Another uncompleted master work - where have we encountered this before? Let's see, Plato's Timaeus, Edmund Spenser's Faeire Queene, James Joyce's projected (and unwritten) fourth major volume after Finnegans Wake, Joseph Campbell's Atlas of World Mythology... Are we detecting a pattern here - that authors procrastinate? Though "incomplete" this book is important reading for anyone interested in the Gurdjieff Work. For example, Gurdjieff gives a representative psychological exercise: Pay attention to your right hand. Lay it flat. Begin to count to ten with one finger, while you observe the emotional state of a second finger, while simultaneously observing the physical sensations of a third. (What exactly *is* the emotional state of a finger, I still ask myself.) The book's biography is interesting but Meetings with Remarkable Men is better in that regard, and Views from the Real World covers more psychological ground.

Back when the Third Series was hard to come by, people imagined --- based on rumor and hype, not the least of which from Gurdjieff himself -- that this volume would contain Gurdjieff's most significant teachings. You know, the stuff that SERIOUS and ADVANCED students of esoterica, like you, were looking for. The powerful methods that would enable you to do or be whatever it is you think you ought to do or be, other than what you already are (anything but that!) Well, keep looking, because the Third Series is pretty tame. No secrets. No mind-blowing methods. You won't be able to kill a yak at fifty paces after you read it. You'll just be back looking for that one book that will save you the trouble of self-remembering, not expressing negative emotions, etc., etc. Better to read Beelzebub's Tales that third time. Yeah, that'll do it.

There are some pretty good reviews of this book, which somewhat surprises me given the nature of it and how poor some reviews are of Gurdjieff's first series or, for example, of Pentland's book. I wish to add that Gurdjieff himself, as many of you probably know, requested the reading of his books in sequence, and the third series in particular was to be reserved for his experienced pupils. Perhaps it is too strict to keep to this request - I don't presume to be the best judge. But in spite of being incomplete, this book - as others have indicated - has a depth to it that a superficial reading may not succeed in discriminating. I can vouch for that first hand: The first time I read this book was many years ago, and I was dissappointed. Fifteen years passed and I read it again. My being had changed some in the interim, even if not impressively. Yet it was a "different" reader, and it proved to be a different book. This time I was amazed that I had been so unimpressed the first time. I think it is a mistake to read this book only with the thinking center. This book cannot be understood that way. One must read it with the emotional center actively engaged. I do think Gurdjieff's request was not frivolous, and is worthy of respect and consideration. Like many fourth way books that are among the best, this book can be a mirror in which the being of a reader is more on display from a review than the merits - or lack of merit - of the book. These books are not always easy to review. Fortunately this one has not yet, as I write, suffered the kind of severe abuse and foolishness that some of the others have received from egos with exaggerated perceptions of their understanding.

Gurdjieff was certainly a man ahead of his time and shares with us terrific insights and exercises that could possibly help raise one's consciousness. And I have no doubt that there are many people who have found a path of discovering about Self through his teachings. I can understand why Gurdjieff's teachings are taught directly from teacher to pupil. Be sure to do research about the groups of people around the world who pass on G's teachings. This book does not do justice to those teachings. It is only a glimpse of it. Whats more, this book makes for difficult reading. Probably because the translation from Russian is not in the most concise and clear manner. In many instances, you will find that the parts of a normal english sentence now come in a very different order, and that one sentence can be full of interjections and are so long as to make one paragraph. I have an easy time conversing with people whose foreign accents and awkward english translation permeate their words. But I didn't have such an easy time of it when reading a translated version from Russian such as this. If you are used to reading books that are written in easy-to-read english, and find dialectic tones difficult to read through, than this book will indeed be a hard read. If you want to learn a bit more from Gurdjieff's wisdom---his philosophy and cosmology, than try other books by Gurddjieff and/or his pupils. Search the web on his biography to know more about him. Choose your purchase well.

