Gurdjieff, Bennet and the Fourth Way.pdf

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William James Thompson, BA (hons)
J.G.Bennett‟s Interpretation of
the Teachings of G.I.Gurdjieff
a study of transmission in the fourth way
Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD
University of Lancaster
February 1995
i
William James Thompson, BA (hons)
J.G.Bennett‟s Interpretation of the Teachings of G.I.Gurdjieff: a study of
transmission in the fourth way
Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD, University of Lancaster, February 1995
Abstract
This thesis examines the spiritual teachings of G.I.Gurdjieff from the point of view of
his ‗heterodox‘ pupil J.G.Bennett. It concentrates on the difficulties of defining
criteria of valid lineage that stem from the teaching‘s ‗ahistorical origins‘. The
problem of transmission is examined in the light of Gurdjieff‘s representation of his
teaching as a manifestation of the ―fourth way‖ – i.e., an esoteric stream which
surfaces and disappears in accordance with a higher purpose. Bennett is identified as
someone who took the ―fourth way‖ aspect of the teaching seriously; and his position
is juxtaposed to that of the ‗Gurdjieffian orthodoxy‘ who appear to have been more
concerned with continuity of form. Bennett‘s understanding of informing higher
purpose is explored in terms of his understandings of: sacred history; the cosmic
purpose and obligation of humanity; and Christianity. These ideas are shown to be
valid interpretations of Gurdjieff‘s teachings. Gurdjieff‘s concept of connection to the
―esoteric centre‖ is explored; and Bennett‘s assertion that Gurdjieff represented his
own authority in these terms is shown to have canonical justification. The lineal
status of Gurdjieff‘s pupil P.D.Ouspensky is also taken into account. Through
consideration of Gurdjieff‘s psychological and cosmological schemes and allegories I
derive a coherent model of the levels of development on the ‗Gurdjieffian path‘ and
argue the validity of Bennett‘s emphasis on grace as a necessary complement to
effort. The model is used as a means to measure the stages and requirements of
Bennett‘s development. It is argued that Bennett‘s ‗post-Gurdjieff‘ search can be
understood as a valid and necessary response to the situation of the ‗teaching without
the master‘. In particular, it is argued that Bennett‘s experience of the new religious
movement Subud helped him to pass a developmental stage on the Gurdjieffian path
such that he eventually emerged as a ‗master in his own right‘.
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Contents
Abstract .............................................................................................................................................. ii
Contents............................................................................................................................................. iii
Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... viii
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1
Sources............................................................................................................................................ 2
Structure and Argument .................................................................................................................. 7
GURDJIEFF, BENNETT AND THE FOURTH WAY ..................................... 11
Abstract. ................................................................................................................................... 11
Introduction.............................................................................................................................. 12
Fourth Way Transmission............................................................................................................. 14
Gurdjieff: a ―fourth way teacher‖............................................................................................. 14
How can authentic lineage be determined?.............................................................................. 15
Methodological responses........................................................................................................ 16
The lineage problem reformulated. .......................................................................................... 17
Gurdjieffians and Post-Gurdjieffians ............................................................................................ 18
Gurdjieff's pupils...................................................................................................................... 18
The post-Gurdjieff era.............................................................................................................. 21
The ‗non-lineal pretenders‘. ..................................................................................................... 23
The special significance of J.G.Bennett. .................................................................................. 27
The orthodoxy's view of Bennett. ............................................................................................ 30
Bennett's own understanding of his relationship to Gurdjieff. ................................................. 31
Deep continuity. ....................................................................................................................... 32
The Great Work ............................................................................................................................ 34
Ultimate and terrestrial scales of the Great Work. ................................................................... 34
Christ: Incarnation and Parousia. ............................................................................................. 35
The human situation................................................................................................................. 35
Terrestrial evolution: life, man and the ―Demiurgic Intelligences‖. ........................................ 36
The terrestrial ―esoteric centre‖. .............................................................................................. 38
Bennett's understanding of the Fourth Way. ............................................................................ 40
Bennett as exemplar of the fourth way..................................................................................... 42
―Deep continuity‖ and the fourth way...................................................................................... 44
Conclusion: implications and questions. .................................................................................. 46
Notes and References to Chapter 1 ................................................................................................ 51
THE INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY FOR CONTINUOUS EDUCATION ...... 67
Abstract. ................................................................................................................................... 67
Introduction................................................................................................................................... 68
Background................................................................................................................................... 69
The Teaching at Sherborne ........................................................................................................... 75
Introduction.............................................................................................................................. 75
Inner Exercises......................................................................................................................... 78
The Decision Exercise. ............................................................................................................ 79
Gurdjieff Movements. .............................................................................................................. 79
Self Observation and practical work. ....................................................................................... 80
Counselling .............................................................................................................................. 83
‗Idiotism‘............................................................................................................................. 84
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The ‗Aesthetic Element.‘ ......................................................................................................... 85
Psycho-cosmology. .................................................................................................................. 86
Content. ............................................................................................................................... 88
Context. ............................................................................................................................... 89
Conclusions: Was the academy Gurdjieffian? ......................................................................... 92
‗Receptive lines of Work‘ ........................................................................................................ 95
Summary. ................................................................................................................................. 96
The Purpose of Sherborne ............................................................................................................ 98
Introduction.............................................................................................................................. 98
A School of the Fourth Way. ................................................................................................... 99
Making a New World............................................................................................................. 101
Training of Fourth Way Candidates....................................................................................... 102
Ashiata Shiemash................................................................................................................... 103
The Great Work, the Parousia and the Higher Powers........................................................... 104
The Relevance of Gurdjieff.................................................................................................... 107
Obligation. ............................................................................................................................. 110
―Group Consciousness‖. ........................................................................................................ 112
Transformation of Energies.................................................................................................... 114
Summary. ............................................................................................................................... 115
Conclusion. ............................................................................................................................ 119
J.G.Bennett and the ‗Gurdjieff Tradition‘................................................................................... 121
Introduction............................................................................................................................ 121
Deep Continuity Revisited. .................................................................................................... 122
