GurdjieffBorn(1866-01-13)January 13, 1866Alexandropol, Russian EmpireDiedOctober 29, 1949(1949-10-29) (aged83)Neuilly-sur-Seine, FranceEra20th-centurySchool"Fourth Way"

Main interests

George Ivanovich Gurdjieff (13 January 1866 29 October 1949), usually known as Gurdjieff, was an Armenian guru and writer. He was an influential spiritual teacher of the first half of the 20th century. He himself was influenced by Sufi, Zen and Yoga mystics he met on his early travels.[1][2]

Gurdjieff taught that most people live their entire lives in a state of hypnotic "waking sleep":

Gurdjieff developed a method for working towards a higher state of consciousness and achieving full human potential. He called this "The Work" or "The Method".[2][4]

Gurdjieff's method for awakening one's consciousness is different from that of the fakir, monk or yogi, so his discipline was called originally the "Fourth Way".[5]

At different times in his life, Gurdjieff formed and closed various schools around the world to teach the work. He claimed that the teachings he brought to the West came from his own experiences and early travels. The teachings expressed the truth found in ancient religions. They were wisdom teachings relating to self-awareness in people's daily lives, and humanity's place in the universe.[2]

There is a 1979 British film, Meetings with Remarkable Men, directed by Peter Brook. It is based on the book of the same name by Gurdjieff. It was shot on location in Afghanistan (except for dance sequences, which were filmed in England). It starred Terence Stamp as Prince Lubovedsky, and Dragan Maksimovic as the adult Gurdjieff. The film was entered into the 29th Berlin International Film Festival and nominated for the Golden Bear prize.

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