From: gus@gwi.net (Gus Alden)
Subject: Re: GVI Re:Graham's response to Robert's private request


David P writes:

>We haven't learned to feel God's presence in daily
>life so we run off and do special witnessing conditions somewhere else. We
>feel inspired because we have 'done' something, our consciences can rest
>easy because we're 'united with the providence'. But deep inside there is
>still emptiness that activities cannot fill.


Yes, and the most effective way to strip one's self of all those illusions
about what's needed to conjure up a sense of being in God's presence, is to
simply distance one's self from the church and be devoted to doing
absolutely nothing for a substantial time-period, with perhaps an extended
time-period (or two) tacked on to the end of it.

If I were in the business of handing out advice, I'd recommend a time
atleast equal to that spent devoted to church activities, but I'm not. So
don't mistake my meaning. It can be an extremely trying even traumatic
experience, this leap of faith I'm speaking of. I don't recommend it to
anyone.

The anxiety level raised by such action could well be tantamount to a
tornado of terror and self-condemnation. It'll be left for for the lonely
sojourner to discern whether or not this is God's way of kicking butt, or
simply a stockpile of useless delusions being stirred up from the grave of
one's consciousness..

I can only speak for myself, that when the storm subsided, God appeared.
And God was cool. Very very cool. And God has been this very cool
presence in my life ever since.

Gus Alden





From: David PERRY
Subject: GVI The Fine Art of Doing Nothing (was Re:Graham's response to
Robert's private request)
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Guru Gus just hit another home run:

>Yes, and the most effective way to strip one's self of all those illusions
>about what's needed to conjure up a sense of being in God's presence, is to
>simply distance one's self from the church and be devoted to doing
>absolutely nothing for a substantial time-period, with perhaps an extended
>time-period (or two) tacked on to the end of it.
>
>If I were in the business of handing out advice, I'd recommend a time
>atleast equal to that spent devoted to church activities, but I'm not. So
>don't mistake my meaning. It can be an extremely trying even traumatic
>experience, this leap of faith I'm speaking of. I don't recommend it to
>anyone.
>
>The anxiety level raised by such action could well be tantamount to a
>tornado of terror and self-condemnation. It'll be left for for the lonely
>sojourner to discern whether or not this is God's way of kicking butt, or
>simply a stockpile of useless delusions being stirred up from the grave of
>one's consciousness..
>
>I can only speak for myself, that when the storm subsided, God appeared.
>And God was cool. Very very cool. And God has been this very cool
>presence in my life ever since.
>
>Gus Alden

Ah, Gus, you are so right. The fine art of doing nothing in not 'in' yet.
It's not appreciated. Nothing strikes more terror into the hearts of moonies
everywhere than the thought of not having something to do. After all those
years of non-stop activity that were the gauge of our value, we can't
imagine doing nothing.

Pascal 'I think, therefore I am.'
Typical moonie, 'I do, therefore I am. If I do nothing, I am not.'

This is one reason why members refuse to break free of 40 day conditions,
new campaigns, emergency periods, etc. Even if we don't like these things or
don't agree with the goal, they give us something to do! 'I have done
something, I have contributed to the Providence. God has a condition to
work
in my life.' (I know this sounds extreme, but our movement is sooooooo out
of balance. Rather than a balance between whole and individual purpose,
our
focus is whole purpose only.)

One of my gurus, Thomas Merton, in his book 'No Man Is An Island' said
the
following:

"Our being is not to be enriched merely by activity or experience as
such. Everything depends on the QUALITY of our acts and our experiences.
A multitude of badly performed actions and of experiences only half-lived
exhausts and depletes our being. By doing things badly we make ourselves
less real. This growing unreality cannot help but make us unhappy and fill
us with a sense of guilt. But the purity of our conscience has a natural
proportion with the depth of our being and the quality of our acts: and when
our activity is habitually disordered, our malformed conscience can think of
nothing better to tell us than to multiply the QUANTITY of our acts, without
perfecting their quality. And so we go from bad to worse, exhaust ourselves,
empty our whole life of all content, and fall into despair."
"There are times, then when in order to keep ourselves in existence
at all we simply have to sit back for a while and do nothing. And for a man
who has let himself be drawn completely out of himself by his activity,
nothing is more difficult than to sit still and rest, doing nothing at all.
The very act of resting is the hardest and most courageous act he can
perform: and often it is quite beyond his power."

Thomas Merton, 'No Man Is An Island', I highly recommend it.

David P


Date: Fri, 30 May 1997 14:14:25 -0500
To: global-village-inn@kids.geo.ukans.edu
From: gus@gwi.net (Gus Alden)
Subject: Re: GVI The Fine Art of Doing Nothing (was Re:Graham's response
to Robert's
private request)
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Gus to David:

>Ah, Gus, you are so right. The fine art of doing nothing in not 'in' yet.
>It's not appreciated. Nothing strikes more terror into the hearts of moonies
>everywhere than the thought of not having something to do. After all those
>years of non-stop activity that were the gauge of our value, we can't
>imagine doing nothing.

