Customer Reviews

The Gurdjieff Work (Library of Spiritual Classics)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Writers of spiritual philosophy could learn a lot about communciating their ideas by reading this slender, marvelously clear document. The author distills an enormous amount of complex material in a brief, accurate, and wholly understandable format. Don't let anyone tell you that complex ideas necessitate complex language. When someone really understands a subject, he is generally able to speak about it simply. And this author provides a beautiful case in point.

This book is unrivalled as the clearest presentation of Gurdjieffian mythos, ethos & logos. For anyone seeking transparent elucidation of the "work", this is the best starting point. Instead of meandering through the ponderous & subjective musings of Nicoll, Bennet, Orage and Ouspensky, here you got in a nutshell:

1.GIG's cosmology: a highly original ( this is an understatement ) variant of Neoplatonist emanationism combined with Blavatskyan planes/worlds; all set in a pseudoscientific lingo using ordinary chemical symbols ( Carbon, Oxygen, etc.) in a bizarre quasi-alchemical setting.

2.GIG's psychology: a modern-day gnosticism without "divine spark". His famous "centres" ( physical/vital, emotional, intellectual ) are old Platonic & Thomist archaic psychology recast in a deceptively "oriental" mode- in fact, Gurdjieffian esoteric physiology is Western ( his centres having little in common with chakras ), while the entire raison for the "work" is Eastern: in essence, this is activation & empowering of the already existent, but numb & deluded jiva ( Tantric tradition ), spiritual seed ( Valentinian gnosticism ) or vijnana ( Vajrayana Buddhism ). GIG's emphasis on non-existence of "I" is just a pedagogic trick.

3. And, last: it was GIG who has brought enneagram to the West. This ancient Hermetic symbol, serving primarily as a glyph delineating stages of alchemical transmutation of a psyche, has become, due to hilarious unpredictable New Age ravings, a sort of universal bestseller on the pop-psychological supermarket.

What to say at the end ? Read it- it's a truly delightful mystery story on the search of the miraculous.

From looking at the reviews here it seems they love this book or hate it. As someone outside of "The Work" and who is collecting data to make a decision to delve into the work I may have a more objective view. This is the second book I've read on "The Work" and have read one more since. This book seems to accurately (although briefly) portray "the work". There are plenty of names dropped in this book as Kathleen explores the ancestry of the work and gives plenty of information on current groups. One tidbit I took away was about the value of the practice of the daily review. By reviewing one's day at the end of it this strengthens the practice of "Self Observation" as being a delayed observation of self.

I found this to be exactly what I was looking for to intellectually understand the premise of Gurdjieff's Work. It may still be a difficult read for someone who is new to becomming aware, but it is the best source I found to date.

A trivialization in the presumption of simplicity. Speeth's parents were involved in the Gurdjieff Work. She wasn't. She met Gurdjieff as a child, but this book only indicates the shallow surface of the ideas and practices he expressed. This set of ideas is not called "the work" lightly. Speeth seems to have no clue what that means. If the actual writings of Gurdjieff or the highly recommended "In Search of the Miraculous" are too daunting to begin with, try Jean Vaysse's "Toward Awakening" as an introduction that is at least connected with its subject.
--I am not entering my name because I do not wish this to sound like self-promotion, not because I do not stand behind this opinion.