(1866) G.I. Gurdjieff

The Fourth Way and Surrealism: A Shared Quest for Awakening

Both G.I. Gurdjieff’s Fourth Way and Surrealism sought to liberate human consciousness from mechanical thought and conditioned perception. 

While Gurdjieff taught that most people live in a state of “waking sleep,” Surrealist artists like André Breton, Salvador Dalí, and Luis Buñuel aimed to disrupt conventional reality through dreamlike imagery and subconscious exploration. 

Surrealism, heavily influenced by Freudian psychoanalysis, used automatic writing, dream interpretation, and irrational juxtapositions to reveal hidden layers of the psyche, an approach that parallels Gurdjieff’s emphasis on self-remembering and divided attention as tools for awakening. Both movements challenged the notion of an objective reality, urging individuals to break free from societal programming and experience a deeper, more fluid state of awareness. While Surrealism expressed this through art and literature, the Fourth Way offered a structured, practical path toward inner transformation.

The Fourth Way: G.I. Gurdjieff’s Path to Conscious Awakening

The Fourth Way is a spiritual and psychological system developed by George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff, designed to help individuals achieve self-awareness and higher consciousness while remaining engaged in everyday life. Unlike traditional spiritual paths—the way of the fakir, the way of the monk, and the way of the yogi—which demand extreme discipline and renunciation, the Fourth Way integrates self-development into ordinary existence.

The Three Traditional Ways

1. The Way of the Fakir – Focuses on physical discipline and endurance to achieve spiritual awakening (e.g., ascetic practices, bodily suffering).

2. The Way of the Monk – Emphasizes faith, devotion, and emotional surrender (e.g., religious monasticism).

3. The Way of the Yogi – Develops mental and intellectual mastery through meditation and study (e.g., Eastern spiritual traditions).

Gurdjieff argued that these paths were incomplete for modern people because they required isolation from daily life. He proposed a Fourth Way that combined elements of all three but could be practiced within ordinary society.

Core Principles of the Fourth Way

1. Self-Remembering – The practice of being fully present and aware of oneself in every moment.

2. The Work on Oneself – Conscious effort to observe and change automatic behaviors, emotions, and thoughts.

3. Mechanical Sleep – The belief that most people live in a state of psychological “sleep,” functioning on habit and conditioning.

4. Divided Attention – Training the mind to maintain awareness of both the external world and one’s internal state simultaneously.

5. Centers of Intelligence – Humans operate through different centers (intellectual, emotional, physical/instinctive), and balance among them is key to higher development.

6. Transformation of Negative Emotions – Learning to observe, understand, and transmute lower emotions into higher awareness.

-ER

*******

References:

Moore, J. (1999). Gurdjieff: A biography. Element Books. 

 Needleman, J., & Baker, G. (Eds.). (1996). Gurdjieff: Essays and reflections on the man and his teaching. Continuum Publishing.

Ouspensky, P. D. (1949). In search of the miraculous: Fragments of an unknown teaching. Harcourt, Brace and Company.

Gurdjieff, G. I. (1963). Meetings with remarkable men. E.P. Dutton & Co.

Bennett, J. G. (1974). Gurdjieff: Making a new world. Harper & Row.

Webb, J. (1980). The harmonics of Gurdjieff. Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Patterson, W. (1999). Struggle of the magicians: Exploring the teacher-student relationship. Arete Communications.

Gurdjieff International Review. (n.d.). Gurdjieff’s teaching: The Fourth Way. Retrieved from https://www.gurdjieff.org/fourthway.htm

The Gurdjieff Foundation. (n.d.). About Gurdjieff. Retrieved from https://www.gurdjieff.org/foundation.htm

Gurdjieff Club. (n.d.). Gurdjieff’s biography. Retrieved from https://www.gurdjieffclub.com/en/gurdjieff-biography/

The Gurdjieff Society. (n.d.). Gurdjieff’s movements. Retrieved from https://www.gurdjieff.com/movements

The Gurdjieff Legacy Foundation. (n.d.). The Fourth Way: An introduction. Retrieved from https://www.gurdjiefflegacy.org/40articles/intro-fourthway.htm

The Gurdjieff Journal. (n.d.). Gurdjieff’s music: The hidden source of his influence. Retrieved from https://www.gurdjieff.org/music.htm

The Gurdjieff Institute. (n.d.). Gurdjieff’s philosophy: An overview. Retrieved from https://www.gurdjieffinstitute.org/philosophy