TAT meeting presentation, April 2009
“The history of the most eminent sages is one of men who never stopped working, if for no other reason than to amplify their vector by helping others.” …“There is no religion greater than human friendship.”
– Richard Rose, The Albigen Papers
What does it mean to help others? How does “helping” accelerate a seeker’s progress on the spiritual path? All too often, we enthusiastically follow a spiritual path of self inquiry and embrace the rigors of self discipline. Yet, we often sidestep the need to work with fellow seekers, perhaps avoiding others who hold differing viewpoints. Paul’s presentation will examine the ultimate friendship, its place in Richard Rose’s three-fold path, and the perils faced by the solitary seeker.
From Carillon:
Friendship
– by Richard Rose
I passed through a deep crevice at twilight,
And I saw a narrow vista of trees,
Magical in the mists —
Vocal to the hush of meaning,
Whispering to the wisdom of shades —
Of degrees —
Before the backdrop of eternity ….
And I had a friend …
Whose dust with mine was not the bond,
Whose love with mine was not the bond,
Whose teaching with me was not the bond.
Both of us had been to this same place,
To the twilight in the narrow crevice,
And because of this place, we are eternal.
From correspondence:
I am imposing nothing on you & expect nothing of you.
– Alfred Puylan, November 14, 1960,
personal correspondence with Richard Rose
To me, that is an immensely profound statement that should apply to every spiritual teacher and every seeker. In the context that Puylan used it, a teacher should be utterly selfless and seek no personal gain from his or her students, nor impinge personal desires, rituals, or dogma upon others. Likewise, seekers should follow the same principles when working with other seekers, whether those seekers are on the same Essential level or on the levels below. In other words, spiritual seekers should not be in this for superficial acquisition.
In this statement …
There is no religion greater than human friendship.
When Richard Rose speaks of religion here, he isn’t talking about today’s conventional, organized religion. He means an organized entity that represents a group, whether that group involves an eastern or western devotional, intellectual, or Essence-seeking collection of individuals. True friendship is, above all, what matters most. And now I’ll explain my convictions …
A Personal Story
Between 1982 and 1985, I was reading numerous books related to the spiritual path—Krishnamurti, Gurdjieff, Ouspensky, and many others. Most of the other books I read were of a much lighter caliber. In a bookstore near Pittsburgh, I stumbled on a book stuffer that someone had placed in one of the books. Something about the words in the stuffer struck a chord with me:
A valuable follow up to this book is The Albigen Papers and The Direct-Mind Experience. These books give a system of discovery of esoteric matters, supplementing books which ably point the way.
This note is placed as a token effort by the local Albigen study group, and which, not desiring to proselytize, remains anonymous.
A few months later, I ordered The Albigen Papers, thus starting my search in earnest at the age of 22. From that point, I basically devoured Rose’s writings, moving next to The Psychology of the Observer and then reading his five remaining books while still attending college in Pennsylvania. During the summer months, I lived with my parents, who were a little more than a stone’s throw from Rose’s farm in West Virginia. I was quite shy and certainly not prone to rashly attending a spiritually-oriented group. Still, something was lacking on my spiritual path, and so I put pen to paper and mailed the following letter:
Summer 1985
Dear Richard Rose:
About two years ago, I discovered Ouspensky’s In Search of the Miraculous and have since read many other related books. But now I am at a standstill. I realize that I need a school or brotherhood to help me, but where do I turn? Few of my friends seem interested in spiritual work. And surely, a good school would not advertise in magazines, newspapers, etc. Who, then, do I turn to? How should I approach others concerning these matters? I am very confused at this point and would really appreciate some suggestions.
Sincerely,
Paul Constant
Rose responded with a note a few days later:
I am pleased to welcome you to the TAT group. You are invited—unless this is too short a notice of the seminar this coming weekend—at the farm. It is an exercise—in which we try to get the most in introspection.
In those days, Rose arranged an “August Chautauqua,” an annual event intended for those who were more serious about their path and usually more interested in the Albigen System in comparison to the TAT group at large.
During the TAT meetings that followed in 1985 and 1986, I clearly remember thinking: “I’m here to see Rose. It doesn’t matter whether I associate with his students. What do they have that could possibly be of benefit to me?” To me, only Rose had the Final Answer that I sought. Although Rose would frequently discuss the threefold path, the value of true friendship, the “Laws”—and by that, I mean the Law of Extra Proportional Returns and the Law of the Ladder—I wanted no part of it in those days. I thought I could follow the “twofold” path.
