This is a book that has been greatly needed since Lord Pentland's passing in 1984. Among the many hundreds of pupils whom he served and led as our teacher of the Gurdjieff way, who would write it, who could write it? Madeline Gold has proved able, and more than able. Working as Lord Pentland's secretary for some years, and always his pupil and friend, she was formidably receptive to the wisdom he offered daily through word and incident, all the while remaining strongly her own person - questioning, responding, suffering, maturing. As if there were a cuneiform tablet somewhere in her, it was all marked down and now finds its voice - her clear, uncluttered, astute voice - in these pages. Missing from transcripts of meetings even with great teachers is the immediate perception of their presence, far and away the most important thing at the time. What really was it like to be around such a person? Madeline Gold somehow finds the way. This is what it was like to be around him. A radiant teacher; a radiant book. - Roger Lipsey, author of Gurdjieff Reconsidered

This book explores the life and ideas of the enigmatic twentieth century philosopher, mystic, and teacher of esoteric dances George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff, performing a hermeneutic textual analysis of all his writings to illuminate the place of hypnosis in his teaching. Foreword by J. Walter Driscoll.

David Kherdian tells the uncompromising inside story of his time in the Gurdjieff Work. He describes his interaction with the hierarchy of various groups involved in the Work and tells the story of his own awakening. Kherdian offers a brutally honest account of the confrontations that arise in the spiritual process.

A comprehensive account of the influence of occult beliefs and doctrines on intellectual and cultural life in twentieth-century Russia.