Offers information and stories about Gurdjieff, setting him within the cultural and social contexts of America between 1924 and 1935.

A New Conception of God: Further Reflections on Gurdjieff?s Whim continues the thread that was introduced in the previous volume[, Reflections on Gurdjieff's Whim]. In this 314 page volume, bountiful with full color, exquisite illustrations, Buzzell shares his unending pursuit of ?fathoming the gist? G.I. Gurdjieff?s three series of writings under the title of All and Everything, with an emphasis on the first series, Beelzebub?s Tales to His Grandson. Included with the book, is an eightpage fold-out of key illustrations which can be a substantial aide for the reader to navigate through the concepts. In every long thought, Buzzell pursues the implications of current scientific discoveries in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, evolutional biology and cosmology, revealing the vastness of Gurdjieff?s vision of the potential evolution of three-brained beings: we humans on the planet Earth. Buzzell examines Gurdjieff?s concept of Conscience, exploring the implications of its involvement in all parts of one?s being, with emphasis on the relationship betweenConscience with Reason. He takes up the perennial question of war, focusing on its origins within the subconscious. He goes deep into the interstices of the power of the survival impulse in all our three ?brains? or centers: body, feeling, thinking and identifies their essential qualities whichshed light on the mechanics of egoism. Buzzell responds to Gurdjieff?s injunction to comprehend the essential difference between sensing and feeling, giving a convincing and clarifying account of the biology of these two distinct experiences, as well as their ancient sources. Throughout, a symbol is employed, A Symbol of the Cosmos and its Laws, which visually organizes the complex notions of levels in Gurdjieff?s concept, the ?Ray of Creation,? as well as many other concepts such as the significance of the digestion of food, air and impressions. With this symbol, Buzzell helps us to see the intrinsic lawfulness of all events and processes. The book culminates with a chapter, the title of which gives a taste of its magnitude: ?Attention (H12), the Greatest Gift to Life; The Power to Pursue Meaning and Purpose.?

From a master biographer and longtime Gurdjieff practitioner, a brilliant new exploration of the quintessential Western esoteric teacher of the twentieth-century. The Greek-Armenian teacher G.I. Gurdjieff was one of the most original and provocative spiritual teachers in the twentieth-century West. Whereas much work on Gurdjieff has been either fawning or blindly critical, acclaimed scholar and writer Lipsey balances sympathetic interest in Gurdjieff and his "Fourth Way" teachings with a historian's sense of context and a biographer's feel for personality and relationships. Using a wide range of published and unpublished sources, Lipsey explores Gurdjieff's formative travels in Central Asia, his famed teaching institution in France, the development of the Gurdjieff Movements and music, and, above all, Gurdjieff's fascinating continuous evolution as a teacher. Published on the 70th anniversary of Gurdjieff's death, Gurdjieff Reconsidered delves deeply into Gurdjieff's writings and those of his most important students, including P. D. Ouspensky and Jeanne de Salzmann. Lipsey's comprehensive approach and unerring sense of the subject make this a must-read for anyone with a serious intention to explore Gurdjieff's life, teachings, and reputation.

Beyond Meetings with Remarkable Men into the truth behind the self-crafted mythology of Gurdjieff’s life • Reveals evidence that Gurdjieff was a secret Freemason, relying on hypnotism, psychic research and spiritualism • Explores the profound influence of the Yezidis, esoteric Christianity, and the “gnostics” of Islam, the Sufis, on Gurdjieff’s Fourth Way teachings and the “Work” • Uncovers the truth behind Gurdjieff’s relations with Aleister Crowley • Accurately dates Gurdjieff’s real activities, particularly his enigmatic early life In November 1949, architect Frank Lloyd Wright announced the death of “the greatest man in the world,” yet few knew who he was talking about. Enigmatic, misunderstood, declared a charlatan, and recently dubbed “the Rasputin who inspired Mary Poppins,” Gurdjieff’s life has become a legend. But who really was George Ivanovich Gurdjieff? Employing the latest research and discoveries, including previously unpublished reminiscences of the real man, Tobias Churton investigates the truth beneath the self-crafted mythology of Gurdjieff’s life recounted in Meetings with Remarkable Men. He examines his controversial birthdate, his father’s background, and his relationship with his private tutor Dean Borshch, revealing a perilous childhood in a Pontic Greek family, persecuted by Turks, forced to migrate to Georgia and Armenia, only to grow up amid more war, persecution, genocide, and revolt. Placing Gurdjieff in the true context of his times, Churton explores Gurdjieff’s roles in esoteric movements taking root in the Russian Empire and in epic imperial construction projects in the Kars Oblast, Transcaucasia, and central Asia. He reveals Gurdjieff’s sources for his transformative philosophy, his early interest in hypnosis, magic, Theosophy, and spiritualism, and the profound influence of the Yezidis and the Sufis, the “gnostics” of Islam, on Gurdjieff’s Fourth Way teachings and the “Work.” Churton also explores Gurdjieff’s ties to Freemasonry and his relationships with other spiritual teachers and philosophers of the age, such as Madame Blavatsky, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Aleister Crowley, dispelling the myth that Gurdjieff forcibly expelled the “Great Beast” from his Institute. Showing how Gurdjieff deliberately re-shaped elements of his life as parables of his system, Churton explains how he didn’t want people to follow his footsteps but to find their own, to wake up from the hypnosis that drives us blindly through life. Offering a vital understanding of the man who asked “How many of you are really alive?” the author reveals the continuing importance of Gurdjieff’s philosophy for the awakening of man.