An essential introduction to the teachings of G. I. Gurdjieff--creator of Fourth Way and one of the most radical spiritual teachers of modern times.
 
Are we able to say that life is governed by a group of conscious people? In fact, we see exactly the opposite: that life is governed by those who are the least conscious, by those who are most asleep.
 
G. I. Gurdjieff believed that two hundred conscious people could change the whole of life on the earth. Yet, according to Gurdjieff, the wars raging at this very moment are nothing more than millions of sleeping people trying to annihilate millions of other sleeping people. With the help of self-knowledge and an understanding of our relation to the universe, we can become conscious and awaken to a higher level of being.
 
Provocative ideas such as these have attracted generations of thoughtful people to study his methods of self-study and inner work. All of Gurdjieff's fundamental principles and methods of transforming the intellect, emotions, and body, in the system known as the Fourth Way, are presented in this book in his own clear, precise words preserved by his closest pupils. Arranged in an orderly sequence of passages drawn from two primary source books--P. D. Ouspensky's In Search of the Miraculous, and Views from the Real World, recorded and arranged by Mme. Jeanne de Salzmann--this material is an indispensable introduction for those determined to undertake the efforts and practices necessary for awakening consciousness.

G. I. Gurdjieff (1866–1949) created an original system of self-transformation that reconciled the great mystical traditions, known as the "Fourth Way" or "the Work." He initially gathered pupils in Moscow and in 1915 organized a study group in St. Petersburg that included P. D. Ouspensky, a leading figure in the spread of the teachings. Amid revolutionary turmoil in Russia, in 1917 he moved to the Caucasus and in 1922 established an institute for his work in France. The sources of the present book stem from this early period.