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<h1>G. I. Gurdjieff</h1><p> <strong>George Ivanovich Gurdjieff</strong> (<A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/january_13" title="January 13">January 13</A> / <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/january_14" title="January 14">January 14</A>, <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/1866" title="1866">1866</A>? - <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/october_29" title="October 29">October 29</A>, <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/1949" title="1949">1949</A>), the Greek-Armenian mystic and 'teacher of dancing' born in <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/alexandropol__armenia" title="Alexandropol, Armenia">Alexandropol, Armenia</A> (then of the Russian Empire, now Gumri, Armenia), traveled to many parts of the world (i.e. Central Asia, Egypt, Rome) before returning to <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/russia" title="Russia">Russia</A> and teaching in <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/moscow" title="Moscow">Moscow</A> and <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/saint_petersburg" title="Saint Petersburg">St. Petersburg</A> in 1913. In the midst of revolutionary upheaval in Russia he left Petrograd (St. Petersburg was renamed Petrograd September 1, 1914) in 1917 to return to his family home in Alexandropol. During the Bolshevik Revolution he set up temporary camps in Essentuki in the Caucasus, then 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 mid-January 1919 he and group of his closest pupils moved to <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/tbilisi" title="Tbilisi">Tbilisi</A> remaining there until late May 1920 when political conditions in <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/georgia__country_" title="Georgia (country)">Georgia</A> deteriorated. Then, by foot, they walked to Batumi on the Black Sea coast embarking for <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/constantinople" title="Constantinople">Constantinople</A> (present-day <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/istanbul" title="Istanbul">Istanbul</A>) where Gurdjieff rented an apartment on Koumbaradji Street in Péra and later at 13 Abdullatif Yemeneci Sokak near the <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/galata_tower" title="Galata Tower">Galata Tower</A>. The apartment is near the tekke (monastery) of the <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/mevlevi" title="Mevlevi">Mevlevi</A> Order of <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/sufism" title="Sufism">Sufis</A> (founded by <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/jalal_al_din_muhammad_rumi" title="Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi">Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi</A>) where Gurdjieff, <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/p__d__ouspensky" title="P. D. Ouspensky">Ouspensky</A> and <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/thomas_and_olga_de_hartmann" title="Thomas and Olga de Hartmann">Thomas de Hartmann</A> study the <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/sema" title="Sema">sema</A> ceremony of the Whirling Dervishes. Gurdjieff also meets <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/john_g__bennett" title="John G. Bennett">John G. Bennett</A> in Constantinople. Mr. Bennett, who was then a British naval officer, later became one of Gurdjieff's most well-known pupils.<p> Gurdjieff left Constantinople in August 1921 traveling on to Western Europe visiting, lecturing and giving <em>demonstrations</em> of his work in various metropolitan centers such as Berlin and London. In October 1922, he established the <em><A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/institute_for_the_harmonious_development_of_man" title="Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man">Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man</A></em> south of <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/paris" title="Paris">Paris</A> at the <em>Prieuré des Basses Loges</em> in Fontainebleau-Avon near the famous <em><A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/chateau_fontainebleau" title="Chateau Fontainebleau">Château de Fontainebleau;</A></em>. In 1924 he nearly died in a car accident. After his recovery he began writing <em><A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/all_and_everything" title="All and Everything">All and Everything</A></em> originally written by him in Russian and Armenian.<p> He stopped writing in 1935 after having completed the first two parts of the trilogy and only having started on the incomplete <em>Third Series</em> which had been published under the title <em><A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/life_is_real_only_then__when__i_am_" title="Life is Real Only Then, When 'I Am'">Life is Real Only Then, When 'I Am'</A></em>. Gurdjieff lived in Paris at 6 Rue des Colonels Rénard in <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/vichy_france" title="Vichy France">Vichy France</A> during World War II where he continued to teach his pupils throughout the war. He died on October 29, 1949 at the American Hospital in Neuilly, France. His funeral was held at the St. Alexandre Nevsky Russian Orthodox Cathedral at 12 Rue Daru, Paris. He is buried in the cemetery at Fontainebleau-Avon near the grave of <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/katherine_mansfield" title="Katherine Mansfield">Katherine Mansfield</A>.