Talks of the Month
ToTM001 - 1983
The Force
Mr. Gold gives a lesson to a group practicing the movements on using the 'force,' 'ki' or 'chi. ' He explains how one begins to sense the pulse of this electromagnetic force and how the body can move into it and begin to direct it.
ToTM002 - 1983
Daily Deadline
J. has a predicament concerning the dinner she is preparing and Mr. Gold takes the opportunity to teach. He talks about food and dietary traditions, and tells a couple of stories about the Bektashi dervishes which leads into a talk about involvement with the veil of illusion of dimensionality and finally the Face of God and the Eucharist. A second part is a parable of sorts describing Mr. Gold's role in relation to those who seek the Work, as the host of an interesting gastronomical experience.
ToTM003 - 1983
Phenomenal Pen Pal
Here Mr. Gold explains the exercise "A Day in the Life" which he introduced on the occasion of Baruch bar Meir's death. Baruch, a member of the community, had just died and the strange events surrounding his death (and his life too, I might add) are told in the eulogies written by Marty, Robbert and Parker. "Epitaph for a Holy Hobo," an exceptional piece of work by Menlo, several songs, and Parker's tips on performing the exercise are also in this issue, dedicated to the work of Baruch bar Meir.
ToTM004 - 1983
All One Voice/Now You Can Do It Anywhere/Remorse
This is a 3 part talk including A Cause for Remorse. It takes place over 4 days. The first part occurs during a drive through the southern provinces where Mr. Gold explains that all our words and breath come from a single source. The following day, still driving, he talks about using remorse as a trick for invoking one's own presence, and how to recognize when the invocation is successful. The fourth day, he talks about who he is, describes his methods, and delineates a real cause for remorse which could and should fuel one's work. The narrative connecting the talk provides an interesting and puzzling slimpse into Mr. Gold's life, his style and his behavior.
ToTM005 - 1983
Momentum of Invocation, The Universal Traveling Junk Shop
This talk is devoted to the invocation of presence. A description of the habits and weaknesses of the machine, how they inhibit the invocation of presence and how they may be used to suggest it is followed by an entertaining dramatization of the struggle to invoke one's own presence and then by a two page description of the presence exercise successfully done.
ToTM006 - 1983
Life as Theatre--Part 1
This talk, which took place at a theatre workshop in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, describes spontaneity as a voluntary and practicable craft rather than a simple reflex. Mr. Gold explains how it may be used to earn life, which is freely given in any case. He explains the difference between grace, which is given freely, and baraka, which must be earned once grace is lost.
ToTM007 - 1983
Life as Theatre--Part 2
Part 2 continues where Part 1 left off. The workshop group, with Mr. Gold, examines and critiques its participation in the workshop. This issue includes a terrific description of invocational theatre and several valuable tips and insights into the question of working with life as theatre.
ToTM008 - 1983
The Machine as a Transformational Device
A detailed description of the machine as a path through which the soul passes is the subject of this talk. The machine can either be activated, which produces a transformational effect, or be left inactivated, which produces nothing Mr. Gold explains that he is stealing from us the force necessary to accomplish this transformation and, teaching us to steal force also so that we will be able to survive when we have no force of our own left.
ToTM009 - 1983
Send in the Clones
Mr. Gold describes what is likely to happen after he is gone, as well as what could possibly happen. He says he will be of much more use to us then and talks about the formation of higher bodies and the force which produces barriers between the members of a group, thereby preventing their formation into a higher body.
ToTM010 - 1983
Sheep in Sleep
This is another talk which took place in Lancaster. Mr. Gold talks extensively about the sleep of the machine and leads the group in an exercise in learning to sense the machine's sleep using the 'Row, row, row your board' mantram. He explains that sensing the machine's sleep is the first step toward awakening.
ToTM011 - 1983
What is the Work? How is it Done?
In this talk from Montreal, originally given bilingually, Mr. Gold describes several of the more forbidding aspects of the Work, apparently as a warning to those of us who might not realize just what it is we are getting into. He talks about what it entails for a group to perform the Work and also what it entails for an individual, describing what it is like to do the Work.
ToTM012 - 1983
The Time Talk
In the Silver Star restaurant in New York City, Mr. Gold describes how he found out about the transit state from an old Tibetan in a back room Tibetan temple somewhere on Broadway, in Manhattan, many years ago. The Tibetan proprietor of the establishment confirmed his suspicions that Transit (the voluntary or involuntary movement between eternalized chambers) can be perceived by the acceleration of attention. This definitive talk concludes with a humorous attempt by L. to get her question answered by Mr. Gold.
ToTM013 - 1984
Alchemy and the Automobile
In this New York City talk, Mr. Gold answers the question of Miriam, a workshop participant, on alchemical methods. He clarifies the meaning of traditional alchemical symbols and renders the concepts usable for those irrevocably engaged in a transformational process. Mr. Gold makes the connection between alchemy and the aim of entering the Work. The conclusion to this talk provides a profound glimpse of what conscience represents for the Man on the Cross.
ToTM014 - 1984
A Talk on Discernment
How are we to use the awakened state of the machine for its transformational function if we cannot tell when it is awake? Mr. Gold addresses this basic issue, giving tips on detecting the awakened state of one's machine and on making use of the sleep state. He refers to Chief Weakness, negative emotion, the nature of the Creation--and a Zen Power Yell used as an awakening reminder.
ToTM015 - 1984
The Diamond Talk
This talk is a combination of two ideas that were formulated during the 1983 East coast workshop series. At the annual Fall Convention, held in New York that year, Mr. Gold was joined by Lee Lozowick and Samuel Avital. One of the results is the Diamond Talk, in which Mr. Gold details the metaphor of the essential self and the work community as diamonds which can be faceted by the greater diamond of the Absolute only if certain conditions are met. Attached is the Warming Soul monologue, developed for the Mask Workshop and ultimately included in The Human Biological Machine as a Transformational Apparatus. This passage evokes a special mood and may be read aloud as a meditation or group exercise.
ToTM016 - 1984
Attack at Dawn
The "Attack at Dawn" is a simple and powerful beginning exercise for the awakening of the machine. If the essential self's only weapon is the will of attention, it must use this weapon gently but inexorably to "establish a beachhead in the higher dimension. " The talk culminates in an extended analogy of the school as a group of mountain climbers who can scale the mountain successfully only through teamwork.
