The Fourth Way

“Thanks to this, the fourth way affects simultaneously every side of man’s being. It is work on the three rooms at once. The fakir works on the first room, the monk on the second, the yogi on the third. In reaching the fourth room the fakir, the monk, and the yogi leave behind them many things unfinished, and they cannot make use of what they have attained because they are not masters of all their functions. The fakir is master of his body but not of his emotions or his mind; the monk is master of his emotions but not of his body or his mind; and the yogi is master of his mind but not of his body or his emotions."

Gurdjieff on the fourth way, as recounted to P.D. Ouspensky in “In Search of the Miraculous,” taken from the edition published by by Paul H. Crompton Ltd 2004, Page 49.

The Middle Ages

     "Thanks to this one fact I have just related, out of thousands of other observations of mine, I think you will clearly understand that this monstrous phenomenon could not exist among the rising generation there if the notion were not prevalent that it is exceedingly 'indecent' to talk to children about the 'question of sex.'

     "This notion of 'decency' has come down to contemporary civilization as a heritage from the beings of the epoch called the 'MiddleAges.'

     "These candidates for ghassnamoosses of the Middle Ages, who were the chief destroyers of the real meaning of the teaching of the divine teacher, Jesus Christ, also devised and introduced, as a rule of everyday existence, the invention called 'bon ton.'  And this maleficent invention became so strongly rooted in the psyche of the majority from generation to generation that now your favorites, who have become completely weak-willed, are unable, even by conscious intention, to give up this abnormal psychic fixation, that is, the notion that it is indecent to talk to their children about the 'question of sex.'

Excerpt taken from Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson, G. I. Gurdjieff, pub. Viking Arkana 1992,, p 418.

Inexpressible anguish

"In any case, you must first of all be told that this holy planet, which is called 'Purgatory,' is the heart and place of concentration of all the final results of the pulsation of everything that functions and exists in the whole of our Great Universe.

     "Our Common Father Creator Endlessness appears there so often only because this holy planet is the place of existence of the most unfortunate 'highest being-bodies,' who obtained their coating on various planets of our Great Universe.

     "The 'highest being-bodies' who have become worthy to dwell on this holy planet suffer, as perhaps no one else and nothing else suffers in the whole of our Great Universe.

     "In view of this, our All-Loving, All-Merciful, and Absolutely Just Creator Endlessness, having no other possibility of helping these unfortunate 'highest being-bodies,' often appears there, so that by these appearances of His, He may soothe them, if only a little, in their terrible yet inevitable state of inexpressible anguish."

Excerpt taken from Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson, G. I. Gurdjieff, pub. Viking Arkana 1992,, pp 681-682.

Inevitable psychoses of the masses

"On that day when the word 'art' was uttered for the first time and its exact meaning and underlying idea were established, there was listed among the speakers a Chaldean learned being, very well known in those times, named Aksharpantziar.

     "As the report of the venerable Chaldean sage, the great Aksharpantziar, was the origin of all the subsequent events relating to that famous contemporary art, I will try to recall his speech and repeat it to you as nearly as possible word for word.

     "He spoke as follows:

     "'Past centuries, and especially the two last ones, have shown us that during those inevitable psychoses of the masses leading to wars between states and popular revolts within states, it invariably happens that many of the innocent victims of the collective bestiality are those very beings who, owing to their piety and conscious sacrifices, are worthy to become initiates, and through whom various legomonisms containing information about real events that have taken place in the past could be transmitted to the conscious beings of succeeding generations.

     "'Just such pious men as these always become the innocent victims of the popular bestiality because, in my opinion, being already free within, they never wholly identify themselves, as all the others do, with ordinary interests, and cannot share in the attractions, pleasures, and sentiments, or any other manifestation of those around them, no matter how sincere."

Excerpt taken from Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson, G. I. Gurdjieff, pub. Viking Arkana 1992,, p 418.