I would have to recomend that you skip this installment of the Guirdjeff triology. If you have read Beelzebub or Remarkable Men then there really is no need to waste your time lumbering through what can only be described as disjointed and stuttering translation. Perhaps the worst translation ever - which is saying alot considering Penguin's long lineage of word butchery. If you must read this - learn French and read the original or skip to the last third of the Penguin version. The last third is really the only information worth reading in either language. The first 100 or so pages has Gurdjieff is a rather false humility trying to matter a factly self grandize his life and work. Not the last taste of his remarkable ideas and life that you want on your lips.

First part of this book is okay - reveals the mystical part of G. Rest is difficult to follow, probably because of the rigid translation. If someone who is familiar with G attempts to translate this book again, that will be a great service to humanity. I could tastefully swallow G through "Views form the Real World" and "In Search of the Miraculius" than any of his books although "Belzebe" and "Meeting with.." are lot better than this "I am..". G has a great influence in moulding my spiritual journey and I hate to see a book that's so badly translated and presented.

This book, as all of Gurdjieff's works, are meant to make you 'think'. There are a many great gems in this book. However, like a great 4th Way teacher, he doesn't just hand them out like candy. You have to have the eyes to 'see'. This book answered many questions for me, it was a great read.

Gurdjieff is like so many "gurus" that use symbolism and mystical language which appears so prosaic that it becomes quite difficult to fully comprehend, much less profoundly understand. We truly need positive occult science, which is related to the more formal use of our Aryan mental faculties, as opposed to the emotional-devotional-mystical approach to comprehending what is honestly written (and generally valid, excluding the avaricious charlatans, nefarious disciples of the dark side, and ignorant but well meaning individuals) by so many writers and presenters of "spiritual" topics, but difficult to delve deeply into. The other point is that the language and idioms used are of the period that the writer lived, which is generally far from recent. The next point of difficulty relates to the language translations we encounter. Some are very literal and some are not done by those who fully dominate the two languages. The final difficulty is our own belief-biases that we need to transcend when approaching the subject of esoteric spirituality and the much more concrete POSITIVE occult science (not the same as christian science). We need to make sure that we avoid the more negative and evil occult sciences that appear to dominate 70% of this planet at this time; although that figure is being reduced slowly over time as the strongly positive occult science (of will, love & intelligence) continues to make inroads. All this unfortunately needs to be considered when reading this type of literature, and with an unbiased mind, extract our own intellectual comprehension and a modicum of intuitional understanding, Any belief biases will totally ruin the effort. Gurdieff gives a great deal, but you will have to work to comprehend it all.

A good portion of this book is difficult to read -- not because it contains dense and profound ideas, but because Gurdjieff purposely made his sentences convoluted and confusing. Why? Well, early in the book he mocks the contemporary habit, especially among Americans, of learning and regurgitating things in a glib, shallow, mechanical, and mindless manner. This habit leads to people taking his teachings out of context, misapplying them, and talking the talk but not walking the walk. It also leads to insincere sycophancy by people who praise him without even deeply grokking what he's saying. So when he addressed just such an audience, he employed convolution to ensure that only those actively thinking, and not just mindlessly absorbing, could follow along and reach the next level of his plans for them. Thus you have to read through numerous hundred-word run on sentences if you want to read the whole book. I know this is true because in his final chapter he switches to his normal mode, regular sentences, thus it's not the translator's fault. You have to read (or skip) to the Fifth lecture, and especially the second half of the final chapter, to get at the real meat of the book. That's where he talks about the threefold nature of man, the soul, and most importantly, the vibrations (something like the aura) he gives off and how they intermingle with others. And then guess what? The book ends right then and there! Arghhh... just when it gets good, Gurdjieff stopped in mid-sentence. Maybe he realized the task was too enormous to explain his whole teachings systematically in one book. Overall I'd say this book is worth reading for the few gems, and only after you're already familiar with the basic ideas of Fourth Way, having read at least In Search of the Miraculous by Ouspensky and Views from the Real World.

