New William Patrick Patterson Book

(couldn't fit the whole title in the subject bar)

Georgi Ivanovitch Gurdjieff — The Man, The Teaching, His Mission by William Patrick Patterson

The author's ninth and final book on the Work is a comprehensive and factual account of Gurdjieff and The Fourth Way. Material from all of Gurdjieff's direct students and their library archives, much of it not available until recently, is assembled in chronological form as it happened.
The aim is to give an objective, panoramic view of Gurdjieff's life, the inner substance of the seminal and scientific teaching of self-development he discovered, and his unrelenting mission to introduce and establish this esoteric teaching in the West.

Included are Uspenskii's (original Russian spelling) never-before-published essays "Why I Left Gurdjieff" and "Where I Diverge from Gurdjieff"; original deleted material from Search; Uspenskii's American femme fatale, Carman Barnes; Jessie Dwight Orage's short stories "Elsie at the Prieuré" and "Elsie and Allah"; notes of Kathryn Hulme and Solita Solano (1935-39); The Science of Idiotism, and the complete scenario of Gurdjieff's ballet, The Struggle of the Magicians.

Retrieved from:

http://www.gurdjiefflegacy.org/30books/fourth.php#g-man-teach-mission

Review:

http://gurdjieff2013.wordpress.com/2014/01/27/john-robert-colombo-reviews-georgi-ivanovitch-gurdjieff-the-man-the-teaching-his-mission/

That Ouspensky material certainly sounds interesting..

Very interesting, indeed. Thanks, adrenalexpire. I will add that book to my list.

Here's a link from Amazon as well:

http://www.amazon.com/Georgi-Ivanovitch-Gurdjieff-Teaching-Mission/dp/1879514087

Received an email from gurdjiefflegacy.org today, where Mr. Patternson sells his book. He'll be talking about G on a radio interview this weekend:

William Patrick Patterson Discusses The Gurdjieff Work & His Newest Book with Cynthia Fernandes, host of Simple Life Radio on Radio Monterey, an independently owned and operated Internet radio station.

Saturday, October 25th

4 p.m. Pacific Time
5 p.m. Mountain Time
6 p.m. Central Time
7 p.m. Eastern Time

__http://pilgrimsway.com/simple-life-radio/

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Following the SoTT Talk Radio Show with Patrick, ordered his book, which was expensive to ship, yet it came in a very nicely done format and binding. I can well appreciate the work Patrick did in writing it, as he himself explains. I'm not very far into it, yet am enjoying the writing style and interesting references to his early life and from the perspective of others who studied under G.

voyageur said:

Following the SoTT Talk Radio Show with Patrick, ordered his book, which was expensive to ship, yet it came in a very nicely done format and binding. I can well appreciate the work Patrick did in writing it, as he himself explains. I'm not very far into it, yet am enjoying the writing style and interesting references to his early life and from the perspective of others who studied under G.

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I concur Voyageur. I read the entire work, and well worth the price. Patrick did indeed put a lot of work into it: ten years, according to the interview on Sott radio.
He gives a very detailed and concise historical chronology of G's life and travels in relation to the Work, as well as paralleling the historical events leading up to the first and second world wars, how the different people became involved and their responses and reactions to his teachings.
As well, there is much more. A very dense and well-written book chock full of information, a fascinating and enjoyable read on one of the greatest spiritual teachers of our time. I would heartily recommend that everyone involved in the Work read this book.
I am certainly going to reread it and this go round take notes.

I'm reading it right now too, a little over halfway through the book. One thing that is really bothering me right now is the many instances of Gurdjieff sleeping with his pupils. It's not just that, but that these pupils are married to men who also are involved in the Work. He slept with Dr. Stjoernval's wife and Jeanne De Salzmann, among many other pupils. What the heck? It just seems really wrong to me and I can't help but feel like it detracts from everything Gurdjieff brought to the world with his teachings. Am I missing something, or is it just something about the time period since from what Patterson says it sounds like everyone was cheating on each other back then. But that G was just as promiscuous is something I'm trying to wrap my head around and can't seem to understand. Is that possibly a reason his teaching failed back then?

