Roger Lipsey

Roger Lipsey is a biographer, art historian, editor, and translator. He is the author of An Art of Our Own: The Spiritual in Twentieth-Century Art; Angelic Mistakes: The Art of Thomas Merton; Hammarskjöld: A Life, hailed as the definitive Dag Hammarskjöld​ biography; and most recently Gurdjieff Reconsidered: The Life, the Teachings, the Legacy.

Cynthia Bourgeault

CYNTHIA BOURGEAULT is a modern-day mystic, Episcopal priest, and theologian. She divides her time between solitude at her seaside hermitage in Maine and traveling globally to promote the rediscovery of the Christian contemplative path. She is a core faculty member at the Center for Action and Contemplation and founding director of an international network of Wisdom Schools. Cynthia's articles and essays have appeared in many journals and publications, and she is the author of numerous books, including The Wisdom Jesus, The Meaning of Mary Magdalene, The Holy Trinity and the Law of Three, and The Heart of Centering Prayer.

"This work is exceptionally well written, limpid in style, terse in expression, and clear in sense. It is more than an excellent introduction to Gurdjieff for readers who know little of him or his work; it is, in effect, Gurdjieff considered as well as reconsidered." —Paul Beekman Taylor, author of The Philosophy of G. I. Gurdjieff

"If Gurdjieff were shown this work, he probably wouldn't say, as for P. D. Ouspensky, 'Good Journalist!' but rather, 'Aah . . . objective thinking!' Or simply, 'Bravo!' More than a reconsideration, this book is a welcome reboot that renews one's vision of Gurdjieff. The stroke of genius is to summon the examples of Pythagoras and Diogenes to clarify the roots and force of the man and his teachings." —Alexandre de Salzmann, vice president, Institut G. I. Gurdjieff, Paris

"Tremendously literate, with a sweeping breadth of knowledge of the Western intellectual tradition. Roger Lipsey is supremely the man for the job." —Cynthia Bourgeault, author of The Heart of Centering Prayer

"More than Gurdjieff reconsidered, this book is Gurdjieff rediscovered. Behind us are the rumors, shadows, circular repetitions of vague and undocumented criticism. We discover a man of infinite humanity. Gurdjieff was in advance of his time. His extremely innovative thinking, his all-embracing spiritual teaching, his music and Movements are pure gold and pure light for our troubled times." —Basarab Nicolescu, author of From Modernity to Cosmodernity

"Lipsey's careful and insightful account of the various periods of Gurdjieff's teaching, beautifully framed by avoiding 'explanations' of his ideas, enables him to bring home to the reader the living, passionate, and grounded man himself. Lipsey's humanity and wide perspective lead him to situate Gurdjieff in the company of many humane revolutionaries, ancient and modern. An exemplary contribution to the conversation." —A. G. E. Blake, author of The Intelligent Enneagram

"Lipsey’s Gurdjieff Reconsidered is a welcome addition to the field of Gurdjieff Studies and the field of Western esotericism, more generally. The book is an excellent introduction to Gurdjieff’s ideas, thanks to the author’s use of an abundance of primary sources." —Reading Religion