Fourth Way
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The Fourth Way is an approach to self-development developed by
The term "Fourth Way" was further used by his student
When this work is finished, that is to say, when the aim set before it has been accomplished, the fourth way disappears, that is, it disappears from the given place, disappears in its given form, continuing perhaps in another place in another form. Schools of the fourth way exist for the needs of the work which is being carried out in connection with the proposed undertaking. They never exist by themselves as schools for the purpose of education and instruction.[3]
The Fourth Way addresses the question of humanity's place in the Universe and the possibilities of inner development. It emphasizes that people ordinarily live in a state referred to as a semi-hypnotic "waking sleep," while higher levels of consciousness, virtue, and unity of will are possible.
The Fourth Way teaches how to increase and focus attention and energy in various ways, and to minimize day-dreaming and absent-mindedness. This inner development in oneself is the beginning of a possible further process of change, whose aim is to transform man into "what he ought to be."
Overview
Gurdjieff's followers believed he was a spiritual master,
The Fourth Way teaches that the
Gurdjieff taught "sacred dances" or "movements", now known as Gurdjieff movements, which were performed together as a group.[9] He left a body of music, inspired by that which he had heard in remote monasteries and other places, which was written for piano in collaboration with one of his pupils, Thomas de Hartmann.[10]
Three ways
Gurdjieff taught that traditional paths to spiritual enlightenment followed one of three ways:
- The Way of the Fakir
- The Fakir works to obtain mastery of the attention (self-mastery) through struggles with [controlling] the physical body involving difficult physical exercises and postures.
- The Way of the Monk
- The Monk works to obtain the same mastery of the attention (self-mastery) through struggle with [controlling] the affections, in the domain, as we say, of the heart, which has been emphasized in the west, and come to be known as the way of faith due to its practice particularly in Catholicism.
- The Way of the Yogi
- The Yogi works to obtain the same mastery of the attention (as before: 'self mastery') through struggle with [controlling] mental habits and capabilities.
Gurdjieff insisted that these paths, although they may intend to seek to produce a fully developed human being, tend to cultivate certain faculties at the expense of others. The goal of religion or spirituality was, in fact, to produce a well-balanced, responsive and sane human being capable of dealing with all eventualities that life may present. Gurdjieff therefore made it clear that it was necessary to cultivate a way that integrated and combined the traditional three ways.
Fourth Way
Gurdjieff said that his Fourth Way was a quicker means than the first three ways because it simultaneously combined work on all three centers rather than focusing on one. It could be followed by ordinary people in everyday life, requiring no retirement into the desert. The Fourth Way does involve certain conditions imposed by a teacher, but blind acceptance of them is discouraged. Each student is advised to do only what they understand and to verify for themselves the teaching's ideas.
Ouspensky documented Gurdjieff as saying that "two or three thousand years ago there were yet other ways which no longer exist and the ways then in existence were not so divided, they stood much closer to one another. The fourth way differs from the old and the new ways by the fact that it is never a permanent way. It has no definite forms and there are no institutions connected with it."[11]
Ouspensky quotes Gurdjieff that there are fake schools and that "It is impossible to recognize a wrong way without knowing the right way. This means that it is no use troubling oneself how to recognize a wrong way. One must think of how to find the right way."[12]
Origins
In his works, Gurdjieff credits his teachings to a number of more or less mysterious sources:[13]
- Various small sects of 'real' Christians in Asia and the Middle East. Gurdjieff believed that mainstream Christian teachings had become corrupted.
- Various Sufi')
- Gurdjieff mentions practicing Yoga in his youth but his later comments about Indian fakirs and yogis are dismissive.
- The mysterious Sarmoungmonastery in a remote area of central Asia, to which Gurdjieff was led blindfold.
- The non-denominational "Universal Brotherhood".
Attempts to fill out his account have featured:
- Technical vocabulary first appearing in early 19th century Russian freemasonry, derived from Robert Fludd (P. D. Ouspensky)
- Eastern Christianity as detailed in the works of Robin Amis and Boris Mouravieff
- Tibetan Buddhism, according to Jose Tirado.[14]
- Swat valley.[15]
- Sarmoungmonastery.
- Rafael Lefort)
- The "stop" exercise is similar to the Uqufi Zamani exercise in Sufi Order.[17]
- The "stop" exercise is similar to the Uqufi Zamani exercise in
- In principle J. G. Bennett[18])
Teachings and teaching methods
Basis of teachings
Present here now[19]
We do not remember ourselves[20]
Conscious Labor is an action where the person who is performing the act is present to what he is doing; not absentminded. At the same time he is striving to perform the act more efficiently.
Intentional suffering is the act of struggling against automatism such as daydreaming, pleasure, food (eating for reasons other than real hunger), etc. In Gurdjieff's book
To Gurdjieff, conscious labor and intentional suffering were the basis of all evolution of man.
Self-Observation
Observation of one's own behavior and habits. To observe thoughts, feelings, and sensations without judging or analyzing what is observed.[22]
The Need for Effort
Gurdjieff emphasized that awakening results from consistent, prolonged effort. Such efforts may be made as an act of will after one is already exhausted.
The Many 'I's
This indicates fragmentation of the psyche, the different feelings and thoughts of 'I' in a person: I think, I want, I know best, I prefer, I am happy, I am hungry, I am tired, etc. These have nothing in common with one another and are unaware of each other, arising and vanishing for short periods of time. Hence man usually has no unity in himself, wanting one thing now and another, perhaps contradictory, thing later.
Centers
Gurdjieff classified plants as having one center, animals two and humans three. Centers refer to apparati within a being that dictate specific organic functions. There are three main centers in a man: intellectual, emotional and physical, and two higher centers: higher emotional and higher intellectual.
