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 The Work
George Ivanovich Gurdjieff, was born in Alexandropol on January 13,1869 to Greek and Armenian parents. His childhood was infused with legends and customs from the distant past. He became convinced that a real knowledge of man and nature had once existed and that its rediscovery was possible.
As a young man, Gurdjieff traveled and studied for years with friends who shared his passion. These “Seekers After Truth” as they called themselves, wandered throughout India, Tibet, Egypt, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Middle East. Overcoming many difficulties, they were able to make contact with isolated communities, monasteries, and holy places. Gurdjieff took what he had learned and put these ideas into practice.
Gurdjieff taught that man in his ordinary state had minimal self awareness, living in a waking sleep. Man could be seen as simply a complex machine responding to external influences. In the past, one would retreat from life to study such ideas by following the ways of the Monk, the Yogi, or the Fakir. In Gurdjieff’s teaching, often called “The Fourth Way” one begins the study of oneself in the midst of ordinary life. His work involved self observation and exercises that engaged the whole man; that is the mind, body and emotions.
In 1910 Gurdjieff returned to Russia to teach what he had learned. During the Russian Revolution, he moved to France to establish the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man in Fontainebleau-Avon.
In various regions of the world today, the legacy of his teaching continues through groups of people “working” together.
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