Product Description

Selections from nearly thirty years of teachings by one of the principal students of Gurdjieff.

Exchanges Within concentrates on one main question: How do we find within ourselves what we have lost-our reality, wholeness, and significance-as the human kind of being in the universe?

Through the intensity of his own search, John Pentland radiated the help necessary for group members again and again to discover and try to express where they actually are in the process of understanding and in the movement toward "being." The "exchanges" in Exchanges Within provide a glimpse into the dynamics of a living teaching and reflect genuine efforts toward the discovery and practice of meaningful living in the face of forces that drain human life of the sacred.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #165046 in Books
• Published on: 2004-08-19
• Released on: 2004-08-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 400 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Most traditional ways of self-knowledge, whether psychological, philosophical or spiritual, emphasize the necessity of direct work with a teacher. This work entails an exchange of energies but also of ideas and observations. The energies are recorded only in the being of the student, but the observations, expressed through words, may be recorded on paper. Because esoteric traditions reserve a portion of their teachings only for initiates, any publication of hitherto sequestered records of such exchanges is a notable event. This extraordinary book presents selections from several decades' worth of discussions conducted at group meetings between students and John Pentland, a leader of the Gurdjieff Work from the late 1940s until his death in 1984. The influential psycho-spiritual teachings introduced by G.I. Gurdjieff (1866-1949) emphasize "self-observation" and "self-remembering" engaged within a definite cosmology with the aim of self-transformation. The myriad selections here have been chosen with care to allow the teachings to unfold within the unruly Q&A format, and to impress upon readers the extreme difficulty, yet real possibility, of seeing themselves as they truly are, as a necessary first step in transformation. "The beginning of evolution of oneself is sincerity," Pentland says. Those who read these "exchanges within" with attention and an open mind are bound to be moved by Pentland's own sincerity, and to benefit from his ability to solicit and to respond to the question behind the question. As a document of the dynamic search for truth among teacher and student, this work fascinates; as an adept extension in written form of that search, it can galvanize.

Copyright 1997 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About the Author
John Pentland was a student of the Ouspenskys, Gurdjieff, and Madame Jeanne de Salzmann, and was instrumental in spreading Gurdjieff's teaching throughout the United States. He was president of the Gurdjieff Foundation of New York from its inception in 1953, and established the Gurdjieff Foundation of California.

Customer Reviews

A Voice of the Work
There are now hundreds of books about the Fourth Way and about the people who have influenced and contributed to it over the years. There are also other books about the practical aspect of work on oneself. These written endeavors often times face the almost inescapable limitation of being merely a dry menu listing of ideas on the subject. And from a practical pov, clearly missing is the essential person-to-person contact a student only receives with direct relationship with a teacher. However, as far as these books can go in giving a taste of Work toward Being, this one does and is a very positive contibution to the canon of the Fourth Way literature. Rarely does one encounter a book of the depth this one embodies. If you imagine that the working with these ideas is basically an intellectual exercise, then this book will probably disappoint. But if you are interested in peering deeper into the actual experience of the ideas and Work on Being, then this title can be of value. Not meant to be read as a "normal" book, each reading is a wealth of insightful thought and perspective and calls for the reader to look deeper within their own experience.

His understanding of the Human condition is extordinary
I was given this book by an friend in passing, not knowing that Pentland had been published. I had the fortunite opportunity to hear Lord Pentland speak at Seminar quite a few years ago and was touched by what he spoke about in a most extordinary way. He had ability to use the english language in such a percise and focused manner, it was as thought he was talking with you personally. I walked away feeling as thought something very quite and diffinent had been deposited in me. Half way though the book I began to experiance that lost feeling so long ago forgotten begin to araise. I could hear him speak again as though I was back at the seminar. His ability to hear a persons question and start a dialoge from what seems to be exactly where the the individual ends in amazing. This is a book that should be kept close by to be read question by question, its richness is too much for one sitting

Only Gurjeffians
This book only needs to be understand by Gurdjieffans, it does not suppose to be for everybody, that's the way it is