Gurdjieff Legacy Bookstore

The spiritual life story of Ethel Merston based on her diaries and recollections is an important historical work, as well as a keen insight into many of the seminal teachers of her times. Merston was one of Gurdjieff's first English pupils and lived at the Prieuré from 1922 until 1927. Her seriousness and organizational abilities led Gurdjieff to put her in charge in his absences. Fritz Peters gives a wonderful account of what she had to put up with (he gives her the name Miss Madison) in his Boyhood with Gurdjieff. In India, she lived at Ramana Maharshi's ashram for many years. She gives a first-person account of his death and also the meeting between The Mother and Sri Aurobindo and Anandamayi Ma (with whom she often traveled). She also attended many of Krishnamurti's talks and seminars in the 1930s, was a friend of Sunyata, Alain Daniélou, Krishna Prem and Swami Omananda. In the 1950s she was initiated into Subud by Pak Subuh at J. G. Bennett's Coombe Springs study house. At Mendham, she met again her friends from her Gurdjieff days—Mme de Salzmann, Mme Ouspensky, Olga de Hartmann and Peggy Flinsch—and was introduced to Lord John Pentland.

"The life of a seeker of truth, Ethel Merston, is recounted in this English language book. Her extraordinary quest for enlightenment which led her to meet many of the eminent spiritual figures of the last century: G. I. Gurdjieff (and others in the Fourth Way, to which she remained faithful her whole life—P. D. Ouspensky, J. G. Bennett, Mme de Salzmann and Lord Pentland), Krishnamurti, Anandamayi Ma, Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, Ramana Maharshi, to name only a few. We follow her on her voyage from bourgeois England to the heart of India, a voyage as much exterior as interior. Her journal, kept daily, serves as Ariadne's thread for the author of the biography, who presents Ethel Merston's impressions and comments restored to us in all their freshness, and what each encounter brought forth in her. With Gurdjieff, she learned of the separation between the "I" and the "it," that is to say to realize that "it" thinks in us, that "it" moves, that "it" reacts, all automatically. This teaching was for her a valuable tool of discrimination in all her future encounters. She wasn't touched by Krishnamurti's teaching, although she found in it emphases on the conditioned mental process familiar to her. Of particular interest are her direct accounts of a meeting between Krishnamurti and Anandamayi Ma, who questioned Krishnamurti about the reason for his refusal of gurus, and the meeting between Anandamayi Ma and The Mother of Auroville. But it is Ramana Maharshi who made the greatest impression on her: "The idea of time is only in your mind. It is not in the Self. There is no time for the Self. Time arises as an idea after the ego arises. You exist even in the absence of time and of space." Of this Ethel Merston wrote: "All was new for me." She would return regularly to Ramana Maharshi's ashram, even being present at his death. The biography makes clear the differences between the teachings, and the bearers of these teachings, as experienced by Ethel Merston. It is thus a first hand testimony of evolved beings, with strong references to contemporary spirituality, as well as the impressions of a woman animated by the wish to awaken, with her doubts, incomprehensions, rejections and resistances, and her flashes of understanding, her maturing. An interesting work, reflecting an epoch and a search."
—Revue 3e millénaire

"There are few comprehensive accounts of individual Western pioneers who were interested in Indian spirituality in the first part of the 20th century. Ethel Merston left an intimate record of her journey as she constantly questioned and searched for a remedy to relieve the malady of her soul. We owe to Mary Ellen Korman our appreciation for chronicling that time and bringing to life many of the people Ethel Merston encountered, and who we never quite knew as fellow seekers committed to the search for higher truths."
—The Mountain Path, The Journal of Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi

"I found Ethel Merston's life story fascinating. The narrative completely absorbed me and I was captivated from the first sentence by both substance as well as style. Ethel Merston was an exceptional individual and it is wonderful that her story has finally been told. An important work with considerable research."
—Ram Alexander, Editor, Death Must Die: A Western Woman's Life-Long Spiritual Quest with Shree Anandamayee Ma

Long out of print, this special hardcover reissue of Fritz Peters' account of his five years with G.I. Gurdjieff ranks among the classics of Gurdjieffian literature. Only 11 years old when his aunt, Margaret Anderson, brought him to the Prieuré in June 1924, he immediately became devoted to Gurdjieff. Within weeks, however, Gurdjieff suffered a near fatal car crash. During his recovery the young boy became his "chair carrier." Other tasks included mowing the château's great lawns, kitchen boy, waiter and gatekeeper. He also was to clean Gurdjieff's room, no small task as Gurdjieff delighted in wrecking it. Peters was among the few to whom Gurdjieff gave individual lessons on the teaching. An acute observer and talented writer, Peters' crisp images and scenes, often hilarious, give a rare look at what life was like at Gurdjieff's Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man. Peters' interactions with Miss Madison (Ethel Merston), Rachmilevitch, and Gurdjieff's dog Philos, as well as A. R. Orage and Gertrude Stein are quite telling. Said the writer Henry Miller of Peters' book, "It's full of amazing anecdotes and the wisdom of life."

