The Holy Scriptures say: "Whoever transgresses the doctrine of Christ and does not abide in it does not have God; whoever abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son" (2 John 1:9). For any Christian, these words of the Evangelist John sound like a warning, like a call to check everything that we encounter in our spiritual life with the Testament of Christ, expressed primarily in Holy Scripture. If the newly-appeared teacher preaches something contrary to the Holy Scriptures, he should be turned away: "But even if we or an angel from heaven began to preach to you not what we preached to you, let him be anathema" (Gal. 1: 8). The Christian who does otherwise rejects Christ.
Holy Bible warns: "... Satan himself takes the form of an angel of light, and therefore it is not a great thing if his servants also take the form of servants of righteousness; but their end will be according to their deeds" (2 Corinthians 11: 14-15). This kind of ministers in the Holy Scriptures are called "wolves in sheep's clothing" (Matthew 7:15). Woe to the flock that has chosen such guides for itself. "Fierce wolves" (Acts 20:29) will not take care of Christ's flock, therefore the question is especially important: who is he, a shepherd, who claims to be a spiritual leader? Is he leading his flock to Christ or not? It is a matter of life or death, salvation or eternal perdition!
In this article we will consider some aspects of the religious teachings of George Ivanovich Gurdjieff, who in one of his works called on readers to "be Christians". Also noteworthy are Gurdjieff's statements characterizing occultism and theosophy as "false human knowledge" and even "specific psychosis". One can only agree with such a diagnosis of theosophy and occultism, but a closer acquaintance with the works of George Gurdjieff himself makes one think about the nature of his own spiritual path. Is it really so far from the occult and close to the Christian? This article is an attempt to answer these questions.
Georgy Ivanovich Gurdjieff (1873-1949) was born into a carpenter's family of Russian-Greek origin and spent his childhood in a remote village in the South Caucasus, not far from the border with Turkey. Having received a good education, Gurdjieff became interested in mysticism, entered a certain “Community of Seekers of Truth” and began to travel around the world. The “Community of Seekers of Truth” believed that once there was one religion on Earth, fragments of which were later inherited by the countries of the East. Philosophy went to India, theory to Egypt, practice to Persia, Mesopotamia and Turkestan. The members of the society dedicated their lives to the search for ancient esoteric knowledge. There were many Europeans in the "Community of Seekers of Truth", these people traveled around the East, studied in various monasteries, joined secret societies. The experience that Gurdjieff received as a result of such searches for "ancient esoteric knowledge" formed the basis of his teaching.
Speaking about the personality of Gurdjieff, it should be noted that, by today's standards, he was a good entrepreneur. It is said that one day he caught some sparrows, painted them yellow and sold them under the guise of canaries, after which he hastily left the area without waiting for the first rain. Gurdjieff knew how to weave carpets and assembled sewing machines. He earned good money in the corset business. Having learned that low corsets were coming into fashion in the Caucasus, he began to alter the old high ones. Having bought old corsets that no one needed for a song, Gurdjieff altered them and sold them to the same shopkeepers from whom he had previously bought them for a song. The proceeds from this business Gurdjieff spent on travels in the East. In contrast to the Christian approach to spiritual service, which Christ expressed briefly: "... freely you have received, freely give" (Matt. 10: 8), Gurdjieff believed that his activities had nothing to do with charity, so students should pay for his spiritual services. teachers .
In 1915, Gurdjieff wrote and staged a ballet entitled The Fight of the Magicians. A note about this production attracted the attention of the journalist P.D. Uspensky, who was fond of occultism and had by that time traveled all over India, who, after meeting with Gurdjieff, became his follower and the most famous popularizer of his teachings. In 1922, Gurdjieff opened in France the "Institute for the Harmonic Development of Man", which existed until the death of its founder. Students of this educational institution they talked about man and the structure of the world, more precisely, Gurdjieff's teaching was brought to their attention, which includes consideration of these issues. In addition, the Institute worked on the transformation inner world man through the use of various psycho-techniques, which Gurdjieff learned during his journey through the East, as well as with the help of psycho-techniques, which he developed independently. Students had to do hard physical labor, after which they learned the dances that Gurdjieff invented. According to eyewitnesses, the followers of Gurdjieff during practical exercises psychotechniques, according to the method of their teacher, resembled zombies, their facial expressions were absolutely meaningless. Gurdjieff did not hide the fact that he was proficient in hypnosis, as well as the fact that he actively used it, using hypnosis by no means only in relation to his students.
What are the main tenets of Gurdjieff's teaching? Let us turn to his own creations: "... we (Gurdjieff with his students. - V.P.) are materialists. I (Gurdjieff. - V.P.) am a skeptic. The first prescription inscribed on the wall of the Institute (Institute for the Harmonic Development of Man. - V.P.) says: "Don't trust anything, not even yourself." I only believe when I have statistical evidence, i.e. when I get the same result over and over again. I study and work for management, and not for faith. Well, Gurdjieff's approach is not new, it is proclaimed by all the occult teachings, for example, theosophists: "Faith is a word that cannot be found in theosophical dictionaries: we are talking about knowledge based on observations and experience." The idea is that, as the occultists assure, their teaching does not require "blind faith", but is based entirely on practical knowledge. Here you can immediately find several distortions. Firstly, occultists misunderstand the Christian understanding of faith, interpreting it as an uncritical faith in authority, which Christianity does not really call for: "Test everything, hold fast to the good" (1 Thess.5:21). Secondly, they forget to say that "pure" knowledge does not exist, and there are no guaranteed ways to evaluate mystical experience without resorting to interpreting it through the prism of the mystic's worldview. What people experience may be an objective reality, but the interpretation of any spiritual experience is always subjective. A person always interprets any spiritual experience in line with the attitudes that he already had at that time. Therefore, if a person has an occult worldview, he interprets his spiritual experience within its framework, that is, in a completely different way than a Christian, but this is not due to the fact that occultism is based on "pure" experience, but on the fact that this experience was acquired precisely by an occultist and not a Christian. It is based on principles different from Christian ones, which leads to a different spiritual result. In Orthodoxy, one simple truth is recognized: "... a religious dogma can change the very mind of the one who professes it: such people differ from those that were formed on the basis of a different dogmatic concept." Thus, other ideological attitudes take part in the formation of a different spiritual experience, therefore, occultists can just as well be accused of blind faith in occult dogmas, as they accuse Christians of blind faith.
Speaking of matter, Gurdjieff teaches: "Everything in the world is material; and, obeying the universal law, everything is in motion and constant transformation; transformations proceed in different directions - from the finest matter to the coarsest and vice versa. There are many degrees between these two boundaries. density of matter". This thesis of Gurdjieff is also by no means original, similar ideas can be found, for example, in agni yoga: "It is said that matter is a crystallized spirit, but it can also be said vice versa, because everything, from the subtlest energies, is matter. ... Who considers himself a materialist , he must honor matter in all its varieties ... "; "We ("Mahatmas." - V.P.) turn to upper strata or the grossest forms of the same matter ". Theosophy also agrees with these ideas:" The idea that matter and spirit are completely different from each other and both are eternal, of course, could not have occurred to me, no matter how little I knew about them, for one of the elementary and fundamental doctrines of occultism says that both of them are one, differing only in their manifestations, and moreover only in limited perceptions of the sensory world. dense, meets with other matter and condenses even more, thus changing all its qualities and capabilities. For example, in the higher spheres, the mind is in a pure form, and as it descends, it becomes less intelligent"; "Matter is the same everywhere, but at each physical level it has a different density. Therefore, each substance takes its place on the scale of matter; and we have the opportunity to say whether this substance is on its way to a finer or denser form." and matter are one, being only differentiations in states, but not in essences ... ". According to George Gurdjieff:" At some points in development, there are, as it were, stops, or transfer stations. These stations are found in everything that can be called organisms in the broad sense of the word - for example, the Sun, the Earth, a person, a microbe. They are commutators that transform matter both in its upward movement, when it becomes thinner, and in its downward movement towards greater density. This transformation occurs purely mechanically"; "man is a station for the transformation of matter"; "Commutators differ only in scale. For example, man is as much a transmission station as the earth or the sun are; within it, the same mechanical transformations of high forms of matter into low ones, and low ones into higher ones, take place. But again, the same ideas can be found in agni yoga: call mental. The significance of humanity is to transmute this energy in the consciousness and direct it to the Higher Spheres through the Hierarchy ... ". The occult doctrine of the identity of matter and spirit has nothing to do with Christian dogma. is eternal, since it did not exist before creation. Gurdjieff, like all occultists, preaches pantheism, while Christianity is monotheistic, for a Christian the world and matter are different. We can say that the teaching of George Gurdjieff is anti-scientific, since it contradicts the second law of thermodynamics, which says: "For a closed, isolated system, the amount of useful energy in the Universe decreases." If the occultists, together with Gurdjieff, were right, then the amount of energy in the Universe could not decrease in any way.