Slowly, my attitude changed. I visited the farm on weekends when Rose wasn’t around, often working side by side with other students of Rose. We chopped wood, repaired fences around the property perimeter, dug drainage ditches for roads, and countless other farm projects. You can learn a great deal about another person when working together—their strong points and their warts. Yet, those fellows answered so many of my basic philosophic questions. In essence, they challenged my beliefs, and I obtained a depersonalized perspective by listening to various seekers who had been on the path for a while. Perhaps on the “spiritual ladder,” they really were on the rung above me …
What else could an ignorant neophyte like me do to help someone else on the path?
-
I organized the Albigen Study Group, which started in 1989 and ceased operations in late 1991. We met every other week in an esoteric bookstore. Although the group didn’t take off, organizing the meetings forced me to do at least three things …
- develop and deliver a variety of discussion topics;
- learn ways to communicate abstract personal experiences into my own words instead of Rose’s; and …
- develop a rapport with my fellows.
- I regularly stuffed thousands of books at about 35 bookstores while traveling around Pennsylvania (as part of my job). I discovered the TAT group through a book stuffer and hoped someone else might do the same.
- I regularly posted flyers at about 20 college campuses around the state, promoting Rose’s teachings.
Later, almost by accident, I became quite involved in TAT’s business affairs. I didn’t really consider it as anything spiritual. My attitude was that someone helped me, and I was filled with gratitude for their efforts. So, with my personal spiritual ship pretty much dead in the water, I figured the least I could do is help someone else to help themselves. And plugging away for TAT, friends on the path, and unmet strangers ultimately led to the surprise of my life …
Selfish and Selfless
In today’s world, we can completely immerse ourselves in outward-driven material. By that, I mean the voluminous information that is available at our fingertips through the Internet—Web sites, books, and audio and video. In such a situation, we can easily overlook the need to interact with others with the rationalization that all knowledge is accessible without ever having to leave our homes. But real action involves going within as well as working with others and the “school” or Sangha. So allow me to build a case using an excerpt from the Sixth Paper in the The Albigen Papers:
Many people of philosophic drive feel no compulsion to mingle with anyone except their colleagues. But these people must be unaware of future growth possibilities for themselves, and they must be unaware that they must help others in order to grow themselves. This is the Law of the Ladder, which will be discussed later. The Ashram brings the different levels together that are needed for the growth of each member.
What does it mean to help others? How does a person get past the selfishness of a lone spiritual seeker? Are you overlooking valuable help on the path by focusing too much on a teacher? Perhaps your best ally is the person sitting next to you. A fellow seeker can serve as a mirror of sorts, showing you something about yourself that—without their help—remains blind to you. They point to errors in your beliefs. Mike Gegenheimer will talk about true confrontation during this afternoon’s session.
Helping per se may not involve direct contact with others. It could mean working for the good of a spiritual group, or a seeker out there with whom you haven’t met. First and foremost, you must develop an attitude whereby you want to help others, not out of an interest for personal gain, but because you take joy in helping. Helping should be natural to you. This doesn’t mean you disregard your own spiritual work under the guise of helping others. Rose said we follow a selfish, selfless path. The selfish part means you desire above all else to find your Essence. You’re not going to save your friends, family, or country from the woes of the planet. By selfless, I’ll illustrate with an excerpt from Shawn’s article, Things to Do (July 2001 TAT Forum https://tatfoundation.org/forum2001-07.htm#6b :
#4. Realize that you want to help others: The ego prevents us from reaching out to others. With persistent self-analysis, you will come to have true consideration for your fellow man—you will see your flaws in others and others’ flaws in you. There is the thought that we should help others because it will help us in the long run, but this is not the same as truly wanting to help another. It is a milestone when we want to help simply because it is the natural reaction.