ToTM017 - 1984
The Practitioner's Course: A Tool to Awaken the Machine
This easaphone talk with the New York group sparkles with comic repartee and humorous description as well as ideas. Mr. Gold establishes the relationship between the exercises and methods used in the American Book of the Dead and the work of a Professional Labyrinth Reader with the Voyager after terminus. The Redfin material and transformation work of awakening the machine for the Work is also discussed.
ToTM018 - 1984
The Chicago Easaphone Talk
This is the basic resource talk for answering the questions of people "off the street" or novice students. Mr. Gold answers the standard questions regarding his credentials, the significance of the Gurdjieff work, the way to begin studying work ideas and how to approach him and the school. Rather than repeatedly answer these questions, he wishes novice students to read this talk.
ToTM019 - 1984
The Chronic: A Defense Mechanism Against the Waking State
This sensational two-part talk is a reconstruction of an easaphone talk with the Amherst group; it offers the first formulation of the idea contained the title. Part One covers the nature of the defense mechanism, how it maintains the sleeping state of the machine, its origin in childhood, and an introduction to using the chronic as a tool for accessing the waking state.
ToTM020 - 1984
The Chronic:A Defense Mechanism Against. . . Part Two
The continuation of the talk addresses psycho-somatic illness, the immune system's functioning, sensations of the transition to the waking state of the machine, and precise technique for using one's own chronic to detect the proximity of the waking state. After the easaphone call is completed, the Core Group asks additional questions and receives data on the discernment of the waking state and the momentum of the machine.
ToTM021 - 1984
Sexual Hungers
At a workshop in New York City, Mr. Gold talks about not only sexual hungers, but hungers in general. He explains how to work with organic hungers by neither denying them nor giving in to them, but by bargaining instead with the machine. In this talk, he classifies sex and cigarette smoking as the two easiest organic desires to deal with.
ToTM022 - 1984
WBAI Radio Interview
This issue is a partial transcription of a WBAI radio interview with E. J. Gold and Mary Houston. It focuses mainly on the waking and sleeping states of the machine. E. J. talks about the chronic--the machine's defense mechanism against the waking state--explaining how the sleeping state dominates the machine and how the waking state can be produced. He is also unusually candid about his childhood, his family background and his own discovery of work ideas as a young man in New York.
ToTM023 - 1984
The Way of the Shaman--Part 1
This intriguing talk introduces the idea of the shaman in the Work. Prompted by Menlo, Tabby and Linda, Mr. Gold tells of the shaman's continual efforts to expand his perception so as to include all the details of the so-called 'invisible' world, and his shape-shifting way of maintaining his presence in the higher dimensions. He goes on to talk about men and women and how their respective natures are at once well-suited and ill-suited to the Work, and what they must accomplish if they are ever to serve the Work.
ToTM024 - 1984
The Way of the Shaman--Part 2
What we call a human being is a cross section of a fixed path through the Creation and it is through this path that the essential self travels. If the speed of the essential self's passage changes, inevitably its identification with the machine is lessened or else disappears entirely. Naturally the essential self would begin to question its situation and at this point it could become aware of the Work. Mr. Gold explains how his 'music' is intended to produce this effect of changed rates of passage.
ToTM025 - 1984
Chief Weakness and the Work
Chief weakness becomes active when the Work is at hand. "How do you overcome your weakness if you don't have the will to overcome your weakness?" G. asks the group at the 1984 convention, and then answers, "You must love the Work more than you love yourself. "
ToTM026 - 1985
The Winnipeg Nine
In a phone call to the Winnipeg group Mr. Gold explains how their group can do some real work by using the necessity of one member of the group who has a year or so left to live. This talk is a fascinating extension of the ideas in TOTM #3 and #17.
ToTM027 - 1985
The Popcorn Talk
This issue has two parts. The first part describes a method to restore the mental and emotional centrums to their proper functions, thereby activating the feeling centrum--the popcorn exercise. The second part describes the condition existing when the headbrain and tailbrain are reversed from their proper functions, that is to say, the 'normal' condition of primate life.
ToTM028 - 1985
Angelology: The Angelic Character
This fascinating talk developed from commentaries Mr. Gold made as Kelly read from a book called "Angels"; a rare occasion to follow line-by-line corrections to statements in a book. It takes off from there and gets into the purpose for invoking angels, the effect of invoking an angel, the character and activity of angels, the obstacles to angelic evolution, and a tantalizing view of prophets and avatars and what they are.
ToTM029 - 1985
The Oracle and the Garden
The oracle knows everything. The trick when using the oracle is, first, in asking the question, and second, in recognizing when you have a complete answer. Mr. Gold talks about how to prepare for the use of the oracle. A session with Julie as the oracle for a Man on the Cross question follows, and that is followed by the delightful story of "The Old Man's Shop of Pythian Virgins".
ToTM030 - 1985
Conflict Management
This talk focuses on problems--problems of the machine, problems of the being, problems of the being with the machine. Mr. Gold talks about transformation and what it is, work on self and what it is, and the problem with trying to resolve the problems the machine has with itself. This is akey talk that postdates and supplements the material in The Human Biological Machine. . .
ToTM031 - 1985
Jargon vs. Gibberish
A school's approach to a given field of expertise is all wrong by the standards that experts of the field ordinarily consider. This is because the school's focus is different from the ordinary focus. This issue looks at the conflict between the school's approach to expertise, and the ordinary one, which is protected by mystique and jargon.
ToTM032 - 1985
The ABCs of Love
A talk by Mr. Gold on love--what it is, what it isn't; how it can be used; the element of risk in relation to love; and the relationship that a shaman has with love. The talk makes precise distinctions between love--the machine variety--and love--as the Beloved--a force which is like lightning, which can be handled only by a shaman functioning as a lightning handler.
ToTM033 - 1985
The Alchemical Foundation for the Accretion of Higher Substances
Higher Substances or Is There Life After Mayonnaise?Mr. Gold describes the 'school diet' and the reasons for it from the alchemical point of view. He also gives background health reasons for this homeopathic diet which he describes as having saved his life after medical doctors in 1983 had diagnosed his condition as terminal.