Gurdjieff's teaching, like any other pantheistic teaching, proclaims the relativity of good and evil: "What you like, good or bad, has the same value; good is a relative concept." Blavatsky also wrote about the relativity of good and evil: "Good and evil are relative ...". This approach to morality leads occultists logically to justify evil. Gurdjieff writes: "If you believe in God, you believe in the devil. All this has no value. Whether you are a good person or a bad person is not important." Is it possible to conclude from the words of Gurdjieff that faith in God is not needed, and the criminal and the righteous, from his point of view, are one? Maybe then the Jewish crowd, which two thousand years ago made its choice between the thief and the Righteous (John 18:40), did nothing reprehensible? Perhaps Judas, who betrayed Christ, is a good example to follow? As you know, Blavatsky in her teachings deified Satan. Gurdjieff's thought develops in the same direction: "... Morality is a double-edged sword, it can be turned this way and that way." But Holy Scripture teaches the exact opposite, it speaks of the absoluteness of moral categories: "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil, who revere darkness as light, and light as darkness, revere bitter as sweet, and sweet as bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20). The occultist approach to morality allows, if necessary, to justify any crime, including fraud in the sale of sparrows painted like canaries or Gurdjieff's use of lies to convert new people to his teaching, as Ouspensky testified. In the light of the foregoing, the following words of Gurdjieff are no longer surprising: “First of all, you must think about yourself and try your best to elevate yourself. You must become an egoist. Egoism is the first stage on the path to altruism, to Christianity.” Selfishness is perhaps the first step on the road to Gurgiism, but certainly not to Christianity. For those who strive to exalt themselves, the Holy Scriptures answer: "... whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted" (Matthew 23:12). Christianity calls not for selfishness, which is always connected with pride, but for humility: "God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6).
Gurdjieff believed that a person is a "mechanical doll", devoid of a soul: "An ordinary person does not have a soul ... A child is never born with a soul. A soul can be acquired during life: but even then it is a luxury available only to a few. Most of the people live all their lives without a soul, without a master; for everyday life the soul is completely unnecessary. " Similar ideas can be found in Buddhism, but they are not in Christianity. The Holy Scripture speaks of God giving the soul to man: "And the Lord God created man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a soul living" (Gen. 2:7). About the tripartite nature of a person who has a spirit, soul and body, the Apostle Paul writes: "May the God of peace himself sanctify you in all fullness, without blemish at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Thessalonians 5:23). The following words of Christ testify to the existence of a human soul: or what ransom will a man give for his soul?” (Matt. 16:26), and these words refer to all people, and not to a privileged group of “chosen occultists”: “… I spoke openly to the world; I always taught in the synagogue and in the temple, where the Jews always converge, and secretly did not say anything "(John 18:20). As we see, Christian doctrine about the soul has nothing to do with the teachings of Gurdjieff, but, as we have already noted, it has much in common with Buddhism, but, as you know, he fundamentally denies the existence of God, which also does not agree with Christianity.
Since "ordinary" people do not have a soul, what fate can await them after death? Answering this question, Gurdjieff writes: "Man is the result of the interaction of planetary emanations and the earth's atmosphere with the material elements of the Earth. After the death of an ordinary person, his physical body disintegrates into its constituent parts; parts of the Earth return to the Earth -" dust thou art, and to dust thou shalt return. "Particles received in planetary emanations return to the world of planets; particles of the earth's atmosphere return to it. Thus, nothing remains in the form of a single whole." If the Holy Scripture enjoys such authority in the eyes of Gurdjieff that he quotes it to confirm his own teaching about the absence of an afterlife existence of "ordinary people" - "... for dust you are and to dust you shall return" (Gen. 3:19), then why not he also could not pay attention to the following words of the Holy Scriptures: "And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (Matt. 25:46), "And many of those sleeping in the dust of the earth will wake up, some for eternal life, others to everlasting reproach and shame" (Dan. 12:2)? If Gurdjieff's teaching about the soul is correct, then what kind of eternal torment can we talk about? After all, according to his concept, "ordinary" people do not have a soul, which means that after death neither eternal disgrace nor eternal life can wait for them. If Gurdjieff did not share the Christian idea of heaven and hell, why resort to quoting Holy Scripture, where this teaching is expressed? Isn't this a form of deception: pulling out individual phrases from Holy Scripture, endowing them with meanings that are not in the original source? And can we talk about the honesty of a person who does this?
If a person is a "mechanical doll", then it would be logical to conclude that he has no will, and Gurdjieff comes to this conclusion: "An ordinary person ... has no will. What is commonly called will is just the resultant of desires If a person has a desire and at the same time an opposite desire arises, i.e. unwillingness, stronger than the first, then the second becomes dominant and stops the first. This phenomenon in ordinary language is called will ". Gurdjieff makes man a puppet of desires. Christianity teaches otherwise: man was created in the image of God (Gen. 1:27), he is endowed with reason, which means that he has free will: "... we say that free will immediately enters with reason." According to the Christian worldview, every person has free will, while Gurdjieff grants the right to possess free will only to a group of especially "enlightened", where, of course, he includes himself: "Free will is ... the function of such a person whom we call a master ...".
Completely different from the Christian and Gurdjieff's teachings about personality. For example, he writes: "Personality is a random thing: upbringing, education, attitudes, i.e. everything external. It is like the clothes you wear; your artificial mask, the result of your upbringing, the influences of your environment, opinions consisting of information and knowledge: such opinions change daily, one of them annuls the other. The views of Gurdjieff are close to the views of theosophists, who also perceive the person as a "mask" that the individual puts on during incarnation, but after death the person disappears. If for Gurdjieff a person is an "accidental thing", then for Christians a person is "freedom in relation to nature", a person manifests himself through the forces inherent in rational nature - through the mind, will and vital energy. Freedom in relation to nature means that man is not a puppet of nature, as pantheists, in particular Gurdjieff, represent the situation, he is free, he can be above nature, but this teaching can only be created in monotheism. It should be noted that the understanding of the term "personality" among occultists and Christians is fundamentally different, which, however, occultists, in fact, do not pay attention to.
Like all occultists, Gurdjieff praises magic: "Since ancient times, people have known how to use ... the laws of nature. This use of mechanical laws, carried out by man, is called magic; it includes not only the transformation of substances in the desired direction, but also the opposition or resistance to certain mechanical influences.
People who know these universal laws and know how to use them are called magicians. There is white magic and black magic. White magic uses its knowledge for good, black magic uses it for evil, for its own selfish purposes. Gurdjieff, in his attitude to magic, echoes H. P. Blavatsky: “White Magic. The so-called "Beneficial Magic" is divine magic, free from selfishness, lust for power, ambition or self-interest, and directed entirely towards doing good to the world in general and to one's neighbor in particular. The slightest attempt to use one's paranormal powers to satisfy one's self turns these abilities into sorcery and black magic." So, according to Blavatsky, a true occultist is a white magician, but further Blavatsky adds: "But for a true student of the Occult Teaching, White or Divine Magic can to exist in Nature without its opposition to Black Magic is no more than a day without night ... ". By the way, the warlock Papus worked closely with theosophists, and they, apparently, were not at all embarrassed by the fact that he was engaged in black magic: "Gerard Encausse / Papus / ... In 1887, in contact with French theosophists - adherents of the teachings of H. P. Blavatsky, ... prepared and published a treatise "Modern Occultism" - a kind of manifesto for a new generation of mystics of the late XIX century ". As you can see, the opinion of theosophists and Gurdjieff about magic actually coincide, but completely contradict the Christian attitude towards magic.According to the Holy Scriptures, magic is an abomination before God (Deut.18:9-12), which, moreover, cannot help the magician in any way (Is.47:9).
Gurdjieff's teaching about Christ also has nothing to do with Christianity: "Christ was a magician, a man of Knowledge, He was not God, or rather, he was God, but on a certain level." It is superfluous to comment here, since the denial of the divinity of Christ is shared by all occultists.