The Magic of Helping
How does “helping” accelerate a seeker’s progress on the spiritual path? Notice that I said “help” and not “fix.” On a mundane level, we can only remain introspective for a limited time during each day. The mind tires of abstractions and looks for something more tangible on which to rest its focus. If that’s the case, we can work on projects that may be of benefit to other seekers. It will certainly accelerate our spiritual vector and commitment to Truth. Even after his Realization, Rose offered his family farmhouse and property to spiritual seekers, many of who were strangers. On a magical level, perhaps a leap of faith is necessary to fully employ the Laws as Rose describes them:
Law of the Ladder. We do not visualize a single man upon each rung, reaching down, pulling up the man below. We find that the ladder is “A” shaped, pyramid in form, for one thing. There are less people on the higher rungs than on the lower rungs. We will be lucky if we can find one man who can help us, but we should be working with six or more on the rung below. We also find a new meaning for the brotherhood now. The man above may be pulling up the man below,—but they are pushing him a bit, at the same time.
The Law of Extra Proportional Returns can be effected only with the cooperation of friends. The Law … infers an unexpected increment. To draw an analogy, two factors (human) working together will accomplish more results together, than will either of the two factors in twice as much time. This is also known as the Contractor’s Law. If this law did not exist, no contractor would hire men. It would all be done by individuals working alone. We apply the same principle to spiritual work. We must work in groups, in other words. You can call them brotherhoods or societies, or you can work in groups without a name.
For more information, please see The Threefold Path on this site, and the summary of the “Laws” of Richard Rose: Laws, TAT Forum Archives.
Surely you have all experienced a situation where you talked through a problem with someone else and arrived at a solution you wouldn’t have considered alone. If you want to contrast that situation with a polar opposite, try a week or month completely alone in an isolation retreat. You’ll learn the value of friendship. Truly, two heads are better than one.
Summarizing Rose and the Albigen System
In the late 1990’s, I received a bundle of handwritten personal correspondence from me to Richard Rose—I think he saved everyone’s letters. Over the years, I too kept letters that he mailed to me. On several occasions, rather than replying, he would hold my letters until I showed up in Benwood or at the farm, and then we would discuss my questions.
The following two email correspondences are not about me. Paul Constant is a fictional character who sought to know his true Source, but he is meaningless. I offer these letters as a ray of hope to you, the seeker. In all likelihood, my words will sound familiar to you…
December 17, 1987
Mr. Rose,
At the last meeting, you mentioned that you periodically ask for a short summary of yourself and the system from some of the members. Well, I thought I would take a shot at it myself and found it rather challenging. The best method I could come up with was to write as if to someone unfamiliar with the TAT organization. After I wrote it, it seemed oversimplified. I think it would take an entire biography to reveal any great details. Nevertheless, I hope it is of some use.
Paul
A summary of Paul’s presentation:
No seeker should walk the path alone if he can help it. Of course, had someone told me this three years ago, I would have had reason for argument. Even then, I was in the midst of Ouspenskian philosophy, which repeatedly explained that progress was extraordinarily difficult without a school. But I was going to make it alone.
After several books and an unsuccessful year later, I ran across a profound book titled The Albigen Papers by Richard Rose. Here was a book that finally spoke in my language, leaving behind all the nebulous mystical garbage. I didn’t find it particularly shocking. Instead, I found it a delight that someone was writing about familiar societal absurdities. More importantly, The Albigen Papers sparked a tremendous craving for additional roadmaps.
A year later, after reading all of Rose’s books and after some intense personal debating, I decided it was time to make a move—I was going to visit the TAT farm. I thought it was a big move, really. Mr. Rose answered the phone when I made the call. After explaining that I recently joined TAT and was interested in attending the meeting, he knew who I was. I found it comforting that TAT was not a large impersonal group.
My first visit to the TAT farm was during one of the Chautauqua’s. I distinctly remember that early August morning. To begin with, a question was asked of everyone on what they wanted out of life. I was dumbstruck by the sudden silent attention of the group when it was my turn to answer, so I mumbled “Wisdom.” Of course, I was spared the overall shock of listening to Rose’s lecture for the first time since I knew some of his philosophy before I ever knew him.
During the next year, I regularly attended the TAT meetings. The premise of the TAT Society is interaction with fellow inquirers so that one can expedite the journey. At that time, though, I saw no value in the TAT group. I only came to listen to Richard Rose. In fact, in retrospect, I may have bordered on the emotional/
[Incidentally, there is a flip side of friendship. Too many of us relay on teachers and friends to satisfy spiritual, emotional, and physical needs. We should constantly be on alert for the mind’s tendencies to seek out crutches. Crutches are not true friends.]
