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Gurdjieff's sacral movements and mirror neurons. Why do Gurdjieff movements? George Gurdjieff and the Enneagram

Gurdjieff's sacral movements and mirror neurons. Why do Gurdjieff movements? George Gurdjieff and the Enneagram

18.03.2019

They show us amazing practices related to the acquisition by a person of a feeling and a sense of self-understanding and self-control, including at the physical level. an entire section of it educational activities includes the concept of Gurdjieff's movement and his so-called sacred dances.

Dancing Gurdjieff

We rarely realize, or to be more precise, we often do not realize at all that all the "services" and functions of our body are very closely interconnected, dependent on each other and reflect our and, again, each other's real state. So, for example, as soon as we think about something negative, the body immediately reacts to this by changing the position of our body, our mood changes, we begin to be filled with certain corresponding feelings and experiences.

Even in ancient times, knowledge related to the influence and relationship of human movements with its emotional and mental states constituted the most important part of spiritual traditions and elements. folk art inhabitants of Asia, Africa and the Far East. Various sacred rites, expressed in various dance movements, also existed in many temples and monasteries and were passed on as an element of the most important knowledge about man and the universe from generation to generation.

George Gurdjieff himself, during his wanderings and travels, repeatedly for several years took music and rhythm lessons from Asian monastery dervishes in the monastery of the Yesavian order: there lived masters who taught people through dance movements what people usually learn through books. In addition, he studied art ritual dances and in many other monasteries and temples, as well as in the esoteric schools of the East and Tibet.

Thus, the movements of Gurdjieff - as his dances are also called - are ancient and not quite, from the point of view of modern man, common practice. Its meaning is the fixation in the personality of its conscious state through the unification of the mind and feelings with the movements of the body.

Learning a certain kind of dance is one of the possibilities for transforming a personality towards its enlightenment. This is what Gurdjieff did with groups of students at his Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man. Attempts to create such an institution where people could move under the guidance of the Teacher to comprehend higher spheres man and the universe, were undertaken by Gurdjieff more than once. The first - back in 1919 in Tiflis, then, a year later - in Constantinople, later - in Germany. But they all failed for one reason or another. Finally, he managed to realize this idea in France.

Not far from Paris, in the estate of Château Prière, the master bought the old Abbey castle at the expense of his students. Here, subsequently, they organized demonstration performances his amazing dance mysteries. Moreover, the dances in them were not just elements pure art. These were, first of all, finely organized systemic movements, which, in fact, were designed to develop all the components human nature- and in practice they did it.

Studied at the institute, mainly in two types dance moves: exercises and ballets. Exercises were endurance tests. For example, some movements were supposed to be done without interruption for hours. And this could not but influence the education of the dancers of a certain endurance and stamina.

The teacher was convinced - and convinced the students - that in order for a person to really start some kind of movement towards his personal development, he simply needs to be taken out of his comfort zone. That is, any creative process begins as a result of struggle. And if you follow the well-known principle of the pendulum, it is important to unbalance this pendulum.

And that is why glamorous aristocratic young ladies in the palaces of the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man washed clothes and hammered nails into the walls. And those who were afraid of blood were sent to slaughter cattle, and so on. In Gurdjieff Alma mater the most severe Spartan discipline reigned. Not everyone could stand it: one of the students of the institute, English writer Katherine Mansfield, having stayed here for a short time, died altogether ... Nevertheless, - these were, according to Gurdjieff, crisis management technologies.

Speaking about the theme of ballet, we recall that it usually meant a special Sufi cosmogonic dance, uniting the performers into a single energy wave of emotions and movements. Each such sacred dance act contained a certain mysterious meaning, which was available only to the initiates.

Ballet and sacred movements, which Gurdjieff taught his followers, helped to gain the last the highest degree control over the body, and develop their ability to concentrate their attention. All this had an incredible impact on emotional condition people working here. It also influenced the development of their various qualities: from moral-volitional to physical.

Continued travel and expeditions

In 1924, Gurdjieff went to the USA with a tour of his troupe. The audience was presented with a phenomenal spectacle of a dance performance-mystery, when the magician-Teacher demonstrated to the audience unlimited dominance over his students.

Some even regarded this action as a kind of transformation of people into a team of "trained zombies or circus animals." In fact, when presenting his ballets to the audience, Gurdjieff simply wanted to demonstrate to them the incredible possibilities that a person has in the field of dance, movement, and, in general, in the art of controlling his body.

These performances, somewhat reminiscent of the tricks of Copperfield or Houdini, were designed to somehow stir up the hall, to make the average layman think about what, in fact, unique opportunities he has ... At the same time, it should be noted that in the Gurdjieff troupe there were not professional dancers: it was just the usual good educated people. Each of them also owned some specialty, but they were all covered by a thirst for esoteric knowledge and the desire to discover something new on the web.

That is, they were, as we understand, not even zombies at all. But the zombies were just during their performance in the concert hall ...

Gurdjieff: The Law of the Three Forces of Creativity

The total number of patterns that govern almost all processes, both in the world as a whole and in man, is not too large. And everything that seems to us an infinite variety of forms and phenomena is created by just a few different combinations.

To try to understand the essence of the mechanics of the Universe, you just need to decompose these complex and diverse phenomena into elementary laws, their components. We must understand that we live in a space that has already been created and ordered. That is - our Universe is already a kind of Creation.

And Gurdjieff considered the so-called The Law of the Three Forces of Creativity. Everything that happens around is the result of a combination and interaction of these three forces: the power of Active, Passive and Neutralizing. And they are all in nature, and in each of us. These are the forces of creativity: nothing in the world is created without their participation.