<p> Timelines, facts and whereabouts regarding his early biography before he appeared in Moscow in 1913 are uncertain, fictionalised or have been deliberately obscured by him, though some believe that his text, <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/meetings_with_remarkable_men" title="Meetings with Remarkable Men">Meetings with Remarkable Men</A>, is an accurate account of his early search. Few doubt that Gurdjieff was a master of wisdom able to practice <em>self-remembering</em>, <em>external considering</em> and <em>work on oneself</em> ideas that are discussed in many of the works cited here. Less often noted are Gurdjieff's links to avant-garde artistic and phlosophical circles in pre-revolutionary Russia, and much that seems strange about his 'system' can be explained in terms of these influences. <p> He is best-known through the published works of his students, such as <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/p__d__ouspensky" title="P. D. Ouspensky">P. D. Ouspensky</A> (author of <em><A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/in_search_of_the_miraculous" title="In Search of the Miraculous">In Search of the Miraculous: Fragments of an Unknown Teaching</A></em>), <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/john_g__bennett" title="John G. Bennett">John G. Bennett</A>, <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/thomas_and_olga_de_hartmann" title="Thomas and Olga de Hartmann">Thomas and Olga de Hartmann</A>, <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/rene_daumal" title="René Daumal">René Daumal</A> and <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/maurice_nicoll" title="Maurice Nicoll">Maurice Nicoll</A> among others. His students included <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/frank_lloyd_wright" title="Frank Lloyd Wright">Frank Lloyd Wright</A>, <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/kathryn_hulme" title="Kathryn Hulme">Kathryn Hulme</A>, <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/pamela_l__travers" title="Pamela L. Travers">P. L. Travers</A> and <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/katherine_mansfield" title="Katherine Mansfield">Katherine Mansfield</A>. Three books written by Gurdjieff were published after his death: (<em><A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/beelzebub_s_tales_to_his_grandson" title="Beelzebub's Tales to his Grandson">Beelzebub's Tales to his Grandson</A></em>, <em><A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/meetings_with_remarkable_men" title="Meetings with Remarkable Men">Meetings with Remarkable Men</A></em>, and <em><A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/life_is_real_only_then__when__i_am_" title="Life is Real Only Then, When 'I Am'">Life is Real Only Then, When 'I Am'</A></em>, a trilogy known collectively as <em><A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/all_and_everything" title="All and Everything">All and Everything</A></em>. A book of his early talks was also collected by one of his students and personal secretaries, <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/thomas_and_olga_de_hartmann" title="Thomas and Olga de Hartmann">Olga de Hartmann</A>, and published in 1973 under the title <em><A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/views_from_the_real_world" title="Views from the Real World">Views from the Real World: Early Talks in Moscow, Essentuki, Tiflis, Berlin, London, Paris, New York and Chicago, as recollected by his pupils</A></em>. Gurdjieff's teachings have much in common with the teachings of <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/zen" title="Zen">Zen</A> and other <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/hinduism" title="Hinduism">Hindu</A> and <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/buddhism_1" title="Buddhism">Buddhist</A> traditions. He called his teaching <em>Esoteric Christianity</em> and borrowed techniques from Eastern Orthodox <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/hesychasm" title="Hesychasm">hesychasm</A>. His ideas center around the struggle of <em>working on oneself</em> for the purpose of becoming more conscious and more in control of the levels of one's being through various attention focusing exercises, meditation activities and movements that may develop into the <em>all-center-awake</em> practice of <em>self-remembering</em>. Many of his ideas and practices find similar expressions within the various schools of <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/sufism" title="Sufism">Sufism</A>. He taught that the ordinary waking consciousness of human beings was a form of <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/sleep" title="Sleep">sleep</A> and that higher levels of consciousness were possible, namely subjective consciousness and objective consciousness. The development of these levels of consciousness corresponded with the development of the higher bodies (i.e. the <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/astral_projection" title="Astral projection">astral</A>, causal and mental bodies) that could be developed within the physical body in which ordinary consciousness was found. The development of these higher bodies required work on oneself the development of self remembering, the non-expression of negative emotions and other super efforts in which various <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/alchemy_1" title="Alchemy">alchemical processes</A> occurred within the human being seeking completion.<p> The feature film <em>Meetings with Remarkable Men</em> (1979) directed by <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/peter_brook" title="Peter Brook">Peter Brook</A> and starring <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/terence_stamp" title="Terence Stamp">Terence Stamp</A> is based upon the book of the same name and was made under the direction of <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/jeanne_de_salzmann" title="Jeanne de Salzmann">Jeanne de Salzmann</A> and depicts rare performances of the sacred dances taught to serious students of his work known simply as the <em><A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/movements" title="Movements">movements</A></em>.