George Gurdjieff

GURU RATING: 5 / 5 (EXCELLENT)

What if there were a guru who spent his entire life traveling the world in search of the most advanced, secret spiritual teachings?

That’s George Gurdjieff (1872-1949).

Born in Armenia, Gurdjieff was fluent in Armenian, Greek, Russian, French and Turkish. This facility with languages allowed him to travel throughout the middle-east and far east regions of the world to learn from hidden spiritual masters.

His travels took him to India, Iran, Egypt, and Tibet before finally settling in Russia and then France to teach students what he learned.

The Fourth Way

Gurdjieff never revealed the exact sources for his teaching but he referenced esoteric Christianity, mystical Judaism (Kabala), Buddhism and Sufism.

His method was called “The Fourth Way” because previous secret spiritual schools focused on: 1) the physical body, 2) the mental body, or 3) the emotional body. Gurdjieff taught that all three must be worked on simultaneously to achieving awakening.

And work it was! Students were sometimes given outrageous tasks like repeating Gurdjieff’s name, out loud, continuously for 3 months!

But that was the price to prove to Gurdjieff that you were serious and committed to “The Work.”

The Work

At the heart of Gurdjieff’s teaching is the belief that nearly all humans are asleep, living their lives like robots in the belief that they are awake.

To wake out this stupor, a person must see “the horror” of their situation and make a great effort to remedy it.

Only through full development of a person physically, emotionally and mentally, could a spiritual understanding start to shine through what was once a “machine.”

Self-observation and self-awareness are the essential tools to waking up beyond mechanical life.

Objective Knowledge

A great deal of emphasis was made on subjective vs. objective Knowledge.

Subjective knowledge was what was inherited from family, religion or culture.

Objective Knowledge was what true beyond local programming of the human machine. It was a Knowledge of the unity and Oneness of all life.

More than an idea, this was a state of being that Gurdjieff claimed was more real than what most people considered to be “awake.”

Diverse Contributions

Like Rudolph Steiner, Gurdjieff, made more than just philosophical and spiritual contributions to humanity.

His sacred dances and music still receive fascinated audiences who come to learn more about Gurdjieff’s teachings in an accessible format.

The music was based on themes gathered during various trips. Melodies and rhythms were inspired by folk or religious traditions. It is a music whose main purpose is to facilitate openness to the inner world.

His concept of the enneagram is used by millions of people to understand personality types.

Bottom Line

Gurdjieff’s teachings aren’t for the spiritual novice. His books like Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson and Meetings With Remarkable Men are dense writings that hide their secrets.

This was intentional. Gurdjieff wanted students to struggle to find the gold inside his teachings. He believed that only students who were truly disgusted with their current life would find it.

Not surprisingly, Gurdjieff has inspired countless people, including other gurus and teachers like Marshall Summers, Alan Watts, J. Krishnamurti and Osho.

Gurdjieff is a great guru because he embodied great Knowledge and was able to pass it down to those who sincerely seek it.

Sites:

• Gurdjieff International Review
• Institute Gurdjieff (French)

Books:

• In Search of the Miraculous (by P.D. Ouspensky)
• Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson
• Meetings with Remarkable Men
• Life is Real Only Then, When ‘I Am’