Insightful observations of the mind January 1, 1999

Reviewer: bking66@aol.com from pennsylvania, U.S.A. 
For those individuals who always find themselves drawn to new insights and revelations about themselves, this book will be a real gem. In very unpretentious manner, this author invites the reader to consider a form of psychology that he has developed quite unlike our modern psychology model, but rather seems to invite the reader to observe relationships in the mind first hand through a form of meditation or vigil which watches how one's "head" operates throughout the day. The author offers lots of very practical and quite intuitive advise, and even challenges modern psychology and many religions as to their approaches to why people behave the way they do. Also, the picture on the bookcover depicts a statue of a man chiseling himself from a block of stone! This theme and the self-observation techniques remind one of G.I. Gurdjieff, Ouspensky, Maurice Nicoll, etc but are specifically very different and apparently original. This book needs to be re-read and studied. Due to its insightful and provocative nature, it's at the top of my all-time favorite book list 

Rose is a Treasure July 14, 1999

Reviewer: A reader from Minnesota 
From the introduction: "And the robot forgot his curiosity about his Designer, and projected phantoms of false hope, and monsters of desire. And darkness was projected as light." Whenever I hear of a suicide, I'm saddened; had that victim only known, while walking through the shadow of the mountain, that just beyond is the instant of Vision. Opportunities to benefit greatly are not common in life. This American human being has focussed in every word, caring, careful study, and rare experience. This slim volume approaches an ageless dilemma from a fresh and timely perspective. Its third section, "The Practical Approach", comprises 22 pages of intense helpfulness. "Do not ignore the forces of adversity.... Be concerned chiefly with identifying their effects for the time being, and in circumventing such effects.... The solution shall always remain paradoxical." I've owned this book for years and reread it frequently. As I gain experience, it gains wisdom. Like Ouspensky, Rose is a treasure. 

Viewing the mind from outside the mind July 29, 1999

Reviewer: Art Ticknor (Selfinq@aol.com) from Moundsville, WV 
When we reach the point of determination, either through inspiration or disillusionment, to "First know thyself," we're faced with the great challenge: How??? I believe there are two basic approaches to this objective which have been laid out for our times: the quietistic teaching of Ramana Maharshi and the forcefully direct teaching of Richard Rose. Neither can do more than point the way for us to make our own journey, but both point to the same thing: Zen in its purest form, the awareness beyond thought. One does it in terms of dhyana, or subsidence into mental nonactivity; the other in terms of ch'an, or nonaction through action.
You can get a feeling for both approaches from "Profound Writings, East & West" which is also published by the TAT Book Service. Then if you're drawn to explore the second approach, you'll want to study "The Psychology of the Observer." It would help to read and absorb some of Rose's other writings first, particularly "The Albigen Papers," the "Meditation" booklet, and "Energy Transmutation." Let's assume you've done this, or that you feel impelled to jump directly into this book. What will you find?

The first half of the book is titled Psychological Directions. Rose begins by discounting the trend of modern psychology, which is to ignore anything that can't be reduced to physical observation. And here Rose lays out the first guideline for self-definition: "We are not that which is seen. We are basically the observer. In matters of self-observation the view must never be construed as the viewer.... This is where all psychologists miss the point in the business of evaluating the mind. Even if they admit that there is a separateness, or entity called the mind, their view of that mind is with the mind. Through the ages only the mystic was able to come up with an answer as to the real nature of the mind. We might even say that the untutored LSD addict may have a clearer view of the nature of the mind which we ordinarily believe, or accept as being our thinking process, - because he gets a glimpse from beyond our conventional thinking processes and limited sensory input. Candy cannot be described in terms of candy. All definition requires a description or reference to things which a thing is not. The mind must be viewed from outside the mind."

So there you have it. But how do you go about finding such a view? Proceeding from an analysis of Delusion, to Self-Delusion, and then to Defining the Self, Rose lays the groundwork for a description of the structure of the mind - not for the purpose of giving you something to believe but as a roadmap for letting you know that you're not the first person to make the trip, and that there are recognizable mileposts along the way. Each of these entails the observer's jumping to a more encompassing view of the mind's workings, which occurs through a process of triangulation of opposites. Rose states that this progression is the same for everyone's journey to enlightenment, and his testimony is that it is not an endless trip with an infinite number of steps. If fact he diagrams the trip, which is synonymous with the structure of the mind, as a series of three interlocking triangles, and he labels the diagram Jacob's Ladder. When you come to this, I think you'll agree that the analogy to the biblical reference (to Jacob's dream in the book of Genesis) is staggering in its simple brilliance. And if your response is like mine, reading this material will produce shivers of joy in your neurological system.

The second section of the book is a reprise of the above information in the form of a public lecture. Here Rose was aiming at direct communication with other minds, in a give-and-take format not possible in writing. This approach will give your mind new data points for understanding the material, and here Rose broaches the subject of Method: "We have talked about a system of meditation that is like holding a mirror up to the mind, which leads to a state of being in which there seems to be no mind or mirror, no separateness and no comparison. And perhaps for some this wilil seem like a workable system, and some will try to save themselves the trip involved in the system by announcing that they believe everything that I have said. They may go about quoting me, and other authors on the subjects of enlightenment and Zen... [but] Zen is not a doctrine or a philosophy, but a way of life aimed at finding an explanation for that life, and should never be anything that is offered as an explanation of life alone. Our purpose is to find, and then to explain. My purpose here is not even to tempt you with ideas of that which you may find. I outline the trip because I feel that the individual is entitled to some type of roadmap of the 'Way,' from someone who has made the trip and then decides to open his mouth up widely and announce that the trip has a golden objective. My purpose is not to extol Zen or any special system. My purpose is to outline a system which will prove itself as it goes along, and which will reward us at any point along the line, by finding for us a more disciplined and skillful mind. And a mind that is more aware of itself."

In the thrid and final section of the book, Rose pursues the above objective by outlining The Practical Approach. Like his other writings, The Psychology of the Observer is never prescriptive, telling you what you should do, what buttons to push, and so forth. But this last section does provide an approach for bringing the mind under control. The method is "easy to understand and easy to put into practice," as Lao-Tse said in the Tao Te Ching, "yet you will never grasp [it], and if you try to practice [it], you will fail... My teachings are older than the world. How can you grasps their meaning?... If you want to know me, look inside your heart."

This is a handbook for the advanced student, a book that the author said could take a seeker all the way without a teacher. 

A quarter-inch-thick book about Ultimate reality. July 29, 1999

Reviewer: David Weimer (dwweimer@aol.com) from Memphis, TN 
Here's my review: 
The highest human skydive in history began in 1960 at 102,800 ft. From an open gondola dangling under a weather balloon, a man sweating inside a crude space suit stepped out and, while falling through near-space, became the only human to break the sound barrier without a vehicle.

Rose has a similar perspective. I believe this book will be out of reach for most people. I don't understand it all. But then, I'm not enlightened.

For someone (like me) who has followed a system, or, no system, on their own, 'The Psychology of the Observer' will be welcome.

Rose offers a practical approach to reaching a realization of "the Absolute state of mind pointed to by writers of enlightenment."

This is a very thin book, like the air from where the author is writing. 

Read it and re-read it November 20, 1999

Reviewer: sanevins@earthlink.net from Austin, TX 
It's a small book, but packed with philosophic insights that will keep your mind churning. Not a bunch of theory, either, but based on real experience.


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