The Fourth Way
by P. D. Ouspensky
Reviews
Book Description
The Fourth Way is the most comprehensive statement thus far
published of the ideas taught by the late P.D.
Ouspensky. Consisting of verbatim records of his oral teaching from 1921 to 1946, it
gives a lucid explanation of the practical side of G. I. Gurdjieff's teachings, which
Gurdjieff presented in the form of raw materials, Ouspensky's specific task having been to
put them together as a systematic whole. Just as Tertium Organum
deals with a new mode of thinking, so The Fourth Way is concerned with a new way of
living. It shows a way of inner development to be followed under the ordinary conditions
of life - as distinct from the three traditional ways that call for retirement from the
world: those of the fakir, the monk, and the yogi.
The Fourth Way is a guide for those who seek a true
way of inner growth under conditions open to the men and women of today.
Synopsis
"The Fourth Way" is one of the most
comprehensive statements published of the ideas taught by the late P. D. Ouspensky.
Consisting of verbatim records of his oral teaching from 1921 to 1946, it gives a lucid
explanation of the practical side of G.
I. Gurdjieff's teachings.
Customer Comments
William Bagley (willbagl@mind.net) from
Ashland, Oregon, March 22, 1999
Essential Practical Spiritual Knowledge
I consider THE FOURTH WAY to be one of the top 100
spiritual books I have ever read. It describes a practice called Self-Remembering which
makes us present-in-life and lifts us out of our robotic habits. It describes the
emotional and chemical changes which happen in our body and mind when we do this practice.
It talks about the two most important places to apply this willed effort (when we remember
and when we are under an negative emotion which makes us not want to do it). The book
gives a comprehensive advanced psychology which allows us to make deep sense of this
practice. The only reservation about the book is that it makes the practice seem harder
than it needs to be and it makes the theory feel over intellectual at times. This detracts
from its practical value.
A reader from Westcoast Sweden, December 9,
1998
Can't have less than five stars!
Indirectly, here's everything any seeker can ask for - If he's
sincere. An outstanding book. One of perhaps a handful in all times about a work that any
man can do to achieve self realization and bliss.
A reader from Bethesda, Md., April
13, 1998
Excellent, but very taxing reading; a mountain of esoterics
The Fourth Way is one of a series of books that
Ouspensky wrote describing his studies with G.I. Gurdjieff, his guru and guide who showed
him the way to achieve a higher conscience through practical study and work that virtually
anyone can do. A primer would be In Search of
the Miraculous. After you have read that, you will be ready for The Fourth Way
- that is - maybe. The Fourth Way is basically a how-to book on achieving a higher
state of consciousness that taken in all at once by the beginner can literally blow ones
mind. Ouspensky even warns the reader that certain techniques that he shows in the book
can "break down buffers" that are needed to, well, keep one's sanity. This is
heavy stuff - great stuff, but beware, you will never see the world the same way ever
again.
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