The occult source of Gurdjiism is also clearly visible from his attitude to astrology: "All beings born on Earth are colored by the light that prevailed on Earth at the time of their birth; and they retain this color throughout their lives. Just as no effect can exist without a cause , and not a single reason can remain without consequences.Indeed, the planets have a huge impact both on the life of mankind in general, and on the life of an individual. Big mistake modern science lies in the fact that she does not recognize this influence: on the other hand, the influence of the planets is not as great as modern "astrologers" want to assure us of this. As you can understand, Gurdjieff did not consider himself an "astrologer", which is quite understandable: there are "initiates", and there are "especially dedicated", to whom Georgy Ivanovich, first of all, attributed himself, however, about the megalomania he suffered, below we will say a few more words. The depth of Gurdjieff's knowledge of astrology allowed him to endow humanity with such revelations as: "The moon feeds on organic life, feeds on humanity. Humanity is a part of organic life; therefore, humanity is food for the Moon. If all people became too intelligent, they would not want to to be eaten by the moon." The revelation is undoubtedly profound and worthy of such a great occult teacher as Gurdjieff was. Thanks to the astrological research of this author, we now know that war is a consequence of the influence of the planets, that people are just pawns subject to their influence. Well, apparently, the Nuremberg trials were held in vain: the wrong ones were tried, it was necessary to judge the true culprits, that is, the planet.
Gurdjieff believed in the existence of so-called subtle bodies, which, however, all occultists believe: "Man has two substances: the substance of the active elements of the physical body and the substance of the active elements of the astral body."
Let us now analyze in more detail Gurdjieff's attitude to the occult. Studying his books, you can find out that in occult circles he was recognized as one of his own: "... I had, in accordance with the special conditions of my life, the opportunity to access the so-called" holy of holies "of almost all hermetic organizations, such as religious, philosophical, occult , political and mystical societies, congregations, parties, associations, etc., which are inaccessible to the ordinary person, and discussions and exchanges of views with numerous people who, compared with others, are true authorities. Among the "true authorities" Gurdjieff also gained a certain authority due to the fact that he once made "... the decision to apply my knowledge of the so-called "supernatural sciences", which is exceptional for modern man, as well as the art of performing various "tricks" in these pseudo-scientific fields, and declare himself as a "professor instructor" .... The main reason for this decision was the understanding of the fact that at that time a specific psychosis was widespread among people, which, as it was established long ago, periodically reaches a high degree and manifests itself in giving itself up to all sorts of "damned" ideas in the field false-human knowledge, which in different epochs had different names, and today is called "occultism", "theosophy", "spiritualism", etc. ... I have earned among the members of the above-mentioned "circles" and their families the reputation of a great "maestro "in everything related to supernatural knowledge (highlighted by us. - V.P.). During all these "manipulations" in the realm of the other world, which I performed in the presence of a large number members of one of the many "workshops-for-perfection-psychopathy", the name I now openly call them, then, as now, widespread, I began to observe and study the various manifestations of the psyche of these trained and free-moving "guinea pigs "sent to me by Fate for my experiments". As you can see, Gurdjieff considered occultism and theosophy to be "false human knowledge", believed that occultists and theosophists were sick with "specific psychosis", but this did not prevent him from being among his own. As for those who showed interest in Gurdjieff's teachings, the reader can formulate a moral assessment of his attitude towards these people as "guinea pigs" on his own. Gurdjieff himself admits: "... my work and ideas interested, first of all, people who possessed in the highest degree the mentioned "specific psychosis" and, accordingly, were known to those around them as engaging in all sorts of "nonsense", otherwise known by such names as "occultism", "theosophy" ... ". Gurdjieff easily diagnoses other occultists, but not himself. The Scriptures say: "Do not be deceived: bad company corrupts good morals" (1 Corinthians 15:33). Perhaps that is why the occultists first of all reacted to Gurdjieff's ideas because they saw in him a brother in spiritual dispensation? Like tends to like. And the diseases that Gurdjieff sees in other occult teachings can be seen in his own. At least, he definitely suffered from megalomania. For example, in his writings we read: "... Great Nature favorably supplied my whole family and me, in particular, - ... the highest degree understanding accessible to a person ... from childhood I had, among other abilities, one especially developed - the ability to extort from people their most sacred goals and intentions ". It is interesting that a person who had a" highest degree of understanding "of people could not pick up employees, in what he himself admits, speaking of the main goal of his life, "... which included the intention to widely disseminate the essence of my ideas, including through literature, ... which was not successful due to the unreliability and vicious laziness of those people whom I have for many specially prepared for this purpose for years ... ". What prevented Gurdjieff from finding reliable people and making them his associates and followers, if he was so insightful that from childhood he had an extraordinary ability to" extort from people their most sacred goals and intentions "? It is interesting to note that the most important popularizer of Gurdjieff's ideas in the world, P. D. Ouspensky, wrote that after completing the first meeting with his future teacher, he felt "... as if I had escaped ... from imprisonment" . In the future, Ouspensky will write about Gurdjieff that he was forced to refuse to communicate with him, since he did not share his personnel policy. Thus, even the chief propagandist of Gurdjieff's teaching left his teacher, who possessed such "great" abilities of the heart.
Gurdjieff considered himself a man of "the highest culture." It must be assumed that it was the height of culture that prompted Gurdjieff to call on his students to disregard the opinions of others: "You must understand - and accept as a strict rule that you cannot pay attention to the opinions of other people; you must be free from others. When you are internally free, you are freed and from them" . Gurdjieff taught his followers to remain inwardly indifferent and not react in any way when dealing with people.
Gurdjieff believes that he is an impartial judge of himself, and he managed to achieve this impartiality, and therefore objectivity, with the help of ... satiety: "At the present period of my life, having become fed up in my declining years with everything that life can offer a person, in everything and, therefore, possessing all the data that allow me to be an impartial judge of myself ... ". But if satiety leads to impartiality, then, for example, Orthodox monks have no chance of achieving it, since they not only reject the path of satiety, but, on the contrary, follow the path of asceticism, that is, the path of abstinence and overcoming passions. Concerning "what life has to offer man," that is, "the lust of the world" (1 John 2:17), and what, by his own admission, Gurdjieff "had had enough of," we read in Holy Scripture: "The deeds of the flesh are known; they are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, envy, anger, strife, disagreements, (temptations), heresies, hatred, murders, drunkenness, outrageousness, and the like, ... those who do so will not inherit the Kingdom of God. but the spirit: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, goodness, mercy, faith, meekness, temperance, ... but those who are Christ's crucified the flesh with passions and lusts (highlighted by us .. - V.P.) "(Gal. 5 :19-24). Thus, satiety cannot lead to the eradication of passions, on the contrary, those belonging to Christ are those who crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts, but the real fruit of satiety, as Gurdjieff himself admits, is disappointment, which is by no means a revelation for humanity. , - in the book of Ecclesiastes, written 3c. BC , we read: "I said in my heart:" let me test you with fun, and enjoy the good "; but this is also vanity!" (Eccl. 2:1), "I have seen all the works that are done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and vexation of the spirit!" (Eccl. 1:14). What is "good for the sons of men, what should they do under heaven in the few days of their lives" (Eccl. 1:3)? This is how the Ecclesiastes answers this question: "Let us hear the essence of everything: fear God and keep His commandments, for in this is everything for man" (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Saint Anthony the Great says: "When the soul surrenders itself to God with all by your strength, then the All-Generous God gives her the spirit of true repentance, and cleanses her of all these passions, teaching her to follow them, and giving strength to overcome them and overcome enemies who do not cease to put obstacles in her way, trying by means of temptations to steal her again for themselves "; " If we wish to sincerely approach our Creator, then it is necessary for us to strive for the liberation of our souls from passions, according to the spiritual law. For from ... the delight of the passions, from the multitude of the devil's temptations, our mental strength has weakened, and the good movements of our souls have froze ... and there is no salvation for us from anyone except our Lord Jesus Christ ... ". Recall that serving the passions Holy Scripture equates to idolatry (Col .3:5).
How did Gurdjieff feel about Christianity? At the beginning of the article, we already noted that he called on his students to be Christians, but it should be noted that, following the teachings of Gurdjieff, his followers will have to renounce Christianity, since they must, at his call, "ruthlessly, without the slightest compromise, root out the process of thinking and feeling ... the old, centuries-old views and beliefs about everything that exists in the world .... To contribute to the emergence in the process of thinking and feeling a person of a correct idea of the real World ... ". But in Russia, thinking has been shaped by Orthodoxy for centuries, what should be torn out of Russian Orthodox thinking?
Christianity is incompatible with the teachings of Gurdjieff, without harm to his spiritual health, a Christian cannot be his follower, since the ideological basis of Gurdjieff lies in the field of occultism. Gurdjieff speaks negatively about the occult, however, in reality his teaching is very close to the occult and at the same time has nothing in common with Christianity. The moral character of this person is far from being an example to follow. The most reasonable thing a Christian can do, if he comes across books by Gurdjieff or similar authors, is to follow the words of the Holy Scriptures: “Do not get carried away with various and alien teachings; for it is good to strengthen hearts with grace, and not with dishes from which those who study them" (Heb. 13:9). After all, as Gurdjieff himself testified, the result of his life was satiety and disappointment. In our opinion, these are not the spiritual fruits that a Christian should strive for.
