by Sakaki
To this day, the ideas continue to resonate with many individuals who have found themselves on a quest for self, and since the early days of the Aeon of Set, many initiates of the Left-Hand Path have found the system's emphasis on objectivity, and the dictum 'Know Thyself', enhancing to their goals of coming into being.
Yet still, fourth way ideas have the effect of simultaneously inspiring in one a sense of the contemporary, as well as a sense of the ancient. And the question of a definite point of origin for the system would seem to remain an open question. Some have asserted that the system was derived from Eastern teachings; that having travelled extensively amongst Tibetans, Sufis, and Hindus, Mr. Gurdjieff 'cobbled' his system from amongst them, and then 'packaged' it in a form palatable to western psychology.
Yet Gurdjieff's own statements on the matter, while certainly acknowledging his extensive travels in the East, seem to conceptually point us toward a more singular point of origin for the system. One of his closeset students, composer Thomas DeHartmann writes in 'Our Life with Mr. Gurdjieff':
"...Mr. Gurdjieff called us together and told us that we must become acquainted with the origin of this Work. The beginning, he told us, was a prearranged meeting in Egypt at the foot of one of the pyramids. There three persons met after long years of separate work in places where initiation centres were still maintained. The first of these three was a man of science, who was able, through Western knowledge, to verify and evaluate in a scientific way all that was apparently miraculous. The second man was a conniosseur of religions and their histories. The third man could be called a 'man of being'."
We generally assume Mr. Gurdjieff to be the 'man of being'. While different ideas led them there, we nevertheless see that the search for initiatory origins brought the three men together at one definite place, that place being Egypt.
In the above passage, one's attention may be drawn to the capitalization of the word 'work' in the first sentence. Precisely what is meant by this? In 'In Search of the Miraculous', Mr G is quoted as saying "...the fourth way has no definite forms like the ways of the fakir, the monk, and the yogi." Throughout this same book, of which Mr. G himself said "Very exact is...Truth was so," the word 'fourth way' appears uncapitalized.In other words, 'fourth way' is not being used as a proper name, but rather more as a descriptive
adjective.
By capitalizing and determining 'this Work' is it intended that we understand a distinction between the idea of the fourth way, and that current manifestation of it in which Mr. G and Mr. DeHarmann were participants? We can certainly surmise that whatever was meant by 'this Work', it was something quite literally originated in Egypt.
But if a 'fourth way' is something older, or larger than 'this Work', we may be well justified in looking beyond that meeting at the foot of the pyramid for an answer to the question of origins. As well, we may find greater congruence in consider the term 'fourth way'as being something beyond direct association with the personage of G.I. Gurdjieff.
Let us go back to that 'Pyramid Meeting' for a moment. How did the three men get there? Where did the separate work in intiation centers occur? What happened next?
In his book 'Meetings with Remarkable Men', Mr. G tells of the search which led him to the Pyramid Meeting. The particular thread seems to have begun in the Ruins of the ancient Armenian capitol Ani, about 30 miles from Alexandropol. There, whilst digging amongst some ruins, he found an old letter written from one Priest to another. The letter spoke of the existence of an initiatory order called the Sarmoung Brotherhood. It also spoke of the order's origins in ancient Babylon, and later migration to the Izrumin Valley.
Now Mr. G had read obscure references to the Sarmoung before, and had concluded that if there were genuine esoteric knowledge yet to be found in the world, it could be amongst them. In fact for years the possible existence of the Sarmoung had been one of the great motivating factors in his journeys.
Seeing a possible answer to the location of the Sarmoung, as well as to an essential question of his existence, he decided to head immediately for the Izrumin Valley in the north.
But he never made it. On the way he met an Armenian Priest who showed him a map. In regards to seeing the map, Mr. G says in 'Meetings with Remarkable Men': When he first unrolled it I could not at first make out what it was, but when I looked more closely...My God! What I experienced at that moment! I shall
never forget it. I was seized with violent trembling... "
What he saw was a map of 'pre-sand' Egypt.
What exactly did he see on the map? He may not tell us specifically, but whatever it was, it was so significant that he immediately abbandoned his long anticipated quest for the Sarmoung, and headed back south for Egypt. He did so hoping to find "An explanation for the Sphynx and other monuments" (MWRM).
Why does he mention the Sphynx? Conventional dating generally places the Sphynx as being built around 2500 BCE. A time during which Egypt was already a desert. However, if Mr. G had seen the Sphynx on a map of pre-sand Egypt, then that would indicate the Sphynx to be much older than the Egyptologists of his day suggested. Today, we may be more comfortable with the suggestion of a Sphynx dating back to the 10,000-15,000 BCE range, as suggested by John Anthony West in his book 'Serpent in the Sky', but for Mr. G, the discovery must have indeed been revelation.
This episode, as well as some of Mr. G's explorations in Egypt are accounted admist some highly speculative assertions in the William Patterson film, 'Gurdjieff in Egypt: The Origin of Esoteric Knowledge'. Patterson suggests Mr. G. specifically visted the Temple at Luxor, Karnak, the Valley of the Kings, and Edfu. While it is certainly quite possible, perhaps even likely that he would have travelled to all these sites, the notion nevertheless lacks confirmation from Mr. G's own accounts.
