My First Teacher in the Work

My first teacher in the work was Mrs. Popoff who had been P.D. Ouspensky’s “secretary.” This meant she was responsible for recording what was said at group meetings—from memory. When Gurdjieff came to New York, she was in the movements classes he gave. She attended his famous dinners, which meant getting home in the wee hours of the morning night after night. And still going to work a few hours later. 

At one of those dinners, when the Idiots were toasted, she was christened a Compassionate Idiot. Yet she was no namby-pamby; never oozing emotion, oohing and aahing over things. I believe her compassion was expressed as a heart-felt wish for the progress of others in the work. To that end, she did what she felt she needed to in order to create and take advantage of conditions for work. Both for herself and others. 

With Mrs. Popoff

This photograph was taken in 1971 or 72, and shows Jack and me with Mrs. Popoff. Her dog, Rigi, is present as he often was. He was an old dog, and sometimes released foul smelling gas. I believe he might have done so as we stood for that snapshot. When it happened, Mrs. Popoff would inhale deeply, taking a conscious breath. Never missing an opportunity for work. It was moments like that when she would say, “Ah….”  

By the time I met Mrs. Popoff, she was elderly. She belonged to the NY Gurdjieff Foundation and attended a group of her peers who had worked with Gurdjieff. She had the rare distinction of being allowed to do her own thing with her own groups and still be part of the Foundation. Not all were given that status. 

Mrs. Popoff’s standing allowed her to associate with teachers like Willem Nylan and J.G. Bennett, who had been cast out of the Gurdjieff Foundation for working in their own ways. Because of this, she was a bridge between evolving branches of the work. 

Teacher of the Work

As a teacher of the Work, I feel Mrs. Popoff has been neglected. I hope that my memoir, Real People, will help bring her to life and lend her the respect she is long overdue.