LONDON 2009Foto:G.Ludovice
George Ivanovich GurdjieffGeorge Ivanovich Gurdjieff (Russian: Георгий Иванович Гурджиев) (January 13, 1866? – October 29, 1949) was a Greek-Armenian mystic and spiritual teacher
He called his discipline "The Work"(connoting "work on oneself") according to Gurdjieff's principles and instructions, or (originally) the "Fourth Way". At one point he described his teaching as "esoteric Christianity".
At different times in his life Gurdjieff formed and closed various schools around the world which followed his teachings. He claimed that the teachings he brought to the West from his own experiences and early travels expressed the truth found in ancient religions and wisdom teachings relating to self-awareness in people's daily lives and humanity's place in the universe. One could express the essence of his teachings in the title of his third series of writings: Life Is Real Only Then, When 'I Am', while his complete series of books goes under the name "All and Everything".
Gurdjieff was born in Alexandropol (now Gyumri), Armenia, Russia Empire to a Pontic Greek father and an Armenian mother. The exact date of his birth remains unknown (conjectures range from 1866 to 1877). Some authors (like Moore) argue persuasively for 1866, others (like Patterson) for 1872; a passport gave a birth-date of November 28, 1877. Gurdjieff grew up in Kars and traveled to many parts of the world (such as Central Asia, Egypt and Rome) before returning to Russia in 1912; about which he later said, ' Begin in Russia, end in Russia.' 2005 may mark the end of a preparatory period, as the Work has reestablished itself in its birthplace, Russia.
The only account of Gurdjieff's early life before he appeared in Moscow in 1912 appears in his text Meetings with Remarkable Men. This text, however, cannot be read as straightforward autobiography.[6] It was in the pre-1912 period that Gurdjieff went on his apocryphal voyage outlined in Meetings with Remarkable Men where he comes upon a map of "pre-sand Egypt" which leads him to study with an esoteric group, the Sarmoung Brotherhood.
The only account of Gurdjieff's early life before he appeared in Moscow in 1912 appears in his text Meetings with Remarkable Men. This text, however, cannot be read as straightforward autobiography.[6] It was in the pre-1912 period that Gurdjieff went on his apocryphal voyage outlined in Meetings with Remarkable Men where he comes upon a map of "pre-sand Egypt" which leads him to study with an esoteric group, the Sarmoung Brotherhood.
From 1913 to 1949 the chronology appears to stand on the much firmer ground afforded by primary documents, independent witness, cross-reference, and reasonable inference.
On New Year's Day in 1912 Gurdjieff arrived in Moscow and attracted his first students. In the same year he married Julia Ostrowska in St Petersburg. In 1914 Gurdjieff advertised his ballet, The Struggle of the Magicians, and supervised his pupils' writing of the sketch "Glimpses of Truth".
In 1915 Gurdjieff accepted P. D. Ouspensky as a pupil, while in 1916 he accepted the composer Thomas de Hartmann and his wife Olga as students. At this time he had about thirty pupils.
In the midst of revolutionary upheaval in Russia he left Petrograd in 1917 to return to his family home in Alexandropol. During the Bolshevik Revolution Gurdjieff set up temporary study-communities in Essentuki in the Caucasus, then in Tuapse, Maikop, Sochi and Poti, all on the Black Sea coast of southern Russia, where he worked intensively with many of his Russian pupils.
In 1918, Ouspensky separated from Gurdjieff and four months later Gurdjieff's eldest sister and her family reached him in Essentuki as refugees, informing him that Turks had shot his father in Alexandropol on 15 May during the Turkish genocide of the Armenians. As Essentuki became more and more threatened by civil war, Gurdjieff put out a fabricated newspaper story announcing his forthcoming "scientific expedition" to Mount Induc. Posing as a scientist, Gurdjieff left Essentuki with fourteen companions (excluding Gurdjieff's family and Ouspensky). They traveled by train to Maikop, where hostilities delayed them for three weeks. In spring 1919 Gurdjieff met the artist Alexandre Salzmann and his wife Jeanne and accepted them as pupils. Assisted by Jeanne Salzmann, Gurdjieff gave the first public demonstration of his Sacred Dances (Movements at the Tbilisi Opera House, 22 June).
In the midst of revolutionary upheaval in Russia he left Petrograd in 1917 to return to his family home in Alexandropol. During the Bolshevik Revolution Gurdjieff set up temporary study-communities in Essentuki in the Caucasus, then in Tuapse, Maikop, Sochi and Poti, all on the Black Sea coast of southern Russia, where he worked intensively with many of his Russian pupils.
In 1918, Ouspensky separated from Gurdjieff and four months later Gurdjieff's eldest sister and her family reached him in Essentuki as refugees, informing him that Turks had shot his father in Alexandropol on 15 May during the Turkish genocide of the Armenians. As Essentuki became more and more threatened by civil war, Gurdjieff put out a fabricated newspaper story announcing his forthcoming "scientific expedition" to Mount Induc. Posing as a scientist, Gurdjieff left Essentuki with fourteen companions (excluding Gurdjieff's family and Ouspensky). They traveled by train to Maikop, where hostilities delayed them for three weeks. In spring 1919 Gurdjieff met the artist Alexandre Salzmann and his wife Jeanne and accepted them as pupils. Assisted by Jeanne Salzmann, Gurdjieff gave the first public demonstration of his Sacred Dances (Movements at the Tbilisi Opera House, 22 June).
In the autumn of 1919, Gurdjieff and his closest pupils moved to Tbilisi, formerly known as Tiflis. There Gurdjieff's wife, Julia Ostrowska, Mr and Mrs Stjoernval, Mr and Mrs de Hartmann and Mr and Mrs de Salzmann gathered a lot of the fundamentals of his teaching. Gurdjieff himself concentrated on his still unstaged ballet, The Struggle of the Magicians; Thomas de Hartmann (who had made his debut years ago before the Czar of All Russia) worked on the music for the ballet; and Olga Iovonovna Lazovich Milanoff Hinzenberg (who years later would wed the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright) practiced the ballet dances.
There, in 1919, he established the first Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man. He was thought to be greatly influenced by Nikolai Marr, a Georgian archaeologist and historian. [citation?] In late May 1920, when political conditions in Georgia changed and the old order was crumbling, they walked by foot to Batumi on the Black Sea coast and then Istanbul. There Gurdjieff rented an apartment on Koumbaradji Street in Péra and later at 13 Abdullatif Yemeneci Sokak near the Galata Tower.[9] The apartment is near the tekke (monastery) of the Mevlevi Order of Sufis (founded by Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi), where Gurdjieff, Ouspensky and Thomas de Hartmann experienced the sema ceremony of The Whirling Dervishes. In Istanbul Gurdjieff also met Captain John G. Bennett, the then head of British Military Intelligence in Constantinople. Later, Bennett would become a follower of Gurdjieff and of Ouspensky.
In August 1921 and 1922, Gurdjieff traveled around western Europe, lecturing and giving demonstrations of his work in various cities such as Berlin and London and capturing the allegiance of Ouspensky's many prominent pupils (notably the editor A. R. Orage). After he lost a civil action to acquire Hellerau possession in Britain, Gurdjieff established the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man south of Paris at the Prieuré des Basses Loges in Fontainebleau-Avon near the famous Château de Fontainebleau. Gurdjieff acquired notoriety as "the man who killed Katherine Mansfield" after Katherine Mansfield died there of tuberculosis under his care on 9 January 1923.
Reading further, James Moore convincingly shows however that Katherine Mansfield knew she was soon to die and Gurdjieff made her last days happy and fulfilling; for this he received the calumny of the press.
Starting in 1924 Gurdjieff made visits to North America, where he eventually took over the pupils taught previously by A.R. Orage.
