Gurdjieff and the Mystical Tradition
Joseph Azize
January 30, 2020 DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780190064075.003.0004 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Topics | Mysticism |
| Key points | Argues that Gurdjieff's system is fundamentally mystical, seeking to harmonize the lower centers (mind, feeling, organic instinct) with the higher centers so that a person can achieve a unified sense of presence and consciously perceive objective reality. The author draws parallels between Gurdjieff's ideas and Neoplatonism and Orthodox spirituality, particularly the Philokalia, The Way of a Pilgrim, and the Jesus Prayer. |
Abstract
Gurdjieff was fundamentally a mystic in that his system was designed to come into a state where the lower centers or “brains” (mind, feeling, organic instinct) are made healthy and are harmonised together and are aligned with the higher “centers”. In Gurdjieff’s teaching, the higher centers receive the impressions which are the content of mystical experiences, but the lower centers, being disharmonized and undeveloped, cannot come into contact with the higher centers without fainting away before the flood of new and unaccustomed impressions. That is, Gurdjieff’s system is said to allow one to come to a unified sense of one’s own presence, as a whole; and this whole can stand in a sound relation to the cosmic whole, and maintain some consciousness when perceiving objective reality. His affinities with Neoplatonism and the Orthodox spirituality of Mount Athos are discussed, especially the Philokalia, the Russian book The Way of a Pilgrim, and the Orthodox practice of the Jesus Prayer.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on mysticism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| The mystical mind: probing the biology of religious experience | 2000 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Religious and Mystical Experiences as Artifacts of Temporal Lobe Function: A General Hypothesis | 1983 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| The Problem of Pure Consciousness: Mysticism and Philosophy | 1993 | Edited collection of essays | |
| Irreducible Mind: Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century | 2020 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Mysticism and schizophrenia: A phenomenological exploration of the structure of consciousness in the schizophrenia spectrum disorders. | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |