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William James Thompson, BA (hons) J.G.Bennett‟s Interpretation of the Teachings of G.I.Gurdjieff a study of transmission in the fourth way Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD University of Lancaster February 1995 i William James Thompson, BA (hons) J.G.Bennett‟s Interpretation of the Teachings of G.I.Gurdjieff: a study of transmission in the fourth way Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD, University of Lancaster, February 1995 Abstract This thesis examines the spiritual teachings of G.I.Gurdjieff from the point of view of his ‗heterodox‘ pupil J.G.Bennett. It concentrates on the difficulties of defining criteria of valid lineage that stem from the teaching‘s ‗ahistorical origins‘. The problem of transmission is examined in the light of Gurdjieff‘s representation of his teaching as a manifestation of the ―fourth way‖ – i.e., an esoteric stream which surfaces and disappears in accordance with a higher purpose. Bennett is identified as someone who took the ―fourth way‖ aspect of the teaching seriously; and his position is juxtaposed to that of the ‗Gurdjieffian orthodoxy‘ who appear to have been more concerned with continuity of form. Bennett‘s understanding of informing higher purpose is explored in terms of his understandings of: sacred history; the cosmic purpose and obligation of humanity; and Christianity. These ideas are shown to be valid interpretations of Gurdjieff‘s teachings. Gurdjieff‘s concept of connection to the ―esoteric centre‖ is explored; and Bennett‘s assertion that Gurdjieff represented his own authority in these terms is shown to have canonical justification. The lineal status of Gurdjieff‘s pupil P.D.Ouspensky is also taken into account. Through consideration of Gurdjieff‘s psychological and cosmological schemes and allegories I derive a coherent model of the levels of development on the ‗Gurdjieffian path‘ and argue the validity of Bennett‘s emphasis on grace as a necessary complement to effort. The model is used as a means to measure the stages and requirements of Bennett‘s development. It is argued that Bennett‘s ‗post-Gurdjieff‘ search can be understood as a valid and necessary response to the situation of the ‗teaching without the master‘. In particular, it is argued that Bennett‘s experience of the new religious movement Subud helped him to pass a developmental stage on the Gurdjieffian path such that he eventually emerged as a ‗master in his own right‘. ii Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................................. ii Contents ............................................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... viii INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1 Sources ............................................................................................................................................ 2 Structure and Argument .................................................................................................................. 7 GURDJIEFF, BENNETT AND THE FOURTH WAY ..................................... 11 Abstract. ................................................................................................................................... 11 Introduction. ............................................................................................................................. 12 Fourth Way Transmission ............................................................................................................. 14 Gurdjieff: a ―fourth way teacher‖............................................................................................. 14 How can authentic lineage be determined? .............................................................................. 15 Methodological responses. ....................................................................................................... 16 The lineage problem reformulated. .......................................................................................... 17 Gurdjieffians and Post-Gurdjieffians ............................................................................................ 18 Gurdjieff's pupils. ..................................................................................................................... 18 The post-Gurdjieff era. ............................................................................................................. 21 The ‗non-lineal pretenders‘. ..................................................................................................... 23 The special significance of J.G.Bennett. .................................................................................. 27 The orthodoxy's view of Bennett. ............................................................................................ 30 Bennett's own understanding of his relationship to Gurdjieff. ................................................. 31 Deep continuity. ....................................................................................................................... 32 The Great Work ............................................................................................................................ 34 Ultimate and terrestrial scales of the Great Work. ................................................................... 34 Christ: Incarnation and Parousia. ............................................................................................. 35 The human situation. ................................................................................................................ 35 Terrestrial evolution: life, man and the ―Demiurgic Intelligences‖. ........................................ 36 The terrestrial ―esoteric centre‖. .............................................................................................. 38 Bennett's understanding of the Fourth Way. ............................................................................ 40 Bennett as exemplar of the fourth way. .................................................................................... 42 ―Deep continuity‖ and the fourth way. ..................................................................................... 44 Conclusion: implications and questions. .................................................................................. 46 Notes and References to Chapter 1 ................................................................................................ 51 THE INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY FOR CONTINUOUS EDUCATION ...... 67 Abstract. ................................................................................................................................... 67 Introduction. .................................................................................................................................. 68 Background ................................................................................................................................... 69 The Teaching at Sherborne ........................................................................................................... 75 Introduction. ............................................................................................................................. 75 Inner Exercises. ........................................................................................................................ 78 The Decision Exercise. ............................................................................................................ 79 Gurdjieff Movements. .............................................................................................................. 79 Self Observation and practical work. ....................................................................................... 80 Counselling .............................................................................................................................. 83 ‗Idiotism‘ ............................................................................................................................. 84 iii The ‗Aesthetic Element.‘ ......................................................................................................... 85 Psycho-cosmology. .................................................................................................................. 86 Content. ............................................................................................................................... 88 Context. ............................................................................................................................... 89 Conclusions: Was the academy Gurdjieffian? ......................................................................... 92 ‗Receptive lines of Work‘ ........................................................................................................ 95 Summary. ................................................................................................................................. 96 The Purpose of Sherborne ............................................................................................................ 98 Introduction. ............................................................................................................................. 98 A School of the Fourth Way. ................................................................................................... 99 Making a New World... .......................................................................................................... 101 Training of Fourth Way Candidates. ...................................................................................... 