George Adie Aft r rG., urdjieff pupi..l^; r in Aau.stralia George Mountford Adie and Joseph Azize Lighthouse Editions Limited www.lighthouse-editions.net Introduction About three weeks before he died on zg July 1989, I handed George Adie, my teacher, a folder of a corrected draft of his writings. He took the papers, clasped my hand, kissed me, and told me that I was his “god-giving son”, a phrase he had heard used by his teacher, Gurdjieff. Thus, this book discharges a personal obligation to see his words and writings into the press. Adie had been a pupil of Gurdjieff, and, in his turn, taught Gurdjieffs ideas and methods in Sydney, over the course of a generation, from 1966 to 1989. Adie impressed upon us our reciprocal obligation to use what we had learned, and in the preparation of this book, we have attempted to implement the teaching. As Adie himself said, echoing his teacher, love includes impartiality.' In order to present Adie as the teacher I knew, it is desirable to use the impartial conventions of scholarship. It should not be taken as a sign of limited affection, much less of disrespect, if I refer to him simply as “Adie”. This volume is also directed to those who have an interest — whether practical, theoretical, or a mixture of both - in GurdjiefFs life, ideas and heritage. There is a good deal of writing available about Gurdjieff, but it tends to concentrate upon his life and wridngs. Accounts of his tradidon as it has developed after his death in 1949 more meagre, and are of diverse nature and quality. This book complements that oeuvre, and combines diverse types of material. It includes papers by Adie, pieces of prose poetry, diary entries, recollections of his table talk, and transcripts of meetings with him (both question and answer sessions, and addresses). One of the papers, some of the diary entries, and certain of the answers in groups date from his time 1 111 an uiiclaced translation of a transcript from a Paris meeting, probably sometime between 1959 and 1944, Gurdjieff is reported to iiave said that love “demands” that one remain impartial: W.R Patterson Voices in the Dark, Arete, Fairfax {2000), p. 47. Adie said “love includes impartiality”, in a meedng in May 1989. to 1965, in Paris and London. It thus provides some examples of the Gurdjieff teaching in Europe, within sixteen years of GurdjiefFs death. Further, the book supplies a perspective, albeit a partial one, of the Gurdjieff teaching from 1948 to 1989, and, perhaps, demonstrates that Adie’s development of the ideas have proved to be of enduring value. It is hoped that readers will be interested in using the ideas presented here in their own practical application of spiritual ideas and methods - whether or not they consider themselves as standing within the “Gurdjieff tradition”. This book may also be profitable for anyone interested in GurdjiefFs ideas, or in Adie, and how he applied GurdjiefFs ideas and practices in Sydney. The audience may include readers in the area of modern spirituality, whether academic or otherwise. You are welcome to use this volume to your best advantage. So that explains something of the purposes of this book. The reader could well skip the balance of this introduction, and turn directly to Adie’s writings. But I wish to add that this volume is not intended to be an introduction to GurdjiefFs ideas, a “do-it- yourself manual”, or a criticism of anyone or anything. Tlie best introductions to GurdjiefFs ideas are still GurdjieiFs own works and Ouspensky’s In Search of the Miraculous, which is ideally read together with his short Psychology of Man's PossibU Evolu­ tion} Jean Vaysse’s Toward Awakening is another recommended introduction. Sophia Wellbeloveds Gurdjieff: The Key Concepts is a useful dictionary of GurdjiefFs teaching terms.^ Adie’s words will mean something to a person who is not acquainted with GurdjiefFs and Ouspensky’s books, and I trust that it stands on its own as a collection of spiritual ideas. However, it is not an oudine of GurdjiefFs ideas; it is, rather, a fruit of the tree. Notes of terms used in the work have been provided: while these can­ not bring out the nuances of these words, they should at least enable a wider audience to penetrate these ideas more deeply. 1 For example, the idea of the “centres” is not dealt with in mucii detail in Search (P.D. Ouspensky In Search of the Miraatloiis, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London and New Yorlc, 1949). It is more fully treated in Psychology (P.D. Ouspensky The Psychology of Man's Possible Evolution, Vintage, New York, 1973). 2 Sophia Wellbeloved Gurdjieff. The Key Concepts, Routledge, London, Take the word “work” itself. “The Work” is a chameleon word, often overused, in my view. Spelt with a capital “W”, the noun “Work” probably means, before anything else, the corpus of ideas and practices left by GurdjiefF. Sometimes the word is used to mean those ideas and practices as applied in a person’s life, or the “GurdjiefF’ foundations and institutions together with their pupils, or even the entire GurdjiefF tradition. People can use it in various senses even within one sentence. It is often worthwhile to try and replace “Work” with another word or phrase to express more precisely what one’s meaning. Tliis is not a guide for persons attempting to apply GurdjiefFs ideas and practices without the assistance of a group. It is in the nature of our limitations that while we can accomplish a cer­ tain and often significant amount without personal guidance, we need the help of others at certain key points. It is essential that there be present, at least for a time, the direct influence of GurdjiefF and his personal pupils. This is, at least in part, be- cause some of the most important elements of a spiritual path can be passed only by example and personal contact. At the very least, a teacher can direct one towards a questioning of deep rooted