Gurdjieff Legacy Bookstore—The Fourth Way

Spiritual Survival in a Radically Changing World-Time
by William Patrick Patterson
The seventh and final book in William Patrick Patterson's survey of The Fourth Way, Spiritual Survival warns of Technology's challenge and how it can spur us to awaken to a new integration of body, senses and mind. Explored in great and original depth is how the seminal teaching of G. I. Gurdjieff's Fourth Way—the teaching for our time—offers the esoteric keys and practices to self-awakening in a radically changing, high voltage and mercurial world-time.

"William Patrick Patterson's books become more profound and exciting as time goes on. Spiritual Survival is one of the best so far, full of wonderful insights."
—Colin Wilson, author, War Against Sleep

"Readers of Patterson's Eating the 'I', or any of his other books, would be aware of his brilliance as an author. Patterson, a student of the late Lord John Pentland—whom the spiritual teacher G.I. Gurdjieff personally appointed to lead the 'Work' in America—is the founder/director of The Gurdjieff Studies Program.

"Spiritual Survival is Patterson's seventh book on Gurdjieff's Fourth Way teachings, and, he confesses, is likely to be his last. While his previous six books dealt primarily with either the "introduction or establishment of the Fourth Way in the West... or [with] the arrogations and distortions of the teaching," Spiritual Survival "is on the teaching itself, as it has been practiced, experienced and understood."

"Patterson explains in the book's introduction that we live in a radically changing world-time, and are becoming increasingly dependent on technology, to the point where we are "in danger of losing our freedom to machines."

"But, rather than pointing the finger at technology itself—which he describes as a reflection of humanity—the real cause of danger is the "part of us that so identifies with technology that we allow our purpose and meaning as human beings to be defined and limited in this rational part's image so that, unwillingly, we will only want to become better machines."

"What Patterson's saying, in a nutshell, is that by becoming slaves to technology, we are giving more power to the mechanical side of ourselves, thereby hindering our spiritual growth (what Gurdjieff would refer to as a 'descending octave'). This is an important and timely message.

"Any thinking person would agree that humanity's dependence on technology is worrying—as can easily be observed by traveling on public transport, for example, with the majority of commuters listening to iPods or playing games on their mobile phones, completely oblivious to themselves and their environment.

"No wonder Gurdjieff remarked, "Man's slavery grows and increases. Man is becoming a Willing slave . . . He begins to grow fond of his slavery, to be proud of it."

"As an ardent follower of The Fourth Way, Patterson shares Gurdjieff's philosophy that man is a machine (more correctly, a bioplasmic machine), "working solely under the power of external influences." We believe ourselves to be conscious when in fact we are asleep.

"We also delude ourselves into thinking that we have a single, permanent, indivisible 'I', and are in complete control of our lives. In reality, taught Gurdjieff, we are not one 'I', but an assemblage of 'I's. In his own words: "[Man's] I changes as quickly as his thoughts, feelings, and moods, and he makes a profound mistake in considering himself always one and the same person; in reality, he is always a different person, not the one he was a moment ago."

"Students of The Fourth Way aim to develop real 'I', to become one, to live in essence not in false personality, gradually emerging from the state of sleep in which we live our lives. To achieve this, to cease being a machine, a number of practices are followed, the main one being 'self remembering', which is a meditative exercise that involves dividing one's attention between one's body (the subject) and one's external environment (the object).

"Patterson gives a brief explanation of the theory behind this practice. However, since this is not a 'how-to' book on the practices of The Fourth Way, but a 'taste' of what the teaching is about, the book is composed primarily of exchanges between Patterson and his students during Fourth Way meetings.

"Most of these exchanges, which are really questions and answers, relate to the very fundamentals of the teaching, and concern observations of the body and mind. To be honest, my initial reaction to this material was one of indifference. Gradually, though, my interest increased, and I began to grasp the true value of this information, even applying it to my own life.

"The questions asked by Patterson's students, although seemingly mundane, are extremely important since they concern issues of interest to everyone. Equally important and often profound are the answers Patterson gives to these questions.

"One student mentions, for example, that they often find themselves "caught up in negative imagination about what may befall me and my family." Patterson responds: "Why the negativity? We must be getting something from it? If you observe, you'll see, strange as it may sound, we take pleasure in being negative."

"Another student asks: "If I'm asleep, then how do I live my life?" Patterson replies: "You don't live it, it lives you. Picture yourself in a sail boat asleep at the helm. Instead of being steered, the boat is taken by the currents and winds." One of the things I admire most about this book is its practical, no-nonsense approach to spiritual matters.

"Making up more than a third of the book's content are a collection of Fourth Way probes and essays. (Probes are spontaneous talks on various aspects of the teaching.) The latter were originally published in The Gurdjieff Journal, of which Patterson is the founder/editor.

"Topics discussed include 'Who is Mr. Gurdjieff?', 'The Question of Rebirth', and 'The Redeemed Beelzebub'. Those who already have a basic understanding of the teaching will find much food for thought in these essays.

"As is typical of Patterson, he writes with great intelligence and clarity, displaying a deep understanding of The Fourth Way.

"Those who would like to know more about the practical side of The Fourth Way, such as what is discussed during Fourth Way meetings, and what it means to apply the teaching to one's life, would be doing themselves a favor by reading this wonderful book.

"Of course, as Patterson explains, "One cannot practice the Fourth Way alone; it is absolutely necessary to have a teacher, and be involved in a group with other students. He reminds us repeatedly this is only an introduction to the teaching, "a taste of the possibility of self-transformation and transcendence."

"I have no doubt that Spiritual Survival will, just as Patterson intended, "serve as a bridge for a seeker wishing to become a candidate to enter The Fourth Way, an ancient living teaching, the teaching for our time."
—Louis Proud, New Dawn Magazine, September-October 2010

No softcover will be published.
Hardcover, notes, index, bibliography, 430 pp.

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Price: $25.00 

via gurdjieff-legacy.org