Body, Essence and Personality
Gurdjieff divided people's being into Essence and Personality.
- Essence – is a "natural part of a person" or "what he is born with"; this is the part of a being which is said to have the ability to evolve.
- Personality – is everything artificial that he has "learned" and "seen".
Cosmic Laws
Gurdjieff focused on two main cosmic laws, the Law of Three and the Law of Seven [citation needed].
- The Law of Seven is described by Gurdjieff as "the first fundamental cosmic law". This law is used to explain processes. The basic use of the law of seven is to explain why nothing in nature and in life constantly occurs in a straight line, that is to say that there are always ups and downs in life which occur lawfully. Examples of this can be noticed in athletic performances, where a high ranked athlete always has periodic downfalls, as well as in nearly all graphs that plot topics that occur over time, such as the economic graphs, population graphs, death-rate graphs and so on. All show parabolic periods that keep rising and falling. Gurdjieff claimed that since these periods occur lawfully based on the law of seven that it is possible to keep a process in a straight line if the necessary shocks were introduced at the right time. A piano keyboard is an example of the law of seven, as the seven notes of the major scale correspond exactly to it.
- The Law of Three is described by Gurdjieff as "the second fundamental cosmic law". This law states that every whole phenomenon is composed of three separate sources, which are human being. The process of transformation requires the three actions of affirmation, denial and reconciliation. This law of three separate sources can be considered modern interpretation of early Hindu Philosophy of Gunas, We can see this as Chapters 3, 7, 13, 14, 17 and 18 of Bhagavad Gita discuss Guna in their verses.[23]
How the Law of Seven and Law of Three function together is said to be illustrated on the
Use of symbols
In his explanations Gurdjieff often used different symbols such as the
Through the elaboration of the law of octaves and the meaning of the enneagram, Gurdjieff offered his students alternative means of conceptualizing the world and their place in it.
Working conditions and sacred dances
To provide conditions in which attention could be exercised more intensively, Gurdjieff also taught his pupils "
Gurdjieff laid emphasis on the idea that the seeker must conduct his or her own search. The teacher cannot do the student's work for the student, but is more of a guide on the path to self-discovery. As a teacher, Gurdjieff specialized in creating conditions for students – conditions in which growth was possible, in which efficient progress could be made by the willing. To find oneself in a set of conditions that a gifted teacher has arranged has another benefit. As Gurdjieff put it, "You must realize that each man has a definite repertoire of roles which he plays in ordinary circumstances ... but put him into even only slightly different circumstances and he is unable to find a suitable role and for a short time he becomes himself."
Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man
Having migrated for four years after escaping the Russian Revolution with dozens of followers and family members, Gurdjieff settled in France and established his Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man at the Château Le Prieuré at Fontainebleau-Avon in October 1922.[25] The institute was an esoteric school based on Gurdjieff's Fourth Way teaching. After nearly dying in a car crash in 1924, he recovered and closed down the institute. He began writing All and Everything. From 1930, Gurdjieff made visits to North America where he resumed his teachings.
Ouspensky relates that in the early work with Gurdjieff in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Gurdjieff forbade students from writing down or publishing anything connected with Gurdjieff and his ideas. Gurdjieff said that students of his methods would find themselves unable to transmit correctly what was said in the groups. Later, Gurdjieff relaxed this rule, accepting students who subsequently published accounts of their experiences in the Gurdjieff work.
After Gurdjieff
After Gurdjieff's death in 1949 a variety of groups around the world have attempted to continue The Gurdjieff Work. The Gurdjieff Foundation, was established in 1953 in New York City by
A number of offshoots incorporate elements of the Fourth Way, such as:[citation needed]
- Claudio Naranjo's teaching.
- Arica School
- The Diamond Approach of A. H. Almaas.
The Enneagram is often studied in
References
- ISBN 978-0-684-83495-5
- ^ "In Search of the Miraculous" by P.D. Ouspensky p. 312
- P.D. Ouspensky (1949), In Search of the Miraculous, Chapter 15
- ^ Meetings with Remarkable Men, translator's note
- ^ Gurdjieff article in The Skeptic's dictionary by Robert Todd Carroll
- ^ P.D. Ouspensky, In Search of the Miraculous, p.38.
- ^ In Search of The Miraculous (Chapter 14)
- ISBN 0-15-644508-5
- ^ "Gurdjieff Heritage Society Book Excerpts". Archived from the original on 30 October 2007. Retrieved 5 October 2007.
- ^ Thomas de Hartmann: A Composer’s Life[permanent dead link] by John Mangan
- ^ "In Search of the Miraculous" by P.D. Ouspensky p. 312
- ^ In Search of The Miraculous (Chapter 10)
- ^ "Sources of Gurdjieff's Teachings" downloadable PDF file
- ^ "Gurdjieff-internet". Archived from the original on 29 October 2007. Retrieved 11 May 2007.
- ^ Meetings with Three Tibetan Masters
- ^ Idries Shah: The Way of the Sufi, Part 1, Notes and Bibliography, Note 35
- ^ Omar Ali-Shah:The Rules or Secrets of the Naqshbandi Order. See also: Eleven Naqshbandi principles.
- ^ "The Fourth Way" Bennett's last public lecture, available on CD from J. G. Bennet website).[1]
- ^ Exchanges Within; p 18; John Pentland
- ^ In Search of the Miraculous; p 117; P. D. Ouspensky
- G.I. Gurdjieff (1950). Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson, pg 242
- ^ Gurdjieff & the Further Reaches of Self-Observation, an article by Dennis Lewis
- )
- ^ A Lecture by G.I. Gurdjieff
- ^ Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man
- ^ The Gurdjieff Foundation
External links
- Quotations related to Fourth Way at Wikiquote
- Media related to Fourth Way at Wikimedia Commons