Customer Reviews

In Search of the Miraculous (Harvest Book)

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Having read just about everything written by or about Gurdjieff, Ouspensky, Collin, Orage, Nicoll, and countless disciples, spin-offs, Sufis, etc., etc., and having been drawn by them into spending years in a Gurdjieff "school," and being familiar with the traditions on which the Gurdjieff approach was based, I take a lot of the "fourth way" material with a large grain of salt. The core of the "work" is a powerful methodology, but no more so than, say, vipassana, zen, dzogchen or other solid, meditation-based tradition. There is nothing about the fourth way that is any more "esoteric" than these other traditions (that's right, nothing). The biggest difference is that Gurdjieff left behind a legacy of fraudulent teachers and cults, whereas there are many Buddhist and other groups that are reliable. (Certainly, Buddhist and other groups, being made up of people, have their flaws, and there are things to be learned in some (not all!) Gurdjieff groups, but decades of hard-won experience allows me to say that the Gurdjieff tradition is peculiar in attracting power-hungry charlatans who exploit the "rascal sage" idea to gather suckers around themselves. It happens in other traditions, but there, it tends to end in disgrace. In fourth way groups, duping people seems to be a point of pride.) Even groups that are not necessarily exploitative or fraudulent tend to attract people who especially like the idea of being "esoteric," to use a term Ouspensky used, but which was far more appropriate eighty years ago than it is today. That is, they like to imagine they've contacted the "real" inner work--as opposed to those fools who imagine any other traditions can lead to awakening. In other words, the ego-driven, cult mentality that turns useful information into its opposite. The "my fourth way group is more esoteric/Gurdjieffian/cooler than your fourth way group" dynamic is out of control.

Regardless, I strongly recommend In Search of the Miraculous. It's the single best book on Gurdjieff's work ever written. It's reasonably comprehensive on the important theories and methods. It's clear--no Beelzebub's Talesian mumbo-jumbo. It includes enough of Ouspensky's personal comments and experiences to make an entertaining story, but it isn't a self-indulgent book about the author ("and then he said this to me, and then I said that to him.") I find Ouspensky's other works overly dry and intellectual, but this one is both fun and profound. (And if you happen to buy a copy that has a bookmark in it from a purported Gurdjieff "school" -- toss the bookmark. Trust me about that.)

At the very end of his life, Ouspensky seemed to repudiate "the System", as he understood it, although glassy-eyed disciples in that time and this try to rationalize that fact away. Perhaps he realized that any systematic approach to developing our consciousness is impossible, since if we are on a road with a known destination that destination can only be our own projection of what we imagine it to be. No matter. The ability of this man Ouspensky to think systematically was indeed his great strength, and it lent all his writing a clarity and throughness simply unmatched in all of twentieth century "occultism". Nowhere did he need it more than in this reporting of the early teachings of Gurdjieff, when that particular unique idiot was at the zenith of his own development. Ouspensky alone could have made these ideas, developed by others and brought to Europe in a nearly incoherent form by the rascal Gurdjieff, into something useful. While not quite on the level of Ouspensky's earlier books, this book stands as the greatest introduction to occultism in existence. This book is more important than any of the junk they peddle in the various humanities departments of any of our indoctrinal institutions; it is, along with Ouspensky's earlier works, even a contender for book of the century, at least among those who are familiar with the hidden literature of our species. For these books exist at the boundary line between the place where words are at their limit and the place Ouspensky may have finally reached, where words can never go. And rest assured that Ouspensky nevertheless communicates almost through osmosis some of these things much better than this abstruse little review can.