102 Ashiata Shiemash. .................................................................................................................. 103 The Great Work, the Parousia and the Higher Powers. .......................................................... 104 The Relevance of Gurdjieff. ................................................................................................... 107 Obligation. ............................................................................................................................. 110 ―Group Consciousness‖. ........................................................................................................ 112 Transformation of Energies. ................................................................................................... 114 Summary. ............................................................................................................................... 115 Conclusion. ............................................................................................................................ 119 J.G.Bennett and the ‗Gurdjieff Tradition‘ ................................................................................... 121 Introduction. ........................................................................................................................... 121 Deep Continuity Revisited. .................................................................................................... 122 Bennett in the light of the orthodoxy‘s critique. .................................................................... 126 ―Substance of Work‖ ............................................................................................................. 130 Conclusion: The Structure of Bennett‘s Position ........................................................................ 138 Notes and References to Chapter 2 .............................................................................................. 144 PSYCHO-COSMOLOGICAL IDEAS ........................................................... 176 Abstract .................................................................................................................................. 176 Sources ........................................................................................................................................ 177 Part 1: Gurdjieff‟s Doctrine of the Human Condition and Human Possibility. ...................... 181 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 181 Psycho-Cosmological ‗fragments‘. ........................................................................................ 184 The Psychological Perspectives. ................................................................................................. 186 Man is not as he believes himself to be. ................................................................................. 186 Centres. .................................................................................................................................. 191 Essence development and Higher Bodies. ............................................................................. 194 Personality.............................................................................................................................. 196 Psychophysiology. ................................................................................................................. 197 The ‗paradox‘ of the human situation. ................................................................................... 200 Humanity is ‗hypnotized.‘ ...................................................................................................... 202 The Cosmological Perspectives. ................................................................................................. 205 Cosmological perspectives in Beelzebub‘s Tales to His Grandson. ...................................... 205 The cosmological perspective in In Search of the Miraculous. .............................................. 210 Beelzebub and ISOM compared. ........................................................................................... 211 The allegory of the two rivers. .................................................................................................... 216 Conclusions. ................................................................................................................................ 223 Part 2: Comparisons ...................................................................................................................... 228 The Great Work and Cosmic Evolution ...................................................................................... 229 Time: Entropy and Redemption ............................................................................................. 230 Planetary Evolution ................................................................................................................ 235 The Great Work and Work on Oneself .................................................................................. 235 Terrestrial Evolution, Sacred History and the Origin of Sin ....................................................... 237 The primaeval hiatus in human development......................................................................... 237 Bennett‘s Scenario ............................................................................................................ 239 Issues and Comparison ........................................................................................................... 242 ‗Cosmic hazard‘ versus ‗local hazard‘. ............................................................................. 242 iv Demiurgic sin, or Angelic error? ....................................................................................... 245 An hiatus in human development. ..................................................................................... 246 The transmission of sinfulness. ......................................................................................... 246 Human development versus human decline ........................................................................... 247 Christianity ................................................................................................................................. 251 Bennett‘s Christology ............................................................................................................ 251 Cosmic Energies. ............................................................................................................... 252 Sin and the Incarnation. ..................................................................................................... 252 Parousia. ............................................................................................................................ 254 Esoteric Christianity ............................................................................................................... 254 ―A virile version of the Gospels‖ ...................................................................................... 256 Maurice Nicoll .................................................................................................................. 257 Was Gurdjieff a Christian? .................................................................................................... 259 Christ and the other Sacred Messengers ................................................................................ 260 Parousia .................................................................................................................................. 262 Angels, Demiurgic Intelligences and Higher Powers ................................................................. 263 Demurgic Intelligences .......................................................................................................... 264 Gurdjieff‘s Angelology .......................................................................................................... 267 Angels, Archangels and the Great Chain of Being ............................................................ 267 Angels are born ‗perfect‘................................................................................................... 267 Angels are distinct from higher man ................................................................................. 268 The role of angels .............................................................................................................. 268 Angelic development ........................................................................................................ 269 Comparisons .......................................................................................................................... 270 Notes and References to Chapter 3 .............................................................................................. 273 GURDJIEFF, TRANSMISSION AND THE ESOTERIC CENTRE ............... 290 Abstract .................................................................................................................................. 290 The idea of the esoteric centre .................................................................................................... 291 Gurdjieff‘s idea of the esoteric centre ......................................................................................... 295 The esoteric centre and the inner circles of humanity ............................................................ 295 Transmission and Initiation. ................................................................................................... 297 The Esoteric Centre in Gurdjieff‘s Writings ............................................................................... 