Work history - Lord Pentland and the Work in America

[veneziana]

With so many books on Work ideas, psychology, cosmology etc, the people who have helped to bring these ideas to life (aside from Mr Gurdjieff himself) seem to be often overlooked. I suppose this is understandable when 'the Work' is said to have manifested in many different ways according to the time, and that Mr Gurdjieff somehow brought things together - and had his ideas systematised by Ouspensky. Yet I still retain an interest for how the Work developed organisationally. Perhaps one of the curiosities of this history is how Mr Gurdjieff himself put Lord Pentland in charge of developing the Work in the USA - a land he clearly saw as rich with possibilities. While I've dipped into 'Exchanges Within', which consists of Pentland's meetings, I knew very little about the man. That's now been changed with the publication of a new biography by James Moore, who is Gurdjieff's biographer. His new book: 'Eminent Gurdjieffians - Lord Pentalnd' - makes fascinating reading - see http://www.gurdjieffstudiesbooks.org/index.htm. I'd be interested to know if anyone else has read it and what you think of it. I've noticed that a few reviews have now begun to appear, eg http://gurdjieffbooks.wordpress.com/2011/04/03/james-moore-eminent-gurdjieffians-lord-pentland/. On the face of it, Lord Pentland seems to have been an odd choice to lead the Work in the US - James Moore certainly seems to think so. Any views?

 

[manitoban]

Hi veneziana,

Welcome to the forum. :) We recommend all new members post an introduction in the Newbies section telling us a bit about themselves, and how they found their way here. You can read through the many newbie introductions to get a feel for how others have done it. Thanks.

 

[Approaching Infinity]

With so many books on Work ideas, psychology, cosmology etc, the people who have helped to bring these ideas to life (aside from Mr Gurdjieff himself) seem to be often overlooked. I suppose this is understandable when 'the Work' is said to have manifested in many different ways according to the time, and that Mr Gurdjieff somehow brought things together - and had his ideas systematised by Ouspensky. Yet I still retain an interest for how the Work developed organisationally. Perhaps one of the curiosities of this history is how Mr Gurdjieff himself put Lord Pentland in charge of developing the Work in the USA - a land he clearly saw as rich with possibilities. While I've dipped into 'Exchanges Within', which consists of Pentland's meetings, I knew very little about the man. That's now been changed with the publication of a new biography by James Moore, who is Gurdjieff's biographer. His new book: 'Eminent Gurdjieffians - Lord Pentalnd' - makes fascinating reading - see http://www.gurdjieffstudiesbooks.org/index.htm. I'd be interested to know if anyone else has read it and what you think of it. I've noticed that a few reviews have now begun to appear, eg http://gurdjieffbooks.wordpress.com/2011/04/03/james-moore-eminent-gurdjieffians-lord-pentland/. On the face of it, Lord Pentland seems to have been an odd choice to lead the Work in the US - James Moore certainly seems to think so. Any views?

I think it's important to note that there are no accounts of Gurdjieff "choosing Pentland to lead the work in the States". Gurdjieff left him in charge of collecting subscriptions for Beelzebub's Tales. Mme. de Salzmann put him in charge of Work in America. As Moore notes (haven't read the book yet, just the reviews), probably because he was a "yea-sayer" with nary a thought of his own.

 

[anart]

I think it's important to note that there are no accounts of Gurdjieff "choosing Pentland to lead the work in the States". Gurdjieff left him in charge of collecting subscriptions for Beelzebub's Tales. Mme. de Salzmann put him in charge of Work in America. As Moore notes (haven't read the book yet, just the reviews), probably because he was a "yea-sayer" with nary a thought of his own.

I agree and I'd also question the idea that,

Mr Gurdjieff somehow brought things together - and had his ideas systematised by Ouspensky.

To my current understanding, Ouspensky didn't 'systematize' anything. He intellectualized and parroted, while never actually being able to raise his level of Being to match his intellectual knowledge (due to monumental self-importance, from all available evidence). Ouspensky definitely served a purpose, no question, but I think it's important to not overstate that purpose, or his evidenced grasp of the Work, which cannot be accomplished without heart - and Ouspensky stayed in his head. fwiw.

 

[JayG]

That's now been changed with the publication of a new biography by James Moore, who is Gurdjieff's biographer.

Thanks for your post veneziana. I’ve always been rather puzzled by Lord Pentland’s sudden rise to power, so I was very pleased to learn that Moore has dug into this and published a book. I’ve ordered it and hope to exchange some views with the cognoscenti. Anybody else read it yet?

JayG


Mod's note: Edited to fix the quotation boxes.

 

[Possibility of Being]

Hi JayG,

Welcome to the forum. We recommend all new members to post an introduction in the Newbies section telling us a bit about themselves, and how they found their way here. You can read through the many newbie introductions to get a feel for how others have done it. Thanks. :)

 

[Stevie Argyl]

I have heard the story that Gurdjieffs final visit to America was in order to ensure work groups would be firmly established, having already dispatched Jane Heap ,who had run a group in Montparnasse more or less under his watch for 8 years, and CS Nott to the UK. If I recall correctly the job was not given directly to Lord Pentland but to both Pentland and W Nyland. Pentland, as has been previously mentioned, was responsible for Gurdjieffs publications but not soley responsible for the work.


Another review of the book here - http://zenyogagurdjieff.blogspot.com/2011/05/eminent-gurdjieffians-review-of.html