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THE GURDJIEFF HERITAGE SOCIETY PURPOSES,
AIMS AND ACTIVITIES |
DEAR FRIENDS... PRESENT
AND FUTURE:
More than fifty years have passed since George
Ivanovitch Gurdjieff left in our keeping an
extraordinarily valuable teaching, comprised of
clearly defined principles, fresh stimulating
ideas, and precise practical suggestions for
living them.
But this priceless legacy is increasingly being
allowed to deteriorate, become neglected or
lost, and Mr. Gurdjieff's carefully considered,
specific instructions are being ignored,
misunderstood or misinterpreted. Distortions of
"The Gurdjieff Ideas" and "The Fourth Way"
proliferate in the public marketplace, and even
the meticulously constructed and jealously
guarded "Movements" are being deformed,
forgotten, or used inappropriately.
A large number of people do not just accept
that "all this is inevitable!" and they share a
sincere wish to preserve, practice, and pass on
Gurdjieff's teaching undistorted. As a community
of "like-minded" individuals, assembled to serve
this cause, we are calling ourselves “THE
GURDJIEFF HERITAGE SOCIETY.”
Already, there have been many encouraging
results - fruits of much research, on-going
expert technical work, expenditures of time,
energy and funds, (with, of course, many heated
discussions,) but all in a climate of common
goals, deep respect, warm humanity, and joy.
We are utilizing proven modern methods to arrest
and reverse deterioration, (and prohibit theft)
for such tangible materials as recordings,
films, photos, letters (and increasingly
emerging treasures of unpublished exercise
notations, music manuscripts, teaching
suggestions, and memoirs). Once properly
preserved and digitized, these items require a
small fraction of their previous storage space
and can be duplicated and distributed to other
locales to ensure their safety and longevity.
Such techniques mean that, without jeopardizing
the irreplaceable originals, these materials can
then be accessible to Foundation libraries and
sanctioned Work groups for use in their
activities, and to authorized Movements
instructors, pianists, and group leaders for
verification, arbitration and inspiration.
For examples of
some "conservation projects" click on [MUSIC]
or [MOVEMENTS]
and [Further
Activities].
We continue all these and many other efforts but
would warmly welcome suggestions, participation,
or criticism,
Almost a century
ago the first written exposition of Mr.
Gurdjieff's ideas appeared in the scenario for his
ballet The Struggle of the Magicians.
Since the climax and curtain line of this unique
work is a memorable and meaningful blessing
given by the White Magician, we have adopted it
as our motto and will try to live up to it.
"May reconciliation, hope, diligence
and justice be ever with you all...
AMEN!"
Sincerely,
Dushka Howarth
.....and all
of us at the GURDJIEFF HERITAGE SOCIETY
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The Gurdjieff
Heritage Society Board of Directors wish to
make it known that neither we nor GHS
President, Dushka Howarth, in any way
support Amiyo Devienne as a genuine teacher
of the Gurdjieff Movements, as has been
claimed or implied in recent press
materials and website information.
We wish to inform the public that Ms.
Devienne has placed ads, using Dushka
Howarth's name without her permission, to
promote upcoming seminars.
The Gurdjieff Heritage Society is dedicated
to the preservation of the genuine work of
George Gurdjieff and has a particular
concern that his Movements be accurately
and appropriately transmitted in conditions
conducive to the study and practice of His
Teaching-- the Work.
Miss Devienne
and a number of other freelance" movements"
teachers, who are not themselves engaged in
the study and practice of the Gurdjieff
Work, have appropriated and distorted
material from the Gurdjieff tradition
and used it for their personal, commercial
purposes.
Ms. Devienne, a devotee of the late
Osho, (formerly Rajneesh/Chandra Mohan Jain)
was never trained in the Movements by those
who were qualified to transmit them, nor
does she have any connection with the true
purposes and study of the Gurdjieff
Movements. The
"movements" shown in Ms. Devienne's video
clips on YouTube, on her personal website,
and on Osho websites, while called "the
Sacred Movements", are a travesty of the
authentic Movements as given by Mr.
Gurdjieff, as is the film by an Osho group
entitled "Gurdjieff Sacred Dances", which
appears on the internet. It consists of
material that is NOT Mr. Gurdjieff's, but
a bastardization and reinterpretation with
extensive additional choreography by the
Osho Group or unknown others.
We advise anyone interested in the real
Gurdjieff Movements to seek out an
authentic Gurdjieff group, where the
Movements are studied as part of a
living, spiritual tradition.
The Gurdjieff Heritage Society Board of
Directors, May, 2008 |
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