Gurdjieff: A Biography

by James H.M. Moore

In this first major biography of George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff, James Moore offers an entertaining and reliable introduction to one of the Western world's most remarkable and little-understood revolutionary thinkers. The turbulent half-century since the death of Gurdjieff, holistic philosopher and 'Teacher of Dancing', has seen unprecedented changes, yet the fundamental suffering and entrapment of humanity remains the same. Gurdjieff's work is perhaps more relevant today than ever before and this masterly tribute has a vital role to play in ensuring that his ideas reach new generations of readers in search of authentic spiritual teachings.

Genres: Biography

432 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1991

Reviews

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Updated review, 2019
I finished reading the entire book in April 2014, but I just captured and reviewed all the passages I noted. There are lots of good things about this book, but the writing is so . . . well, let me give you an example!

Leonid Stjoernval, perhaps of all Gurdjieff’s major pupils, was a creature of the belle époque: a man who would forgivably have wished to accommodate his arcane studies within the familiar verities and uxorious amenities of bourgeois life – a man who never dreamt of anything else. And yet it was not towards a feather-bedded superannuation that providence was slyly beckoning Dr. Stjoernval or his wife Elizabeta Grigorievna, but across cruel mountains and bitter seas into perpetual and indigent exile. He had met Gurdjieff and he simply would not let go. 77

It's so ridiculous that I laughed when I read it again; however, the book is rife with this kind of writing, and it was a chore to slog through it.

For that matter, I noted another paragraph, saying "good writing," but now? Now, it's almost as absurd:

Consider in this perspective his lonely obligation to shepherd his doctrine into the future; what if he were silenced by some brutal contemporary accident, before he had transmitted the essence of his discoveries? And dare we glimpse also a self-perceived compunction to mobilize his efforts precisely in that epoch of dreadful mechanicity, as the advocate and agent of consciousness; to create at least some antibodies to the infection of mass psychosis; to re-affirm man’s high potentiality in the very moment of his utter degradation and desolation? 88

All that said, I did learn a lot; I can't say that I liked Gurdjieff any more after reading this book; for instance, he insisted that "Everyone must strip himself, everyone must show himself as he is" (89). But that clearly didn't apply to Mr. Gurdjieff, of whom students said, "Our feeling of this 'acting' in G. was exceptionally strong. Among ourselves we often said we never saw him and never would" (87). But they interpreted this as strength, rather than falsity.

What did G. ask of his students? According to Moore,

He insisted they cultivate a critical mind; he forbad blind faith – commending in its place ‘understanding’. The word commend is not really strong enough here. Understanding was for Gurdjieff vitally important; it was an indispensable inner validation, subsuming mere knowledge; and, far from encouraging any intellectual self-congratulation, often brought an awed sense of ‘standing under’ an entity infinitely greater than oneself. p. 58

His idea was that his students should develop "being" -- "being is more amenable, more dynamic, more the function of conscious effort; it is a man’s quotient of unity and gathered presence, his degree of ‘being there’. With the idea of gathered presence and ‘being there’, we are finally groping our way towards Gurdjieff’s model of consciousness and the practical existential core of his teaching" 58. When he gives a concrete example, it seems he was ahead of his time:

When you do a thing, do it with the whole self. One thing at a time. Now I sit here and I eat. For me nothing exists in the world except this food, this table. I eat with the whole attention. So you must do – in everything . . . To be able to do one thing at a time . . . this is the property of Man, not man in quotation marks.” 261

That bit was what kept me reading, and what keeps me interested in Gurdjieff. Whether fortunately or unfortunately, I don't believe what he did in his lifetime is of lasting significance (although I suppose that could be said about pretty much everyone and everything). There are still many people who became followers of G. through his direct students, J.G. Bennett, John Pentland, Madame Jeanne de Salzmann and others. When that second generation is gone, it's hard for me to imagine that many will replace them.

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who was G.I. Gurdjieff? Although he once described himself as, "a very good teacher of Temple Dancing," which he surely was if he were referring to the movements, Gurdjieff was very much more. He urged his students, not to "think like donkey," and placed many of his essential ideas in inaccessible places to all but those committed to his Work. Moore wrote a scholarly work on a man who is difficult - if not impossible - to characterize. I would recommend it as supplemental reading material, after reading other books such as Gurdjieff: Making a New World by J.G.Bennett, and perhaps A New Model of the Universe or In Search of the Miraculous by P.D. Ouspensky.

[David Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

As Gurdjieff was on a life-long journey to seek the truth, so we too are left with the task of seeking the truth about this mystic of many guises. And some ride it is! My goal was to get to know the man behind the music that has brought me so much pleasure over the years: “The Complete Piano Music of Georges I. Gurdjieff and Thomas de Hartmann" (6 CDs in a box set). Frankly, far more enjoyment than found wading through this book.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember first reading this over 20 years ago and being very impressed by it. Now I feel differently. I put it closer to John Stephens' biography of Morihei Ueshiba, Invincible Warrior. Moore's book isn't nearly as fantastic, but there's such a little effort lent to objectivity that I can't help mentioning a work that more grossly ignores to red line in order to highlight Moore's disregard.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are curious about Georges Ivanovich Gurdjieff then this is the book to start with. It is well written, well researched, even handed and enjoyable. James Webbs biography 'The Harmonious Circle' has its moments, but is spoiled by its demented hypothesis that Gurdjieff was the notorious Russian agent Dordjieff (he wasn't - look at the photos). Many, many memoirs have been written about Gurdjieff, and Moore brings most of the important facts together in this book. Basically, essential stuff if you want a starting point into the life and thought of this man, his associates and the underground ideological currents flowing in the years between the wars.

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evenhanded, thorough treatment of an intriguing and challenging subject, original subtitle: The Anatomy of a Myth. Excellent supplementary Notes, one very useful Map, and a wide-ranging gallery of Portraits and Photographs. I came away realizing I would not have been a likely follower of Gurdjieff had I come into contact with him in his lifetime, but am respectful of his idiosyncratic and focused life and mission. One of the most apparently uneven persons I have come across who may well have been driven all his adult life by an underlying and well-hidden unified focus which he addressed in truly manifold ways.