In Search of P. D. Ouspensky: The Genius in the Shadow of Gurdjieff
Gary LachmanBooks.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.
Overview
"Little has been known about P. D. Ouspensky, other than that he was a follower of the early twentieth-century esoteric master G. I. Gurdjieff, and that he first disseminated Gurdjieff's unsettling psychology in the classic In Search of the Miraculous." This biography moves Ouspensky center stage. Against a backdrop of the Russian Revolution, the First World War, and a cosmopolitan Europe entre deux guerres, here is the story of his dramatic spiritual struggle with the man who changed his life and from whom he was never able, finally, to separate. Like that of Castaneda and Don Juan - or Faust and Mephistopheles - it is a tale fraught with insight, humility, courage, and mystery. What happened to turn Ouspensky, the earnest seeker of spiritual wisdom, against his enigmatic teacher? Did he sabotage himself, or did his powerful master derail him?Synopsis
P. D. Ouspensky's classic work In Search of the Miraculous was the first to disseminate the ideas of G. I. Gurdjieff, the mysterious master of esoteric thought in the early twentieth century who still commands a following today. Gurdjieff's mystique has long eclipsed Ouspensky, once described by Gurdjieff as "nice to drink vodka with, but a weak man." Yet Ouspensky was a brilliant, accomplished philosopher in his own right, and some consider his meeting with the charismatic "Mr. G." the catastrophe of his life. Indeed, in subsequent years Ouspensky tried hard, with limited success, to break away. This book moves Ouspensky's own story center stage, against the backdrop of the Russian Revolution, the dervishes of Constantinople, and a cosmopolitan Europe entre deux guerres. The archetypal encounter it describes echoes that of Don Juan and Castaneda, or perhaps Mephistopheles and Faust. One of the great mystical adventures of our time, it will fascinate everyone interested in the farthest reaches of what it means to be human. The paperback edition includes a new chapter on Gary Lachman's own former work in Gurdjieff's psychology.