There is a paragraphing problem with this particular ebook. Huge spaces between paragraphs which makes it very difficult to read. I love this book and needed an ebook form due to my constant traveling. The formatting problem is very disappointing. John

I became interested in learning about the teachings of George Gurdjieff (1877? -- 1949) after reading philosopher Jacob Needleman's memoir "What is God?" (2009), a book I admired a good deal.

The published version of Life Is Real is a limited selection from the disorganized collection of papers that was left at the time of the author's death. Some changes have been made (bizarrely - including some dates)and this version is introduced as the authorized version, although the editors were apparently coy about using their own names or credentials to authorize. Some whole chapters have been omitted.

G.I. Gurdjieff's "Life is Real Only Then, When I Am" (over 185 pages) is the last volume of the "All and Everything" trilogy, which is the name of ten books in three series, which this current volume is consisted of four books. The purpose of this volume, according to the author, is "to assist the arising, in the mentation and in the feelings of the reader, of a veritable, nonfantastic representation not of that illusory world which he now perceives, but of the world existing in reality." However, this book is incomplete as it only contains a prologue, the author's description of five of his lectures (delivered on five nights from November 28 up to December 19 of 1930) and a final essay entitled "The Outer and Inner World of Man". It's a fairly quick reading but quite loaded with interesting insights. In the prologue, the author goes into details about his later life as well the core of this book. Personally, I discovered this book to be valuable in exploring the "talks" and his ideas for what they revealed about ourselves as human beings and about "the Work."

The book is in a perfect shape. I liked everything about this book from the time of delivery to the last moment of opening it and going throught it. I would recommend it to everyone.

Read it and get transported. If you have read other stuff, you know what to expect. This completes much of the earlier work

I regard this work as Gurdjieff's masterpiece, although it at first appears incomplete. I believe this could be deliberate, however. This last in his series, for the astute reader already familiar with Gurdjieff's ideas and methods, and already having some considerable experience with the practice of such ideas, will be able to discern in this book the elucidation of the operation of his two first grade common cosmic laws, the Heptaparaparshinokh and the Triamazakamno, as well as the proceeding of his law of accident, law of fate, and law of cause and effect, as they proceeded in his own life. Such an elucidation was only possible after the elapse of periods of time as could demonstrate the proceeding of all these laws. In this work, he has put himself forward as a living example of the functioning of the principles which he taught. It is a work that needs to be read and re-read until the connections he makes between all the laws and the processes of events in his own life can be discovered.

Sadly Gurdjieff was apparently unable to finish his 'Great Trilogy' , of which this was intended to be the third installment ; in fact it seems to be a terribly incomplete 'botch job' and consequently doesn't contain much of interest . As far as I remember he died before having finished it and what is published here is more of a remnant than a complete book . A better book to learn the ideas of Gurdjieff from , and possibly the rightful 'third volume' of 'All and Everything', is the compendium of his speeches 'Views from The Real World' , posthumously collected and published by his close students. Personally, though, I'm not sure whether his ideas have any real validity or not ; He is a fascinating character , but much of what he claimed smacks of post-Victorian 'hokum' .

This copy of 'Life is real only then, when I am' fulfills my needs. My caveat would be that its value lies in completing the writings of G.I. Gurdjieff for the person interested in understanding his teaching.

For the public: This book is NOT for casual consumption. Your money will be wasted & it likely will not be refunded. For the initiates: Only read this book if you are prepared by previous encounters with practical work on attention. For the idiots: Read it thrice.

Study is required for this book. You have to work with it, digging deep and pausing long to ponder: what does this mean. And it's worth it!

If you understand Gurdjieff a must a reading

Gurdjieff is an interesting person. His writing is what or is and I think there's a lot you can take away from it. That being said, this is as good a version as any and having it in an electronic format lends to rereading periodically without having to carry a book along.

just amazing/Thanks

Great Book, Good Shape...