Applications
1. Gurdjieff G. View from the real world // Herald of future goodness. SPb., Ed. Chernyshev. 1993. P.64.
2. Below we will consider the question of Gurdjieff's true attitude towards occultism and Theosophy.
3. Gurdjieff G. Herald of future good. SPb., Ed. Chernyshev. 1993. S.92-93.
4. A brief biography is given according to the book: Vanderhil E. Mystics of the XX century. Encyclopedia. M., ed. Astrel; Ed. MYTH. 2001, pp. 164-180.
5. Uspensky P.D. In search of the miraculous // Gurdjieff G. Herald of future goodness. SPb., Ed. Chernyshev. 1993. P.142.
6. Vanderhil E. Mystics of the XX century. Encyclopedia. M., ed. Astrel; Ed. MYTH. 2001. P.175.
7. Ibid. P.178.
8. Gurdjieff G. View from real world// Herald of future goodness. SPb., Ed. Chernyshev. 1993. P.36.
9. Blavatsky E.P. Key to Theosophy.
10. For more information about the occult interpretation of faith and its Orthodox understanding, see: Pitanov V.Yu. Judgment of conscience: agni yoga against Christianity. http://apologet.orthodox.ru
11. See: Geisler N.L. Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics. SPb., Bible for everyone. 2004. P.571.
12. See: Pitanov V.Yu. Mantra yoga, meditation and Orthodox prayer: a question of compatibility. http://apologet.orthodox.ru
13. Archimandrite Alipy (Kastalsky-Borozdin), Archimandrite Isaiah (Belov). dogmatic theology. Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra. 1998. P.24.
14. On the attitude of the Theosophists to the faith, see: Pitanov V.Yu. Theosophy: facts against myths. http://apologet.orthodox.ru
15. Gurdjieff G. View from the real world // Bulletin of the future good. SPb., Ed. Chernyshev. 1993. P.42.
16. Living ethics. Aboveground. 638.
17. Living ethics. Community. 101.
18. Bowl of the East. Mahatma Letters. Riga. Ligatma. 1992, p. 195.
19. Gurdjieff G. View from the real world // Herald of future goodness. SPb., Ed. Chernyshev. 1993. P.40.
20. Ibid. P.43.
21. See: Pitanov V.Yu. Judgment of conscience: agni yoga against Christianity; Theosophy: facts against myths. http://apologet.orthodox.ru
22. Mahatma Letters. Samara. 1993. Letter. 64. P.256.
23. Gurdjieff G. View from the real world // Bulletin of the future good. SPb., Ed. Chernyshev. 1993. P.43.
24. Ibid. P.45.
25. Ibid. P.43.
26. Living ethics. Hierarchy.296.
27. See: Archimandrite Alipy (Kastalsky-Borozdin), Archimandrite Isaiah (Belov). dogmatic theology. Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, 1998. P.161.
28. Gaisler N.L. Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics. SPb., Bible for everyone. P.413.
29. Gurdjieff G. View from the real world // Bulletin of the future good. SPb., Ed. Chernyshev. 1993. P.9.
30. Blavatsky E.P. Secret Doctrine. M., Sirin. 1993. V.3(5). S.501.
31. Gurdjieff G. View from the real world // Bulletin of the future good. SPb., Ed. Chernyshev. 1993. P.8.
32. See: Pitanov V.Yu. Theosophy: facts against myths. http://apologet.orthodox.ru
33. Gurdjieff G. View from the real world // Bulletin of the future good. SPb., Ed. Chernyshev. 1993. P.63.
34. For example, Nicholas Roerich welcomed the destruction of Christians in Russia by the Bolsheviks, which did not prevent him from speaking about love for his neighbor and acting as a spiritual teacher. See: Pitanov V.Yu. Judgment of conscience: agni yoga against Christianity. http://apologet.orthodox.ru
35. Uspensky P.D. In search of the miraculous // Gurdjieff G. Herald of future goodness. SPb., Ed. Chernyshev. 1993. P.139.
36. Gurdjieff G. View from the real world // Bulletin of the future good. SPb., Ed. Chernyshev. 1993. P.20.
37. Vanderhil E. Mystics of the XX century. Encyclopedia. M., ed. Astrel; Ed. MYTH. 2001. P.168.
38. Gurdjieff G. View from the real world // Herald of future goodness. SPb., Ed. Chernyshev. 1993. S.46-47.
39. See: Torchinov E.A. Religions of the world: Experience of the beyond: Psychotechnics and transpersonal states. St. Petersburg, Center "Petersburg Oriental Studies". 1998. P.222.
40. See: Pitanov V.Yu. A Christian practicing Buddhism - is it possible? http://apologet.orthodox.ru
41. Gurdjieff G. View from the real world // Bulletin of the future good. SPb., Ed. Chernyshev. 1993. P.48.
42. Ibid. P.46.
43. Rev. John of Damascus. Accurate presentation Orthodox faith./ Source of knowledge. M., Indrik. 2002.p.227.
44. Gurdjieff G. View from the real world // Bulletin of the future good. SPb., Ed. Chernyshev. 1993. S.62-63.
45. Ibid. P.22.
46. See: Blavatsky H.P. Key to Theosophy. http://www.theosophy.ru/lib/key-theo.htm
47. Lossky V.N. dogmatic theology. / Essay on the mystical theology of the Eastern Church. dogmatic theology. M., SEI. 1991. P.215.
48. See: Archimandrite Alipy (Kastalsky-Borozdin), Archimandrite Isaiah (Belov). dogmatic theology. Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra, 1998. P.140.
49. See: Pitanov V.Yu. Judgment of conscience: agni yoga against Christianity. http://apologet.orthodox.ru
50. See: Pitanov V.Yu. The court of conscience of the Agni Yogi against Christianity; Theosophy: facts against myths; Facets of the occult: from hermeticism to magic and extrasensory perception. http://apologet.orthodox.ru
51. Gurdjieff G. View from the real world // Bulletin of the future good. SPb., Ed. Chernyshev. 1993. P.44.
52. Blavatsky E.P. Theosophical dictionary. M., Sphere. 1994. P.264.
53. Blavatsky E.P. Secret Doctrine. M., Sirin. 1993. V.3(5). P.27.
54. Papus. Practical magic. M., Renaissance, 1991. P.7.
55. For more details, see: Pitanov V.Yu. Facets of the occult: from hermeticism to magic and extrasensory perception. http://apologet.orthodox.ru
56. Gurdjieff G. View from the real world // Herald of future goodness. SPb., Ed. Chernyshev. 1993. P.44.
57. See: Pitanov V.Yu. The court of conscience of an agni yogi against Christianity. http://apologet.orthodox.ru
58. Gurdjieff G. View from the real world // Herald of future goodness. SPb., Ed. Chernyshev. 1993. P.69.
59. Uspensky P.D. In search of the miraculous // Gurdjieff G. Herald of future goodness. SPb., Ed. Chernyshev. 1993. P.170.
60. Ibid. P.158.
61. Gurdjieff G. View from the real world // Herald of future goodness. SPb., Ed. Chernyshev. 1993. P.7.
62. Gurdjieff G. Herald of future goodness. SPb., Ed. Chernyshev. 1993. P.89.
63. Ibid. S.92-93.
64. Ibid. P.96.
65. Ibid. S.88-89.
66. Ibid. P.108.
67. Uspensky P.D. In search of the miraculous // Gurdjieff G. Herald of future goodness. SPb., Ed. Chernyshev. 1993. P.141.
68. Uspensky P.D. Psychology of possible human evolution; Cosmology of possible human evolution. SPb., JSC "Komplekt". 1995. P.156.
69. Gurdjieff G. Herald of future good. SPb., Ed. Chernyshev. 1993. P.106.
70. Gurdjieff G. View from the real world // Herald of future goodness. SPb., Ed. Chernyshev. 1993. P.65.
71. Ibid. P.64.
72. See: Gurdjieff G. Everything and Everything // Herald of Coming Good. SPb., Ed. Chernyshev. 1993.
73. See: Key to understanding Holy Scripture. bruxelles. Life with God. 1982. S. 141
74. St. Anthony the Great. Philokalia.T.1. Holy Trinity Sergius Lavra. 1993. P.27.
75. Ibid. P.33.
76. Gurdjieff G. View from the real world // Herald of future goodness. SPb., Ed. Chernyshev. 1993. P.64.
77. Gurdjieff G. All and everything // Herald of future goodness. SPb., Ed. Chernyshev. 1993. P.111.
Novel/ 11.09.2017 Alexander Korol.
