Further Teachings of Gurdjieff: Journey Through This World

Further teachings of Gurdjief

iRtrp

' tf"gsp ISBN 0 7100 8938 4. Printed in Gieat Britain (TY). For copright reasons, this book may not be sold or issued on loan or otherwise

disposed ofexcept in its original pqper cover. I

I

FURTHER TEACHINGS OF

GURDJIEFF Journey through this world Including an account

G.

I.

of meetings with Gurdjief, A. R. Orage and P. D. Ouspensky

".

,.tlo,,

@ ROUTLEDGE & KEGAN PAUL LONDON AND HENLEY

ft_

First published t969 by Routledge & Kegan Paul

CONTENTS

Ltd

39 Store Street

London.WCtE ZDD and Broadway House, Newtown Road Henley-on-Thames

TO TIIB READER

Oxon. RG9 tEN Reprinted tg74 Reprinted and frst published as a paperback tg76

n

xur

BOOKI: ENGLAND

I. TIIE COMMERCIAL TRAVBLLBR 2. ORAGB 3. MEOPHAM 4. NOTBS ON SOMB POBTS J. THB PASSING OF ORAGB 6. Hrnero oF coMING GooD 7, TI{B LAST VTSIT TO THB INSTITUTB

hinted in Great Britain by Redwood Burn Limited Trowbridge E Esher

O C.S.Nott

page

PROI,OGTJB

1969

3

8

40 43

JI 59 FOR TIIB ITARMOMOUS

DBWLOPMENT OF MAN

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permissionfrom the publishu, exceptfor the quotation of brief passages in criticism

.

IO. T.

o Troo 6zz5 7 (c) rsBN o Troo aslS + (p)

II:

78 89

OUSPBNSI(Y

OUSPENSTY

tN I,ONDON

12. ouspgNsry's cRoup.

\nrlr TttRNS IIBR \THEBL

13. FORTUNB 14. A TASTB OF

Line drawings by Rosemary Aldridge

74

S. UNDER

BOOK

rI.

ISBN

68

8. rar,xs wrru GuRDIIFF 9. TArrs CoNTTNITBD

TALKS

95 ouspENsKy

BUR3AUCRACY

I5. wAx BOOX

III:

-${.

133

FRANK LLOYD WRIGIITS NEw YoRK AND oUsPBNsKY THB PUTNBY SCHOOL, VBRMONT

r@

LOCUST VALLBY, LONG ISL.A,ND

r97

19. 20. MBNDHAM

2I.

IT2

r20 r22

AMERICA

16. NEw RoCHELLB 17. TATIESIN AND THB 18.

'

toz

138

r57 r89

BOOKIV: ENGLAND

22.

RTTURN TO BNGLAND: SOMB NOTES OF ORAGE ON TIIE

23. 24.

TrrB BND OF TIiE WAR. PARIS

214

DORSET. SPRAYING SASKBTS

25.

SOME NOTES ON TIrE GNOSTICS

222 227 234

.MAHABHARATA'

26. sulrorNc a Housr 27. PARIS WTTrr GURDJTBFF.

203

CROUPS

48 253

INDEX

Aclcnowledgements

to Frank Pinder and Rowland Kenney and thanks to Marjorie Bradley and Rina Hands for their mosr use{irl suggestions and comments.

vl

He who woulil yalliant 'gainst all dhastu kt hin in constancy

LIST OF PLAT3S

be

Follow the Master. There' s no iliscouragement Shall make him once relent His frst auoweil intent

Gurdjieff with Gurdjieff 1946 Gurdjieff 1948

To be a pilgrin.

philos

John Bunyan

between pages 78 and 79

between Pdges

9t4

dnd 95

Gurdjieff circa 1936 A. R. Orage, Frank pinder, Rowland Kenny, Fontainebleau rgzz

study House,

prieurc

between pages

tz6 anil tz7

Putney School,'tpinter Putney School, Summer

Taliesien r94o

between pages t58 and ry9

Author and Frank LloydWright,.Wisconsin

lX

_$.

TO THE READER rN THrs, my second journal, are related some events of my life from 19z6 to rg4g, in rurope and America-the old world and'the newmy outer and my irurer life, particularly rhose connected with Gurdiie4 Orage and Ouspensky. It is a relation of some of my ".rioor, feelings and thoughts.

