''The Fourth Way'' (1957) is a book about the
Fourth Way, a system of
self-development as introduced by Greek-Armenian philosopher
G.I. Gurdjieff
George Ivanovich Gurdjieff (; rus, Гео́ргий Ива́нович Гурджи́ев, r=Geórgy Ivánovich Gurdzhíev, p=ɡʲɪˈorɡʲɪj ɪˈvanəvʲɪd͡ʑ ɡʊrd͡ʐˈʐɨ(j)ɪf; hy, Գեորգի Իվանովիչ Գյուրջիև; c. 1 ...
. It is a compilation of the lectures of
P. D. Ouspensky
Pyotr Demianovich Ouspenskii (known in English as Peter D. Ouspensky; rus, Пётр Демья́нович Успе́нский, Pyotr Demyánovich Uspénskiy; 5 March 1878 – 2 October 1947) was a Russian esotericist known for his expositions ...
at
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
and
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
between the years 1921 through 1946, published posthumously by his students in 1957.
The term "
The Fourth Way" has also come to be used as a general descriptive term for the body of ideas and teachings which Gurdjieff brought to the west from his study of eastern schools.
[The Fourth Way, P.D, Ouspensky, Alfred A. Knopf 1957, chapter 1]
Ouspensky was given the task of bringing these ideas to a wider audience in an unadulterated form by Gurdjieff. ''The Fourth Way'' is considered to be the most comprehensive statement of Gurdjieff's ideas as taught by Ouspensky.
The book consists of adaptations of Ouspensky's lectures, and the accompanying question and answer sessions.
The Fourth Way
The '
Fourth Way' to which the title refers is a method of inner development - "the way of the sly man," as Gurdjieff described it. Rather than the three commonly known ways of enlightenment -- physical, spiritual, and emotional -- The Fourth Way presents a new way of reaching enlightenment, a more effective combination of the three known ways. This way is to be followed under the ordinary conditions of everyday life, as opposed from the three traditional ways that call for retirement from the world: those of the
fakir
Fakir ( ar, فقیر, translit=faḳīr or ''faqīr'') is an Islamic term traditionally used for Sufi Muslim ascetics who renounce their worldly possessions and dedicate their lives to the worship of God. They do not necessarily renounce al ...
, the
monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedic ...
, and the
yogi
A yogi is a practitioner of Yoga, including a sannyasin or practitioner of meditation in Indian religions.A. K. Banerjea (2014), ''Philosophy of Gorakhnath with Goraksha-Vacana-Sangraha'', Motilal Banarsidass, , pp. xxiii, 297-299, 331 Th ...
, which Gurdjieff maintained could only result in partial, unbalanced development of man's potential.
References
Further reading
Opening Text - ''The Fourth Way'' Amazon.com
External links
Books by P. D. Ouspensky
1957 non-fiction books
Philosophy books
Self-help books
Fourth Way
Books by P. D. Ouspensky
Alfred A. Knopf books
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