Struggle Of The Magicians

How and why a student of Uspenskii's caliber broke with his teacher, his slow descent, but ultimate breakthrough, offers a deep and profound study that reveals the defining moments and trigger events intrinsic to the process of transformation. The material in this book, much of it new and drawn from original sources, published and unpublished, along with the author's insights and original reading of documents, provides a new and revolutionary dimension to the understanding of Gurdjieff, Uspenskii, and the Fourth Way work.

Gurdjieff came to the West because, as he said, "Unless the `wisdom' of the East and the `energy' of the West meet and are used harmoniously, the world will destroy itself". He came to establish an ancient teaching, newly formulated for our time, one specifically calibrated to the stress and uncertainties of the technological world, Unlike the traditional three ways which focus on the body, emotions, or the mind, the Fourth Way uses the ordinary world to work. A rational and scientific approach - shorn of all "religiosity" and presented in an objective language - the Fourth Way uses the shocks, negativity and suffering of ordinary life to come to real Life.