Edgar and George's experiences and beliefs

 Edgar Cayce and George Gurdjieff are both considered mystics. These mystics both experienced different things and believed differently. Edgar Cayce’s Experiences are based on his beliefs. Edgar believes in the Word of God, the Bible, and a life dedicated to God. After Edgar Discovered his faith and love for God, around the ages of 10 to 12. At 13, He Experienced a woman approaching him while he was reading the Bible in the woods. In Edgar's Biography, “There Is a River” by Thomas Sugrue (2015), the woman is described to have had a music-like voice and something on her back shaped like wings, “Her voice was soft and very clear; it reminded him of music” … “Then he saw that there was something on her back something that made shadows behind her that were shaped like wings” (p.45). That was not the only time that woman visited him; the next day, she spoke to him again while Edgar struggled with lessons.  During the second visit, the woman said, “’ If you can sleep a little, we can help you.’” (Sugrue, 2015, p 48). This resulted in Edgar knowing all that was in the book he had just slept on, and he never lost this ability. Edgar had one more significant experience that started his legacy. Edgar had this experience later in his mid-20s. Edgar had gotten sick and lost his voice and was unable to talk for about a year. He and his family tried everything, even hypnotism, to get his voice back. The hypnotism did not work for the few times he had gone under. After two different hypnotists failed to heal his throat, Sugrue, the author of “There Is A River” (2015), talks about how Layne, the only hypnotist left in Hopkinsville, felt that Edgar should be less controlled during the session and that is why the other hypnosis session was not working. With some opposition from his family, Edgar went through a session with Layne; this time, Edgar and Layne discussed how the session needed to take place, and this session was ultimately successful. During the session, Layne spoke to Edgar and told him to see his body while he slept. When Edgar started to speak, he described why his body couldn’t speak in its normal state and that his problem had to be cured while his body was sleeping; so Layne said, “‘The circulation on +the affected parts will now increase’ … ‘and the condition will be removed’” (Sugrue, 2015, p121). As soon as Edgar awakened from the hypnosis, his voice was cured. According to Edgar Cayce A.R.E., this was historically known as his first-ever reading.  The origin of these readings is relatively unknown. When Edgar is asked here where he believes his reading came from, he has two answers. According to Edgar Cayce A.R.C., Akashic records, “The first was the subconscious mind of the individual for whom he was the reading and the second was the Akashic Records.”

George Gurdjieff’s Belief is based on his experiences. George had experiences with different cultures, beliefs, and ways of life, starting early in his life and ending after his travels. These experiences George had played a part in his belief in the stages of consciousness. According to Seymour, there are five stages of consciousness. Starting at 0, the most forgotten stage is "Coma," which is complete unconsciousness. The next step is "Sleep," or waking sleep, stage 1, when someone is sleeping and where dreaming occurs. After sleep, there is relative consciousness, which is the state that an average human experiences throughout the day. The last two stages are not usually maintained if they are ever experienced. The third state is "Self-consciousness," which is when you are aware of yourself and your surroundings. The last stage cannot be explained in words. It is a stage that can only be experienced. This stage is called objective consciousness; people also know it as Enlightenment. When someone has reached objective consciousness, they have, in turn, come to a complete self-understanding. As stated in “Gurdjieff Unveiled: An Overview and Introduction to Gurdjieff’s Teaching,” “How can we understand one another while we are in such a state? Obviously, we do not really understand one another and no one even understands him or herself, because no one knows him or herself.” (Ginsburg, 2005) This means that a person who has not reached objective consciousness can fully understand or connect with others. George views the people who are in the second stage as still asleep. He believes humans are never truly awake because stage two is just sleepwalking. As stated in “Gurdjieff Unveiled: An Overview and Introduction to Gurdjieff’s Teaching” By Seymour B Ginsburg (2005), “The second is the state that follows the moment when we 'wake up' in the morning. This state is called 'waking consciousness,' though in truth it is only a state of 'waking sleep' since our dreams continue during the day, but we are not aware of this.” These beliefs led to the creation of George’s teaching, The Work or The Fourth Way. 

To conclude, Edgar and George's experiences are connected in some way to their beliefs. Edgar and George had something in common: no matter the person, they can be connected via the subconscious mind. But they differed in where the root of the connection comes from.  

 

References

“Akashic Records Edgar Cayce’s A.R.E.” Edgar Cayce’s A.R.E., 19 July 2023, edgarcayce.org/edgar-cayce/readings/akashic-records/.

Ginsburg, Seymour B. Gurdjieff Unveiled: An Overview and Introduction to Gurdjieff’s Teaching. Lighthouse Workbooks, 2005

 Life Edgar Cayce’s A.R.E. (2023, December 18). Edgar Cayce’s A.R.E. https://edgarcayce.org/edgar-cayce/life/

Sugrue, T. (2015). There is a river: The story of Edgar Cayce. TarcherPerigee.