Georgy Ivanovich Gurdjieff. George Ivanovich Gurdjieff Teachings of George Gurdjieff
GEORGI IVANOVITCH GURDZHIEV
Born December 28, 1877 in Alexandropol; his mother was Armenian, and his father was Greek. As a child, George's teacher was the rector of the Russian cathedral, which had a significant influence on his spiritual development. In his early youth, Gurdjieff went on a trip to Asia, to Ethiopia and the Solomon Islands, perhaps during these travels he communicated with some esoteric societies. There is information that for ten years Gurdjieff was a secret Russian agent in Tibet. He could play a political role because they knew that he had spiritual powers, and in this country that is most important, especially among the high-ranking clergy. He was the mentor of the Dalai Lama and fled with him when the British captured Tibet. Although there is little information about that period of his life, it is known from his words that he was engaged in archeology and studied Lamaism. It was during this period that his own view of the world was formed, which was the basis for his teaching later.
At the beginning of 1916, Gurdjieff appeared in St. Petersburg as an adept of “higher knowledge.” There he met Pyotr Uspensky. Ouspensky describes his first meeting with Gurdjieff in his book In Search of the Miraculous:
“We came to a small cafe on a noisy, although not the main street. I saw a man oriental type with a black mustache and piercing eyes, who surprised me primarily because... he was completely out of harmony with the place and atmosphere. I was still full of impressions about the East, and this man with the face of an Indian rajah or an Arab sheikh, whom it was easy to imagine in a white burnous or a gilded turban, sat here... in a black coat with a corduroy collar and a black bowler hat and produced a strange, unexpected and almost a frightening impression, like a person poorly disguised, whose appearance embarrasses you because you see that he is not what he wants to appear, and you have to talk and act as if you do not see it. He spoke Russian incorrectly, with a strong Caucasian accent, and this accent, with which we are accustomed to associate something different from philosophical ideas, further enhanced the strangeness and surprise of the impression.”
Subsequently, Uspensky gathered a society of Gudzhiev’s followers. After the establishment of the dictatorship of the proletariat, Gurdjieff moved to Paris, where he founded the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man and where he worked with students for 10 years. Gurdjieff perfected a system of training aimed at reconciling the basic functions of man - thinking, feeling, and physical activity. Public performances were periodically held to showcase the students' achievements. Impact on European culture Gurdjieff did not, since he left very few works, but his name is often associated with the formation of occult systems - both in the USSR and in the Third Reich. The most basic ideas of his teaching are as follows, in Gurdjieff's own words: “You don't understand your own situation. You are in prison. All you can want for yourself, if you are a sane person, is to be free. But how to free yourself? It is necessary to dig a tunnel under the wall. One person can't do anything. But if, say, there are ten or twenty people, if they work in turns and one guards the other, they can finish the tunnel and get free. Moreover, no one can be released from prison without the help of those who were released before. Only they can tell what method of escape is possible, and can get tools, files, everything that may be necessary. But a single prisoner cannot find these people or come into contact with them. Nothing can be achieved without organization. One of the obstacles facing those who want to liberate themselves is that humanity exists on this planet for a purpose and that purpose will not be achieved unless more than a few percent of people reach the highest levels of existence - the flow of substance with top level to the lowest will be sharply disrupted.”
Gurdjieff called the main driving force of the universe the Absolute. From the Absolute comes an infinite number of “rays of creativity,” and one of these rays gave birth to all planetary systems, stars and galaxies. The steps in the ray of creativity differ in the number of laws. At the level of the Absolute there is only one law - the unity of the will to create; on the next - three laws; on the next - six and so on. Our Earth is governed by forty-eight laws. Since we live under the forty-eight laws, we are very far from the will of the Absolute. If we free ourselves from half of these laws, we will be one circle closer, and so on. Moving towards the Absolute, freeing ourselves step by step from the mechanical laws that constrain us, we follow the path of self-realization. Of these laws of the universe, the most important (because it concerns all events, regardless of where they occur) is the law called Gurdjieff's Law of Three. This law states that every phenomenon of existence is the result of the action of three forces, which can be called active, passive and neutralizing. These forces are present everywhere, even in the very first stage of the ray of creativity, where they unite, which is reflected in many world religions: Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva or Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Creation depends on the combination of these forces - nothing can exist unless all three are present in it. The next law is the Law of Seven. This law governs the sequence of events. He argues that any act of creativity occurs non-linearly. The Law of Seven explains why, once something begins, it cannot continue indefinitely: why the rain weakens and winter gives way to summer. A kind of symbol of this law are seven notes. The state in which a person is, according to Gurdjieff, differs significantly from his idea of this state. “The illusion of unity or immutability is created in a person, first of all, by the feeling of his own body, his own name, which in normal cases remains the same, and thirdly, by a variety of habits that are instilled in him by education or acquired by imitation. Having always the same physical sensations, always hearing the same name and noticing in himself the same habits and inclinations that he had before, he believes that he always remains the same.
In addition, the concept of reincarnation appears in Gurdjieff’s teachings: “Immortality has several relative levels, which depend on the psychological work done by the individual.” Like Blavatsky, Gurdjieff addresses eastern religion, trying to integrate them with the Western worldview. According to some evidence, Gurdjieff knew Stalin: in his book “Meetings with outstanding people“There was a chapter called “Prince Nizharadze,” which was later destroyed by him. And it is known that the name Ninjaradze was one of Stalin’s pseudonyms.
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From the author's book From the author's book From the author's bookGeorgy is loving, generous and magnanimous. Usually with a clear head. Capable of impulse, often supported by ambitious interests. Easily fits into the team, but remains a little on his own mind, although the first one can control himself
“Remember yourself,” said Mr. Gurdjieff, “return to yourself.” This, he argued, is essential; otherwise, our movements, thoughts, emotions are mainly the result of our conditioning: family, social, educational, religious. “Man is a prison,” said Mr. Gurdjieff. Thus, there is a challenge for the human being to develop consciousness in order to come out of the animal state and conditioning. Our only opportunity is in searching: searching for ourselves with sincerity, with passion and with humor. And we need help. Not just intellectual knowledge, but also something that involves the physical and emotional parts of our being.
We can all see that we are capable of driving a car, smoking a cigarette, cooking, thinking, feeling, speaking, moving, working without realizing it. The forces of forgetting oneself are strong. The temptation to “be passive” is especially powerful. It's comfortable. We so easily allow ourselves to be distracted, manipulated, lulled to sleep. Everything in Mr. Gurdjieff's work is very practical; he clearly proclaimed the importance of the body and physical work in the transmission of his teachings. And he attached this importance to the Dances, with a specific approach, such as the Gurdjieff Movements.
One can grow towards a higher and more balanced state of consciousness and a sense of presence and a sense of being. The method is described quite simply: when moving, dancing, remember yourself.
Psychologist, philosopher, scientist, traveler, choreographer, teacher and mystic, founder of the doctrine of the “Fourth Way” of human inner realization. Russia, Georgy Ivanovich Gurdjieff was born on November 28, 1877 in Alexandropol (from 1924 - Leninakan) in Armenia into a mixed Armenian-Greek family. He spent his childhood years in Kars, was a student of the rector of the Russian Cathedral, who had a great influence on Gurdjieff. Although he never received a systematic secondary education, he knew several languages since childhood.