Bennett in the light of the orthodoxy‘s critique. .................................................................... 126
―Substance of Work‖ ............................................................................................................. 130
Conclusion: The Structure of Bennett‘s Position ........................................................................ 138
Notes and References to Chapter 2 .............................................................................................. 144
PSYCHO-COSMOLOGICAL IDEAS........................................................... 176
Abstract .................................................................................................................................. 176
Sources........................................................................................................................................ 177
Part 1: Gurdjieff‟s Doctrine of the Human Condition and Human Possibility. ...................... 181
Introduction................................................................................................................................. 181
Psycho-Cosmological ‗fragments‘. ........................................................................................ 184
The Psychological Perspectives. ................................................................................................. 186
Man is not as he believes himself to be.................................................................................. 186
Centres. .................................................................................................................................. 191
Essence development and Higher Bodies. ............................................................................. 194
Personality.............................................................................................................................. 196
Psychophysiology. ................................................................................................................. 197
The ‗paradox‘ of the human situation. ................................................................................... 200
Humanity is ‗hypnotized.‘...................................................................................................... 202
The Cosmological Perspectives. ................................................................................................. 205
Cosmological perspectives in Beelzebub‘s Tales to His Grandson. ...................................... 205
The cosmological perspective in In Search of the Miraculous. .............................................. 210
Beelzebub and ISOM compared. ........................................................................................... 211
The allegory of the two rivers. .................................................................................................... 216
Conclusions................................................................................................................................. 223
Part 2: Comparisons...................................................................................................................... 228
The Great Work and Cosmic Evolution...................................................................................... 229
Time: Entropy and Redemption ............................................................................................. 230
Planetary Evolution................................................................................................................ 235
The Great Work and Work on Oneself .................................................................................. 235
Terrestrial Evolution, Sacred History and the Origin of Sin ....................................................... 237
The primaeval hiatus in human development......................................................................... 237
Bennett‘s Scenario ............................................................................................................ 239
Issues and Comparison........................................................................................................... 242
‗Cosmic hazard‘ versus ‗local hazard‘. ............................................................................. 242
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Demiurgic sin, or Angelic error?....................................................................................... 245
An hiatus in human development. ..................................................................................... 246
The transmission of sinfulness. ......................................................................................... 246
Human development versus human decline........................................................................... 247
Christianity ................................................................................................................................. 251
Bennett‘s Christology ............................................................................................................ 251
Cosmic Energies................................................................................................................ 252
Sin and the Incarnation...................................................................................................... 252
Parousia. ............................................................................................................................ 254
Esoteric Christianity............................................................................................................... 254
―A virile version of the Gospels‖ ...................................................................................... 256
Maurice Nicoll .................................................................................................................. 257
Was Gurdjieff a Christian? .................................................................................................... 259
Christ and the other Sacred Messengers ................................................................................ 260
Parousia.................................................................................................................................. 262
Angels, Demiurgic Intelligences and Higher Powers ................................................................. 263
Demurgic Intelligences .......................................................................................................... 264
Gurdjieff‘s Angelology .......................................................................................................... 267
Angels, Archangels and the Great Chain of Being............................................................ 267
Angels are born ‗perfect‘................................................................................................... 267
Angels are distinct from higher man ................................................................................. 268
The role of angels.............................................................................................................. 268
Angelic development ........................................................................................................ 269
Comparisons .......................................................................................................................... 270
Notes and References to Chapter 3 .............................................................................................. 273
GURDJIEFF, TRANSMISSION AND THE ESOTERIC CENTRE ............... 290
Abstract .................................................................................................................................. 290
The idea of the esoteric centre .................................................................................................... 291
Gurdjieff‘s idea of the esoteric centre......................................................................................... 295
The esoteric centre and the inner circles of humanity ............................................................ 295
Transmission and Initiation.................................................................................................... 297
The Esoteric Centre in Gurdjieff‘s Writings ............................................................................... 301
Indications in the Third Series and Herald of Coming Good. ................................................ 303
Meetings With Remarkable Men. .......................................................................................... 305
Prince Yuri Lubovedsky, Professor Skridlov and Gurdjieff. ............................................ 306
The Sarmoung brotherhood............................................................................................... 308
The World Brotherhood. ................................................................................................... 311
Beelzebub .................................................................................................................................... 314
The structure of Beelzebub. ................................................................................................... 315
Time line 1. ....................................................................................................................... 315
Time Line 2. ...................................................................................................................... 317
The ‗crossing of the time lines‘......................................................................................... 319
Pole Star and Esoteric Centre................................................................................................. 321
Deskaldino and Central Asia.................................................................................................. 323
Hadji-Asvatz-Troov and the Sarmoung Brotherhood. ...................................................... 329
Purgatory, after death experience and reincarnation .............................................................. 331
Purgatory and the ―World Brotherhood‖........................................................................... 333
Three aspects of the esoteric centre........................................................................................ 334
Conclusion. ................................................................................................................................. 335
Notes and References to Chapter 4 .............................................................................................. 340
SPIRITUAL PSYCHOLOGY ....................................................................... 350
Abstract .................................................................................................................................. 350
Introduction................................................................................................................................. 351
The Fundamental Octave of Creation. ........................................................................................ 354
Faculties of Essence.................................................................................................................... 356
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