For anyone wanting to work on his / her self-growth Gurdjieff is a must.

Excellent

G.I.Gurdieff was a Master. This book is his last in the three series of books he wrote. And it is a summarising book of what's he wrote in his other books. It is concerned to search the fundamental aim of mans life on earth and existence. A very remarkable book written by an enlightened master. Amazon delivered it by the next day 🙂

For all who are interested in the mysterious and compelling phenomenon of Gurdjieff, here is an interesting autobiographic glimpse into the life and times of...

As expected

A must read for all those interested and engaged in the work of Monsieur Gurdjieff - a true master of all and everything!

Gurdjieff no es para cualquiera, tienes que alcanzar cierto grado de conciencia para poder entender y recibir todo lo que él tiene para darte. Es un libro que te hace esperar bastante para llegar al punto que estabas esperando, sin embargo eso lo hace excitante.

good

Although I greatly appreciate much of Gurdjieff's writing, this one drops the ball just as it's left the hand. A long-winded intro containing a whole lot of interpersonal drama and feeling sorry for himself eventually leads to meaningful, instructive content, only to end mid-chapter. It goes as follows...

Do not be confused by the apparent brevity or incomplete status of this book. The information it contains defines the heart of the Gurdjieff Work.

Wonderful collection of Fourth Way wisdom written by the man himself. Also, excellent seller. Product better than described and quick shipping.

Good value

Wanting to know more about this saint that Sadhguru spoke about, I bought this book to read. Honestly, this is a bit of a difficult read

The words of a man who perceived and sensed more than others.

The words of a man who perceived and sensed more than others.

The Parchment edition, so bigger format than all previous versions. Superb read

Gurdjieff is great... Arrived soon!

Imposible de entender esta lectura en inglés y superaburrido el narrador, es una lástima que no tengan un control de calidad con los productos que ofrecen. Así y todo, cualquier "cosa" se vende con sello Amazon. La confianza en muy frágil.

If you understand Gurdjieff a must a reading

As expected

Wanting to know more about this saint that Sadhguru spoke about, I bought this book to read. Honestly, this is a bit of a difficult read

There are some pretty good reviews of this book, which somewhat surprises me given the nature of it and how poor some reviews are of Gurdjieff's first series or, for example, of Pentland's book. I wish to add that Gurdjieff himself, as many of you probably know, requested the reading of his books in sequence, and the third series in particular was to be reserved for his experienced pupils. Perhaps it is too strict to keep to this request - I don't presume to be the best judge. But in spite of being incomplete, this book - as others have indicated - has a depth to it that a superficial reading may not succeed in discriminating. I can vouch for that first hand: The first time I read this book was many years ago, and I was dissappointed. Fifteen years passed and I read it again. My being had changed some in the interim, even if not impressively. Yet it was a "different" reader, and it proved to be a different book. This time I was amazed that I had been so unimpressed the first time. I think it is a mistake to read this book only with the thinking center. This book cannot be understood that way. One must read it with the emotional center actively engaged. I do think Gurdjieff's request was not frivolous, and is worthy of respect and consideration. Like many fourth way books that are among the best, this book can be a mirror in which the being of a reader is more on display from a review than the merits - or lack of merit - of the book. These books are not always easy to review. Fortunately this one has not yet, as I write, suffered the kind of severe abuse and foolishness that some of the others have received from egos with exaggerated perceptions of their understanding.

First part of this book is okay - reveals the mystical part of G. Rest is difficult to follow, probably because of the rigid translation. If someone who is familiar with G attempts to translate this book again, that will be a great service to humanity. I could tastefully swallow G through "Views form the Real World" and "In Search of the Miraculius" than any of his books although "Belzebe" and "Meeting with.." are lot better than this "I am..". G has a great influence in moulding my spiritual journey and I hate to see a book that's so badly translated and presented.

