Occult-Magick: Gurdjeff

Friday, May 30, 2008

Gurdjeff

Posted by Jack Sparrow 007 at 9:34 PM

Awake! Awake from your unexpected hypnotic sleep, rise to
awareness and conscience!

Gurdjeff foto from 1949

Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson - This book is Gurdjieff’s magnum opus. Gurdjieff is qouted as having said the following about this series:- “I had decided with the contents of the first series of books to achieve the destruction, in the consciousness and feelings of people, of deep-rooted convictions which in my opinion are false and quite contradictory to reality.”

Gurdjieff’s friendly advice is to read each of his written expositions at least thrice. Further advice is provided from an excerpt of a talk in which Gurdjieff comments on the relationship between attention and understanding when reading Beelzebub’s Tales. Born
in the border area of Russia and Turkey under the name George
Ivanovitch Gurdjieff. His birthdate is unknown - he passed away in the
year 1949.

between 1866 and 1877 .
Gurdjeff was an icon of Mysticism and Spirituality and an immensely
enigmatic personality in the early part of the Twentieth Century. There
is little otherwise known of his origins and his early life.

“There do exist enquiring minds, which long for
the truth of the heart, seek it, strive to solve the problems set by
life, try to penetrate to the essence of things and phenomena and to
penetrate into themselves. If a man reasons and thinks soundly, no
matter which path he follows in solving these problems, he must
inevitably arrive back at himself, and begin with the solution of the
problem of what he is himself and what his place is in the world around
him.”

G. I. Gurdjieff

Gurdjieff used to
make up stories and people. Nevertheless, he reputedly took
several journeys
through Asia and Northern Africa, where he discovered many different
esoteric schools,
many of these were Sufi Orders.
He made his return to the European Continent at the beginning
of the 20th Century.He brought the knowledge back with
with his own personal teachings based on the realizations and lessons
he had learnt on his travels.
Gurdjeff began teaching his philosophy in Russia
(Moscow & St. Petersburg). In the year 1918, he was forced to
leave Russia (the Revolution had begun).Gurdjeff journeyed to France,but not without undertaking an adventure with some of his students
before reaching France. In 1933, Gurdjeff founded the "Institute for the
Harmonious Development of Mankind" . Gurdjieff moved to Paris, continuing to teach until his death came in 1949. Between the years 1924 and 1927, Gurdjeff composed many essays. Also, together with composer/pianist Thomas de Hartmann, Gurdjieff created many works for piano.They were mostly based upon his spiritual and musical impressions from his Asian adventures.I had
a very difficult and trying time with this music. Mr Gurdjieff
sometimes whistled or played on the piano with one finger a
very complicated sort of melody—as are all Eastern melodies, although they
seem at first to be monotonous. To grasp this melody,
to transcribe it in European notation, required a tour de force."
(Thomas de Hartmann).

Gurdjieff's teachings includes various
jewels of spiritual and mystical wisdom from the teachings of Sufism,
Buddhism, Christianity, Gnosis, Zoroastrism and the Cabbala. His summons was radical: "Awake! Awake from your unexpected hypnotic sleep, rise to awareness and conscience!" Exactly this call is one of the most important foundations of Sufism. In 1920, Gurdjieff moved into an Istanbul apartment together with his pupil and musical partner, Thomas de Hartmann, which lay in direct neighbourhood to the Mevlevi Dervishes' meeting hall in the quarter of Galata. Almost every day they witnessed this Sufi order's ritual of music and dance, and
thus absorbed decisive spiritual and musical impressions that later became part of their ritual choreographies and piano compositions.

Famous Quotes from
Gurdjeff:-

Man cannot, and will not, face reality”

A "sin" is something
which is not necessary.
A man will renounce any
pleasures you like but he will not give up his suffering.
Every ceremony or rite
has a value if it is performed without alteration. A ceremony is a book
in which a great deal is written. Anyone
who understands can read
it. One rite often contains more than a hundred books.
If you want to lose your
faith, make friends with a priest.
In properly organized
groups no faith is required; what is required is simply a little trust
and even that only for a little while, for the sooner
a man begins to verify
all he hears the better it is for him.
It is the greatest
mistake to think that man is always one and the same. A man is never
the same for long. He is continually changing. He seldom remains the same
even for half an hour.
Religion is doing; a man
does not merely think his religion or feel it, he "lives" his religion
as much as he is able, otherwise it is not religion
but fantasy or
philosophy.
Without self knowledge,
without understanding the working and functions of his machine, man
cannot be free, he cannot govern himself
and he will always remain
a slave.
G. I. Gurdjieff