assumptions, of those matters which we implic­ itly take as self-evident and as “the only way things can be”. Adie would say that we have now ceased to see the many varied postures which comprise so much of what we are because we simply stride past them. They are, as it were, the commonplace psychic and attitudinal furniture which fill our heads. And yet, one can come to rely upon a teacher for too long. GurdjiefF sent many of his pupils away from him for extended periods, some­ times even engineering breaks so that they would be obUged to try and act independently of him. Adie found himself in a similar position about 15 years after GurdjiefFs death, and was obliged to work independently, while maintaining some slen­ der connection with the GurdjiefF groups in Paris and London. This forced need may have been a providential challenge to take stock of what he had learned and experienced, and so become his own master. In fact, the one condition a group can never provide is precisely the condition of being without a group. Biographies are too often predicated upon the assumption that the events of a person’s life, especially in their formative years, determine their achievements and mature thought. But 6 Adie with his cat. “events” by themselves do not govern our characters, for two people can live through the same events, yet respond entirely differently. Ihe entire trajectory of a person’s life may have a direction which transcends and determines the significance to them of the many details of their days. Beyond this, perhaps there is some cast in the soul which inclines us to be “in the way”, as it were, of certain experiences. In the end, while a person’s character and actions can well be describedhy reference to something in their environment or culture, they cannot be so glibly explained. Our entire lives, including the world in which we move, illustrate something profound about us, if only we knew how to read it. This, perhaps, is the art of the biographer. Many writers have observed the importance of the “telling anecdote”, the small detail which says more about the psychology of the subject than the narrative of a great and mighty deed. The anecdote enjoys the advantages that a photograph of a tropical plant has over a purely verbal description. TKe vivid vignette provides a snapshot for recognition because it is set in daily life, and so furnishes us with ground for comparison. How someone handled the small anxieties of daily life may tell us more about them than how they dealt with an issue of nadonal importance: few of us are ever called upon to handle matters which affect the entire country, and in any event, rarely does a person stand alone there, as they do when cooking at home. In political affairs, for example, many factors and influences pressure the actors to play expected roles. It is not that we are free of external pressure when we are cooking in our own kitch­ ens, but our own histories and tendencies are proportionately more significant as external forces are lessened: there arc fewer overwhelming influences. Hence we invariably see more of a person’s individual character in the private sphere. Tlierefore, a biographical introduction which illustrates how Adie was in daily life may complement the other material in this book, and facilitate a deeper, almost more intuitive understanding of Adie’s contribution to the Gurdjieff tradition. Finally, even within a spiritual tradidon, such as the one Gurdjieff has inspired, people can and do have sincerely held but differing opinions. Ihis book is intended to be faithful and accurate in continuing the eflbrts made by Adie during his twenty-three years of teaching in Sydney, and which we made with him. Adie indeed made extraordinary efforts, against all sorts of difficulties, not least his health, which was perilous for the entirety of that period. And that raises the question: who was this George Adie? I. Meeting George Adie In 1978, MY cousin Frank and I were both studying for combined Arts/Law degrees at the University of Sydney. We were acquaintances of John Webster, a highly inteUigent and charismatic individual who had travelled the world as a buccaneer of ideas. Born into a very poor Irish family in London, he had, by accident, became a fairly well-known orator in England, and as a result had met all sorts of cclcbritics, from Muhammad All to Noel Coward. He had been the lover of a titled lady with rooms in Mayfair, and had left his wife and child (or maybe children) in England. Webster wielded a sharp, if occasionally scurrilous, wit, but also had a serious religious and even spiritual side. He had joined many religions, including the Salvation Army. While faith eluded him, he always returned to magic and hypnotism. Webster had been a sort of friend of Aleister Crowley, but had refrained when the Great Beast had offered him a more intense magical relationship. Webster was looking for a system (hence his flirtation with Communism and Islam and with Motts “Universal Design of Creation”) but was ultimately a loner, and content to feed his spiritual hunger from a platter of sweet-and-sour dips. Of all Webster’s diverse coterie, perhaps the most striking was Giynn, an Australian of Welsh background, the most elo­ quent and persuasive private conversationalist I have ever met. He did sometimes shine in large company, but for some reason, his full powers only manifested when he was with one, two or three people. Glynn could immediately produce the exact phrase for, it seemed, any situation. His choice of words would be precise, knowledgeable, complete and witty. Like Webster, he too was looking for a system to unite his vast erudition, but unlike Webster, he was fascinated by a litde known Greek- Armenian sage - it was Glynn who introduced Frank and me to Gurdjieff. One night, Glynn took us to the first floor of the vast book warehouse which Bob Gould, an eccentric capitalist