The search for answers to the “eternal questions” led him to the creation of the doctrine of the “fourth path” of human internal realization. Travels and wanderings (1896-1922), first as part of a small group of “Seekers of Truth”, then as a wanderer, teacher and emigrant, became a kind of university for G.I. Gurdjieff. During this period, G.I. Gurdjieff visited Central Asia, Afghanistan, Mongolia, Tibet, India, Assyria, Palestine, Russia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, Turkey, Crete, Greece, Italy, Germany, England and France.
The search for esoteric knowledge, the “inner circle” of humanity led him to the secret Sufi brotherhoods of the Hindu Kush and to the Buddhist monasteries of Tibet. In 1915-1917, Gurdjieff created groups of his students in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Revolutionary events forced him to emigrate to the Caucasus, then to Turkey, Germany and France. In 1922, George Gurdjieff near Paris in Fontainebleau recreated his Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man, which existed until 1933. During this period, G.I. Gurdjieff conducted practical classes with his students, trainings on introspection, yoga, meditation, and worked on the manuscripts of his books.
Miraculously, surviving after a car accident, Gurdjieff wrote three books: “Everything and Everything,” “Meetings with Wonderful People,” “Life is True Only When I Am,” and in 1933 he wrote another book, “The Messenger of Good Things to Come.” " In the same year, he closed the Institute and resumed his travels around Europe and the USA, giving lectures. George Gurdjieff died on October 29, 1949 in Paris.
from wikipedia.ru
Georgy Ivanovich Gurdjieff (January 14, 1866, in other sources January 14, 1877 or December 28, 1872, Alexandropol, Russian empire- October 29, 1949, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France) - mystical philosopher, composer and traveler (Greek father, Armenian mother) of the first half of the 20th century. “Gurdji” or “Gyurji” is how the Persians called Georgians, and the rest of the Islamic world still calls Georgians, and therefore the surname Gurdjiev can be translated as Gruzinsky or Gruzinov. The surname Gurdjieff or Gurdjian is borne by many Greeks who migrated from Georgia and other areas on the other side of the Caucasus Mountains to the territory of Armenia. To this day there is a large colony of Greeks in the area of Lake Tsalka (southern Georgia). According to Gurdjieff, his own father and his spiritual father- rector of the cathedral - instilled in him a thirst for knowledge of the life process on Earth, and especially the purpose human life. His work was devoted to the self-development of man, the growth of his consciousness and being in Everyday life. He also paid great attention to the physical development of a person, which is why he was nicknamed, and in the last years of his life, introduced himself as a “dance teacher.” At one time he characterized his teaching as “esoteric Christianity”
Cousin of Sergei Dmitrievich Merkurov, Soviet monumental sculptor.
Biography
Gurdjieff began his travels early in various countries of Asia and Africa, where he tried to find answers to the questions that interested him. Among the countries that he, in his words, visited are Egypt, Turkey, Afghanistan, various areas in the Middle East and Turkestan, including the holy Muslim city of Mecca. These journeys often took the form of expeditions that Gurdjieff organized with other members of the “Seekers of Truth” society they supposedly created. In his travels, Gurdjieff studied various spiritual traditions (including Sufism, Buddhism and Eastern Christianity), collected fragments of ancient knowledge, sometimes even “resorting to archaeological excavations,” as well as folklore (in particular, dance and music) of the countries he visited.
Fourth way
Continuing his career as a “Teacher of Theosophy” [a popular movement of neo-mysticism at the beginning of the 20th century], which he began in his youth, in 1912-13. he came to Moscow, where he managed to gather a small group of students around him. In 1915, he met with P. D. Uspensky, a 37-year-old philosopher and journalist, a famous author of a number of works on mysticism and also a traveler. In alliance with the latter, he created a group in St. Petersburg. Uspensky and his circle of metropolitan intellectuals, who became interested in Gurdjieff’s knowledge, with their leading questions and polemicizing judgments contributed to the “sorting and bringing to systematization” of the versatile experience of the latter’s research. In addition, the new associate, who had many years of independent experience interacting with esoteric schools and literature, identified and comprehended new ideas eastern teachings, among others that appeared in Gurdjieff’s presentation, and also adapted them to the European mentality, translating them into a language understandable to Western psychological culture. This collaboration, which led to the formation of a set of unique concepts and practices, was called the “Teaching of Gurdjieff-Ouspensky” or “The Fourth Way”.
Institute for Harmonious Human Development
Gurdjieff tried several times to found the “Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man” - first in Tiflis (Tbilisi) - 1919, then in Constantinople (Istanbul) - 1920, from groups transferred to him by Ouspensky. His attempt to do this in Germany failed due to a conflict with the authorities. Then, following Uspensky, he tried to move to the UK. However, the authorities did not allow his followers to enter the country. As a result, in 1922, with funds collected by the English Assumption groups, Gurdjieff bought a castle on the Priere estate, near Fontainebleau near Paris. There the “Institute” was founded, which taught no longer the complex ideas and principles of the “Fourth Way” (even this very name was left to Ouspensky by Gurdjieff), but a much more stripped-down, simplified and deliberately exotic (for romantic Paris) “The Way of the Cunning” or "Ida Yoga".
Sacred Movements
The Prieure hosted public lectures and demonstrations of the "Sacred Movements" - dances and exercises developed by Gurdjieff, based on the folk and temple dances that he studied during his travels in Asia. These evenings were well known to the French exalted public. Most of Gurdjieff's students (not for free) remained to live and work in the Prieure. Although some of them (mainly those who emigrated from Russia with him) Gurdjieff still supported financially. Several times he visited groups of his students in the United States, also organizing public lectures and performances of his “Movements” there.
Break with P. D. Uspensky
January 1924 is the time when the life paths of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky diverged; this made it possible for some of Gurdjieff’s followers to rank Ouspensky among the “apostates” and even “ordinary students,” which was not true. For Ouspensky turned out to be almost the only associate of Gurdjieff who was able to resist the harsh will of the latter and defend his English group and the right to independent Work (which was not of a strong-willed nature, like Gurdjieff’s, but of a psychological nature). The groups of the remaining 3 main assistants and students of Gurdjieff later underwent a harsh and uncompromising reformation, from which they were never able to recover, having lost their previous style and leadership.
In July 1924, just six months after the break with Ouspensky, Gurdjieff was involved in a car accident, in which he almost lost his life. After this, the Prieure becomes more closed, although many of Gurdjieff's disciples remain there or continue to attend regularly.
"Anything and everything"
During this period, Gurdjieff began work on his books - "Everything and Everything, or Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson", "Meetings with Remarkable People" and "Life is Real Only When I Am". In addition, together with the composer Thomas de Hartmann, about 150 short pieces of music for piano were created during this period, often based on the melodies of Asian peoples, as well as music for the Sacred Movements.
The Institute in Prieure was closed in 1932, after which Gurdjieff lived in Paris, continuing to visit the USA from time to time, where, after his previous visits, a certain Orage - the former owner of the English magazine "New Age" - led groups of his students in New York and Chicago . After the closure of the Prieure, Gurdjieff continued to work with students, organizing meetings in city cafes or at home. His activities clearly decreased, but did not stop even during the Nazi occupation of Paris.
After World War II
After the end of World War II, Gurdjieff gathered in Paris students of various groups formed on the basis of his System, in particular, students of the already deceased P. D. Ouspensky. Among the latter is the philosopher and mathematician John Bennett, the author of the fundamental work “The Dramatic Universe,” in which an attempt was made to develop Gurdjieff’s concepts in the language of European philosophy.
