Picaresque Wisdom | Meetings with Remarkable Men

The most empowering book I've ever read | Meetings with Remarkable Men | G. GURDJIEFF

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	• Meetings with Remarkable Men G. GURDJIEFF Martino Fine Books, 2010 - 318 pages average customer review:based on 31 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

ONE OF MY ALLTIME FAVORITE BOOKS.

Don't waste time reading the reviews on this book. If you have come this far you are supposed to read it.Mind Bomb

Picaresque Wisdom

Gurdjieff himself is almost passe - a relic of the sixties and before - though doubtless he still has his acolytes, and those who take his teachings seriously enough to want to practice them, as well as his vociferous critics who cannot tolerate the possibility of the breadth of being that his life hints may be possible for a human to have. Magician or charlatan? There is no need to engage in that dispute whilst reading this book; one can simply be swept up by it instead. It is one of those books that doesn't just tell a story but creates an entire world. In this case it is the pre-industrial Central Asia of the late nineteenth century into which Gurdjieff was auspiciously 'thrown into' by birth; a unique historical confluence region of almost every major civilization that has ever existed, and not coincidently too the original birth-source of all the Indo-European races. Even today this area retains its hint of unfathomable antiquity and the most ancient of ancestral memories; it seems perfectly fitting that if there are hidden secret spiritual teachings to be had, they should be located somewhere there in that great expanse between the Caucasus and the Pamirs. And no one would seem more perfectly born to inherit such a lineage than Gurdjieff; just European enough to retain the critical detachment necessary to pass on those Oriental pearls rather than be totally absorbed by them. There is always a mysterious sense of predestination that is present in this autobiography. Without doubt the most 'remarkable' character is the author himself, but we are left with a clear sense of believability that a life like his could have unfolded as it did. In the entire book, and particularly the infamous final chapter, he confronts us at the very least with the notion that true mastery of life extends far beyond the merely spiritual.

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The most empowering book I've ever read

I've been practicing self-observation, meditation and these sorts of things for years and so my level of being is high enough to grasp some of the 'inner content' of this work. If you are considering reading this without any internal preparation then I doubt you will feel the way I felt when I finished reading it: conscious of my ability to achieve anything! No book has ever done that to me. Gurdjieff actually wrote this book with the intention of giving the reader the material necessary to build a new world. That material to me was strength and with strength anything can be achieved, built.

I looked over the 1 star reviews and noticed that the reviewers did not have the necessary level of being to not only understand this book but really feel it. Gurdjieff once advised his pupils to not take anything he says literally, and I noticed that the 'sense' of a phrase needs to be captured rather than the literal meaning of it. The quote about 'not listening to a woman's advice' is actually taken out of context, Gurdjieff referred to that quote as way to teach us that maps of unknown lands are good for nothing, that it is better to see what the map says and do the opposite. I laughed in parts of this book and I couldn't help but feel inspired by the powerful example that Gurdjieff was.

Here are some of the things that you will learn from this book but again, this book will not teach you about how to become a spiritual person or anything like that, it is not a how-to book, but it may give you the feeling or taste for work, for effort, a taste for real life...

- Conscious movement is always paid for, it is never wasted. Gurdjieff tells us about a man who was always deliberately moving his body, even in quiet moments. That man become one of the richest men in the world. It is believed that Nature paid him for all his 'work', even though the work itself had no real goal other than defeating laziness and accumulating invisible capital.

- People without their soul mates run the risk of becoming irresponsible and leading irresponsible existences.

- The gods help those who bring all of their manifestations into accordance with one clear goal.

- One super-man can achieve the work of more than a hundred ordinary men.

- Reading newspapers weakens the will.

I tried reading Gurdjieff's first book but found it too difficult. This one is much more accessible. Keep in mind that this book is an advanced read, preparation with other advanced books might be necessary, like Samael Aun Weor's Revolutionary Psychology. I would recommend putting into practice Belzebuub's Peace of the Spirit Within before reading this book, because the techniques in that book will raise your level of being in such a way that you will become aware of your own inner world as well as the inner world of others and even the inner content of this book, which is probably more useful than the actual words themselves.

To me, Meetings with Remarkable Men conveys the enormous value of work and our attitude to it. Perhaps Gurdjieff wanted people to develop a taste for work rather than be lazy. One of my favorite quotes which can sum up all of this is by Eliphas Levi, who said: "Pain is a work, work a struggle, struggle a progress, progress real life."

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Truly an exceptional book

The book can be hard to read at times as it was written in a foreign language and translated into English. Having studied the Fourth Way for 6 years and practiced in Fourth Way groups, I find this is still one of the best and most motivating books on the subject. Gurdjieff goes over his life as a kid and people who had influence over him as he was growing up as well as into his travels throughout Asia searching for Truth. It is a fascinating adventure book discussing his travels, triumphs, failures, and personal weaknesses along the way. I appreciate the honesty in the book, as he doesn't pretend like most religious figures to be all perfect and show no faults. He comes across as very human with a lot of street smarts. You really need a lot of street smarts to survive out there, be it in the business world or whenever you have to run your own business. A number of people call him a con man, however I would like for naysayers to name one human on this earth who has never done a wrong thing. Of course, it would be some President in their totally deluded minds. The point is everyone has done wrong things and Gurdjieff was very honest with his readers and it was good to see inside his psyche. Without this understanding, one can misinterpret his teachings in the wrong way.

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2010 Reprint of 1963 Edition. These are the memoirs of the great mystic and teacher who inspired a generation of disciples and followers before, during and briefing after the Second World War. In Meetings With Remarkable Men Gurdjieff introduces us to some of the companions he encountered in his travels to the most remote regions of Central Asia. With colorful episodes from his adventures, he brings to life the story of his own relentless search for a real and universal knowledge. The book can be read as a colorful narrative or psychological autobiography, but the meaning of its contents can be better appreciated in relation to the expositions of his previously published ideas.

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