<p> His teachings have been called <em>The Work</em> or <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/the_fourth_way" title="The Fourth Way">The Fourth Way</A> which is also the title of a book by <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/p__d__ouspensky" title="P. D. Ouspensky">P. D. Ouspensky</A>. His teaching methods have been somewhat preserved by various groups formed after his death including the Gurdjieff Foundations in New York and Paris, under the direction of <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/jeanne_de_salzmann" title="Jeanne de Salzmann">Jeanne de Salzmann</A>. <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/john_g__bennett" title="John G. Bennett">John G. Bennett</A>, another well known pupil of Gurdjieff and author, founded autonomous groups called the <em>International Academy for Continuous Education</em> established at Sherborne House, England in 1970 and <em>The Claymont Society for Continuous Education</em> in West Virginia in 1974. There are many other groups under the direction of many other of Gurdjieff's pupils, or his pupil's pupils (or even his pupil's pupil's pupils!) that have various pedigrees and connections with other Gurdjieff groups -- some of very dubious claim to a link with Gurdjieff's original teachings and methods. Some have also suggested that it was Gurdjieff who spawned the area of <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/enneagram" title="Enneagram">Enneagram</A> studies. Some, such as <A HREF="http://allwebhunt.com/wiki-article-tab.cfm/idries_shah" title="Idries Shah">Idries Shah</A>, claim that Gurdjieff's spiritual authority to transmit an authentic esoteric teaching ended at his death and has not been transmitted to any of his students in unadulterated form. Many Westerners continue to discover Gurdjieff's life and teachings and endeavor to contact individuals and groups with some connection with the traditions that have developed under the guidance of his pupils.<p> <A NAME=""><H2>A short bibliography</H2><p> <ul><li> <strong>Introduction to Gurdjieff's Work</strong><p> <ul><li> <em>The Harmonious Circle</em> by James Webb.<p> </li></ul></li><li> <strong>Works by Gurdjieff</strong> <ul><li> <em>Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson</em> by G. I. Gurdjieff (1950) </li><li> <em>Meetings with Remarkable Men</em> by G. I. Gurdjieff (1963) </li><li> <em>Life is only real, then, when "I am"</em> by G. I. Gurdjieff (1974) </li><li> <em>Views from the Real World</em> Talks of G. I. Gurdjieff (1973) </li><li> <em>The Herald of Coming Good</em> by G. I. Gurdjieff (1988)<p> </li></ul></li><li> <strong>The Gurdjieff Teaching</strong> <ul><li> <em>In Search of the Miraculous</em> by P. D. Ouspensky (1949) </li><li> <em>The Psychology of Man's Possible Evolution</em> by P.D. Ouspensky (1978) </li><li> <em>Toward Awakening</em> by Jean Vaysse (1980) </li><li> <em>Mount Analogue</em> by René Daumal (1974) </li><li> <em>Psychological Commentaries on the Teachings of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky</em> by Maurice Nicoll (1980, 6 volumes)<p> </li></ul></li><li> <strong>Gurdjieff as recounted by his pupils</strong> <ul><li> <em>Monsieur Gurdjieff</em> by Louis Pauwels (1954) </li><li> <em>Our Life with Mr. Gurdjieff</em> by Thomas and Olga de Hartmann (1964, Revised 1983 and 1992) </li><li> <em>Boyhood with Gurdjieff</em> by Fritz Peters (1964) </li><li> <em>Teachings of Gurdjieff</em> by C.S. Nott (1961) </li><li> <em>Undiscovered Country</em> by Kathryn Hulme (1966) </li><li> <em>Who Are You Monsieur Gurdjieff?</em> by René Zuber (1980) </li><li> <em>Idiots in Paris</em> by J.G. and E. Bennett (1980)<p> </li></ul></li></ul><A NAME=""><H2>External links</H2> <ul><li> <A HREF="http://www.gurdjieff-legacy.org/" class="external">Gurdjieff Legacy</A> </li><li> <A HREF="http://www.gurdjieffstudiesprogram.org/" class="external">Gurdjieff Studies Program</A> </li><li> <A HREF="http://www.fourthwayteaching.org/" class="external">Fourth Way Teaching</A> </li><li> <A HREF="http://www.gurdjieffjournal.com/" class="external">The Gurdjieff Journal</A> </li><li> <A HREF="http://www.gurdjieffbooks.net/" class="external">Gurdjieff Books & Videos</A> </li><li> <A HREF="http://www.gurdjieffvideos.com/" class="external">Gurdjieff Videos</A> </li><li> <A HREF="http://www.gurdjieff.org" class="external">International Gurdjieff Review</A> </li><li> <A HREF="http://www.bmrc.berkeley.edu/people/misc/School.html" class="external">G. I. Gurdjieff and His School</A> by Jacob Needleman, Professor of Philosophy, San Francisco State University </li><li> <A HREF="http://www.claymont.org/new_society.htm" class="external">A Call for a New Society</A> by John G. Bennett </li><li> <A HREF="http://www.gurdjieff.org.uk/gs9.htm" class="external">Chronology of Gurdjieff's Life</A> by James Moore </li><li> <A HREF="http://www.bmrc.berkeley.edu/people/rhodges/html/G-baker.html" class="external">Gurdjieff in America: An Overview</A> by George Baker and Walter Driscoll </li><li> <A HREF="http://naqshbandi.org/library/safety/gurdjieff.htm" class="external">Naqshbandi Sufi Order's critique of Gurdjieff's authority to transmit Sufi teachings</A> </li><li> <A HREF="http://www.gurdjieff-movements.net/" class="external">Gurjieff Movements</A> </li><li> <A HREF="http://www.gurdjieff.org.uk" class="external">Gurdjieff Studies (UK)</A> </li><li> <A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/tokyo/1236/" class="external">Gurdjieff's Teaching</A> by Fourth Way School </li><li> <A HREF="http://www.kheper.net/topics/Gurdjieff/" class="external">Gurdjieff: articles and links</A><p></li></ul> .
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