ToTM034 - 1985
The Deathbed Perspective
A group discussion with Mr. Gold about what, specifically, can be done now that will count for something when one dies. This talk includes a unique list, elicited from the Core Group members present, of all the exercises they could think of that Mr. Gold has given over the years to produce the awakened state of the machine which, the assembled students all agree, are the only moments that will mean anything from the deathbed point of view.
ToTM035 - 1985
Jewelry as a Doorway to the Work by Linda Corriveau
Linda describes the beginning of the jewelry business in New York and the subsequent development of Jewels of Ancient Lands (J. A. L. ). She clarifies the function of J. A. L. as an arena in which a contact point with the Work and school is provided to individuals in the general public and the incredible process which may develop from a tenuous initial connection to actually hearing about the Work for the first time. She describes unusual incidents that have occurred around the jewelry and the tactics of the sales approach. Copies of J. A. L. promotional material and photos are included with this issue.
ToTM036 - 1985
Life in the Labyrinth--Part 1
In this, the first of two issues, Mr. Gold talks about his early experiments with mazes and his subsequent work within the 'Great Maze' or 'Labyrinth'. He details the problems involved with getting someone to experiment with maze travel in the first place, to recognize that they are in a maze at all, or to remember where they had been. He introduces the concepts of maze brightness and maze innocence, talks about the hallucinations of the ordinary that occur while in the maze, and explains the necessity of 'unlearning' in order to see what is actually occurring rather than to see only that which one has been trained to see.
ToTM037 - 1985
Life in the Labyrinth--Part 2
This issue continues with information on the basis for selecting partners for maze voyaging, computer games as a reflection of the maze, and the idea of right combination/wrong combination. The necessity for a connected overview of passes through a maze is looked at which, in the case of the Labyrinth, would extend over more than one lifetime.
ToTM038 - 1986
The Simurgh
During a singularly powerful performance of 'Creation Story Verbatim' at the home of Mr. Gold, members of the core group witnessed the invocation of an enormous macrodimensional creature. . . the Simurgh. Awed by the experience, the group questioned Mr. Gold about it, and the resulting talk is a lively, humorous and fascinating discussion of the atmosphere, moods and sights of macrodimensional voyaging. The mystery of transubstantiation is discussed, and Mr. Gold compares the core group's experience cross-culturally with the experiences and intentions of religious assemblies throughout history in their attempts to invoke the Simurgh in sacred gatherings.
ToTM039 - 1986
The School on Stage
This talk, which is a synthesis of three talks given over a period of a year, is indispensable to those in the performing arts. Mr. Gold explains the school's purposes in mounting a stage production; including the magical steps of banishing, evocation and invocation in a theatrical space, and the targeting and attraction of a potentially work-receptive audience to this school event. Included is a detailed 'street rap' to be delivered when handing out flyers in public to 'likely-looking prospects', plus valuable comments from Samuel Avital. This issue is replete with practical information, and gives a rare glimpse of the scope and intention of the school's operation.
ToTM040 - 1986
Betrayal and Resurrection
Mr. Gold's work plan requires that he have a continuous, coherent existence in this world for six hundred years. How he has indirectly arranged for his necessary resurrections back into this plane of existence intimately involves us as students, for eventually we will betray him. An unusual and candid discussion of Mr. Gold's modus operandi, this talk outlines how to apply the principles of betrayal and resurrection in our own lives so as to indirectly arrange our acceptance into the Work. Recommended for serious candidates.
ToTM041 - 1986
To Be or Not To Be
If we make the decision to Be--to live the life of the being--seriously rehabilitating the muscle of our being attention, we will appear grotesque to other primates, whose own essential selves' attention is atrophied and unusable. Do we really wish for this kind of alienation and exile?Mr. Gold describes in detail the attention of the essential self, what is possible once it is developed, and the apparently magical, mystical phenomena that are likely to occur. He gives simple calisthenics to begin the process of awakening and strengthening this muscle, and describes the difference between awareness and attention.
ToTM042 - 1986
The Power of Attention
The essential self never loses interest and never becomes bored or tired. The problem of directing the attention of the essential self is examined from the point of view of transforming the environment and the objects within it from ordinary household items and familiar sights to entire universes, and finally to the Face of God. Mr. Gold speaks of the areas of endeavor we should concentrate on and the inevitable problems we will encounter while attempting to bring about this change of perception.
ToTM043 - 1986
Heretics of the Ordinary
Every school or organized religion has had at its inception a real shaman; someone who cared nothing for the protocol of primate civilization; who left it in favor of exploring the corridors and passageways of the labyrinth. The unexpected and non-sequitur behavior of the shaman shocks everyone contacting him, nudging them out of apathy. While alive, the shaman is considered dangerous or insane. After death he is often called a saint.
ToTM044 - 1986
The Ultimate Seduction
In this talk, Mr. Gold returns to the idea of Chief Weakness (see TotM #25). How can we overcome this powerful and ever-present seduction? How can we learn to use it as a ready tool to bring ourselves closer to the Work? How can we bring about the necessity for transformation and evolution?These questions are dealt with in this talk, which parallels in importance the data given first in TOTM issues #19 and #20, The Chronic, and subsequently included as an entire chapter in The Human Biological Machine as a Transformational Apparatus.
ToTM045 - 1986
Real Wealth
During the inaugural dinner of the new studio, Mr. Gold spoke of how to derive the greatest Work benefit and richness from each moment of life. Real wealth springs from an inner attitude and approach to life itself which directs one to care enough to give the very best.
ToTM046 - 1986
An Essential Story
Playing a seller of essential oils, Mr. Gold tells a story-cum-sales pitch of the origins and uses of essential oils throughout history as told to him by his personal 'friend', the archaeologist and museum curator E. J. Gold, compounder of the oils. It's a wonderful dissertation on how, why and when to work a customer. This talk is recommended for all those involved in sales and public contact ventures.
ToTM047 - 1986
The All-Purpose, Inter-Dimensional, Pan-Galactic Encyclopedia
Comprehensive Encyclopedia. Mr. Gold lives an interesting set of instructions for the performance of Prayer Absolute. He also speaks at length about ceasing to struggle against eternity. The idea of having good work discipline and the use of the aphorism, You can't change what is, but you can learn to like it. There is also an extensive description of the exo-, meso-, and esoteric circles of a school.
