Los Maestros de Gurdjieff

by Rafael Lefort

Los Maestros de Gurdjieff

Genres: Nonfiction

135 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Toni]

A Sign post... A recent reading (and this is a re-read after many years) found it not at all irrelevant to the twenty first century. A guide to what and what not to do and how to move into the current present. Seventh of July 2018. Looking for something in this book, I opened it at random... page 77. 'Do you cook yesterday's potato peelings with today's potatoes?' My edition is a Malor Book published by ISHK. First published by Victor Gollancz Ltd, London 1966.
Second Edition Published by ISHK 1998, 2008.
'May I ask, Sheikh why only breathing?'
'Only! Only! Stupid question! More stupid than to have asked why or how... PG58. 23/8/25.

[Tree]

During my time as a practicing Buddhist, I came across more than one person who encouraged, even insisted, that I study Gurdjieff, someone I'd never heard of before, so I rose to the challenge, read his books, studied his ideas, and at one point joined a local Gurdjieff group before abandoning all of it not long after my daughter was born 15 years ago. So it was with a bit of surprise when I came across this book yesterday at the library while wandering aimlessly through the religion and philosophy stacks. I decided to bring it home and see if after all these years any of it still rang true to me.

Well, yes and no. Firstly, there is no Rafael Lefort. This is a pseudonym for possibly Idries Shah, a Sufi teacher who passed away in 1996. Secondly, the book does not encourage one to study or learn about Gurdjieff. In fact, the author makes it clear, repeatedly, that Gurdjieff's teachings no longer have value. Of course, Gurdjieff was a trickster and relied heavily on allegory, so I thought at first that maybe this author was the same. However, I think it's safe to say that his attempts to cancel Gurdjieff were quite serious.

The book is strange. It's highly unlikely that the author met all of the teachers he describes meeting, and while the book was written in the 1960s, nearly twenty years after Gurdjieff died, it's written in such a way that one thinks they are reading something from the 19th Century, when Orientalism was at its peak.
Honestly, it's silly at times, full of attempts at romanticizing places that exist in the modern era and are known by others not as mysterious regions but open countries anyone can visit.
The ideas are problematic as well, in particular the ones expressed during the author's supposed visit to Jerusalem, and his views on Jesus. Did Jesus get down and boogie with a group of people as the Apocryphal literature states? Sure, why not? But to assume it was Islamic/Sufi and not even mention that Jews have used dancing, ceremonial and otherwise, for centuries, is an egregious way to fit a square peg in a round hole.

This isn't to say that there aren't nuggets of wisdom in the book, because there are. It's just not worth reading it to receive them. The author's claim is that all of Gurdjieff's teachings came from Sufism but this is only partially true, but Sufi wisdom, can be learned by reading the poetry of Rumi and Hafiz or other teachers and is best to be avoided when related in a scam book.

[ناصر سليم]

استادان گرجیف
(سراهای اقتدار، منبع و سرچشمه اصلی آموزش‌ها)
مسئول هدایتِ سنتِ طریقت در این دوره زمانی.

ملاقات با پانزده حکیم و شیخی که زمانی استاد گرجیف بودند، این اشخاص در نظر ابتدایی افرادی عادی بودند که در مشاغلی مانند آهنگری، میناکاری، خطاطی... مشغول به کار بودند و جستجوگر حقیقت یعنی نویسنده این کتاب (رافائل رفورت) راه درازی را از غرب تا شرق پیمود و از شهرهای مختلفی عبور کرد تا در نهایت بعنوان شاگرد پذیرفته شد.

[Jacob Arveson]

This is certainly a worthwhile read for one interested in fourth way teachings, mysticism, or religion in general. It has moments where the prose, as quoted from one of the various Sufi masters, is simply excellent. I would give it 3.5 stars because it is a thought-provoking and, at times, beautiful read. I would give it 3.5 stars because it is also a bit flat, repetitive, simplistic in its storytelling, and of an awkward length (it feels like it should be either expanded and made more robust, or, conversely, should have been condensed to a longish essay as opposed to a book).
The main ideas would seem to be:
1.) The author is a western idiot who is unworthy and incapable of receiving true answers due to his conditioning and adherence to an outdated doctrine.
2.) The intellect sucks. Rather, you need to let sufi wisdom absorb into the very texture of your being.
3.) The gurdjieff teaching was good and well for its respective time and place, but now it is dead and a hindrance to understanding.
4.) A sufi master is a badass, but also a little bit of a dick.

That said, I'll risk being a tad repetitive myself and say that it is worth the read and has some definite gems in there.

[Saman]

در اوائل دهه‌ي دوم قرن بيستم، شخصي به نام(ايوانويچ گرجيف)، يك ارمني روسي، در(فونتن‌بلوي) فرانسه، انيستيوتيي براي رشد و تكامل (هم‌آهنگ انسان) تأسيس كرد. در آن زمان هنوز كتاب‌هاي (كاستاندا) و (كريشنا مورتي) و امثال اين اساتيد منتشر نشده بود و مردم غرب با مكاتب عرفاني و معنوي شرق، چندان آشنايي نداشتند. با اين حال (گرجيف) توانست تا قبل از مرگش در سال 1939 شاگردان زيادي را تعليم دهد.