In the last year of his life, Gurdjieff gave instructions to his students about the publication of two of his books (“Everything and Everything”, “Meetings with Remarkable People”) and the manuscript of P. D. Ouspensky, sent to him, “In Search of the Miraculous: Fragments of an Unknown Teaching,” which he considered very the original version of the presentation of his lectures given in 1915-17. in Russia. Gurdjieff himself died in an American hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine on October 29, 1949.
Ideas
After Gurdjieff's death, his student Jeanne de Salzmann, to whom he entrusted the dissemination of his "Work", tried to unite students of various groups, which marked the beginning of an organization known as the Gurdjieff Foundation (the Gurdjieff Foundation - the name in the USA, in fact - a union of Gurdjieff groups in various cities, in Europe the same organization is known as the Gurdjieff Society. Also actively disseminating Gurdjieff’s ideas were John G. Bennett and some other former students of P. D. Ouspensky: Maurice Nicoll, Rodney Collin and Lord Pantland. Lord Pantland became president of the Gurdjieff Foundation, founded in 1953 in New York, and headed it until his death in 1984.
Among Gurdjieff's famous students were: Pamela Travers, author of the children's book about Mary Poppins, French poet Rene Daumal, English writer Katherine Mansfield and American artist Paul Reynard, Jane Heap - American publisher, active participant in modernism. After Gurdjieff's death, famous musicians Keith Jarrett and Robert Fripp studied with his students.
Currently, Gurdjieff groups (associated with the Gurdjieff Foundation, the Bennett line or independent disciples of Gurdjieff, as well as independently organized by followers of his teachings) operate in many cities around the world.
The teachings of Gurdjieff-Ouspensky are compared with many traditional teachings, among them Tibetan Buddhism, Sufism, and eastern branches of Christianity. In addition, connections with the mystical traditions of Mesopotamia and Egypt are noted. They tried to connect the metaphysics and ontology of this teaching with many spiritual traditions, in particular with Christianity (B. Muravyov) and Sufism (Idris Shah). Even professional ethnographers did not ignore it; in the modern "Philosophical Dictionary" they talk about a mixture of elements of yoga, tantrism, Zen Buddhism and Sufism.
The leitmotif of Gurdjieff's ideas: significant degradation of man, especially over the last few centuries; and in this, while it completely coincides with many mystical Teachings, it sounds very peculiar, sometimes even excessive. And this is one of many reasons, precisely the claim to “esoteric Christianity”, why Russian Orthodox Church classifies Gudzhiev as an “occult magician” and warns his followers against studying his works.
Gurdjieff himself never hid the fact that it was impossible to fully understand his teaching, and none of his close adherents claimed this. The main idea of the teacher is to awaken a sleeping thought and a sense of true reality in a person. Fearing that his followers would quickly drown in abstractions instead of real practices, he decided to rely on art (magical dancing) and the creation of “communes” where like-minded people could help each other realize themselves. The brief material of excerpts from his lectures to his “students” testifies to the simplicity of his language, which tends more towards Khoja Nasredin or Aesop. The clearest presentation of Gurdjieff's early ideas can be found in P. D. Uspensky's book “In Search of the Miraculous,” where the author systematizes his cosmological, alchemical, energetic and other concepts. Later, in his books, Gurdjieff chose a writing style more suitable for his ideas, leaning towards narrative, metaphor and personal appeal to the reader, whom he often “leads by the nose”, so that the reader comprehends the writings not by logic, like Ouspensky, but by intuition. In the last, unfinished book, “LIFE IS REAL Only When I AM,” Gurdjieff expresses disappointment over the failures of his mission and emphasizes that he will take the main secrets and secrets with him.
Greco-Armenian roots, mystic, spiritual teacher, writer, composer, traveler and forced emigrant, whose activities were devoted to human self-development, the growth of his consciousness and being in everyday life, and whose teaching among his followers was called the “Fourth Way” (Eng. Fourth Way ).
Ideas
According to Gurdjieff, man is not complete. Nature develops it only to a certain level. Then he must develop himself, through his own efforts. To develop, you need to know yourself. But man does not know himself and uses only a small part of his abilities and strength. Observing himself, a person can notice that four functions independent of each other appear in his nature: intellectual (thinking), emotional (feelings), motor (movements) and instinctive (sensations, instincts, internal work of the body). A person may also notice that he is aware of reality in different ways: he is either asleep or awake. However, the state of wakefulness is also not uniform.
Gurdjieff distinguished four states of consciousness: “sleep” (ordinary night sleep in which a person is aware only of his dreams), “waking sleep” (in which the perception of reality is mixed with illusions and dreams, and in which a person is not aware of the consequences of his words and actions , nor oneself), “relative awakening” (in which a person is aware of himself, but is not aware of the objective relationships of everything with everything), complete awakening (in which a person is aware of both himself and the surrounding reality objectively). A person in a state of “waking sleep” is a machine controlled by external influences. He can't "do" anything. Everything happens to him. To “do” one must “Be”, to be awakened.
Gurdjieff also said that a person has an essence (everything real that he is born with) and a personality (everything artificial that he acquires through imitation and imitation). In the process of upbringing, a person acquires many artificial and even unnatural habits and tastes, which form a “false personality” in him. False personality suppresses the development of the essence. A person does not know his essence, that is, his natural preferences and tastes. He doesn't know what he really wants. The false and the real are mixed in him. Therefore, a person, first of all, needs to separate the real from the false in himself. It is necessary to go through the internal struggle between “yes” and “no” (transformation of suffering). This helps to awaken and get out of the “waking sleep” state.
Some of the main tools in working on oneself are divided attention, self-remembering and transformation of suffering. Self-remembering accumulates subtle matters within the body, and the transformation of suffering crystallizes them into the subtle body (or Soul). Gurdjieff said that “everyone has a soul, but only those who have earned it through conscious labor and voluntary suffering have a Soul.”
Heritage
After Gurdjieff's death, his student Jeanne de Salzmann ( Jeanne de Salzmann) brought together students from various groups, which marked the beginning of a community known as the Gurdjieff Foundation (the name in the USA, in Europe the same community is known as the Gurdjieff Society, “Gurdjieff Society”). Also actively disseminating Gurdjieff’s ideas were John G. Bennett, P. D. Ouspensky, Maurice Nicoll ( Maurice Nicoll), Rodney Collin and Lord Pantland.
Famous students of Gurdjieff included: Pamela Travers, author of the children's book Mary Poppins, French poet René Daumal, English writer Katherine Mansfield and American artist Paul Reynard, Jane Heap, Margaret Anderson and many others. After Gurdjieff's death, famous musicians Keith Jarrett and Robert Fripp studied with his students. Currently, Gurdjieff groups exist in many cities around the world.
Gurdjieff said that the main idea of the teacher is to awaken the sleeping thought and sense of true reality in a person. Fearing that followers would quickly drown in abstractions instead of real practices, he decided to rely on art (sacred dances) and practical work in groups where like-minded people could help each other realize themselves. The brief material of excerpts from his lectures to his “students” testifies to the simplicity of his language, which tends more towards Khoja Nasredin or Aesop. The clearest presentation of some of Gurdjieff’s ideas can be found in P. D. Uspensky’s book “In Search of the Miraculous,” where the author systematizes his basic concepts. Gurdjieff himself chose a completely different style to present his ideas - the style of legomonism (eng. legomonism), so that the reader comprehends the scriptures not just by logic, like Uspensky, but by intuition. Today, Gurdjieff's books are published both in the West and in Russia in large editions, and his ideas resonate in the hearts of readers.
Musical compositions of George Gurdjieff
Gurdjieff divided music into subjective and objective. Subjective music is created by the individual state of the composer, each listener is influenced in accordance with his individuality and state during listening. Objective requires knowledge of the laws of the Cosmos and human nature. It affects all people equally, not only influences feelings, but brings the audience into a state of inner harmony, brings a person closer to the universe.
A constant co-author of Gurdjieff's musical works since 1916 was the composer Thomas (Thomas) de Hartmann (1885-1956). They called their compositions music for “movements” and “sacred dances.” Recordings of joint works by Hartmann and Gurdjieff, made in the 40s of the 20th century in an informal setting, have been preserved. Experts find in them echoes of dervish dances, Kurdish, Persian, Assyrian melodies, Orthodox and Eastern Christian hymns. The influence of Russian romantic music of the late 19th and early 20th centuries (in particular Sergei Rachmaninoff) is noticeable.
The ballet “The Struggle of the Magicians” was the largest musical composition by Gurdjieff and Hartmann. The plot of the ballet: The White Magician teaches his students freedom, the Black Magician suppresses their will, using them for selfish interests. He instills fear in them. If the result of the activity of the first is the elevation of the spirit; then the result of learning from the second is personality degradation.
Gurdjieff did not know musical notation (although he played the harmonica), so his collaboration with Hartmann was of a specific nature:
“Mr. Gurdjieff used to whistle or play on the piano with one finger a very complex type of melody, which, despite the apparent monotony, are all oriental melodies. To grasp this melody, to write it down in European notation, something like a “tour de force” was required... Mr. Gurdjieff’s music was unusually diverse. The greatest impact was that which he remembered from his travels to remote Asian monasteries. Listening to such music, you plunge into the depths of your being..."
A. Lyubimov. In search of forgotten rituals. Booklet for the concert. St. Petersburg Philharmonic. S. 6.
Gurdjieff often tapped the rhythm on the top of the piano. In 1929, Hartmann stopped collaborating with Gurdjieff. He later recalled:
"I think to torment me, he would start repeating the melody before I had finished recording - usually with subtle changes, adding embellishments that would drive me crazy."
Thomas de Hartmann. Our life with Gurdjieff.
In 1949, after Gurdjieff's death, Hartmann edited the works he had co-authored. After a long hiatus, the music of Gurdjieff and Hartmann was performed publicly in 1980 by jazz pianist, improviser and composer Keith Jarrett, who later recorded the disc G.I. Gurdjieff Sacred Hymns". In Russia, a major musical cycle of piano works by Gurdjieff and Hartmann, “Seekers of Truth (Journey to Inaccessible Places),” was first performed in January 2016 by pianist Alexey Lyubimov.
Of particular note is the recording of individual pieces by Gurdjieff, carried out in 2011 by the Gurdjieff Folk Instruments Ensemble under the direction of Levon Iskenian, who was also the author of the original arrangement. According to Solomon Volkov, Iskenian managed to return to the works the “ethnographic sound” that “Gurdjieff had in mind when he composed these opuses,” and which was obscured in Hartmann’s piano arrangement.
Essays
see also
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Notes
Literature
- Gubin V.D. The problem of the “creative personality” in the Eastern philosophical tradition of “spiritual mentoring” // Philosophy of the foreign East on the social essence of man. - M., 1986, p. 135-156 (J. Krishnamurti, Chogam Trungpa, G. Gurdjieff).
- Krylov V. Esoteric Christianity // Science and religion. 1992, no. 6/7, 9.
- Krylov V.“Unidentified” Gurdjieff // Man. 1992, No. 2, pp.44-46.
- Kucherenko V. A. The teaching about man by G.I. Gurdjieff in the context of the spiritual quest of our time. Author's abstract. dis. Ph.D. Philosopher Sci. - Rostov-on-Don: Rost. state University, 2005.
Links
- on YouTube
- on YouTube (French)
Books and exercises
- // lib.ru
- //fway.org
- (from a 1939 manuscript)
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Excerpt characterizing Gurdjieff, Georgy Ivanovich
Rostov took the wallet in his hands and looked at it, and at the money that was in it, and at Telyanin. The lieutenant looked around, as was his habit, and suddenly seemed to become very cheerful.“If we’re in Vienna, I’ll leave everything there, but now there’s nowhere to put it in these crappy little towns,” he said. - Well, come on, young man, I’ll go.
Rostov was silent.
- What about you? Should I have breakfast too? “They feed me decently,” Telyanin continued. - Come on.
He reached out and grabbed the wallet. Rostov released him. Telyanin took the wallet and began to put it in the pocket of his leggings, and his eyebrows rose casually, and his mouth opened slightly, as if he was saying: “yes, yes, I’m putting my wallet in my pocket, and it’s very simple, and no one cares about it.” .
- Well, what, young man? - he said, sighing and looking into Rostov’s eyes from under raised eyebrows. Some kind of light from the eyes, with the speed of an electric spark, ran from Telyanin’s eyes to Rostov’s eyes and back, back and back, all in an instant.
“Come here,” Rostov said, grabbing Telyanin by the hand. He almost dragged him to the window. “This is Denisov’s money, you took it...” he whispered in his ear.
– What?... What?... How dare you? What?...” said Telyanin.
But these words sounded like a plaintive, desperate cry and a plea for forgiveness. As soon as Rostov heard this sound of the voice, a huge stone of doubt fell from his soul. He felt joy and at the same moment he felt sorry for the unfortunate man standing in front of him; but it was necessary to complete the work begun.
“People here, God knows what they might think,” Telyanin muttered, grabbing his cap and heading into a small empty room, “we need to explain ourselves...
“I know this, and I will prove it,” said Rostov.
- I…
Telyanin's frightened, pale face began to tremble with all its muscles; the eyes were still running, but somewhere below, not rising to Rostov’s face, sobs were heard.
“Count!... don’t ruin the young man... this poor money, take it...” He threw it on the table. – My father is an old man, my mother!...
Rostov took the money, avoiding Telyanin’s gaze, and, without saying a word, left the room. But he stopped at the door and turned back. “My God,” he said with tears in his eyes, “how could you do this?”
“Count,” said Telyanin, approaching the cadet.
“Don’t touch me,” Rostov said, pulling away. - If you need it, take this money. “He threw his wallet at him and ran out of the tavern.
In the evening of the same day, there was a lively conversation between the squadron officers at Denisov’s apartment.
“And I’m telling you, Rostov, that you need to apologize to the regimental commander,” said a tall staff captain with graying hair, a huge mustache and large features of a wrinkled face, turning to the crimson, excited Rostov.
Staff captain Kirsten was demoted to soldier twice for matters of honor and served twice.
– I won’t allow anyone to tell me that I’m lying! - Rostov screamed. “He told me I was lying, and I told him he was lying.” It will remain so. He can assign me to duty every day and put me under arrest, but no one will force me to apologize, because if he, as a regimental commander, considers himself unworthy of giving me satisfaction, then...
- Just wait, father; “Listen to me,” the captain interrupted the headquarters in his bass voice, calmly smoothing his long mustache. - In front of other officers, you tell the regimental commander that the officer stole...
