In Search of the Miraculous: The Definitive Exploration of G. I. Gurdjieff's Mystical Thought and Universal View (Harvest Book)

Product Information

However, his exposure to Gurdjieff’s ideas would so alter his understanding, that a clear line would be drawn between the books he authored before and after having this encounter.

Gurdjieff Books | Seeker of Truth

The book includes an essay titled Glimpses of Truth, a pupil’s account of a visit to Gurdjieff before the Russian Revolution.

Presumably, all of his theoretical ideas, formerly expressed literally, are slyly coded into this intricate canvas. Nevertheless, he spent the remaining years of his life teaching Gurdjieff’s ideas, a fact that drew considerable criticism from those loyal to Gurdjieff. He traveled to visit many of the places mentioned in Gurdjieff’s books as depositories of ancient knowledge. During the next forty years, De Salzmann supervised the publication of his books, preserved and taught his movements, and established centers for practicing his teaching in major cities worldwide. Each chapter is dedicated to a series of related Fourth Way topics, beginning with an introductory exposition by Ouspensky on that topic, and continuing with questions and answers from his meetings.

In this book, Ouspensky postulates the nature of the real world beyond the ordinary senses, discusses the essential evolution in human consciousness and emotion which must come before the higher world can be perceived and understood, and presents the ‘new logic’ or terminology which is essential for the description of the new reality. The most authentic insight into the first period comes from Gurdjieff’s book, Meetings with Remarkable Men. Gurdjieff opens a unique window into many important episodes of Gurdjieff’s teaching career, beginning with the remarkable journey through the Caucasus during the Civil War, establishing the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man for the first time, its various reiterations, and its final resting place in the Chateau Prieuré. This voluminous book was undertaken after Gurdjieff disbanded his institute, when he realized he had to reconsider his expectations of how to bring his teaching to the West. In each of these, Bennett recounts events and conversations of interest to the reader eager to learn more about George Gurdjieff, his teaching, and the circumstances in which he taught.The effect of Beelzebub’s was to “destroy, mercilessly and without any compromise whatever, in the mentation and feelings of the reader, the beliefs and views, by centuries rooted in him, about everything existing in the world. This is his exploration of eastern idea of reincarnation and his attempt to reconcile it with the Fourth Way. A well indexed and accessible exposition of the Fourth Way, taken from notes of those attending Ouspensky’s lectures.

Another well-indexed and accessible exposition of the Fourth Way, taken from notes of Ouspensky’s lectures.The book was published posthumously, after its manuscript had been reviewed and praised by Gurdjieff, somewhat healing the decades-long rift between them. In 1902, while convalescing after being hit by a stray bullet, Gurdjieff breaks into a soliloquy of self-examination that explores his attempts at applying what he had learned so far.

This essay was occasionally read in Moscow as an introduction for people meeting Gurdjieff for the first time.

Despite the years with Gurdjieff which intervened between writing and publication, Ouspensky tried in his revision to keep separate what he knew before he encountered the system and what he learned while within it. Jeanne de Salzmann met Gurdjieff in 1919 and remained his follower till the end of his life in 1949.