Based on notebooks kept by G.I. Gurdjieff's closest follower, this book offers new insight on his spiritual teachings—a way of gnosis or "knowledge of being" passed on from remote antiquity. It is a complete and uniquely authoritative guide to the great teacher's ideas and to his methods for liberating ourselves from the state of "waking sleep" in which most of us live our lives.
Jeanne de Salzmann (1889–1990) was born in France and pursued a career in music, dance, and theater. She met Gurdjieff in 1919 and became his closest pupil. Before his death in 1949, Gurdjieff directed de Salzmann to continue his work worldwide. She founded centers in New York, Paris, London, and Caracas, Venezuela. Madame, as she was called with respect, was an esteemed teacher in her own right, transmitting the Gurdjieff Work and especially his “Movements,” or sacred dances.
Praise
"A work that offers a long-needed clarification and exploration of what G. I. Gurdjieff called the Fourth Way. Madame de Salzmann’s writing style will strike outsiders as having the clarity of reporting and the concentration of poetry. The light she shines is a watershed event in the development of the teaching, and in spiritual search in the West. With the publication of her book, she joins Gurdjieff and other great masters from other times and traditions who have dedicated their lives to bringing the incomparable gift of true consciousness, true love, and true being to the world." —Tracy Cochran, Parabola magazine