ToTM048 - 1986
Risk-taking in the Work
This talk was delivered during the convention of 1986 by Lee Lozowick and Mr. Gold. They speak of risk as being one of the most important ideas we will ever hear in connection with the Work; of the function of a work community as a vehicle for members to learn to communicate and eventually work in the Work by working in the teacher's Work.
ToTM049 - 1986
The Suffering of God
This talk, given in 1972 to a group of close students, covers two subject areas. The first is a discussion of psychometry--specifically, the unlocking and reading of intentionally encoded work messages within various objects known as emitting artifacts. The purpose for encoding messages and the choice of objects to receive the recording are discussed, as are Gurdjieff's and Bennett's experiences with such work recordings. The talk then turns to debunking fantasies about the Work and hopes for personal evolution. Mr. Gold explains that nothing we can do on our own will result in any evolutionary gain whatsoever and that all powers one might attain in this life are insignificant, useless and meaningless beyond the scope of merely enhancing one's everyday primate life. He describes his mission on Earth warning that if we are not willing to sacrifice forever our chance for union with the Absolute in order to help the Absolute from this side of the veil, then we must run from the school, because that is the only goal of his mission.
ToTM050 - 1986
Dressed in Drag
The summer intensive of 1986 focussed on whole Body Attention using a variety of techniques. Men attending participated in a morning exercise of cross gender dressing--dressing and making themselves up as women, and behaving as women do--for the purpose of experiencing a different set of habits. Mr. Gold speaks of the enormous pressure in primate life towards routinization and the maintenance of equilibrium in order to avoid threat; sexual threat being the greatest of all. He relates this to the chaos in the realm of the Absolute, saying that to really live is to live off-balance.
ToTM051 - 1986
Being and Fear -- Part 1
At Mr. Gold's birthday dinner, Antonio Asin, a Spanish Sufi teacher participating in an intensive month long Movements Workshop, asks a question regarding inner work to be done with the movements. This provokes a lengthy discussion around the idea that the being loves high aesthetic and the pure abstract. The conversation moves into a discussion of fear; how it is a natural function--even the Absolute reacted to something or there wouldn't be a Creation.
ToTM052 - 1986
Being and Fear -- Part 2
The second half of Mr. Gold's birthday dinner discussion (with input from guest Claudio Naranjo) examines the being's fear of. . . what? If we were to confront this unnameable thing we would still have our fear, but our reactions to that fear would vanish. Mr. Gold discusses how work with the movements gives us a basis on which to confront what we are afraid of as a being without panicking.
ToTM053 - 1986
Being Willing
A candid discussion between Mr. Gold and two students about the problems of operating school businesses with a reluctant staff of students who just can't seem to stop indulging and pampering their primate selves. At the outset, Mr. Gold speaks of learning to use being attention, and of separating ourselves as voyagers from the voyage. He gives clues for the transformation of apparently ordinary events into macro-dimensional occurrences.
ToTM054 - 1986
Shamanism 101
Mr. Gold instructs students attending the 1986 Summer Intensive Workshop in strengthening the essential self's attention using a carefully selected amuletic stone to tangibly represent the source of attention. Included are comments on the nature of love and God and the role extreme attention plays in love-making. The latter part of the discussion deals with our tendency to lie to ourselves about our work and how we can overcome this insidious and ever-present barrier.
ToTM055 - 1988
The School of Reductionism Part 1
As the focus of the school moves toward the production, marketing and teaching of art, Mr. Gold outlines and defines the premise and goals fo the budding school of art--dubbed 'The School of Reductionism'--during a large gathering of the community. This new school of art, like any new artistic movement, will eventually need defending from critics and public alike, and thus must stand upon sound artistic aims and concepts. In this talk Mr. Gold conveys that the intention behind this new school is to create abstract iconographic works that delight the being, hopefully propelling the machine into the waking state. This awakening quality is based on the fact that the being loves the abstract while the machine loves the recognizable and figurative. Moving at a rapid pace, Mr. Gold touches on many of the why's and wherefore's of the art world and we are given a whirlwind art education.
ToTM056 - 1988
The School of Reductionism Part II
As the focus of the school moves toward the production, marketing and teaching of art, Mr. Gold outlines and defines the premise and goals fo the budding school of art--dubbed 'The School of Reductionism'--during a large gathering of the community. This new school of art, like any new artistic movement, will eventually need defending from critics and public alike, and thus must stand upon sound artistic aims and concepts. In this talk Mr. Gold conveys that the intention behind this new school is to create abstract iconographic works that delight the being, hopefully propelling the machine into the waking state. This awakening quality is based on the fact that the being loves the abstract while the machine loves the recognizable and figurative. Moving at a rapid pace, Mr. Gold touches on many of the why's and wherefore's of the art world and we are given a whirlwind art education.
ToTM057 - 1988
A Short History of History
Mr. Gold debunks the history books, telling history like it must have been. The real motivations of history's greatest figures; the real reasons behind history's great events. They were ordinary and unglamorous. Primates are primates. They haven't changed much since they climbed down from the trees.
ToTM058 - 1988
Kicking the Banana Habit
You can't change your identity by changing your life, but you can change your life by changing your identity. As long as we define ourselves as the primate with which we are identified, we cannot hope to become something greater than what we are. In this talk, given on Easter Day, 1987, Mr. Gold exposes our insidious addictions and compulsions for what they are. Only when we can refuse the offer of a 'banana', can we hope to become true voyagers in the macro-dimensions.
ToTM059 - 1988
Samurai Birthday Question; Gutai School Answer
A student asks a birthday question, inviting the attention of the teacher. . . On this occasion the question has to do with the relationship between dying to organic primate life and bringing the creation to life. During the course of Mr. Gold's answer in which he describes the problems of a newly-awakened creation, criticism is leveled at the student's motivation in asking an impertinent question. The talk culminates in an answer of real value to the student's present work, having to do with the source and purpose of Mr. Gold's art and the production of emitting work artifacts.