301 Indications in the Third Series and Herald of Coming Good. ................................................ 303 Meetings With Remarkable Men. .......................................................................................... 305 Prince Yuri Lubovedsky, Professor Skridlov and Gurdjieff. ............................................ 306 The Sarmoung brotherhood. .............................................................................................. 308 The World Brotherhood. ................................................................................................... 311 Beelzebub .................................................................................................................................... 314 The structure of Beelzebub. ................................................................................................... 315 Time line 1. ....................................................................................................................... 315 Time Line 2. ...................................................................................................................... 317 The ‗crossing of the time lines‘. ........................................................................................ 319 Pole Star and Esoteric Centre. ................................................................................................ 321 Deskaldino and Central Asia. ................................................................................................. 323 Hadji-Asvatz-Troov and the Sarmoung Brotherhood. ...................................................... 329 Purgatory, after death experience and reincarnation .............................................................. 331 Purgatory and the ―World Brotherhood‖. .......................................................................... 333 Three aspects of the esoteric centre........................................................................................ 334 Conclusion. ................................................................................................................................. 335 Notes and References to Chapter 4 .............................................................................................. 340 SPIRITUAL PSYCHOLOGY ....................................................................... 350 Abstract .................................................................................................................................. 350 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 351 The Fundamental Octave of Creation. ........................................................................................ 354 Faculties of Essence. ................................................................................................................... 356 v Gurdjieff's Sevenfold Typology of Man. .................................................................................... 368 The Formation of Higher Bodies. ............................................................................................... 370 Higher bodies and higher centres. .......................................................................................... 371 The Work of Man No.5 and Man No. 6 ...................................................................................... 375 The Circles of Humanity. ............................................................................................................ 388 The Household Analogy. ............................................................................................................ 391 The Two Rivers. ......................................................................................................................... 392 Concluding Remarks. .................................................................................................................. 399 Bennett‘s Emphasis on Balance Between Effort and Grace. ...................................................... 400 The Four Sources ................................................................................................................... 401 Sevenfold Work. .................................................................................................................... 405 Gurdjieff‘s three lines of work. ......................................................................................... 405 Bennett‘s seven lines. ........................................................................................................ 406 Archetypal sevenfoldness. ................................................................................................. 408 Sevenfoldness ‗versus‘ fourfoldness. ................................................................................ 412 Bennett‘s lines of work in the context of Gurdjieff‘s teachings. ............................................ 413 Active lines of work. ......................................................................................................... 413 Receptive lines of work. .................................................................................................... 414 The Great Work Context. .................................................................................................. 416 Notes and References to Chapter 5 .............................................................................................. 421 BENNETT AS PUPIL AND TEACHER ....................................................... 429 Abstract .................................................................................................................................. 429 Part 1: 1920-1949 ........................................................................................................................... 430 Early Contact With Gurdjieff ...................................................................................................... 430 Constantinople ....................................................................................................................... 431 Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man. .............................................................. 433 Higher Emotional Energy. ..................................................................................................... 436 The experience .................................................................................................................. 436 A Gurdjieffian interpretation. ............................................................................................ 438 The ‗Great Reservoir‘. ...................................................................................................... 440 Conclusion. ....................................................................................................................... 445 Ouspensky ................................................................................................................................... 446 Ouspensky‘s reasons for leaving Gurdjieff. ........................................................................... 447 The Gurdjieffian critique. ...................................................................................................... 450 Criteria of connection. ............................................................................................................ 451 Ouspensky‘s ‗school‘. ............................................................................................................ 453 Bennett as a pupil of Ouspensky. ........................................................................................... 454 Bennett as Teacher. ..................................................................................................................... 457 Basic history. .......................................................................................................................... 457 Human evolution. ................................................................................................................... 460 Was it an authentic transmission? .......................................................................................... 464 Final Contact With Gurdjieff. ..................................................................................................... 467 Bennett‘s stage of development. ............................................................................................ 468 Bennett‘s status. ..................................................................................................................... 473 Part 2: Continuity, Impasse and Search. ..................................................................................... 478 Gurdjieff‘s Intentions. ................................................................................................................. 478 Dissemination and purpose .................................................................................................... 478 Authority structure. ................................................................................................................ 480 Organization After Gurdjieff‘s Death. ........................................................................................ 482 Authority and Groups. ............................................................................................................ 483 Bennett initial attitude. ........................................................................................................... 484 Impasse ....................................................................................................................................... 485 First Line of Work: Bennett‘s own state. ............................................................................... 