Approaching inner Work, Michael Currer-Briggs on the Gurdjieff teaching, James Opie

Approaching inner Work, Michael Currer-Briggs on the Gurdjieff teaching, James Opie

"Caught up in our second-by-second existences, we lose sight of our place within vast universal contexts of energies and forces. Higher influences touch us constantly but, living as we do, we are unable to receive them consciously. This is gravely unfortunate, as we are not mere citizens of this earthly world. We live, or could live, as citizens of the universe, touched by and cognizant of many orders of laws." page 8

"There are two fundamental streams, an automatic stream moving downward, toward multiplicity, and a conscious, intentional stream flowing upward, toward unity and the source of all life." page 9

"We do not create what is most enduring in us. Rather, we discover its presence as we observe habits standing in the way of a new relationship with both inner and outer life. Developing an attitude of self-questioning creates a thread of engagement with one's inner world. With sincere efforts, a kind of 'warming' begins to occur, even if immediate changes in thoughts and feelings are modest or non-existent. The primary change is the seeing and accepting what is seen, in the midst of our manifestations. Seeing without judging, with impartial interest, is a feature of consciousness and the stream of intentionality." page 45

Michael Currer-Briggs was born in England in 1922. He first met G.I. Gurdjieff in Paris in 1946. (His first impressions of Gurdjieff appear in the appendix of this volume.) Through World War II, living in London, he had worked under the guidance of Jane Heap, who prepared clusters of students for meeting Gurdjieff as soon as travel to France again became possible. After Gurdjieff's death in 1949, Mr. Briggs observed Jane Heap working closely with Madame de Salzmann. His own ties with Madame de Salzmann strengthened in the 1960s and 1970s. The influence of both teachers is apparent in Mr. Briggs' remarks.

In the late 1970s, he served as Executive Producer of the film, Meetings with Remarkable Men. After the film was released, he lived briefly in the United States before illness forced his return to England. Mr. Briggs died in London in 1980.

James Opie lives with his wife, Catherine, in Portland, Oregon. After participating in a Gurdjieff Foundation group in Berkeley in the late 1960s, from 1974 through 1988 he was a member of groups under the guidance of A.L. Staveley, who had worked with Jane Heap. Since 1990 he has been active in several Gurdjieff Foundation centers in the United States.

Past writings include two volumes on Oriental carpets. Other published material has appeared in Parabola, Gurdjieff International Review, The New Yorker, Utne Reader, and Material for Thought.

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• Paperback
• ISBN: 9780615475295
• Condition: As New 
  
• First Edition 
• Publisher: Gurdjieff Books & Music