“Someone will say that I am good, someone will say that I am bad - this is the opinion of people. and I am me"
Alexander Korol 2010
Alexander Korol .. you ask yourself a question .. who is he? .. why am I reading this? .. ask yourself!
Alexander Korol - writer - analyst - philosopher of the 21st century, or you can simply "nobody". Why "no one", because he can be anyone..
At the age of 16, Alexander began to keep his diary, at that age you were still at school, and this guy was already thinking about who he was, why everyone around was different, everyone was lying to each other, well .. almost everyone. At this age, he was already trying to understand himself, even earlier, he did not understand why people were like that .. as if it were not them .. as if everyone was sleeping .. and he alone could soberly see everything, was conscious.
At the same age, Alexander posted a couple of pages from his diary on the Internet, and people from everywhere began to write to him asking for help. Everyone wondered how?, how at that age an ordinary guy has such thoughts in his head. And you understand, if it was some A new book on the basis of those already read, or some guru (mentor) guided him, but no, it was him, he himself wrote it ... "Book-Answer".
And then, already in 2010, Alexander recorded a video for this book, after which he became even more famous, although he does not like all this .. and people had even more questions, where did such information come from? ..
At the same time, after the publication of the Book-Answer, he began to advise people, to help solve their problems: life .., in business .., with health .. etc.
And it was not just a suggestion or some kind of information business, he was simply asked to help, and he helped, trying to understand himself and to better understand others.
And who is he, you thought, what a psychic, a sorcerer, a sorcerer .. no, neither one nor the other ..
Helping people, he saw through them, felt them like a book in front of him, and to this day he does this in various forms ..
And what does he see? .. And he sees where the person is, at what frequency, describing the life of people, he does not see their tomorrow in the literal sense, but he feels their frequency, and describing the frequency at which the person is located, it turns out that he says everything about that person..
The Answer Book is not his only book, he has been writing for about 10 years and continues to do so.
Feeling the frequencies of people, solving their problems, learning all the facets of human essence, traveling the world .. Alexander understood many of the laws by which this world works, and his view of the world, his understanding of the world is really correct. Many, many whom he helped are grateful for the fact that he showed them how to change something in their lives, said who they are, and why they now want something and how to get from point A to point B in their development .
And it’s not some kind of extrasensory abilities or witchcraft, it’s analytics, it’s just that someone was at work at that time, and for Alexander, analytics in the field of self-development was work, he set up a lot of social experiments, communicated with people from all social strata and I finally figured out how it all works.
This development was gradual, before the eyes of many people, Alexander gave out more and more new information, shared it in his books and videos, at consultations and conferences, people immediately checked it and tried it on themselves, and this information worked and works to this day, many have changed your life in better side thanks to her.
That's who he is and what he does, and it doesn't even matter who calls him, he has no limits, what matters is the information that he shares, information of the present and future, that view of the world that will allow you to be happy and satisfied with your life, allows you to change and develop, live in harmony with oneself, with one's soul and in harmony with the universe.
If you are interested in this information, something fluttered inside .., then you can read his books on the official website akinformation
I recommend reading in order.
Videos AlexandrKorol1
Page in VK bible
The Buddha said that "When the iron bird flies, Dharma will come from the East to the West." And the person through whom at the beginning of the 20th century the transfer of esoteric knowledge of the Fourth Way from the Schools of the East to Russia, Europe and America took place George Ivanovich Gurdjieff.
Gurdjieff designed his teaching based on the peculiarities of the perception of the people who surrounded him at that time - intellectuals pre-revolutionary Russia, creative intelligentsia Europe, America. To get people thinking out of familiar terms and understanding of Christianity from an outward point of view, he presented the system as a science of awakening through attention efforts, using the so-called Gurdjieff's movements, creativity in creating performances, living together in a group and hard work.
He used the method of "denial", in which he created shocks and difficulties for students, allowing them to see their dream more deeply. George Gurdjieff spoke in riddles in many ways, leading logic to a dead end. Gurdjieff dance system, Enneagram Gurdjieff, his music to this day look mystical and ambiguous.
Books by Gurdjieff
Books by Gurdjieff:
"Everything and everything, or Beelzebub's stories to his grandson"
"Meetings with wonderful people»
"Life is real only when "I am""
When Gurdjieff wrote The Tales of Beelzebub to his grandson, it became a practice in his groups to read this book aloud together, in order to practice concentration on a long complex thought and to stay in the present for an extended time by listening to the reader. In "Stories" by G.I. Gurdjieff Beelzebub represents the Real Self of a person - that which is a witness of our life, as in the book the alien Beelzebub is a witness to the life of Earthlings.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the knowledge that came to Europeans through Gurdjieff was available only to the elite, but now Gurdjieff's books You can download from many sites or buy them in the store.
As George Ivanovich Gurdjieff said: "Life is real when I am." And the main practice, the systems of the Fourth Way, is awareness of oneself in the present - only then the person really "is." To do this, every conscious teacher finds his own methods, whether it be dancing, meditation, attention exercises, or something else. The variety of external forms is apparent, since the purpose of each real school one is the awakening of consciousness.
Quotes by Gurdjieff
Some sayings and quotes by Gurdjieff:
“Without self-knowledge, a person cannot become free, cannot control himself. He always remains a slave, a toy of external forces, so the first requirement of all ancient teachings on the path to liberation was "know thyself."
"Remember yourself always and everywhere."
“Love what allows you to live consciously.”
"I love someone who loves work."
“The best means of arousing the desire to work on yourself is the realization that you can die at any moment. But first you must learn to remember this always.
“First, make a sacrifice; without a conscious sacrifice, no further work is possible. And first of all, sacrifice your fantasies. Fantasies about the past, about the future, about yourself now, dreams. This is one of the main reasons for sleep. And also sacrifice your suffering. Stop suffering and feeling sorry for yourself."
“Knowledge and understanding are two different things. It is necessary to strive for understanding, only it leads to the Lord. Understanding manifests itself as a result of everything personal experience rethought by man himself. Knowledge is just a mechanical memorization of words in a certain sequence.
"There are no Russians, no Englishmen, no Jews, no Christians, but only those who pursue one goal - to be able to be."
Biography of Gurdjieff
Biography of Gurdjieff, just like the teachings of Gurdjieff - is ambiguous and full of secrets. Gurdjieff Georgy Ivanovich, of Greek-Armenian origin, was born at the end of the 19th century in the south of Russia. Gurdjieff's first teachers were his own father and his confessor, Gregory, a Greek priest. G.I. Gurdjieff traveled extensively in the East in his youth, and supposedly studied with several teachers in several esoteric schools.
The first groups of students interested in Gurdjieff's teachings began to gather around him when he arrived in pre-revolutionary Russia in the early 20th century. After the revolution, he, along with his closest students, emigrated to Europe.
George Gurdjieff lived, gathered students, led groups, conducted lectures and performances of his dances and performances in France, England, America.
Photos and videos of Gurdjieff
Films about Gurdjieff
There are few documentaries and videos of Gurdjieff, online viewing of which is easily accessible to Internet users. To date, you can find and watch the following films about Gurdjieff:
P. Brook "Meetings with wonderful people"
Martiros Fanosyan “I am Gurdjieff. I will not die."
George Ivanovich Gurdjieff - a man of mystery: the greatest esoteric of the twentieth century, philosopher, magician, prophet, traveler, composer, dance teacher, writer.
Around the identity of this amazing person a huge number of the most unimaginable legends and stories are spinning, which for the most part have no documentary evidence. It is noteworthy that Gurdjieff himself contributed a lot to the creation of that atmosphere of mystical mystery, which still shrouds his name. Even the appearance of this man is unusual. To understand this, just look at his portrait. A passionate, strong-willed face, a piercing, hypnotic look - it exudes magical mystery from him.
In our story about the life of George Ivanovich Gurdjieff, we will try to be as objective as possible when it comes to such an unusual person. In fact, we are faced with the lack of reliable third-party sources of information about Gurdjieff's biography. Therefore, the main source will be the books of Gurdjieff himself.
Birth
Accurate documentary information about the date of birth of Georgy Ivanovich Gurdjieff has not been preserved, according to various sources, he was born on January 14, 1866 or 1877, or December 28, 1872. The passports he used also contain various dates of birth.
The surname Gurdjieff in Armenian is pronounced Gyurjan. Turks and Persians called the Georgians, and sometimes all other inhabitants of the Caucasus, the Turkic word "Gurji" in origin. This surname is widespread among the Greeks who migrated from Georgia. The Greek diaspora has long been the largest in Georgia. IN Soviet times, the Greek diaspora numbered about 150 thousand people.