“It’s not my fault that the conversation started in front of other officers.” Maybe I shouldn’t have spoken in front of them, but I’m not a diplomat. Then I joined the hussars, I thought that there was no need for subtleties, but he told me that I was lying... so let him give me satisfaction...
- This is all good, no one thinks that you are a coward, but that’s not the point. Ask Denisov, does this look like something for a cadet to demand satisfaction from the regimental commander?
Denisov, biting his mustache, listened to the conversation with a gloomy look, apparently not wanting to engage in it. When asked by the captain's staff, he shook his head negatively.
“You tell the regimental commander about this dirty trick in front of the officers,” the captain continued. - Bogdanych (the regimental commander was called Bogdanych) besieged you.
- He didn’t besiege him, but said that I was telling a lie.
- Well, yes, and you said something stupid to him, and you need to apologize.
- Never! - Rostov shouted.
“I didn’t think this from you,” the captain said seriously and sternly. “You don’t want to apologize, but you, father, not only before him, but before the entire regiment, before all of us, you are completely to blame.” Here's how: if only you had thought and consulted on how to deal with this matter, otherwise you would have drunk right in front of the officers. What should the regimental commander do now? Should the officer be put on trial and the entire regiment be soiled? Because of one scoundrel, the whole regiment is disgraced? So, what do you think? But in our opinion, not so. And Bogdanich is great, he told you that you are telling lies. It’s unpleasant, but what can you do, father, they attacked you yourself. And now, as they want to hush up the matter, because of some kind of fanaticism you don’t want to apologize, but want to tell everything. You are offended that you are on duty, but why should you apologize to an old and honest officer! No matter what Bogdanich is, he’s still an honest and brave old colonel, it’s such a shame for you; Is it okay for you to dirty the regiment? – The captain’s voice began to tremble. - You, father, have been in the regiment for a week; today here, tomorrow transferred to adjutants somewhere; you don’t care what they say: “there are thieves among the Pavlograd officers!” But we care. So, what, Denisov? Not all the same?
Denisov remained silent and did not move, occasionally glancing at Rostov with his shining black eyes.
“You value your own fanabery, you don’t want to apologize,” the headquarters captain continued, “but for us old men, how we grew up, and even if we die, God willing, we will be brought into the regiment, so the honor of the regiment is dear to us, and Bogdanich knows this.” Oh, what a road, father! And this is not good, not good! Be offended or not, I will always tell the truth. Not good!
And the headquarters captain stood up and turned away from Rostov.
- Pg "avda, chog" take it! - Denisov shouted, jumping up. - Well, G'skeleton! Well!
Rostov, blushing and turning pale, looked first at one officer, then at the other.
- No, gentlemen, no... don’t think... I really understand, you’re wrong to think about me like that... I... for me... I’m for the honor of the regiment. So what? I will show this in practice, and for me the honor of the banner... well, it’s all the same, really, I’m to blame!.. - Tears stood in his eyes. - I’m guilty, I’m guilty all around!... Well, what else do you need?...
“That’s it, Count,” the captain of staff shouted, turning around, hitting him on the shoulder with his big hand.
“I’m telling you,” Denisov shouted, “he’s a nice little guy.”
“That’s better, Count,” the captain repeated, as if for his recognition they were beginning to call him a title. - Come and apologize, your Excellency, yes sir.
“Gentlemen, I’ll do everything, no one will hear a word from me,” Rostov said in a pleading voice, “but I can’t apologize, by God, I can’t, whatever you want!” How will I apologize, like a little one, asking for forgiveness?
Denisov laughed.
- It's worse for you. Bogdanich is vindictive, you will pay for your stubbornness,” said Kirsten.
- By God, not stubbornness! I can’t describe to you what a feeling, I can’t...
“Well, it’s your choice,” said the headquarters captain. - Well, where did this scoundrel go? – he asked Denisov.
“He said he was sick, and the manager ordered him to be expelled,” Denisov said.
“It’s a disease, there’s no other way to explain it,” said the captain at the headquarters.
“It’s not a disease, but if he doesn’t catch my eye, I’ll kill him!” – Denisov shouted bloodthirstyly.
Zherkov entered the room.
- How are you? - the officers suddenly turned to the newcomer.
- Let's go, gentlemen. Mak surrendered as a prisoner and with the army, completely.
- You're lying!
- I saw it myself.
- How? Have you seen Mack alive? with arms, with legs?
- Hike! Hike! Give him a bottle for such news. How did you get here?
“They sent me back to the regiment again, for the devil’s sake, for Mack.” The Austrian general complained. I congratulated him on Mak’s arrival... Are you, Rostov, from the bathhouse?
- Here, brother, we have such a mess for the second day.
The regimental adjutant came in and confirmed the news brought by Zherkov. We were ordered to perform tomorrow.
- Let's go, gentlemen!
- Well, thank God, we stayed too long.
Kutuzov retreated to Vienna, destroying behind him bridges on the rivers Inn (in Braunau) and Traun (in Linz). On October 23, Russian troops crossed the Enns River. Russian convoys, artillery and columns of troops in the middle of the day stretched through the city of Enns, on this side and on the other side of the bridge.
The day was warm, autumn and rainy. The vast perspective that opened up from the elevation where the Russian batteries stood protecting the bridge was suddenly covered with a muslin curtain of slanting rain, then suddenly expanded, and in the light of the sun objects as if covered with varnish became visible far away and clearly. A town could be seen underfoot with its white houses and red roofs, a cathedral and a bridge, on both sides of which masses of Russian troops poured, crowding. At the bend of the Danube one could see ships, an island, and a castle with a park, surrounded by the waters of the Ensa confluence with the Danube; one could see the left rocky bank of the Danube covered with pine forests with the mysterious distance of green peaks and blue gorges. The towers of the monastery were visible, protruding from behind a pine forest that seemed untouched; far ahead on the mountain, on the other side of Ens, enemy patrols could be seen.
Between the guns, at a height, the chief of the rearguard, a general, and a retinue officer stood in front, examining the terrain through a telescope. Somewhat behind, Nesvitsky, sent from the commander-in-chief to the rearguard, sat on the trunk of a gun.
The Cossack accompanying Nesvitsky handed over a handbag and a flask, and Nesvitsky treated the officers to pies and real doppelkümel. The officers joyfully surrounded him, some on their knees, some sitting cross-legged on the wet grass.
- Yes, this Austrian prince was not a fool to build a castle here. Nice place. Why don't you eat, gentlemen? - said Nesvitsky.
“I humbly thank you, prince,” answered one of the officers, enjoying talking with such an important staff official. - Beautiful place. We walked past the park itself, saw two deer, and what a wonderful house!
“Look, prince,” said the other, who really wanted to take another pie, but was ashamed, and who therefore pretended that he was looking around the area, “look, our infantry have already climbed there.” Over there, in the meadow outside the village, three people are dragging something. “They will break through this palace,” he said with visible approval.
“Both,” said Nesvitsky. “No, but what I would like,” he added, chewing the pie in his beautiful, moist mouth, “is to climb up there.”
He pointed to a monastery with towers visible on the mountain. He smiled, his eyes narrowed and lit up.
- But that would be good, gentlemen!
The officers laughed.
- At least scare these nuns. Italians, they say, are young. Really, I would give five years of my life!
“They’re bored,” said the bolder officer, laughing.
Meanwhile, the retinue officer standing in front was pointing something out to the general; the general looked through the telescope.
“Well, so it is, so it is,” the general said angrily, lowering the receiver from his eyes and shrugging his shoulders, “and so it is, they will attack the crossing.” And why are they hanging around there?
