Pyotr Demyanovich Uspensky (; 5 March 1878 – 2 October 1947), known in English as P. D. Ouspensky, was a Russian philosopher and esotericist known for his expositions of the early work of the Greek-Armenian teacher of esoteric doctrine George Gurdjieff. He met Gurdjieff in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

in 1915, and was associated with the ideas and practices originating with Gurdjieff from then on. He taught ideas and methods based in the Gurdjieff system for 25 years in England and the United States, although he separated from Gurdjieff personally in 1924, for reasons that are explained in the last chapter of his book '' In Search of the Miraculous''. Ouspensky studied the Gurdjieff system directly under Gurdjieff's own supervision for a period of ten years, from 1915 to 1924. ''In Search of the Miraculous'' recounts what he learned from Gurdjieff during those years. While lecturing in London in 1924, he announced that he would continue independently the way he had begun in 1921. Some, including his close pupil Rodney Collin, say that he finally gave up the system in 1947, just before his death, but his own recorded words on the subject ("A Record of Meetings", published posthumously) do not clearly endorse this judgement.

Early life

Ouspensky was born in

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

in 1878. In 1890, he studied at the Second Moscow Gymnasium, a government school attended by boys aged 10 to 18. At the age of 16, he was expelled from school for painting graffiti on the wall in plain sight of a visiting inspector. From then on he was more or less on his own. In 1906, he worked in the editorial office of the

daily paper ''The Morning''. In 1907 he became interested in

Theosophy Theosophy is a religious movement established in the United States in the late 19th century. Founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and based largely on her writings, it draws heavily from both older European philosophies such as Neop ...

. In the autumn of 1913, aged 35, he journeyed to the East in search of the miraculous. He visited Theosophists in Adyar in

Tamil Nadu, India Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

, but was forced to return to Moscow after the beginning of the Great War. In Moscow he met Gurdjieff and married Sophie Grigorievna Maximenko. He had a mistress by the name of Anna Ilinishna Butkovsky.

Career

During his years in Moscow, Ouspensky wrote for several newspapers and was particularly interested in the then-fashionable idea of the fourth dimension. His first work, published in 1909, was titled ''The Fourth Dimension''. It was influenced by the ideas prevalent in the works of Charles H. Hinton, which treat the fourth dimension as an extension in space. Ouspensky treats time as a fourth dimension only indirectly in a novel he wrote titled '' Strange Life of Ivan Osokin'' where he also explores the theory of eternal recurrence. Ouspensky's second work, ''Tertium Organum'', was published in 1912. In it he denies the ultimate reality of space and time, and negates

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

's Logical Formula of Identification of "A is A", concluding in his "higher logic" that A is both A and not-A. Unbeknown to Ouspensky, a Russian émigré by the name of Nicholas Bessarabof took a copy of ''Tertium Organum'' to America and placed it in the hands of the architect Claude Bragdon, who could read Russian and was interested in the fourth dimension. ''Tertium Organum'' was rendered into English by Bragdon, who had incorporated his own design of the

hypercube In geometry, a hypercube is an ''n''-dimensional analogue of a square ( ) and a cube ( ); the special case for is known as a ''tesseract''. It is a closed, compact, convex figure whose 1- skeleton consists of groups of opposite parallel l ...

into the Rochester Chamber of Commerce building. Bragdon also published the book, and the publication was such a success that it was finally taken up by Alfred A. Knopf. At the time, in the early 1920s, Ouspensky's whereabouts were unknown. Bragdon located him in

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

and paid him back some royalties. Ouspensky traveled in Europe and the East —

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

— in his search for knowledge. After his return to Russia and his introduction to Gurdjieff in 1915, he spent the next few years studying with him, and supporting the founding of a school. Prior to 1914, Ouspensky had written and published a number of articles. In 1917, he updated these articles to include "recent developments in physics" and republished them as a book in Russian entitled ''A New Model of the Universe''. The work, as reflected in its title, shows the influence of

Francis Bacon Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued for the importance of nat ...

and

Max Müller Friedrich Max Müller (; 6 December 1823 – 28 October 1900) was a German-born British comparative philologist and oriental studies, Orientalist. He was one of the founders of the Western academic disciplines of Indology and religious s ...

, and has been interpreted as an attempt to reconcile ideas from

natural science Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

and

religious studies Religious studies, also known as religiology or the study of religion, is the study of religion from a historical or scientific perspective. There is no consensus on what qualifies as ''religion'' and definition of religion, its definition is h ...

with esoteric teachings in the tradition of Gurdjieff and

. It was assumed that the book was lost to the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

's violence, but it was then republished in English (without Ouspensky's knowledge) in 1931. The work has attracted the interest of a number of philosophers and has been a widely accepted authoritative basis for a study of

metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...