The future great esoteric was born in Armenia in a small but very ancient city of Alexandropol. By the time George was born, Armenia was part of the Russian Empire. A Russian fortress and a garrison were located in Alexandropol. This name appeared in 1837 - in honor of the wife of Nicholas I - Alexandra Feodorovna. Until 1837, the city was called Gyumri, and even earlier - Kumayri, while in Soviet times it was called Leninakan - a place notorious for millions of people in connection with the terrible Spitak earthquake of 1988. After the declaration of independence of Armenia in September 1991, the city became Once again renamed but returned historical name- Gyumri. Nowadays, Gyumri is the second largest city in Armenia.
In the second half of the XIX century. Alexandropol was famous for its poets and ashugs, it was a recognized center of crafts and arts, and, among other things, was considered the capital of the famous Armenian humor, a kind of analogue of Odessa. After some time, the Gurdjieff family moved to Kars, the center of the newly formed Kars region of the Russian Empire. After the formation of the region, the city began to be actively populated by Russian settlers, mainly Molokans.
Under the sign of the father
The mother of George Gurdjieff was an Armenian from the well-known family of the Tavrizov-Bagratuni. Father Ivan Gurdjieff, a Greek of Asia Minor by origin, was a glorious ashug singer, a master of oral storytelling and a well-known person in the Caucasus. It was his father who introduced young George to the legend of the legendary Babylonian hero Gilgamesh. According to Gurdjieff himself, the stories of Gilgamesh's wanderings had a major impact on his entire subsequent life. Gurdjieff said: "... my father was a wise, talented mentor, who, by his actions, aroused in me a thirst for the search for true knowledge." Several times his father took him with him to ashug competitions. The competitions were held in different cities and represented a completely unique event. The best of the best ashugs, bearers of ancient legends, connoisseurs of millennial traditions, guides of the eternal memory of their peoples gathered in the appointed place. Talented poets, singers, musicians, dancers, masters of the rare art of improvisation. Narrators from Persia, Turkey, the Caucasus, Turkestan came to show people ancient art legends.
It was then that Gurdjieff began to realize the enormous value oral sources knowledge - giving us the wisdom of millennia. Gurdjieff became one of the very few who appreciated the gigantic potential of this unique channel of ancient knowledge, which was considered irretrievably lost in the depths of time. It may very well be that even then, in early childhood, the young Gurdjieff began to be occupied with thoughts of searching for the lost.
In his famous book devoted to meetings with remarkable people, among the many worthy personalities, Gurdjieff gives the first place to his father Ivan Ivanovich Gurdjieff.
In 1917, the Turks made another armed raid on Alexandropol. Ivan Ivanovich Gurdjieff tried to protect his house from the brutalized Turkish soldiers. He received severe wounds and because of this he died at the age of 82. The inscription on the tombstone of Gurdjieff's father, installed by the students of George Ivanovich Gurdjieff, is very remarkable: "I am You, You are I, He is ours, when we are His."
From a young age, Ivan Ivanovich taught his son to physical labor, forced him to get up early, pour cold spring water over him. He tried his best to temper the character of his son. He paid much attention to the spiritual education of his son, instilled high ideals, developed in the boy a sense of beauty and artistic imagination. According to Gurdjieff, his father was a kind but fair man, he lived according to a clear schedule and forced his son to follow his example. Often he justly punished George, for which he was later grateful to him. Gurdjieff said more than once that it was precisely the correct fatherly upbringing that helped him in the future to courageously endure all the hardships and hardships of distant wanderings. Ivan Ivanovich Gurdjieff possessed the soul of a poet, but the firmness of a warrior, and no difficulties could plunge him into despondency. At one time, having received a decent inheritance, he took up cattle breeding, but he failed, all his herds became victims of mass mortality. After that, he tried himself in the timber trade, in which, due to crystal honesty, he also did not succeed. But in spite of everything, peace, love and harmony always reigned in the Gurdjieff family (Georgy had three little sisters).
His father became the owner of a small carpentry workshop, in which Gurdjieff Jr. worked after his studies. In Kars, Gurdjieff began to go to a Greek school, but later his father transferred him to a Russian municipal school, from whose students talented children were recruited to perform in the cathedral church choir. Thanks to his wonderful voice, Gurdjieff is among the chosen children, and there he made his first acquaintance with Father Borsh, the rector of the Kars Cathedral.
Mentors
Rector Borsh is a spiritual authority, a brilliant original, a man of the broadest outlook, a generator of many original philosophical and religious ideas, some of which later became the basis of the young pupil's worldview. Father Borsh distinguished a capable boy, helped him with his lessons. Once George fell ill with trachoma, and father Borsh took an active part in the fate of the boy. He personally brought two oculist doctors to the Gurdjieffs' house, who quickly cured the boy. At the same time, the abbot Borsh met Gurdjieff's father. These seem to be completely different people who occupy an unequal position in society become good friends. A significant meeting of two kindred souls took place, which had the most serious influence on the formation of the personality of the young Gurdjieff. What were the brilliant philosophical dialogues of these two original minds worth, in which the future brilliant esoteric was present. These conversations helped to create a fertile spiritual ground, which subsequently gave the most amazing shoots in the personality of Gurdjieff himself. His own father, Ivan Ivanovich Gurdjieff, and his spiritual father, rector Borsh, aroused in the young man a great thirst for knowledge of the purpose of human life on earth.
After some time, Father Borsh offered to take George out of school. He said: "George is a very talented boy, he needs to get a decent education, and at school he wastes precious time." Indeed, the public school of that time was absurd. A student, having studied at school for 8 years, received a certificate only of primary education, corresponding to three classes. Borsh offered homeschooling, leaving behind the role of the main mentor, and he also undertook to find others worthy teachers. Gurdjieff senior agrees. The education of young George has moved to a new qualitative level, the boy diligently studies various disciplines, reads a lot, participates in a singing choir. The Kars region is a unique geographical area in which many different peoples live. From the early childhood Gurdjieff (future polyglot, knowledge of about 20 languages) learns to speak several languages: Armenian, Greek, Georgian, Russian, Turkish.
George Gurdjieff was a sociable, enthusiastic person, quickly converged with people, had many friends and good acquaintances. During this period, Gurdjieff met many new, interesting people. One of these people was Bogaevsky (future father Evlissy). He was a very young man who had recently arrived in Kars. Bogaevsky had just graduated from the seminary and served as a deacon in the Kars Cathedral, a little later he became one of George's teachers. Thanks to the youth of both, they developed a warm, friendly relationship. Bogaevsky was an interesting, charming, easy-to-communicate person, thanks to which he quickly fell in love with many residents of the city. A circle of young Russian intellectuals formed around him: military engineer Vseslavsky, artillery officer Kuzmin and others. In the evenings, young people gathered together. They discussed many interesting topics sometimes there were heated debates. The young Gurdjieff, as a student of Bogaevsky, was a free listener of these fascinating conversations, the topic of spiritualism was often the subject of discussions and disputes.
Mystical episodes
At that time, spiritualism was insanely popular among the aristocracy and the intelligentsia. Very often practiced, the so-called table-turning - evocation of spirits. As a rule, the purpose of such sessions was to obtain secret information from otherworldly forces. One of these séances took place in the circle of Bogaevsky, Gurdjieff was a witness to this. The young people sat around the wooden table, placing their hands in a special way, they began to ask the spirits various questions, to which they received clear answers. This incomprehensible action made an indelible impression on Gurdjieff. It awakened a serious interest in such phenomena. From his new friends, the boy was able to get some books on this subject.
In the same period, another strange mystical episode took place, which George vividly remembered. It happened in Alexandropol when the boy was visiting his uncle. Gurdjieff was standing next to his uncle's house, not far away a flock of boys frolic. Suddenly, he heard a heart-rending child's cry. Alarmed, George, thinking that an accident had happened, immediately ran up to the crowd of children and saw a strange sight. In front of him, in a circle outlined on the ground, an unfamiliar boy was writhing and crying. His movements were very strange, he somehow twitched unnaturally, it seemed that he wanted to break out of the circle, but some inexplicable power doesn't let you do it. Gurdjieff erased part of the circle, after which the poor kid was immediately able to escape from the circle, he immediately ran away under the hooting of the boys. It turned out that this child belonged to the Yezidi sect. The Yezidis are a Kurdish people who profess a special religion. Many inhabitants considered them to be representatives of a satanic sect. The main reason for this opinion was the extreme isolation of this strange people. George was extremely puzzled by what he saw, but none of his acquaintances could explain the nature of this phenomenon. Subsequently, in the course of his practices, he conducted a similar experiment with a woman from the Yezidi people. The effect was the same: he could not pull the frail woman out of the circle.
