Discovering Gurdjieff
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Product Description
Product Description
This book is very valuable. Today, there are too many books on the Work that are either deliberately impersonal and as a result are just a re-explaining of basic ideas which are already there in Ouspensky. Or else, the purely subjective 'what I felt, what I experienced'. Dorothy strikes a good balance, because the subjective experience in this context is the ground through which precious memories of the Work in its early and soon-to-be forgotten period can be shared. Peter Brook (Author, Film and Theatre Director) "Discovering Gurdjieff" is more than just a memoir, it is an at times painfully honest account of one woman's quest to find answers to the questions that troubled her from an early age, and ultimately to discover a philosophy of life by which she might live. Along the way, she examines various religions, but it is not until her introduction to Gurdjieff's work through the 1941 lectures of J.G. Bennett, the essence of which she reproduces in his original words, that her search is rewarded. However, the unique element of this book is her description of the way meetings with Gurdjieff himself, along with her fervent study of relevant works, gradually enabled her to discover herself.
About the Author
Dorothy Phillpotts, born in 1915 and a travel writer for most of her life, has published books and articles on topics as diverse as Living in France and the Art of Letter Writing. Her latest book "Discovering Gurdjieff" reflects her lifelong interest in Philosophy, Psychology and Religion. Her husband, George, worked for J.G.Bennett and regularly attended lectures by P.D.Ouspensky before World War II, and it was through him that she became a follower of the Gurdjieff Work, working with Gurdjieff himself, and later becoming a teacher of the Work. She spent much of the last 25 years of her life setting down her memories and ensuring their accuracy: this book is her life's work.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Dorothy Phillpotts was a follower of P. D. Ouspensky, J. G. Bennett and later on of G.I. Gurdjieff, the teacher of both of the former men. She followed Ouspensky and Bennett, together with her husband, faithfully.
When Ouspensky died, Bennett heard that Gurdjieff, whom he thought dead, was alive and living in Paris, around 1947. Bennett was advised by Ouspensky's widow, Madame Ouspensky, to go to Paris and see Gurdjieff, whom Madame Ouspensky regarded as her teacher, always, though when Ouspensky parted company with Gurdjieff decades earlier, she had gone with her husband.
Dorothy Phillpotts recounts in captivating language and style her efforts working under Ouspensky and Bennett; a language and style which shows, by its very personal nature, how she coped with the impact of the "Fourth Way" on her and those around her. In the latter part of the book, when Bennett has seen Gurdjieff and returned to England, Bennett explains to the author, and her fellow searchers, that Gurdjieff is not teaching the methods of self remembering and observation which Ouspensky taught, but something else, which enables a student to maintain the action of self remembering much longer. By leaving Gurdjieff, Ouspensky had sacrificed his possibility of understanding something completely different from what he had reached, prior to leaving.
The overwhelming compassion, sympathy and concern for others radiating from Gurdjieff which she conveys is also a strong feature of the book, and I recommend it to anyone interested in these subjects. Like one or two other books which have been published over the last few years it gives impressions of Gurdjieff which his critics, all of whom never worked with him or even met him, knew nothing about.
Dorothy Phillpotts book is the result of a long process of maturing.
This also implies what it is not...
When Ouspensky died, Bennett heard that Gurdjieff, whom he thought dead, was alive and living in Paris, around 1947. Bennett was advised by Ouspensky's widow, Madame Ouspensky, to go to Paris and see Gurdjieff, whom Madame Ouspensky regarded as her teacher, always, though when Ouspensky parted company with Gurdjieff decades earlier, she had gone with her husband.
Dorothy Phillpotts recounts in captivating language and style her efforts working under Ouspensky and Bennett; a language and style which shows, by its very personal nature, how she coped with the impact of the "Fourth Way" on her and those around her. In the latter part of the book, when Bennett has seen Gurdjieff and returned to England, Bennett explains to the author, and her fellow searchers, that Gurdjieff is not teaching the methods of self remembering and observation which Ouspensky taught, but something else, which enables a student to maintain the action of self remembering much longer. By leaving Gurdjieff, Ouspensky had sacrificed his possibility of understanding something completely different from what he had reached, prior to leaving.
The overwhelming compassion, sympathy and concern for others radiating from Gurdjieff which she conveys is also a strong feature of the book, and I recommend it to anyone interested in these subjects. Like one or two other books which have been published over the last few years it gives impressions of Gurdjieff which his critics, all of whom never worked with him or even met him, knew nothing about.
Dorothy Phillpotts book is the result of a long process of maturing.
This also implies what it is not...
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
0 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Deep involvement, well documented and told
10 May 2010
Format:Paperback
Ms. Phillipotts was a very serious student. And her story of her Work and the Work adds valuable content to the Work literature.
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