But there is a Fourth Way, which is a special way, not a combination of the other three [The way of the Fakir, Monk, and Yogi] It is different from the others first of all in that there is no external giving up of things, for all the work is inner.

P. D. Ouspensky

The schools of the Fourth Way only incidentally are concerned with teaching; their primary purpose is to fulfill some aim, and this is a very important point. Tasks of a positive character that have their origin in higher levels cannot be carried out by sleeping people, for the first thing that a school of the Fourth Way has to do is to help people to wake up. In other words, schools of the Fourth Way teach in order to do their work, whereas schools of the more traditional ways do their work by teaching. Thus the traditional schools are concerned with preserving and handing on traditions from one generation to another, and so providing for all times the means of changing their level of being for those who are prepared to follow them. The Schools of the Fourth Way are not concerned with preserving; but creating, with starting new things, new influences, and new forces in the world.

Pierre Elliot



The Fourth Way

Gurdjieff distinguishes his system for human spiritual transformation — the so-called Fourth Way — from three other traditional ways or paths: The Way of the Fakir, the Way of the Monk, and the Way of the Yogi. These other ways roughly correspond to psychological types, and they entail an intensive work with the body, the emotions, and the mind respectively.

Each of the first three ways is essentially unbalanced because they involve a focus on developing only one aspect of body, emotion, or mind at the expense of a balance between them.

For very important reasons, the goal of Fourth Way teachings is a balanced human being who understands the function and development of all aspects of his/her nature. This is because The Fourth Way is "task oriented". It presents a way of accelerated transformation to equip individuals with the understanding and development needed to be effective in the world.

That's why the work of the Fourth Way takes place in life; it does not require renunciation of the world in the manner of the traditional ways. Gurdjieff says that whereas the traditional ways require one to give up everything at the beginning, the sacrifices of the Fourth Way are not required until one is prepared for them and until one has some understanding of what they entail.

The Fourth Way is essentially about serving the future of human development on this planet. But to effectively serve the future in a practical way, one must be prepared. Good intentions are not sufficient. Nor is it sufficient to point out how "other people" should change. We must become the change we seek.