Read Again
Context and the question who and what the books and records are for.
Continuing from the post Magnetism and Love.
For full citations of sources, please see Introduction and Bibliography.
Gurdjieff and his direct pupils leave us a lot of written material, among other things. It is true that merely reading this material, and thinking about them with the ordinary mind,1 will at best simply give a theoretical grounding on which to base practical work, especially with others. Yet Gurdjieff himself seems to indicate, in his first series, at least, that just by reading his writings in the right way, something can truly change in the reader.2
There are, however, a number of other seemingly important texts – both transcriptions of talks and conversations of Gurdjieff, and certain writings by and transcriptions of his pupils’ talks and of question and answer sessions. Should we simply view these as of passing interest, or is their study an integral part of the process of increasing our understanding of Gurdjieff’s teaching, both theoretically and practically? When studied alongside and with the guidance of Gurdjieff’s own works, and taking the latter as of primary importance, this secondary literature can help shed much light.
In a few other posts, I have defended the collecting together of bits and pieces to form a whole,3 which activity seems especially useful in examining themes. Fragments are what we are constantly working with, to which we apply the action of pondering, which brings them into alignment with each other, to gradually form a new whole. Deciphering, or at least attempts to decipher, is needed.4 We have the gold standard of Gurdjieff’s writings, especially the first series, as the foundation for pondering the ideas of his teaching. Thus we can be guided in our further explorations, for example, from transcriptions of the wartime meetings and others, as well as recollections and expositions of his direct pupils. One could also say that with that foundation of reading, re-reading and pondering Gurdjieff’s writing, coupled with practical application of his ideas with others, we can develop a flair5 for new acquisition and formation of real knowledge in all spheres of life.