Gurdjieff Study Group Of Los Angeles

The Fourth Way

Links to Centers Outside of Los Angeles

The primary centers of Gurdjieff work in North America are

New York City and Mexico City. 

Links can be found on the New York City web site for centers in most cities of the United States and Canada.

Literature

Many books and articles have been written by Gurdjieff and his pupils.  “In Search of the Miraculous” by P.  D. Ouspensky is an excellent introduction to the vast system of ideas that underpin Gurdjieffs work.  “Beelzebub’s Tales to his Grandson” while often overwhelming at first, is a thorough introduction to the fourth way, authored by Gurdjieff, the book can penetrate to one’s essence.

For more information on the literature, contact us.

Why Reading about the Fourth Way is not enough

For those who are familiar with, and who have read and re-read, Gurdjieffs teaching:  Let it be known that the reading of all of Gurdjieffs writings including the writings of his very first pupils such as P.D. Ouspensky, A.R. Orage, Maurice Nicoll, John Lord Pentland, Willem A. Nyland, John G. Bennett and the writings of their pupils as well; is not enough to understand and appreciate the Gurdjieff teaching.  These writings only give mental or intellectual knowledge, which only represents one part of the complete being. 

Gurdjieff states that it takes three centers for a balanced, harmonious, and complete understanding.  This is true regardless of whether one is primarily emotionally oriented, physically oriented, or intellectually oriented.  One must understand with all three centers, that is to say with the head, heart, and the body equally.  If one just reads, one gets caught in a mental mist and becomes too heavy intellectually and possibly even more out of balance.  In this way one becomes a slave to “philosophy”.

Please understand that we do not condemn the reading of these writings.  On the contrary we highly recommend their reading but only under the right conditions. 

What are the right conditions?  The right conditions require that one work with people who have gone before them.  In other words, people who have worked with others in a chain of transmission leading directly back to Gurdjieff.  Today the Gurdjieff Study Group of Los Angeles, remains closely connected with a small group of elderly individuals, still alive, who worked directly with Gurdjieff himself.  Those who worked with Gurdjieff and their direct descendants have an approach to the teaching that is based on real knowledge and understanding.  Real knowledge and understanding is gathered through practice of the teaching under the proper guidance and is based on direct individual experience of oneself in relation to oneself, and the world. 

Of those who worked with Gurdjieff, there are those who passed on the correct approach to his teaching.  We can refer to these people as third or fourth generation pupils.  There are a few of these people available in the Gurdjieff Study Group of Los Angeles.  This “demand” to study oneself under a direct line of oral transmission, in a nutshell, is the first condition.

The second condition, which is most important, is working with others and through others.  One must understand that one cannot learn the work by one self.  This is impossible because one has to start from the right base.  Without the right base the attempt will go in circles.  It must be made clear that no one can give the work to any one, or do the work for anyone else.  It must be earned by one’s own effort and this can be done only from the right starting place.