In 1924, while driving alone from Paris to Fontainebleau, Gurdjieff had a near-fatal car-accident. Nursed by his wife and mother, he made a slow and painful recovery — against medical expectation. Still convalescent, he formally "disbanded" his Institute on 26 August (in fact he dispersed only his less-dedicated pupils), and began writing All and Everything.
In 1925 Gurdjieff's wife contracted cancer; she died in June 1926 in spite of radiotherapy and Gurdjieff's magnetic treatments which due his near death was unable to fully implement. Ouspensky attended her funeral. According to Fritz Peters, Gurdjieff was in New York from November 1925 to the spring of 1926 and he succeeded in raising over $1,000,000.
In 1935 Gurdjieff stopped writing All and Everything, having completed the first two parts of the trilogy but having only started on the Third Series (published under the title Life Is Real Only Then, When 'I Am').
In Paris, Gurdjieff lived at 6 Rue des Colonels-Rénard, where he continued to teach throughout World War II.
Gurdjieff died on October 29, 1949 at the American Hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. His funeral took place at the St. Alexandre Nevsky Russian Orthodox Cathedral at 12 Rue Daru, Paris. He is buried in the cemetery at Fontainebleau-Avon.
Gurdjieff claimed that people cannot perceive reality, as they are not conscious of themselves, but live in a state of a hypnotic "waking sleep".
"Man lives his life in sleep, and in sleep he dies."
Reading further, James Moore convincingly shows however that Katherine Mansfield knew she was soon to die and Gurdjieff made her last days happy and fulfilling; for this he received the calumny of the press.
Starting in 1924 Gurdjieff made visits to North America, where he eventually took over the pupils taught previously by A.R. Orage.
In 1924, while driving alone from Paris to Fontainebleau, Gurdjieff had a near-fatal car-accident. Nursed by his wife and mother, he made a slow and painful recovery — against medical expectation. Still convalescent, he formally "disbanded" his Institute on 26 August (in fact he dispersed only his less-dedicated pupils), and began writing All and Everything.
In 1925 Gurdjieff's wife contracted cancer; she died in June 1926 in spite of radiotherapy and Gurdjieff's magnetic treatments which due his near death was unable to fully implement. Ouspensky attended her funeral. According to Fritz Peters, Gurdjieff was in New York from November 1925 to the spring of 1926 and he succeeded in raising over $1,000,000.
In 1935 Gurdjieff stopped writing All and Everything, having completed the first two parts of the trilogy but having only started on the Third Series (published under the title Life Is Real Only Then, When 'I Am').
In Paris, Gurdjieff lived at 6 Rue des Colonels-Rénard, where he continued to teach throughout World War II.
Gurdjieff died on October 29, 1949 at the American Hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France. His funeral took place at the St. Alexandre Nevsky Russian Orthodox Cathedral at 12 Rue Daru, Paris. He is buried in the cemetery at Fontainebleau-Avon.
Gurdjieff claimed that people cannot perceive reality, as they are not conscious of themselves, but live in a state of a hypnotic "waking sleep".
"Man lives his life in sleep, and in sleep he dies."
Gurdjieff taught that each person perceived things from a completely subjective perspective. Gurdjieff stated that maleficent events such as wars and so on could not possibly take place if people were more awake. He asserted that people in their typical state function as unconscious automatons, but that a man can wake up and experience life more fully.
In his early lectures Gurdjieff described his approach to self-development as the Fourth Way. In contrast to teachings that emphasize the development of the body, mind, or emotions separately, Gurdjieff's exercises claimed to work on all three at the same time to promote comprehensive and balanced inner development. In parallel with with other spiritual traditions, Gurdjieff taught that one must expend considerable effort to effect the transformation that leads to awakening. The effort that one puts into practice Gurdjieff referred to as "The Work" or "Work on oneself".
In his early lectures Gurdjieff described his approach to self-development as the Fourth Way. In contrast to teachings that emphasize the development of the body, mind, or emotions separately, Gurdjieff's exercises claimed to work on all three at the same time to promote comprehensive and balanced inner development. In parallel with with other spiritual traditions, Gurdjieff taught that one must expend considerable effort to effect the transformation that leads to awakening. The effort that one puts into practice Gurdjieff referred to as "The Work" or "Work on oneself".
According to Gurdjieff, "...Working on oneself is not so difficult as wishing to work, taking the decision." Though Gurdjieff never put major significance on the term "Fourth Way" and never used the term in his writings, his pupil P.D. Ouspensky from 1924 to 1947 made the term and its use central to his own teaching of Gurdjieff's ideas. After Ouspensky's death, his students published a book titled The Fourth Way based on his lectures.
Gurdjieff's teaching addressed the question of humanity's place in the universe and the importance of developing latent potentialities — regarded as our natural endowment as human beings but rarely brought to fruition. He taught that higher levels of consciousness, higher bodies,[19] inner growth and development are real possibilities that nonetheless require conscious work to achieve.[20]
In his teaching Gurdjieff gave a distinct meaning to various ancient texts such as the Bible and many religious prayers. He claimed that those texts possess a very different meaning than what is commonly attributed to them. "Sleep not"; "Awake, for you know not the hour"; and "The Kingdom of Heaven is Within" are examples of biblical statements which point to a psychological teaching whose essence has been forgotten.
Gurdjieff taught people how to increase and focus their attention and energy in various ways and to minimize daydreaming and absentmindedness. According to his teaching, this inner development in oneself is the beginning of a possible further process of change, the aim of which is to transform people into what Gurdjieff believed they ought to be.[
Gurdjieff's teaching addressed the question of humanity's place in the universe and the importance of developing latent potentialities — regarded as our natural endowment as human beings but rarely brought to fruition. He taught that higher levels of consciousness, higher bodies,[19] inner growth and development are real possibilities that nonetheless require conscious work to achieve.[20]
In his teaching Gurdjieff gave a distinct meaning to various ancient texts such as the Bible and many religious prayers. He claimed that those texts possess a very different meaning than what is commonly attributed to them. "Sleep not"; "Awake, for you know not the hour"; and "The Kingdom of Heaven is Within" are examples of biblical statements which point to a psychological teaching whose essence has been forgotten.
Gurdjieff taught people how to increase and focus their attention and energy in various ways and to minimize daydreaming and absentmindedness. According to his teaching, this inner development in oneself is the beginning of a possible further process of change, the aim of which is to transform people into what Gurdjieff believed they ought to be.[
Distrusting "morality", which he describes as varying from culture to culture, often contradictory and superficial, Gurdjieff greatly stressed the importance of conscience. This he regarded as the same in all people, buried in their subconsciousness, thus both sheltered from damage by how people live and inaccessible without "work on oneself".
To provide conditions in which inner attention could be exercised more intensively, Gurdjieff also taught his pupils "sacred dances" or "movements", later known as the Gurdjieff movements, which they performed together as a group. He also left a body of music, inspired by what he heard in visits to remote monasteries and other places, written for piano in collaboration with one of his pupils, Thomas de Hartmann. Gurdjieff also used various exercises, such as the "Stop" exercise, to prompt self-observation in his students. Other shocks to help awaken his pupils from constant day-dreaming were always possible at any moment.
To provide conditions in which inner attention could be exercised more intensively, Gurdjieff also taught his pupils "sacred dances" or "movements", later known as the Gurdjieff movements, which they performed together as a group. He also left a body of music, inspired by what he heard in visits to remote monasteries and other places, written for piano in collaboration with one of his pupils, Thomas de Hartmann. Gurdjieff also used various exercises, such as the "Stop" exercise, to prompt self-observation in his students. Other shocks to help awaken his pupils from constant day-dreaming were always possible at any moment.