On the other side, the enemy and his battery were visible to the naked eye, from which milky white smoke appeared. Following the smoke, a distant shot was heard, and it was clear how our troops hurried to the crossing.
Nesvitsky, puffing, stood up and, smiling, approached the general.
- Would your Excellency like to have a snack? - he said.
“It’s not good,” said the general, without answering him, “our people hesitated.”
– Shouldn’t we go, Your Excellency? – said Nesvitsky.
“Yes, please go,” said the general, repeating what had already been ordered in detail, “and tell the hussars to be the last to cross and light the bridge, as I ordered, and to inspect the flammable materials on the bridge.”
“Very good,” answered Nesvitsky.
He called to the Cossack with the horse, ordered him to remove his purse and flask, and easily threw his heavy body onto the saddle.
“Really, I’ll go see the nuns,” he said to the officers, who looked at him with a smile, and drove along the winding path down the mountain.
- Come on, where will it go, captain, stop it! - said the general, turning to the artilleryman. - Have fun with boredom.
- Servant to the guns! - the officer commanded.
And a minute later the artillerymen cheerfully ran out from the fires and loaded.
- First! - a command was heard.
Number 1 bounced smartly. The gun rang metallic, deafening, and a grenade flew whistling over the heads of all our people under the mountain and, not reaching the enemy, showed with smoke the place of its fall and burst.
The faces of the soldiers and officers brightened at this sound; everyone got up and began observing the clearly visible movements of our troops below and in front of the movements of the approaching enemy. At that very moment the sun completely came out from behind the clouds, and this beautiful sound of a single shot and the shine of the bright sun merged into one cheerful and cheerful impression.
Two enemy cannonballs had already flown over the bridge, and there was a crush on the bridge. In the middle of the bridge, having dismounted from his horse, pressed with his thick body against the railing, stood Prince Nesvitsky.
He, laughing, looked back at his Cossack, who, with two horses in the lead, stood a few steps behind him.
As soon as Prince Nesvitsky wanted to move forward, the soldiers and carts again pressed on him and again pressed him against the railing, and he had no choice but to smile.
- What are you, my brother! - the Cossack said to the Furshtat soldier with the cart, who was pressing on the infantry crowded with the very wheels and horses, - what are you! No, to wait: you see, the general has to pass.
But furshtat, not paying attention to the name of the general, shouted at the soldiers blocking his way: “Hey!” fellow countrymen! keep left, wait! “But the fellow countrymen, crowding shoulder to shoulder, clinging with bayonets and without interruption, moved along the bridge in one continuous mass. Looking down over the railing, Prince Nesvitsky saw the fast, noisy, low waves of Ens, which, merging, rippling and bending around the bridge piles, overtook one another. Looking at the bridge, he saw equally monotonous living waves of soldiers, coats, shakos with covers, backpacks, bayonets, long guns and, from under the shakos, faces with wide cheekbones, sunken cheeks and carefree tired expressions, and moving legs along the sticky mud dragged onto the boards of the bridge . Sometimes, between the monotonous waves of soldiers, like a splash of white foam in the waves of Ens, an officer in a raincoat, with his own physiognomy different from the soldiers, squeezed between the soldiers; sometimes, like a chip winding through a river, a foot hussar, an orderly or a resident was carried across the bridge by waves of infantry; sometimes, like a log floating along the river, surrounded on all sides, a company or officer's cart, piled to the top and covered with leather, floated across the bridge.
“Look, they broke like a dam,” the Cossack said, stopping hopelessly. -Are there many of you still there?
– Melion without one! - a cheerful soldier walking nearby in a torn overcoat said winking and disappeared; another, old soldier walked behind him.
“When he (he is the enemy) begins to fry the taperich on the bridge,” the old soldier said gloomily, turning to his comrade, “you will forget to itch.”
And the soldier passed by. Behind him another soldier rode on a cart.
“Where the hell did you stuff the tucks?” - said the orderly, running after the cart and rummaging in the back.
And this one came with a cart. This was followed by cheerful and apparently drunk soldiers.
“How can he, dear man, blaze with the butt right in the teeth…” one soldier in an overcoat tucked high said joyfully, waving his hand widely.
- This is it, sweet ham is that. - answered the other with laughter.
And they passed, so Nesvitsky did not know who was hit in the teeth and what the ham was.
“They’re in a hurry, he let the cold one in, so you think they’ll kill everyone.” - the non-commissioned officer said angrily and reproachfully.
“As soon as it flies past me, uncle, that cannonball,” said the young soldier, barely restraining laughter, with a huge mouth, “I froze.” Really, by God, I was so scared, it’s a disaster! - said this soldier, as if boasting that he was scared. And this one passed. Following him was a carriage, unlike any that had passed so far. It was a German steam-powered forshpan, loaded, it seemed, with a whole house; tied behind the forshpan that the German was carrying was a beautiful, motley cow with a huge udder. A woman was sitting on a feather bed with infant, an old woman and a young, purple-red, healthy German girl. Apparently, these evicted residents were allowed through with special permission. The eyes of all the soldiers turned to the women, and while the cart passed, moving step by step, all the soldiers' comments related only to two women. Almost the same smile of lewd thoughts about this woman was on all their faces.
- Look, the sausage is also removed!
“Sell mother,” another soldier said, stressing the last syllable, turning to the German, who, with his eyes downcast, walked angrily and fearfully with wide steps.
- How did you clean up? Damn it!
“If only you could stand with them, Fedotov.”
- You saw it, brother!
- Where are you going? - asked the infantry officer who was eating an apple, also half-smiling and looking at the beautiful girl.
The German, closing his eyes, showed that he did not understand.
“If you want, take it for yourself,” the officer said, handing the girl an apple. The girl smiled and took it. Nesvitsky, like everyone else on the bridge, did not take his eyes off the women until they passed. When they passed, the same soldiers walked again, with the same conversations, and finally everyone stopped. As often happens, at the exit of the bridge the horses in the company cart hesitated, and the entire crowd had to wait.
Georgy Gudzhiev is one of the most mystical figures of pre-revolutionary Russia, whose fame as a seeker of truth in Sufism, Buddhism and Christianity grew even in Soviet times among rare people who combined the construction of communism with a passion for the occult. He is now known in the same way as the Roerichs, who were characterized by immersion in the same “demons.”
Trips
George Gurdjieff visited many countries, exploring the Middle East especially carefully. Been to Greece, Egypt, Afghanistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and many other places. These were expeditions organized by the “Seekers of Truth” community, in which spiritual traditions were studied and compared different nations, found fragments of knowledge that came from antiquity were collected, even in the form of sacred music and dances.
How it started
In 1912, George Gurdjieff opened his own school of spiritual knowledge in Moscow, and in 1915 he met the esotericist P. D. Uspensky, who was not only a philosopher, but also an active journalist and an avid traveler. Gurdjieff managed to interest Ouspensky's friends and acquaintances in his theories of the search for truth and created a fairly large group of bored representatives of the creative intelligentsia. A branch was even created in St. Petersburg.
Ouspensky helped Gurdjieff adapt his ideas for people with a European vision of the world, that is, translate them into an understandable language accessible to the psychological culture of the West. At the same time, Gurdjieff’s teaching received the name “The Fourth Way”. So the years passed, and everything did not grow together with the main dream of the spiritual teacher; it did not work out with the Institute of Harmonic Development anywhere: neither in Moscow, nor in Tiflis, nor in Constantinople. It happened in Paris, already in 1922.