. Ouspensky sought to exceed the limits of metaphysics with his "psychological method", which he defined as "a calibration of the tools of human understanding to derive the actual meaning of the thing itself" (paraphrasing p. 75.). According to Ouspensky, "The idea of esotericism ... holds that the very great majority of our ideas are not the product of evolution but the product of the degeneration of ideas which existed at some time or are still existing somewhere in much higher, purer and more complete forms" (p. 47). The book also provided an original discussion on the nature and expression of

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

; among other things, he draws a distinction between erotica and

pornography Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is Sexual suggestiveness, sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolv ...

. Ouspensky's lectures in London were attended by such literary figures as

Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley ( ; 26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. His bibliography spans nearly 50 books, including non-fiction novel, non-fiction works, as well as essays, narratives, and poems. Born into the ...

, T. S. Eliot, Gerald Heard and other writers, journalists and doctors. His influence on the literary scene of the 1920s and 1930s as well as on the

Russian avant-garde The Russian avant-garde was a large, influential wave of avant-garde modern art that flourished in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, approximately from 1890 to 1930—although some have placed its beginning as early as 1850 and its e ...

was immense but remains very little known. It was said of Ouspensky that, though nonreligious, he had one prayer: not to become famous during his lifetime.

Later life

After the Bolshevik revolution, Ouspensky travelled to London by way of

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. In London, a number of eminent people became interested in his work. Lady Rothermere, wife of Harold Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Rothermere, a press magnate, was willing to promote ''Tertium Organum''. The influential intellectual and editor A. R. Orage became deeply interested in Ouspensky's ideas and promoted their discussion in various circles. Prominent theosophist and editor G. R. S. Mead became interested in his ideas on the fourth dimension. By order of the British government, Gurdjieff was not allowed to settle in London. Gurdjieff eventually went to France with a considerable sum of money raised by Ouspensky and his friends, and settled down near Paris at the Prieuré in Fontainebleau-Avon. It was during this time, after Gurdjieff founded his Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man in France, that Ouspensky came to the conclusion that he was no longer able to understand his former teacher and made a decision to discontinue association with him. He set up his own organisation, The Society for the Study of Normal Psychology, which is now known as The Study Society. Ouspensky wrote about Gurdjieff's teachings in a book originally entitled ''Fragments of an Unknown Teaching'', published posthumously in 1947 under the title '' In Search of the Miraculous''. While this volume has been criticized by some of those who have followed Gurdjieff's teachings as only a partial representation of the totality of his ideas, it provides what is probably the most concise explanation of the material that was included. This is in sharp contrast to the writings of Gurdjieff himself, such as '' Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson'', where the ideas and precepts of Gurdjieff's teachings are found very deeply veiled in

allegory As a List of narrative techniques, literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a wikt:narrative, narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political signi ...

. Initially, Ouspensky had intended this book to be published only if ''Beelzebub's Tales'' were not published. But after his death, Mme. Ouspensky showed its draft to Gurdjieff, who praised its accuracy and permitted its publication. With the effect of the commencement of the Second World War on Britain, Ouspensky emigrated, with his wife, to the U.S. They settled on a farm in New Jersey. The Ouspenskys moved back to their former home region in the U.K. after the war was over. Ouspensky died in Lyne Place,

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, in 1947. Shortly after his death, ''The Psychology of Man's Possible Evolution'' was published, together with ''In Search of the Miraculous''. A facsimile edition of ''In Search of the Miraculous'' was published in 2004 by Paul H. Crompton Ltd. London. Transcripts of some of his lectures were published under the title of '' The Fourth Way'' in 1957; largely a collection of question and answer sessions, the book details important concepts, both introductory and advanced, for students of these teachings. Ouspensky's papers are held at Yale University Library's Manuscripts and Archives department.

Teaching

After Ouspensky broke away from Gurdjieff, he taught the " Fourth Way", as he understood it, to his independent groups.

Fourth Way

Gurdjieff proposed that there are three ways of self-development generally known in esoteric circles. These are the Way of the

Fakir Fakir, faqeer, or faqīr (; (noun of faqr)), derived from ''faqr'' (, 'poverty'), is an Islamic term traditionally used for Sufi Muslim ascetics who renounce their worldly possessions and dedicate their lives to the worship of God. They do ...

, dealing exclusively with the physical body, the Way of the

Monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

, dealing with the emotions, and the Way of the Yogi, dealing with the mind. What is common to all three ways is that they demand complete seclusion from the world. According to Gurdjieff, there is a Fourth Way which does not demand its followers to abandon the world. The work of self-development takes place right in the midst of ordinary life. Gurdjieff called his system a school of the Fourth Way in which a person learns to work in harmony with his physical body, emotions and mind. Ouspensky picked up this idea and continued his own school along this line. Ouspensky made the term "Fourth Way" and its use central to his own teaching of the ideas of Gurdjieff. He greatly focused on Fourth Way schools and their existence throughout history.

