P. D. Ouspensky was born in Moscow in 1878. His first book, The Fourth Dimension (1909), offered a contribution to mathematical theory; it was Tertium Organum (1912) and A Model of the Universe (written 1914) which revealed his stature as a thinker and his deep preoccupation with the problems of man’s existence. Ouspensky’s search for truth brought him in 1915 to his meeting in Moscow with George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff who revealed to him a system of knowledge which Ouspensky recognised as a vital need for mankind at the present time. This record of Ouspensky’s eight years of work as Gurdjieff’s pupil is to be compared with Plato’s presentation of the life and teaching of Socrates.

Written with direct simplicity this book cannot fail to convey the impression that not only did he discover a real knowledge about Man and the Universe, but that a practical teaching for the conduct of life is even now in existence. These are no theories of philosophy or psychology, but a complete understanding of the problems of life and the most direct instructions for the betterment of man’s existence. Ouspensky describes the conversations between Gurdjieff and his pupils with an exactness which conveys a vivid picture of two of the most extraordinary men of the twentieth century and dramatically relates the story of the preservation of this teaching by Gurdjieff and his small circle through the period when Tsarist Russia was destroyed.

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