The Reality of Being: The Fourth Way of Gurdjieff [Hardcover]

Jeanne De Salzmann (Author)

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Product Description

Based on notebooks kept by G.I. Gurdjieff's closest follower, this book offers new insight on his spiritual teachings—a way of gnosis or "knowledge of belonging" passed on from remote antiquity. It is a complete and uniquely authoritative guide to the great teacher's ideas and to his methods for liberating ourselves from the state of "waking sleep" in which most of us live our lives.

Gurdjieff respected traditional religious practices, which he regarded as falling into three general categories or "ways": the Way of the Fakir, related to mastery of the physical body; the Way of the Monk, based on faith and feeling; and the Way of the Yogi, which focuses on development of the mind. He presented his teaching as a Fourth Way that integrated these three aspects into a single path of self-knowledge. Progress in the Fourth Way comes through conscious effort toward a quality of thinking and feeling that brings a new capacity to see clearly and to love.

About the Author

Jeanne de Salzmann (1889–1990) was born in France and pursued a career in music, dance, and theater. She met Gurdjieff in 1919 and became his closest pupil. Before his death in 1949, Gurdjieff directed de Salzmann to continue his work worldwide. She founded centers in New York, Paris, London, and Caracas, Venezuela. Madame, as she was called with respect, was an esteemed teacher in her own right, transmitting the Gurdjieff Work and especially his “Movements,” or sacred dances.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Shambhala; 1 edition (July 27, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590308158
• ISBN-13: 978-1590308158
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #8,877 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Echoes of the Reality of Being, July 27, 2010

By	T. Schultz (Wheelng/Pittsburgh) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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This review is from: The Reality of Being: The Fourth Way of Gurdjieff (Hardcover)

Madame de Salzmann was an extraordinary influence, never failing to inspire others by her unceasing work and the quality of her presence. She could transmit more in a few moments of relationship with a student than an ordinary man or woman experienced in the Gurdjieff work could share in a lifetime. That is the reality of Being.

The new book, The Reality of Being: The Fourth Way of Gurdjieff, Shambhala was produced from a compilation of notes Madame de Salzmann had written from time to time expressing her own questions and her own vision in the life and movement of the Gurdjieff work.

In connection with the book's preparation, various group activities were conducted within the Gurdjieff community, including weekly meetings of reading groups where people listened to the material and worked with it together. Also as a help to the editing team, larger groups of people having some measure of experience with Madame de Salzmann gathered periodically for extended sessions to work under the guidance of this written material as a support for inner work, regrouping at various intervals each day to re-read selected passages and exchange impressions. In concentrated efforts of self study such as these, with the use of the written material and with the added influence at times of a shared energy produced by work together, one could sometimes approach a deeper understanding - something that becomes more likely when a sufficient number of those who gather for this purpose have understood that the real substance of this kind of knowledge cannot be printed on paper. Books and writings can give hints and sometimes serve as a starting point for a real search. Gurdjieff's own writings are an exceptional category.

Unedited, Madame de Salzmann was one of a very small circle of leaders in the Gurdjieff work who could actually, by her being, transmit substantially on the process which brings one in contact with another reality and illumines the darkness of the lower nature that must be confronted on the path to liberation. Whereas in life she was able to bring a special light to her oral transmissions by her capacity to conduct energy from a world above us, the reading of this book produced by others from her notes is quite different. As secondary beneficiaries of the energy Madame de Salzmann was able to bring to an assembly of people we could sometimes experience something truly out of the ordinary. Under her influence one could often feel, prematurely, a new understanding opening up in the body and in the feeling but longer experience taught that one could not understand the nature of this energy simply by being in the sphere of another who conducts it, much less by reading about it. One begins to have one's own real impressions of the nature of this energy only at moments when one begins to open to direct contact with a higher level within oneself and begins to face the question of how to serve and allow something of this to be shared with others, as she did. Even if one did not understand anything, under her influence people specially benefited in a way that no book could ever simulate. The book's title may be slightly overstated in that regard. More modestly, what the book gives are faint echoes of the reality of Being.

That the original notes were her questions and her vision rather than an intellectual rehash of ideas produced by others is an important lesson. Union with higher consciousness within oneself inevitably produces original vision influenced by the real tradition in which one grows and develops. Because of the rarity of such content, the material in this book is an important contribution.

As Gurdjieff mentioned, "every stick has two ends." Because of the advanced nature of the material, if one is satisfied to accumulate intellectual knowledge alone and is not called within to suffer the reality of our lack of being and pay the higher price of real understanding, there is the risk that one may only increase misunderstanding, thinking that one comprehends. A deeper understanding of this material begins in the realm of living experience, beyond the conceptual mind. Hopefully the benefit this book will bring to the Gurdjieff work will be seen in a response given by some of its readers, those who can hear the echo of real being and feel called to join the search for what is most precious and most missing in our lives.

5.0 out of 5 stars An Extraordinary Book Unlike Any Other, September 5, 2010

By	Robert Middleton (Boulder Creek, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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This review is from: The Reality of Being: The Fourth Way of Gurdjieff (Hardcover)

This is perhaps one of the most powerful and extraordinary books I've ever read in the field of transformation or the Fourth Way.

I was introduced to the Gudjieff Work as a teenager forty some years ago and have read all of the most important published books. My favorites have always been "In Search of the Miraculous" by P.D. Ouspensky and "Beelzebub's Tales" and "Meetings with Remarkable Men" by Gurdjieff. A few months ago I read "Heart without Measure" by Ravi Ravindra about his several-years work with Madame de Salzmann. I found it especially profound and moving.

So when I heard about the publication of "The Reality of Being" I ordered it immediately. I am almost finished reading it (the first time). I notice that I am reading rather quickly so I can get a gist of the content but plan to start re-reading it again much more slowly to let in sink in deeper. I expect this is will be a book I'll be re-reading for the rest of my life.

The essence of the book is actually very similar to Ekhart Tolle's "The Power of Now." It is about presence, being in the now, seeing one's "ordinary I" from a higher perspective and tapping into higher energies. Tolle's book is excellent. However, "The Reality of Being" goes ten times deeper. Every sentence, every paragraph, every chapter is permeated with profound substance. The Power of Now is a good primer. This is the the advanced course.

Of course, no book can, by itself, give you the depth of experience and understanding that working directly with "a teacher who knows" can. But in every single part of the book Madame de Salzmann calls on us to do the inner work necessary to awaken. And her instructions are in no way vague or ambiguous. However they are so deep that it may take a good degree of attention and focus to grasp their meaning.

This book is quite like any other I've read in my life. It has more transformative power packed into a single page than the average library of self-help or spiritual books.

If you are a follower of the Fourth Way or seriously interested in personal transformation, this book is a must.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Words of Truth, August 31, 2010

By	Jeffrey D. Stout "Sonic elf Reads" (Here/Now) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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This review is from: The Reality of Being: The Fourth Way of Gurdjieff (Hardcover)

Real words from someone who has gone on far ahead down the path of self-discovery. With the fragments Gurdjieff has left towards a science of Being, Madame De Salzmann has put it together for herself and has left us helpful indications, and clues. Words that inspire us and urge us towards greater wholeness and consciousness are here for the serious seeker of truth.