Sometimes a “real person” is hidden behind the exterior. I’ve kind-of known David Kherdian, almost twenty years my senior, for thirty years. He and his wife, Nonny, are Armenian-Americans. That in itself lends a mystique, as Gurdjieff was half Armenian. David’s grandparents died in the Turkish massacre of Armenians way back when. That history still … Read more
Gurdjieff’s magnum opus, All and Everything, Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson, is not about THAT Beelzebub or maybe it is. He is a fallen angel, after all. In any event, Gurdjieff loved to “bury the dog deeper.” So he created an allegory in long convoluted sentences with words that were concocted from languages that were foreign … Read more
Who is J.G. Bennett, G.I. Gurdjieff, and what is Claymont? These names have loomed large my entire adult life. For most people they have not. So here goes: G.I. Gurdjieff was a Greek-Armenian mystic who brought the “wisdom of the East” to the West. Basically, he spent his youth searching for the answers to questions. … Read more
G.I. Gurdjieff refers to both small and large accumulators in people. P.D. Ouspensky mapped these out in a three-tiered box representing our three centers—thinking, feeling and moving/instinctive. According to Gurdjieff, each center has two small energy accumulators which connect with the body’s large accumulator. The accumulators store energy to fuel the functioning of our ordinary … Read more
When J.G. Bennett said fifty years ago, “we will see the visible loss of trust in institutions” and that, “It will become evident a new social system will have to come.” He was talking then about the future that we are living now. He told us that the change that was needed, that was coming, … Read more
Roberta Chromey attended the Second Basic Course at Sherborne House in England led by scientist and philosopher, J. G. Bennett, from September 1972 to August, 1973. She and her husband, Jack, have lived at or near the Claymont Society in Charles Town, West Virginia, since 1976. A life-long practitioner of the Fourth Way, Roberta has … Read more
SEARCHING FOR REALITY: Roberta Chromey Writes a Memoir of Life in a Fourth Way School An interview by the Rev. Georgia DuBose She always knew she was on a search. It wasn’t for “the meaning of Life,” nor was it to understand “why there is life on earth.” Roberta Chromey was seeking genuine interactions with … Read more