On the shoulders of giants

October offerings

Photo: Goddess who bestows riches (probably Sri Lakshmi) , from the Metropolitan Museum of art show, “Tree and Serpent.” Chandraketuharh, West Bengal, Shunga, first century BCE. Molded terracotta.

The word idea comes from the Greek, meaning form, pattern. It comes from the base of idein, which means "to see."

Perhaps it's peculiar to discover that the word idea relates to the action of seeing; but this is worth deep consideration.

I am filled with ideas of other people. The Gurdjieff work is not my idea; I got it from other people – not Gurdjieff himself, because he was dead long before I ever heard of his work. So I am filled with ideas that other people constructed and gave to me, from what they saw. Most particularly I am filled with the ideas of the Gurdjieff work, which are ideas about what he saw. Now, of course, the claim (certainly valid within the limits of its own boundaries) is that the ideas of the work are ancient. Nonetheless, seeing as an action that takes place in the present moment. Not in ancient times, for they are gone and will not return. The people who had the ideas back then are all dead. All true seeing begins in this present moment.