Editing George Gurdjieff (section)

===Methods===
The practices associated with Gurdjieff's teachings are not an intellectual pursuit and neither are they new concepts, but are rather practical ways of living "in the moment" so as to allow consciousness of oneself ("self-remembering") to appear. Gurdjieff used a number of methods and materials to wake up his followers, which apart from his own living presence, included meetings, music, movements (sacred dance), writings, lectures, and innovative forms of group and individual work. The purpose of these various methods was to 'put a spanner in the works', so as to permit a connection to be made between mind and body, which is easily talked about, but which has to be experienced to understand what it means. Since each individual is different, Gurdjieff did not have a one-size-fits-all approach and employed different means to impart what he himself had discovered.<ref>"Gurdjieff's teachings were transmitted through special conditions and through special forms leading to consciousness: Group Work, physical labour, crafts, ideas exchanges, arts, music, movement, dance, adventures in nature ... enabled the unrealized individual to transcend the mechanical, acted-upon self and ascend from mere personality to self-actualizing essence."[http://www.seekerbooks.com/book/9780835608404.htm Seekerbooks.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080620031630/http://www.seekerbooks.com/book/9780835608404.htm |date=2008-06-20 }}, Book review of Gary Lachman. ''In Search of the Miraculous: Genius in the Shadow of Gurdjieff.''</ref> In Russia he was described as keeping his teaching confined to a small circle,<ref>[[P. D. Ouspensky]] (1949). ''[[In Search of the Miraculous]]m'' Chapter 1,</ref> whereas in Paris and North America, he gave numerous public demonstrations.<ref>[[G.I. Gurdjieff]] (1963) ''[[Meetings with Remarkable Men]]'', Chapter 11</ref>

Gurdjieff felt that the traditional methods to acquire self-knowledge—those of the [[Fakir]], [[Monk]], and [[Yogi]] (acquired, respectively, through pain, devotion, and study)—were inadequate on their own to achieve any real understanding. He instead advocated "the way of the sly man"<ref>See ''In Search of the Miraculous''</ref> as a shortcut to encouraging inner development that might otherwise take years of effort and without any real outcome.

====Music====
Gurdjieff's music is divided into three distinct periods. The "first period" is the early music, including music from the ballet ''Struggle of the Magicians'' and music for early movements dating to the years around 1918.

The "second period" music, for which Gurdjieff arguably became best known, written in collaboration with Russian-born composer [[Thomas de Hartmann]], is described as the Gurdjieff-de-Hartmann music.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Petsche|first1=Johanna|title=Gurdjieff and Music: The Gurdjieff/de Hartmann Piano Music and its Esoteric Significance|date=2015|publisher=Brill|location=Leiden|isbn=9789004284425|pages=1–279}}</ref><ref name="Inc.1999">{{cite book|last=Bambarger|first=Bradley|title=Billboard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iggEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA60|access-date=14 April 2011|date=18 December 1999|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|page=60|issn=0006-2510 }}</ref> Dating to the mid-1920s, it offers a rich repertoire with roots in Caucasian and Central Asian folk and religious music, Russian Orthodox liturgical music, and other sources. This music was often first heard in the salon at the Prieuré, where much was composed. Since the publication of four volumes of this piano repertoire by Schott, recently completed, there has been a wealth of new recordings, including orchestral versions of music prepared by Gurdjieff and de Hartmann for the Movements demonstrations of 1923–1924. Solo piano versions of these works have been recorded by [[Cecil Lytle]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://provost.ucsd.edu/marshall/lytle/home/list.html |title=Cecil Lytle&nbsp;– List of Recordings |author=Lytle, Cecil |access-date=30 May 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110825063745/http://provost.ucsd.edu/marshall/lytle/home/list.html |archive-date=25 August 2011 }}</ref> [[Keith Jarrett]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jazzdisco.org/keith-jarrett/discography/ |title=Keith Jarrett Discography |author=Jazz Discography Project |access-date=30 May 2011 }}</ref> and [[Frederic Chiu]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/hymns-dervishes-mw0002908235|title=Hymns and Dervishes Album at AllMusic|date=February 12, 2016|website=AllMusic|publisher=Centaur Records|access-date=2016-09-04}}</ref>

