Yes, this is what they call the Wheel of Fortune in the tarot, or more truly, the Wheel of Unconscious Fortune. One 'I' replaces another; each one, momentarily, is king. (11-24-04)
Be careful, for Satan will tempt you at every turn. [Hafiz]
Imagination is always ready to work in us and deceive us. [Peter Ouspensky]
The Wheel of Fortune card in the tarot deck represents the many 'I's. It depicts three rats-'I's-circling on a wheel. The first rat, at the top of the wheel, is wearing a crown, the second rat has just descended from the top, and the third rat is about to displace the one at the top. This means that each 'I' is momentarily a king. In fact, it is not the Wheel of Fortune, but the Wheel of Misfortune-the Wheel of Unconscious Misfortune. At every turn of the wheel-with every breath-the king of clubs appears. (12-5-04)
“The world but seems to be.” [Iraqi]
Gurdjieff said, “People are asleep, imagining they are awake.” Iraqi said, “The world [the four lower centers] but seems to be.” They are virtual reality, not reality itself. Another Sufi, Nasafi, said, “You are non-existent, but you imagine that you are existent.” In a stained-glass window in Sainte Chapelle, Samson, the steward, is portrayed lying down; beside him the wheel of fortune is grinding. This means that the steward is asleep, imagining that he is awake. (2-20-05)
The instinctive center is symbolized by the bull. The “cow” refers to the nine of clubs. We can see by Rumi’s thought, “Why do you carry the burden of the world, like a cow?” that the four lower centers are controlled by the instinctive center. Ouspensky said that the king of clubs is the mind behind all the work of the machine, a mind quite different than the intellectual mind. It is king of the jungle.
“Turn around and rise above the world” refers to the wheel of fortune. In the Wheel of Fortune tarot card [X], the wheel is turning to the left, towards the goats—the ten thousand ‘I’s that oppose presence. Rumi said, “Turn around”—that is, turn to the right towards the sheep—the ‘I’s that promote presence. In Exodus 3:1, Moses “led the flock to the backside of the desert.” This means that Moses, the steward, went to the edge of the second state with his work ‘I’s; he turned it around. (2-20-05)
“O world traveler, if you turn around the world and see nothing but forms, you must be sleeping.” [Jalaluddin Rumi]
This, too, refers to the Wheel of Fortune tarot card [X]. “If you turn around the world,” means that if your attention is going from center to center, and from thought to thought, you are a “world traveler”—without presence. Rumi said, “Only a sleeper would consider this place [the second state] real.” We must find presence more interesting than imagination until our last breath. (2-20-05)
“The world spins, turning its wheel through birth and through destruction.” [The Bhagavad Gita]
This refers to the Wheel of Fortune tarot card [X]. The world spins like the wheel of fortune, turning through birth and through destruction. The rat portrayed on the right of the wheel represents birth, and the rat that has descended represents destruction. In Psalms 3:6, it is written, “I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people [the ten thousand ‘I’s], that have set themselves against me round about.” In Exodus 21:23-24, Moses said, “If any mischief follow, then thou shalt give … eye for eye.” One must give a work ‘I,’ such as “Be present,” “Stay out of imagination,” “Do not identify,” or “Do the looking exercise” for one of these ten thousand mechanical ‘I’s. One work ‘I’ can vanquish all of them, because they are without substance. (2-20-05)
“I saw my lower self as a rat.” [Hujwiri]
He saw his “lower self”—the four lower centers—as a “rat”—imagination. This idea is represented in the Wheel of Fortune tarot card (X). (2-27-05)
“The millstone is your heavy body. What makes the stone turn is your thought river.” [Jalaluddin Rumi]
Imagination is the “thought river.” The “millstone” refers to the Wheel of Fortune tarot card (X), which is, in fact, the wheel of unconscious fortune. (2-27-05)
“If you climb a couple of stairs on the ladder, you will belong to the people on the right side.” [Jalaluddin Rumi]
In Matthew 25:31-33, it is written: “When the Son of man, [the steward produced by the intellectual parts of centers] shall come in his glory [presence] … he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.” The “sheep” are the work ‘I’s; the “goats” are the ten thousand mechanical ‘I’s. This is represented on the Wheel of Fortune tarot card [X], which, in fact, is the wheel of unconscious fortune. It is a lawless state, for with each breath an ‘I’ appears that thinks it is real ‘I.’ (3-20-05)
“It is God who is real and remains so forever. So why waste your time over something that is here today and gone tomorrow? Go directly to the Source without delay.” [Jami]
This refers to the Wheel of Fortune tarot card (X), which represents the many ‘I’s. Why waste your time with something that is here today and gone tomorrow in three seconds? (3-27-05)
“Look with his eye of wisdom and see that the creatures are revolving in the circle of the mundane whirl, and are toiling without finding the right means to escape from the rotation.” [Hindu Text]
In the Gospel of Philip, it is written, “An ass which turns a millstone did a hundred miles walking. When it was loosed, it found that it was still at the same place.” The “hundred miles” is a play on the ten thousand ‘I’s.
“It is impossible for us to become united with God, if we do not first return from the whirl of the world.” [The Philokalia, Nicephorus the Solitary]
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