Imposible de entender esta lectura en inglés y superaburrido el narrador, es una lástima que no tengan un control de calidad con los productos que ofrecen. Así y todo, cualquier "cosa" se vende con sello Amazon. La confianza en muy frágil.

For the public: This book is NOT for casual consumption. Your money will be wasted & it likely will not be refunded. For the initiates: Only read this book if you are prepared by previous encounters with practical work on attention. For the idiots: Read it thrice.

Wonderful collection of Fourth Way wisdom written by the man himself. Also, excellent seller. Product better than described and quick shipping.

A good portion of this book is difficult to read -- not because it contains dense and profound ideas, but because Gurdjieff purposely made his sentences convoluted and confusing. Why? Well, early in the book he mocks the contemporary habit, especially among Americans, of learning and regurgitating things in a glib, shallow, mechanical, and mindless manner. This habit leads to people taking his teachings out of context, misapplying them, and talking the talk but not walking the walk. It also leads to insincere sycophancy by people who praise him without even deeply grokking what he's saying. So when he addressed just such an audience, he employed convolution to ensure that only those actively thinking, and not just mindlessly absorbing, could follow along and reach the next level of his plans for them. Thus you have to read through numerous hundred-word run on sentences if you want to read the whole book. I know this is true because in his final chapter he switches to his normal mode, regular sentences, thus it's not the translator's fault. You have to read (or skip) to the Fifth lecture, and especially the second half of the final chapter, to get at the real meat of the book. That's where he talks about the threefold nature of man, the soul, and most importantly, the vibrations (something like the aura) he gives off and how they intermingle with others. And then guess what? The book ends right then and there! Arghhh... just when it gets good, Gurdjieff stopped in mid-sentence. Maybe he realized the task was too enormous to explain his whole teachings systematically in one book. Overall I'd say this book is worth reading for the few gems, and only after you're already familiar with the basic ideas of Fourth Way, having read at least In Search of the Miraculous by Ouspensky and Views from the Real World.

The book is in a perfect shape. I liked everything about this book from the time of delivery to the last moment of opening it and going throught it. I would recommend it to everyone.

Gurdjieff is an interesting person. His writing is what or is and I think there's a lot you can take away from it. That being said, this is as good a version as any and having it in an electronic format lends to rereading periodically without having to carry a book along.

This copy of 'Life is real only then, when I am' fulfills my needs. My caveat would be that its value lies in completing the writings of G.I. Gurdjieff for the person interested in understanding his teaching.

Although I greatly appreciate much of Gurdjieff's writing, this one drops the ball just as it's left the hand. A long-winded intro containing a whole lot of interpersonal drama and feeling sorry for himself eventually leads to meaningful, instructive content, only to end mid-chapter. It goes as follows...

Gurdjieff was certainly a man ahead of his time and shares with us terrific insights and exercises that could possibly help raise one's consciousness. And I have no doubt that there are many people who have found a path of discovering about Self through his teachings. I can understand why Gurdjieff's teachings are taught directly from teacher to pupil. Be sure to do research about the groups of people around the world who pass on G's teachings. This book does not do justice to those teachings. It is only a glimpse of it. Whats more, this book makes for difficult reading. Probably because the translation from Russian is not in the most concise and clear manner. In many instances, you will find that the parts of a normal english sentence now come in a very different order, and that one sentence can be full of interjections and are so long as to make one paragraph. I have an easy time conversing with people whose foreign accents and awkward english translation permeate their words. But I didn't have such an easy time of it when reading a translated version from Russian such as this. If you are used to reading books that are written in easy-to-read english, and find dialectic tones difficult to read through, than this book will indeed be a hard read. If you want to learn a bit more from Gurdjieff's wisdom---his philosophy and cosmology, than try other books by Gurddjieff and/or his pupils. Search the web on his biography to know more about him. Choose your purchase well.

