Mr Nyland’s Talks on Gurdjieff: The Draining, Sensing, “I Am,” Unrolling the Film, and Day of Austerity Exercises, Presidio Press, Tucson, Arizona. 338 pp plus index. Available from By the […]
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Author: Joseph Azize
Wednesday 19 July 1989 (Part One) Uncommon Wisdom
What is wisdom? I cannot yet define it satisfactorily, but here it is. Gracie: On Sunday, I was lying on the table downstairs in the large studio placing the cutlery, […]
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Errata in the Third Edition of “George Adie: A Gurdjieff Pupil in Australia”
Apologies for the errors. If anyone spots more, please let me know. Page 20. 2nd paragraph, 2nd last line, 6th word. For “her” read “here” Page 21. 1st paragraph, last line, after 5th word. […]
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Shapiro and Shrier on Rumination and Mental Images
Ben Shapiro published an excellent interview with Abigail Shrier on 5 May 2024, the centre of which was a discussion of her new book, Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren’t Growing […]
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Review, Yuval Taylor: “Zora and Langston”
Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) wrote the striking novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937). I am perhaps even more impressed by her autobiography, Dust Tracks on a Road (1942). She strikes me […]
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Veni Sancte Spiritus and Ancient Knowledge
I wonder if the Latin sequence, Veni Sancte Spiritus may not be from ancient knowledge. It is a traditional Catholic hymn in a rhyming metre, which was numbered among the […]
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Negative Imagination (20 September 1988)
Gurdjieff often spoke of the dangers of uncontrolled imagination. So far as I can see, it was Ouspensky who formulated the concept of “negative imagination.” In this first exploration of […]
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R.H. Benson, “The Sentimentalists,” 5
The next section begins with Dell complacently arriving in the countryside for a splendidly luxurious holiday with Fr Yolland’s wealthy father. The moment Dell sees the elderly Mr Yolland, he […]
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Taking an Interest in the Washing Up
Why do we not take more interest in the washing-up? It is a regular daily activity, and occupies some time. Purely from a pragmatic perspective, it would be of benefit […]
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Thinking Long Thoughts
One work weekend, Mr Adie gave us a theme which he had first learnt from Ouspensky: to think long thoughts. He said that it was one of “those mysterious things […]
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