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George Ivanovich Gurdjieff was born in 1866 in Alexandropol, Armenia and died in Paris on 29 October 1949. The young Gurdjieff was a fervent seeker of esoteric knowledge. He travelled widely in his searches with the burning question “What is the sense and significance of life on earth, human life in particular?" Over these years his teaching was wrought from ancient eastern origins and prepared for the west in a form suitable for contemporary culture.He commenced his teachings in 1912 in Moscow and continued his work in various countries until in 1922 he settled in France opening the Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man. The groups Gurdjieff established attracted many gifted people of the time and his key pupils in turn formed their own groups in order to pass down the teaching. Today there are Gurdjieff groups operating across the world. The Bradford Gurdjieff Society (based primarily in Bradford, Leeds, Manchester and York) is a direct descendent of the original UK groups established by Gurdjieff's pupils.

Mr. Gurdjieff's message is that man's place, if not asleep, is to struggle to hold attention within himself, to make a place for influences which can help him to be as he ought to be. The system is a practical method of how we can learn to begin to take this place. We can only find it for ourselves, but we cannot work alone: we need the work of others around us with the same aim. Mr Gurdjieff's work made it possible for man to discover his real place in the scheme of things.


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