Uspensky
Again, who by that time had become a philosopher of the highest order, helped. The English with whom he settled were afraid to get involved with the world's leading esotericist and occultist, so to prevent the circle of sorcerers and other cosmologists from expanding, Gurdjieff was not allowed into England.
In 1921, he moved to Germany, and then, using money raised by Uspensky’s English neophytes, he bought a castle near Fontainebleau, where the institute flourished for several years. George Gurdjieff, whose biography is reverently studied by supporters of ecumenism even today, was satisfied for a short time.
Sacred dances
Many esotericists even today claim that George Gurdjieff influenced not only individual people he met along the way, but also quite strongly - on public life and politics individual countries. It’s just that the methods used by Gurdjieff (his well-known sacred dances, for example) remained not fully studied and understood even by his closest followers.
In the spring of 1915 in Moscow, in a small, average-sized cafe, two people were drinking coffee and quietly talking. One of them was dark-skinned in an oriental manner, with a black mustache, and a piercing and unpleasant gaze. His presence here, even with the decor of a Moscow eatery, somehow strangely did not fit in. As if he were a mummer, and poorly dressed at that. It's like he's not at all who he says he is. And the interlocutor, who subsequently recorded the course of this meeting, had to both communicate and behave as if he had not noticed anything strange. The second gentleman was Uspensky. And the first one is the mummer - George Gurdjieff. Real world views of this man were repulsive at first.
In a very short time, Ouspensky will become an ardent adherent of Gurdjieff’s teachings, but for now they are talking either about travel, the topic of which is close to both of them, or about drugs that help in understanding the very nature of all mystical phenomena. In the second, Gurdjieff turned out to be much stronger, although Ouspensky managed to try many substances to consider himself sufficiently sophisticated. Nevertheless, Uspensky was inspired, captivated and ripe for learning sacred dances.
Caucasian mystic and the battle of magicians
About a year before the meeting described above, Uspensky read in the newspaper that a certain Indian was staging the ballet “The Battle of the Magicians.” It didn't take much effort to make inquiries. This was George Gurdjieff, who always planned meetings with remarkable people in exactly this way: an article of the most irrational content was ordered from newspapers, and the esoteric-minded intellectual elite would come running. Of course, no ballet - in the general sense of the word - was planned.
After the first coffee drink, Gurdjieff managed to charm Ouspensky, and after a couple of weeks he even received telepathic orders. Moreover, Ouspensky was convinced that Gurdjieff knew everything in the world and could do anything, including interfering in the cosmic course of events. The project for the ballet “Battle of the Magicians” dealt specifically with cosmology: these were supposed to be sacred dances, where each movement was calculated by a “knowledgeable person” and corresponded exactly to the movement of the sun and planets.
Building a biography
And now there are people gifted enough to, for example, write good poetry, but who lack a certain spice so that readers look at the poet with amazed adoration. Then fame is helped by legends, or even real exploits, designed for PR and rightfully included in the biography.
Where this “Hindu-Caucasian” came from, no one knew for sure who he was. But there were rumors - one more eloquent than the other. George Gurdjieff, quotes from whose books were passed on from mouth to mouth, did not refute the rumors about himself, but, on the contrary, let in a little more fog here and there. He didn't even construct an autobiography - he carefully erased it. You can try to compile his biography based on the works that remained after him. Many did just that. But George Gurdjieff, whose books are a historically extremely unreliable source, deceived grateful humanity here too. The rest of the sources available to us are even less reliable.
According to rumors
They say that Gurdjieff Georgy Ivanovich was born in the Armenian city, which is now called Gyumri. His mother was Armenian, and his father was Greek. In some books written by George Gurdjieff, you can find quotes that tell about the author’s childhood and adolescence. Not a single date, location, or name could be found in reality. The following is briefly written there.
As a teenager, Gurdjieff allegedly became interested in supernatural phenomena, wanted to understand their nature and even learn how to control them. Therefore, he began to read a lot, communicate with Christian priests, and when he did not receive all the desired answers to his extraordinary questions, he went traveling.
In search of sacred knowledge
Twenty years of wandering yielded the same odious sacred knowledge that, according to Uspensky, the mystic, of course, possessed. Knowledge led him along the roads of Transcaucasia, Egypt, the Middle East, Central Asia, India, and Tibet. He wrote about specific schools, sometimes speaking extremely vaguely, in passing, mentioning Tibetan monasteries, Mount Athos, Chitral, Persian and Bukhara Sufis, dervishes of various orders. Georgy Gudzhiev described all this very vaguely. Therefore, it is difficult to understand where he really was.
According to information received from a variety of sources, George Gurdjieff led excursions in Egypt, then in Jerusalem, was a tax collector from peasant villages for Tibetan lamas, worked on the railway in Turkey, painted sparrows like canaries for sale, ran a workshop for repairing broken things, He even owned oil wells and fishing boats, and also sold carpets. He always spent everything that Gudzhiev managed to earn only on travel.
Between business and earnings, during his travels, as legends say, he mastered some techniques of hypnosis and telepathy, as well as other supernatural tricks, Sufi and yogic techniques. He was wounded because he was often brought into war zones, was seriously ill for a long time, after which he decided to stop using any exceptional force. Among his students, Georgy Gudzhiev was known as a prophet and magician. He called himself a dance teacher. This is, in principle, true.
Accident
In the summer, the car of the magician and the prophet unexpectedly crashed into a tree. The teacher was found unconscious. The students wondered: well, the rain was not to blame for the incident, the accident was probably staged by enemies, of whom Gudzhiev had accumulated enough. According to his students, Georgy Ivanovich Gurdjieff, whose books were read to the gills, was equal in his knowledge and skills to Blavatsky and all the Tibetan sages combined. He couldn't help but foresee this tree in the car's path! If Hitler himself consulted with Gurdjieff, choosing a swastika for the party emblem of National Socialism, if George Gurdjieff and Stalin together developed a method for remaking human consciousness!
Among the outright funny there were also moments of true meaning. It is true that Gudzhiev was an exceptionally talented hoaxer. It was omnivorous, and flies of various sizes were caught in its spider webs. Gudzhiev could find like-minded people in any level of society. Among the poor and the rich, Jews and anti-Semites, communists and Nazis - he didn’t care at all. Definitely an extraordinary personality.
Books written for us
While recovering from the accident, Gurdjieff paid great attention to refining books already written and creating new ones. “Everything and Everything” - ten books, divided into three series: “Stories of Beelzebub...”, “Meetings with wonderful people”, “Life is real...” He wrote this for posterity, that is, for us. Whether Gurdjieff's books are necessary - everyone will decide for himself.
Many researchers with a philosophical background begin to laugh out loud already on the first pages. Ministers of different faiths unanimously say that much in these books is demonic, and that when burned, even paper scatters sparks that are completely different from ordinary ones, and a devilish hissing can be heard from the fire devouring the pages. Judging by the details, believers in God have already tried to do all this.
"Views from the Real World" is one of the first books of this psychic. From there the reader will glean certain philosophical doctrines: that man is not complete, that he can become like a god (isn’t this the speech of a serpent? Be like gods...), and nature develops him barely above the level of an animal. Next, he must develop himself, getting to know himself and his hidden capabilities. Nature provides four separate functions: mental (intelligence), sensory (emotions), motor and instinctive. Well, Aristotle wrote about this in great detail. At the same time, a person has a certain essence - something with which he was born, as well as a personality - something introduced, artificial. Further, it is no longer according to Aristotle: education gives a person too many unnatural habits and tastes, because of this, a false personality is formed, which suppresses the development of the essence.
