The Psychology of Man's Possible Evolution
by P. D. Ouspensky
List Price:
Our Price: $5.40
You Save: $5.60 (51%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.58 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: P. D. OuspenskyEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1973-11-12
ISBN: 0394719433
Number of pages: 128
Publisher: Vintage
Book Reviews of The Psychology of Man's Possible Evolution
Book Review: Best Introduction to the Fourth Way
Summary: 5 Stars
The "Fourth Way" is a term given by Gurdjieff for a special spiritual path to practiced in the world, in ordinary human society, which is not one of the three traditional ways of the fakir (yogi), monk (bhakti), or philosopher (jnana yoga), which roughly correspond to physical, emotional, and mental paths. According to these teachings, the Fourth Way is a path of energy and consciousness where a person can generate an evolutionary energy called "Do 48" through a meditation practice called "self remembering" more deliberately, rapidly, and efficiently than the other paths, which have to work harder to produce a small amount of this energy in a more indirect way. This book is based on a series of introductory lectures that Ouspensky gave in London and in other places. These lectures inspired many people in London to form a group there, many of them part of the "intelligensia" of the area, including Orage, Maurice Nicole, Kenneth Walker, and others. Many of the ideas of the Fourth Way did influence the formation of many branches of western psychology and even brain research. Gurdjieff taught, for instance, that humans were "three brained beings" and this idea became the basis of the research into the R-complex (reptilian brain), Limbic system (mammalian emotional brain), and cortex (intellectual human brain) of Restak and Macclain. Gurdjieff also made other scientific assertions that were later verified by western science. The Fourth Way is a variation of Sufi teaching that was related to the Sarmoun community. In Gurdjieff's own writings, he mentions several of his teachers. The books by Ouspensky, IN SEARCH OF THE MIRACULOUS and THE FOURTH WAY are a good systematic presentation of the teachings Gurdjieff left behind. Ouspenky had a very good memory and the accounts in the book IN SEARCH OF THE MIRACULOUS do give a flavor of how Gurdjieff taught. However, both IN SEARCH and THE FOURTH WAY are very thick books with highly condensed material which presents a fairly complete system of spiritual growth. The only essential part of the work that seems lacking in these books is the sacred dances that Gurdjieff felt were needed to create the functional fusion of the inner centers which was necessary for a more permanent state of awakened consciousness. These dances are rarely detailed in books, because this medium had not been felt adequate to properly teach them. Only in the last ten years or so have videos of those dances come out which give a feeling for this part of the Gurdjieff work.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MAN'S POSSIBLE EVOLUTION by Ouspensky is a brilliant condensation and introduction to the core ideas of the Fourth Way and presented in such a manner that I feel a person could verify the validity of most these ideas in their own immediate experience. It is a less intimidating way of entering into the whole system of Fourth Way teachings and one that does not lose sight of the practical day to day part of how we can grow into objective consciousness.
I suspect that some negative reviews of the books by Ouspensky and even Gurdjieff come from a dogmatic cult flavor behind many of the groups who practice the system. Some of the groups that me and some of my friends have encountered, indeed, do not seem healthy or balanced. One person I met worked with a teacher who did eventually commit suicide. I think part of this has to do with the writings of Ouspensky having a pessimistic flavor, teaching that man cannot 'do', and making the effort awaken feel so difficult that it is easy to get discouraged. Maurice Nicole, a student of both Gurdjieff and Ouspensky, does not have this pessimistic flavor and even held a vision that all humans might fully awaken, while Ouspensky felt only a few could "escape" mechanical human life. Gurdjieff was more optimistic as well, and mentions a blueprint for healing this world in his writings called BEELEZEBUB'S TALES where a Saint develops an initiation system that spreads across the planet until thwarted by another being. Although it seems to be talking about a past saint, Gurdjieff did confide to John Bennett that he was really talking about a possible future and that the opposition was more of a warning about what could go wrong.