Our entire Universe consists of vibrations that are elusive to human hearing. She is literally filled with them. They exist in all matters that inhabit the world, and manifest themselves in a variety of vibrational sounds: from the finest to the coarsest. From this follows the Second Fundamental Law of the Universe according to Gurdjieff: Law of seven octaves.

Music by Gurdjieff

This, one might say, is a separate, no less significant topic in his view of the world. We already know that Georgy Ivanovich was very serious and attentive to this one of perhaps the most mystical types of art. And him law of seven octaves- there is a natural continuation of the researcher's experience in this plane. The essence of this law is that all the sounds of universal vibrations are ordered in the form of a descending musical scale: from the top "to" - narrowing down in the direction of the musical scale - and down to the lowest sound, which is the basis of everything. So, if we talk about this big and difficult topic in general terms, he determined the sound of the Absolute, inaccessible to human and even scientific understanding.

The principle of seven octaves corresponds to any development both at the planetary level and at the level of birth and the birth of a separate human soul. Therefore, in order to be able to realize and track the process of development as such, it is important to understand that there is a reason for changes in the directions of this movement.

And still very important point: in order for such a movement to occur in principle, it is necessary to stop the leakage of energy and stock up on pleasant impressions.

Gurdjieff and Ouspensky

Returning to the theme of Gurdjieff's life in its various periods, I would like to note some of its chronological sequences, because then his reflections on a person and the results of all his mystical searches and meetings will acquire in our eyes some vital links to real circumstances ...

So, in 1912, Gurdjieff began to give his lectures and reports in Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg). Here, like-minded people and followers gather around him: people who want to start working on themselves. Among them is also , who, having plunged headlong into Gurdjieff's teaching, saw in him at first something completely new and unusual for himself.

The whole fusion of his own intellectual searches seemed to be reflected in Gurdjieff's system of views. A whole avalanche of things unexpected for Ouspensky - new concepts, practical structures and exotic exercises captured the researcher.

"Look back at the hour that has just passed, as if it were for you last hour on earth, and you have just realized that you have died. Ask yourself Are you satisfied with the last hour of your life? George Gurdjieff asked his students. Quotes and aphorisms belonging to him make us think about how we live.

Does a person understand why he lives at all? One can hardly be satisfied or dissatisfied about this without having a concrete idea of what life really means to him. Is it really the vanity of the vanities of everyday life with its demands of the struggle for a "place under the sun" - this is life in human sense? Look at yourself and your surroundings. How many people want the meaning of their existence to be different from the meaning of the existence of plants and animals? There are a number of reasons why this excites you, and does not excite anyone from your usual environment.

The fourth way is an esoteric teaching about the evolution of a human being from the level of satisfying the unusual desires and interests of the “white crows of the human flock” to the level of the formation of higher bodies in a person capable of living after the death of the physical body.

Accidentally or intentionally, an indefatigable desire to understand the meaning of human life, formed by someone in Gurdjieff's childhood, resulted in the years of his travels in the East in search of knowledge that would answer this question. Gurdjieff's path required complete dedication and superhuman efforts.

After many years of wandering, he returned to Europe to convey to people the teachings belonging to esoteric schools. At the same time, according to Gurdjieff, “The Fourth Way is impossible without some kind of work of a certain significance, without some kind of undertaking, around which and in connection with which it only exists. When this work is completed, i.e. the goal is achieved, the fourth way disappears, i.e. disappears in a given place, disappears in a given form, perhaps continuing in another place and in another form.

What does the Fourth Way according to Gurdjieff mean?

George Gurdjieff believed that a person is not able to evolve as long as he uses only crumbs of his capabilities, being in an ordinary state, similar to "sleep". A person's attention is constantly attracted by various little things, and he cannot control himself. Therefore, plans are constantly changing - either he wants to really live, and not function in the form of an animal, then he suddenly forgets, or even if he remembers, he no longer wants anything, then suddenly desires wake up in him again and he is ready to set goals for himself, etc. .d.

And therefore it is impossible to understand the essence of Gurdjieff's teaching without a deep study of oneself and gaining control over oneself.

To start moving towards this understanding, he offered his students special exercises, including movements - the sacred dances of Gurdjieff, explained the ideas of the esoteric teachings with practical examples, not allowing them to be turned into mere material for reflection.

"Man-machine" according to Gurdjieff

According to the teachings of George Gurdjieff, man is a mechanical "machine" that operates on the principle of stimulus-response.

That is, when a person is “sleeping”, he cannot control himself, let alone his life, since life is completely controlled by internal or external random mechanical stimuli. And thus, each of our actions is caused not by our Will, but by mechanical, often random reactions to these mechanical stimuli.

The weather deteriorates - and our mood deteriorates, they shout at us - and we immediately begin to shout back.

We do not live, but simply go with the flow, continuing to mechanically respond to external randomly generated stimuli.

At the same time, in a normal state, a person is unable to see and realize the mechanism of formation of these stimuli and reactions. Therefore, the work of change begins with the study and observation of oneself, gradually forming the ability to really realize oneself.

Only a full awareness of the nature of their mechanical reactions, the stimuli that trigger them, and an impartial observation of the present moment allow a person to see complete picture what is happening and make a conscious choice of their reaction and, ultimately, live, and not function according to the stimulus-response principle. This is the beginning of Gurdjieff's technique.

When you spill your morning coffee, argue with your loved ones over trifles, and make mistakes at your job, you are not self-aware—you are asleep. All your attention is focused on one “subject” and you do not see the full picture of what is happening.