Well, one simple observation made by me over the course of 15 years
enabled me to once and for all make the traumatic transition from a zealous
-DoGooder- to a devoted -NoGoodForNothing-, and it was this.... That
inspite of all my -DoGooding- (and everyone else's) I couln't find that
there was nearly enough goodness getting accomplished to rationalize all
the long years of extreme -DoGoodism-. And so, by simple deductive
reasoning, I figured that as long as next to nothing was getting done
anyway, that I might as well devote myself to a religion of
-DoNothingnesss-. And so I made the turnaround to a life of
-DoingNothingThankYouVeryMuch-.

Ironic it is that in 5 years of doing nothing, I've accomplished far more,
far far more, than I did in the 15 years devoted to doing.

Now, it could be argued, and I would tend to agree, that the 15 of
-SupposedlyDoingSomethingImportant- were the foundation for what came
after. However, if I were in the business off offering advice (but I'm
not) I would tell anyone who asked that they would be wise to quickly get
the years of -DoingAllKindsOfGoodStuff- behind them and get down to the
business of -DoingNothingAtAll- as soon as possible.

I would suggest that anyone with any sense of self-dignity at all would be
wise to limit the UC course of obedience to a Central Figure to 3 years.
There are some perhaps who could benefit from up to 7 years of it, but in
most cases,
I think, 3 years of it would prove to be more than sufficient to get the
old monkey off the back.

Gus Alden


Subject: Re: GVI The Fine Art of Doing Nothing
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Graham to Gus,

>Ironic it is that in 5 years of doing nothing, I've accomplished far more,
>far far more, than I did in the 15 years devoted to doing.

Gus is the True Guru. We are unworthy to fasten the velcro on his Nikes.
Peace be upon him.

>Now, it could be argued, and I would tend to agree, that the 15 of
>-SupposedlyDoingSomethingImportant- were the foundation for what came
>after.

Just like Buddha.

I too find that I can accomplish far more by doing nothing, just as Lao Tzu,
Buddha and Gus -- the three great sages of the Orient* -- have suggested.

"Who is this man who dares to do nothing," people ask themselves. They
want
to find out what wisdom lies behind such flagrant inactivity. They come in
droves to drink from the sacred fount of inertia. It feels so good to be
able to help for once.

"I fought alone against a myriad of evil forces and, finally, I discovered
nothing," I tell them all. I hand them each a pendant with Gus' picture and
a blank business card. "Go and do thou likewise," I say. If they seek
further counsel, I tell them, "Study the scriptures, but read only between
the lines, for that is where the nothingness lies. All else is commentary."
This cult of nothingness could really take off. Let's hire a PR firm and
buy some real estate.

Graham

*The Orient: Anything East of the Mississippi

"There was no news for eight weeks. Then, suddenly. . .nothing happened.
But, it happened suddenly."
Spike Milligan

"Don't mourn for me now
Don't mourn for me never
I'm gonna do nothing
For ever and ever"
British gravestone




Date: Sat, 31 May 1997 22:31:39 -0500
To: global-village-inn@kids.geo.ukans.edu
From: gus@gwi.net (Gus Alden)
Subject: Re: GVI Korean psychology
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Reply-To: global-village-inn@kids.geo.ukans.edu

> Just chuck it and meditate on the teachings of Gus? Maybe I'll give
>it a try.

Ahem

I'm not in the business of handing out advice, but if I were, I'd tell you
that Guru Gus's teachings are not designed to be meditated upon, but
rather, one should have nothing to do with them. That's the best way to
understand there deepest meaning.

Guru Gus



From: gus@gwi.net (Gus Alden)
Subject: RE: The Sound of One Hand Clapping (was: GVI Korean
psychology)
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Ron asks:

>What IS the sound of one hand clapping ... ???

Well, it really does depend on your religion, I think, how and when that
sound is going to be heard, but according to Gussism, it's the sound one
hears after you've gotten past pile after pile of bullsh*t. It's the sound
of salty air coming in off the Atlantic. The sound of leaves rustling in
the wind. the sound of a whip-or-will at 5:00 AM. the sound of two hearts
beating in polyrythmic oneness. the sound of a train in the distance. the
sound of conversations drifting in from other rooms whilst half asleep.
It's the sound of children laughing in the park. the sound of church
bells on Sunday morning. the sound of a kiss at 2:00 AM and the sound of
loons on a lake. the sound of paddles cutting water, the sound of an
inquiring hooting owl, the haunting sound of a fog horn.......

Guru that I am, I could go on and on, but to cut to the chase, it's the
sound one hears when God has nothing more to say.

Guru Gus

PS
Do not follow me.
Heed not my words.
I am nothing and believe in nothing.