Excellent

The Parchment edition, so bigger format than all previous versions. Superb read

Sadly Gurdjieff was apparently unable to finish his 'Great Trilogy' , of which this was intended to be the third installment ; in fact it seems to be a terribly incomplete 'botch job' and consequently doesn't contain much of interest . As far as I remember he died before having finished it and what is published here is more of a remnant than a complete book . A better book to learn the ideas of Gurdjieff from , and possibly the rightful 'third volume' of 'All and Everything', is the compendium of his speeches 'Views from The Real World' , posthumously collected and published by his close students. Personally, though, I'm not sure whether his ideas have any real validity or not ; He is a fascinating character , but much of what he claimed smacks of post-Victorian 'hokum' .

Back when the Third Series was hard to come by, people imagined --- based on rumor and hype, not the least of which from Gurdjieff himself -- that this volume would contain Gurdjieff's most significant teachings. You know, the stuff that SERIOUS and ADVANCED students of esoterica, like you, were looking for. The powerful methods that would enable you to do or be whatever it is you think you ought to do or be, other than what you already are (anything but that!) Well, keep looking, because the Third Series is pretty tame. No secrets. No mind-blowing methods. You won't be able to kill a yak at fifty paces after you read it. You'll just be back looking for that one book that will save you the trouble of self-remembering, not expressing negative emotions, etc., etc. Better to read Beelzebub's Tales that third time. Yeah, that'll do it.

just amazing/Thanks

I became interested in learning about the teachings of George Gurdjieff (1877? -- 1949) after reading philosopher Jacob Needleman's memoir "What is God?" (2009), a book I admired a good deal.

Good value

good

I would have to recomend that you skip this installment of the Guirdjeff triology. If you have read Beelzebub or Remarkable Men then there really is no need to waste your time lumbering through what can only be described as disjointed and stuttering translation. Perhaps the worst translation ever - which is saying alot considering Penguin's long lineage of word butchery. If you must read this - learn French and read the original or skip to the last third of the Penguin version. The last third is really the only information worth reading in either language. The first 100 or so pages has Gurdjieff is a rather false humility trying to matter a factly self grandize his life and work. Not the last taste of his remarkable ideas and life that you want on your lips.

There is a paragraphing problem with this particular ebook. Huge spaces between paragraphs which makes it very difficult to read. I love this book and needed an ebook form due to my constant traveling. The formatting problem is very disappointing. John

Do not be confused by the apparent brevity or incomplete status of this book. The information it contains defines the heart of the Gurdjieff Work.

G.I.Gurdieff was a Master. This book is his last in the three series of books he wrote. And it is a summarising book of what's he wrote in his other books. It is concerned to search the fundamental aim of mans life on earth and existence. A very remarkable book written by an enlightened master. Amazon delivered it by the next day 🙂

Another uncompleted master work - where have we encountered this before? Let's see, Plato's Timaeus, Edmund Spenser's Faeire Queene, James Joyce's projected (and unwritten) fourth major volume after Finnegans Wake, Joseph Campbell's Atlas of World Mythology... Are we detecting a pattern here - that authors procrastinate? Though "incomplete" this book is important reading for anyone interested in the Gurdjieff Work. For example, Gurdjieff gives a representative psychological exercise: Pay attention to your right hand. Lay it flat. Begin to count to ten with one finger, while you observe the emotional state of a second finger, while simultaneously observing the physical sensations of a third. (What exactly *is* the emotional state of a finger, I still ask myself.) The book's biography is interesting but Meetings with Remarkable Men is better in that regard, and Views from the Real World covers more psychological ground.

I regard this work as Gurdjieff's masterpiece, although it at first appears incomplete. I believe this could be deliberate, however. This last in his series, for the astute reader already familiar with Gurdjieff's ideas and methods, and already having some considerable experience with the practice of such ideas, will be able to discern in this book the elucidation of the operation of his two first grade common cosmic laws, the Heptaparaparshinokh and the Triamazakamno, as well as the proceeding of his law of accident, law of fate, and law of cause and effect, as they proceeded in his own life. Such an elucidation was only possible after the elapse of periods of time as could demonstrate the proceeding of all these laws. In this work, he has put himself forward as a living example of the functioning of the principles which he taught. It is a work that needs to be read and re-read until the connections he makes between all the laws and the processes of events in his own life can be discovered.

