Gurdjieff

Gurdjieff

(George Gurdjieff is one of the most significant masters of this age.

He is unique in many ways – nobody has said things in the contemporary world the way Gurdjieff has said them. He is almost like another Bodhidharma or Chuang Tzu, apparently absurd but in reality giving great indications towards the liberation of human consciousness. – OSHO)

George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff was born in the year 1866 in Alexandropol and died in Paris in 1949. He is described as a practical mystic who devoted the second part of his life to teaching his ideas which are set out in two books entitled, "All and Everything: Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson ", published in 1950, and "Meetings with Remarkable Men ", published in 1963.

In his youth he studied Science, Medicine and Theology but found that these disciplines could not answer his questions about the essential nature of humanity and our possibilities. He embarked on a search for ancient wisdom that took him to remote regions of the Middle East, Africa, India and Central Asia. He reappeared in Russia in 1912 with a distinctive and contemporary teaching, rooted in both Eastern and Western spiritual traditions.

During the Bolshevik Revolution, he found his way to Western Europe with a group of his students. He eventually settled near Paris and established the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man. He continued to teach in Paris and New York until his death in 1949. Following his death, a core group of pupils, under the direction of Madame Jeanne de Salzmann, undertook responsibility for the transmission of the teaching. This group established centers throughout the western world.

(The Gurdjieff Foundation of India consists of a group of people in India practicing and reading G. I. Gurdjieff's teaching. They are associated with the Gurdjieff Foundation of New York through a close association with the Gurdjieff Foundation of Atlantic Canada.)

Gurdjieff's Teachings

Gurdjieff's ideas cover many different fields of knowledge. He was a mystic, a philosopher, and a psychologist who went deep into the human psyche, and came up with the realization that our apparent limitations are the result of our unwillingness to act and change in such a way as to be able to use the full range of our natural and divine endowment.

Gurdjieff saw man under the light of his possible evolution. While psychology examines the man in his current state of existence, and tries to heal his weaknesses, Gurdjieff's aim was to help him develop his potentialities, become aware of his real nature, and "wake up from his sleep," by applying the proper spiritual practices which he called "The Work."

Gurdjieff believed that humans, in their normal, everyday state, are extremely mechanized with almost no degree of freedom, and that human activity is mostly reactive to environmental stimuli, thus leaving little margin for originality in actions, thoughts and feelings. He taught that humans who desire to escape this slumbering state, must first become aware of their mechanized nature and then gradually, replace mechanized thinking with true and potent levels of awareness.

According to his teachings humans consist of four different bodies. The first is the physical body which is the one that the fakirs work on, the second is the emotional body which monks use in their search for God, the third is the spiritual body through which yogis try to alter the nature of their consciousness, and the fourth body which is the "Master" or the real "I," is the ultimate goal of Gurdjieff's System, and it is the state of being that will liberate man from mechanization.

His "Work," which was an elaborately designed teaching methodology, included prayers, music and sacred dances, which he learned during his stay as a pupil in a "Sarmoung" monastery in Turkestan, and which he used to make his students increase their attention, fight laziness and daydreaming, and reach higher levels of consciousness. Gurdjieff considered those movements as a very important part of his method and sometimes he referred to himself as a "teacher of dancing." He had also choreographed a ballet called "Struggle of the Magicians," whose music and gestures came from the Tibetan monasteries.

One of the symbols Gurjieff used in his method for harmonious development was the enneagram, whose name comes from the Greek words ennea-nine and grammi-line, and which he believed to be "the fundamental hieroglyph of a universal language." Gurdjieff said that all knowledge and all the universal laws can be included in the enneagram, which is now believed to have its origins in the ancient Egyptian religion of the nine deities, as they were presented in the Egyptian cosmogony.

With the use of visual symbols such as the enneagram, the use of music and dance, Gurdjieff wanted to make his students understand that words were not the only means of conveying ideas, and that the concept of man and his place in the universe went beyond the use of language. He applied an esoteric teaching which explained how to restore the lost knowledge and whatever was distorted in religion, and which could help men to develop their essence and get rid of the fake, artificial personality of an automaton, which is just a part of a machine.

Gurdjieff knew that as long as man is treated "in the mass," world harmony is not possible to be attained. Since the world is a reflection, or an enlargement of the individual world, if individuals do not develop, the world will not be able to live in peace and harmony. Gurdjieff gave humanity his esoteric teaching of The Fourth Way, through which individuals follow the sacred, inner path of self-transformation that will 

(Osho Quotes on Gurdjieff

One of the great tantrics of this age, George Gurdjieff, says that identification is the only sin.

George Gurdjieff is right when he says that man is a machine, but by `man’ he means all those who are living unconsciously, who are not aware, who are not awake, who do not respond to reality but only react. Ninety-nine point nine percent of human beings come in the category of machines. With these machines, astrology is possible.

George Gurdjieff used to say, “My whole teaching can be condensed into one word, and that is disidentification.”

 He is right. Not only his teaching can be condensed into one word, all the teaching of all the masters can be condensed into one word: disidentification. Don’t be identified with the mind.