Heimdallr said:

I'm reading it right now too, a little over halfway through the book. One thing that is really bothering me right now is the many instances of Gurdjieff sleeping with his pupils. It's not just that, but that these pupils are married to men who also are involved in the Work. He slept with Dr. Stjoernval's wife and Jeanne De Salzmann, among many other pupils. What the heck? It just seems really wrong to me and I can't help but feel like it detracts from everything Gurdjieff brought to the world with his teachings. Am I missing something, or is it just something about the time period since from what Patterson says it sounds like everyone was cheating on each other back then. But that G was just as promiscuous is something I'm trying to wrap my head around and can't seem to understand. Is that possibly a reason his teaching failed back then?

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I'm about half way through the book also and was having the same thoughts, Gurdjieff didn't have much trouble with impregnating his pupils, Patterson tries to justify it by saying something like G was creating future truth seekers. Also there's the part where G "eggs" a group of American pupils to have an orgy, then while in full swing G say's "in loud, stentorian tones" "that they have already confirmed his observations of the decadence of the Americans." I don't understand what G was trying to achieve. The book so far has had me wondering about some of his methods.

Gurdjieff's blindspot in his relationships with the women at the institute seems to have been discussed a few years ago, though I can't find the exact link. I wonder though if his car crash, and the subsequent closing of the institute aren't related to that. There is an instance where he was critical to the relationship Orage had with his secretary (who became his wife after she made him leave Gurdjieff) and he used his own car crash story (with apparently the invented story of taking apples out of the car window while driving) as a metaphor for that. So maybe he realized at some point that his car crash and loss of consciousness, with all the symbolic aspects that it implies, may have been related to this blindspot, and that everything must be payed for one way or another.

Heimdallr said:

I'm reading it right now too, a little over halfway through the book. One thing that is really bothering me right now is the many instances of Gurdjieff sleeping with his pupils. It's not just that, but that these pupils are married to men who also are involved in the Work. He slept with Dr. Stjoernval's wife and Jeanne De Salzmann, among many other pupils. What the heck? It just seems really wrong to me and I can't help but feel like it detracts from everything Gurdjieff brought to the world with his teachings. Am I missing something, or is it just something about the time period since from what Patterson says it sounds like everyone was cheating on each other back then. But that G was just as promiscuous is something I'm trying to wrap my head around and can't seem to understand. Is that possibly a reason his teaching failed back then?

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Carlos Castanenda also had the same problem. I wonder if that was imitation of Gurdjieff from whom it has been shown he derived his teachings from?

I started reading the book. What stands out for me is that the Lord's Prayer is mentioned within the context of breathing exercises. If I recall correctly, this was done only by the Cs in one session. Here is the relevant part of the book:

"The Prince says, for example, that the Lord's Prayer was originally designed as a devotional breathing exercise..."

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From June 20, 2009:

http://cassiopaea.org/forum/index.php/topic,12737.0.html

Q: (L) Yeah. Well, that was just a meditation technique I developed. I would breathe a certain way and repeat certain things in my mind as I breathed, and I did it every night. Strange things started happening.

A: Strange indeed! You stumbled instinctively on an ancient method that is unsurpassed in its efficacy. So why not share?

[...]

A: Remember that your method employed a powerful "seed".

Q: (DD) Seed? (L) Yeah, that's a reference to meditating with or without seed. (Joe) What was the seed? (L) Phrases that I used in my mind. (Allen) Were those phrases particular to you though, like something that someone has to come up with for themselves? (L) Well, I dunno, were those phrases particular for me?

A: They were super powerful!

Q: (C) Where they like prayers? (L) Yeah, and it's really funny because I started out using the Lord's Prayer. Then I decided that I wasn't happy with it because it wasn't open enough. It had associations with specific religious things, and so I rewrote it.[...]

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Heimdallr said:

I'm reading it right now too, a little over halfway through the book. One thing that is really bothering me right now is the many instances of Gurdjieff sleeping with his pupils. It's not just that, but that these pupils are married to men who also are involved in the Work. He slept with Dr. Stjoernval's wife and Jeanne De Salzmann, among many other pupils. What the heck? It just seems really wrong to me and I can't help but feel like it detracts from everything Gurdjieff brought to the world with his teachings. Am I missing something, or is it just something about the time period since from what Patterson says it sounds like everyone was cheating on each other back then. But that G was just as promiscuous is something I'm trying to wrap my head around and can't seem to understand. Is that possibly a reason his teaching failed back then?