Great Book, Good Shape...

This book, as all of Gurdjieff's works, are meant to make you 'think'. There are a many great gems in this book. However, like a great 4th Way teacher, he doesn't just hand them out like candy. You have to have the eyes to 'see'. This book answered many questions for me, it was a great read.

For anyone wanting to work on his / her self-growth Gurdjieff is a must.

For all who are interested in the mysterious and compelling phenomenon of Gurdjieff, here is an interesting autobiographic glimpse into the life and times of...

G.I. Gurdjieff's "Life is Real Only Then, When I Am" (over 185 pages) is the last volume of the "All and Everything" trilogy, which is the name of ten books in three series, which this current volume is consisted of four books. The purpose of this volume, according to the author, is "to assist the arising, in the mentation and in the feelings of the reader, of a veritable, nonfantastic representation not of that illusory world which he now perceives, but of the world existing in reality." However, this book is incomplete as it only contains a prologue, the author's description of five of his lectures (delivered on five nights from November 28 up to December 19 of 1930) and a final essay entitled "The Outer and Inner World of Man". It's a fairly quick reading but quite loaded with interesting insights. In the prologue, the author goes into details about his later life as well the core of this book. Personally, I discovered this book to be valuable in exploring the "talks" and his ideas for what they revealed about ourselves as human beings and about "the Work."

Gurdjieff is great... Arrived soon!

A must read for all those interested and engaged in the work of Monsieur Gurdjieff - a true master of all and everything!

Gurdjieff no es para cualquiera, tienes que alcanzar cierto grado de conciencia para poder entender y recibir todo lo que él tiene para darte. Es un libro que te hace esperar bastante para llegar al punto que estabas esperando, sin embargo eso lo hace excitante.

Read it and get transported. If you have read other stuff, you know what to expect. This completes much of the earlier work

The words of a man who perceived and sensed more than others.

Gurdjieff is like so many "gurus" that use symbolism and mystical language which appears so prosaic that it becomes quite difficult to fully comprehend, much less profoundly understand. We truly need positive occult science, which is related to the more formal use of our Aryan mental faculties, as opposed to the emotional-devotional-mystical approach to comprehending what is honestly written (and generally valid, excluding the avaricious charlatans, nefarious disciples of the dark side, and ignorant but well meaning individuals) by so many writers and presenters of "spiritual" topics, but difficult to delve deeply into. The other point is that the language and idioms used are of the period that the writer lived, which is generally far from recent. The next point of difficulty relates to the language translations we encounter. Some are very literal and some are not done by those who fully dominate the two languages. The final difficulty is our own belief-biases that we need to transcend when approaching the subject of esoteric spirituality and the much more concrete POSITIVE occult science (not the same as christian science). We need to make sure that we avoid the more negative and evil occult sciences that appear to dominate 70% of this planet at this time; although that figure is being reduced slowly over time as the strongly positive occult science (of will, love & intelligence) continues to make inroads. All this unfortunately needs to be considered when reading this type of literature, and with an unbiased mind, extract our own intellectual comprehension and a modicum of intuitional understanding, Any belief biases will totally ruin the effort. Gurdieff gives a great deal, but you will have to work to comprehend it all.

The published version of Life Is Real is a limited selection from the disorganized collection of papers that was left at the time of the author's death. Some changes have been made (bizarrely - including some dates)and this version is introduced as the authorized version, although the editors were apparently coy about using their own names or credentials to authorize. Some whole chapters have been omitted.

Study is required for this book. You have to work with it, digging deep and pausing long to ponder: what does this mean. And it's worth it!