While I would caution anyone about joining a Fourth Way group and would recommend that they steer clear of any group that has an authoritarian dogmatic flavor (whether Fourth Way or not), I feel the ideas of the Fourth Way are valuable and I feel worth practicing for a length of time to see what happens. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF MAN'S POSSIBLE EVOLUTON is a good place to start, to see if one has an affinity to the ideas. I had a time with this work and found the insights and growth I gained through work with this system very valuable. My preference, though, is to work with Buddhist teachings and Buddhist meditation practice. I feel the Buddhist inquiry into the illusory sense of self is a valuable remedy to "crystallizing a false sense of self" that the Fourth Way has a danger of creating as well as the Mahayana emphasis on compassion being an antidote to the danger of the work becoming overly intellectual.
Summary of The Psychology of Man's Possible Evolution
Studies man in view of what he may become. Describes how a man must work simultaneously on his knowledge and his being to find inner unity.Psychology & Counseling Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Psychology & Counseling Books
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Valuesby Robert M. Pirsig
Harper Perennial; Published: 2000-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.23
Price in other shops:
Surviving Schizophrenia: A Manual for Families, Consumers, and Providers (4th Edition)by E. Fuller Torrey
Harper Paperbacks; Published: 2001-05-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Surviving Schizophrenia: A Manual for Families, Consumers and Providersby E. Fuller Torrey
Perennial; Published: 1995-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.68
Price in other shops:
The Evolving Self: A Psychology for the Third Millenniumby Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Harper Perennial; Published: 1994-06-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.65
Price in other shops:
How People Changeby Allen Wheelis
William Morrow Paperbacks; Published: 1975-07-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.47
Price in other shops:
Sleeping Through the Night, Revised Edition: How Infants, Toddlers, and Their Parents Can Get a Good Night's Sleepby Jodi A. Mindell
William Morrow Paperbacks; Published: 2005-03-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.33
Price in other shops:
Emotional Blackmail: When the People in Your Life Use Fear, Obligation and Guilt to Manipulate Youby Susan Forward, Donna Frazier, Susan Frazier
Harpercollins; Published: 1997-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.95
Price in other shops:
Obedience to Authority: An Experimental Viewby Stanley Milgram
Harpercollins; Published: 1974-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $532.97
My Life Among the Serial Killers: Inside the Minds of the World's Most Notorious Murderersby Helen Morrison, Harold Goldberg
William Morrow; Published: 2004-05-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.97
Price in other shops:
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Managing Stressby Jeffrey P.; Davidson, Jeff Davidson
Macmillan Distribution; Published: 1996; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.33
Similar Books and other products
Our Life with Mr. Gurdjieffby Thomas & Olga de Hartmann
Morning Light Press; Published: 2011-03-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.75
Price in other shops:
The Inner Journey: Views from the Gurdjieff Work (PARABOLA Anthology Series)by G. I. Gurdjieff
Morning Light Press; Published: 2008-03-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $17.97
Price in other shops:
The Reality of Being: The Fourth Way of Gurdjieffby Jeanne De Salzmann
Shambhala; Published: 2010-07-27; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.74
Price in other shops:
A New Model of the Universe (Dover Occult)by P. D. Ouspensky
Dover Publications; Published: 1997-07-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.69
Price in other shops:
Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson: All And Everything: 1st Series (Compass)by G. I. Gurdjieff
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1999-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $16.06
Price in other shops:
Conscience: The Search for Truthby P. D. Ouspensky
Morning Light Press; Published: 2008-06-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
Life Is Real Only Then, When I Am (Compass)by G. I. Gurdjieff
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1999-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.74
Price in other shops:
Meetings with Remarkable Menby G. GURDJIEFF
Martino Fine Books; Published: 2010-04-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.85
The Fourth Way: An Arrangement by Subject of Verbatim Extracts from the Records of Ouspensky's Meetings in London and New York, 1921-46by P. D. Ouspensky
Vintage; Published: 1971-02-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.68
Price in other shops:
In Search of the Miraculous (Harvest Book)by P. D. Ouspensky
Mariner Books; Published: 2001-09-28; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.52
Price in other shops: