In Search of the Miraculous: The Definitive Exploration of G. I. Gurdjieff's Mystical Thought and Universal View (Harvest Book)

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This book is a compilation of five lectures that used to be read before an audience by Ouspensky’s students. In 1902, while convalescing after being hit by a stray bullet, Gurdjieff breaks into a soliloquy of self-examination that explores his attempts at applying what he had learned so far. Nott was captivated by the performance of the Gurdjieff movements, and his subsequent interactions with Gurdjieff and his followers convinced him to become a pupil.

Gurdjieff Books | Seeker of Truth

During the next forty years, De Salzmann supervised the publication of his books, preserved and taught his movements, and established centers for practicing his teaching in major cities worldwide. Gurdjieff opens a unique window into many important episodes of Gurdjieff’s teaching career, beginning with the remarkable journey through the Caucasus during the Civil War, establishing the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man for the first time, its various reiterations, and its final resting place in the Chateau Prieuré. John Bennett forwards it by claiming that “An essential part of man’s duty upon earth is to bear witness to the truth as it has been revealed to him”. A decade later, he shifted his focus to establishing the Chateau Prieuré at the expense of formal lecturing, teaching through the work of developing the Chateau.

The book draws from his travels to the near and far east, and offers a psychological method for approaching the wisdom of ancient cultures (Tarot, Gothic, Buddhism, Esoteric Christianity, etc.

The book was published posthumously, after its manuscript had been reviewed and praised by Gurdjieff, somewhat healing the decades-long rift between them. They became two of his most dedicated students and followed him through the turbulent period of the Russian Revolution till settling down in France. Nevertheless, he spent the remaining years of his life teaching Gurdjieff’s ideas, a fact that drew considerable criticism from those loyal to Gurdjieff.Even before meeting Gurdjieff in 1915, Peter Ouspensky had already established himself as a prominent thinker and lecturer on the occult in Moscow and St Petersburg. Bennett served as a British intelligence officer stationed in the regions of Central Asia in which Gurdjieff had grown up and gathered knowledge. Maurice Nicoll, another student of Ouspensky’s who also studied under Gurdjieff in the Chateau Prieuré, published five volumes of Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky.

This compilation of essays, also based on Ouspensky’s talks and answers to questions, is centered around the development of conscience. The book includes an essay titled Glimpses of Truth, a pupil’s account of a visit to Gurdjieff before the Russian Revolution. Each chapter is dedicated to a series of related Fourth Way topics, beginning with an introductory exposition by Ouspensky on that topic, and continuing with questions and answers from his meetings.Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson was to be the first of a threefold series, each aimed at generating a specific effect on its readers. This is his exploration of eastern idea of reincarnation and his attempt to reconcile it with the Fourth Way. It spans the story of Gurdjieff’s life before he started teaching, dedicating each of its ten chapters to a person who influenced Gurdjieff in his formative years. Throughout these decades, she took notes of her reflections on the work, which were compiled and edited into a book by her family and followers.