When you are here and now, even spilling your morning coffee, being aware of yourself, you notice the beauty of the early morning, do not be late for important meetings and know how to achieve your goals - you are no longer a machine, you are no longer sleeping.

Gurdjieff: Development Techniques

All esoteric, unlike religious teachings, strive for the same goal as the Fourth Way - the evolutionary development of a human being, but they work on a different principle.

George Gurdjieff allegorically compared man to a wagon. He believed that a person is divided into parts.

According to Gurdjieff's system, there are four centers in man: intellectual, emotional, motor and instinctive. They have to fulfill their functions, but often they try to take on other people's duties.

For example, we often try to evaluate works of art only with the mind, although this must be done with the mind and feelings. Gurdjieff's exercises help to establish a connection between different parts of a person.

In various teachings, people work with only one center, being fully aware only of its work, and then they have to do the same work with other centers.

For example, a real monk can develop his emotional center through sincere faith, gaining unity and will that dominate his emotions.

But him physical body And mental capacity may remain undeveloped. And in order to use for his evolution what he has achieved, he will have to develop his body and the ability to think. At the same time, the monk’s attitude to his body changes diametrically in the opposite way- from the idea of him as a reason for the desire to fall into sin to the idea of a divine vessel bestowed by God, in which the soul can blossom.

The fourth way is the way of the cunning

To explain the idea of centers, Gurdjieff compared man to a wagon. The driver is an intellectual center, the horse is emotional, the wagon is instinctive-motor.

Now they don't work together. The horse does not understand what the coachman is saying to him, and there is no proper care for the wagon. Similarly, the emotional center does not obey the mind, because it does not understand ordinary language. We must observe the work of the centers in order to connect them with each other.

Gurdjieff's teaching

“A beginner pianist can never learn otherwise than little by little. If you want to play without prior practice, you will never be able to play authentic music. The melodies that you will play will turn out to be a cacophony, will make people suffer and hate you, ”said Gurdjieff. Path 4 also begins with small exercises.

Gurdjieff's system helps a person to be here and now. You should work on small things first, and gradually increase the load.

Should start with simple exercises: for example, do not cross your legs while eating, try to make eye contact with the person who is talking to you, then the difficulty level increases.

By making small efforts, and gaining the first victories, gradually we become able to give up useless thoughts, give up bad habits, work hard for days and weeks.

We kind of pump up the muscles of attention and awareness, preparing our body and mind for stronger exercises.

George Gurdjieff and the Enneagram

G. I. Gurdjieff believed that our entire life proceeds under the influence of cosmic laws. To explain them, he used an ancient symbol called Gurdjieff's Enneagram. Deciphering this figure gave his students an understanding of the laws of the world.

According to ancient esoteric literature and archaeological excavations, it is known that the Enneagram existed in the Middle East at least 2500 years ago.

This sign is found in Christianity, Judaism and bondage, Sufism, ancient Greek philosophers and mathematicians.

Hydrogens and octaves in the Gurdjieff system

The octave is the line of development of any process in the Universe: from birth new planet before the appearance of the human soul. In order for the processes to proceed intentionally, you need to know that in any business there are points that change the direction of movement. In order for the business started to be successfully completed, you need to make additional efforts. Gurdjieff's theoretical lessons included these topics.

Sometimes, in order to successfully complete an octave, we need a special kind of subtle matter, which the author of the system called hydrogen. It is not hydrogen in the scientific sense of the word.

In order for subtle matters to form in our bodies, we will have to stop the leakage of energy and provide pleasant impressions.

Practice and exercises of Gurdjieff

Gurdjieff's method is based on self-remembering. This means that we must be aware of our actions every second, and, as it were, see ourselves from the outside.

Without impartial observation of ourselves, when we do unconscious things, some part of us rearranges the present to justify itself and thus takes us out of actual reality into imagination.

Talk to two in turn ordinary people after a quarrel. Surely, each of them will present a point of view in which he will be right, and the other is wrong. When we observe ourselves, it is more difficult for our machine to perform this trick, so we perceive the present more adequately and more objectively.

Self-remembering will not work right away, so Gurdjieff's practice begins with small exercises that require some effort. For example, when we sit in an uncomfortable position or do things that are new to us, it requires more concentration and constantly reminds us of ourselves.

In Gurdjieff's system, a special place is given to the division of attention into several parts. For example, we can hold the body in a certain position and listen carefully to music. Try it, it's not as easy as it seems.

School of Gurdjieff

The main center for work on the system during George Gurdjieff's lifetime was the Institute for the Harmonic Development of Man, which he founded in France.

In addition, there were groups of Gurdjieff in America. The life of students was subject to a strict schedule. Everyone was assigned to do hard work. When a person mastered it, he was moved to a new position.

After the death of the master, the followers of Gurdjieff organized groups in different parts the world to convey knowledge. There are now several schools in the Fourth Way tradition. Despite the different emphases in teaching, they all pursue the same goal - to know oneself.

It is almost impossible to approach mindfulness without the support of other people. In the classroom, students do exercises and discuss ideas, trying to stay in the present as much as possible.

Previously, it was not easy to get into Gurdjieff's club: he immediately forced him to make huge efforts, which many beginning students could not stand.

It is easier to get into the school now, but its methods are such that if you do not work at the proper level and make efforts in working on yourself, you will not be able to advance on the 4th path.

The school is not some Gurdjieff sect. The members of the group control each other, and resemble a research group, not religious people. Students have no ultimate truth, only points of view supported by personal experience, which they share with each other in order to collect a single picture of the world and the position of man in it.