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As a newbie who have just started with G, I have to say there is one part of me who wishes that it didn't see this thread. I'm reading ISOTM and there is so much black and white thinking like: should I keep on reading, is this valuable at all, how can it be valuable? How can it be possible that a real teacher can behave like that? But then I keep reminding myself that I don't know so many things and that maybe the best thing is to keep learning and observing this process where my mind is urging to make conclusions.

Flow said:

Heimdallr said:

I'm reading it right now too, a little over halfway through the book. One thing that is really bothering me right now is the many instances of Gurdjieff sleeping with his pupils. It's not just that, but that these pupils are married to men who also are involved in the Work. He slept with Dr. Stjoernval's wife and Jeanne De Salzmann, among many other pupils. What the heck? It just seems really wrong to me and I can't help but feel like it detracts from everything Gurdjieff brought to the world with his teachings. Am I missing something, or is it just something about the time period since from what Patterson says it sounds like everyone was cheating on each other back then. But that G was just as promiscuous is something I'm trying to wrap my head around and can't seem to understand. Is that possibly a reason his teaching failed back then?

Click to expand...

As a newbie who have just started with G, I have to say there is one part of me who wishes that it didn't see this thread. I'm reading ISOTM and there is so much black and white thinking like: should I keep on reading, is this valuable at all, how can it be valuable? How can it be possible that a real teacher can behave like that? But then I keep reminding myself that I don't know so many things and that maybe the best thing is to keep learning and observing this process where my mind is urging to make conclusions.

Click to expand...

Another thing to keep in mind is that Gurdjieff was kind of operating on his own in the sense that everyone around him were his students and even though his state of Being and level of knowledge was far advanced in relation to them, he was still only one man and most likely had blind spots of his own. I don't think it takes away from the vast amount of esoteric knowledge he brought to the West even though some of the things he did and said were questionable.

Turgon said:

Flow said:

Heimdallr said:

I'm reading it right now too, a little over halfway through the book. One thing that is really bothering me right now is the many instances of Gurdjieff sleeping with his pupils. It's not just that, but that these pupils are married to men who also are involved in the Work. He slept with Dr. Stjoernval's wife and Jeanne De Salzmann, among many other pupils. What the heck? It just seems really wrong to me and I can't help but feel like it detracts from everything Gurdjieff brought to the world with his teachings. Am I missing something, or is it just something about the time period since from what Patterson says it sounds like everyone was cheating on each other back then. But that G was just as promiscuous is something I'm trying to wrap my head around and can't seem to understand. Is that possibly a reason his teaching failed back then?

Click to expand...

As a newbie who have just started with G, I have to say there is one part of me who wishes that it didn't see this thread. I'm reading ISOTM and there is so much black and white thinking like: should I keep on reading, is this valuable at all, how can it be valuable? How can it be possible that a real teacher can behave like that? But then I keep reminding myself that I don't know so many things and that maybe the best thing is to keep learning and observing this process where my mind is urging to make conclusions.

Click to expand...

Another thing to keep in mind is that Gurdjieff was kind of operating on his own in the sense that everyone around him were his students and even though his state of Being and level of knowledge was far advanced in relation to them, he was still only one man and most likely had blind spots of his own. I don't think it takes away from the vast amount of esoteric knowledge he brought to the West even though some of the things he did and said were questionable.

Click to expand...

Another thing to remember is that his ideas were experimentally confirmed by cognitive psychology and by our own experience.

Thanks for responses, Turgon and Altair. I'll try to keep that in mind.

After finishing this fascinating book I think it is too premature to judge Gurdjieff too harshly. He is human and he has given so much without having almost anything in return (at least energetically). His interaction with people looks like a sacrifice, especially when we consider his latest days after finishing his trilogy of books. The moment when he says "au revoir tout le monde" (goodbye everyone) while going to the hospital is heartbreaking. It seems there was a huge balance of energy and that it affected him profoundly through the years. It is difficult to say if his relationships with his female students were the results of lust or if something else was consciously being experimented there. For instance, many years later it is reported that he invited one of the ladies of the rope (the "rope" in the sense the group were to work together, not only individually) to lie with him in bed "without papa-mama business" for something about male/female energy that she didn't understand. So, without more precise data it is difficult to tell what was in the mind of Gurdjieff in the institute and what exactly went wrong in the experiments. The new experiment with the ladies of the ropes can be a consequence where a different approach was tried? In any case, everything must be payed for one way or another. OSIT ATM