A review by beautyistruth
In Search of the Miraculous: The Definitive Exploration of G. I. Gurdjieff's Mystical Thought and Universal View by P.D. Ouspensky

5.0

This book is a good introduction to Gurdjieff's teachings, presented in a clear and understandable way by the author, who was a student of Gurdjieff himself from 1915 to 1924. Interspersed with this are some interesting personal observations of how Gurdjieff conducted his practice and any special effects of the teachings that the student Ouspensky experienced (which is very little). Ouspensky appears at first attractively somewhat on the side of scepticism rather than blind faith, and seems honest, dutifully focused on understanding and practicing the teachings. However, I get the feeling that he came to be under the spell of Gurdjieff and perhaps lacked much ability to step outside of the work to question the bigger picture and the personal motivations of the master, for I sense that there are omissions.

As for Gurdjieff's Fourth Way, while I have sympathy for the spiritual seeking of something further, not too unlike religion, the teachings are vague, fantastic, contradictory, beguiling, and unlikely to be any more positive than many 'unbelievers' or non-practitioners in practice. All in all, it seems likely to me that Gurdjieff was a charismatic charlatan, but this is an interesting look into an alternative worldview set with a backdrop of war and revolution.