Gurdjieff transmitted his ideas through a number of different methods and materials, including meetings, music, movements (sacred dance), writings, lectures, and innovative forms of group work. He was not consistent in his use of these materials through his lifetime; for example, six years in Paris were devoted primarily to writing, while composition of music and movement centered around a few distinct periods. In Russia he was described as keeping his teaching confined to a small circle, while in Paris and North America he gave numerous public demonstrations.
Gurdjieff felt that the traditional methods of self-knowledge—those of the fakir, monk, and yogi (acquired, respectively, through pain, devotion, and study) -- were inadequate on their own. These three can be understood as a metaphor for work on the body, emotions and the intellect separately.
"Gurdjieff's teachings were transmitted thruough special conditions and through special forms leading to consciousness: Group Work, physical labor, crafts, ideas exchanges, arts, music, movement, dance, adventures in nature..., enabled the unrealized individual to transcend the mechanical, acted-upon self and ascend from mere personality to self-actualizing essence."[25]
[edit] Music
The Gurdjieff music divides into three distinct periods. The first period is the early music, including music from the ballet Struggle of the Magicians and music for early Movements, dating to the years around 1918.
The second period music, for which Gurdjieff arguably became best known, written in collaboration with Russian composer Thomas de Hartmann, is described[by whom?] as the Gurdjieff-de Hartmann music. Dating to the mid 1920s, it offers a rich repertory with roots in Caucasian and Central Asian folk and religious music, Russian Orthodox liturgical music, and other sources. This music was often first heard, and even composed, in the salon at the Prieure. Since the publication of four volumes of this piano repertory by Schott, recently completed, there has been a wealth of new recordings, including orchestral versions of music prepared by Gurdjieff and de Hartmann for the Movements demonstrations of 1923-24.
The last musical period is the improvised harmonium music which often followed the dinners Gurdjieff held in his Paris apartment during the Occupation and immediate post-war years, to his death in 1949. A virtually encyclopedic recording of surviving tapes of Gurdjieff improvising on the harmonium was recently published.
In all, Gurdjieff in collaboration with de Hartmann composed some 200 pieces.
Whirling dervish
Movements, or sacred dances, constitute an integral part of the Gurdjieff Work. Gurdjieff sometimes referred to himself as a "teacher of dancing," and gained initial public notice for his attempts to put on a ballet in Moscow called "Struggle of the Magicians."
Films of Movements demonstrations are occasionally shown for private viewing by the Gurdjieff Foundations, and one is shown in a scene in the Peter Brook movie Meetings with Remarkable Men.
"Gurdjieff's teachings were transmitted thruough special conditions and through special forms leading to consciousness: Group Work, physical labor, crafts, ideas exchanges, arts, music, movement, dance, adventures in nature..., enabled the unrealized individual to transcend the mechanical, acted-upon self and ascend from mere personality to self-actualizing essence."[25]
[edit] Music
The Gurdjieff music divides into three distinct periods. The first period is the early music, including music from the ballet Struggle of the Magicians and music for early Movements, dating to the years around 1918.
The second period music, for which Gurdjieff arguably became best known, written in collaboration with Russian composer Thomas de Hartmann, is described[by whom?] as the Gurdjieff-de Hartmann music. Dating to the mid 1920s, it offers a rich repertory with roots in Caucasian and Central Asian folk and religious music, Russian Orthodox liturgical music, and other sources. This music was often first heard, and even composed, in the salon at the Prieure. Since the publication of four volumes of this piano repertory by Schott, recently completed, there has been a wealth of new recordings, including orchestral versions of music prepared by Gurdjieff and de Hartmann for the Movements demonstrations of 1923-24.
The last musical period is the improvised harmonium music which often followed the dinners Gurdjieff held in his Paris apartment during the Occupation and immediate post-war years, to his death in 1949. A virtually encyclopedic recording of surviving tapes of Gurdjieff improvising on the harmonium was recently published.
In all, Gurdjieff in collaboration with de Hartmann composed some 200 pieces.
Whirling dervish
Movements, or sacred dances, constitute an integral part of the Gurdjieff Work. Gurdjieff sometimes referred to himself as a "teacher of dancing," and gained initial public notice for his attempts to put on a ballet in Moscow called "Struggle of the Magicians."
Films of Movements demonstrations are occasionally shown for private viewing by the Gurdjieff Foundations, and one is shown in a scene in the Peter Brook movie Meetings with Remarkable Men.
Gurdjieff taught that group efforts both enhance and surpass individual efforts preparing them to practice a new psychology of evolution. To accomplish this he needed to constantly innovate and create new alarm clocks to awaken his sleeping students as Jesus did 1900 years before. Students regularly met with group leaders; both separately and in group meetings, and came together for "work periods" where intensive conscious labor, connected with the forms mentioned above. Work in the kitchen was a special task and sometimes elaborate meals were prepared. This food was the the lowest of the three being foods, food, air and impressions. Air and impressions being even more important, special exercises were given for them.
According to Gurdjieff, the work of Schools of the Fourth Way never remains the same for long. In some cases, this has led to a break between student and teacher as is the case of Ouspensky and Gurdjieff. The outward appearance of the School and the group work can change according to the circumstances. However, the inner individual expression such as the practice of self-remembering with self-observation and the non-expression of negative emotions, always remains the same and could never change for that is the guarantee of ultimate self-development.
According to Gurdjieff, the work of Schools of the Fourth Way never remains the same for long. In some cases, this has led to a break between student and teacher as is the case of Ouspensky and Gurdjieff. The outward appearance of the School and the group work can change according to the circumstances. However, the inner individual expression such as the practice of self-remembering with self-observation and the non-expression of negative emotions, always remains the same and could never change for that is the guarantee of ultimate self-development.
A follower of Gurdjieff, former American Fabrics magazine publisher William C. Segal, tells of periods of hard labor around the clock which in the Gurdjieff System are known as "super-efforts". According to Gurdjieff, only super-efforts count in the Work.
In 1948 and 1949, Segal was sporadically in contact with Gurdjieff who had been the teacher of avant-garde lesbian Jane Heap. In 1951, at 26, Peter Brook became a pupil of Heap in London and Segal published Gentry catering to a superior audience.
As Segal would write in the poem Silence Clarity, "... It is through the body that sits here/ that I go to my true nature." A voice at the borders of silence would conclude, "... It is through the mind that stands still/ that I experience my true nature."
Gurdjieff wrote and approved for publication three volumes of his written work under the title All and Everything.
The first volume, Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson, is a lengthy allegorical work that recounts the explanations of Beelzebub to his grandson concerning the beings of the planet Earth. Intended to be a teaching tool, Gurdjieff wemt to great lengths in order to increase the effort needed to read and understand the book.
Gurdjieff wrote and approved for publication three volumes of his written work under the title All and Everything.
The first volume, Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson, is a lengthy allegorical work that recounts the explanations of Beelzebub to his grandson concerning the beings of the planet Earth. Intended to be a teaching tool, Gurdjieff wemt to great lengths in order to increase the effort needed to read and understand the book.
The second volume, Meetings with Remarkable Men, was written in a very easily understood manner, and purports to be an autobiography of his early years, but also contains many allegorical statements. His final volume left intentionally unfinished shows the Masters hand, Life is Real Only Then, When 'I Am', contains a fragment of an autobiographical description of later years, as well as transcripts of some lectures.
As Gurdjieff explained to Ouspensky ... "for exact understanding exact language is necessary." In his first series of writings, Gurdjieff explains how difficult it is to choose an ordinary language to convey his thoughts exactly. He continues..."the Russian language is like the English...both these languages are like the dish which is called in Moscow 'Solianka', and into which everything goes except you and me..." In spite of the difficulties, he goes on to develop a special vocabulary of a new language all of it his own. He uses these new words particularly in the first series of his writings. However, in The Herald of Coming Good, he uses one particular word for the first time which does not appear in any of his other writings: ..." Tzvarnoharno...leads to the destruction of both him that tries to achieve something for general human welfare and of all that he has already accomplished to this end."