Groups associated with the Fourth Way exist in almost every major city on all continents. Among them there are those who practice only Gurdjieff dances, there are those who approach ideas mainly from the intellectual side, there are also groups that form a single whole all over the world. The Gurdjieff Center in Moscow is one of them.

Literary works of Gurdjieff

Gurdjieff's three books are best known: "Beelzebub's stories to his grandson", "Meetings with wonderful people” and the unfinished book “Life is real only when I am.”

G.I. Gurdjieff suggested mastering the “Everything and Everything” cycle in exactly this order, reading each text three times in order to understand what was written.

Usually we read books almost automatically, so we quickly forget their content, but when studying this literature, maximum efforts must be made.

Gurdjieff's philosophy becomes practical only if we try to apply it, the study of theory alone is not enough.

Georgy Gurzhiev, a quote that many pseudo-esoteric schools now use, created a simple and at the same time the greatest system for human development. But we won't be able to use this method if we don't make enough effort. The simplest rules are the hardest to follow. Therefore, if we want to try to work with the system, we need the support and help of like-minded people.

To understand what Gurdjieff meant, the statements from his books will have to be tested in practice. Many of the metaphors are taken from the ancient esoteric knowledge that Gurdjieff studied. He learned about the wagon from the Sufis.

Only in practice will you be able to perceive the ideas of the system as real things, and not abstract philosophical concepts.

For beginners, it's best to start with In Search of the Miraculous. It was written by P. D. Uspensky, a student of Gurdjieff, who had no equal in the skill of expounding the principles of the system. Subsequently, he founded his school in the tradition of the Fourth Way in England.

If you want to know more about the practical side of the system, read books and articles about Gurdjieff. Big stuff for thought is presented in the works of J.G. Bennett, Ch.S. Notta, M. Anderson.

Paying for Mindfulness: Gurdjieff on Money

Once Gurdjieff said about money: “Nothing shows a person so well as his attitude towards money. People are ready to spend as much as they like on their personal fantasies, but they do not appreciate the work of others at all. Payment, whether it be money or giving up pleasant habits, allows you to develop further.

“People don’t appreciate a thing they didn’t pay for.”

“Pay is the principle. The payment is necessary not to the school, but to the students themselves, because without payment they will receive nothing. The idea of a fee is very important, and it must be understood that a fee is absolutely necessary. It is possible to pay one way or another, and everyone must find out for himself. But no one can get something they haven't paid for. Things cannot be given, they can only be bought. It's magical, not simple. If someone has knowledge, he cannot give it to another person, for only if a person pays for it can he have it. This is a cosmic law."

“Pay is the most important principle in the work, and this must be understood. Without payment, you can't get anything. But, as a rule, we want something for nothing, and that's why we have nothing. If we really decided to strive for this kind of knowledge - or even for a very small thing - and we would strive for it, not paying attention to everything else, we would get it. This is a very important question. We say we want knowledge, but we don't really want it. We will pay for something else, but we are not ready to pay for this, and therefore we get nothing as a result.”

Gurdjieff's letter to his daughter

Dushka Howarth, daughter of Georgy Ivanovich, did a lot to pass on her father's archives to the next generations and preserve it musical works. At 70, she learned to use a computer to publish a book of memoirs about him.

Gurdjieff's advice helped her all her life. 63 short instructions that can change the life of anyone if applied correctly.

Concentrate your attention on yourself.
Be aware at any moment of what you think, feel, desire or do.
Always finish what you started.
Do what you do as well as possible.
Don't get attached to things that can later destroy you.
Show your generosity without witnesses.
Treat everyone as if they were your next of kin.
Fix everything you messed up.
Learn to receive and give thanks for every gift.
Stop your self-protective behavior.
Do not cheat, do not steal - in doing so, you will cheat and steal from yourself.
Help those around you without making them dependent on you.
Don't take up too much space.
Don't make noise or make unnecessary gestures.
If you don't have faith yet, imitate it.
Do not be easily impressed by the influence of strong personalities.
Don't grab anything or anyone.
Distribute fairly.
Don't tempt.
Eat and sleep exactly as much as necessary.
Don't talk about your personal problems.
Don't judge or discriminate until you know all the basic facts.
Don't make useless friendships.
Don't follow general trends.
Don't sell yourself.
Respect the agreements you sign.
Be punctual.
Do not envy someone else's property and achievements.
Talk only about what is necessary.
Do not think about the benefits that your actions can bring you.
Don't threaten.
Keep your promises.
In an argument, always put yourself in the place of others.
Recognize when someone is superior to you.
Get over your fears.
Help others to become able to help themselves.
Get over your feelings of dislike and be close to those you wish to reject.
Change your pride into self-esteem.
Change your anger into creativity and creation.
Change your greed into a reverence for beauty.
Change your envy into admiration for the virtues of others.
Change your hatred into mercy.
Do not praise, but do not insult yourself.
Take care of what is not yours as well as your own.
Don't complain, don't complain to yourself.
Develop your imagination.
Do not give orders to others just for the pleasure of submission.
Pay for the work and services you get.
Do not promote your work and ideas.
Do not try to awaken in others in relation to yourself such feelings as: pity, sympathy, admiration, complicity.
Don't try to stand out with your appearance.
Never contradict, just remain silent.
Do not get into debt, buy and pay immediately.
If you offended in public, apologize publicly.
When you notice your mistake in a conversation, do not insist on being right out of a sense of pride and immediately abandon your previous intentions.
Do not defend your old ideas just because you have already proclaimed them.
Don't keep useless things.
Don't decorate yourself with other people's ideas.
Don't take pictures with celebrities.
Be your own judge.
Don't characterize yourself by what you have.
Realize that everything belongs to you.
If you meditate and the Devil comes to you, make the Devil meditate too.

Practicing the Fourth Way Today

If you decide for yourself:

that you don't want to be a mechanical machine,
that you want to live and not function on the stimulus-response principle,
want to know yourself, your functions and the world around you deeper and more objectively,
bring the light of consciousness and awareness into your existence,

then you have the opportunity to start learning the Fourth Way in a practice group today.

The practical group of the Fourth Way is students who practice Gurdjieff's teaching about the Fourth Way, an objective picture of the world and the position of a person in it.

They share perspectives on Fourth Way ideas, backed up by personal experience, for the purpose of self-discovery and awakening from sleep, putting the pieces together.

“You don't understand your position. You are in jail. All you can want - if you can feel - is to run, to break out of it. But how can you run? It is necessary to dig a passage under the wall. One person cannot do anything. But suppose there are ten or twenty such people - if they work in turns and if one covers the other, they will be able to complete the passage and escape.

“No one will be able to escape from prison without the help of those who escaped before. Only they can tell how it is possible to arrange an escape, only they can hand over the tools - files or something else that may be needed. But one prisoner will not be able to find these people, to come into contact with them. Organization needed. Nothing can be achieved without organization.”

January 14, 2010

“You ask about the purpose of the exercises. Each position of the body corresponds to a certain internal state. On the other hand, each internal state corresponds to a certain posture. A person in his life uses a certain set of habitual postures, and he moves from one to another without stopping in an intermediate position.
Adopting a new, unusual posture allows you to internally look at yourself in a new way. By practicing movement, a person can feel that a special alchemical process is taking place inside him, which cannot be grasped by rational thought or encountered in everyday life.
G.I. Gurdjieff.

About Gurdjieff Movements

Special dances that develop consciousness have been used since ancient times in the spiritual traditions of Tibet, North Africa and Central Asia. George Ivanovich Gurdjieff brought this tradition to European man. The ingenious legacy of Gurdjieff is a wonderful gift to everyone who wants to work on themselves and see real results this work.

What gives a person the practice of Gurdjieff movements? Harmonization of the energies of the body and entry into the state of presence, harmony between the body, mind and feelings, a state of relaxation and alertness at the same time.

Video from Deborah Rose's workshop in May

Gurdjieff movements develop the following qualities in a person:

Concentration: Difficulties with concentration are one of the main problems of modern man. The inability to concentrate on our goal for a while is the main reason why we do not achieve what we want. Gurdjieff dances - the fastest and effective method development of concentration.

Integrity: modern man is subject to numerous energy-informational influences that lead him away from achieving his true goals, deprive him of energy, emotional balance and health. The development of wholeness through Gurdjieff's movements makes a person invulnerable to such influences.

Mindfulness: presence in the moment "here and now" develops an objective vision of things, helps a person to be more effective in everything he does. Gurdjieff dances destroy the mechanicalness of the body, mind and emotions that prevents the state of awareness.

Will: the ability to resist circumstances, which makes a person the master of his own destiny.

Through sequences of focused movements performed in silence or accompanied by specially composed music, the participants have the opportunity to experience feelings never experienced in everyday life.

These dances are also called "meditation with open eyes". The external form of each movement is "mathematically" painted from beginning to end. Dance geometry and universal laws are the background for individual search. Reliance on habits, reflexes and symmetry is minimal here. The movements of your arms, legs and head should be combined with each other in rhythms independent of each other.

Only balanced in three centers: body, mind and emotions - the state enables practitioners to penetrate into the deeper layers of presence, to come into contact with an objective law or quality transmitted through movement, to gain a new understanding of themselves and the world. Such work is designed to free a person from the trap of his usual automatisms to act, think, feel.

Our hibernation and slavery express themselves in the automatisms and limitations of our feelings and thoughts. These manifestations are closely related to the automatisms of our movements and postures. It's a vicious circle. Conversely, our usual limited set of movements will keep us within the boundaries of a growth-inhibiting routine: a way of feeling, seeing life, thinking. We do not realize how closely related to each other are our three functions - motor, emotional and mental. They depend on each other. They flow from each other. Nothing changes without changing the rest. The position of our body is external reflection our emotions and thoughts. An emotional change, such as a sudden release from anxiety, will immediately affect the way we stand, the depth of our breathing, the movements of our eyes, and so on. Each position of the body corresponds to a certain internal space. Each internal space corresponds to a certain posture. In our life we have a certain number of habitual movements and postures, quite limited in relation to the huge potential of the body, and we most time we move through them without awareness. Assuming new, unfamiliar positions gives us the opportunity to observe ourselves in a different way than is normally possible. The Gurdjieff Dances break the circle of automatisms by including unusual movements and their sequences

Why do Gurdjieff movements?

For a really deep contact with our body in its totality.
To establish new neurological connections between the right and left hemispheres of the brain.
Find a balance between the male and female polarities within us.
Strengthen our center, anti-stress protection, learning to remember yourself during activity.
Exceed limits on three levels: physical, emotional and intellectual, and thus restore inner respect and dignity.
open top quality presence.
To develop three centers whose vibrations are in harmony with each other.
To bring distance with our emotions, and at the same time live passionately and totally.
To bring out our inner struggle between "I have to" and "I can't".
Forgive yourself for your mistakes and creatively learn from them.
For the joy it brings...

During the workshop you:

See within yourself those groups of I that are your weaknesses, and you can replace mechanical reactions with conscious actions.

Learn to use negative emotions as a resource to achieve the goal.
Get the experience of turning on the resources of both hemispheres of the brain through the body.
Develop your memory.
Develop the ability to concentrate and be present as much as possible.