Travel and expeditions
Wanting to devote his life to the study of supernatural phenomena, the search for secret ancient knowledge, Gurdjieff, nevertheless, needed to earn a living. In his youth, he had to master many different professions. Whoever he was: a carpenter, translator, tax collector, tour guide, railway worker, seller of carpets and even sparrows painted like canaries. He was the owner of oil wells, the owner of fishing boats. But everything he earned was spent on travel and expeditions.
In search of answers to his questions, Gurdjieff makes pilgrimages to many holy places in the Caucasus. He communicates a lot with Christian priests. During the pilgrimages, he again sees all kinds of miracles, in no way inexplicable by official science: the cure of hopelessly ill people, the rain caused by the miracle of universal prayer.
Around the same time, Gurdjieff met Sargis Poghosyan, a young theologian who had recently graduated from the seminary and was secretly disillusioned with the ethics of the clergy. This young man, like Gurdjieff, yearned to go in search of ancient knowledge. Friends decided in Alexandropol to look for a secluded and quiet place where they could safely indulge in the study of ancient texts and books. The ruins of the city of Ani ancient capital Armenia), located very close to Alexandropol, were more than suitable for this purpose. There they settled in a small hut built with their own hands. In the ruins of Ani there were a lot of underground passages, which were subjected to the most thorough research by Gurdjieff and Poghosyan. What was the admiration of friends when one day, making their way along one of these passages, they stumbled upon an abandoned monastic cell, where they found a whole stack of ancient parchments. They managed to decipher some of the texts. One of them contained information about a certain Babylonian esoteric school "Sarmung", which existed 2500 years BC. This amazing find was an additional stimulus for the beginning of Gurdjieff's wanderings.
At the age of 22, Gurdjieff created a famous society that united "seekers of truth." The main goal of the society was to search for lost ancient knowledge in its most diverse manifestations: ancient texts, oral legends, spiritual traditions, practices of closed religious communities, occult sciences. Interest was caused by everything that could be the key to ancient secret knowledge. Gurdjieff and his comrades visited many countries in Asia and Africa. The society also included professional scientists. Often, travel became the most real expeditions, even undertaken archaeological excavations. Afghanistan, Turkestan, India, Egypt, Turkey, the countries of the Middle East and, finally, Tibet - this is the indiscreet geography of Gurdjieff's wanderings.
It is known that during his travels, the famous esoteric repeatedly received bullet wounds, as he often found himself in combat areas. But no danger could stop him. the main objective- obtain esoteric knowledge that touches the "inner circle of humanity." Gradually, moving further and further along the heavy, thorny path, - a path full of dangers and traps, Gurdjieff absorbs the wisdom of millennia. He studies the spiritual traditions of Sufism, Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Eastern Christianity, and the practice of Siberian shamans. Collects unique ethnographic material: folklore dances, music, legends. Communicates with representatives of various religious movements and philosophical concepts. Over the years of searching, Gurdjieff mastered many psychological and physical techniques, among them - hypnosis, the yoga system, as well as the art of oriental fakirs, which invariably makes a splash in the European crowd.
Subsequently, on the basis of this knowledge, Gurdjieff will create his own system of concepts, develop a methodology for unique practices. This work will become known to the whole world under the name "The Fourth Way".
In search of the real truth, years and years of wandering passed. There were days of heavy defeats, sorrowful losses of friends dear to the heart, but the main thing was victories, victories over oneself. The time has come to educate the elect.
Work in Russia
In 1912 Gurdjieff appeared in two capitals - Moscow and St. Petersburg. It is worth noting that the Russian metropolitan society of that time was very receptive to new philosophical and religious ideas. The Romanov family, notorious in Russia, set the most worthy example of this. A fashionable passion for spiritualism and mysticism flourished. Many representatives of the intelligentsia were fond of esotericism in its most diverse manifestations. All this happened against the background of serious social and political changes. The foreboding of future gigantic cataclysms, as in all previous times, fueled society's interest in everything supernatural.
At first, the appearance of Gurdjieff did not arouse any serious interest among the spoiled, exalted metropolitan public. However, this situation begins to change rapidly after Gurdjieff's acquaintance with Pyotr Demyanovich Ouspensky. Petr Demyanovich Uspensky is an esotericist, philosopher-mystic, traveler, journalist, author of many books. A person very famous and respected in both metropolitan societies. Acquaintance with Gurdjieff made an indelible, amazing impression on Ouspensky. The venerable journalist was captivated by the extraordinary strength of Gurdjieff's personality, admired by the depth of his esoteric knowledge and fascinated by his unique ideas. Ouspensky, recalling his first meeting with Gurdjieff, wrote that he made a strange and even frightening at first impression of a man deliberately unsuccessfully disguised. The appearance of this man was embarrassing, because it was clear that he was not at all who he tried to pass himself off. But you had to communicate with him and already behave as if you did not notice this. At the very a short time after this momentous meeting, Ouspensky becomes one of the first students of the "cunning sage" (as Gurdjieff was sometimes called). Ouspensky became the most zealous and most successful distributor of "Gurdjieff's work".
The language of many of the books written in the future by Gurdjieff will prove to be extremely difficult for the ordinary reader to understand. Ouspensky's greatest merit is that he was able to express the teacher's thoughts in a language accessible to the layman. Subsequently, it was Peter Demyanovich Uspensky who, in his famous book “In Search of the Miraculous,” systematized Gurdjieff’s teaching.
Among the most interesting students of the esoteric, it is also worth noting the talented Russian composer Thomas (Foma) de Hartmann (author of music for the ballet " The Scarlet Flower"). Later, together with Gurdjieff, he will write music for famous sacred dances. "Sacred Movements" will be the main teaching tool for the famous "Gurdjieff practices". In total, about 150 musical works for piano. Musical themes will be based on melodies from Asia and the Middle East. Here, in Russia, together with the students, work began on the ballet "The Struggle of the Magicians", in the future this work will be continued in exile. However, due to incompleteness, the ballet was never presented to the public.
IN big cities, the so-called "Gurdjieff groups" appear, there are more and more students, their number is steadily growing. The year 1917 has come.
Work in exile
The atmosphere that prevailed in the former Russian Empire after the October Revolution of 1917 was not at all conducive to the implementation of Gurdjieff's plans. Together with a group of students, he leaves Russia. In 1919, Gurdjieff went to Tiflis (Tbilisi), where he tried to create an "Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man", but various reasons is failing. The next attempt to create such an institution - in Constantinople also ends in a fiasco. From Turkey, Gurdjieff goes to Berlin. In Germany, relations with local authorities categorically did not work out. Further, following Ouspensky, he leaves for England, and, finally, France - Paris. In fact, he is following the standard path of millions of unfortunate Russian emigrants.
France became his second home, on her land an old dream of Gurdjieff came true. A unique, one-of-a-kind "Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man" was founded there. The institute was located in one of the suburbs of Paris in the suburbs of Fontainebleau. The castle on the Prieure estate was bought with donations from Gurdjieff's students, its doors were opened in 1922. Evenings were held in the Prieure, which included public lectures, as well as a demonstration " sacred movements"- a system of dance exercises developed by Gurdjieff on the basis of Sufi religious practices. Such performances enjoyed quite a lot of success with the Parisian public striving for originality. Many of Gurdjieff's students lived and worked at the Institute. Children also studied at the Institute. The system of education and upbringing in the Prieure represented a certain set of unique actions. It was a kind of symbiosis of permanent physical labor, multiplied by diverse individual tasks that were assigned to each student personally by Gurdjieff. According to many students, Gurdjieff demanded unquestioning fulfillment of all his instructions. There were also those who left the walls of the institute, disappointed, both by the teacher himself and by the methods of his teaching.
In 1923 there was an irrevocable break with Peter Demyanovich Uspensky. There is a version that the reason for the gap was the fundamental differences in views on the methods of development of the “Gurdjieffian teaching”. As time passed, Ouspensky published his famous book In Search of the Miraculous. According to Gurdjieff, the book was an almost exact retelling of his teaching, as it was given before the revolution of 1917. All subsequent years, Ouspensky experienced a hard break with his teacher. He died 1947
Gurdjieff's teaching, called the "Fourth Way", is becoming more and more popular, groups of students appear in many major cities peace. Several times Gurdjieff visited the United States with his students. In America, he gave a series of lectures, and also organized theatrical performances, usually free of charge, in New York, Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia. The opinions of the American audience were divided: some considered the performances to be the height of unprofessionalism, while others, on the contrary, immensely admired Gurdjieff's robot dancers. The audience was invariably amazed by the final part of these performances. The actors froze, waiting for the philosopher's command. Gurdjieff was sitting on the side of the stage and leisurely smoking a cigar. An agonizing tension grew, and suddenly, at a sign imperceptible to the public, about fifty artists began to run with acceleration to the edge of the stage. Moments later, and now they are already breaking away from the stage, and only at this moment the famous Gurdjieff exclamation “Stop!” is heard. The dancing actors, frozen in flight, seemed to be hovering and falling down into the orchestra pit and auditorium. The audience freezes in horror, but when it comes to its senses, it explodes with a storm of applause. It is curious that the flights of the dancers never led to injuries to the actors and spectators. Whom then they just didn’t call him: “dance teacher”, “dancing provocateur”, “cunning sage”.