According to Gurdjieff, King Solomon himself coined this particular word; as such, it seems to be a key to understanding the legend of Hiram Abiff.
Opinions on Gurdjieff's writings and activities are divided. Sympathizers regard him as a charismatic master who brought new knowledge into Western culture, a psychology and cosmology that enable insights beyond those provided by established science.
Critics assert he was simply a charlatan with a large ego and a constant need for self-glorification.
As Gurdjieff explained to Ouspensky ... "for exact understanding exact language is necessary." In his first series of writings, Gurdjieff explains how difficult it is to choose an ordinary language to convey his thoughts exactly. He continues..."the Russian language is like the English...both these languages are like the dish which is called in Moscow 'Solianka', and into which everything goes except you and me..." In spite of the difficulties, he goes on to develop a special vocabulary of a new language all of it his own. He uses these new words particularly in the first series of his writings. However, in The Herald of Coming Good, he uses one particular word for the first time which does not appear in any of his other writings: ..." Tzvarnoharno...leads to the destruction of both him that tries to achieve something for general human welfare and of all that he has already accomplished to this end."
According to Gurdjieff, King Solomon himself coined this particular word; as such, it seems to be a key to understanding the legend of Hiram Abiff.
Opinions on Gurdjieff's writings and activities are divided. Sympathizers regard him as a charismatic master who brought new knowledge into Western culture, a psychology and cosmology that enable insights beyond those provided by established science.
Critics assert he was simply a charlatan with a large ego and a constant need for self-glorification.
Gurdjieff is said to have had a strong influence on many modern mystics, artists, writers, and thinkers, including Frank Lloyd Wright, Keith Jarrett, Alan Watts, Timothy Leary, Robert Anton Wilson, Robert Fripp, Jacob Needleman, John Shirley, Dennis Lewis, Peter Brook, Kate Bush, P. L. Travers, Robert S de Ropp, Walter Inglis Anderson,Jean Toomer, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Louis Pauwels, James Moore and Abdullah Isa Neil Dougan. Gurdjieff's notable personal students include Jeanne de Salzmann, Willem Nyland, Lord Pentland (Henry John Sinclair), P. D. Ouspensky, Olga de Hartmann, Thomas de Hartmann, Jane Heap, John G. Bennett, Alfred Richard Orage, Maurice Nicoll, Lanza del Vasto, George and Helen Adie and Katherine Mansfield.
Outwardly , at the first glance, this exercise is simple. For instance, you see, I sit here in my usual posture. I am dividing my attention. But no one can see this inner process. I divide my atten...
Outwardly , at the first glance, this exercise is simple. For instance, you see, I sit here in my usual posture. I am dividing my attention. But no one can see this inner process. I divide my attention consciously into two parts. With one part I now sense, feel and constate simultaneously with one conscious concentration. Now I breathe. I feel that something happening to the air that I breath in. Part of it goes in, part goes out, and a part remains. My organism, that is my lungs, take a part, then a part leaves and a part remains. I feel what is happening in my lungs. When I breath in, part of the air is assimilated and I feel its flow all over the body. It goes everywhere. I keep my attention fixed; I feel, I sense how this air is being assimilated in me and how It flows in my presence. It is not necessary to find out where it goes, it just flows in my presence.One part of my attention is occupied with this - breathing, assimilating and flowing of the air. Already my mental associations are very weak. I notice them sometimes, by the way, because part of my attention is free, and is able to notice mental associations.Now I will concentrate the ether half of my attention on my mind. my head brain. I feel that in my head-brain something arises from the total of the flow of associations there. I don't know what is taking place there, but there is something, and with my half attention I notice this very thin something arise, so small, so light, so thin, that nobody feel it the first few times, not until constant practice gives the feeling. I know this subjectively because I have practised it. I feel , I sense, l constate, that something arises in my head-brain. All the time, of course, the other half of my attention is occupied with the breathing process. Even while speaking, this exercise is being automatically done. Now I direct my attention to help this something in my brain to flow towards my solar plexus. What arises in the brain is not important. What is important is that the something that arises there should flow into the solar plexus. Now I feel how it flows. My attention is fully occupied and I don't see any more associations All my attention is occupied pied with feeling, sensing, and assimilating the flow of air, and also with this arising in my head-brain.This flow of assimilated air, and this something which arises in my head brain, I specially, consciously, with my wish, concentrate to let it flow into my solar plexus. Now, by the way I feel and constate that I breathe, I assimilate and that this flow goes to the solar plexus. And all the time the flow from the air I breathe and the flow from my head-associations go to the solar plexus although they issue from different sources.For me personally, at the same time, I feel very strongly that I AM. I feel that I AM ten times stronger. My "I" takes in this food more intensely, but for you, at the present moment, do not do this exercise in order to be stronger. For you this exercise is only a preparation to have an "I" and so that you should constate the two sources from which this "I" can arise. For me it gives food to my "I". It makes it stronger, so that now I am not "tail of donkey". I AM.But you can not yet use this exercise to make yourself stronger; you must first learn and constate the two sources from which this possibility can arise, to have a real " I" - from air and from mentation, even automatic mentation; and then , when you will have practised this exercise a great deal, you may be able to have possibilities for real active mentation. And then with real active mentation, the I" can become stronger.Enough. I stop and let these processes proceed in me automatically. Now, without titillation without philosophizing and manipulation, try to understand the total of all this and formulate it according to your subjective understanding, according to whatever kind of idiot you are. Then do [it].
The Italian composer and singer Franco Battiato was sometime inspired by Gurdieff's work, for example in his song Cerco un centro di gravita permanente that is one of most popular modern Italian pop songs. Aleister Crowley visited his Institute at least once. Gurdjieff called Crowley 'dirty,' and wanted him to leave the institute. Privately Crowley praised Gurdjieff's work, though with some reservations. During WWI, Algernon Blackwood took up spying while reporting to John Buchan, author of The Thirty Nine Steps. After the war, during the Roaring Twenties, Blackwood studied with Gurdjieff and Ouspensky.
However one regards Gurdjieff's teaching, or Gurdjieff personally, he appears to have given new life and practical form to ancient teachings of both East and West. For example, the Socratic/Platonic emphasis on "the examined life" recurs in Gurdjieff's teaching as the practice of self-observation. His teachings about self-discipline and restraint reflect Stoic teachings. The Hindu/Buddhist notion of attachment recurs in Gurdjieff's teaching as the concept of identification. Similarly, his cosmology can be "read" against ancient and esoteric sources, respectively Neoplatonic and such a source as Robert Fludd's treatment of macrocosmic musical structures.
American psychological culture has seized on one of Gurdjieff's inovations, the enneagram. For many students of the Gurdjieff tradition the enneagram remains a "koan," challenging and never fully explicated. Lord Pentland allowed very limited use of this symbol. There have been many attempts to trace the origins of the enneagram; some similarites to other figures have been found, but it seems that Gurdjieff was the sole revealer of this esoteric symbol to the world and only he knew the true source. Many imitators have attempted to use the enneagram symbol as the basis for personality analysis, for example in the Enneagram of Personality, developed by Oscar Ichazo,Claudio Naranjo, Helen Palmer, and others, and in that application it is not related to Gurdjieff's teaching or to his explanations of the enneagram.
The science-fiction and horror novelist John Shirley has written an introductory work on Gurdjieff for Penguin/Tarcher, Gurdjieff: An Introduction to His Life and Ideas.
Gurdjieff had influenced the formation of many groups after his death, all of which still function today and follow his ideas.
Outwardly , at the first glance, this exercise is simple. For instance, you see, I sit here in my usual posture. I am dividing my attention. But no one can see this inner process. I divide my atten...
