I read this book some time ago, and briefly revisited it while writing this review. Here's the lowdown:
"Eating the I" is an interesting book. The author, William Patrick Patterson, writes a raw, sometimes joyful, sometimes disturbing, account of his personal search for meaning in life. The first half of the book is quite gripping, with Patterson introducing the reader to his mid-life-crisis state of "sleep", and how he sees that Gurdjieff's works may provide some answers to why he exists in such an unconscious "grey fog" all the time. He is told by a friend about Lord John Pentland, the man chosen by Gurdjieff to lead the Work in America, and makes an appointment to see him - leading to a very interesting encounter.
Patterson details his initial experiments with self-remembering and meditation and provides a reasonable description of a method. But he does not really explain the Fourth Way system in any great detail. Anybody looking for such should probably start with Ouspensky's "In Search of the Miraculous", Mouravieff's "Gnosis" series, or (for the really keen) Gurdjieff's own writings.
There are some very inspired moments in the book. His talk about the "General Law/Satan" I think was one of them, as well as a part where he discusses an "Initiation" of sorts where he moves from seeing the world in normal terms, to seeing the world in terms of synchronicity, archetypes and symbology. Certain things occur to him that have deeper meaning, like 'signposts', yet the people he discusses this with (such as his wife) are unable to comprehend the meaning that he sees in these things - they dismiss it as being an "overactive imagination" or suchlike. This change in perception - the literal "seeing the unseen" is not a quantitative thing, such as seeing thoughtforms, auras or spirits, but rather a qualitative understanding of the "deeper meaning" behind otherwise straightforward events - distilling extra information via a "sixth sense". He refers to it like moving into the "world of the psychic" at one point. Readers interested in such ideas would do well to check out Laura Knight-Jadczyk's "The Secret History of the World", a book that I think expands on these concepts quite considerably.
The latter half of the book focuses more on Patterson's family life and his efforts to reconcile his relationship with his emotionally absent father and his overbearing mother. His father's death seems to provide a catalyst for unravelling the emotional 'knots' that hinder him from seeing many aspects of himself, particularly concerning a student/'son' relationship with Lord Pentland. He also discusses the Jungian anima/animus (female/male) principle and some of his experiences relating to him trying to express the anima (female principle) within himself. This male/father/female/mother dynamic makes up a substantial part of later chapters, and provides an interesting complement to the sections more focused on Gurdjieff's material.
For me, the ending of the book was somewhat of a mystery. Patterson seems to take off on a huge tangent and becomes enamoured by the cryptic philosophy of Sunyata - an mystic of "no teaching" and "inner emptiness". He then leaves the G. Foundation, and book just sort of.... stops. I thought it was an odd note for an autobiography to end on, when it seemed there was clearly much more to be told judging from the year of publication of the first edition. Perhaps there is a follow-up volume intended? A web search yielded no clues at the time of writing this.
In any case, this is a book I would recommend that anyone interested in the "Work" read. Patterson seems to have a knack for presenting complex concepts in a more "digestable" way for the beginner, plus he creates an enjoyable page-turner of a story. Did I learn from it? Absolutely. It is an autobiography though, and thus is more about a man, than the knowledge that enabled him to become more truly "himself". Overall, my impressions are that this is a work that inspires more than it educates.
"Eating the I" is an interesting book. The author, William Patrick Patterson, writes a raw, sometimes joyful, sometimes disturbing, account of his personal search for meaning in life. The first half of the book is quite gripping, with Patterson introducing the reader to his mid-life-crisis state of "sleep", and how he sees that Gurdjieff's works may provide some answers to why he exists in such an unconscious "grey fog" all the time. He is told by a friend about Lord John Pentland, the man chosen by Gurdjieff to lead the Work in America, and makes an appointment to see him - leading to a very interesting encounter.
Patterson details his initial experiments with self-remembering and meditation and provides a reasonable description of a method. But he does not really explain the Fourth Way system in any great detail. Anybody looking for such should probably start with Ouspensky's "In Search of the Miraculous", Mouravieff's "Gnosis" series, or (for the really keen) Gurdjieff's own writings.
There are some very inspired moments in the book. His talk about the "General Law/Satan" I think was one of them, as well as a part where he discusses an "Initiation" of sorts where he moves from seeing the world in normal terms, to seeing the world in terms of synchronicity, archetypes and symbology. Certain things occur to him that have deeper meaning, like 'signposts', yet the people he discusses this with (such as his wife) are unable to comprehend the meaning that he sees in these things - they dismiss it as being an "overactive imagination" or suchlike. This change in perception - the literal "seeing the unseen" is not a quantitative thing, such as seeing thoughtforms, auras or spirits, but rather a qualitative understanding of the "deeper meaning" behind otherwise straightforward events - distilling extra information via a "sixth sense". He refers to it like moving into the "world of the psychic" at one point. Readers interested in such ideas would do well to check out Laura Knight-Jadczyk's "The Secret History of the World", a book that I think expands on these concepts quite considerably.
The latter half of the book focuses more on Patterson's family life and his efforts to reconcile his relationship with his emotionally absent father and his overbearing mother. His father's death seems to provide a catalyst for unravelling the emotional 'knots' that hinder him from seeing many aspects of himself, particularly concerning a student/'son' relationship with Lord Pentland. He also discusses the Jungian anima/animus (female/male) principle and some of his experiences relating to him trying to express the anima (female principle) within himself. This male/father/female/mother dynamic makes up a substantial part of later chapters, and provides an interesting complement to the sections more focused on Gurdjieff's material.
For me, the ending of the book was somewhat of a mystery. Patterson seems to take off on a huge tangent and becomes enamoured by the cryptic philosophy of Sunyata - an mystic of "no teaching" and "inner emptiness". He then leaves the G. Foundation, and book just sort of.... stops. I thought it was an odd note for an autobiography to end on, when it seemed there was clearly much more to be told judging from the year of publication of the first edition. Perhaps there is a follow-up volume intended? A web search yielded no clues at the time of writing this.
In any case, this is a book I would recommend that anyone interested in the "Work" read. Patterson seems to have a knack for presenting complex concepts in a more "digestable" way for the beginner, plus he creates an enjoyable page-turner of a story. Did I learn from it? Absolutely. It is an autobiography though, and thus is more about a man, than the knowledge that enabled him to become more truly "himself". Overall, my impressions are that this is a work that inspires more than it educates.