Gurdjieff dances provide an opportunity to get to know ourselves in the present through the realization of what we are not. It is no secret that there is a difference between how we present ourselves, how others perceive us, and how what we REALLY are.

This workshop provides an opportunity to separate one from the other.

Perhaps for the first time we will see those illusions about ourselves that we previously considered true.
Deepen your being level and get a rich experience of impressions.
Direct the energy of intention to achieve your goal.
You can feel your emotions more clearly.
Develop the ability to see your body from the side, separating from it.
The coordination of movements will increase, even if you are a professional athlete or dancer.
Cultivate will.
Expand your attention, develop concentration.
Experience what it means to be both relaxed and alert at the same time.
Increase the speed of interaction with the proposed circumstances through the development of the intensity of attention.
Expand the scope of your attention, develop observation and concentration.
Get a method of observing the mind, stopping the chaotic movement of thoughts.
You will see the masks and fears of your personality, and you will begin to separate from them.
Cleanse yourself of past grievances stuck in your heart.
Penetrate your attention into the essence in which your true desires and the path of self-realization.
Get answers to your questions from within.
You will reveal the secret of the correct interaction between personality and essence. etc

George Ivanovich Gurdjieff

In most major cities in Europe, America, South America, you can find groups of people studying the ideas and practical techniques given by George Ivanovich Gurdjieff. Gurdjieff groups generally shun publicity, do not proselytize, are relatively invisible in the world, and lead ordinary lives of intense inner work.

Unusual person, the "cunning sage" as he is called, Gurdjieff devoted his life to the study of eastern esoteric teachings and the transmission of knowledge of theory and practice in a form adequate to thinking western man. We know relatively little about him. The specific influences and sources of his teaching remain as mysterious as those of another "Man of Knowledge", Don Juan.

He was born in 1872 in Alexandropol, in the region of the Caucasus, to a Greek father and an Armenian mother. As a boy, he becomes a student of the rector of the Russian cathedral which greatly influenced its development.

According to Gurdjieff, his 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.

The city of Kars, where he lived, located between the Black and Caspian Seas, was the birthplace of many peoples, faiths, cultures. Already in adolescence Gurdjieff plunged into the atmosphere of a great mixture of cultures. Followers of Christian, Armenian, Assyrian, Islamic and even Zoroastrian traditions lived here. Already in his youth, he came into contact with the holy of holies of almost all secret organizations - religious, philosophical, occult, mystical, political.

He absorbed a lot, especially from Christian monastic sources. Later, he always emphasized the importance of esoteric Christianity. He knew well the Christian ritual and practices, ancient symbolism, liturgy. He was familiar with the technique of rhythmic breathing and mental prayers used in monasteries.

However, despite joining a variety of religious traditions, in which he grew up, he did not find the answer to the basic questions that he asked himself. He goes in search of knowledge.

With a group of friends who called themselves "seekers of Truth", at the age of 16 he went to the East, on a three-year journey through Central Asia, then reaches Ethiopia, the Solomon Islands. During the trip, he learns, gets acquainted with many traditions. The masters of the esoteric Islamic orders had a particularly great influence on his formation.

It was the Sufi teachings that became the source on the basis of which his Teaching was largely created.

The central symbol of Gurdjieff's work is an enneogram of Sufi origin. Many sacred Sufi dances are performed as meditations in Gurdjieff's schools.

In the teachings of Gurdjieff, other esoteric influences can also be traced - this is the Buddhism of Tibet.

He lived in Tibet for more than 10 years. Here he develops enormous psychic spiritual powers, which is especially valued in Tibet. According to some reports, he was a mentor to the little Dalai Lama, and held important financial positions under the Tibetan authorities.

Very little is known about this period of his life in Tibet and Central Asia, which covers the beginning of 1890 and continues until 1910. It is known that he conducted research, studied the most ancient texts. He conducted his searches in Lamaism and the practice of Lamaism, in tekkas, monasteries where ancient knowledge was preserved, studied Siberian shamanism.

Obviously, as a result of all these searches, studies, practices, a single view of the world, a synthesis of knowledge, has arisen. Gradually, he became aware of his mission: to bring this knowledge about the "horror of the situation", as he said, and possible ways out of it into the Western world.

Next milestone in his biography is 1915, when he first appears in Russia as a Teacher - in the cities of St. Petersburg and Moscow.

In St. Petersburg, he meets with Peter Uspensky. Ouspensky himself had just returned from a journey in search of true esoteric knowledge and was surprised to find that the purpose of his search was on his own. native land, in his hometown.

He describes his first meeting with Gurdjieff in In Search of the Miraculous as follows: "I saw a man oriental type, middle-aged, with a black mustache and penetrating eyes. It was a man with the face of an Indian raja or an Arab sheikh. He spoke Russian incorrectly, with a strong Caucasian accent...".

Ouspensky assembled a group of followers who worked with Gurdjieff until the revolution. He spoke with his students about the relationship of man with the universe, about the levels of consciousness, death and immortality, the possibility of self-realization.

One of his early students describes this period as follows: Russia in 1917 was torn apart by war and revolution. Gurdjieff was an unknown "mystery man." No one knew about his origin and why he appeared in both Moscow and St. Petersburg, but whoever came into contact with him wanted to follow him."

A group of his students leave Russia, make an intricate journey on foot through the mountains to Tiflis. Here he collects new group and worked with her for several years, but when the revolution reached Georgia, they crossed the border, reached Constantinople, then Berlin, and finally, after several years of hardship, Paris. Here Gurdjieff decided to settle down, for a year he collected the money necessary for the acquisition of the Château de Avon near Fontainebleau, where he founded the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man.