Outwardly , at the first glance, this exercise is simple. For instance, you see, I sit here in my usual posture. I am dividing my attention. But no one can see this inner process. I divide my attention consciously into two parts. With one part I now sense, feel and constate simultaneously with one conscious concentration. Now I breathe. I feel that something happening to the air that I breath in. Part of it goes in, part goes out, and a part remains. My organism, that is my lungs, take a part, then a part leaves and a part remains. I feel what is happening in my lungs. When I breath in, part of the air is assimilated and I feel its flow all over the body. It goes everywhere. I keep my attention fixed; I feel, I sense how this air is being assimilated in me and how It flows in my presence. It is not necessary to find out where it goes, it just flows in my presence.One part of my attention is occupied with this - breathing, assimilating and flowing of the air. Already my mental associations are very weak. I notice them sometimes, by the way, because part of my attention is free, and is able to notice mental associations.Now I will concentrate the ether half of my attention on my mind. my head brain. I feel that in my head-brain something arises from the total of the flow of associations there. I don't know what is taking place there, but there is something, and with my half attention I notice this very thin something arise, so small, so light, so thin, that nobody feel it the first few times, not until constant practice gives the feeling. I know this subjectively because I have practised it. I feel , I sense, l constate, that something arises in my head-brain. All the time, of course, the other half of my attention is occupied with the breathing process. Even while speaking, this exercise is being automatically done. Now I direct my attention to help this something in my brain to flow towards my solar plexus. What arises in the brain is not important. What is important is that the something that arises there should flow into the solar plexus. Now I feel how it flows. My attention is fully occupied and I don't see any more associations All my attention is occupied pied with feeling, sensing, and assimilating the flow of air, and also with this arising in my head-brain.This flow of assimilated air, and this something which arises in my head brain, I specially, consciously, with my wish, concentrate to let it flow into my solar plexus. Now, by the way I feel and constate that I breathe, I assimilate and that this flow goes to the solar plexus. And all the time the flow from the air I breathe and the flow from my head-associations go to the solar plexus although they issue from different sources.For me personally, at the same time, I feel very strongly that I AM. I feel that I AM ten times stronger. My "I" takes in this food more intensely, but for you, at the present moment, do not do this exercise in order to be stronger. For you this exercise is only a preparation to have an "I" and so that you should constate the two sources from which this "I" can arise. For me it gives food to my "I". It makes it stronger, so that now I am not "tail of donkey". I AM.But you can not yet use this exercise to make yourself stronger; you must first learn and constate the two sources from which this possibility can arise, to have a real " I" - from air and from mentation, even automatic mentation; and then , when you will have practised this exercise a great deal, you may be able to have possibilities for real active mentation. And then with real active mentation, the I" can become stronger.Enough. I stop and let these processes proceed in me automatically. Now, without titillation without philosophizing and manipulation, try to understand the total of all this and formulate it according to your subjective understanding, according to whatever kind of idiot you are. Then do [it].
The Italian composer and singer Franco Battiato was sometime inspired by Gurdieff's work, for example in his song Cerco un centro di gravita permanente that is one of most popular modern Italian pop songs. Aleister Crowley visited his Institute at least once. Gurdjieff called Crowley 'dirty,' and wanted him to leave the institute. Privately Crowley praised Gurdjieff's work, though with some reservations. During WWI, Algernon Blackwood took up spying while reporting to John Buchan, author of The Thirty Nine Steps. After the war, during the Roaring Twenties, Blackwood studied with Gurdjieff and Ouspensky.
However one regards Gurdjieff's teaching, or Gurdjieff personally, he appears to have given new life and practical form to ancient teachings of both East and West. For example, the Socratic/Platonic emphasis on "the examined life" recurs in Gurdjieff's teaching as the practice of self-observation. His teachings about self-discipline and restraint reflect Stoic teachings. The Hindu/Buddhist notion of attachment recurs in Gurdjieff's teaching as the concept of identification. Similarly, his cosmology can be "read" against ancient and esoteric sources, respectively Neoplatonic and such a source as Robert Fludd's treatment of macrocosmic musical structures.
American psychological culture has seized on one of Gurdjieff's inovations, the enneagram. For many students of the Gurdjieff tradition the enneagram remains a "koan," challenging and never fully explicated. Lord Pentland allowed very limited use of this symbol. There have been many attempts to trace the origins of the enneagram; some similarites to other figures have been found, but it seems that Gurdjieff was the sole revealer of this esoteric symbol to the world and only he knew the true source. Many imitators have attempted to use the enneagram symbol as the basis for personality analysis, for example in the Enneagram of Personality, developed by Oscar Ichazo,Claudio Naranjo, Helen Palmer, and others, and in that application it is not related to Gurdjieff's teaching or to his explanations of the enneagram.
The science-fiction and horror novelist John Shirley has written an introductory work on Gurdjieff for Penguin/Tarcher, Gurdjieff: An Introduction to His Life and Ideas.
Gurdjieff had influenced the formation of many groups after his death, all of which still function today and follow his ideas.
The Gurdjieff Foundation, the largest organization directly influenced by the ideas of Gurdjieff, was organized by Jeanne de Salzmann during the early 1950s, and led by her in cooperation with other direct pupils. The main four branches of the Foundation are The Gurdjieff Foundation of New York, The London-based Gurdjieff Society, the Institut Gurdjieff (Paris), and the network of foundations in South America founded by the late Natalie de Etievan, daughter of Jeanne de Salzmann.
Connected to these four foundations are numerous smaller groups around the world, collected under the umbrella of the International Association of Gurdjieff Foundations. The president of the Gurdjieff Foundation of New York was Lord Pentland, who retained this position until his death. And was then led by Paul Reynard, a painter and Master of Gurdjieff Movements. As of 2009[update] Frank R. Sinclair, author of Without Benefit of Clergy, presides. A group in India is led by Ravi Ravindra who was a student under Mme De Salzmann and Dr. Welch.
Various pupils of Gurdjieff and his direct students have formed other groups. Willem Nyland, one of Gurdjieff's closest students and an original founder and trustee of The Gurdjieff Foundation of New York, left to form his own groups in the early 1960s.
Jane Heap was sent to London by Gurdjieff, where she led groups until her death in 1964. Louise Goepfert March, who became a pupil of Gurdjieff's in 1929, started her own groups in 1957 and founded the Rochester Folk Art Guild in the Finger Lakes region of New York State; her efforts were closely linked to the Gurdjieff Foundation of New York. There are also independent groups which were formed and led by [[John G. Bennett and Mrs. Staveley.
In 2005 Alan Francis after co-founding the Gurdjieff Foundation in Oregon formed the as yet unaffilated Russian Center for Gurdjieff Studies in Moscow.
Gurdjieff student Lord Pentland connects the Gurdjieff group-work with the later rise of encounter groups. Groups also often meet to prepare for demonstrations or performances to which the public is invited.
Criticism by Louis Pauwels among others of Gurdjieff's system largely focuses on his insistence on seeing people as "asleep" in a state closely resembling "hypnotic sleep". Gurdjieff said, even specifically at times, that a pious, good, and moral man was no more "spiritually developed" than any other person; they are all equally "asleep".
Gurdjieff student Lord Pentland connects the Gurdjieff group-work with the later rise of encounter groups. Groups also often meet to prepare for demonstrations or performances to which the public is invited.
Criticism by Louis Pauwels among others of Gurdjieff's system largely focuses on his insistence on seeing people as "asleep" in a state closely resembling "hypnotic sleep". Gurdjieff said, even specifically at times, that a pious, good, and moral man was no more "spiritually developed" than any other person; they are all equally "asleep".
