buddhism

What are we to make of William Segal? Born in 1904 to parents of modest means, his early life followed the classic trajectory of the self made American man. After attending college in New York on a football scholarship, he went into the magazine business and quickly became a successful entrepreneur, amassing a stable of design and lifestyle magazines. Business wealth brought him material rewards, the Park Avenue apartment, the country place in New Jersey, the house on Fire Island.

So far, a typical American success story. But there were other facets to William Segal. He was a painter of some talent who kept at it for over 60 years. He focused mainly on self portraits, part of his life's real work, which was looking for answers to the two big questions: who am I, and why am I here? His search led him to Ouspensky and eventually to Gurdjieff, and he stayed involved with the movement that grew up around Gurdjieff's teaching for over half a century. He also met and maintained friendships with several Buddhist scholars and spirtual leaders, from TD Suzuki to the Dalai Lama.

Throughout his long life (he lived to 96) he remained "the man in the marketplace" living fully in this world while seeking ways to transcend it. In one remarkable passage he talks about visiting and practicing at zen monasteries in Japan and then racing back to his day job as a business consultant to a Japanese conglomerate. He never ducked the hard question of how a material man engages in yet moves past the snares and delusions of everyday life. Indeed, one wishes the book talked in more depth about how he reconciled the grasping, sharp-elbowed world of American business with the state of non-grasping, timeless awaress he sought in his zen practice.

The secret to a rich life, this wise man tells us, is paying attention. Being fully engaged with your surroundings means you're always sitting down to a sensory banquet that nourishes your soul. Live in the world, says Segal, but learn to be still and to be receptive.

The book tells Segal's story through mix of photos, interviews, paintings, and reminiscences by the author and his distinguished friends. Reading it is like being led deeper into the woods until you come to a empty meadow, utterly still. In that stillness you can learn something truly important.

There is a wide variety of material in this book which consists of autobiographical fragments by William Segal, photographs, transcripts of interviews, previously published materials and exchanges between Mr. Segal and others who have spent decades seriously practicing Gurdjieff's Teaching. Of particular interest to those who have an interest in these ideas might be the exchanges on the future of the Gurdjieff Teaching and some of the "meditative practices". An inspiring book on many levels.

This book is a priceless gift to humanity.