The "last musical period" is the improvised [[Pump organ|harmonium]] music which often followed the dinners Gurdjieff held at his Paris apartment during the Occupation and immediate post-war years to his death in 1949. In all, Gurdjieff in collaboration with de Hartmann composed some 200 pieces.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gurdjieff.org.uk/gs6.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120829231045/http://www.gurdjieff.org.uk/gs6.htm|url-status=dead|title=Gurdjieff.org|archivedate=August 29, 2012}}</ref> In May 2010, 38 minutes of unreleased solo piano music on [[Acetate disc|acetate]] was purchased by Neil Kempfer Stocker from the estate of his late step-daughter, Dushka Howarth. In 2009, pianist [[Elan Sicroff]] released ''Laudamus: The Music of Georges Ivanovitch Gurdjieff and Thomas de Hartmann'', consisting of a selection of Gurdjieff/de Hartmann collaborations (as well as three early romantic works composed by de Hartmann in his teens).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Elan Sicroff Albums and Discography|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/elan-sicroff-mn0000178692/discography|access-date=2023-03-20|website=AllMusic|language=en}}</ref> In 1998 [[Alessandra Celletti]] released "Hidden Sources<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kha.it/Gurdjieff/gurdjieff_eng.htm|title=Hidden Sources|website=www.kha.it|access-date=2017-11-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160521222927/http://www.kha.it/Gurdjieff/gurdjieff_eng.htm|archive-date=2016-05-21|url-status=dead}}</ref>" (Kha Records) with 18 tracks by Gurdjieff/de Hartmann.

The English concert pianist and composer [[Helen Perkin]] (married name Helen Adie) came to Gurdjieff through [[P. D. Ouspensky|Ouspensky]] and first visited Gurdjieff in Paris after the war.<ref>{{ cite periodical
| url= https://www.gurdjieff.org/azize2.htm | last= Azize
| first= Joseph
| title=Helen Adie: An Appreciative Essay
| magazine=  The Gurdjieff International Review 
| volume= 6  | date=2003}}</ref> She and her husband George Adie emigrated to Australia in 1965 and established the Gurdjieff Society of [[Newport, Victoria|Newport]].<ref>Richards, Fiona. 'Helen Perkin: Pianist, Composer and Muse of John Ireland' (Chapter 11 of Foreman, Lewis (ed.), ''The John Ireland Companion'' (2011)</ref> Recordings of her performing music by [[Thomas de Hartmann]] were issued on CD. But she was also a Movements teacher and composed music for the Movements as well. Some of this music has been published and privately circulated.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-10-22|title=Helen Adie|url=https://gurdjieffclub.com/en/helen-ejdi/|access-date=2023-03-20|website=Gurdjieff Club|language=en-US}}</ref>

====Movements====
{{main|Gurdjieff movements}}
Movements, or sacred dances, constitute an integral part of the Gurdjieff work. Gurdjieff sometimes referred to himself as a "teacher of dancing" and gained initial public notice for his attempts to put on a ballet in Moscow called ''Struggle of the Magicians.''{{cn|date=March 2025}}

In ''Views from the Real World'' Gurdjieff wrote, "You ask about the aim of the movements. To each position of the body corresponds a certain inner state and, on the other hand, to each inner state corresponds a certain posture. A man, in his life, has a certain number of habitual postures and he passes from one to another without stopping at those between. Taking new, unaccustomed postures enables you to observe yourself inside differently from the way you usually do in ordinary conditions."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gurdjieff International Review |url=https://www.gurdjieff.org/ |access-date=2022-12-04 |website=www.gurdjieff.org}}</ref>

Films of movements demonstrations are occasionally shown for private viewing by the [[Gurdjieff Foundation]]s, and some examples are shown in a scene in the [[Peter Brook]] movie ''[[Meetings with Remarkable Men (film)|Meetings with Remarkable Men]]''.{{cn|date=March 2025}}