I discovered this amazing gem in a used book store and interestingly read it at the same time I read Kuhn's "Structure of Scientific Revolutions". I couldn't possibly heap too much praise on either of these books. Both are life-transforming for those of a scientific bent, and for others too. I opened Ouspensky at random and started reading about the distribution of knowledge among people. He cured me of untold anxiety concerning why so few people have a clue when he said that knowledge has power only to the extent it is concentrated in a few people, how the mass of humanity freely discards what little knowledge is allotted them, and particularly how at certain times humanity discards vast amounts of knowledge in favor of mass insanity. He was of course thinking of the Great War but the parallels to today are beyond scary as we face the potential of World War in the Balkans, at the same time that vast amounts of truth concerning for example the importance of nutrition in human disease is being discarded in favor of the "disease" of genetic determinism. This distribution of knowledge observation is both a depressing (since it's totally observably true) and an exhilerating discovery (I no longer feel personally responsible for illuminating anyone since I know the mass of humanity doesn't want knowledge, only answers; an immediate present need associated with their own pleasure principle gratification.)

And that was just opening it at random! The stuff on the fourth way also was incredible, especially since I had been grappeling with that for some. Though I know that illumination may never come except for brief glimpses, I now know at least by using the fourth way (working on your body, mind, and faith simultaneously), I am on the only truly practical path to illumination.

Truely profound.

G. I. Gurdjieff - a difficult subject. He was a Russian/Turkistani/Armenian/Ousbeck (they didn't really have countries there when he lived) mystic - but a rather hard nosed one, lived 1880 - 1947, I believe. Started a movement called "The Work". best intro - "In Search of the Miraculous" by his student PD Ouspensky, Uspenski, Ouspenskj, Ospenski (depending on how they translate the Russian), who had a photographic memory. If you get and read this book it WILL change your life. Truely profound. Mr G's ideas, presented by Ouspensky, are nothing less than the central idea behind all religions. The essence, when you throw away the bull...waste, superstition and the outer trappings, the unifying spiritual essence behind the mystical traditions of all religions. Christainity, Kaballa (Judaism), Vedanta, Sufiism, Taoism, Buddhism etc.

Unfortunately, Mr G got fed up with his bonehead students and didn't tell all he knew...(pay particular attention to the subtitle)

Having said that, those who have EYES will SEE, those who don't, will scoff.

The Work is based on the following principles:
We are asleep
We have no continuous Self.
We are machines.
We believe we can "do" things, change things, that we have "Will" but that is an illusion, we only react.

Until we understand these ideas and apply them to ourselves we have no possibility of change. Unlike "new-Agey" books, it will NOT flatter the reader's ego.

This is a recursive book. It cannot be understood with one reading. It's ideas will only reveal themselves gradually with many readings , preferably with the help of a local "Work" group, who can give you exercises. Reading the book will change your essence, changing your essence will allow you to understand more, next time you read!

This has nothing whatsoever to do with drugs, LSD, (as stated below) it is the opposite of drugs. One of the central idea is that we are all asleep. When you are asleep and you dream that you are awake, you cannot understand this. This book points the way to becoming awake.

(Keep in mind that many of the reviews here are written by people who didn't understand what they read or had no experience with a real Work group (or a one that had grudges against the group he was formerly a member of). There is very little of use to be found in reading these reviews - and much to be found in reading "In Search...")

At the outset of my spiritual awakening over 30 years ago I was fortunate to be introduced to the work of GI Gurdjieff and PD Ouspensky. Like other famous literary psycho/spiritual collaborations ( e.g. don Juan/Castenada; Neem Karoli Baba/Ram Dass; Myths/Campbell), it's hard to imagine the teacher without the student, since by way of the vehicle (the written word), the whole is certainly greater than the sum of the parts.

Since many other reviewers here have discussed the context and methodology I won't cover this work from that angle. My aim in writing this review is to suggest that 'In Search' is deeply profound in its ability to introduce the reader to ideas that have the potential to completely change how they view the world, and themselves, albeit sometimes in a quite unsettling manner. As Ramakrishna once said, "Dislodging a green nut from a shell is almost impossible, but let it dry and the lightest tap will do." Readiness is everything, and this book has the capability of both creating a void and filling it.

With that said, understand that Gurjieff's system is a very difficult one, one surrounded in controversy and shrouded in riddle. Ouspensky's work sought to clarify and codify G's system (The Fourth Way) which helps the reader UNDERSTAND IT WITH HIS/HER HEAD... which is to say, only limited transmission. Real work takes place in the presence of the master, for which no words can describe.

If this book proves interesting, some personal accounts of work with Gurdjieff prove very enlightening as to his system: the de Hartmann's "Our Life with Mr. Gurdjieff", CS Nott's "Teachings of Gurdjieff", and Bennett's "Gurdjieff - Making of a New World" produce special insight into the work. It's also interesting to note that 'by their works will you know him' -- Gurdjieff's works themselves are very difficult -- as a charismatic teacher I would suggest that the written word was not his forte, but the writings of his students give a much better feel for his work than he does.

Lastly, I was suprised and disappointed to see that this latest edition has a forward by Marianne Williamson. I do not believe that other than reading the book herself she has much in the way of personal experience with this system. It strikes me as a case of spiritual opportunism on her behalf, and the publishers... such a work should not be compromised in such a fashion -- I doubt G and Ouspensky would have approved.

The only regret I have is that I didn't read this book 20 years ago. It is a powerful description of the spiritual journey with deep insights into the human psyche. Ouspensky in this book outlines in probably one of the clearest ways the Fourth Way teachings of Gurdjieff. He outlines what the problem is for modern man and then procedes to show the way out. In the words of Gurdjieff man is just a machine, that acts mechanically to everything. In other words things just happen:

"He cannot stop the flow of his thoughts, he cannot control his imagination, his emotions, his attention. He lives in a subjective world of 'I love,' 'I do not love,' 'I like,' 'I do not like,' 'I want,' 'I do not want,' that is, of what he thinks he likes, of what he thinks he does not like, of what he thinks he wants, of what he thinks he does not want. He does not see the real world. The real world is hidden from him by the wall of imagination. He lives in sleep. He is asleep. What is called 'clear consciousness' is sleep and a far more dangerous sleep than sleep at night in bed.
"Let us take some event in the life of humanity. For instance, war. There is a war going on at the present moment. What does it signify? It signifies that several millions of sleeping people are trying to destroy several millions of other sleeping people. They would not do this, of course, if they were to wake up. Everything that takes place is owing to this sleep."

It is a book that is filled with information and things to reflect on and therefore needless to say a book that I will go back to and reread again and again.

If you are really interested in getting out of the matrix and wonder how, then buy this book as the first thing you do.

I have read this book twice. Once while in college, and then ten years later.
If you are searching for the meaning of your journey - this book will help serve as a guide. However, be ready to question your beliefs and habitual lifestyle. Also, be prepared to read a page, or perhaps a profound paragraph or two - and then feel compelled to set the book down as you experience a visceral shift in the way you think and live your existence. Even though this book emphasizes at various times the need for you to find a "teacher" as a guide to help with your evolution - it is my opinion that this serves as a metaphor for discovering the teacher within. This book is a slow read - and some parts may seem perplexing or confusing, especially the sacred laws of geometry and mathematics (i.e.: The law of seven) - but I recommend you continue with your reading effort; if you do so - you will be rewarded.
Since I am an environmental author and avid reader - I found this book helpful in connecting the dots relative to the lives and writings of some of the world's most profound teachers and scientists.

Gurdjieff represents one of the most important metaphysicians of the 20th Century. His philosophy and system of development is hard to pin down. It contains austerities, rituals, magic and astrology as well as a melange of theoretical and rational teachings designed to awaken the individual from a mechanistic state that we are all unwittingly embroiled in. Ouspensky was one of Gurdjieff's foremost pupils and this book is a succinct presentation of all of Gudjieff's major teachings.

The book should be a revelation to the receptive beginner by which is meant someone not satisfied with conventional modes of knowing and understanding and above all conventional solutions to what are ultimately unconventional problems. His teachings apparently have their roots in Sufism and other magical systems but have a very close parallel to Buddhism, notably mindfulness or "Self remembrance" as a method of waking up. People familiar with esoteric methods will find much to celebrate in this book.

The book is also biographic and traces Gurdjieff and his students' departure from the old Russian Empire at the time of the revolution during the First World War. A time of crisis that adds to his teachings. The book finally marks a point of departure between G and Ouspensky.