-{s.John

P,rly:"assays,

our life is

a

or uus world. It ts

pilgrimage through the wilderness

we were sent, each on his own path, to be given 't an opport'nirF to- exrra* certain experiences which, gii'en a real Tlaching, we can use for our own self-perfecting. Pilgrim' s Progress is a wonderful analogy -of whar is somerimes called 'work'. I myself, after years of seek'ing, found what I wanted and ,the needed in Gurdjieff's reaching; and, having found it, I realized that the pilgrimage h1d begun' There are a thousand obsracles-our own inerria, education, upbnngin-g and so on. Always there is the Slough oiO*f""a and the somerimes long periods of iepression; the crissing od-"ria cmotional deserts; the climbing of the Aill Difficulry with slidings down and slow crawls up agul; p.elods of.leep .od forg.ttinf,;;;e, of remorse of conscieni. relGt.proach; ittack, Uj, ,l""iJ"iir-"f "nd res::::::::::::::::ntmenJ, jedousy and anger-th. oftpri"g of vaniry and self_love; pcriods of resr and relaxation. And th"t is-th. co-pensatioi, ,rror. rare moments of the beatific vision, of wrderstanding, of higher con-

ii

power, which are worth everythingi the pr"esence of God to cheer us in our state. And alwa/s in tir. fiitr".. ,ir. C.r.rri"r sciousness and

City-final

selGperfection.

Yet I can say that, with all the strivings and struggles and set_backs, . of good-luck and bad luck, the iisillusionrieltr, ,h" t. r*T of almost all that ordinary life can offer, never foi orr""*prri"* ,rio*.rt .crng

fb; ; i;;;;;;, ,h;d;;;,

have I doubted that for me 1leTeaching, in whatever Way out of the labyrinth thit we call life; and Gurdjieff's interpretation of th! Teaching is the 'V7ay. C. S. Nott

I fi: :{f

Sydney, N.S.W. 196z Chesham, Bucks 1967

xi

fri

PROLOGUE

sooN aFrBR ouspENsKy's DBArrr Gurdjieff's health bcgan to fail and in cighteen months he had.gone,- yet right up to the Ja ru made great

cfforts,

t"lki"g to

people, holding il"tseJ for new movements and from England and America. He knew that his work was finished and gave instr-uctions to his ordest pupil. dances, and interviewing pupils

In early ocober, 1949, my wife wenr ro paris to see Gurdiieff. 'tvhen she returned she said that he w1s verr ill and had been adiised to go

into hospital, or at least rest from his strenuous activities. rre hld refused. He knew, better_ than the doctors, that his organism, his planetary-body, could not last much longer, and that he *rr"rt soon die, and that he must work as long as potribl"; and he conrinued ro see people and direct the sacred dances.I went to Dorset to try ro ger my house-building finished, and lived as usual in my lonely hut on the downs. On the z9-th of October 1949, in the morning'- therg was a knocking on my dolr. A neighbour had comc from half a mile away with to.rr.gi from my wi-fe that rvrr. " Gurdjieffhad died. The man to whom I owed almost cverfthing of value I possessed, who had.been my,-so to say, centre of gravity-fo, *or" th"n rwenty ycars, had go"9, Tq would never come igain.'I wept. yer not as I hai when.orage-died; his- death was prematire and aireat shocrc. Gurdjieff's-was foreseen, his work was done. I wept frJm tenderness and gratitude, from a realizarion of the transient oJtot of our bodily life on this planet, our mortality I packed-up and took the train to London and the same evening went to Francc. th" night boat and was in paris the next mornin"g, and

!f

wcnt straight-to chapel -th9 -* fi" American hospital where hiiuody was lying. Thc litde chapel was filled with peoplc standing ,o,rod,

xlu

Prologue

Prologue

everyone perfectly still. As some quietly went out others came in.