In spite of Henry Miller's personally positive attitude towards Gurdjieff for not considering himself holy like other masters of wisdom, after writing a brief introduction to Fritz Peters' book Boyhood with Gurdjieff he goes on to explain that man is not meant to lead a "harmonious life", as Gurdjieff claimed in naming his institute.
A primary criticism of Gurdjieff's work points out that it attaches no value to almost everything that comprises the life of an average man. According to Gurdjieff, everything an "average man" possesses, accomplishes, does, and feels is completely accidental and without any initiative. A common everyday ordinary man is born a machine and dies a machine without any chance whatsoever of being anything else.
This belief seems to runs counter the Judeo-Christian tradition that man is a living soul.
In his most elaborate writing, Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson (see bibliography), Gurdjieff records his reverence for the founders of the mainstream religions of East and West and his contempt (by and large) for what successive generations of believers have made of those religious teachings. His ironical discussions of "orthodoxhydooraki" and "heterodoxhydooraki" — orthodox fools and heterodox fools, from the Russian word durak (fool) — position him as a critic of religious distortion and, in turn, as a target for criticism from some within those traditions. Gurdjieff has been interpreted by some, Ouspensky among others, to have had a total disregard for the value of mainstream religion, philanthropic work and the value of doing right or wrong in general.
This belief seems to runs counter the Judeo-Christian tradition that man is a living soul.
In his most elaborate writing, Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson (see bibliography), Gurdjieff records his reverence for the founders of the mainstream religions of East and West and his contempt (by and large) for what successive generations of believers have made of those religious teachings. His ironical discussions of "orthodoxhydooraki" and "heterodoxhydooraki" — orthodox fools and heterodox fools, from the Russian word durak (fool) — position him as a critic of religious distortion and, in turn, as a target for criticism from some within those traditions. Gurdjieff has been interpreted by some, Ouspensky among others, to have had a total disregard for the value of mainstream religion, philanthropic work and the value of doing right or wrong in general.
Gurdjieff's former students as detractors argue, despite his seeming total lack of pretension to any kind of "guru holiness", that the many anecdotes of his sometimes unconventional behavior display the unsavory and impure character of a man who was a cynical manipulator of his followers.
Gurdjieff's own pupils wrestled to understand him. For example, in a written exchange between Luc Dietrich and Henri Tracol dating to 1943: "L.D.: How do you know that Gurdjieff wishes you well? H.T.: I feel sometimes how little I interest him--and how strongly he takes an interest in me. By that I measure the strength of an intentional feeling."
Louis Pauwels wrote Monsieur Gurdjieff (first edition published in Paris France in 1954 by Editions du Seuil).
In an interview, he said of the Gurdjieff work: "... After two years of exercises which both enlightened and burned me, I found myself in a hospital bed with a thrombosed central vein in my left eye and weighing ninety-nine pounds...Horrible anguish and abysses opened up for me. But it was my fault."
Pauwels claims Karl Haushofer, the father of geopolitics whose protegee was Deputy Reich Führer Rudolf Hess, as one of the real "seekers after truth" described by Gurdjieff. According to Rom Landau, a journalist in the 1930s, as reported to him by Achmed Abdullah: at the beginning of the 20th century, Gurdjieff was a Russian secret agent in Tibet who went by the name of "Hambro Akuan Dorzhieff" (i.e. Agvan Dorjiev), chief tutor to the Dalai Lama.
However, reports have it that Dorzhieff went to live in the Buddhist temple erected in St. Petersburg and after the revolution, he was imprisoned by Stalin. Jack Webb conjectures that Gurdjieff may have been Dorzhieff's assistant Ushe Narzunoff (i.e. Ovshe Norzunov) but this is untenable.
Colin Wilson writes about "...Gurdjieff's reputation for seducing his female students. (In Providence Rhode Island, in 1960, a man was pointed out to me as one of Gurdjieff's illegitimate children. The professor who told me this also assured me that Gurdjieff had left many children around America)."
Frank R. Sinclair, president of the Gurdjieff Foundation in New York, identifies Michele de Salzmann as Jeanne de Salzmann's son by Gurdjieff.[50] Dushka Howarth, the daughter of one of Gurdjieff's early Movements instructors Jessmin Howarth, and a few others are described as children of Gurdjieff.
Gurdjieff vs Crowley
According to Alex Owen, Gurdjieff "...was often referred to by his followers as a magician, and the powerful effect of his hypnotic presence is reminiscent of Aleister Crowley in his prime. Although Gurdjieff despised Crowley, both men were undeniably occult Masters in a similar mold."
According to Alex Owen, Gurdjieff "...was often referred to by his followers as a magician, and the powerful effect of his hypnotic presence is reminiscent of Aleister Crowley in his prime. Although Gurdjieff despised Crowley, both men were undeniably occult Masters in a similar mold."
Whitall Perry writes that "...there is just the possibility that the two men had some business in common that escaped the notice of the others present."
Samael Aun Weor writes more directly in The Juratena Mountain of how Francisco A. Propato (a graduate of La Sorbonne and Spanish translator of The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam) declares "Beelzebub" Gurdjieff a Black Magician.
Though Aun Weor himself only ever speaks of Gurdjieff in positive terms but not so when it comes down to discuss Kundalini or when Gurdjieff writes, "...Concerning sexual desire ...If a youth but once gratify this lust before reaching adulthood, then the same would happen to him as happened to the historical Essau...But when the youth is grown up, then he can do whatever he likes..."
Though Aun Weor himself only ever speaks of Gurdjieff in positive terms but not so when it comes down to discuss Kundalini or when Gurdjieff writes, "...Concerning sexual desire ...If a youth but once gratify this lust before reaching adulthood, then the same would happen to him as happened to the historical Essau...But when the youth is grown up, then he can do whatever he likes..."
"...As far as I know, the only occult resort of recent times which surpassed Gurdjieff's in madness was the infamous monastery established near Cefalu, in Sicily, by the fabulous British occultist, Aleister Crowley."[
Gurdjieff vs Rasputin
"...Rom Landau was one of the first to compare Gurdjieff to Rasputin. Describing a meeting with Gurdjieff, he explains: 'I had been specially careful not to look at Gurdjieff and not to allow him to look into my eyes...'"
Gurdjieff vs Rasputin
"...Rom Landau was one of the first to compare Gurdjieff to Rasputin. Describing a meeting with Gurdjieff, he explains: 'I had been specially careful not to look at Gurdjieff and not to allow him to look into my eyes...'"
Time magazine once described Gurdjieff as "a remarkable blend of P.T. Barnum, Rasputin, Freud, Groucho Marx and everybody's grandfather."
Gurdjieff's funeral
With so much to be discussed, about Gurdjieff and his teaching, other views abound which were either generated by Gurdjieff himself or his followers. For example, during the Russian period Gurdjieff spoke with respect of the obyvatel, the simple householder or salt-of-the-earth peasant, who lives by traditional values and slowly develops himself. Much later, in Paris, he gave encouragement and financial help to a multitude of people who were hard up for one reason or another. His Paris flat had, people say, one of the world's worst art collections, consisting of pieces purchased from indigent artists as a cover for providing them with funds without humiliating them. Diogenes, the ancient Greek Cynic philosopher whom Gurdjieff resembles, once said of himself that like the chorus master, he set the note a little high so that the chorus would hit the right note. For his pupils and in his writings, Gurdjieff set the note "a little high" as a goal and inspiration, while in his personal conduct he was generous to "the average man." Many such people attended his funeral at the Russian cathedral, rue Daru. Gurdjieff's pupils did not know them.
