Others who have followed this path

Footprints of Others Who have walked this path

http://www.gurdjieff.org/needleman1.htm

Needleman on Ouspensky's book on Gurdjieff

A characteristic of In Search of the Miraculous, which from all other accounts doubtless reflects the Gurdjieff teaching accurately, is the unique mingling of cosmological ideas with teachings concerning psychology. Ouspensky now begins the long, powerful portrayal of Gurdjieff’s teachings about the origin and structure of the universe, the laws behind the appearances, laws and forces that govern everything from the creation of galaxies to the movements of atoms to the energy transactions within the human organism.

The two basic laws of reality are the law of three forces and the law of the octave. Every phenomenon in the universe is inevitably the manifestation of three forces; and every process takes place according to a structure symbolized by the familiar seven-tone musical scale, with steps either upward or downward and with junctures, or intervals, where the development of forces is checked and requires special new energy to proceed along its original path

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Past a certain stage, evolution is not and cannot be automatic, mechanical; it requires special work and conscious discipline. It can only proceed through individual human beings working together. In short, the evolution of man is neither the mechanical, biological process of modern science, nor the social or planetary phenomenon of the contemporary “Aquarians.” The fascinating details of the structure of Gurdjieff groups that appear in this portion of Ouspensky’s book are more understandable when it is seen that human evolution requires extraordinary conditions of individual and collective effort, conditions which go against the grain of every known psychological, religious, or social organization.

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Chief among the new ideas introduced in this portion of the book is the mysterious nine-pointed diagram known as the Enneagram. As explained by Ouspensky in several sections, it is an ancient symbol, never before made known, which represents the fundamental laws of transformation that have already been described in the whole of the book. It is thus par excellence Gurdjieff’s diagram of the organic unity of everything existing: the law of three forces, the law of seven, the processes of assimilating the three “foods,” the patterns governing the transmission of esoteric knowledge, and the structural dynamics of every living thing in nature, including man.

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Ouspensky on G.

Seven gradations of the concept “man”. (The concept of human relativity)

A) Mechanical humanity­
i. center of gravity of psychic life is in the moving center - the physical moving and instinctive functions outweigh the emotional and thinking functions
ii. the man of feeling, the man whose emotional center of gravity outweighs the moving and thinking aspects
iii. the man centered in reason, theory, mentality as opposed to physical or emotional aspects.

B) Advanced humanity
iv. born as one of the above 3 types; evolved with balanced psychic centers as a result of disciplined efforts as opposed to accident. He has a permanent center of gravity consisting of his ideas and discipline, already begins to know himself and whither he is going.
v. a crystallized entity which, if previously a balanced iv, can theoretically progress to vi or vii; otherwise blocked (the fakir, monk or yogi).
vi. similar to vii but some of his properties are not yet permanent.
vii. possessor of everything a man can aspire to – i.e. will, consciousness, permanent and unchangeable “I”, individuality and immortality - the ultimate goal.

Similarly other matters can be graded by seven levels, from base to purified e.g. knowledge, consciousness, art, religion, science, philosophy, etc.