'O-God of Spirits and ofall flesh, who hast trampled down death and overthrown the devil and given life to the world, do thou, O Lord, give

Warchers had been there day and night since his death and each stood

for one, two hours, three hours. Strong vibrations filled the place, arising from the quiet collected state of those who stood there. And there seemed also to be emanations or radiadons from the corpse itself, There was an atmosphere of conscious love and reverenceiof worship, and although some could nor prevenr tears fowing there was no egoniztng grief,, or weeping and wailing. It was utterlypeacefirl, as everyone rcehzed that Gu-rdjieffhad finished his work and completed his essential existence on this planet. After three days, at a certain time, those who were stifl in the chapel went quiedy out, each kissilg the cold forehead of the dead man. Only the bearers, some men pupils, were left. And now occurred an incident which no doubt would have made Gurdjieffsmile, since he used to say that even in his most serious momenrs he wouldjoke. The body would not go into the cofiin-it was too big. So, while everyone waited in the Russian Cathedral in the Rue Daru, another coffin was sent for. Then we got into the hearse and were driven to the Cathedral. It was crowded with pupils-French, English

if

and American. Gurdjieff once said that a funeial ceremony is-not

the soul of thy departed seryant George Gurdjieffin a placi of ITt jo 'ri.k brighmess,_ a place of verdure, a place of refose, *f,"o". r.r, "ll pardon sorrow and sighing have Iled away. every transgression which he has committed, whether by thought, word o, de.d."po, thou art a good God and lovest mankind; because there is no man who liveth and not sin, thou only art without sin, and thy righteousness is to all cternity rhy word is true. 'ofa truth all things are vaniry and life is but a shadow and a dream. For in vain doth cveryone who is born of earth disquiet himserf, As saith the Scriptures, when we have acquired the worljthen do we take up ourabode_in_the grave where kings and beggars lie down together. 'wherefore, o christ our God, give rest to t[y servant d.p"rtid thi, life, forasmuch as thou lovest mankind. 'Give rest eternal in blessed faling alleep, O Lord, to the soul of thy servant George Gurdjieff, departed this life, and make his memory does

*d

eternal.

'Memory Eternal! 'Memory Eternal!'

important; what

is necessary is to put rhe planetary body away decently and in order-it is no more the being who formerly and the "*irt"j; soul, if the being had a soul, is already gone. Gurdjieff's funeral, though impressive on account of the number of qupils who filled the. church, was really simple, yet accompanied by the beautiful ritual and singing of the Russian church. The following is taken from the liturgy: Holy God, Holy_ Mighry, Holy Immortal, have mercy upon us. :O'_Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spi*, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen. 'In peace let us pray unto the Lord. 'Lord have mercy. 'For the peace that is from above and for the salvation of our souls let us pray to the Lord. 'For the remission ofsins ofhim who hath departed this life in blesed memory, let us pray to the Lord. 'For the ever memorable servant of God, George Gurdjieff for his repose and tranquilliry and blessed.memory, ler us pray to the Lord, 'That he will pardon him every transgression whether voluntary or

involuntary.

After a pause, the priest began: 'Among thepeople who are assembled here today to do homage to . S. T."1"ry of George Gurdjieff are not only the ieople of oor"o*r, Ruslial Orthodox Church but French men and wori"o-"lro, and many lnglish_and Americans, who undeterred by long distanc., f.* orr",

land and

sea to look on the beloved fearures hor th". last time and to pay their final tribute. 'This shows how large and widespread is the circle of those who

vcncrated this quite exceptional

-* *d ho* great \ /as his significance

for all who knew him. . 'CJeorge-_Ivanitch- Gurdjieff was born

in Alexandropol near the borders of Persia and cameof a very religious family. His?ather, a man

ofunusual perception and intellect, attrictcd around him perron, of" rimilar kind. Among them the pri-est ofthe local churlh, a highly -ya1 cducated man revered by all the people of the countryside. This iran rroused in the son ofhis friend hirfirst interest in the ancient sayings of the Easq sayings which were not only written but handed al.# Uv word of mouth. He also implanred in him cerrain truths which G. i. Gurdjieff retained for the whole of his life, a life of unending search.