Gurdjieff's funeral
With so much to be discussed, about Gurdjieff and his teaching, other views abound which were either generated by Gurdjieff himself or his followers. For example, during the Russian period Gurdjieff spoke with respect of the obyvatel, the simple householder or salt-of-the-earth peasant, who lives by traditional values and slowly develops himself. Much later, in Paris, he gave encouragement and financial help to a multitude of people who were hard up for one reason or another. His Paris flat had, people say, one of the world's worst art collections, consisting of pieces purchased from indigent artists as a cover for providing them with funds without humiliating them. Diogenes, the ancient Greek Cynic philosopher whom Gurdjieff resembles, once said of himself that like the chorus master, he set the note a little high so that the chorus would hit the right note. For his pupils and in his writings, Gurdjieff set the note "a little high" as a goal and inspiration, while in his personal conduct he was generous to "the average man." Many such people attended his funeral at the Russian cathedral, rue Daru. Gurdjieff's pupils did not know them.
Books
The Herald of Coming Good by G. I. Gurdjieff (1933, 1971, 1988)
All and Everything trilogy:
Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson by G. I. Gurdjieff (1950)
Meetings with Remarkable Men by G. I. Gurdjieff (1963)
Life is Real Only Then, When 'I Am' by G. I. Gurdjieff (1974)
Views from the Real World gathered talks of G. I. Gurdjieff by his pupil Olga de Hartmann(1973)
Books about Gurdjieff and The Fourth Way
The Unknowable Gurdjieff, Margaret Anderson, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1962, ISBN 0-7100-7656-8
Gurdjieff: A Very Great Enigma by J. G. Bennett, 1969
Gurdjieff: Making a New World by J. G. Bennett 1973, ISBN 0-06-090474-7
Idiots in Paris by J. G. Bennett and E. Bennett, 1980
Becoming Conscious with G.I. Gurdjieff, Solanges Claustres, Eureka Editions, 2005
Mount Analogue by René Daumal 1st edition in French, 1952; English, 1974
The Fellowship: The Untold Story of Frank Lloyd Wright and the Taliesin Fellowship by Roger Friedland and Harold Zellman, 2006, (includes especially extensive documentation on "the strong influence the occultist Georgi Gurdjieff had on Wright and especially his wife Oglivanna."[61])
Gurdjieff Unveiled by Seymour Ginsburg, 2005
Our Life with Mr. Gurdjieff by Thomas and Olga de Hartmann, 1964, Revised 1983 and 1992
IT'S UP TO OURSELVES, A Mother, A Daughter and Gurdjieff, a Shared Memoir and Family Photoalbum by Jessmin and Dushka Howarth, Gurdjieff Heritage Society, 2009, ISBN 978-0-9791926-0-9
Undiscovered Country by Kathryn Hulme, 1966
The Oragean Version by C. Daly King, 1951
The Gurdjieff Years 1929-1949: Recollections of Louise March by Annabeth McCorkle
Psychological Commentaries on the Teachings of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky by Maurice Nicoll, 1952, 1955, 1972, 1980, (6 volumes)
Teachings of Gurdjieff - The Journey of a Pupil by C. S. Nott, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1961
On Love by A. R. Orage, 1974
Psychological Exercises by A. R. Orage 1976
In Search of the Miraculous by P. D. Ouspensky, 1949 (numerous editions)
The Fourth Way by P. D. Ouspensky, 1957
The Psychology of Man's Possible Evolution by P. D. Ouspensky, 1978
Eating The "I": An Account of The Fourth Way: The Way of Transformation in Ordinary Life, William Patrick Patterson, 1992
Ladies of the Rope: Gurdjieff's Special Left Bank Women's Group, William Patrick Patterson 1999
Struggle of the Magicians: Exploring the Teacher-Student Relationship, William Patrick Patterson 1996
Taking with the Left Hand: Enneagram Craze, The Fellowship of Friends, and the Mouravieff Phenomenon, William Patrick Patterson, 1998
Voices in the Dark: Esoteric, Occult & Secular Voices in Nazi-Occupied Paris 1940-44, William Patrick Patterson, 2001
Spiritual Survival in a Radically Changing World-Time, William Patrick Patterson, 2009
Boyhood with Gurdjieff by Fritz Peters, 1964
Gurdjieff Remembered by Fritz Peters, 1965
The Gurdjieff Work by Kathleen Speeth ISBN 0-87477-492-6
Gurdjieff: An Introduction To His Life and Ideas by John Shirley, 2004, ISBN 1-58542-287-8
Gurdjieff: A Master in Life, Tcheslaw Tchekhovitch, Dolmen Meadow Editions, Toronto, 2006
Toward Awakening by Jean Vaysse, 1980
Gurdjieff: An Approach to his Ideas, Michel Waldberg, 1981, ISBN 0-7100-0811-2
A Study of Gurdjieff's Teaching, Kenneth Walker, 1957
Gurdjieff: The Key Concepts, Sophia Wellbeloved, Routledge, London and N.Y., 2003, ISBN 0-415-24898-1
Gurdjieff, Astrology and Beelzebub's Tales, Sophia Wellbeloved, Solar Bound Press, N.Y., 2002
The War Against Sleep: The Philosophy of Gurdjieff, Colin Wilson, 1980
Who Are You Monsieur Gurdjieff?, René Zuber 1980
Monsieur Gurdjieff, Louis Pauwels, France, 1954. [62]
"Ouspensky, Gurdjieff et les Fragments d'un Enseignement inconnu", by Boris Mouravieff, in Revue Mensuelle Internationale "Synthèses", N°138, Bruxelles, novembre 1957.
"Ecrits sur Ouspensky, Gurdjieff et sur la Tradition ésotérique chrétienne", Inédit, Dervy Poche, Paris, September 2008.
Gurdjieff Seeker of the Truth, Kathleen Speeth, Ira Friedlander, 1980, ISBN 0-06-090693-6
Comprehensive biographies
Gurdjieff: Making a New World posthumous work by John G. Bennett, 1973, Harper, ISBN 0-06-060778-5
The Harmonious Circle: The Lives and Work of G. I. Gurdjieff, P. D. Ouspensky, and Their Followers by James Webb, 1980, Putnam Publishing. ISBN 0-399-11465-3
Gurdjieff: The anatomy of a Myth by James Moore, 1991, ISBN 1-86204-606-9
Gurdjieff's America: Mediating the Miraculous by Paul Beekman Taylor, 2004, Lighthouse Editions, ISBN 1904998003. Reissued as Gurdjieff's Invention of America 2007, Eureka Editions.
G. I. Gurdjieff: A New Life by Paul Beekman Taylor, 2008, Eureka Editions, ISBN 978-90-72395-57-3
Videos and DVDs about Gurdjieff and the Fourth Way
Gurdjieff's Legacy: Establishing The Teaching in the West, 1924-1949 Part III
Gurdjieff's Mission: Introducing The Teaching to the West, 1912-1924 Part II
Gurdjieff in Egypt: The Origin of Esoteric Knowledge Part I
Meetings with Remarkable Men, Peter Brook, 1979
Tribute to G. I. Gurdjieff
Some moments with Mr. Gurdjieff and others, France 1949
Hitler, Stalin and Gurdjiev. Running time appr. 44 minutes. Russia, 2006.
Music
G.I. Gurdjieff Sacred Hymns, by Keith Jarrett, ECM, 1980
Seekers of the Truth: The Complete Piano Music of Georges I. Gurdjieff and Thomas de Hartmann, Volume One, by Cecil Lytle, Celestial Harmonies, 1992
Reading of a Sacred Book: The Complete Piano Music of Georges I. Gurdjieff and Thomas de Hartmann, Volume Two, by Cecil Lytle, Celestial Harmonies, 1992
Words for a Hymn to the Sun: The Complete Piano Music of Georges I. Gurdjieff and Thomas de Hartmann, Volume Three, by Cecil Lytle, Celestial Harmonies, 1992
Gurdjieff's Music for the Movements, by Wim van Dullemen, Channel Classics, 1999
Thomas de Hartmann: Music for Gurdjieff's '39 Series' , by Wim van Dullemen, Channel Classics, 2001
Chants, Hymns and Dances, by Anja Lechner and Vassilis Tsabropoulos, ECM, 2004
Melos, by Anja Lechner, Vassilis Tsabropoulos and U.T. Gandhi, ECM, 2008
im:wikipedia//youtube
The Herald of Coming Good by G. I. Gurdjieff (1933, 1971, 1988)
All and Everything trilogy:
Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson by G. I. Gurdjieff (1950)
Meetings with Remarkable Men by G. I. Gurdjieff (1963)
Life is Real Only Then, When 'I Am' by G. I. Gurdjieff (1974)
Views from the Real World gathered talks of G. I. Gurdjieff by his pupil Olga de Hartmann(1973)
Books about Gurdjieff and The Fourth Way
The Unknowable Gurdjieff, Margaret Anderson, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1962, ISBN 0-7100-7656-8
Gurdjieff: A Very Great Enigma by J. G. Bennett, 1969
Gurdjieff: Making a New World by J. G. Bennett 1973, ISBN 0-06-090474-7
Idiots in Paris by J. G. Bennett and E. Bennett, 1980
Becoming Conscious with G.I. Gurdjieff, Solanges Claustres, Eureka Editions, 2005
Mount Analogue by René Daumal 1st edition in French, 1952; English, 1974
The Fellowship: The Untold Story of Frank Lloyd Wright and the Taliesin Fellowship by Roger Friedland and Harold Zellman, 2006, (includes especially extensive documentation on "the strong influence the occultist Georgi Gurdjieff had on Wright and especially his wife Oglivanna."[61])
Gurdjieff Unveiled by Seymour Ginsburg, 2005
Our Life with Mr. Gurdjieff by Thomas and Olga de Hartmann, 1964, Revised 1983 and 1992
IT'S UP TO OURSELVES, A Mother, A Daughter and Gurdjieff, a Shared Memoir and Family Photoalbum by Jessmin and Dushka Howarth, Gurdjieff Heritage Society, 2009, ISBN 978-0-9791926-0-9
Undiscovered Country by Kathryn Hulme, 1966
The Oragean Version by C. Daly King, 1951
The Gurdjieff Years 1929-1949: Recollections of Louise March by Annabeth McCorkle
Psychological Commentaries on the Teachings of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky by Maurice Nicoll, 1952, 1955, 1972, 1980, (6 volumes)
Teachings of Gurdjieff - The Journey of a Pupil by C. S. Nott, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, 1961
On Love by A. R. Orage, 1974
Psychological Exercises by A. R. Orage 1976
In Search of the Miraculous by P. D. Ouspensky, 1949 (numerous editions)
The Fourth Way by P. D. Ouspensky, 1957
The Psychology of Man's Possible Evolution by P. D. Ouspensky, 1978
Eating The "I": An Account of The Fourth Way: The Way of Transformation in Ordinary Life, William Patrick Patterson, 1992
Ladies of the Rope: Gurdjieff's Special Left Bank Women's Group, William Patrick Patterson 1999
Struggle of the Magicians: Exploring the Teacher-Student Relationship, William Patrick Patterson 1996
Taking with the Left Hand: Enneagram Craze, The Fellowship of Friends, and the Mouravieff Phenomenon, William Patrick Patterson, 1998
Voices in the Dark: Esoteric, Occult & Secular Voices in Nazi-Occupied Paris 1940-44, William Patrick Patterson, 2001
Spiritual Survival in a Radically Changing World-Time, William Patrick Patterson, 2009
Boyhood with Gurdjieff by Fritz Peters, 1964
Gurdjieff Remembered by Fritz Peters, 1965
The Gurdjieff Work by Kathleen Speeth ISBN 0-87477-492-6
Gurdjieff: An Introduction To His Life and Ideas by John Shirley, 2004, ISBN 1-58542-287-8
Gurdjieff: A Master in Life, Tcheslaw Tchekhovitch, Dolmen Meadow Editions, Toronto, 2006
Toward Awakening by Jean Vaysse, 1980
Gurdjieff: An Approach to his Ideas, Michel Waldberg, 1981, ISBN 0-7100-0811-2
A Study of Gurdjieff's Teaching, Kenneth Walker, 1957
Gurdjieff: The Key Concepts, Sophia Wellbeloved, Routledge, London and N.Y., 2003, ISBN 0-415-24898-1
Gurdjieff, Astrology and Beelzebub's Tales, Sophia Wellbeloved, Solar Bound Press, N.Y., 2002
The War Against Sleep: The Philosophy of Gurdjieff, Colin Wilson, 1980
Who Are You Monsieur Gurdjieff?, René Zuber 1980
Monsieur Gurdjieff, Louis Pauwels, France, 1954. [62]
"Ouspensky, Gurdjieff et les Fragments d'un Enseignement inconnu", by Boris Mouravieff, in Revue Mensuelle Internationale "Synthèses", N°138, Bruxelles, novembre 1957.
"Ecrits sur Ouspensky, Gurdjieff et sur la Tradition ésotérique chrétienne", Inédit, Dervy Poche, Paris, September 2008.
Gurdjieff Seeker of the Truth, Kathleen Speeth, Ira Friedlander, 1980, ISBN 0-06-090693-6
Comprehensive biographies
Gurdjieff: Making a New World posthumous work by John G. Bennett, 1973, Harper, ISBN 0-06-060778-5
The Harmonious Circle: The Lives and Work of G. I. Gurdjieff, P. D. Ouspensky, and Their Followers by James Webb, 1980, Putnam Publishing. ISBN 0-399-11465-3
Gurdjieff: The anatomy of a Myth by James Moore, 1991, ISBN 1-86204-606-9
Gurdjieff's America: Mediating the Miraculous by Paul Beekman Taylor, 2004, Lighthouse Editions, ISBN 1904998003. Reissued as Gurdjieff's Invention of America 2007, Eureka Editions.
G. I. Gurdjieff: A New Life by Paul Beekman Taylor, 2008, Eureka Editions, ISBN 978-90-72395-57-3
Videos and DVDs about Gurdjieff and the Fourth Way
Gurdjieff's Legacy: Establishing The Teaching in the West, 1924-1949 Part III
Gurdjieff's Mission: Introducing The Teaching to the West, 1912-1924 Part II
Gurdjieff in Egypt: The Origin of Esoteric Knowledge Part I
Meetings with Remarkable Men, Peter Brook, 1979
Tribute to G. I. Gurdjieff
Some moments with Mr. Gurdjieff and others, France 1949
Hitler, Stalin and Gurdjiev. Running time appr. 44 minutes. Russia, 2006.
Music
G.I. Gurdjieff Sacred Hymns, by Keith Jarrett, ECM, 1980
Seekers of the Truth: The Complete Piano Music of Georges I. Gurdjieff and Thomas de Hartmann, Volume One, by Cecil Lytle, Celestial Harmonies, 1992
Reading of a Sacred Book: The Complete Piano Music of Georges I. Gurdjieff and Thomas de Hartmann, Volume Two, by Cecil Lytle, Celestial Harmonies, 1992
Words for a Hymn to the Sun: The Complete Piano Music of Georges I. Gurdjieff and Thomas de Hartmann, Volume Three, by Cecil Lytle, Celestial Harmonies, 1992
Gurdjieff's Music for the Movements, by Wim van Dullemen, Channel Classics, 1999
Thomas de Hartmann: Music for Gurdjieff's '39 Series' , by Wim van Dullemen, Channel Classics, 2001
Chants, Hymns and Dances, by Anja Lechner and Vassilis Tsabropoulos, ECM, 2004
Melos, by Anja Lechner, Vassilis Tsabropoulos and U.T. Gandhi, ECM, 2008
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