In Search of the Miraculous (Harvest Book)

In Search of the Miraculous (Harvest Book)
by P. D. Ouspensky

In Search of the Miraculous (Harvest Book)
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Book Summary Information

Author: P. D. Ouspensky
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2001-09-28
ISBN: 0156007460
Number of pages: 399
Publisher: Mariner Books
Product features:
  • ISBN13: 9780156007467
  • Condition: New
  • Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!

Book Reviews of In Search of the Miraculous (Harvest Book)

Book Review: instructive
Summary: 4 Stars

In this review I will skip the obvious stuff and focus on a frequently overlooked aspect of Gurdjieffian 'work' that forms the essence of this book. G. can be seen as the inventor of the model of the modern guru-disciple relationship. A model which totally privileges the guru side of the equation. Because the disciple is supposed to "receive everything" from the guru his duty is to unquestioningly obey, follow and financially support, the master. There is a systematic attack on attachment to non-cult friends and family, who are all "asleep". There can be no discussion, or bargain - the disciple either is "in" or, if he shows streaks of independence or dissatisfaction, "out". It's total control. This poisons the disciple's mind.

G. used people for his own ends and needs. He collected around himself a coterie of Russians and English, from middle and upper middle classes, typically (although not always) well-off and preferably rich - businesspeople, aristocrats, artists, publishers, politicos etc. Only, G. changed the rules of the game: these supremely class- conscious people were now compelled to worship the 'magician from the Caucasus' and to unquestioningly obey every whim he might have had. The brilliant trick invented by Mr. G (and later replicated by Rajneesh and pretty much all contemporary 'spiritual masters') was to tell devotees that their travails were not to satisfy him personally but an abstract ideal he called "The Work". In Ouspensky's case this meant suspending writing his own books and devoting his psychical and material resources to Mr. G. Until he woke up 20 years later and left the master - even then, G kept tweaking the man. When O. moved to Istanbul, G. followed, took O.'s students and persuaded O. to work on his ballet. Eventually, O. was fed up and moved to London. G. followed him there as well, took his students and was given a mansion. And so on. Lorin Roche describes Ouspensky's situation best: "In your outer life you are living one way - you are a citizen of the United States or France or England or Slovakia - and in your inner life, as part of your meditation, you are a low-caste serf in an 15th Century Hindu ashram, struggling to get a little bit of attention from the Master, and begging for permission to exist. "

I am not saying that Mr G.s information wasn't valuable. After all, Ouspensky who was interested in numbers, planets, physics got exactly what he was looking for: numbers, planets, hydrogens, octaves etc. G was happy to explain anything as long as it left the power equation on his side.

G: "...if you haven't any slaves, you are a slave of someone. ... The well-being of man is that everyone be his slaves."
Q: "But shouldn't one give up using egotistically one's power over others?"
G: "Today you do it unconsciously; try to do it consciously. Then it will be good, both for them and for you. There is no other justice."

When power began to shift, G. adapted & compromised. Superficially, a similar approach could be seen as having had been adopted later by Rajneesh, the Rolls Royce Guru. While Rajneesh was basically a spiritual criminal, however, as far as i can tell the situation with Gurdjieff was more complicated and difficult to understand.

O. was a follower until the very end. He takes extreme care not to compromise overtly or divulge personal details. This book is a reflection of a fascinating relationship, documenting how G. took hold of smart people and made them relinquish what they had in a misguided belief this helped their inner progress. They would have progressed just as much had they not kowtowed and compromised their integrity and had they questioned the brutality of everyday interactions with the man. But then, we give what we have so easily because we don't treasure it. Information (even spiritual information) is not knowledge. A guru's real intention is to obfuscate this fact. Real knowledge and real learning, can only occur through an open heart, through freedom, and through love. By fostering psychic independence. Gurdjieff failed here almost totally. His own problem was that he had no peers. Elevated and revered, he forgot he was (only ever so) human himself. And that was a mistake.

For me, the questions it opened have to do with the "price to pay" for spiritual 'teachings' (amal misazad yak zaati shirin)?

Summary of In Search of the Miraculous (Harvest Book)

A new edition of the groundbreaking spiritual treasure, with a foreword by bestselling author Marianne Williamson .

Since its original publication in 1949, In Search of the Miraculous has been hailed as the most valuable and reliable documentation of G. I. Gurdjieff's thoughts and universal view. This historic and influential work is considered by many to be a primer of mystical thought as expressed through the Work, a combination of Eastern philosophies that had for centuries been passed on orally from teacher to student. Gurdjieff's goal, to introduce the Work to the West, attracted many students, among them Ouspensky, an established mathematician, journalist, and, with the publication of In Search of the Miraculous, an eloquent and persuasive proselyte.

Ouspensky describes Gurdjieff's teachings in fascinating and accessible detail, providing what has proven to be a stellar introduction to the universal view of both student and teacher. It goes without saying that In Search of the Miraculous has inspired great thinkers and writers of ensuing spiritual movements, including Marianne Williamson, the highly acclaimed author of A Return to Love and Illuminata. In a new and never-before-published foreword, Williamson shares the influence of Ouspensky's book and Gurdjieff's teachings on the New Thought movement and her own life, providing a contemporary look at an already timeless classic.

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