اين كتاب شرح مسافرت‌هاي يكي از شاگردان وي به كشورهايي هم‌چون ايران، قفقاز، تركيه، عراق، افغانستان است با هدف يافتن اساتيد گرجيف و شرح آموزه‌ها با بيان اين اساتيد مرجع

همان‌طور كه مي‌دانيم جنگ جهاني‌دوم از سال (1939 الي 1945) به وقوع پيوست. آخرين سخني كه (گرجيف) در بستر مرگ رو به شاگردانش بر زبان آمد اين بود: شما را در كثافت‌ بازاري درست و حسابي رها مي‌كنم

[Nancy]

An informative and interesting book to read as I learned as much as possible about Gurdjieff.

He spent time in Afghanistan, only adding to my interest.

[Haymone Neto]

O ocidente é a origem do mal e Gurdjieff não entendeu nada, em resumo.

[WJ]

One of the best things about this book is the new Foreword by Spencer Richardson on “cataracts” and on the “Multicult era” of today. The Introduction to the book makes some very interesting observations on the “system and the method of its transmission” being “one and the same” and that it is “standard teaching practice” for the learner to decode the enigmas, something Ouspensky failed to understand. In terms of failure to decode, a number of people assert ‘Rafael Lefort’ is an anagram for "real effort" or "a real effort". All that proves is an inability to count. The author's name is 12 letters and the others are 10 or 11 letters.

[Anthony O'Connor]

Kind of interesting

Obviously nonsense in a lot of places but still interesting in others. The problem with these kinds of books is always if he was serious and genuine why would he even write it.

[Foad Ansari]

کلی گویی و هذیان

[Pouya_s]

سفر یک انسان رافائل لفورت برای یافتن استادان و سرچشمه آموزه های گرجیف به آسیا و خاورمیانه و سپس برگشت به اروپا ، سفری که اول برای پیدا کزدن استادان گرجیف آغاز می شود ولی از جایی به بعد جست و جوی شخصی نویسنده برای یافتن آموزه های عرفانی متناسب با روزگار جدید را شامل می شود
اکثر استادان و اقطاب و مشایخی که ( بنا به ادعای نویسنده ) به گرجیف درس داده امد ، فرش فروش _آهنگر _مسگر یا موسیقی دان هستند

یک مسئله ی عجیب برای من آن بود که هر چه گشتم چیزی درباره نویسنده کتاب پیدا نکردم و انگار جز این کتاب دیگری ندارد و برخی نوشتن این کتاب را به ادریس شاه ( استاد صوفی هم عصر گرجیف اهل هند ) و چند تن دیگر از شاگردان گرجیف نسبت می دهند

[Sue Dounim]

Since "Rafael Lefort" is almost certainly a pseudonym, a widely held view is that this is actually a work by Idries Shah. The "author"s name is an anagram of "A Real(l) Effort", which the narrator is clearly trying to make. Having read a lot of I. Shah's book, as well as some very critical articles about him, I would say that it is at least likely.
The work parallels remarkably Gurdfieff's own "Meetings With Remarkable Men". The seeker goes through enormous efforts and wide travel to find and learn from people with true spiritual and mystical attainment. Whether any of these people really existed or how true the narrative is, is in a sense besides the point.
At the end of Lefort's book, the master tells him to go to a hidden esoteric center which (surprise!) ends up being only a few miles from the home where he started. Which is a neat analogy to the ancient precept that the true teaching, ultimately, comes from within. Sufis are fond of the quote from the Quran where God says "We are nearer to (man) than even his jugular vein."
So with these caveats; I don't recommend it for a scholar researching the actual life of Gurdjieff, but I don't necessarily think it's as bad as some say, if you look at it more like a, say, Carlos Castaneda, book, rather than nonfiction.
The copy I have is a mass market paperback, published by Weiser and identified as "This American Paperback 1975." The cover is not the same as that attached to this review, but I guess that's not so important. As of 2023, many decent quality hardcover copies are noted on abebooks for < $20.
[ minor edits/corrections 2023-07-01 ]

[Torres Catriel]

Es completamente falso todo lo que cuenta este libro. Le puse dos estrellas, en vez de una, porque es cómico.

[Rajesh Upreti]

Must read for Fourth way practitioner before diving in it.

[Dr Anita]

An eye opener

This book reveals the truth about the spiritual truth from the lens of the Sufi tradition and the value of Gurdgieff teachings in today's times

[Ali]

This book is considered by many to be a product of the Sufi school associated with Idries Shah and his brother Omar Ali-Shah.
The book first appeared in 1966 from the British publishing house Victor Gollancz. A second edition was published in 1998 by Malor Books under the editorial directorship of Robert Ornstein, a prominent American associate of Idries Shah.
Idries Shah was someone who just had something to sell, nothing more.
That doesn't mean the followers of Gurdjieff foundation in the west have any idea what the F are they doing,they don't.

[Audun Forgard]

This is a realy quick read, but very informative. I should say - I sat on the toilet shitting as I usually do when I study, while i reflect on how the words in the book, the stories weave with mine own experiences of Gurdijeff`s teaching, and where I am at now, folowing n older thread, and come to the realisation that there is an older practical teaching of spirituality, and the transformative I`ve myself partaken of. For seekers.

[Andreas]

اطلاعات زیاد جامعی در مورد گرجیف نمیده ..ولی خوبیش اینه که عرفان ایارنی و دراویش رو از دید غرب روشن میکنه و انحارفات و سیر و سلوک ها و روش هایی رو که استایدش دنبال میکنن..
برای یکبار خوندن توصیه میکنم.