The
Gurdjieff Society of Ireland
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Gurdjieff
was born in Armenia around 1870. Although his first tutor was
a priest, he received a scientific education, but in surroundings
and a way of life that had changed little for centuries. To
his questions: who am l? Why am I here? He found no answer either
in religion or in science, but suspected that the truth lay
hidden behind what had come down from the past in religious
traditions and those strange myths and legends which he learned
from his father, a traditional bard or 'ashokh'. Inspiring likeminded
companions, he set out to find in Asia and Africa the truth
that he sought, learning many languages, and acquiring many
practical skills to earn the money for his journeys.
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G. I. Gurdjieff
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In
1912 he brought to Moscow an unknown teaching, a teaching that
was not a religion, nor a philosophy, but a practical teaching
to be lived. To follow the way he proposed, nothing is to be
believed, and life in the world is not to be renounced. It is
a way in life, on which - gradually for it cannot be done all
at once - everything has to be questioned - one's beliefs, assumptions,
attitudes, one's whole outlook on the life of man on this Earth.
Man is asleep, said Gurdjieff, he has no real consciousness
or will, he is not free; to him, everything happens. He can
become conscious and find his true place as a human being in
the creation, but this requires a profound transformation.
"Man's possibilities are very great. You cannot even conceive
a shadow, of what man is capable of attaining. But nothing can
be attained in sleep. In the consciousness of a sleeping man
his illusions, his 'dreams' are mixed with reality. He lives
in a subjective world and he can never escape from it. And this
is the reason why he can never make use of all the powers he
possesses and why he always lives in only a small part of himself.
After the Russian revolution and the First World War, Gurdjieff
set up an institute in France, and later taught in Paris. His
book All and Everything, Beelzebub's Tales to his Grandson
is "an Objectively Impartial Criticism of the Life of Man",
man within the scale of the universe. From a very old tradition
which he rediscovered, he brought exercises and Sacred Dances
based on universal laws, to stretch the pupil to the utmost
in the search for harmony and awakening.
After his death in Paris in 1949 his closest pupils, led by
Mme de Salzmann, continued the oral transmission of his practical
teaching through activities touching all sides of a man, and
this tradition continues today. The Society in London was established
at that time and has remained in close touch with the other
main centres of Gurdjieff's teaching in Paris and New York,
always adapting to new conditions whilst remaining true to its
source. There are associated groups in many other countries
and elsewhere in the British Isles. From time to time, groups,
are open to accept new members.
"The work of Gurdjieff has many aspects. But through whatever
form he expresses himself, his voice is heard as a call. He
calls because he suffers from the inner chaos in which we live.
He calls us to open our eyes. He asks us why we are here, what
we wish for, what forces we obey. He asks us, above all, if
we understand what we are. He wants us to bring everything back
into question. And because he insists and his insistence compels
us to answer, a relationship is created between him and ourselves
which is an integral part of his work." - Jeanne de Salzmann
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©
The Gurdjieff Society, London |
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