My End is My Beginning
I wrote the last words of the old Gurdjieff Internet Guide in May 2005.
The objective that I had when beginning, on August the 7th 2002, of putting Gurdjieff properly on the internet, had in my view taken place since 2002; most of the so called 'official organisations' had their own web sites (as also do those that are 'unofficial').
I also achieved my own objective, which was 'getting some distance to Gurdjieff', who has occupied my life for such a long time. This does not mean that he would be less important for my 'inner work', on the contrary, his teachings have become more alive for me during this time and the work continues in ars sacra Life Workshop (see notes right column).
One of the sayings attributed to Gurdjieff as his last words are: "I leave you all in a fine mess". I used to think that what he meant was the state of the "Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man". Today I am in doubt: could he have meant "I leave you all in a mess in relation to your very own harmonious development"?
The attempts to reconcile and bring together the different Gurdjieff, Ouspensky, Nicoll, Bennett etc groupings were quite succesful. However, some continued on their own without the support of a global organisation. This could be also said in another way: the global organisation continued without the support of the groups that remained outside.
The above two gravestones are in the Royal Cemetery in Geneva; Jeanne de Salzmann was of the Swiss Allemand family. How she and her son with Mr. Gurdjieff, Michel de Salzmann are buried in this cemetery is unknown to me, but perhaps it has something to with her 70 year service to the Gurdjieff work having become recognised and honoured in this way by someone in a position of authority.
The International Association of the Gurdjieff Foundations was initiated by the Foundations in Paris, London, New York and Caracas (which were established on the direct instructions of Mr. Gurdjieff). The aim of the Association is to preserve the essence, the specificity and the integrity of all aspects of Gurdjieff´s teaching.
I am sure that the IAGF (link above), its leaders and associates all know that to preserve a spiritual teaching is possible only with relationships to the world we live in, above and below; these relationships can help the teaching to change with the times. What does not move is dead, but Spirituality is not something dead, it moves and it changes according to the needs of time.
In Beelzebub´s Tales Gurdjieff writes that "time is the Ideally-Unique-Subjective-Phenomenen"; perhaps the time has come that this can be understood!
In his recently published book George Jeffery writes:
"While I am very aware of the necessity of maintaining the purity of the teaching, it is pointless to preserve ideas for future generations by wrapping them in cotton wool when the very existence of those generations is gravely in doubt."
This puts two questions:
Is Gurdjieff’s teaching for this world?
Or is it just for the few people who are in the official organisations?
© Reijo Oksanen 2007
Links
The Links are not updated at the moment. This section will be co-ordinated with the work carried on the web site of www.fourthway.info. Please submit your links to Fourthway.info.
Events
It is easy for any group or person to insert their own Events to the site; the program works well without a knowledge of the web languages. I will get copies of your entries and check them!
About ars sacra
ars sacra Life Workshop was started three years ago (2002) in Stettfurt, Thurgau, Switzerland. I joined it in April last year (2004) when moving from Denmark to Switzerland.
What has ars sacra Life Workshop to do with Gurdjieff and the Fourth Way? First of all G. I Gurdjieff has been and is today one of the strongest influences in the lives of Agnes Hidveghy, who started ars sacra with five other members of its 'Nucleus', and in my own life.
We are not 'Gurdjieffian' in the sense that we would belong to any other official or unofficial organisations related to the Gurdjieff work today.
ars sacra Life Workshop has its web site in both German and English at www.arssacra.org.
Agnes Hidveghy has now her own website under work and available at www.agneshidveghy.net
Apart from GIG my work on the world wide web continues from now on at the following web addresses:
- www.arssacra.org German, English
- www.agneshidveghy.net German
- www.prayerofheart.com English & Finnish
Amden, updated 6th of June 2008 Reijo Oksanen
Reijo Oksanen - Eating Out
Amden 29th of December 2007
This month (February 2007) the number of Fourth Way contacts passed the 600 mark. Have you already registered or found your contact?
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NEW
Articles
Will Mesa: A One Thousand and One Words Review Of Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson
There is no question that the author, from his very first word, strives merciless in order to fulfill the purpose of his book.
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Reijo Oksanen: Gurdjieff Internet Guide
An article about the outer and the inner aim of GIG.
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Reijo Oksanen:Interview with Colin Wilson
A short cut inteview in which I tried to find out about Colin Wilson and his role in connection with the teachings of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky.
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Will Mesa: Hadji-Asvatz-Troov and the Feeling of Pity
“Gurdjieff: Excuse me, but you could have done something. You could have given something to nourish them. Not literally, but you could have seen to it that they had something to eat."
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Gurdjieff, George Ivanovitch: Eight Meetings in Paris 1943, 1944, 1946
You must educate your body with your head, consciously. It isvery simple. Never allow it to do what it wants. You make it do everything contrary to that which it loves. It likes sugar; you do not give it any.
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Oksanen, Reijo:
Walking High
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Hidveghy, Agnes:
Geben
«Wer ein Egoist ist, der gibt gern. ...Und ich gebe sehr gerne» hat meine Mutter einmal gesagt. In den letzten Jahren ihres Lebens hatte sie uns Kindern fast unbemerkt alles, das Wert hatte, Stück für Stück verschenkt.
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Gurdjieff, George Ivanovitch: Symbolism
The formula "Know thyself" is in this respect full of the profoundest meaning -it is one of the symbols of the knowledge of truth.
Added 5 Jun 2007
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