A second frustrating period was marked by a tremendous lack of faith in myself. I would listen to Rose’s stories and his monumental determination to find the Truth in his earlier years. I thought it was inconceivable to match that determination. However, with time, I began to see more of his human qualities. He too, had encountered pitfalls and stumbling blocks, and had made mistakes along the way. For the next two years, Richard Rose would shatter every preconceived idea of what an Enlightened man was supposed to be.
Once, I was asked to summarize the Albigen System in a nutshell. With great difficulty, I stumbled over some fragmented explanations without really providing an adequate answer. After some time, I decided that it couldn’t be summarize so briefly. But I think an attempt should be made (from my perspective) to highlight the important benefits of the system.
The Albigen System substitutes a scientific approach for the mystical; doubt and introspection for belief. The approach involves the improvement of intuition through self-observation, and conditioning this intuition with logic. In addition, the method entails a conservation of energy: you can spend it by thinking about or doing thousands of useless little things, or spend it wisely by focusing on thought processes or by asking yourself who’s doing the observing. Much information can be gathered from fellow seekers, such as valuable books or other ways and means to keep the head on the problem. This information is not to keep up to date on philosophy, but to attack the problem from new angles. Perhaps the greatest value, and yet the most overlooked by his listeners, is Richard Rose’s “Between-ness” approach. The proven theory employs holding the head “between thoughts” to provide an avenue for unlimited “happenings” on the physical, mental, or spiritual level. I believe Between-ness will be uncovered in the future, when it will be more easily understood, and when Richard Rose will be looked upon as a frontiersmen of this science.
In summary, Richard Rose has been a success at what 99% of the population considers nonsense. He does not ask that you believe—only that you doubt. He gives ideas on what worked for him, in his lifetime, and leaves his listeners to decide if it is useful. He is probably the most sincere person I know—he “walks what he talks” so to speak. And he will be the first to admit uncertainty when he does not know. At times, I find it difficult to discern between his personal philosophy and the philosophy, but in the end it may not matter. Whether it’s common sense advice or methods of introspection, I find immense value in every conversation.
~ Paul Constant, 1987
Correspondence
March 13, 1988
Dear Mr. Rose:
I thought I’d contact you because I am at a standstill. This whole ordeal has become a matter of swinging swords in the dark. Sure, I’m ready to battle, but with what? I keep asking myself, “What’s stopping me?” Well, I’ve observed some rather obvious mental time consumers. For instance, my job. But I got to thinking, “Why would my job be so important?” And I saw it wasn’t the job, but the ego behind it. It seems I have this strange desire to impress others, a concern for what others think about me. Even an eagerness to please. I don’t say it’s Pollyanna. I say it’s more like a desire for acceptance. It may have originated some time in adolescence. Can this be a block? I keep beating my head wondering why I am moving so slowly, at times seemingly stagnating.
I figured it was time to open my mouth and lay my head on the chopping block. Otherwise, I’ll just continue running circles around myself. I was wondering if you had any thoughts on this or a different perspective on any of the obvious blocks. I’m not sure anyone else can provide an unbiased viewpoint. If you prefer not to write, I was planning a week of isolation during April 2 – 9. We can talk either before I go in or after I come out if you’ll be at the farm one of those weekends.
Thanks,
Paul
3/16/88
Hello Paul,–
All egos are not a detriment unless they become an impediment. To have a desire to impress others, or to please others, or to seek acceptance – is not an ego if it never becomes a trap.
These characteristics are unselfish unless we try to cash in – once we have pleased or been accepted.
The flesh does not function without some ego. But it should be that we should know that it is a selfless direction until we pose it for profit.
The ego to please makes politicians and presidents. Who amount to much but they become in essence very little.
It does not matter which type of job a man works at – as long as that job does not compromise his main ambition – which is becoming.
If you wish to agonize – struggle to function as a vector, and keep perfecting ways and means to expedite becoming more of a vector.
Do not know where I will be on April weekends yet. Casari was going to set up a meeting on an upcoming weekend.
But we’ll find time to talk. Incidentally, I have been getting a few orders from Pennsylvania – for Magic [White & Black] – mostly.
See you later
R
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