Thursday 9 December 2010

The "Forest Philosophers"

The psychological aspect of the Gurdjieff-Ouspensky teaching might be briefly described as the practical, detailed and infinitely painstaking application of the ancient precept: Know thyself. All the teaching is strictly practical. Only enough theory indeed is given to provide a language in which the results of self-study can be recorded and mutually related. The student may, if he likes, believe all he is told, but he is always reminded that belief is not knowledge, and can be of no value to him until he has verified it by direct self-observation; and he is continuously discouraged from discussing ideas, or even using words, of which he cannot offer concrete illustrations drawn from his own experience. The system thus contains its own test. As taught by Mr. Ouspensky, psychology is less a science than an art—the art of self-study.

http://www.gurdjieff.org/sharpe.htm

The work does not have to be too physically extreme, a lot depends on the teacher, how he imparts his knowledge.
Gurdjieff knew his place in history, perhaps never before had a fourth way teacher appeared so publicly. We are saying this in view of the fact that he appears in the age of newspapers, and radio, and film. One of the first enlightened beings ever to be filmed. He went beyond theory.

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