The Fourth Way Paperback - 1971

First line

BEFORE I BEGIN TO EXPLAIN TO YOU in a general way what this system is about, and to your minds that the most important ideas and principles of the system do not belong to me.

From the rear cover

The Fourth Way is the most comprehensive statement thus far published of the ideas taught by the late P.D. Ouspensky. Consisting of verbatim records of his oral teaching from 1921 to 1946, it gives a lucid explanation of the practical side of G. I. Gurdjieff's teachings, which Gurdjieff presented in the form of raw materials, Ouspensky's specific task having been to put them together as a systematic whole. Just as Tertium Organum deals with a new mode of thinking, so The Fourth Way is concerned with a new way of living. It shows a way of inner development to be followed under the ordinary conditions of life -- as distinct from the three traditional ways that call for retirement from the world: those of the fakir, the monk, and the yogi.
The Fourth Way is a guide for those who seek a true way of inner growth under conditions open to the men and women of today.

From the jacket flap

The Fourth Way is the most comprehensive statement thus far published of the ideas taught by the late P.D. Ouspensky. Consisting of verbatim records of his oral teaching from 1921 to 1946, it gives a lucid explanation of the practical side of G. I. Gurdjieff's teachings, which Gurdjieff presented in the form of raw materials, Ouspensky's specific task having been to put them together as a systematic whole. Just as Tertium Organum deals with a new mode of thinking, so The Fourth Way is concerned with a new way of living. It shows a way of inner development to be followed under the ordinary conditions of life -- as distinct from the three traditional ways that call for retirement from the world: those of the fakir, the monk, and the yogi.
The Fourth Way is a guide for those who seek a true way of inner growth under conditions open to the men and women of today.