Gurdjieff's Teaching
Little historical detail is known of Gurdjieff's early life but in 1912, he appeared as an independent teacher in Moscow and began to transmit the ideas and practical methods for "work on oneself" that today bear his name.
The ideas and methods brought by Gurdjieff are neither a religion nor a philosophy but a practical teaching to be lived. Direct experience in life verifies what he proposes and nothing needs to be believed or taken on trust before investigating for oneself.
Gurdjieff asks the questions : “Who am I?” “Why am I here?” He says that Man’s possibilities are great but that nothing can be achieved in the sleep that characterises his life; that he is not free; that everything in his life just happens. In order to escape this subjective world a profound transformation is needed through a gradual awakening to the reality of our situation.
“Without self knowledge, without understanding the working and functions of his machine, man cannot be free, he cannot govern himself and he will always remain a slave”
“In properly organized groups no faith is required; what is required is simply a little trust and even that only for a little while, for the sooner a man begins to verify all he hears the better it is for him...”
For more about Gurdjieff click here for the Wikipedia entry.