xv

Prologue

Prologue

For Religion is the spiritual mother ofa man and a man musr be faithful to her unto death. At the samc time there are scattered in the world pearls of wisdom and it is necessary to know how to find them.In his youth Mr. Gurdjieff went to Persia where he came in contact with

in. It was sixteen years since I had becn there, and everything was the same, but.changed. It was now a maison de santd. Where fie Study House had been v/ere now rooms for patients, and paradou had bcen

some ancient men who v/ere venerated bythe local inhabitants as sages

or wise men. Later he met with an elderly man, prince K. and with him was able to penetrate the very remote parts of Asia. During their common searching, Mr. Gurdjieff discovered certain ancient esoteric teachings, heard ancient religious music and saw sacred dances which were exercises for the all-round development of man. Having found what he sought he went ro Europe and dedicated the remaindJr of his a few ciosen individuals and later to larger and larger groups ofpeople. . 'Books concerning Mr. Gurdjieffand his work have already appeared in America and England. The books coming from his own hand and which contain the essence of his teachings number many volumes and are his last gift to humanity 'Let us conclude with his own words: "O God Creator, and all you wfro qe his helpers, may we always and in everything 'remember ourselves', because orly by this can we be prevented from taking uncon-

life to the transmission of his knowledge, first to

scious sreps, which alone lead to evil." ' There followed a long silence, then, one by one, people went past the bier, making a brief pause, some crossing themselves, ro*" g.i.ofecting, passing out of the church to the waiting cars and coacheJ Thc

ro,built. The forest and the gardens were still the same, and on the road of stones that w9 lad put there nearly rwenry years bcfore,.and the pface w-here I had dug for the spring of, for m", lirrirrg water, had not changed We drove back to Gurdjiefft apartmenr in paris, where a big Gast of delicious food had be.ri prep"t"d, with armagnac and wine] and roon all were dispersed: English, French, Americans, each to his own town or country. Gurdjieffwas dead, his planetary body buried. yet wlat was real of Gurdjieff (that which *"r-ro much mor! real than his wc-re the heaps

planetary body) still existed somewhere in the universe. gy-ryr conscious labours,and voluntary suffering he had perfected himself. Compared with all the men I have-known hJwas, as O^rage said, r walking god-a supennan in the real sense. fu1 his teaching remains-his writings, his dances and his music, rnd d these can be a Jource source ofreal ofreal good for for human beings beinss now and in the funrre.

-

Nothing is here for tears, nothing to wail Or knock the brest, no weakness, no contempt, Dispraise or blarne, nothing but well and fair, And what may quiet us in a death so noble.

ofi passing by the apartment in the Rue des Colonels Renard and so on to the main road to Fontainebleau-Avon. Here the hearse put on speed and on the rough sffetches the wreaths and bunches of fowers round the cofiin began dancing up and down. I was sitting_ next to Foma de Hartmann. He asked about the delay in getting to the Cathedral, and when I explained about the cofiin he smiled, and pointed to the dancing wreaths. 'I think,' he said, 'that Georgivanitch could know about this, he would laugh.' Gurdjieffwas buried near his mother and his wife and brother. As w'e left the cemetery I thought of what he had said after the funeral of coftege slowly moved.

-

if

his brother Dimitri: 'Ceremony not important. Now let's have

a

picnic.' I did not return at once to Paris, but went with some friends to the Prieur6. On the stone gate-post was a notice that Katherine Mansfield had lived there; nothing about Gurdjieff. I rang the bell and said that I had stayed there many times and miglt we look round. We were asked

xvr

tilu

BOOK I ENGLAND

THE COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER

As r sirrD in my frstr[oumal of a Pupil, one of the results of completing my task in the forest at the Chateau du Prieur6 (or The Institute foi the Harmonious Development of Man) at Fontainebleau was that my relations with Gurdjieff and others from that time began to be on another level. But no one who is trying to work on himself can stay long in the samc place. As Gurdjieffsaid, srrength and understanding come 'litde by litde', 'by patience arrd perseverance': 'Each &y a &op, a drop. It will talce you years, centuries, lives perhaps'.

'We had spent the winter of nineteen twenty-seven and -eight in Montmorency and had seen a grear deal of Gurdjieff, but it had been a

winter of

stresses

and strains.

In spring we drove with a friend to Sanary, a quiet little fishing village near Toulon. tn May I left my fu*ily in Sanary and rerurned to the Prieur6, where I was severely censured by Gurdjieff for some stupid things I had unconsciously done, and for which I suffered re.

conscience.

