Friday, January 26, 2007
HENRY JOHN SINCLAIR - LORD JOHN PENTLAND
of the Rosslyn Sinclairs whose ancestor built Rosslyn Chapel, was the founder and president of the Gurdjieff Foundation in New York (founded in 1953), until Pentland's death 31 years later according to an article at the Gurdjieff Legacy website.
According to the article Pentland died in Houston and his funeral was held at St. Vincent Ferrer Roman Catholic Church in Manhattan. The church is located at 869 Lexington Avenue and 141-151 East 65th Street according to the church website, a few blocks from the New York Gurdjieff Foundation according to the article. I could not find an address for the Foundation. They are still being secretive about it.
It is certainly odd that the founder and president of the Gurdjieff Foundation would be welcome in a Roman Catholic Church given the teachings of G. I. Gurdjieff, which are anything but Roman Catholic, though it could be argued that Gurdjieffian Fourth Way schools resemble the Roman Catholic New Ecclesial Communities in many ways.
Gurdjieff taught "esoteric Christianity", a term coined by Gnostic visionaries Anna Kingsford and Edward Maitland according to James Webb (THE HARMONIOUS CIRCLE, p. 525). This brand of Christianity is much closer to the claims arising in HOLY BLOOD, HOLY GRAIL and used to advantage in Dan Brown's THE DA VINCI CODE, and they are often associated with Lucifer and with Theosophy.
Was Sinclair's pastor unaware of his activities, or simply flattered by his illustrious and well-connected parishioner? The alternative view, that his pastor was convinced by the Gurdjieffian viewpoints, may be too great a leap even given the incursion into Catholic mystical practices of the Gurdjieffian Enneagram and the monks promoting it.
Another Sinclair who signs himself "Niven" has posted to the Sinclair family discussion list some comments about Lord Pentland and the Gurdjieff teaching which he claims has been carved in stone in the Rosslyn Chapel.
A book review of William Mann's book THE KNIGHTS TEMPLAR IN THE NEW WORLD: HOW HENRY SINCLAIR BROUGHT THE GRAIL TO ARCADIA at the Gurdjieff Legacy website gives Gurdjieff's explanation for the value of the Holy Grail:
Why was Jesus’ blood collected? Gurdjieff’s explanation concerning the Last Supper sheds light on the subject and provides a factual basis for the legends surrounding the blood’s value and perhaps, through distorted accounts, the Grail’s value. Gurdjieff explains that the Last Supper was a magical ceremony that was carried out to enable Jesus to communicate with his disciples after his death, as "Christ knew that he must die." Gurdjieff explained that Christ wanted to establish a permanent link with his disciples, and for this purpose he gave them his blood to drink and his flesh to eat. It was not bread and wine at all, but real flesh and real blood, for those who have an "astral body" can communicate with one another at a distance without having recourse to ordinary physical means. For such communication to be possible, however, they must establish some connection between them. The exchange of blood, which has special qualities, establishes a connection which is not broken by death. In her book, Beyond Belief: The Secret Gospel of Thomas, Elaine Pagels notes that after Jesus’ death the gospels relate that Jesus’ disciples experienced a great outpouring of visions and dreams. Perhaps these are distorted accounts of the fact that they were in communication with Jesus.
This appears to be a distorted account of the nature of the Sacrament of the Eucharist. A bit of truth. A lot of rank heresy. Keeps the tourists interested in visiting Rosslyn, I suppose. The Merovingian bloodline, HOLY BLOOD, HOLY GRAIL and THE DA VINCI CODE are mentioned in the article, since the beliefs of Mann and of the promoters of the Merovingian bloodline are the same. How much of the Sinclair money is behind the Gurdjieff Foundation, one wonders?
Mann's books are offered for sale at the Prince Henry St. Clair Preceptory, an organization headed up by S. E. Chevalier Ian Sinclair KGCTpl, dedicated to promotion of Rosslyn Chapel, and specializing in Masonic and Templar studies according to their website. No mention of the Gurdjieff books appears in the Preceptory website at present.
Do the monks who promote centering prayer, interreligious dialogue, and the Enneagram also enjoy Sinclair money? Whether they do or not, it is clear that they and the Sinclairs of Rosslyn Chapel all promote the teachings of G. I. Gurdjieff in one form or another.
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.