Gurdjieff was not a great writer and his teachings are best represented by his pupils except for the specialists who could actually wade through G's own writings like Beelzebub's Tails which is rather complex and abstruse. He approved Ouspensky's primary rendition which this book represents. Whereas Ouspensky does not possibly convey the great warmth that G possessed, this book is the best starting point for a beginner compared to more modern biographic commentaries. Further interest can be added to by an excellent series of books summarising G's teachings in the form of collected talks (by his students) published by Arkarna Penguin (e.g. Meetings with remarkable men on G's formative years).

After reading In Search of the Miraculous - Fragments Of an Unknown Teaching, one understands how deluded about everything one was in his past life...
This is a simple, in-your-face, clarifying book for one who seeks self knowledge and spiritual truth.
Though this book has not a fantastic literary quality, It's an overwhelming description of the essential teachings of the master Georges Ivanovitch Gurdjieff (the fourth way), his main ideas and cosmology, and in some passages one is thrown into the disturbing and mystic scenes that Ouspensky describes with unquestionable profundity, almost cinematically...
While one reads this book, one is invited to experience the steps, sufferings and work of Ouspensky through his search for understanding the nature of the miraculous. This nature is announced in the beginning of the book and is revealed, finally by Gurdjieff, at chapter XIII - "the miracle begins", with a fantastic / "hyper-real" description of the "awakening" of Ouspensky.
More than esotericism, this book is indeed a must for everyone interested in a "supra-materialist" way of ascending to spirituality. It portrays a contingent approach to alchemy, a transubstantiation of the automatic man to a self willing and free man. It gives to the reader a deep and objective insight of human life and its psychological undeveloped potential.

I have been a "Work" group for more than 20 years. Without giving away to much I can say this:

I am sorry to say that you can ignore most of the reviews here because the were written by readers who did not really understand what they read, or did not receive training exercises to see what parts they read were important. How to create the possibility of change. This is a difficult book but a very rewarding one.

The key principles Ouspensky learned from Gurdjieff are:
* we are asleep (or perhaps a better word is "hypnotized" in varying degrees) all the time. We do not perceive ourselves or the world as it is.

* our negative habits make us machines who can under most circumstances NEVER change, but only dream and imagine change.

* we imagine we can DO things (like change ourselves and our lives, effect events, the world) but in fact, we only can react to external events. We imagine we have Will but we have no Will. No Will but self-will.

* we imagine we have one distinct Self, but in fact, we have a variety of selves, (or Mini-selves) like short-lived computer programs that take us over and run our machine selves for a few minutes and then vanish. For example, One self buys that shiny new car that satisfies their ego and self-images about what a cool guy (or girl) we are (an image created by the car company with which we Identify), another self is left with five years of car payments.

This book provides some ideas, some of it is fool-traps. Most here is deeply profound. The only way to become "Awake", to "Self-Remember", to not "Identify" and not "Inner Consider", etc., is to first read the book, repeatedly, and then find a local "Work" group who will give you the exercises, to achieve results, which are missing from here. One need to observe oneself, then understand our mechanical tendencies, then deliberately throw a monkey wrench in the machinery, and stop our habits and habitual ways of seeing the world. "Work" is required, work on oneself. Tough stuff. Forces us to take a hard look at ourselves. Not New-Agey Casteneda imaginings, the real thing. This book can, when properly read and understood, grow your Essence.

This is an introduction. The best one to a difficult subject. A rewarding but much more difficult book is Gurdjieff's "Beelzebub's Tales to his Grandchildren" which was written to contain the ideas but also to discourage the idly curious, and is full of neologisms (Gurjieff's superlong made-up words to illustrate his obtruse points.)

If you have any doubt that you, that we are ALL, in varying degrees, asleep, observe the world around you, observe TV. Observe movies. Observe people who think the world can be improved by violence.
Observe the people who are running America. Or the world, for that matter.

It is only those who understand they are asleep who have any chance of awakening.