the tragic accident, it had the right director, Alex Proyas.
Any movie projects in the works? There were rumors about
Demons
â¦
My novel
Demons
has been optioned a few times. The Weinstein brothers optioned and reoptioned it, and they had a director attached, and a script. But then the recession hit, and the Weinsteins almost went broke. They had to ditch most of their film projects and refinance, so the film was dropped.
But thereâs interest, still.
Demons
is a nightmarish novel, with spiritual overtones, having to do with demons invading Earth the way hostile extraterrestrials do in other tales. And itâs an allegory about how far industry is willing to go in sacrificing innocent people for the sake of profits â¦
Your nonfiction book on Gurdjieff shows not only an understanding but a sort of affinity. How did this project come about?
It was the product of fifteen some-odd years of intense reading in spirituality and philosophy. People like Alan Watts and Aldous Huxley and William James and Meister Eckhart and Lao Tzu and Ramakrishna and Emersonand Thoreau. Zen writers like Shunryu Suzuki. Sufism, Christian mysticism, certain forms of Gnosticismâeven old C.S. Lewis. In philosophy, Plato (the
Timaeus
dialogue), Spinoza â¦
Then I read an interview with Jacob Needleman about Gurdjieffâs ideas on the human condition. And I felt, yeah, thatâs right! Needlemanâs book
Time and the Soul
had a great influence on my thinking. So I became a student of Needleman and, through him, of Gurdjieff. Essentially, Gurdjieff says that weâre all psychological machines; that weâre asleep when we think weâre awake. But even though we are unconscious, there are moments of freedom and liberation. And itâs possible to develop something inwardly that can be freer yet, and more conscious.
Me, I wanted practical results. I didnât want to jabber about spirituality. I wanted to be free. I wanted to be in command of myselfâIâd been such a bull in a china shop, in my life! Most of all I wanted to be more conscious. How could I get there, practically speaking? The Gurdjieff Foundation provided specific methods. To my astonishment, the methods really helped. I am not conscious, but I can see the signposts to a fuller consciousness.
So when Penguin gave me the chance to do a serious book on the subject, an intro to Gurdjieffâs life and ideas, I jumped at it.
But while Iâm influenced by Gurdjieff, and use his methods, Iâm influenced by Zazen methodology too, and by the teachings of Krishnamurti. Yet itâs not a vague mishmash. I am focused on a specific methodology, one you find in all the greatest metaphysical traditions, when you get to their inner, esoteric circle.
You have strong connections in cyberpunk, in underground comics, and in rock music. How did this come about? Does it all still fit together?
It overlaps more than fits together. Frank Zappa influenced underground comics; underground comicsâfor example, the work of Paul Mavrides and Jay Kinney and [Victor] Moscoso and Spain Rodriguezâinfluenced me, and so did Zappa and so did Captain Beefheart and so did King Crimson ⦠and so did composers like Stravinsky and Varèse, for that matter. And Penderecki.
Groups as diverse as Blue Ãyster Cult, the Rolling Stones, the Sisters of Mercy, Hawkwind, the Velvet Underground, artists like Jimi Hendrix, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, John Lydon ⦠they were all voracious readers. Most of them had read the better science fiction. Patti Smith was especially influenced by Baudelaire and Verlaine, as I was. And people in that scene had an appreciation for filmmakers like Fellini, like Kubrick, like Roeg â¦
Somehow it all made up a counterculture to the counterculture. We were outside the counterculture per se; we were our own underground counterculture, and it all overlapped.
Which do you like better, writing for TV or for comics (leaving
Any movie projects in the works? There were rumors about
Demons
â¦
My novel
Demons
has been optioned a few times. The Weinstein brothers optioned and reoptioned it, and they had a director attached, and a script. But then the recession hit, and the Weinsteins almost went broke. They had to ditch most of their film projects and refinance, so the film was dropped.
But thereâs interest, still.
Demons
is a nightmarish novel, with spiritual overtones, having to do with demons invading Earth the way hostile extraterrestrials do in other tales. And itâs an allegory about how far industry is willing to go in sacrificing innocent people for the sake of profits â¦
Your nonfiction book on Gurdjieff shows not only an understanding but a sort of affinity. How did this project come about?
It was the product of fifteen some-odd years of intense reading in spirituality and philosophy. People like Alan Watts and Aldous Huxley and William James and Meister Eckhart and Lao Tzu and Ramakrishna and Emersonand Thoreau. Zen writers like Shunryu Suzuki. Sufism, Christian mysticism, certain forms of Gnosticismâeven old C.S. Lewis. In philosophy, Plato (the
Timaeus
dialogue), Spinoza â¦
Then I read an interview with Jacob Needleman about Gurdjieffâs ideas on the human condition. And I felt, yeah, thatâs right! Needlemanâs book
Time and the Soul
had a great influence on my thinking. So I became a student of Needleman and, through him, of Gurdjieff. Essentially, Gurdjieff says that weâre all psychological machines; that weâre asleep when we think weâre awake. But even though we are unconscious, there are moments of freedom and liberation. And itâs possible to develop something inwardly that can be freer yet, and more conscious.
Me, I wanted practical results. I didnât want to jabber about spirituality. I wanted to be free. I wanted to be in command of myselfâIâd been such a bull in a china shop, in my life! Most of all I wanted to be more conscious. How could I get there, practically speaking? The Gurdjieff Foundation provided specific methods. To my astonishment, the methods really helped. I am not conscious, but I can see the signposts to a fuller consciousness.
So when Penguin gave me the chance to do a serious book on the subject, an intro to Gurdjieffâs life and ideas, I jumped at it.
But while Iâm influenced by Gurdjieff, and use his methods, Iâm influenced by Zazen methodology too, and by the teachings of Krishnamurti. Yet itâs not a vague mishmash. I am focused on a specific methodology, one you find in all the greatest metaphysical traditions, when you get to their inner, esoteric circle.
You have strong connections in cyberpunk, in underground comics, and in rock music. How did this come about? Does it all still fit together?
It overlaps more than fits together. Frank Zappa influenced underground comics; underground comicsâfor example, the work of Paul Mavrides and Jay Kinney and [Victor] Moscoso and Spain Rodriguezâinfluenced me, and so did Zappa and so did Captain Beefheart and so did King Crimson ⦠and so did composers like Stravinsky and Varèse, for that matter. And Penderecki.
Groups as diverse as Blue Ãyster Cult, the Rolling Stones, the Sisters of Mercy, Hawkwind, the Velvet Underground, artists like Jimi Hendrix, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, John Lydon ⦠they were all voracious readers. Most of them had read the better science fiction. Patti Smith was especially influenced by Baudelaire and Verlaine, as I was. And people in that scene had an appreciation for filmmakers like Fellini, like Kubrick, like Roeg â¦
Somehow it all made up a counterculture to the counterculture. We were outside the counterculture per se; we were our own underground counterculture, and it all overlapped.
Which do you like better, writing for TV or for comics (leaving
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