Students

Among his students were Rodney Collin, Maurice Nicoll, Robert S. de Ropp, Kenneth Walker, and Remedios Varo.

Self-remembering

Ouspensky personally confessed the difficulties he was experiencing with 'self-remembering' - the practice of a deep state of mindfulness, rooting one in the present moment, whatever one is doing. (The present definition of the term in the teachings of Advaita is “to be in awareness”, or “being aware of being aware”, while in

Buddhism Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

the corresponding practice is ' mindfulness'). 'Self-remembering' was a technique to which Ouspensky had been introduced by Gurdjieff himself, the teacher having explained to him that self-remembering is the key to all else in ‘the Work’. While in Russia, Ouspensky experimented with the technique with a certain degree of success, and in his lectures in London and America he emphasized the importance of its practice. The technique requires a division of attention, so that a person not only pays attention to what is going on in the exterior world but also in the interior. A. L. Volinsky, an acquaintance of Ouspensky in Russia, mentioned to him that this was what Wundt meant by apperception. Ouspensky disagreed and commented on how an idea so profound to him would pass unnoticed by people whom he considered intelligent. Gurdjieff explained that in order to bring about a result or manifestation, three things are necessary. With self-remembering and self-observation two things are present. The third one is explained by Ouspensky in his tract on Conscience: it is the non-expression of negative emotions.Gary Lachman ''In Search of P. D. Ouspensky'', p. 121, Quest Books, 2006

Published works

* * ''Tertium Organum: The Third Canon of Thought, a Key to the Enigmas of the World'' (1912). Translated from the Russian by Nicholas Bessaraboff and Claude Bragdon.

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

: Manas Press, 1920
Online version
* ''The Symbolism of the Tarot,'' First Edition, Russian, 1913; New York: Dover Publications Inc., 1976. (Translated by A. L. Pogossky

* ''A New Model of the Universe: Principles of the Psychological Method in Its Application to Problems of Science, Religion and Art''. (Russian, 1914); Translated from the Russian by R. R. Merton, under the supervision of the author. New York: Knopf, 1931; London: Routledge, 1931; 2nd revised edition, London: Routledge, 1934; New York: Knopf, 1934. * ''Talks with a Devil'' (Russian, 1916). Tr. by Katya Petroff, edited with an introduction by J. G. Bennett. Northamptonshire: Turnstone, 1972, (HC); New York: Knopf, 1973; York Beach: Weiser, 2000, . * ''The Psychology of Man's Possible Evolution''. New York: Hedgehog Press, 1950. * '' Strange Life of Ivan Osokin''. New York and London: Holme, 1947; London: Faber & Faber, 1948; first published in Russian as ''Kinemadrama'' (St. Petersburg, 1915)
Online (Russian)
* ''The Psychology of Man's Possible Evolution'' (1945)
Online
* '' In Search of the Miraculous: Fragments of an Unknown Teaching''. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1949; London: Routledge, 1947. * ''In Search of the Miraculous: Fragments of an Unknown Teaching'' London, Paul H. Crompton Ltd 2010 facsimile edition of the 1949 edition, hardcover. * '' The Fourth Way: A Record of Talks and Answers to Questions Based on the Teaching of G. I. Gurdjieff'' (Prepared under the general supervision of Sophia Ouspensky). New York: Knopf, 1957; London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1957. * ''Letters from Russia, 1919'' (Introduction by Fairfax Hall and epilog from ''In Denikin's Russia'' by C. E. Bechhofer). London and New York: Arkana, 1978. * ''Conscience: The Search for Truth''. Introduction by Merrily E. Taylor. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1979. * ''A Further Record: Extracts from Meetings 1928–1945''. London and New York: Arkana, 1986. * ''The Psychology of Man's Possible Evolution and The Cosmology of Man's possible Evolution, a limited edition of the definitive text of his Psychological and Cosmological Lectures, 1934–1945''. Agora Books, East Sussex, 1989. .
P. D. Ouspensky Memorial Collection
Yale University Library. Archive notes taken from meetings during 1935–1947.

References

External links

Ouspensky Today: Includes an archive of material and images celebrating Ouspensky's life and work.

The Ouspensky Foundation

www.ouspensky.org.uk (2007, An Appreciation by James Moore; Bibliography by J. Walter Driscoll)

''Psychology of Man's Possible Evolution'' (full text at holybooks.com)

''New Model of the Universe'' (full text at Internet Archive)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ouspensky, P.D. 1878 births 1947 deaths 19th-century philosophers from the Russian Empire 20th-century Russian philosophers Fourth Way Russian spiritual writers Spiritual teachers Students of George Gurdjieff People associated with tarot New Age predecessors Philosophers of time Russian occultists Writers about religion and science