In July 1924 Gurdjieff was in a car accident. He receives injuries that are practically incompatible with life, but thanks to iron willpower, and perhaps something else (?), Gurdjieff does not die. He is slowly on the mend. During this period, Georgy Ivanovich began to write books: "Meetings with wonderful people"; "Everything and everything, or Beelzebub's stories to his grandson"; “Life is real only when 'I am'. The institute at the Prieure existed until 1932. However, even after its closure, Gurdjieff did not stop working with his students. Periodically, he arranged meetings at his home. After the war, Gurdjieff continued to live and work in Paris.
On October 29, 1949, Georgy Ivanovich Gurdjieff passed away. He died in the American hospital of Neuilly-sur-Seine. An important fact: the philosopher was buried according to the Christian Orthodox rite.
The main ways of man according to Gurdjieff:
- First way. A person, in order to know the world, agrees to sacrifice natural needs: he is in the same position, refuses food and wears chains. He mortifies the flesh, but comprehends God. (Way of the fakir);
- Second way. A person tries to curb the heart and emotions. (The way of the monk);
- Third way. Man subjects his mind to severe disciplinary restrictions. (The path of the yogi);
- Fourth way. Man's use of the virtues of the first three directions.
Comparison of all directions shows that Gurdjieff's teaching contains both many ideas of an esoteric nature that have become classics, and a number of his own, original ideas. The "Fourth Way" combines elements of Christianity, Sufism, Buddhism, Kabbalah and yoga teachings. Although the latter denies the divine nature of the origin of the soul in a person, nevertheless, Gurdjieff believed that a person does not receive the soul from birth, but acquires it himself, developing his own individualized consciousness and at the same time reaching some significant level.
Heritage
Gurdjieff left many famous students: the esoteric philosopher Peter Demyanovich Uspensky; mathematician and philosopher John G. Bennett (composition "The Dramatic Universe"); author famous book about the adventures of Mary Poppins - Pamela Travers, poet Rene Daumal (France), writer Katherine Mansfield (England), artist Paul Reynard (USA).
Shortly before his death, Gurdjieff ordered the publication of his books "Meetings with Remarkable People" and "Everything and Everything", as well as P. D. Ouspensky's book "In Search of the Miraculous".
After the death of the great esotericist, his student Jeanne de Salzmann, to whom Gurdjieff bequeathed the spread of his teaching, made an attempt to unite the Gurdjieff groups scattered throughout the globe. This attempt gave rise to the creation of a famous organization called the Gurdjieff Foundation. The name in the USA is Gurdjieff Foundation (“Gurdjieff Foundation”), the same organization in Europe is Gurdjieff Society (“Gurdjieff Society”). In addition to Jeanne de Salzmann, the already mentioned John G. Bennett, as well as the students of P. D. Uspensky - Rodney Colin and Maurice Nicol, actively promoted the ideas of the great esotericist. And in our time, in many cities of the world, many groups of followers of the "Gurdjieff's teaching" continue to operate and develop.
Dmitry Sytov
გიორგი გურჯიევი
Georgy Ivanovich Gurdjieff(January 14, in other sources 1874, January 14 or December 28, Alexandropol, Russian Empire - October 29, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France) - mystic philosopher, occultist, composer and traveler (father - Greek, mother - Armenian) the first half of the XX century.
Gurji or Gyurji - this is how the Persians called Georgians, and the rest of the Islamic world still calls Georgians, and therefore the name Gurdjieff can be translated as Gruzinsky or Gruzinov. The surname Gyurjiev or Gyurjyan is carried by many Armenians who migrated from Georgia and other regions on the other side of the Caucasus Mountains to the territory of Armenia. To this day, there is an extensive colony of Greeks in the region of Lake Tsalka (southern Georgia). According to Gurdjieff, his own father and his spiritual father - the rector of the cathedral - engendered in him a thirst for knowledge life process on earth, and in particular the purpose of human life. His work was devoted to the self-development of man, the growth of his consciousness and being in everyday life. Also paid great attention the physical development of a person, which is why he was nicknamed, and in the last years of his life, the “dance teacher” appeared. At one time he characterized his teaching as "esoteric Christianity"
After World War II
Ideas
Heritage
After Gurdjieff's death, his student Jeanne de Salzmann, whom he entrusted with the distribution of his "Work", tried to unite the students of various groups, which laid the foundation for an organization known as the Gurdjieff Foundation (the name in the USA, in fact - the association of Gurdjieff groups in various cities, in Europe the same organization is known as the Gurdjieff Society, "Gurdjieff Society"). Also actively disseminating Gurdjieff's ideas were John G. Bennett and some others. former students P. D. Ouspensky: Maurice Nicholl, Rodney Collin and Lord Pantland. Lord Pantland became president of the Gurdjieff Foundation, founded in 1953 in New York, and led it until his death in 1984.
Notable students of Gurdjieff included: Pamela Travers, author of the children's book on Mary Poppins, French poet René Daumal, English writer Katherine Mansfield, and American artist Paul Reynard, Jane Heep - American publisher, active in modernism. Already after the death of Gurdjieff, his students taught famous musicians Keith Jarrett and Robert Fripp.
At present, Gurdjieff groups (associated with the Gurdjieff Foundation, the Bennett line, or independent students of Gurdjieff, as well as independently organized by followers of his teaching) are active in many cities around the world.
The teachings of Gurdjieff-Ouspensky are compared [ Who?] with many traditional teachings, among them - Tibetan Buddhism, Sufism, Eastern branches of Christianity. In addition, note [ Who?] connection with the mystical traditions of Mesopotamia and Egypt. They tried to connect the metaphysics and ontology of this doctrine with many spiritual traditions, in particular, with Christianity (B. Muravyov) and Sufism (Idris Shah). Even professional ethnographers did not bypass him; in the modern "Philosophical Dictionary" they speak of a mixture of elements of Yoga, Tantrism, Zen Buddhism and Sufism.
The leitmotif of Gurdjieff's ideas: the essential degradation of man, especially in the last few centuries; and in this it, completely coinciding with many mystical Teachings, sounds very peculiar, sometimes even superfluous. And this is one of the many reasons, namely the claim to "esoteric Christianity", for which the Russian Orthodox Church refers Gurdjieff to the "occult magicians" and warns its adherents from studying his works.
Gurdjieff himself never hid the fact that it was impossible to fully understand his teaching, and none of his close followers made any claims to it. The main idea of the teacher is to awaken the sleeping thought and the feeling of true reality in a person. Fearing that followers would quickly drown in abstractions instead of real practices, he decided to rely on art (magic dances) and the creation of “communes”, where like-minded people could help each other to realize themselves. Brief material excerpts from his lectures to his "students" testify to the simplicity of his language, gravitating more towards Hodja Nasredin or Aesop. The clearest presentation of Gurdjieff's early ideas can be found in P. D. Ouspensky's book In Search of the Miraculous, where the author systematizes his cosmological, alchemical, energy and other concepts. Later, in his books, Gurdjieff chose a style of writing more suitable for his ideas, leaning towards narration, metaphor and personal appeal to the reader, whom he often “leads by the nose”, so that the reader comprehends the writings not by logic, as in Ouspensky, but by intuition. In the last, unfinished book, LIFE IS REAL ONLY WHEN I AM, Gurdjieff expresses his disappointment at the failure of his mission and emphasizes that he will take the main mysteries and secrets with him.
see also
Compositions
- Beelzebub's stories to his grandson (original version)
Literature
- Shishkin O.A. Twilight of the Magi. George Gurdjieff and others. - M .: Eksmo, Yauza, 2005. - 352 p. - ISBN 5-699-12864-6
- B. M. Nosik. Russian secrets of Paris (continuation) St. Petersburg. Eksmo 2003 p.145-162
Notes
Links
- Books by Gurdjieff and his students - J. G. Bennett, P. D. Uspensky, K. S. Nott, M. Nikoll and others.
Categories:
- Personalities in alphabetical order
- Those born in Gyumri
- Deceased October 29
- Deceased in 1949
- Deceased in Neuilly-sur-Seine
- Persons: New Age
- Philosophers of Russia
- Occultists
- Composers of Russia
- Authors of non-academic studies
- Buried in France
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