A pupil of Ouspensky who met Gurdjieff in 1948, Adie led groups in England and then Australia from 1965 until his death in 1989. Included is a sketch of his life and a selection of his talks along with photos.

Provides indispensable points of reference for anyone attempting to distinguish between 'initiatic,' 'pseudo-initiatic,' and 'counter-initiatic' spiritualities. Makes a distinction between initiatic and mystical paths and the dangers and barrenness of syncretism and the often dire consequences of fostering 'psychic powers.'

This is the first book exclusively dedicated to the mandala tradition in the West. Though long recognized in Eastern spiritual traditions for focusing meditation, mandalas have not generally been recognized as such in Western traditions except by those deeply schooled in Western esotericism. McLean, who has published over 40 books on alchemy or related subjects, presents and analyzes over 40 beautiful engravings, reproduced as full-page illustrations, from alchemical, kabbalistic, magical, Rosicrucian and Hermetic sources.

Classic study of music as sacred art and its profound effects on the soul. D'Olivet was the first to restate Pythagoras' ideas of music.

Follows Gurdjieff's search for pre-sand Egypt beginning with the Sphinx and Great Pyramid, to Thebes and the Temple in Man and Karnak, to the Valley of the Kings, the Temples of Edfu and Abu Simbel, and into Ethiopia where he unexpectedly discovers the origin of the ancient teaching of The Fourth Way.
DVD and VHS—NTSC/PAL formats, color, 60 minutes.

Shot on site in Paris, Avon, Mont. St. Michel, Lascaux, London, New York, and New Haven, the documentary traces Gurdjieff's life from his near-fatal car crash through to his giving meetings during the Nazi-occupation of Paris to his death in 1949. Examined in depth are the writing of his Legominism All and Everything and his relationships with Orage, Ouspensky and Bennett. Also included is the Rope and his final trip to the Caves of Lascaux.
DVD format, color, 86 minutes.

Shot on site in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Constantinople, London, Fontainebleau-en-Avon, New York and Lascaux, this documentary video—narrated by William Patrick Patterson and based on his book Struggle of the Magicians—retraces Gurdjieff's mission to introduce the teaching to the West. P.D. Ouspensky's and J.G. Bennett's enigmatic relationship with Gurdjieff are explored. Particularly stressed are the "St. Petersburg Conditions" and Gurdjieff's technique of "divine acting." The video vividly demonstrates Gurdjieff's warning to America of the rise and challenge of the East with footage recalling the 9/11 attack and its aftermath.
DVD and VHS—NTSC format, color, 80 minutes.

Kremski pays paramount attention to the inner movement of the energy that must sustain the interpretation of a work from beginning to end, and that movement is especially perceptible here. There are 21 pieces on this volume.

The Ensemble Resonance continues their arrangement and exploration of the music of Gurdjieff/de Hartmann for instruments through 21 different instrumental combinations, balances and tempos.

The soundtrack to the film "Meetings With Remarkable Men" contains beautiful orchestrations of a number of Gurdjieff/de Hartmann pieces. Laurence Rosenthal did the orchestration and conducts the National Philharmonic Orchestra in the 11 pieces on this CD.

Dr. William Welch was a longtime student of Gurdjieff and a noted Fourth Way teacher. This project, the first of its kind, was begun in 1992 and lasted three years, two years before his death. This set of four CDs in MP3 format contains the whole of Gurdjieff's magnum opus. The CDs can be played on a computer or other device equipped to handle the MP3 format. They cannot be played on an ordinary audio CD player.

The voices of seven speakers, four of whom were present at readings attended by Mr. Gurdjieff, pronounce each of the unusual words appearing in the First Series. Of the three remaining speakers, one spoke both Armenian and Persian as a child; another is fluent in English and Slovenian; and a third speaks only English. The CD-ROM plays on either a PC or MAC.