Customer Reviews

The Prize is Eternity: Foundations of Inner Work in the Fourth Way

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I have been a follower of the Fourth Way ideas for the past twenty years, and during that time I have read almost everything. Once in a while I have had the "good fortune" of meeting such pearl of wisdom as this book. The author treats each topic, and all of then are really related with the inner work of change, with clarity and the experience of someone not just "explaining" the concepts. He speaks (that was my feeling) from the point of view of someone who has not only practiced what he talks about, but more importantly, who have become the words, wich, after all is the goal of every true way.

Since finding this book I went looking for his other works, bought then and to my soul happyness, they were all like that: Precise, practical, clear and very human. Go for it. You will never regret.

"The Prize is Eternity" by Girard Haven is about the practical work of the Fourth Way. "Practical" means something more than physical or mental exercises that the reader can attempt in the privacy of his or her own study. In these pages, Haven speaks about the difficult, day-to-day work to awaken from the sleep in which we are all immersed. Practical means both beginning to see things as they are and attempting to act from what one sees. Practical also means distinguishing between the efforts that one is capable of making by oneself and the line beyond which one cannot pass without outside assistance. The Fourth Way is a teaching of spiritual development ... brought to the West in the early part of this century by George Gurdjieff and Peter Ouspensky. ... It can be said that the Fourth Way, more than any other system of knowledge known to us in modern times, stresses the importance of work on being. It is not enough to know the words, one must strive to be the words...

If you find the writing style of Ouspensky to be difficult
to follow then this is the book for you. The writing is
very easy to follow and is more germane to the unique
obstacles people face in today's modern world. This is the
book I give to friends who are interested in the 4th way
as I have found that they say Ouspensky is too hard to
understand.

All of the reviewers of this book (except for yours truly), as well as both of the "editorial reviewers," are (or, as in the case of Ms. Zannos, were) members of the Fellowship of Friends, the cult of which Mr. Haven had once been designated second in command by its founder, Robert Burton (no longer the case; he's been demoted). Its approach to the Fourth Way is highly idiosyncratic at best, a caricature of an abusive "New Age cult" at worst. Prospective purchasers would do well to do a little research on the Fellowship of Friends to determine whether they suppose a leader of such an organization is well qualified to be a spiritual guide. (Also, consider whether you really think "eternity" is a "prize," like a gimcrack in a Cracker Jack box.) Caveat emptor.

Mr. Haven expression of the Fourth Way qualifies it for inclusion with the great exponents of that tradition in this century: Gurdjieff, Ouspensky, Collin and Nicoll. I am grateful that I found this book.