487 Second Line of Work: Bennett as teacher. ............................................................................. 489 Third Line of Work: search for context and source. .............................................................. 492 1953 Journey. ......................................................................................................................... 494 Emin Chikhou and Naq‘shbandi Sufis .............................................................................. 495 vi Return to England ............................................................................................................. 498 1955 journey. ......................................................................................................................... 500 Summary ................................................................................................................................ 503 Subud. ......................................................................................................................................... 504 Background ............................................................................................................................ 505 Subud: origin and basic doctrine ....................................................................................... 505 Bennett, Coombe Springs and Subud ................................................................................ 506 Prophecy and Impasse ............................................................................................................ 507 Prophecy ............................................................................................................................ 507 Impasse.............................................................................................................................. 510 Experience .............................................................................................................................. 512 Comparative Doctrine ............................................................................................................ 514 Jiwa and essence ............................................................................................................... 515 Purification and conscience ............................................................................................... 515 Grace and effort................................................................................................................. 516 Contact with higher centres and building of higher bodies ............................................... 518 Submission and gnosis ...................................................................................................... 519 Subud and the Gurdjieff path ............................................................................................ 520 Disaffection ............................................................................................................................ 522 After Subud ................................................................................................................................. 526 Part 3: The Final Phases and Beyond .......................................................................................... 532 Idries Shah .................................................................................................................................. 532 The Gurdjieffians‘ attitude to Shah ........................................................................................ 533 Bennett‘s perspective on Shah ............................................................................................... 537 External evidence .............................................................................................................. 538 Direct spiritual perception ................................................................................................. 541 Hasan Shushud ............................................................................................................................ 543 Gary Chicoine ............................................................................................................................. 548 Notes and References to Chapter 6 .............................................................................................. 552 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................ 578 Notes and References to Conclusion ............................................................................................ 586 Appendix 1: Bennett Chronology ....................................... 588 Appendix 2: Chronology of Beelzebub. .............................. 603 BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................... 605 J.G.Bennett Lectures on Cassette Tapes ..................................................................................... 617 vii Acknowledgements Firstly, I would like to thank Andrew Rawlinson who supervised my work until his retirement in 1993. I am also grateful for the interest in my work which he continued to show after his retirement. I owe a considerable debt of gratitude to Adrian Cunningham who kindly undertook to supervise my work from July 1993 until its completion. I would also like to thank Vernon Pratt and Penny Xerri both of whom provided valuable encouragement and advice during the final phases of writing. Turning to those associated with the work of J.G.Bennett, I wish first to acknowledge gratitude to Lilian Massey and the late Elizabeth Bennett who admitted me to their monthly ‗weekend group‘ and annual ‗Summer Seminar‘ during the first year of my research. I would also like to thank George Bennett for his enthusiasm and good will and my friends Rafael and Peter Davies for their interest and encouragement. Thanks are also due to John Varney and Anthony Blake for sharing with me information and perspectives on the unfoldment of the ‗post-Bennett era‘. I particularly wish to thank the late Michael Franklin and Nicol Franklin for their interest in my work during its early stages, for supplying me with valuable documentary material and for making me welcome as a guest in their house. The mainstream Gurdjieffian lineage is notoriously inaccessible to the outside investigator. In this connection I wish to acknowledge the assistance of James Moore – a senior English Gurdjieffian – who has supplied me with some useful information and offered me an ‗orthodox‘ perspective on the status of J.G.Bennett. viii Introduction Unravelling the wool which Gurdjieff had effectively pulled over our eyes and reknitting it all into new depths of understanding is one of the real gifts that Bennett brought to his masters work. (Cecil Lewis, All My Yesterdays, p.152) An individualist and a maverick, [Bennett] believed that a teaching will become devoid of life unless new insights are constantly found to renew its relevance. (Alick Bartholomew, obituary article, The Times, 16.12.74) As is indicated by its title, this thesis is concerned with the spiritual teachings of J.G.Bennett and their relationship to the transmission of his own teacher G.I.Gurdjieff. It must be noted at the outset that Bennett‘s work was separate from the main body of Gurdjieff‘s followers who see him as heterodox and of dubious lineage. An investigation of the extent to which Bennett‘s teachings can be seen as authentically continuous with Gurdjieff will form the main argumentative strand. However, the issue of what constitutes authentic lineage in the ‗Gurdjieff tradition‘ can itself be seen as highly problematic due to the obscurity of its origins and because of its explicitly non-institutional character. The development of an articulate position regarding criteria of ‗authentic Gurdjieffian continuity‘ can be seen as implicit in Bennett‘s search during the years after his teachers death. Hence, an analysis of Bennett‘s biography and ideas in terms of Gurdjieffian prototypes will serve not only to evaluate the authenticity of his position, but also as a vehicle to explore the more fundamental question of what constitutes authentic continuity in this ‗non- institutional‘ tradition. The fundamental problem of evaluating authentic continuity in the ‗Gurdjieff tradition‘ and Bennett‘s special significance in relation to this problem will be more fully explored in Chapter One. I now survey the sources on which I have drawn. 1 Finally, I give a brief preview of the structure in terms of the main content and purpose of each chapter. Sources This thesis is mainly text-based and draws almost entirely on the two corpora of primary material – that of Gurdjieff (and his pupils) and that of Bennett. (There is very little secondary material – I refer to the approaches of two commentators in Chapter One.) However, I have also conducted interviews with representatives of different perspectives and engaged in some ‗participant observation‘ in a contemporary group following Bennett‘s teachings (see Acknowledgements, p.viii). The latter of these helped me to gain some insight into the context of some of Bennett‘s ideas, but does not constitute an independent thread in my exposition. I will now give an overview of the main texts in each corpus. Gurdjieff‘s writings consist of three series which were designed to be read in order and through which he hoped to make his teaching available to the world (see page 478). These are: 1. the complex and notoriously difficult to read Beelzebub‘s Tales to his Grandson (3 Volumes; sometimes known as All and Everything); 2. the ‗quasi-autobiographical‘ Meetings With Remarkable Men; and 3. Life Is Real Only Then: When ―I Am‖. 2

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William James Thompson, BA (hons) J.G.Bennett‟s Interpretation of the Teachings of G.I.Gurdjieff a study of transmission in the fourth way Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD University of Lancaster February 1995 i William James Thompson, BA (hons) J.G.Bennett‟s Interpretation of the Teachings of G.I.Gurdjieff: a study of transmission in the fourth way Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD, University of Lancaster, February 1995 Abstract This thesis examines the spiritual teachings of G.I.Gurdjieff from the point of view of his ‗heterodox‘ pupil J.G.Bennett. It concentrates on the difficulties of defining criteria of valid lineage that stem from the teaching‘s ‗ahistorical origins‘. The problem of transmission is examined in the light of Gurdjieff‘s representation of his teaching as a manifestation of the ―fourth way‖ – i.e., an esoteric stream which surfaces and disappears in accordance with a higher purpose. Bennett is identified as someone who took the ―fourth way‖ aspect of the teaching seriously; and his position is juxtaposed to that of the ‗Gurdjieffian orthodoxy‘ who appear to have been more concerned with continuity of form. Bennett‘s understanding of informing higher purpose is explored in terms of his understandings of: sacred history; the cosmic purpose and obligation of humanity; and Christianity. These ideas are shown to be valid interpretations of Gurdjieff‘s teachings. Gurdjieff‘s concept of connection to the ―esoteric centre‖ is explored; and Bennett‘s assertion that Gurdjieff represented his own authority in these terms is shown to have canonical justification. The lineal status of Gurdjieff‘s pupil P.D.Ouspensky is also taken into account. Through consideration of Gurdjieff‘s psychological and cosmological schemes and allegories I derive a coherent model of the levels of development on the ‗Gurdjieffian path‘ and argue the validity of Bennett‘s emphasis on grace as a necessary complement to effort. The model is used as a means to measure the stages and requirements of Bennett‘s development. It is argued that Bennett‘s ‗post-Gurdjieff‘ search can be understood as a valid and necessary response to the situation of the ‗teaching without the master‘. In particular, it is argued that Bennett‘s experience of the new religious movement Subud helped him to pass a developmental stage on the Gurdjieffian path such that he eventually emerged as a ‗master in his own right‘. ii Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................................. ii Contents ............................................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................................... viii INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1 Sources ............................................................................................................................................ 2 Structure and Argument .................................................................................................................. 7 GURDJIEFF, BENNETT AND THE FOURTH WAY ..................................... 11 Abstract. ................................................................................................................................... 11 Introduction. ............................................................................................................................. 12 Fourth Way Transmission ............................................................................................................. 14 Gurdjieff: a ―fourth way teacher‖............................................................................................. 14 How can authentic lineage be determined? .............................................................................. 15 Methodological responses. ....................................................................................................... 16 The lineage problem reformulated. .......................................................................................... 17 Gurdjieffians and Post-Gurdjieffians ............................................................................................ 18 Gurdjieff's pupils. ..................................................................................................................... 18 The post-Gurdjieff era. ............................................................................................................. 21 The ‗non-lineal pretenders‘. ..................................................................................................... 23 The special significance of J.G.Bennett. .................................................................................. 27 The orthodoxy's view of Bennett. ............................................................................................ 30 Bennett's own understanding of his relationship to Gurdjieff. ................................................. 31 Deep continuity. ....................................................................................................................... 32 The Great Work ............................................................................................................................ 34 Ultimate and terrestrial scales of the Great Work. ................................................................... 34 Christ: Incarnation and Parousia. ............................................................................................. 35 The human situation. ................................................................................................................ 35 Terrestrial evolution: life, man and the ―Demiurgic Intelligences‖. ........................................ 36 The terrestrial ―esoteric centre‖. .............................................................................................. 38 Bennett's understanding of the Fourth Way. ............................................................................ 40 Bennett as exemplar of the fourth way. .................................................................................... 42 ―Deep continuity‖ and the fourth way. ..................................................................................... 44 Conclusion: implications and questions. .................................................................................. 46 Notes and References to Chapter 1 ................................................................................................ 51 THE INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY FOR CONTINUOUS EDUCATION ...... 67 Abstract. ................................................................................................................................... 67 Introduction. .................................................................................................................................. 68 Background ................................................................................................................................... 69 The Teaching at Sherborne ........................................................................................................... 75 Introduction. ............................................................................................................................. 75 Inner Exercises. ........................................................................................................................ 78 The Decision Exercise. ............................................................................................................ 79 Gurdjieff Movements. .............................................................................................................. 79 Self Observation and practical work. ....................................................................................... 80 Counselling .............................................................................................................................. 83 ‗Idiotism‘ ............................................................................................................................. 84 iii The ‗Aesthetic Element.‘ ......................................................................................................... 85 Psycho-cosmology. .................................................................................................................. 86 Content. ............................................................................................................................... 88 Context. ............................................................................................................................... 89 Conclusions: Was the academy Gurdjieffian? ......................................................................... 92 ‗Receptive lines of Work‘ ........................................................................................................ 95 Summary. ................................................................................................................................. 96 The Purpose of Sherborne ............................................................................................................ 98 Introduction. ............................................................................................................................. 98 A School of the Fourth Way. ................................................................................................... 99 Making a New World... .......................................................................................................... 101 Training of Fourth Way Candidates. ...................................................................................... 