ToTM060 - 1988
Asleep on the Wheel
Are Buddhists barking up the wrong tree? How can the endless round of rebirths be broken? Mr. Gold has a simple explanation--a clear elaboration of the principles presented in The Human Biological Machine as a Transformational Apparatus.
ToTM061 - 1988
The Search for Significance
Did you ever wonder whether there really is a point to all this? Why bother to do anything? What for? The answer is really rather simple, but for the sake of not giving it away entirely, we shall be silent. Suffice it to say that if you have ever had the question, 'Just what is the point of life?' then this talk is a must read.
ToTM062 - 1988
Gaining a Foothold
Reading of Robbert's struggle with his 'sleeping machine' provides insight into the struggle with one's own 'sleeping machine'. There's nothing you haven't already heard in what he's saying and there's nothing especially new (to me, at least) about the way he says it. But, sometimes the most helpful thing of all, is listening to another present their version of the same thing you are struggling with. If you can find Robbert in the 'mist' of it all, you have a stronger chance of finding yourself in the 'mist' of it all (as they say in Newfoundland, where they don't need a foghorn to find their way back to the harbor on a foggy night).
ToTM063 - 1988
Why Are We Here? Part 1
In this, the first of a two part series, the question. 'Why are we here?' is put to Mr. Gold by a close pupil's father--a man with a chronic life-threatening illness. The result is a vision of the purpose for our eternally repeating cycle of lives. Life is discussed as an attitude correction mechanism with special emphasis on our relationship to the Absolute and how we can bring ourselves into the image of God, what Buddhahood is all about, why we should stop struggling against eternity and the inevitability of living the same life over and over again.
ToTM064 - 1988
Why Are We Here? Part 2
In this issue, the second conversation with Wes Jones, the group plunges into the question of 'Why?'--investigating such topics as the suffering of the Absolute, the secret method of the Zen Roshis, why we return again and again throughout eternity to the prison we call organic life and what we can hope for in the way of freedom from organic life.
ToTM065 - 1988
Riding to Bus on the Work
This talk is lots of fun and outlines how we borrow the will to work from the Work. We can work towards changing our eternal--and therefore unchangeable--situation borrowing will from the Work.
ToTM066 - 1988
A Vision of Science
When three theoretical scientists get together--what do they talk about? Things that aren't there, of course! This talk begins as a technical discussion of the brain's inability to handle the vast onslaught of information coming to it from the raw universe and how we reject a certain portion of the information that manages to reach the brain according to our culturally conditioned perceptual habits. The discussion continues through an examination of the attitudes of the scientific community during the past two thousand years; how almost all of the major contributions to our scientific understanding of the world were made in the face of outright resistance from the popular scientific beliefs of the day. Also discussed is why Newtonian physics are irrelevant from a higher dimensional point of view, how the human biological machine is an analogous instrument to and served as a model for the creation of our present computers, and how we can successfully struggle with the powerful drowning force of ordinary primate life in the quest for a meaningful life.
ToTM067 - 1988
A Question of Motivation
You can't change what is, but you can learn to like it. It's hard to motivate yourself to do something when you lack the motivation to motivate yourself. These and other issues are addressed in this talk, which doesn't answer any questions I have, but does tell me that I'm not alone in wondering about some of the things I wonder about. Besides answers--I never know if they're true or not. But finding out that I'm not the only one who is suspicious about something I'm suspicious about, is always encouraging.
ToTM068 - 1988
Between the Pulses -- Part 1
Among the difficulties one encounters when trying to communicate ideas, is that extremely simple ideas often require an extremely exact (hence complex and specialized) language to cummunicate them. I'd be tempted to advise someone reading this talk to "not allow yourself to succumb to the temptation of assuming that you are following the thread of the conversation simply because most of the words are familiar". However, I have no reason to believe that this advice is helpful, or even appropriate. If, after this, you are still interested in reading ToTM #68, it is a speculative tour de force by four physicists and one mathematician to construct a model of the universe.
ToTM069 - 1988
Between the Pulses -- Part 2
Among the difficulties one encounters when trying to communicate ideas, is that extremely simple ideas often require an extremely exact (hence complex and specialized) language to cummunicate them. I'd be tempted to advise someone reading this talk to "not allow yourself to succumb to the temptation of assuming that you are following the thread of the conversation simply because most of the words are familiar". However, I have no reason to believe that this advice is helpful, or even appropriate. If, after this, you are still interested in reading ToTM #68, it is a speculative tour de force by four physicists and one mathematician to construct a model of the universe.
ToTM070 - 1988
Destination: Patron Saint
This talk explores how painting in a school can be used as a means of locomotion through the labyrinth. Each painting already exists in the eternal, therefore, it is a matter of moving, through the application of oil paint on canvas, to the place where the painting is. Ordinarily, an artist produces art which corresponds to his or her repertoire of influences, but when a group of painters work together according to the instructions of Mr. Gold, who is himself responding to the needs of the school, movement for the entire school is made possible across what is playfully called in this talk, "The Awfully Big Map".
ToTM071 - 1988
Life in the Bardos
A tremendously valuable talk in conjunction with work with the American Book of the Dead. Bardo experiences and reactions to fear are discussed in detail as well as how one can use these perceptions deliberately to work with them now, while in the sleep state, to effect a real change in our otherwise fixed path through transit, a state in which we are helpless to do anything but follow what we have already set up during our lifetime. The reason why we should work on ourselves and the final outcome if we do succeed in completing our work is discussed at length in this very comprehensive, understandable and thoroughly heartening conversation between Mr. Gold and a visiting student.
ToTM072 - 1988
The Contamination Talk
In this comprehensive and important talk, Mr. Gold explains why one should seek to purify the organic machine not only for participation in invocational chambers, but to sensitize it to higher vibrational levels, as a shaman does. He also discusses the acquisition and propagation of work data cell colonies and poisoned lineage, and outlines simple but exacting rules of cleanliness to live by in order to bring the machine into alignment with a work aim. He explains why we, in our ordinary states, are like fifth to him and how we can come to be sensitive to the contaminating influences of others once we ourselves are cleaned up. This talk lays the groundwork for serious work and without these simple, pragmatic guidelines, so often overlooked in ordinary life, no real work is possible.
