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.

Reading this book gave much insight into the life and teachings of Gurdjieff. It helped make sense out of the 'school' teachings giving kind of a hidden awareness that wasn't quite obvious. A deeper understanding of the man Gurdjieff was presented here exposing some of his humanness and methods of teaching.

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

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

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.

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!

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.

First things first - to the person or persons that published these typescripts ... thank you very, very much. You have done a great service to the Work and to followers of Gurdjieff's ideas. Now, the review: Serious students of Gurdjieff will be seriously interested in these typescripts. As you may or may not know, the published versions of Meetings and Life Is Real were revised prior to publication. This was alluded in a few works (such as those by John Henderson and James Webb) but not widely known. I personally wasn't aware of this revision until reading Henderson's Hidden Meanings book. This is the first time I've ever seen these typescripts made available to the public. Again, thank you for publishing these. When you purchase the typescripts, a side-by-side comparison between these typescripts and the revised versions will reveal the extent to which certain passages were edited. From the severity of these revisions -- sometimes more, sometimes less -- we can then go on to speculate about how much revision occurred to Meetings with Remarkable Men. Anyhow, students familiar with the "revision problem" probably don't need to be convinced how important this text is. We now have a much more accurate, unedited, true version of Gurdjieff's exact words that he intended for inclusion in Life is Real. A final note: If you have already purchased these typescripts - it would help to leave a review. It impacts the book's rankings in Amazon search results. The more positive reviews it has, the more visible it will be to others who are searching, and who may not be aware that the typescripts exist.

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...

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

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

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.

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

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!

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...

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

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

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.

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.

Reading this book gave much insight into the life and teachings of Gurdjieff. It helped make sense out of the 'school' teachings giving kind of a hidden awareness that wasn't quite obvious. A deeper understanding of the man Gurdjieff was presented here exposing some of his humanness and methods of teaching.

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.