendly at all.”

By: Greg Bishop

Greg Bishop — Thu, 03 May 2007 07:31:08 +0000

Daath,

I didn’t know that about Burroughs. It makes perfect sense. Perhaps Burroughs didn’t really need to join these groups, as he had already surpassed them by his own efforts. It would seem that they were after him for his blessing, rather than the other way around.

By: Greg Bishop

Greg Bishop — Thu, 03 May 2007 07:17:26 +0000

Nick,

Thanks Nick!

By: Greg Bishop

Greg Bishop — Thu, 03 May 2007 07:16:46 +0000

Drew,

So peace, happiness, a normal level of excitement, and condfience are natural human emotions and their opposites are “alien” in nature? How could we fully know those states without their opposites? It would seem better in that case not to have any emotion at all. The interplay between these states is what makes the positive so much more rewarding, I think, and it makes us sentient.

The goal of many spiritual disciplines is to realize what emotions are for, to be sure that we are experiencing them for the right reasons, and not to dwell on them.

At least, that what it seems like to me.