Fourth way

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The fourth way describes a spiritual system founded by Georges I. Gurdjieff (1872–1949) for the “inner evolution ” of people in their daily life. The Enneagram is an essential symbol for this “transformational process” .

Teaching

The founder Gurdjieff speaks of a fourth way as a synthesis and further development of the three traditional ways of the monk , the yogi and the fakir . According to Gurdjieff, the fourth way leads to a "holistic development of the human being to his full potential" or to the "harmonious evolution" of all parts or "centers" that make up the human being: the thinking, the feeling and the movements of the body.

According to Gurdjieff, the fourth way is in life; H. not behind monastery walls or in the distant Himalayas , and in 3 lines under the necessary guidance of an experienced teacher:

  • the conscious examination of oneself
  • the common "work" and the conscious exchange with like-minded people
  • the work for the "school" or the "teaching"

Essential elements of this "work" are:

  • the constant practice of inner mindfulness ("remembering yourself")
  • the non-identification, e.g. B. with likes and dislikes ("conscious suffering")
  • the common study and the "verification" (holistic experience) of universal laws, as they were presented in the Enneagram and in the so-called "ray of creation" by Gurdjieff

Gurdjieff's system contains elements of Sufism ( Islamic mysticism ), Buddhist and Hindu traditions as well as supposedly Essenian - Christian mysticism . There is also evidence of a Pythagorean influence. This becomes clear in the mathematical-systemic and musical teachings of Gurdjieff, such as B. in the "Law of the Octave". The piano pieces created together with Thomas de Hartmann are also very important .

distribution

His best-known student PD Ouspensky documented and published Gurdjieff's first lectures from 1915 to 1917 in Saint Petersburg . Later, however, there was a break between him and Gurdjieff, so that from then on two basic currents established themselves in the followers of the Fourth Way:

Ouspensky went to London and founded his own groups there and later in America, while Gurdjieff opened the “ Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man ” near Paris . After Gurdjieff's death in 1949, his close student Jeanne de Salzmann continued the “work” with the establishment of various international Gurdjieff Foundations.

Numerous “schools” and groups established themselves around the world, referring to the Fourth Way or Gurdjieff or Ouspensky. Of these, the Gurdjieff Foundations founded by Jeanne de Salzmann is the largest.

Works (selection)

  • Beelzebub's Tales for his Grandson (1950)
  • Encounters with Notable People (1963)
  • From the real world ( Views from the Real World , 1973)
  • Life is only real when "I am" (1974)
  • The Herald of Coming Good (1988)

further reading

  • PD Ouspensky : In Search of the Miraculous (1949, German: In search of the miraculous ).
  • PD Ouspensky: The Psychology of Man's Possible Evolution (1978).
  • PD Ouspensky: The fourth way .
  • Maurice Nicoll: Psychological Commentaries on the Teachings of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky (1980, 6 volumes).

Web links