THE GURDJIEFF LEGACY FOUNDATION
The Teaching For Our Time

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William Patrick Patterson
Director-Writer-Narrator of Seven Films on The Fourth Way

Introduction to Gurdjieff's Fourth Way: From Selves to Individual Self
to The Self

William Patrick Patterson, a leading exponent and teacher of The Fourth Way, the ancient, sacred, seminal teaching of self-development, explores: Images of God. Bioplasmic machines. Science of Being. Egyptian Mysteries. Nature's trick. Many selves. Self-love's duality. Owning. Futurizing. Historicizing. Ray of Creation. States of Consciousness. Key practices. Embodiment. Direct impressions. Inner space. Self-knowledge and Being. Levels of Understanding. Using ordinary life to come to real life.

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Introduction to Gurdjieff's Fourth Way Vol. 2:
The Movement From Sex To Love

By William Patrick Patterson

William Patrick Patterson probes and explores: instinctual, emotional, formatory-mental love, conscious love, divine love, real relationship. Falling in and out love, bio-plasmic machines, false unity, sex as physical, emotional; conscious intimacy, passing beyond gender, exchange of vibration-substance, reciprocal maintenance. Eating and being eaten, futurizing, historizing, past living the present. Embodiment. Self-observation, self-listening, inner space. Origin of the Universe, its harmony and needed disharmony, being-Partkdolg-duty, conscience, esoteric religion.

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Introduction to Gurdjieff's Fourth Way Vol. 3:
What Is the Meaning of Human Life on the Planet Earth?

By William Patrick Patterson

Filmed during a weekend seminar with William Patrick Patterson exploring in depth Gurdjieff's question of "What is the sense and significance of life on Earth and human life, in particular?" the Dialogue sessions probe the primary purpose of organic life on Earth, the receiving, processing and transmitting of energies, the developing and undeveloped image of God, vibratory electrical beings, societal beliefs of having an indivisible I and a soul, the "I"-of-the-moment, Adam's power to name animals, perfectly imperfect, living one's suffered truth, conscious egotist, Kesdjan body, esoteric Christianity, a Christianity before Christ, religion as wholeness, the teaching of our time, Consciousness without objects.

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The Life & Significance of George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff, Part I — Gurdjieff in Egypt: The Origin of Esoteric Knowledge
Follows Gurdjieff's search for pre-sand Egypt beginning with the Sphinx and Great Pyramid, to Thebes and the Temple in Man and Karnak, to the Valley of the Kings, the Temples of Edfu and Abu Simbel, and into Ethiopia where he unexpectedly discovers the origin of the ancient teaching of The Fourth Way.

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The Life & Significance of George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff, Part II — Gurdjieff's Mission: Introducing The Teaching to the West, 1912–1924
Shot on site in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Constantinople, London, Fontainebleau-en-Avon, New York and Lascaux, this documentary film—narrated by William Patrick Patterson and based on his book Struggle of the Magicians—retraces Gurdjieff's mission to introduce the teaching to the West. P.D. Ouspensky's and J.G. Bennett's enigmatic relationship with Gurdjieff are explored. Particularly stressed are the "St. Petersburg Conditions" and Gurdjieff's technique of "divine acting." The film vividly demonstrates Gurdjieff's warning to America of the rise and challenge of the East with footage recalling the 9/11 attack and its aftermath. Only available at this site.

Click to view trailer of Gurdjieff's Mission
The Life & Significance of George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff, Part III — Gurdjieff's Legacy: Establishing The Teaching in the West, 1924–1949
Shot on site in Paris, Avon, Mont. St. Michel, Lascaux, London, New York, and New Haven, the documentary traces Gurdjieff's life from his near-fatal car crash through to his giving meetings during the Nazi-occupation of Paris to his death in 1949. Examined in depth are the writing of his Legominism All and Everything and his relationships with Orage, Ouspensky and Bennett. Also included is the Rope and his final trip to the Caves of Lascaux.
Spiritual Pilgrimage
Mr. Gurdjieff's Father's Grave

By William Patrick Patterson

Owing to the circumstances of my life not dependent on me, I have not personally seen the grave where the body of my dear father lies. . . . I therefore, bid any of my sons, whether by blood or in spirit, to seek out, when he has the possibility, this solitary grave.

     —G. I. Gurdjieff
         Meetings with Remarkable Men

William Patrick Patterson undertook a 21-day pilgrimage to visit Mr. Gurdjieff's father's grave in Gyumri, Armenia. Travelling backward in time, he revisited Gurdjieff's life:

  • Gurdjieff's grave and the Prieuré in Avon, France
  • Kumbaraci and Yemenici streets in Istanbul, where Gurdjieff and his students lived
  • Prinkipo Island on the Sea of Marmara, where Gurdjieff often visited P. D. Uspenskii
  • Tiflis, where Gurdjieff opened his Institute at 22 Nikolas Street and first named it the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man
  • Kars, Gurdjieff's home in the medieval quarter and the Kars Military Cathedral where he sang in the choir
  • Ani, the ancient city where the Sarmoung manuscript was discovered
  • Sanahin Monastery, Armenia, where Gurdjieff served as an acolyte
  • Gyumri, Armenia, where Gurdjieff was born in the Greek Quarter at 222 Matnishyan Street
  • Gyumri's Old Cemetery and Mr. Gurdjieff's father's grave

Click to view the opening of the film.