102 Ashiata Shiemash. .................................................................................................................. 103 The Great Work, the Parousia and the Higher Powers. .......................................................... 104 The Relevance of Gurdjieff. ................................................................................................... 107 Obligation. ............................................................................................................................. 110 ―Group Consciousness‖. ........................................................................................................ 112 Transformation of Energies. ................................................................................................... 114 Summary. ............................................................................................................................... 115 Conclusion. ............................................................................................................................ 119 J.G.Bennett and the ‗Gurdjieff Tradition‘ ................................................................................... 121 Introduction. ........................................................................................................................... 121 Deep Continuity Revisited. .................................................................................................... 122 Bennett in the light of the orthodoxy‘s critique. .................................................................... 126 ―Substance of Work‖ ............................................................................................................. 130 Conclusion: The Structure of Bennett‘s Position ........................................................................ 138 Notes and References to Chapter 2 .............................................................................................. 144 PSYCHO-COSMOLOGICAL IDEAS ........................................................... 176 Abstract .................................................................................................................................. 176 Sources ........................................................................................................................................ 177 Part 1: Gurdjieff‟s Doctrine of the Human Condition and Human Possibility. ...................... 181 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 181 Psycho-Cosmological ‗fragments‘. ........................................................................................ 184 The Psychological Perspectives. ................................................................................................. 186 Man is not as he believes himself to be. ................................................................................. 186 Centres. .................................................................................................................................. 191 Essence development and Higher Bodies. ............................................................................. 194 Personality.............................................................................................................................. 196 Psychophysiology. ................................................................................................................. 197 The ‗paradox‘ of the human situation. ................................................................................... 200 Humanity is ‗hypnotized.‘ ...................................................................................................... 202 The Cosmological Perspectives. ................................................................................................. 205 Cosmological perspectives in Beelzebub‘s Tales to His Grandson. ...................................... 205 The cosmological perspective in In Search of the Miraculous. .............................................. 210 Beelzebub and ISOM compared. ........................................................................................... 211 The allegory of the two rivers. .................................................................................................... 216 Conclusions. ................................................................................................................................ 223 Part 2: Comparisons ...................................................................................................................... 228 The Great Work and Cosmic Evolution ...................................................................................... 229 Time: Entropy and Redemption ............................................................................................. 230 Planetary Evolution ................................................................................................................ 235 The Great Work and Work on Oneself .................................................................................. 235 Terrestrial Evolution, Sacred History and the Origin of Sin ....................................................... 237 The primaeval hiatus in human development......................................................................... 237 Bennett‘s Scenario ............................................................................................................ 239 Issues and Comparison ........................................................................................................... 242 ‗Cosmic hazard‘ versus ‗local hazard‘. ............................................................................. 242 iv Demiurgic sin, or Angelic error? ....................................................................................... 245 An hiatus in human development. ..................................................................................... 246 The transmission of sinfulness. ......................................................................................... 246 Human development versus human decline ........................................................................... 247 Christianity ................................................................................................................................. 251 Bennett‘s Christology ............................................................................................................ 251 Cosmic Energies. ............................................................................................................... 252 Sin and the Incarnation. ..................................................................................................... 252 Parousia. ............................................................................................................................ 254 Esoteric Christianity ............................................................................................................... 254 ―A virile version of the Gospels‖ ...................................................................................... 256 Maurice Nicoll .................................................................................................................. 257 Was Gurdjieff a Christian? .................................................................................................... 259 Christ and the other Sacred Messengers ................................................................................ 260 Parousia .................................................................................................................................. 262 Angels, Demiurgic Intelligences and Higher Powers ................................................................. 263 Demurgic Intelligences .......................................................................................................... 264 Gurdjieff‘s Angelology .......................................................................................................... 267 Angels, Archangels and the Great Chain of Being ............................................................ 267 Angels are born ‗perfect‘................................................................................................... 267 Angels are distinct from higher man ................................................................................. 268 The role of angels .............................................................................................................. 268 Angelic development ........................................................................................................ 269 Comparisons .......................................................................................................................... 270 Notes and References to Chapter 3 .............................................................................................. 273 GURDJIEFF, TRANSMISSION AND THE ESOTERIC CENTRE ............... 290 Abstract .................................................................................................................................. 290 The idea of the esoteric centre .................................................................................................... 291 Gurdjieff‘s idea of the esoteric centre ......................................................................................... 295 The esoteric centre and the inner circles of humanity ............................................................ 295 Transmission and Initiation. ................................................................................................... 297 The Esoteric Centre in Gurdjieff‘s Writings ............................................................................... 