ToTM073 - 1988
The Power Question
In the face of students' inexactitude in formulating real essence questions, Mr. Gold supplies a "specimen check. " That is, an example of a question which he would recommend asking to as many spiritual teachers as possible. This simulation inspires--along with some trenchant satire of students' primate characteristics--a discussion of why the "power question" might be relevant to the condition of the Absolute. A brief demonstration is also incorporated--all in all striking a fitting new "doh" to complete this year's lively set of talks.
ToTM074 - 1989
One is the Onliest Number
For his birthday, Robbert asks why he can't keep his attention on track, as E. J. Gold has for over 25 years of productive work. E. J. leads him througha labyrinth of discourse regarding presence, the sentience of so-called objects, taking responsibility for one's work, high aesthetic, and finally, living with "a certain kind of intensity" that brings on high attention and burns off separation.
ToTM075 - 1989
Unity -- Part 1
In this expansive talk, E. J. Gold speaks about formation of higher bodies for the Work, merging onself with others in special configurations, and the conditions that promote this. Along the way he describes an unusual fusing circle seance, distinctions between larger and smaller morphologies, the need for coordination and unity for a work group to function, factors that prevent merging, cleansing radiations, the flash point for dissolving reflex barriers, and a 600-year program for a macro-body. As examples, E. J. cites the story "Four In One" (Damon Knight, see E. J. Gold's Guide to the Galaxy. . . , Volume 1), totem groupings with animal characteristics, several jokes, the gambling game Keno, and various examples of positive and negative attitudes towards unity.
ToTM076 - 1989
Unity -- Part 2
In this expansive talk, E. J. Gold speaks about formation of higher bodies for the Work, merging oneself with others in special configurations, and the conditions that promote this. Along the way he describes an unusual fusing circle seance, distinctions between larger and smaller morphologies, the need for coordination and unity for a work group to function, factors that prevent merging, cleansing radiations, the flash point for dissolving reflex barriers, and a 600-year program for a macro- body. As examples, E. J. cites the story "Four In One" (Damon Knight, see E. J. Gold's Guide to the Galaxy. . . , Volume 1), totem groupings with animal characteristics, several jokes, the gambling game Keno, and various examples of positive and negative attitudes towards unity.
ToTM077 - 1989
A New Kind of Happiness
Lee Perry of Samadhi Tank Company asks the question "How can I best serve your work?" In response, Mr. Gold reviews the jobs that various community members are doing and distinguishes between serving the community and serving his work. The discussion focusses on the flotation tank business and the prime importance of the Man on the Cross teaching. Lee is given an open doorway by Mr. Gold's suggestioins and hints on use of the tank in a program of service to the Absolute. He gives a very strong formulation on the "new kind of happiness" associated with actually doing the Work.
ToTM078 - 1989
Knock and It Shall Be Opened
Kelly, an artist and an actress well-known for her role as The Lord in the Creation Story Verbatim play asks a series of questions focussing on commitment and discipline. Mr. Gold engages in a brisk dialogue with her, answers in various ways, demonstrates the use of an oracle (the Morgan Taro), and guides Kelly into stating a vow for her work. This talk is an illuminating example of teacher/student interaction. "How are you going to learn how to work? All the theory comes as you actually, work, the way I teach. . . . "
ToTM079 - 1989
Views of Renunciant Life
A long-time Franciscan friar who holds a supervisory post, an old friend of Bill de Groot, visits the Institute and shares information on monastic lifestyle and principles. Similarities in practice with our community include approaches to prayer and meditation, employment and livelihood issues, practices of initiation, teaching, and service to God and others. The group raises a rich variety of questions, touching on art and truffling as spiritual practices, applied humility, and the suffering of the Absolute.
ToTM080 - 1989
Waging Work -- Part 1
In this long talk, edited from the 3-tape recroded set, Mr. Gold guides Dick Hart tyhrough an extended inquiry that touches on issues crucial to all who wish to use their work to enter the Work. Dick's initial question is how he can work with the intention of benefit for all beings everywhere. Part One includes a discussion of Buddhist "right action" with a secret formula for it, discussion of wave technology, a mantram for the waking state, a preview of death as a lover, and more.
ToTM081 - 1989
Waging Work -- Part 2
Part Two continues the discussion of using attention and presence, working to permanentize or actualize potentiality, exercises of the being, going to the basic building blocks of attention (as Isadora Duncan did with dance, Bartok with music), the Acarya teaching method, and so on. This is an indispensible talk for serious students and workers.
ToTM082 - 1989
Provoking Being Attention
On the occasion of a movements workshop, with Claudio Naranjo and a visiting Sufi teacher from Spain present, E. J. Gold lays the foundation for appropriate use of the movements. He gives an extensive introduction on the Gurdjieff movements tradition and how it has been distorted. Mr. Gold poses the question, "What can we do that will both arouse the being's attention and disarm the machine's attention?" The search for an answer brings out some cogent examples, interesting contributions from Claudio Naranjo and others in the workshop, and several formulations that are indispensible for survival--of the essential self, that is.
ToTM083 - 1989
The Prize / Temporal Dimensions
Two fragments are presented here as examples of non-formal impromptu talks of E. J. Gold. "The Prize" addresses fate and DNA repetitions in our lives, the primate games that steal work energy, and Mr. Gold's perspective on individuals' secrets. "Temporal Dimension," the longer piece of the two, is a transmission given to several students regarding the perceptions and sensations of upscaling to a fourth and a fifth spatial dimension. A clear distinction is made between adding a spatial dimension and calling time "the fourth dimension. " An example from music is cited. Mr. Gold makes another distinction, between "lateral" and "totemic" movement--within and across dimensions--and comments on attaining the top of the totem, or the "first cause. "
ToTM084 - 1989
Washing Societies
This talk arose from a demonstration by Mr. Gold of the traditional way of preparing a body for burial, in which students acted as members of the "washing society" under his direction. Mr. Gold describes some of the Sumerian and Egyptian practices relating to this process, including the embalming practices, the origins of ritual washing, use of oils and tree resins, how they are applied to the body, and so on. He emphasizes the special nature of the actions of all participants and the use of these practices not only for burial but also for the preparation of a shaman's body for the journey to and from the macrodimensions. Several very esoteric elements of the shaman's work are revealed by the end of this talk.
ToTM085 - 1989
Transformation and the Human Potential Movement
Edited transcript of a workshop given by E. J. Gold and Claudio Naranjo in Berkeley, California, April 11, 1987, sponsored by the Melia Foundation. Claudio invited E. J. to join him for a presentation in which one would take a pro and the other a con position on the much-touted human potential movement. E. J. accepted the invitation from his old and respected friend (guess who took pro, who con). The workshop took place on a crisp spring day in Berkeley at a slightly-seedy, wood-frame Berkeley church. The audience was small, due to minimal publicity and other reasons, but enthusiastic for the topic. The discussion quickly heated up to a friendly but emphatic controversy, punctuated by anecdotes and jokes. The talk in ToTM includes instructions for exercises demonstrated at the workshop, including a clear set of instructions for the very potent "I am Here" practice which has been tested extensively by Mr. Gold and released for use by any circle of people.
ToTM086 - 1990
The Bullet-Proof King: Approaches to Immortality -- Part 1
This classic talk dates from 1982 at the Institute's Meadow Vista facility, before ToTM came into being. E. J. Gold presents a wealth of data on the ancient customs surrounding the divinity of the Egyptian pharaohs and other kings. Burial customers, use of incense and oils, women's and men's roles, the Egyptian priesthood, Gurdjieff's origins and background, and so on. Other participants with travel experience and varied backgrounds, including Baruch Bar Meir, Jerry Berman and Menlo Macfarlane, provide insights on Arab and other cultures. Mr. Gold give a capsule version of some of the key ideas regardin the Man on the Cross in relation to the Absolute, and he sorts out very clearly the real uses of immortality and life extension in relation to the Work.
ToTM087 - 1990
The Bullet-Proof King: Approaches to Immortality -- Part 2
This classic talk dates from 1982 at the Institute's Meadow Vista facility, before ToTM came into being. E. J. Gold presents a wealth of data on the ancient customs surrounding the divinity of the Egyptian pharaohs and other kings. Burial customs, use of incense and oils, women's and men's roles, the Egyptian priesthood. Gurdjieff's origins and background, and so on. Other participants with travel experience and varied backgrounds, including Baruch Bar Meir, Jerry Berman and Menlo Macfarlane, provide insights on Arab and other cultures. Mr. Gold give a capsule version of some of the key ideas regarding the Man on the Cross in relation to the Absolute, and he sorts out very clearly the real uses of immortality and life extension in relation to the Work.
ToTM088 - 1990
The Medicine Ball Talk
David Franco asks a birthday question on how to surrender. He reaps the benefit of an extended answer regarding wrong struggles, working in the face of indifference, the significance of emotional states, work will and discipline, identifying the waking state. The crucial formulation presented is the paradigm of the Work (a modern myth or parable) as a circle of 30 people in a sealed chamber taking turns holding a medicine ball--filled with 150 pounds of nitroglycerine. What happens when you can't hold the ball any longer, your turn is over--but the other 29 people are all asleep? Mr. Gold also presents the short form version of the Work: "Get it?" "Got it. " "Good!"
ToTM089 - 1990
The Orchid Which Blooms only when the Moon is Full
In this poetic talk, E. J. Gold begins with a commentary on Death as a guide, as distinguished from the doctors "who so plagued the incomparable Baron von Munchausen during his long career, which is delightfully portrayed in the movie, The Adventures of Baron von Munchausen. He goes on to talk of voluntary awakening and posts in the Work like that of Man on the Cross. Mr. Gold concentrates on attention habits that confine us to the human sector, and in contrast, conditions that nurture the essence and self-initiation. "Mutate with the flux. " He uses the art of bonsai as an analog to the human, ending with a description of a rare and beautiful orchid that blooms in lunar, rather than solar, radiations. He designates finding such an orchid in a macrodimensional chamber and nurturing it as a task vital to the functioning of the school.
ToTM090 - 1990
My Life as a Plant
This talk presents the correspondences between our work and the care and cultivation of plants. It is Claire's birthday, and she sits at the table despite the pain of terminal cancer. Mr. Gold has her select a bonsai tree as a birthday gift, and he goes over preparation for dying with her, handling several unfinished items of business with her. He discourses on the Three Great Laws (as cosmic gag writers), matter and energy, the Garden in Taoist and Zen traditions, plasma and plasma states, especially "going plasma" versus "masturbating" as a use for sex. In a rare moment, E. J. reviews in capsule the work of students sitting at the table. However, the highlight of this rich and varied evening is E. J. 's unforgettable demonstration with the group of what the Clear Light is, in answer to Claire's birthday question.
ToTM091 - 1990
Learning to Do / Plasma at the Speed of Light
These two short talks are brief and to the point. In the plasma discussion, Mr. Gold speaks about conditions of evolution, superstition in spiritism (leading to the blintz story), and finally the key importance of seeking out the plasma state in order to do anything in this work--such as exceeding the speed of light and building a trans-space transport. "Learning to Do " contrasts "doing" with "trying," recommends the game "Concentration," touches on school discipline, teamwork, a good passing for Claire, and lastly the punchline--the work that needs to be done and how to do it.
ToTM092 - 1990
Voyaging Through Sound and Music
This talk is the "keynote address" for the Union Label recording studio. At the IDHHB Convention, September 1, 1990, at the Sacramento Inn, E. J. Gold arrived after several days of recording with visiting musicians. With Jimmi Accardi's help, he fills in the rich background of his own musical career, describes the difference between his music and the mainstream, specifies the voyaging exercise that can be done with the music. E. J. goes on to answer a visiting student's question regarding the waking state with a clear formulation of how "the job produces the consciousness, not the consciousness the job. " In this talk, jazz and transformational sound are strongly distinguished from the stylish and commercially-tailored products. The talk is filled with anecdotes of Herbie Hancock, Cecil Taylor and other jazzmen, Jackson Pollock and Franz Kline, Miriam Makeba, the Laughing Dogs, Zaphod and the New Harmonics--plus recording studio stories and comments elicited from the group.
