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G. I. Gurdjieff (1872–1949)
Gurdjieff believed the esoteric core of ancient civilizations had a knowledge of the meaning of life on earth and human life in particular that had been lost over time. He searched throughout the Hindu Kush, the Gobi desert, the Levant and Egypt to rediscover that knowledge. In doing so, he came to discover the origin of esoteric knowledge. Having understood "the true principles and ideas" that underlay that knowledge, he reassembled it—for it had been scattered over time—and reformulated it for modern understanding. In 1912 introduced The Fourth Way to the West.
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What is The Fourth Way?
The Fourth Way is an ancient esoteric teaching, rich, practical and of great scale, that uses ordinary life—the uncertainty, negativity, enthusiasms and suffering—to come to Real Life. Unlike the three classic ways of self-transformation—work with the body (hatha yoga), or emotions (monkhood) or mind (yogi)—The Fourth Way works on all three at once. Its aim is to develop balanced and integrated individuals rooted in understanding and conscience. Because it shows the student how to work directly with his or her daily life, there is no need, as there is in the classic ways, for withdrawal from life. One's life is used to come to Life.
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