10 years from 1923 to 1933 were spent on hard work with students at the Institute; during this time Gurdjieff tested and tested the system of teaching, self-observation, practical exercises.

Whoever came to study with him could be sure that constant and intense effort would be required of him. The time spent in the "Prier", as the castle was called, was seen as an opportunity to develop self-awareness.

It was a period of intense work that included demonstrations and lectures in Europe and America. It was interrupted by a serious accident - car accident, after which Gurdjieff miraculously survived.

This event brought a new direction to his work. He started writing three big books. They were written to solve the following major problems facing humanity:

ruthlessly destroy the faith and views that have been rooted in the consciousness for centuries about everything that exists in the world;
to acquaint the reader with the material necessary for new creativity;
help the emergence of a true idea of the world, replacing the fantastic, illusory that exists now. Give an idea of the real world.

These are books " Everything and everyone", "Meeting wonderful people" And " Life is true only when I am".

In the first book, Gurdjieff comments on the life of modern man through the gaze of a cosmic being who has flown to Earth. This work is an encyclopedic commentary answering most important issues facing humanity.

In the second book, he tells his story of the search for truth, recalls his mentors and unusual people whom he met in his wanderings in search of esoteric knowledge.

In the third, an account is given of personal development, describing special practices that develop awareness of "oneself".

In 1933 another book was written " Herald of good things to come", presenting the ideas on which Gurdjieff's work is based, and describing the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man.

From 1933 to 1949, a new phase of his activity took place. He closes the Institute, travels everywhere, creates new groups in some American cities.

By the time of his death, in 1949, he had several hundred students, mainly in New York and Paris. Now the number of followers of his teachings is in the thousands.

The philosophical teaching of Gurdjieff contains many classical esoteric ideas, but a number of his own ideas are particularly original, these are:

illusion belief ordinary life;
the idea of the correlation of the microcosmic plane with the macrocosmic;
recognition of the special role of the Moon in the cosmic evolution of mankind;
division of man into four bodies;
the doctrine of the centers, their manifested or unmanifested functioning;
the doctrine of types human personality;
features of a person's mental work on himself;
the idea of the "Ray of Creation";
an increase in the number of laws that materiality obeys as it moves away from the Absolute;
the subordination of the evolution of the Universe to the law of the octave.

According to Gurdjieff, man lives in a very insignificant place in the universe. The planet is governed by many mechanical laws that impede the self-realization of man. Inner growth is not easy to achieve; great attention and great efforts are required from a person. And although a person has the opportunity to increase the level of his consciousness and, consequently, being, it is incredibly difficult for him to realize this alone. Work on oneself, according to the teachings of Gurdjieff, is individual and experimental. Nothing should be taken for granted unless proven by personal experience.

On the "Fourth Way" - this is how Gurdjieff called his teaching - a person must assert himself. The method of self-development that he taught is an attempt to free a person from the burden of laws that affect his development.

He argued: one of the important laws of development is related to the spiritual impulse, i.e. For spiritual development personality needs additional influence from the Teacher or the group.

He spoke of the law of three, which he called the basic law concerning all events - always and everywhere. This law says that every manifestation is the result of three forces: active, passive and neutral. This law - the basis of any creativity - is reflected in many world religions.

As a result of this law, working on oneself is not reading books. Threefold effort is needed: active - the Master, passive - the student, neutral - the group. But he who craves knowledge must himself make the first effort to find true knowledge and approach it.

Knowledge cannot come to people without their own efforts, he said. "An organization is needed, it is necessary to work in a group and with the help of someone who has already been liberated before. Only such a person can suggest what the path of liberation is. exact knowledge, the instructions of those who have already walked the path, and it is necessary to use them together.

The esoteric truth of Gurdjieff's teaching is addressed primarily to man himself and only through him to the outside world.

This teaching allows you to take a critical look at yourself and the world, try to understand the worldview of another person, think seriously about the fundamental issues of being.

Sacred movements of Gurdjieff

"Remember yourself," said Mr. Gurdjieff, "come back to yourself." This, he argued, is essential, otherwise, our movements, thoughts, emotions are mainly the result of our conditioning: family, social, educational, religious. "Man is a prison" - said Mr. Gurdjieff. Thus, there is a challenge for a human being - to develop consciousness in order to get out of the animal state and conditioning. Our only possibility is in searching: searching for ourselves with sincerity, passion and humor. And we need help. Not just intellectual knowledge, but also something that involves the physical and emotional parts of our being.

We can all see that we are capable of driving a car, smoking a cigarette, cooking, thinking, feeling, talking, moving, working without realizing it. The forces of self-forgetting are strong. The temptation to "be passive" is especially powerful. It's comfortable. We so easily allow ourselves to be distracted, manipulated, put to sleep. Everything in Mr. Gurdjieff's work is very practical; he clearly proclaimed the importance of the body and physical work in the transmission of his teachings. And this importance he attached to the Dances, with a specific approach, such as Gurdjieff's Movements.
It is possible to grow towards a higher and more balanced state of consciousness and towards a sense of presence and a sense of being. The method is described quite simply: moving, dancing, remember yourself.

G. Gurdjieff talked about the "double arrow" phenomenon: on the one hand, attention is directed outward - to the form of movements, to the rhythm of the music, to others dancing around us and a slight tendency to compare and condemn, etc. On the other hand, the arrow is directed inward - back to our center, to the source of movement, to internal energies, which move us, back to the source of any function, such as breathing, watching, moving.
We are looking for a balance "one eye in, the other eye out", as Mr. Gurdjieff said. Thus we can be in the activity of our life without ever losing ourselves.