301 Indications in the Third Series and Herald of Coming Good. ................................................ 303 Meetings With Remarkable Men. .......................................................................................... 305 Prince Yuri Lubovedsky, Professor Skridlov and Gurdjieff. ............................................ 306 The Sarmoung brotherhood. .............................................................................................. 308 The World Brotherhood. ................................................................................................... 311 Beelzebub .................................................................................................................................... 314 The structure of Beelzebub. ................................................................................................... 315 Time line 1. ....................................................................................................................... 315 Time Line 2. ...................................................................................................................... 317 The ‗crossing of the time lines‘. ........................................................................................ 319 Pole Star and Esoteric Centre. ................................................................................................ 321 Deskaldino and Central Asia. ................................................................................................. 323 Hadji-Asvatz-Troov and the Sarmoung Brotherhood. ...................................................... 329 Purgatory, after death experience and reincarnation .............................................................. 331 Purgatory and the ―World Brotherhood‖. .......................................................................... 333 Three aspects of the esoteric centre........................................................................................ 334 Conclusion. ................................................................................................................................. 335 Notes and References to Chapter 4 .............................................................................................. 340 SPIRITUAL PSYCHOLOGY ....................................................................... 350 Abstract .................................................................................................................................. 350 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 351 The Fundamental Octave of Creation. ........................................................................................ 354 Faculties of Essence. ................................................................................................................... 356 v Gurdjieff's Sevenfold Typology of Man. .................................................................................... 368 The Formation of Higher Bodies. ............................................................................................... 370 Higher bodies and higher centres. .......................................................................................... 371 The Work of Man No.5 and Man No. 6 ...................................................................................... 375 The Circles of Humanity. ............................................................................................................ 388 The Household Analogy. ............................................................................................................ 391 The Two Rivers. ......................................................................................................................... 392 Concluding Remarks. .................................................................................................................. 399 Bennett‘s Emphasis on Balance Between Effort and Grace. ...................................................... 400 The Four Sources ................................................................................................................... 401 Sevenfold Work. .................................................................................................................... 405 Gurdjieff‘s three lines of work. ......................................................................................... 405 Bennett‘s seven lines. ........................................................................................................ 406 Archetypal sevenfoldness. ................................................................................................. 408 Sevenfoldness ‗versus‘ fourfoldness. ................................................................................ 412 Bennett‘s lines of work in the context of Gurdjieff‘s teachings. ............................................ 413 Active lines of work. ......................................................................................................... 413 Receptive lines of work. .................................................................................................... 414 The Great Work Context. .................................................................................................. 416 Notes and References to Chapter 5 .............................................................................................. 421 BENNETT AS PUPIL AND TEACHER ....................................................... 429 Abstract .................................................................................................................................. 429 Part 1: 1920-1949 ........................................................................................................................... 430 Early Contact With Gurdjieff ...................................................................................................... 430 Constantinople ....................................................................................................................... 431 Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man. .............................................................. 433 Higher Emotional Energy. ..................................................................................................... 436 The experience .................................................................................................................. 436 A Gurdjieffian interpretation. ............................................................................................ 438 The ‗Great Reservoir‘. ...................................................................................................... 440 Conclusion. ....................................................................................................................... 445 Ouspensky ................................................................................................................................... 446 Ouspensky‘s reasons for leaving Gurdjieff. ........................................................................... 447 The Gurdjieffian critique. ...................................................................................................... 450 Criteria of connection. ............................................................................................................ 451 Ouspensky‘s ‗school‘. ............................................................................................................ 453 Bennett as a pupil of Ouspensky. ........................................................................................... 454 Bennett as Teacher. ..................................................................................................................... 457 Basic history. .......................................................................................................................... 457 Human evolution. ................................................................................................................... 460 Was it an authentic transmission? .......................................................................................... 464 Final Contact With Gurdjieff. ..................................................................................................... 467 Bennett‘s stage of development. ............................................................................................ 468 Bennett‘s status. ..................................................................................................................... 473 Part 2: Continuity, Impasse and Search. ..................................................................................... 478 Gurdjieff‘s Intentions. ................................................................................................................. 478 Dissemination and purpose .................................................................................................... 478 Authority structure. ................................................................................................................ 480 Organization After Gurdjieff‘s Death. ........................................................................................ 482 Authority and Groups. ............................................................................................................ 483 Bennett initial attitude. ........................................................................................................... 484 Impasse ....................................................................................................................................... 485 First Line of Work: Bennett‘s own state. ............................................................................... 