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Gurdjieff Bennett and the Fourth Way (2)

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category is primarily addressed to people already involved with, or at least aspiring to

be involved with, the teaching in a practical way whereas that in the second category

is also addressed to a wider audience.

Spiritual Teaching

With the exception of A Spiritual Psychology (from a lecture series in 1962) little of

the material which is firmly in this category was published during Bennett‘s lifetime.

However, there is a considerable body of posthumously published material (much of

it transcribed from talks given during the period 1971-1974). I have made particular

use of Transformation and The Sevenfold Work (see Chapter Five, ‗Bennett‘s

Emphasis on Balance Between Effort and Grace.‘)

Ideas

A high proportion of the books published during Bennett‘s lifetime are in this

category. Most notable are the four volumes of Bennett‘s The Dramatic Universe:

The Foundations of Natural Philosophy (1956), The Foundations of Moral

Philosophy (1961), Man and His Nature (1966) and History (1966). I also include

here his first two books The Crisis In Human Affairs (1948) and What Are We Living

For? (1949), the latter of which is more explicit in advocating the Gurdjieff teaching

as an approach to human problems. It is necessary to point out that my exposition

barely scratches the surface of the wealth of material in these books. I only refer to

Bennett‘s ideas in so far as they have direct bearing on issues of overarching purpose,

continuity, transmission and lineage.

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