And now here is the very “creed” professed by Gurdjieff in all guises: whether as a writer, a choreographer, a philosopher, and so on. Attention. A person does not know and cannot know his essence - neither preferences, nor tastes, nor what he really wants from life. In man, the real and the false dissolved into each other and became almost inseparable from each other. Therefore, every person needs transformation through suffering. And if life does not send suffering for some reason, then it is very correct to make a person suffer, so to speak, in a man-made way (“it is necessary, Fedya, it is necessary...”).
And a postscript from Gurdjieff (“Meetings with remarkable people”): the main tools for a person working on himself are divided attention, self-remembering and the transformation of suffering. Self-remembering helps accumulate all kinds of subtle matters in the body, and the transformation of suffering crystallizes the subtle soul from subtle matters. Well, or the body - Gurdjieff doesn’t know, that’s why both words are in brackets: both soul and body.
Moreover, the author stated that everyone has a soul, but only those who have earned it through voluntary suffering have a Soul. And every time the question arises again: “Maybe the priests are right when they talk about demonism?” And again - do normal people need all this? And lastly, I feel sorry for the kids who can fall for this.
Production of the long-awaited ballet
The dances learned with the students were also extraordinary. Dressed in white clothes, they moved with gestures that we can see in Indian films. People of various nationalities took part in the production, but the teachers understood everything, and it was not clear in what language he explained the exercises. There were also British people there, including those who sponsored the purchase of a palace near Paris to stage this space ballet. And Gudzhiev looked at them as if they were slaves. There were no exceptions.
This is exactly what his follower K. S. Nott says in his book: having met Gudzhiev over a cup of coffee this time in a cozy Parisian cafe, Nott asked him a question about his former student, who was carried away by Gudzhiev, and then abandoned without regret, to which the “great magician” replied, smiling sarcastically: “I always needed rats for my experiments.”
So, Gudjiev practiced dance teaching for literally decades, during which time the will of his followers was completely suppressed, and dissidents were expelled mercilessly. After which the Parisian, London and New York brethren were shown certain concerts, about which they talked about all sorts of things.
War and post-war times
Gurdjieff survived the occupation of France calmly and without clouds. Among his students there were many Nazis, including whom Gudzhiev met in the mountains of Tibet, where this ideologist of the Third Reich was looking for the roots of the Aryan race. After the collapse of Nazi Germany, complications began to arise for the “great teacher.” Almost all of the students fled, many called him offensive nicknames such as the Greek charlatan and the American master of magic. Also a miracle worker from the Caucasus...
The end of the road
But the remaining students still idolized him. It was believed that he could predict the future (infrequently and upon special requests). There is a legend that Georgy Ivanovich Gurdjieff predicted the death of Trotsky, after which Stalin ordered Beria to deal with this guru. That's how his car collided with a tree. But everyone also knew that the Caucasian was a hot guy and an excellent reckless driver, just a terrible, crazy driver. So, most likely, it happened without the intervention of Joseph Vissarionovich.
After the accident, Gudzhiev took a long time to recover, but eventually returned to choreographing dances. But one day he fell in class and never got up again. The year was 1949. He led an inveterate hypnotist along his “fourth path” - the path of the cunning one.
Gurdjieff Georgy Ivanovich is a Russian mystic, composer and writer, born in the second half of the 19th century in Armenia. By origin, George had Greek and Armenian roots (his father was Greek, his mother was Armenian), but he turned out to be a forced emigrant and moved to Russia.
He was also a teacher-mentor and devoted his life to writing books about human self-improvement, expanding the scope of his consciousness and his path to a long and happy life. Gurdjieff made a great contribution to the development of esotericism and became the founder of the Institute for Harmonious Human Development, which existed from 1917 to 1925.
Creative activity
Gurdjieff's books still remain relevant and read throughout the world. The secret of their popularity can be explained by the fact that they are written in the simplest possible language and adapted for skeptical readers, of which many are in our time. Out of principle, he chose Russian as the language of his books, although he was fluent in many languages.
His famous collection “Everything and Everything” consists of 10 books, which are combined into 3 sections, and each of these creations is the result of understanding the writer’s experiences, reflecting his thoughts and experiences that he passed through himself.
Gurdjieff, preparing books for publication, understood that they would not immediately find a response in the soul of the reader, but he sincerely hoped for this, since he was confident in his judgments. We can say that his creations can be regarded as exercises in brain gymnastics, which force him to expand the boundaries of his awareness and move forward.
Perhaps the most important part of Gurdjieff’s teachings is sacred dances and movements, as well as ancient music of long traditions, which encourages search. It is not known exactly which dances he borrowed, which he created himself on the basis of acquired knowledge, and which are a successful combination of the first and second.
According to Gurdjieff, man is not complete. Nature helps him develop to a certain level, and then he must develop independently. Three things can help with this: attention, self-remembering and transformation of suffering. Together they collect thin threads inside the body and create a semblance of the Soul.
Life as a search for truth
At a very early age, George began traveling to eastern countries, with the help of this he wanted to find answers to questions that interested him. These were both the countries of the Middle East, and Egypt, Afghanistan, Greece, Turkmenistan, etc. During his travels, George studied the characteristics of different spiritual cultures, such as Buddhism and Christianity of the East, collected music and drew knowledge from these countries.
Later, while in exile, Gurdjieff would tell the details of his travels with friends in the book “Meetings with Remarkable People” (1919).
The further biography of Georgy Ivanovich can be presented in the form of several important sections:
1. In Moscow. In 1912-1914, the traveler was in Moscow, where he gathered his circle of several like-minded people, who would later be remembered as “Gurdjieff’s students.” He communicates with various philosophers, journalists and writers. Interesting story was associated with Peter Uspensky, a Russian writer and occultist.
Like Gurdjieff, Ouspensky loved to travel and at that time was preparing for a new trip to the very “heart” of Asia, with the goal of getting answers to the necessary questions. Their fateful meeting completely ruined Peter’s plans: he realized that this unattractive-looking, but very educated and inquisitive man would be able to give him all the answers and therefore he had nothing to do in Asia. From that time on, Uspensky decided to become a student of George and was so for several years.
2. In exile. George Gurdjieff several times during the period of emigration tried to found his later famous Institute for Harmonious Human Development, but due to the intervention of the authorities, the attempts remained in vain. And only in 1922, in a small town on the outskirts of France, in a purchased mansion, the writer was finally able to found, let’s not be afraid of this word, a cultural center, which became his life’s work.
Yes, indeed, the writer’s entire subsequent life revolved around his brainchild, and this bore fruit - to this day, Gurdjieff’s books are in demand, and people do not stop reading them. In his teaching, the philosopher argued that his main idea was to awaken true thought, real life in man. He emphasized practical training, fearing that abstract theory would not be enough.
3. Post-war period. After the end of World War II, Gurdjieff gathered all his students and the students of Ouspensky, who had already died at that time, near him. He felt that he would not last long, so he asked them to publish several of his works for a collection. The Gurdjieff movement had already gained momentum, so he did not want people to quickly forget about him after his death.
The writer died in a hospital in one of the small Parisian towns in 1949. Author: Antonina Belokon