I know, and Gurdjieff knows that you are born with a soul — but the idea that we are born with a soul has not been helpful. It has made man more asleep: We are born with a soul, God is within you, the kingdom of God is within you, so what do you have to do? Things that are not within you, work hard to get them — money, power, respectability — because nobody says, “Every child is born with money, every child is born with political power, every child is born with respectability.” Nobody will say that. These things have to be earned. Freedom, consciousness, God, whatever you call it, has to be discovered. It is hidden, dormant)

What Gurdjieff was saying has been told by all the great masters of the world. “Awake,” Buddha says. It is the same; words differ. “Be watchful,” Jesus says.

Gurdjieff used to say: Man is a prisoner, and he has lived in the prison so long that he has completely forgotten that he is a prisoner. And the prison is so big that you cannot feel it, because you never see the boundary. Gurdjieff says that unless you realize the first thing — that you are in prison, that you are the prison — then there is no hope for freedom. If you already believe that you are free, you are a hypnotized sheep which believes himself to be a lion — exceptional, there is no need to be afraid — which even believes he is a human being. He goes on seeing other sheep being killed, and still remains in a hypnotized state, never being aware of his actuality. To be free, if you already know that you are free, there is no problem.

Relax. And just see things. And there is nothing much — if you miss something, it is not of worth. You can miss, you are allowed to miss. Take life easy, take it easy.

An unawakened — sleeping — person is not a doer. Things are happening to him, but he thinks I am doing. The awakened person also is not a doer but thinks I am not the doer. This is the only difference. There is no difference in their actions but there is difference in their attitude — knowing — of their performance.

[Osho speaks on Gurdjieff

 Osho summarizes Gurdjieff's early life and period of seeking:

   "Gurdjieff remembers that when his grandfather was dying -- he was only nine years old -- the grandfather called him. He loved the boy very much and he told the boy, "I don't have much to give to you, but departing from the world I would like to give you something. I can only give you one piece of advice that has helped me; it was given to me by my father, and he was also dying when he gave it to me. I am dying. You are too young, you may not be able to understand it right now, but remember, a day will come when you will understand. Whenever you find yourself capable of following my advice, follow it, and you will never be in misery. You can avoid the hell of life."

   "And what was the advice? Just this sutra -- not exactly in these words. He said to Gurdjieff, "Remember one thing: if you want to do any bad thing, postpone it for tomorrow; and if you want to do something good, do it immediately -- because postponement is a way of not doing. And bad has not to be done, and good has to be done. For example," the old man said, "if somebody insults you and you feel angry, enraged, tell him that you will come after twenty-four hours and answer him." Gurdjieff remembers, "That advice transformed my whole life. Although I was too young, only nine years old, I tried it just out of curiosity. Some boy would insult me or would hurt me or would say something nasty, and I would remember my old dying grandfather and I would tell the boy, 'I will have to wait; I have promised an old man. After twenty-four hours I will answer you."

   "And it always happened," Gurdjieff remembers, "that either I would come to conclude that he was right, that whatsoever he had said LOOKED nasty but it was true about me.... He was saying, 'You are a thief,' and that is true, I am a thief. He was saying, 'You are insincere,' and that is true -- I am insincere." So he would go and thank the boy: "You pointed out something true about me. You brought up a true facet of my being which was not clear to me. You made me more conscious about myself. I am immensely grateful." Or, after twenty-four hours' thinking, he would come to conclude that, "That man or that boy is absolutely wrong. It has nothing to do with me." Then there is no point in answer-ing; he would not go back to the boy. If something is utterly wrong, why become enraged? This is a big world, millions of people are there; you cannot go answering everybody, otherwise your whole life will be wasted. And there is no need either."]

(The Gurdjieff Foundation of India is a non-profit organization. 
We are a group of people, engaged in the study and practice of the teachings of G. I. Gurdjieff under the guidance of Dr. Ravi Ravindra who worked closely for more than ten years with Madame Jeanne de Salzmann, Gurdjieff's closest associate

The Gurdjieff Foundation of India is associated with the Gurdjieff Foundation of New York through a close association with the Gurdjieff Foundation of Atlantic Canada.)

[  Mulla cannot keep quite …

A rich farmer had been trying desperately to marry off his daughters. One day he met Mulla Nasrudin. "I have several daughters," the farmer told the Mulla. "I would like to see them comfortably fixed. And I will say this, they won't go to their husbands without a little bit in the bank, either. The youngest one is twenty-three and she will take Rupees 25,000 with her. The next one is thirty-two, and she will take Rupees 50,000 with her. Another is forty-three and she will take Rupees 75,000 with her." "That's interesting," said Nasrudin. "I was just wondering if you have one about fifty years old." 

The young lady's hopes had been high for two years while Mulla Nasrudin remained silent on the question of marriage. Then one evening he said to her, "I had a most unusual dream last night. I dreamed that I asked to marry you. I wonder what that means." "that means," said his girlfriend, "that you have more sense asleep than you have awake." 

Mulla Nasrudin had been calling on his girlfriend for over a year. One evening the girl's father stopped him as he was leaving and asked, "Look here, young man, you have been seeing my daughter for a year now, and I would like to know whether your intentions are honorable or dishonorable?" Nasrudin's face lit up. "do you mean to say, sir," he said, "that I have a choice?"

Mulla Nasrudin's mother, worrying about her son's safety, said to him: "Didn't I say you should not let that girl come over to your room last night? You know how things like that worry me." "But I didn't invite her to my room," said Nasrudin. "I went over to her room. Now you can let her mother do the worrying.")