“Man is a seed, an incomplete being, who has the possibility of developing.”
Fritz Peters

The Fourth Way, or “the Work”, is a spiritual path for inner development as taught by G.I. Gurdjieff in the first half of the twentieth century. The path is intended for anyone who is searching for the meaning of their existence, a person who feels that there is something more beyond their “ordinary” life. One of the things that characterizes Gurdjieff’s teachings is that one is not required to go to a monastery or to fast or change anything in one’s lifestyle. On the contrary, the best conditions for a person to start working on himself are the conditions in which he currently finds himself. The path to self-study begins precisely where I am. But this work must be done together with others, in a group, and with a teacher who himself is studying the way.

“As my life goes by, I begin to suspect that I am not who I believe I am. I am asleep, unconscious of myself. In this sleep, my thoughts, feelings and movements act without direction, subject to accidental shocks and habits.”
Jeanne de Salzmann

In the schools of the Fourth Way one works with others in a group, and also by oneself, with the aim of understanding the true nature of the world and of man. According to Gurdjieff, in order to achieve beneficial results, inner development must be harmonious and balanced, and include all parts of the person. It calls for simultaneous development of the intellectual, the emotional and the physical domains. Our study includes sacred dances referred to as “the Movements”, and also music that Gurdjieff adapted from ancient traditions. These are important aids to a person’s learning about himself/herself and about the world.

“Beyond the thin shell of imagined reality there is another reality. Something, for some reason, stands between us and it.”
P. D. Ouspensky

In 1922, Gurdjieff founded in Fontainbleau, France the “Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man”. There, and later in Paris, he worked intensively with people from his groups in France, England and in the United States. After his death in 1949, Jeanne de Salzmann, his closest student, continued this work which has spread throughout the world. The international center for all Gurdjieff groups is in Paris, in the house founded by his students. In the 1960s, in response to a request from a group of seekers from Israel who were interested in Gurdjieff’s path, Madame de Salzmann appointed Dr. Michel Conge, another direct student of Gurdjieff, to be responsible for establishing groups in Israel, which would work according to Gurdjieff’s teachings. The groups in Israel today remain in close contact with the center in Paris, as well as with other Gurdjieff groups throughout the world.

George Ivanovich Gurdjieff was born in the Caucasus, to a Greek father and an Armenian mother. In his book “Meetings with Remarkable Men”, he describes the unique upbringing he received which raised many questions in him about the meaning of life. Finding no satisfactory answers in religion or science, his search became the focus of his life and led to a belief in the existence of hidden ancient knowledge. He was able to make contact with various communities throughout Central Asia and the Middle East, where parts of this ancient knowledge were still alive, and this knowledge formed in him a comprehensive worldview.

In 1912, Gurdjieff arrived in Moscow and St. Petersburg, where a small group of students interested in his teaching gathered around him. Due to the conditions during World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution, Gurdjieff left Russia together with his closest students with the aim of bringing his teaching to seekers in the West. In 1922, he founded the “Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man” on a farm near Paris

In the years between the two world wars, Gurdjieff taught many students at the institute, wrote his main work, “Beelzebub’s Tales to his Grandson”, and visited the United States and many European countries, where he founded groups, lectured to the general public and organized public performances of the sacred dances and exercises called “the Movements”. During the Second World War, Gurdjieff lived in a small apartment in Paris and worked tirelessly to create a nucleus of students who would be able to continue this multi-faceted quest, later known simply as “The Work”.

After Gurdjieff’s death in 1949, students from all over the world continued under the guidance of Madame Jeanne de Salzman, who was authorized by Gurdjieff to continue his work. Centers were first founded in Paris, London, New York and Caracas in order to establish a direct transmission of his teachings. Over the years, many new groups have been added, including the group in Israel.

The work of inner development is a personal, binding, and ongoing search, based on finding a harmonious connection between body, thought, and emotion. The search is conducted together with group members under the conditions of everyday life and according to the principles and guidelines of this mishnah.

1 Tali
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רשמים מעבודה בקבוצות גורדייף 1
2 Amit
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3 Irit
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רשמים מעבודה בקבוצות גורדייף 3
4 Lior
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5 Itamar
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6 Hilla
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7 Shaul
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8 Nave
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9 Neno
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רשמים מעבודה בקבוצות גורדייף 9
10 Elad
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רשמים מעבודה בקבוצות גורדייף 10
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1 Tali
2 Amit
3 Irit
4 Lior
5 Itamar
6 Hilla
7 Shaul
8 Nave
9 Neno
10 Elad
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The special conditions of working at school are a valuable aid to one’s personal aspiration to simply be present in life, in every situation. Working together with others, in various activities, is an essential dimension of inner work. The movement class works on Gurdjieff’s “Slow Second Obligatory.”

In Search of the Miraculous
P. D. Ouspensky
Shoken Publishing, 1977

Meetings with Remarkable Men
G. I. Gurdjieff
Shoken Publishing, 1987

Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson
G. I. Gurdjieff
Shoken Publishing, 2002

Views from the Real World
Drachim Publishing
Gurdjieff groups in Israel

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