487 Second Line of Work: Bennett as teacher. ............................................................................. 489 Third Line of Work: search for context and source. .............................................................. 492 1953 Journey. ......................................................................................................................... 494 Emin Chikhou and Naq‘shbandi Sufis .............................................................................. 495 vi Return to England ............................................................................................................. 498 1955 journey. ......................................................................................................................... 500 Summary ................................................................................................................................ 503 Subud. ......................................................................................................................................... 504 Background ............................................................................................................................ 505 Subud: origin and basic doctrine ....................................................................................... 505 Bennett, Coombe Springs and Subud ................................................................................ 506 Prophecy and Impasse ............................................................................................................ 507 Prophecy ............................................................................................................................ 507 Impasse.............................................................................................................................. 510 Experience .............................................................................................................................. 512 Comparative Doctrine ............................................................................................................ 514 Jiwa and essence ............................................................................................................... 515 Purification and conscience ............................................................................................... 515 Grace and effort................................................................................................................. 516 Contact with higher centres and building of higher bodies ............................................... 518 Submission and gnosis ...................................................................................................... 519 Subud and the Gurdjieff path ............................................................................................ 520 Disaffection ............................................................................................................................ 522 After Subud ................................................................................................................................. 526 Part 3: The Final Phases and Beyond .......................................................................................... 532 Idries Shah .................................................................................................................................. 532 The Gurdjieffians‘ attitude to Shah ........................................................................................ 533 Bennett‘s perspective on Shah ............................................................................................... 537 External evidence .............................................................................................................. 538 Direct spiritual perception ................................................................................................. 541 Hasan Shushud ............................................................................................................................ 543 Gary Chicoine ............................................................................................................................. 548 Notes and References to Chapter 6 .............................................................................................. 552 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................ 578 Notes and References to Conclusion ............................................................................................ 586 Appendix 1: Bennett Chronology ....................................... 588 Appendix 2: Chronology of Beelzebub. .............................. 603 BIBLIOGRAPHY ......................................................................................... 605 J.G.Bennett Lectures on Cassette Tapes ..................................................................................... 617 vii Acknowledgements Firstly, I would like to thank Andrew Rawlinson who supervised my work until his retirement in 1993. I am also grateful for the interest in my work which he continued to show after his retirement. I owe a considerable debt of gratitude to Adrian Cunningham who kindly undertook to supervise my work from July 1993 until its completion. I would also like to thank Vernon Pratt and Penny Xerri both of whom provided valuable encouragement and advice during the final phases of writing. Turning to those associated with the work of J.G.Bennett, I wish first to acknowledge gratitude to Lilian Massey and the late Elizabeth Bennett who admitted me to their monthly ‗weekend group‘ and annual ‗Summer Seminar‘ during the first year of my research. I would also like to thank George Bennett for his enthusiasm and good will and my friends Rafael and Peter Davies for their interest and encouragement. Thanks are also due to John Varney and Anthony Blake for sharing with me information and perspectives on the unfoldment of the ‗post-Bennett era‘. I particularly wish to thank the late Michael Franklin and Nicol Franklin for their interest in my work during its early stages, for supplying me with valuable documentary material and for making me welcome as a guest in their house. The mainstream Gurdjieffian lineage is notoriously inaccessible to the outside investigator. In this connection I wish to acknowledge the assistance of James Moore – a senior English Gurdjieffian – who has supplied me with some useful information and offered me an ‗orthodox‘ perspective on the status of J.G.Bennett. viii Introduction Unravelling the wool which Gurdjieff had effectively pulled over our eyes and reknitting it all into new depths of understanding is one of the real gifts that Bennett brought to his masters work. (Cecil Lewis, All My Yesterdays, p.152) An individualist and a maverick, [Bennett] believed that a teaching will become devoid of life unless new insights are constantly found to renew its relevance. (Alick Bartholomew, obituary article, The Times, 16.12.74) As is indicated by its title, this thesis is concerned with the spiritual teachings of J.G.Bennett and their relationship to the transmission of his own teacher G.I.Gurdjieff. It must be noted at the outset that Bennett‘s work was separate from the main body of Gurdjieff‘s followers who see him as heterodox and of dubious lineage. An investigation of the extent to which Bennett‘s teachings can be seen as authentically continuous with Gurdjieff will form the main argumentative strand. However, the issue of what constitutes authentic lineage in the ‗Gurdjieff tradition‘ can itself be seen as highly problematic due to the obscurity of its origins and because of its explicitly non-institutional character. The development of an articulate position regarding criteria of ‗authentic Gurdjieffian continuity‘ can be seen as implicit in Bennett‘s search during the years after his teachers death. Hence, an analysis of Bennett‘s biography and ideas in terms of Gurdjieffian prototypes will serve not only to evaluate the authenticity of his position, but also as a vehicle to explore the more fundamental question of what constitutes authentic continuity in this ‗non- institutional‘ tradition. The fundamental problem of evaluating authentic continuity in the ‗Gurdjieff tradition‘ and Bennett‘s special significance in relation to this problem will be more fully explored in Chapter One. I now survey the sources on which I have drawn. 1 Finally, I give a brief preview of the structure in terms of the main content and purpose of each chapter. Sources This thesis is mainly text-based and draws almost entirely on the two corpora of primary material – that of Gurdjieff (and his pupils) and that of Bennett. (There is very little secondary material – I refer to the approaches of two commentators in Chapter One.) However, I have also conducted interviews with representatives of different perspectives and engaged in some ‗participant observation‘ in a contemporary group following Bennett‘s teachings (see Acknowledgements, p.viii). The latter of these helped me to gain some insight into the context of some of Bennett‘s ideas, but does not constitute an independent thread in my exposition. I will now give an overview of the main texts in each corpus. Gurdjieff‘s writings consist of three series which were designed to be read in order and through which he hoped to make his teaching available to the world (see page 478). These are: 1. the complex and notoriously difficult to read Beelzebub‘s Tales to his Grandson (3 Volumes; sometimes known as All and Everything); 2. the ‗quasi-autobiographical‘ Meetings With Remarkable Men; and 3. Life Is Real Only Then: When ―I Am‖. 2

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