. morse of In the early summer of r9z8 I returned to London and took a fat in Belsize Square. Though still burning from the effects of Gurdjieff's reproo{, I thought over the events ofthe past year and saw how useful the time had been, how much I had learnt, and how, becoming 'a young man' as G. said, I had attained a measure of responsibility. In London I forurd myselfin a strange economic situation. 'When, in 1923, I sold my interest in the agency for the firm ofAustrian felt manufacturers I said to myself, 'Thank God I've left the hat business for ever.' However, God, it seems, had other plans. During my life three vocations had drawn me-the hat business, farming and books. Now, 3

The Commercial Traueller

I was drewn to books, to publishing or prinring, bur, try as I might, not a door would op-en. _Both my fathei and Lrother had largc-hat

factories, and eventually, through rhem, I was offered thejob ofsirting aq age1ry for another Austrian manufacturer. Parr of me fought against it butthe pay and prospec-ts were very good and I reluctantl/ accelted. The Austrian was one of these clever, sharp, scheming men, with a smooth 'kind' exterior, of whom the Russians say: 'He will make vou a soft bed but you'will find it hard ro lie upon,' and t had b..r, *"rned by th_o1e in the uade that he had a reputation for 'nor delivering up ro sample'--rvhen the order was delivered it was not of the qo.tiry of the samples_he_had shown-and his business had suffered. Also, they said, he b+ -had agents be-fore, and as soon as they got business going he

would find a pretext for getting rid ofthem ro save payrng thJm c6mmission. This man had two large factories in Austriiwheri the famous velours hoo&, or cones, were made from the finest fur of the hare and sold to the English manufacturers, who made hats for men and women from them. So, for the third time, I became both an agent and a commercial tJavellel, repeating in my life something that my essence loathed, but that had been forced on me by circun:siances and f"*ily associations. Yet there are rypes who love this job of going 'cap in hand' to the buyers and wheedling orders our ofthem. 'When I hal 'ravelled' before the r9r4 war in my father's business it had literally made me ilI. Now I was again faced with it and dl the added associarions. An asenr is a low,-though necessary, form of commercial life; he neither iroduces like the manufacrurer nor rlsks capital in stock as the merchantioes. He has only to rent an ofEce and, like Charles Dickens's Boots and Brewer, 'go about'. Like the professional match-maker he has to appear smart and.adopt a smirking personality; he.must be politc and irigratiating, ready to receive snubs and insults without winiing. Bcttcr, t Aougfi,

to be a stall-holder in the Portobello Road marhet, who is at liast himself and had not to pur on airs. T!."gh th9 job was foreign to ffie, yet perhaps ir was according to my_qt9, or destiny; anyway, it was in my p"fi and I rcalized that I could do it either in a state of resentment and frustration or try to do it consciously as a_task. I asked mpelf: 'What is the good of the worl I've done with Gurdjieffif I don't make use of it in lifcil Hcrc is a wonderful opportunity t_o woyk out in practice what I havc becn taught. I musr not perform the task as an amateur, but do it as well as thc piofcssionals and even better; I must play the role of a commcrcial trivcller; in so 4

The Commercial Trauellet t_ may work ou! this design in the pattem of my life which has always been so distasteful-to me.' so lplungid into business and managed

d9i"g

to play the role not too badly. I slipped once, when the Ausaian and I called on a rich manufacturer in the West End, who began to expound to us the mysteries of the millinery trade, with himself as a very clever fellow in'the matter of women's hats, who had built up a wonderful business. Watching him, I was thinking, 'What g eTpry man; with all his money and lower over his-employees, inside ofhim there is nothing but wind.' Sodd.rrly, he caught my eye and stopped. 'Look at old Nott there,'he said. ,He's a philosopher.-He looks right through you and knows all abour you.' 'As a matter of fact,' I lied, 'I was so interested in what you tyere s"yrng that I could not take my eyes 9ffyou. I was wishing that I were ", gooi a business man as you.' Mollified, he talked ofsomithing else, andlavc us a large order.

. 'The important thing for a traveUer to remember,' said my brother, 'is "never take no for an answer". Keep calling orr. .,rrto*"rr. In the

end they'llget so sick-of seeing you they will give you an order to get rid of yo-u.' It worked. I called on one **o6rtorlr every week fo"r a year, and at last he gave me a small order which caused mc a lot of trouble. FIowever, in six months the orders for this one hood amounted to twenty thousand pounds. At the end of three years my agency, from nothing, with the help of one assistanr, was doing over'sil