SOURCES OF DANCES

When Mr. Gurdjieff was about twenty years old, he embarked on a twenty-year spiritual journey that took him to Egypt, the eastern Mediterranean, Afghanistan, Turkey, Central Asia, India, Tibet, and the Gobi Desert. He visited many esoteric schools, temples, monasteries and discovered that much of the eternal wisdom, true knowledge and understanding of humanity and nature has been preserved and transmitted through music and dance. These Dances, with a variety of movements and postures similar to the alphabet, could be read like a book by those who could read and interpret them.
IN Sacred Movements Gurdjieff we strictly reproduce these movements as conveyed by Mr. Gurdjieff through his students (such as Mr. Bennett) and we use the music that he and Thomas de Hartmann created for each Dance. IN total about two hundred Movements (Dances)!

DANCE EFFECT

One of the goals of this process is to open the "presence of the being" by bringing into a new balance the three centers: physical, emotional and mental. And a new order of their functioning. It is clear that the main instrument is the physical center. We use it not as simply as in gymnastics, developing joint mobility, stretching muscles, and so on.
These Dances also enliven inner fire, the deep longing of the heart that the Sufis speak of, the courage to keep going into the depths and the refusal to give up. Therefore, whatever we learn by practicing these Dances, we learn for our everyday life.

In addition, Movements often include counting, words, phrases that trigger the part of the mind that supports the process, that part of the mind has no chance to evade the Here and Now. If she dodges, an error in movement is immediately manifested. Thus, we learn through mistakes. Therefore, the Mind is not condemned, but is more involved with its rationality and clarity in the work together with the Body and the Heart.
Another goal is to create a distance from body sensations, emotions and moods, thoughts and thought associations: to learn to control them instead of being enslaved by them.

Gurdjieff's Sacred Movements help participants become "masters of themselves", bringing them more and more into a space of calm and inner peace. We also learn to move at the same time relaxed and fast, and not relaxed and lazy, and not fast and tense.
You need to be able to release the state of tension at any moment, which appears, for example, with an overabundance of desire, excitement of the mind, anxiety. We learn to move out of relaxation, keeping the question alive; "How can I move out of stillness without disturbing it?", even by doing such energetic dances as the Dervish Dances, And we also learn to remain inwardly actively present by performing slow repetitive movements that require a lot of focused precision, such as the Om Circle.
This is a kind of meeting of Yin and Yang, male and female principles that will radiate into our lives. This relaxed alertness can open us up to the synergy of the different qualities of energy that moves through our bodies. In all my life as a dancer, no other approach has ever given me such a blissful feeling, with my body being a living channel for subtle and very pleasant energies to flow.
Accepting all these energies, standing between heaven and earth, we become the meeting point of two worlds, the human and the other, from which the highest energy comes.

The dance then takes on a completely different meaning; you become an instrument of universal energy. Moving along this path through music, dance and self-observation is a movement towards a more total and complete life.
/Amiyo Devienne/

Similar information.

The sacred dances and movements of Gurdjieff are a wonderful gift for everyone who wants to work on themselves. The exercises and dances known as the Sacred Dances of Gurdjieff were collected by George Ivanovich Gurdjieff during his twenty years of wanderings in Egypt, Turkey, Tibet, India, Assyria, Greece, Russia and other countries of Europe and Central Asia in temples and monasteries.

Psychologist, philosopher, scientist, traveler, choreographer, teacher and mystic, founder of the doctrine of the “Fourth Way” of the inner realization of a person. Russia, Georgy Ivanovich Gurdjieff was born on November 28, 1877 in Alexandropol (since 1924 - Leninakan) in Armenia in a mixed Armenian-Greek family. He spent his childhood years in Kars, was a student of the rector of the Russian Cathedral, who had a great influence on Gurdjieff. Although he never received a systematic secondary education, he knew several languages from childhood.

Searching for answers to " eternal questions” led him to the creation of the doctrine of the “fourth way” of the internal realization of man. Travels and wanderings (1896-1922), first as part of small group"Seekers of Truth", then as a wanderer, teacher and emigrant.

According to Gurdjieff, in ancient times Movements occupied important place in Asian art. They were also used in Africa and far east in sacred gymnastics, sacred dances and religious ceremonies. The seekers of truth, whose group included archaeologists and specialists in Eastern religions, have established that this sacred gymnastics has been preserved in certain parts Central Asia in particular, in the territory from Tashkent to Chinese Turkestan.

Gurdjieff's Sacred Movements help participants become "masters of themselves" by bringing them more and more into a space of calm and inner peace. We also learn to move at the same time relaxed and fast, and not relaxed and lazy, and not fast and tense.

You need to be able to release the state of tension at any moment, which appears, for example, with an overabundance of desire, excitement of the mind, anxiety. We learn to move out of relaxation, keeping the question alive; "How can I move out of stillness without breaking it?", even by doing such vigorous dances as the Dervish Dances, And we also learn to remain inwardly actively present by doing slow repetitive movements that require a lot of focused precision, such as the Om Circle.

This is a kind of meeting of Yin and Yang, male and female principles that will radiate into our lives. This relaxed alertness can open us up to the synergy of the different qualities of energy that moves through our bodies. In all my life as a dancer, no other approach has ever given me such a blissful feeling, with my body being a living channel for subtle and very pleasant energies to flow.
Accepting all these energies, standing between heaven and earth, we become the meeting point of two worlds, the human and the other, from which the highest energy comes.