ToTM093 - 1990
Gambling on the Work -- Part 1
Elijah, a visiting rabbi and Kabbalist, questions E. J. Gold and enters into discourse with him. E. J. elicits Elijah's perspective on the Kabbalah, on ritual and tradition, on channeling, invocation and other issues. The group discusses magical tools, the infinite monkeys with typewriters story, faith and belief, Lover and Beloved. A Salvador Dali story brings out a kabbalistic interpretation by Elijah, who answers E. J. 's question on how he can trust his 1st thought by saying "I'm taking a gamble. "
ToTM094 - 1990
Gambling on the Work -- Part 2
Part One leads in Part Two to an extensive initiation into the principles of gambling by E. J. with help from veterans Menlo, Parker, Claude and others. This is the most detailed discussion of gambling--and its invocational use--anywhere in IDHHB literature. Highly recommended before you visit Las Vegas, Monte Carlo or Atlantic City casinos. And before you take on the odds related to entering any spiritual path leading to the Work.
ToTM095 - 1990
Pir Al-Washi's Bardo Preview
Previously unpublished archival talk, a lecture given at the L. A. East-West Center in 1975. Pir Al-Washi (aka E. J. Gold) speaks at length about intensive training being offered as a 30-day hermitage. He also describes some of what Reschad Feild--who due to illness sent a printed piece to be read this evening--is offering as well. Pir Al-Washi describes the conditions for this training and its purposes, going beyond the human experiences, going from emotions to feeling, sensation to sensing, from mind to knowing. A question and answer segment with the audience is transcribed, and a special treat is the introductory story in which Pir tells how he received his Arabic name, how he found one "man of knowledge" in New York City and how he learned from him--all by way of expressing the continuity of the ancient schools, right into the present moment.
ToTM096 - 1990
Taking the First Step -- Part 1
This archival talk was recorded in 1975 at the Buddhist Meditation Center in Los Angeles, introduced by teacher Thich Thien-An. Pir Al-Washi (aka E. J. Gold) speaks of the shift of knowledge to the West, preparation for dying, "transit" states between lives, the ultimate unity of teachings and schools, the no-mind or non-human mind state. Pir gives good reasons for giving up or transcending the human mind and mental processes, and invites the audience to participate in training that is available. This talk is an eye-opener for novices, a good reminder to any reader of why it is that we need to stop thinking and start doing something to make the lifetime worthwhile. Thien-An's comments as a Buddhist are appended, as well as three pages of the question and answer session which gives a rare view of Al-Washi / Gold responding to a public audience and their concerns.
ToTM097 - 1990
Taking the First Step -- Part 2
This archival talk was recorded in 1975 at the Buddhist Meditation Center in Los Angeles, introduced by teacher Thich Thien-An. Pir Al-Washi (aka E. J. Gold) speaks of the shift of knowledge of the West, preparation for dying, "transit" states between lives, the ultimate unity of teachings and schools, the no-mind or non-human mind state. Pir gives good reasons for giving up or transcending the human mind and mental processes, and invites the audience to participate in training that is availab. e This talk is an eye-opener for novices, a good reminder to any reader of why it is that we need to stop thinking and start doing something to make the lifetime worthwhile. Thien-An's comments as a Buddhist are appended, as well as three pages of the question and answer session which gives a rare view of Al-Washi / Gold responding to a public audience and their concerns.
ToTM100 - 1991
Talk of the Decade
The sensational first time of a new ToTM octave, "Talk of the Decade" consists of a series of insider interviews with IDHHB staff which E. J. Gold assigned Jimmi Accardi, a musician and sound editing professional, to do. Jimmi asks each person "What of value have you been doing for the past 10 years at the Institute?" and other set questions, with highly revealing results, laying bare the opinions and outlooks, if not the hearts and souls, of some of the Institute's renunciant staff. The original "Talk of the Decade" arrived with an original serigraphed cover which was offered in a limited edition just large enough to ensure copies for 1991 subscribers. For those ordering the 1991 back issue set, the "Talk of the Decade" is delivered with a zeroxed cover.
ToTM098 - 1991
Infinity: The Unspeakable Sacrifice -- Part 1
This is a talk given by E. J. Gold February 14, 1975, in Crestline, California, then headquarters of The Institue. This talk was published in the 1991 series because of the extreme importance of the information, related to the Man on the Cross material. Mr. Gold speaks candidly of choosing rebirth, of serving as a guide to others, and of "essence duty. " He goes on to reveal highly esoteric information about the "Sacrifice of Infinity" which has always been the obligation of humans. He discusses why it is done, the difficulties involved, and the decline of humanity's ability to fulfill the obligation. Mr. Gold covers esoteric views of existence and nonexistence, time and infinity, heart and mind, psychosis and mysticism. This talk answers some of the deepest questions you may have about life on earth. The bad news is, the answers are profoundly disturbing and could radically change your life. This talk is too crucial to excerpt or quote, too truthful to remain buried in archives, too candid to ever become a popularly accepted view. For the serious seeker and the already committed professional in the Work, the information is indispensible. In the ToTM catalog, this talk is unique in tone, but it is related to The Suffering of God (#49), The Medicine Ball Talk (#88), and Betrayal and Resurrection (#40).
ToTM099 - 1991
Infinity: The Unspeakable Sacrifice -- Part 2
This is a talk given by E. J. Gold February 14, 1975, in Crestline, California, then headquarters of The Institute. This talk was published in the 1991 series because of the extreme importance of the information, related to the Man on the Cross material. Mr. Gold speaks candidly of choosing rebirth, of serving as a guide to others, and of "essence duty. " He goes on to reveal highly esoteric information about the "Sacrifice of Infinity" which has always been the obligation of humans. He discusses why it is done, the difficulties involved, and the decline of humanity's ability to fulfill the obligation. Mr. Gold covers esoteric views of existence and nonexistence, time and infinity, heart and mind, psychosis and mysticism. This talk answers some of the deepest questions you may have about life on earth. The bad news is, the answers are profoundly disturbing and could radically change your life. This talk is too crucial to excerpt or quote, too truthful to remain buried in archives, too candid to ever become a popularly accepted view. For the serious seeker and the already committed professional in the Work, the information is indispensible. In the ToTM catalog, this talk is unique in tone, but it is realted to The Suffering of God (#49), The Medicine Ball Talk (#88), and Betrayal and Resurrection (#40).