# Recommended Readings The following readings are part of the CSWR’s Fall 2024 [Reading Group](/related-events "Related Events") curriculum and are organized around several distinct themes. The readings include a variety of texts that were recommended by the Reading Group’s hosts: Professor Carole Cusack, University of Sydney; Roger Lipsey, PhD; and Professor Charles Langmuir, Harvard University. ## Biography ### Core Readings G. I. Gurdjieff, *Meetings with Remarkable Men*, Chapter II, “My Father” (London and New York: Penguin Arkana, 1985 \[1963\]). Anna Butkowsky-Hewitt (with Mary Cosh and Alicia Street), *With Gurdjieff in St Petersburg and Paris* (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1978). Selections. Johanna J. M. Petsche, ‘Gurdjieff and Blavatsky: Western Esoteric Teachers in Parallel’, *Literature & Aesthetics*, Vol. 21, No. 1 (2011), pp. 98-115. ### Optional Readings Seven J. Sutcliffe and John P. Willmett, ‘“The Work”: The Teachings of G. I. Gurdjieff and P. D. Ouspensky in Russia and Beyond’, in *The Oxford Handbook of Russian Religious Thought*, eds Caryl Emerson, George Pattison, and Randall A. Poole (2020). DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198796442.013.14 Vrasidas Karalis, ‘Gurdjieff beyond the Personality Cult: Reading the Work and Its Re-Workings *Notes on René Zuber’s Who are You Monsieur Gurdjieff?*’, *Religion and the Arts*, Vol. 21 (2017), pp. 176-188. --- ## Teaching Phases ### Core Readings Roger Lipsey, “The Decades of a Teacher,” in *Gurdjieff Reconsidered* (2019), pp. 33-35. Roger Lipsey, “The First Exposition: Russia 1912-1917,” in *Gurdjieff Reconsidered* (2019), pp. 47-60—focused on P. D. Ouspensky’s classic exposition, *In Search of the Miraculous* (1950). Katherine Mansfield, “Chez Monsieur Gurdjieff: A reading for three voices from the letters of Katherine Mansfield,” typed text, evoking life and teachings at Gurdjieff’s Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man near Paris, 1922-1923. Roger Lipsey, “Lux in Tenebris: The 1930s,” in *Gurdjieff Reconsidered*, pp. 151-175. William J. Welch, “The Way of a Teacher,” in *What Happened in Between* (1972), pp. 118-141—a compact evocation of life with Gurdjieff in New York and Paris in the 1940s. ### Optional Readings J. G. Bennett and Elizabeth Bennett, *Idiots in Paris* (1980)—a vivid chronicle of life and teachings at Gurdjieff’s apartment in Paris in the last two years of his life, 1948-49. René Zuber, *Who are you, Monsieur Gurdjieff?* (1980)—a short, brilliantly observed and felt chronicle of work with Gurdjieff in the 1940s. --- ## Key Texts ### Core Readings P. D. Ouspensky, *In Search of the Miraculous* (1950), pp. 59-61 (top), 77-81, 116-121 (top), 122-130, 217-219 Gurdjieff, *Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson* (1992 edition), Chapter 7, “Becoming aware of genuine being-duty,” pp.72-74; concerning the Sphinx called Conscience, pp. 282-284; Chapter 26, the Very Saintly Ashiata Shiemash, pp. 322-333; further on Ashiata Shiemash, pp. 350-352 (starting at “Well, then, my boy…”); and a memorable passage toward the end of the book, p. 1103 (beginning “In order to emphasize…”) to 1110 middle (“…it is liable to be changed”). Gurdjieff, *Views from the Real World* (1973), “Now I am sitting here. . .,” pp. 228-235, and “The Aphorisms,” pp. 273-276. ### Optional Readings Gurdjieff, “Professor Skridlov,” in *Meetings with Remarkable Men* (1963), pp. 225-246. Gurdjieff, “The Material Question,” in *Meetings with Remarkable Men* (1963), pp. 247-303. René Daumal, “The Holy War” (1941), in *Gurdjieff International Review*, --- ## Cultural Productions ### Core Readings Keith Jarrett, *G. I. Gurdjieff: Sacred Hymns* (1980). Carole M. Cusack, ‘The Contemporary Context of Gurdjieff’s Movements’, *Religion and the Arts*, Vol. 21, Issue 1-2, 2017, pp. 96-122. John Godolphin Bennett, ‘Food’, *Impressions*, Vol. VIII, No. I (1990), pp. 5-9; and Pierre and Vivian Elliot, ‘Wine, Food and Rivauguier’, *Impressions*, Vol. VIII, No. I (1990), pp. 10-11. ### Optional Readings Joseph Azize, ‘Gurdjieff’s “Help for the Deceased” Exercise’, *Alternative Spirituality and* *Religion Review*, Vol. 11, No. 2 (2020), pp. 111-132. Edwin Wolfe, *Episodes with Mr. Gurdjieff* (Far West Press, 1974). --- ## Lineages ### Core Readings David Seamon, ‘Setting Forth a Canon of the Gurdjieff Work,’ *Postscripts: The Journal of Sacred Texts, Cultural Histories, and Contemporary Contexts*, Vol. 12, No. 2 (2022), pp. 261–287. Chris Coates, ‘How Many Arks Does It Take?’ In *Spiritual and Visionary Communities: Out to Save the World*, edited by Timothy Miller (Farnham and Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2013), pp. 176–189. ### Optional Readings John Willmett, ‘Tradition, Esotericism, Secrecy and Hiddenness in the Gospel Studies of P.D. Ouspensky and Maurice Nicoll’, *Aries: Journal for the Study of Western Esotericism*, Vol. 20 (2020), pp. 108-136. Vrasidas Karalis, ‘Mr Gurdjieff’s Legacy: The Poetics and Aesthetics of Reality in the Thought of a New Age Guru’, *Literature & Aesthetics*, Vol. 15, No. 1 (2005), pp. 252-266. --- ## Legacy ### Core Readings P. D Ouspensky, *In Search of the Miraculous: The Teachings of G. I. Gurdjieff*. San Diego, New York and London: Harcourt Inc, 2001 \[1949\]. Chapter X. ### Optional Readings Andrew Rawlinson, *The Book of Enlightened Masters: Western Teachers in Eastern Traditions*. Chicago and La Salle, IL: Open Court, 1997, ‘J. G. Bennett’, pp. 183-186 and ‘Gurdjieff’, pp. 282-313.