"Colin Wilson - The War Against Sleep" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wilson Colin)

written about him in several books тАФ notably The Occult and
Mysteries.

W hen the publishers of the present book suggested that I should
write about Gurdjieff, I experienced misgivings; it would involve
repeating a great deal that I have already written. But then, my
own views on Gurdjieff have changed and evolved over the
years, and the idea of getting them between two covers was an
interesting challenge. So I brushed aside my doubts, decided to
repeat myself where necessary, and wrote the book. And in
repeating myself I discovered an entirely new set of meanings
and implications in Gurdjieff.

It was an interesting lesson in the difference between 'grasping'
and merely 'knowing' тАФ a distinction that lies at the heart of
Gurdjieff's thought.

W hich is why I make no apology to those who have read me on
Gurdjieff before. His ideas will bear repetition.
 One
The Magician


ON A BRIGHT summer morning in 1917, an attractive Russian
woman in her late twenties sat in Phillipov's caf├й, in St
Petersburg's Nevsky Prospect, waiting for the arrival of her friend
Peter Demianovitch Ouspensky. Uncharacteristically, Ouspensky
was late. When he finally hurried in, he was in a state of unusual
excitement. His first words were: 'I think this time we've really
found what we need.' And he reminded her that in Moscow, in
1915, he had met a remarkable teacher, who spoke of the
fundamental problems of human existence with an air of
knowledge and authority. His name was George Ivanovitch
Gurdjieff. Now, said Ouspensky, Gurdjieff had come to St
Petersburg тАФ and was, at that very moment, waiting for them in
another branch of Phillipov's across the road. The lady, Anna
Butkovsky, says:

W hen I entered the other Phillipov's I saw a man
sitting at a table in the far corner, wearing an
ordinary black coat and the high astrakhan cap
that Russian men wear in winter. Signs of Greek
ancestry could be discerned in his fine, virile
features and in the look that pierced right through
you (though not in an unpleasant way). He had
an oval-shaped head, black eyes and an olive
complexion, and wore a black moustache. His
manner was very calm and relaxed, and he
spoke without any gesticulation. Even to be
sitting with him was very agreeable. Though it