The Reality of Being: The Fourth Way of Gurdjieff Paperback – December 6, 2011

This is perhaps one of the most powerful and extraordinary books I've ever read in the field of transformation or the Fourth Way.I was introduced to the Gudjieff Work as a teenager forty some years ago and have read all of the most important published books. My favorites have always been "In Search of the Miraculous" by P.D. Ouspensky and "Beelzebub's Tales" and "Meetings with Remarkable Men" by Gurdjieff. A few months ago I read "Heart without Measure" by Ravi Ravindra about his several-years work with Madame de Salzmann. I found it especially profound and moving.So when I heard about the publication of "The Reality of Being" I ordered it immediately. I am almost finished reading it (the first time). I notice that I am reading rather quickly so I can get a gist of the content but plan to start re-reading it again much more slowly to let in sink in deeper. I expect this is will be a book I'll be re-reading for the rest of my life.The essence of the book is actually very similar to Ekhart Tolle's "The Power of Now." It is about presence, being in the now, seeing one's "ordinary I" from a higher perspective and tapping into higher energies. Tolle's book is excellent. However, "The Reality of Being" goes ten times deeper. Every sentence, every paragraph, every chapter is permeated with profound substance. The Power of Now is a good primer. This is the the advanced course.Of course, no book can, by itself, give you the depth of experience and understanding that working directly with "a teacher who knows" can. But in every single part of the book Madame de Salzmann calls on us to do the inner work necessary to awaken. And her instructions are in no way vague or ambiguous. However they are so deep that it may take a good degree of attention and focus to grasp their meaning.This book is quite like any other I've read in my life. It has more transformative power packed into a single page than the average library of self-help or spiritual books.If you are a follower of the Fourth Way or seriously interested in personal transformation, this book is a must.

A brilliant articulation of important ideas and accounting of corresponding efforts. This book resonates with De Salzman's deep personal sincerity in describing what it is like to commit all, or as much as of one's attention and energy as one can connect with and control, in a moment to moment 70 year pursuit of one's own highest cognitive and spiritual possibilities. ("Who am I - Who am I in this world?) This is no introductory overview of The Fourth Way, nothing casual about this book - De Salzmann's, THE REALITY OF BEING. Better first to have read "IN SEARCH OF THE MIRACULOUS", by P.D. Ouspensky. But as De Salzmann's account makes clear, The Fourth Way is not about books and intellectual exchange anymore than such may be necessary as trailmarkers for those on mission to answer the aforementioned questions. She makes clear that The Fourth Way is about effort, the effort to observe oneself over and over again, in a very special and different way, in the context of everyday life. Nothing I have read, nor anyone I have spoken to during 40 years of fitful dabbling in The Fourth Way, has provided such insight into the efforts and quality thereof to first verify and then implement Gurdjieff's teachings better than Jeanne De Salzmann in this book. This is a reference manual not a trophy book. Time's a wast'n. Good luck!

Have bought several books about the practices Gurdjieff taught his pupils and the objectives of such practices, along with the different experiences of different students in following the practices. I had a hard time getting into the book, but then I read a paragraph by the author where she said it didn't matter if one just opened it at random or started from the beginning or whatever. I had tried starting from the beginning and failed totally, but in fact seemed to very often pick it up at random and then, about half of the time I did that, I would get totally absorbed, miss a meal, be late for work, and so on. So on this account I deemed this book my find of the year. And so it has proved to be. I came to it through reading another book, by Ravi Ravindra, which I found helpful but more of a personal writeup of his own experience with this teaching. This book is more from the viewpoint of one trying to provide information that will throw some light on the practices, including the dances, that Gurdjieff advised and taught, and what kind of results one might fairly expect, thus guidelines. To talk about being isn't easy - just try it sometime! So to talk about any kind of increase in awareness of being, well, either the reader is absorbed in 2 seconds or it remains opaque. If the latter, do come back later; if the former you're gone anyway, call us when you come back!